Life Game In Other World
Chapter 710: But K Never Left (Super Long - , Asking for Monthly Pass)

Chapter 710: Chapter 710: But K Never Left (Super Long Chapter, Asking for Monthly Pass)

"Friends, you might want to take a look at this."

The fiery twilight flooded through the window as Scait glanced at Sienzi sitting in the room and the woman in the corner, placing the document in his hands onto the weathered tabletop.

The catastrophic disaster had already passed, and with the help of the Nolanka Mercenary Corps, the city had regained power and network access.

From Saint Joen City to the Federation, everyone was intensely recounting the anomaly that had occurred the previous night.

After the fierce battle last night, the City Defense Army had regained control of the high walls, most of the mercenaries from Kajet Group had chosen to surrender, and a small group of stubborn holdouts was being hunted down by Mecha units.

The main force of the Nolanka Mercenary Corps had entered the city in the morning, collaborating with the Federal Bureau of Investigation to clear out any potentially contaminated items left behind by the Kajet Mercenary Corps and Vellent.

The remaining people gathered here now, sharing the results of the first phase.

Captain Fiss of the Nolanka Mercenary Corps should actually have been here, but he did not wish to get involved in these non-combat, meticulous affairs.

Another key figure, YiXiya, due to severe injuries, was still in the hospital and could not attend.

"What is this?"

Sienzi, his body wrapped in bandages, picked up a document and flipped through it, then his expression gradually darkened.

"The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s preliminary findings from the investigation of Kajet Group’s factory,"

Scait sighed, "Kajet Group would definitely not allow us to enter these factories before, but last night’s events gave us the legal right to enter the factory for investigation, and they are powerless to stop us."

In another corner of the table, sitting was a brown-haired woman sporting a single ponytail and dressed in professional attire. She listened to Scait’s words, picked up a piece of information, looked through the title page for a moment, and then after a brief pause, looked up at Scait,

"So, this is the core of Kajet Group’s much vaunted ’food production’ technology?"

"Yes,"

Scait nodded lightly.

Actually, this was the first time he had met the woman in the corner, who claimed to be Lina, a representative sent from the Nolanka Group.

Although Scait did not know how the old gentleman had managed to contact the Nolanka Group, the arrival of the Nolanka Mercenary Corps last night indeed played the most crucial role.

Moreover, after the event concluded and with the city council virtually disbanded and the City Defense Army in tatters, the Nolanka Mercenary Corps had also become the central force stabilizing the entire city.

The other party now had the right to know everything that had happened in Saint Joen City.

He organized his words, flipped open the file, and revealed a photo that took up an entire page, which was a picture of a ’machine’ inscribed with intricate purple patterns, and continued,

"Our agents entered the heart of Kajet Group’s factory and discovered these things."

"This is..." Lina gazed at the photo, "CO2 enrichment equipment?"

She was in charge of a part of the Nolanka Group’s food business and had a good understanding of food production.

The main source of the Federation’s food was artificially produced through carbon fixation.

It involved fixing atmospheric carbon dioxide into various types of starch, such as amylose and amylopectin, and then mixing these starches in certain proportions, adding synthetic vitamins and other substances. After further processing, this mixture could be turned into artificial food.

For example, mixing amylopectin and amylose in an approximate ratio of one to three, adding some water, enzymes, fats, and vitamins, one could produce simple-tasting flour.

The rough, crudely mixed flour tasted quite bad and was very cheap.

Whereas some artificial flours, crafted through careful blending, could taste as good as or even better than natural wheat flour in certain respects, and their price could even exceed that of natural flour.

Of course, the method of blending could only determine taste; the efficiency of carbon fixation was the core that influenced food production.

In the current Federation food production, the two biggest factors affecting carbon fixation efficiency were the fixing medium’s utilization rate of carbon dioxide and the concentration of carbon dioxide in the region.

The reason Saint Joen City became a grain-producing city was because of the high concentrations of CO2 near the city. Due to terrain and airflow, it could swiftly replenish after depletion, maintaining a relatively stable state of CO2 concentration year-round.

The main research and development funds of the Nolanka Group’s food industry were also invested in CO2 enrichment and utilization, which is why Lina knew quite a bit about these two aspects.

Although the CO2 enrichment equipment of Kajet Group was different from the mainstream devices, their general shape was similar.

"Yes,"

Sienzi glanced at Lina; her instantaneous recognition of the machine’s name proved that she was at least not an amateur, which made it easier for him to explain.

He flipped the document to the next page and showcased the chart on it,

"According to the food engineers at the Kajet factory, their machines enrich carbon dioxide at an efficiency of 200% that of the Federation’s usual enrichment machines, and their carbon dioxide utilization rate is also higher than other major conglomerates. At present, their food production is 167% of the normal equipment’s food production,"

"So, what’s the price?"

Sienzi, who had been silently perusing the materials on the side, suddenly asked.

He didn’t understand food production, nor anything about enrichment and utilization, but he knew that many people worked in the Kajet Group’s factories, and these machines, covered in strange patterns, didn’t look very ’technological.’

In this world, every Transcendent power comes at a cost.

"The internal documents of the Kajet Group don’t mention what the price is,"

Scait shook his head, "However, we found these data in the factory’s files,"

He continued flipping through the document, revealing a new page.

"Average employee resignation age?"

Lina glanced at the contents of the page, asking with some confusion.

"Or rather,"

Scait paused, "called, the average age of employees."

He continued speaking under the gaze of Sienzi and Lina, "The average age of resignation for ordinary employees working on the front lines for the Kajet Group is around forty-three years, and the majority of these employees pass away from illness within half a year after their resignation."

As he said this, his face took on an unnaturally somber expression, "Aside from these resigning employees, Kajet also sees a large number of employee disappearances every year. These cases are ultimately ’settled’ privately through the municipal government and the employees’ families."

Such large-scale disappearances involving cross-city conglomerates actually fall within the jurisdiction of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

However, the Saint Joen City Federal Bureau of Investigation has essentially been hollowed out by the Kajet Group, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation doesn’t even get wind of these disappearance cases.

And Scait could guess that the so-called ’private settlements’ were surely not going to be very ’honorable,’ as Saint Joen City also has a substantial number of underground gangs.

"Disappearances..."

Sienzi slowly closed the materials in his hands, his face grim, "Night Hawk once left information stating that the Polluted Monsters are actually ’people’ mutated."

The atmosphere in the room suddenly grew somewhat oppressive.

The twilight outside the window cast a pall over everyone’s cheeks.

"Speaking of which, are your investigations always this fast?"

Eventually, it was Lina in the corner who broke the silent stillness, looking at Scait, "These materials should be hidden quite deeply. You found them in just one day?"

"Actually, in a sense, we didn’t find them ourselves, we received a certain ’tip.’"

Scait sighed, sitting in the chair. With a flip of his hand, a playing card appeared in his palm and he slowly placed it on the table, "This was discovered wedged in the main console of the factory where we found these materials."

Lina and Sienzi both turned their gazes towards the playing card.

It was a plastic playing card, quite common in the Federation. The face of the card was,

The King of Hearts

Just then, Lina’s bracelet vibrated slightly. She looked down at it and then raised her head to look at the other two, "There’s a message from Dawn City, perhaps, we can take a look."

----

Dawn City

The bright sun peacefully blanketed the land.

People bustled back and forth on the streets.

Many were looking down at their wristbands, discussing a variety of topics that were trending on the Federation’s hot list.

"Have you heard about what happened last night?"

"The Sacrifice in Saint Joen City last night?"

"Yes, yes, yes. It’s said that the Mercenary Corps of the conglomerates were involved in last night’s incident, there was killing everywhere. I have a friend in Saint Joen City. He said the entire sky was alight with lightning all night, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh."

"So terrifying?"

"Yeah, let me tell you..."

...

Whispers of conversation drifted from the corners of the streets as people rushed to and from work; massive advertisement screens perched atop skyscrapers still blared their opulent commercials.

The city seemed as it always had.

Yet, after who knows whose footsteps passed by, the giant outdoor advertising screen suddenly froze, followed by all the screens on the street flickering at once, transforming into a room with an entirely white background.

Pedestrians, who had been hurrying on their way, stopped subconsciously to watch these strangely altered screens.

Although time could blur memories, when one saw a familiar scene, it always seemed to resurrect some buried recollections.

As people gazed at the pure white room on the screen, some seemed to remember something.

With more and more onlookers gathering, a figure shrouded in a black hooded cloak, wearing a black and white checkered eerie smiling mask, slowly appeared on the screen.

He looked into the camera, as though he were also watching the people outside the screen.

Seeing this familiar mask, most of the crowd finally realized what was going on, and low murmurs and exchanges emerged among them before quickly quieting down again.

People stared at the massive advertising screen, at the figure on the screen.

They were waiting, waiting for the figure inside to speak.

At this moment, in every corner of Dawn City, from the bustling Eighth Avenue to the filthy Aston District, nearly all the outdoor advertising screens displayed this figure.

More and more people gathered beneath the screens, watching the person within.

After a brief pause, the figure on the screen slowly raised both hands, and a calm, slow voice came forth from beneath the bizarre smiling mask,

"Ladies and gentlemen, long time no see,"

He paused for a moment. "Perhaps I should reintroduce myself. I am ’K’."

The crowd stirred again but quickly quieted down.

’K’ on the screen seemed to have anticipated this disturbance, pausing briefly before continuing,

"I stand here today to share a recent observation,"

He gently flipped his hand, and a piece of bread was pulled out from his sleeve and placed in his hand, then he tore the bread in half, revealing the red filling within to the camera.

Then, his voice remained calm as he continued, "This bread appears to contain some sort of strawberry jam filling, but in reality, this is not strawberry jam, it’s ’blood’."

He then placed the bread on a table behind him, "What I’m sharing today is an observation regarding food and blood, and this observation is related to a small city southwest of Dawn City named ’Saint Joen City’,

"I believe that many of you are familiar with this city, and should have seen last night’s news about Saint Joen City’s ’Evil God Sacrifice’.

"But our main topic at this moment is not about last night’s sacrifice but rather about a decade-long, cloaked ’Evil God Sacrifice’ that has taken place in Saint Joen City."

He raised his hands, and a giant photograph projected behind him showed people locked in cages, skeletal and livestock-like.

The onlooking crowd below stirred once again, while ’K’ on the screen carried on with his narrative,

"This is a ’breeding farm’ in Saint Joen City, of course, those you see in the photo are not the ’livestock’ being bred; they are merely ’feed’."

These words detonated like a depth charge, throwing the already bustling crowd into even greater disarray.

"And these ’feed,’ what they are nourishing are the ’livestock’,"

As the figure on the screen raised his hand again, an image of a twisted, horrific creature appeared on the wall, "like this."

Then, without waiting for the crowd’s reaction, he continued, "Does this monster look like an exotic beast? Is this an incident of humans breeding exotic beasts? But I regret to inform you, this is not the case,"

He flipped his palm, and an autopsy image of the creature showed a humanoid skeleton within, "These so-called ’Polluted Monsters’ are actually ’humans.’"

"Ugh—"

This autopsy image, while hiding many details and not overly gruesome, had someone in the crowd thinking of something and they began retching.

Soon, more and more people grasped the core of what the figure on the screen had just described.

The so-called ’feeding,’ in essence, is actually ’man-eating man’.

"K" on the screen waited for a while, until many people had digested this information, then continued, "So, why do these ’people’ turn into monstrous forms?"

He raised his hand, and the photo behind him changed to a factory hall covered in various patterns, "Because they are the ’blood’ in the bread."

"The Nolanka Group controls all the food factories in Saint Joen City, even the entire city’s consortium, claiming to have the best high-efficiency food production technology in the Federation, able to produce the most food at the lowest cost," he explained.

A huge chart animation appeared behind "K",

"And the price of this efficiency is the lives of the factory employees. Working in Nolanka’s food factories, in addition to low wages and semi-compulsory high food consumption, also requires a bit of additional ’cost’.

"That is their ’life’.

"The average age of resignation for employees at the Nolanka Group’s factory is forty-three years old, but in fact, no employees can work a full ten years at Nolanka Group.

"These employees, in the later stages of their careers, often develop various occupational diseases and physical discomforts; their bodies can’t withstand the factory’s fourteen-hour daily labor intensity.

"Then they are ’dismissed’ by the Nolanka Group through various means, and after leaving the factory, most of them won’t live more than half a year before dying riddled with disease.

"In fact, those who live to resign are the lucky ones because the Nolanka Group’s special ’machines’ turn all the group’s factories into a huge altar. This altar sucks away the life of factory employees in exchange for high ’production efficiency.’

"During this process, the altar naturally emits the Evil God’s power; some people who have been in the factory for a long time would be polluted by this power, mutating into the twisted ’monsters’ we just saw, the ’Polluted Monsters.’

"A portion of these Polluted Monsters is dealt with by organizations under the Nolanka Group, becoming a means to threaten and control key personnel, while another portion is raised to kill each other, cultivating twisted and powerful forces,

"Of course, the feed for these monsters is ’living people’."

"And those who turn into Polluted Monsters would be registered as missing, with most of these missing cases closed by the Nolanka Group with ’private compensations.’

"K" raised his hand again, and the image behind him changed to a data chart; his tone paused,

"The average price of a human life is 1,300 federal coins.

"In Saint Joen City, which is completely controlled by the Nolanka Group, the majority of the jobs available to people are those of factory employees at the Nolanka Group.

"But the Nolanka Group will not employ all laborers, even if they have the capacity to do so.

"They have one person do the work of two and always keep a large number of laborers unemployed. This way, the employed workers won’t think about running away, so they only dare to ask for the lowest wages because there are always cheaper laborers to choose from.

"In contrast to the low wages, they control the city’s food prices, making Saint Joen City, the Federation’s eastern largest grain-producing city, also the one with the most expensive grain prices.

"The higher the citizens of Saint Joen City consume, the lower the wages, the poorer they become, and even go into credit card debt, the higher the cost of leaving their factory, even if the employees know that their lives are weakening, they do not dare to resign easily.

"They theoretically have freedom, but in reality, they bear invisible and heavy shackles, dragged by chains, eventually only able to become fuel for the Nolanka Group’s Evil God altar, the raw material for the Nolanka Group to obtain excessive profits."

He lowered his hands, his eyes behind the mask dropped, watching the people outside the screen,

"But is all of this right?

"I want to ask all of you in front of the screen, can you accept a fate of certain death, a choice between bad and worse?

"Just because they want us to die, must we just watch and allow ourselves to be offered up to death, becoming their fuel for profit?

"Why should the consortium determine our fate?

"We labor, we produce, we create products, yet the consortium takes away the biggest profits, even using our lives to achieve excess profits.

"We are not slaves; we should have the right to control our own destiny, to tear apart our shackles.

"Those who want to decide our life and death should be prepared to be destroyed.

"We can change this world."

The figure on the screen caressed the mask on his face, his voice calm and clear,

"Ladies and gentlemen, time can wash away the color of masks, change the colors of mountains and rivers, and make memories blur,

"But K has never left."

The screen flickered once, then returned to the original advertisement.

And the people stopped there, long reluctant to leave.