The Fifth Coordinate
The Metaverse Experimental Zone.
B5,3556/3456.
This is a wasteland with cracked soil and yellow sand all around, its geological features are very similar to the real Gobi Desert.
But it was in this barren land.
In the huge, deep pit ahead, machines roared and people thronged.
"It's Source Matter Ore."
But then Jingye Meinan suddenly said, "These little things are in high demand lately. Rumor has it that 0.1 grams is enough to trick six girls into bed. So, I tricked 0.2 grams from 12 girls before."
"..."
The boy reacted for a moment, "If you don't use dirty examples, do you become unable to speak?"
"I shot..."
"Oh, no."
Jingye Meinan shrugged and said, "This is my persona, there's nothing I can do about it."
The boy remained silent.
But then Jingye Meinan, stroked his chin and said, "This Source Matter Ore is buried underground, and it's always been located in a very shallow place. Digging at the shallowest layer yields the greatest profit; the deeper you go, the lower the efficiency becomes."
"This huge pit in front of me..."
"It must be at least 500 meters, right?"
"Production capacity is already very low."
"If we dig for ten days or half a month, we might be able to get a fraction of a gram of Source Matter?"
Jingye Meinan clicked his tongue and said, "The owner of this mine is really..."
The boy's eyes flashed. "How Greed!"
The Seven Deadly Sins.
Lust, Gluttony, Sloth, Envy... Greed!
In that instant.
The boy stepped forward directly.
At the same time, a group of armed Guardian from the mine surrounded the two of them.
This is a gold-digging area, so of course you can't just come and go as you please.
Facing a variety of firearms.
The young man remained calm and composed.
He said slowly, "I'm here to see your mine owner... Jiao Shensan!"
The armed Guardian were taken aback.
This guy is so self-righteous, he dares to call our boss by name?
Could something really have happened?
But the young man continued, "I have a business deal to discuss. Your boss, Mr. Jiao, is a professional miner, and I happen to have a mining site."
As he spoke, the young man reached out his hand to the Jingye Meinan.
Jingye Meinan was taken aback for a moment, then understood. He searched his body for a while and found the 0.2 gram of Source Matter the size of a soybean.
The Guardian leader took the Source Matter, squinted at it for a long time, and said, "The purity is not bad... Where did it come from?"
Jingye Meinan's eyes darted around, "That place is called... Twenty-Four Milk Mountain!"
"Twenty-four Milk Mountains?"
The Guardian was taken aback. "How come I don't know this place?"
"Nonsense."
"Jingye Meinan, puffed out his chest. ' The Experimental Zone is so big, if you knew about it all, what would become of you? Besides, with your looks, you'd be lucky to even have a mountain of mistresses by the time you die!'"
The Guardian only had a vague understanding.
After discussing it for a while, they decided to lead the way for the two men. After all, their boss loved money more than anything, and if they could really discover a new mineral deposit, he would certainly reward them handsomely!
As they gradually descended to the bottom of the mine.
Qin Yiguan saw many large machines, turning over the soil with astonishing efficiency.
But the further down you go...
The fewer the mechanical components, or more precisely, the fewer purely mechanical components, the better.
Instead, many products featuring both human and mechanical components emerged!
Ahead, a tracked vehicle was slowly moving, and at the front of the vehicle was a steel plate that was at least 100 meters long.
Nearly a hundred laborers lay on the steel plate, their arms and heads sticking out, constantly searching through the soil in front of them. The tracked vehicle would stop after moving half a meter to give the laborers enough time to search.
"This is?"
The boy was puzzled.
The Guardian nearby said smugly, "Our boss, Jiao, is the most professional person in the entire mining industry. Those laborers are searching for extremely tiny particles of Source Matter. Although the soil has been sifted by machines, there's no guarantee that a fraction of a gram of Source Matter won't be missed!"
The boy shook his head. "How Greed."
But in that instant, as the tracked vehicle slowly approached, the boy saw clearly the condition of the laborers.
They weren't lying on the steel plate.
Instead, their thighs were bolted to steel plates, the bolts piercing directly through their muscles and through their bones!
Many of the laborers had dried, dark red bloodstains around their thighs. In some cases, the wounds had healed, and the flesh had grown back to the bolts!
Moreover, a steel plate was fixed to the mouths of the laborers with small bolts, and a red light was installed on the steel plate, but their mouths could not be opened, as if they were welded shut!
besides.
All the laborers had their left eyes gouged out.
It was replaced with a device similar to a microscope lens.
The scene was utterly silent; the workers were unable to utter a sound. The cameras on their eyes zoomed in and out as they sifted through the sand in their hands again and again.
Bizarre, bloody, and creepy.
It's like a cross between technology and Hell.
suddenly.
A red light illuminated on a steel plate in front of a laborer's mouth as he raised his arm high, clutching a nearly invisible grain of sand.
His expression was a mixture of excitement and distorted emotion.
The next instant, a drone flew in and took away the tiny grain of sand.
The Guardian beside the boy chuckled, "Look, we've found a bit of the missing Source Matter!"
The boy was somewhat taken aback.
I can't believe what I'm seeing.
"Young boss, don't make such a fuss."
The mine Guardian shrugged and said, "These laborers are all volunteers, and they've signed contracts with our boss. For every gram of Source Matter they collect, they get a 20% cut!"
"Of course, those little devices they carry are simply to help them complete their work more efficiently and without distractions."
The boy couldn't bear to look. "Before signing the contract, they probably didn't know they wouldn't be able to escape, wouldn't be able to speak... and would only be able to work day and night!"
At this moment Jingye Meinan also sighed and shook his head, "Boss Qin, I've said before that the gap between the rich and poor in today's society is far beyond our comprehension."
This moment.
Qin Yiguan seemed lost in thought.
His expression was somewhat blank.
Suddenly, Qin Yiguan ran forward alone and knelt down in front of a laborer!
Like everyone else, this laborer's legs were fixed in place with screws, his mouth was sewn shut, and his eyeballs were replaced!
"Lu..."
"Brother Lu!"
The boy stared at the dirty face, his expression one of horror.
Brother Lu.
They were the boy's neighbors in the Rust City.
He suffers from severe kidney disease.
That day, Brother Lu suddenly became rich and moved away from Rust City with his elderly mother, moving into the Central District and becoming a Half-Humans.
Before leaving.
They also gave the boy a precious gift.
In reality, the gift was a piece of code that could not be parsed, but the boy guessed that it was a Source Matter.
In Qin Yiguan's imagination.
Brother Lu should be lying in a clean and comfortable Nutrient Pod, where his illness will be suppressed or even cured.
Furthermore, by utilizing the endless time available in the Metaverse, one can gradually accumulate wealth, increase one's social status, achieve great success, or live a quiet and prosperous life in their later years.
Of course, Brother Lu's elderly mother also enjoyed this kind of life.
Her name was Granny Xiu. She was skilled in needlework and had even mended Qin Yiguan's schoolbag.
"Waaaaah..."
The man in front of me, Brother Lu, had only one intact right eye left, tears streaming down his face, but he couldn't open his mouth and could only make strange whimpering noises.
"This young business owner."
But then a mine Guardian pressed a gun against the boy's back, saying, "This laborer is the private property of our Boss Jiao. Even if you know him, you have no right to take him away."
"You should take care of yourself first."