Forbidden Nightmare

Chapter 23 Bionic Face
City of Redemption, develop Zone D.

Compared to the high-tech areas with tall buildings, the urban infrastructure here is extremely low-level, whether it is road traffic, public security environment, or medical education, they are all far behind. The so-called "development zone" is just an official name, and in fact it is a slum.

Here, without the protection of those skyscrapers that reach the sky, the sky is divided into broken geometric shapes by countless chaotic pipes and lines. The narrow alleys are filled with dampness and mold, and the mottled and weird graffiti on the walls have become the unique decoration of the slums.

In a small noodle shop on the corner of the street, Li Nanke was slurping beef noodles.

The noodle soup is steaming hot, and the long-simmered beef bone soup and spices exude a rich aroma. The red chili oil is topped with chopped green garlic sprouts and a few slices of thinly sliced ​​cooked beef.

Pick up a piece of noodles with chopsticks, you will find the thin noodles wrapped in red oil and chili, and absorbed the deliciousness of the beef bone broth. They are chewy and soft when you put them in your mouth. Put a mouthful of noodles into your mouth, and then take a big sip of the delicious beef bone broth. It is a real enjoyment on the tip of your tongue.

The TV in the noodle shop was playing news about the disaster in the Wilderness A91 Safe Zone. This was the hot news at the moment. After all, people who had obtained the right to reside in the City of Redemption were always happy to see the disaster in the Wilderness Safe Zone, even if they only lived in the slums and even if they had been pariahs in the Wilderness Safe Zone before.

The female host kept repeating the same things over and over again without saying anything nutritious.

After the news report was finished, the screen changed and a public service advertisement for the relief foundation appeared.

The Rescue Foundation is a non-profit charitable organization that aims to fund charitable projects such as rescue, reconstruction, and construction of medical facilities in safe areas affected by wilderness disasters.

Every time a wilderness safety zone is hit by a disaster, the relief foundation will dispatch rescue workers in batches.

This time, perhaps because the A91 safe zone was severely affected, the foundation probably was short of staff, so it placed recruitment advertisements to recruit rescue workers from the public.

These days, not many people are compassionate enough to be willing to work as volunteers for free, and the salaries of rescuers recruited by the foundation are very low. Moreover, when it comes to taboo disasters, which are things that people try to avoid, even if you are offered a lot of money, you have to think carefully.

Li Nanke glanced at the TV, picked up a few pieces of white radish that had absorbed the beef bone soup and sank to the bottom of the soup, and chewed them slowly.

Finally, I simply picked up the bowl and drank all the remaining soup in one breath.

"It's delicious... but there's no beef noodles in my dream."

He wiped his mouth and turned away.

Li Nanke walked into the winding alleys and finally went underground along the stairs.

This underground market is located at the bottom of the bustling city. It consists of a series of intricate tunnels and abandoned subway stations. Only those who walk on the edge of the law can find its entrance.

Dim light shone through the rusty metal grille, and the air was mixed with the smell of motor oil, cheap cigarettes, alcohol, and sweat.

The market is full of all kinds of stalls, selling all kinds of illegal goods, smuggled goods, banned drugs, cracked chips, illegal prostheses...

It was an inconspicuous little shop with blurry, thin human faces hanging on the walls, which looked quite scary and weird. Boxes of contact lenses and bionic leather gloves were placed on the glass counter.

There were a pile of cigarette butts scattered around the recliner, and a young face was covered by a pornographic magazine. All that could be seen was the colorfully dyed hair and the obvious pungent smell of alcohol.

Li Nanke picked up the magazine and woke up the young man who was taking a nap after a hangover.

"Come and live."

"Didn't you see I was... um, it turns out to be Lao Li." The young man was about to curse, but when he saw who it was, he was immediately surprised.

The young man's name is Bai Yuefeng. He is an old friend of Li Nanke who has known each other for many years. He was also a pariah who escaped from the disaster-stricken safe zone a few years ago. After many years of wandering around, he was able to obtain the right to reside in the City of Redemption.

His main business is to forge identities and make fake certificates. He also sells adjustable bionic faces and gloves, artificial irises, Adam's apple voice changers, electronic ID chips, etc.

Li Nanke stated his purpose: "I want a dragon. Xiaobai, you know that I don't have any prosthetic implants."

Most bionic faces have to be replaced at a prosthetic clinic or hospital, but Bai Yuefeng has high-end products here. Even if there is no frontal cortex neural operating system implanted, a bionic face can be installed, just like the human skin mask in martial arts novels, and the facial details can be adjusted autonomously. Bai Yuefeng was stunned, and he didn't expect that his old friend was here to take care of his business.

Although what he did was illegal, even if he was caught, he could be released after paying some bail. This is very different from those vicious desperados.

The people who usually come to Bai Yuefeng's place are those who keep their heads tied to their belts.

He looked strange, as if he was about to say something but stopped himself. "Lao Li, according to the rules I shouldn't ask this, but we are old friends. In the past few months, I asked you to drink but you didn't come out, and you didn't come to parties with beautiful women."

"Tell me honestly, have you run into any difficulties? I still have some savings, although not much..."

Li Nanke rolled his eyes and said, "Get lost. I just met a few new clients in the high-precision area recently and need to do business face to face. It's more convenient to change my face."

Bai Yuefeng then felt relieved and packed the items needed for the "one-stop service".

"I'll buy you a drink some other day."

Li Nanke said goodbye and left, quietly put on his bionic face, and went to another store to buy a few fake electronic ID chips.

The fake identity has been prepared, and all that remains is to consider how to get to the A91 safe zone.

The reason why the safe zone is called the safe zone is because the wilderness is too dangerous. Deadly sunlight, mutated beasts, wandering mobs, areas infected by remnant forbidden objects... are all serious threats that can take lives.

According to the weather forecast, it will be a rare sunny day these two days. The bigger sun above people’s heads is nothing to be afraid of, but the smaller one is very deadly.

This means that it is difficult to reach the A91 safety zone smoothly without taking some special transportation and being led by professionals.

Li Nanke took out his communicator and made a call.

“Beep…beep…Hello, sir. This is the relief foundation.”

"Hello, I saw that the foundation is recruiting rescue workers to go to the A91 area. I would like to sign up and go to the disaster area as soon as possible."

"Sir, it's like this. There are some things that need to be explained in advance... Rescue work requires certain professional knowledge and skills, and the salary is not high. You must submit your personal information first, and the rescue work can only be carried out after it is reviewed by the staff."

"Although the next rescue team to the disaster area will leave tomorrow afternoon, the review process will take at least three days. Please submit your information and wait patiently for the results."

"I don't want a salary. I volunteer, do charity, and generate electricity for love... Do you understand?"

The person on the other end of the communicator was stunned for a moment, then quickly said: "Okay, sir, please submit your personal information as soon as possible, and you can leave for the disaster area tomorrow afternoon!"

Li Nanke hung up the communicator and walked on the dirty street basking in the sun: "I have to take the initiative to approach this taboo that others avoid. I am really wasting my life."

"But the feeling of breathing freely... it's been a long time since I last felt that way."

The Great Other Shore has given a deadline of 90 days, which seems to be ample time and not too strict.

But don’t forget that the guided dream he entered for the first time had four other dreamers, and there was an obvious competitive relationship between them.

Li Nanke didn’t know if there would be any competitors joining the next dream, but if he was lazy and delayed until the 90-day deadline to enter the dream, in the long run even his competitors of the same period would surpass him by a large margin.

He has felt the intense beauty of being alive and doesn't want to be eliminated... Even if he has to be eliminated, he will be the one to eliminate others!

(End of this chapter)