Life Dungeon Game

"A basic fried chicken combo will do."

Heo took the menu, made his selection, and then handed the menu back to Ishia.

"Then I'll have a basic burger combo and a coffee."

Ishia quickly made her choice and then paid.

These chain fast food restaurants are mostly unmanned. After payment is completed, the order is sent to the restaurant's back-end system. When the food is ready, a message is sent to the electronic menu to remind the customer to pick up their food at the counter.

The wait for the food was still a while away, and in the meantime, Ishia's eyes fell on the prices on the menu. "I just realized that the huge burger here costs 6 Federal Credits."

The giant burger is the signature dish of the fast-food chain Giant Meadow, known for its affordability and large portions.

However, due to differences in prices and taxes in different regions, the price of the giant burger will vary, generally ranging from 4 to 7 federal dollars.

In a sense, the price of the giant hamburger also reflects the local price level.

7 Federal Dollars is only the price in a very few scenic spots or remote areas. In ordinary restaurants in ordinary cities, 6 Federal Dollars is already the highest price.

"Just arrived here?"

He looked at Ishia and asked with a smile.

"Yes, I was just transferred here from Twilight City,"

Ishia nodded, then said with some emotion, "The giant hamburger only costs 4.8 Federal Credits in Twilight City. I thought that as a granary city, Saint Jon would sell this kind of food for less."

"It will be a little cheaper,"

He Ao said slowly, "But that was about thirty or forty years ago. At that time, there were many grain companies in this city because there were no transportation costs for local sales."

Therefore, these grain companies often sold grain to local distributors at lower prices. At that time, synthetic flour and synthetic meat were very cheap in St. John's City.

"A huge hamburger like this would have cost around 4 federal dollars back then, of course,"

He Ao smiled and said, "That wasn't the cheapest time. A decade or two ago, almost twenty years ago, the prices of all kinds of food were much cheaper. That was probably the cheapest time in the history of St. John's City. Back then, the price of this giant hamburger could even be as low as 3.5 or 3.3 federal dollars."

"so cheap?"

Ishia was taken aback. "Isn't this price below cost? How can it be made so cheaply?"

"At that time, the Kegete Group had just risen to prominence and was expanding its sphere of influence on a large scale. They used many methods to try to quickly seize the market in St. John's City, and dumping at low prices was one of them. At that time, almost all the grain companies in St. John's City were drawn into that brutal war."

He Ao turned his head and looked out the window at the towering factory buildings and the dimly lit streets in their shadows. "Back then, there weren't so many high-rise buildings in this city."

The Tweed Group, where Sito worked, was one of the key players in the entire food war.

"What then?"

Ishia listened intently and then pressed for more information.

The impeccably dressed old gentleman seemed to know a lot about the city's stories, and at that moment she felt as if she were asking history a question from someone who had personally experienced it.

"And then,"

He Ao withdrew his gaze and looked back at Isiah, "Later, the Kegete Group killed all the grain companies, acquired their factories, and became the largest and only grain group in St. John City."

He looked down at the menu on the table. "Then the giant burger will cost 6 federal dollars."

To date, St. John, a grain-producing city where more than a third of the population is involved in food production, remains one of the cities with the highest food prices in the entire Union.

Isia was stunned for a moment; she hadn't expected the topic to return to her original question in this way.

Her gaze swept across the old window.

One after another, thin figures hurried along the dimly lit street, their skin pale and sickly.

The towering factory buildings blocked everything out, casting shadows on every road.

It's the hottest part of the afternoon sun, but those living at the very bottom of the city don't even have the right to enjoy the sunshine.

Jingle Bell--

Just then, an alarm sounded from the electronic menu.

Ishia snapped out of her thoughts, picked up the menu, and slowly stood up. "The food seems to be ready. I'll go get it."

"Let's go together."

He Ao and she got up together.

Jiaxi also got up and followed behind them.

They were seated not far from the counter and quickly went to the counter to retrieve their food.

Jiaxi placed her food on the table and excitedly picked up the ice cream.

As Heo opened the fried chicken box, he asked Ishia, "Let's talk about what I should know, like the monster that just attacked me."

He paused for a moment, as the steaming hot fried chicken was now fully presented in front of him.

"Like the organization behind you?"

Chapter 656 The Traitor? (A super-large chapter combining two chapters, please vote with monthly tickets)

"it is good,"

Ishia glanced at the hamburger on the table, picked up her coffee and took a sip. After a brief moment of thought, she asked, "Sir, do you know about the Pollution Monster?"

"The Witt I killed last night?"

He asked calmly.

“Yes,” Ishia nodded, “Viter isn’t entirely a corrupted monster. He’s more of a human who tried to steal the corrupted monster’s power and eventually merged with it.”

"What's the difference between the polluted monster you're talking about and the strange beasts of the wilderness?"

He Ao asked thoughtfully.

The strange beasts in the wilderness have also been affected by the pollution of the wilderness to varying degrees, and can be considered a kind of pollution monster.

"In fact, the biggest difference lies in the fact that the monstrous form of the corrupted monster comes from a sudden mutation, rather than showing signs of heredity like that of a mutated beast,"

Ishia, holding a cup of coffee, said, “According to the intelligence we have so far, the contaminated monsters were not monsters before they were contaminated. Some of them were insects, some were animals, and some... were ordinary humans. For reasons we don’t know, they suddenly mutated into twisted monsters and began attacking humans.”

"Strictly speaking, the pollution monsters died the moment they became monsters. They have lost their reason. What sustains them is only a twisted and crazy soul that craves killing. They have one thing in common: they feed on humans."

"Typically, most of the corrupted monsters hide in some dark corners, attacking lone humans and devouring their bodies and souls."

"However, these polluted monsters hiding in the corners are usually very weak, with strength only below or below F-rank. If there are too many people, even a few fully armed gang members can easily kill them."

"These corrupted monsters don't seem to be entirely weak."

He Ao slowly tore apart the fried chicken and said in a low voice.

Viter was not someone that could be killed by a weak, ordinary person.

"Yes,"

Ishia nodded.

"The structure of the pollution monsters is very special. They absorb the power of the people they devour. The more people a pollution monster eats, the stronger it becomes."

"Even the weakest pollution monsters can advance to E-level, or even D-level or C-level terrifying monsters after hunting enough prey."

"In order to prevent such terrifying monsters from being born, an organization is needed to constantly clean up those weak, polluted monsters, eliminating them while they are still weak."

"This way, while protecting ordinary people, we can also prevent these monsters from growing into an unparalleled and terrifying threat."

"Is this what your organization does?"

He put down the whole chicken bone in his hand, picked up the spicy sauce next to him, and looked up at Ishia.

"Yes, the full name of our organization is the Pollution Cleanup Division,"

She paused, looked at He Ao, and added, "The Pollution Cleanup Division of the Kegete Group."

He paused in his actions, staring at Ishia. "Are you part of the Kaijet Grain Industry Group's conglomerate armed forces?"

"Yes,"

Ishia paused, then glanced down at her desk.

Looking at the hamburger in front of her, she knew that the man in front of her didn't have a very good impression of the Kegette Grain Group.

"Although we are registered under the name of the Kegete Group, we are actually a completely independent organization. The only difference is that our operating funds come from a consortium led by the Kegete Group."

"In principle, we are not under the control of the Kegete Group, nor do we work for the Kegete Group, nor do we accept orders from the various city branches of the Kegete Group."

"We have our own council to make decisions. Our main task is to eliminate the contaminated monsters and handle incidents related to them. We are not responsible for any other business-related matters."

Will they provide you with support?

He Ao dipped the fried chicken pieces in the spicy sauce and spread it around, "For example, to 'fight' for certain powers for you from the city council, the city government, and the city police department?"

"Yes,"

Ishia looked at Heo and nodded gently.

"The Kegete Group now essentially controls the city of St. John,"

He Ao pondered, "So, in other words, you're essentially a 'semi-official' organization in this city?"

He paused for a moment, thinking, then, remembering that Ishia had just mentioned "the various city branches of the Kegete Group," he continued, "..."

"Are there other cities besides Saint John City where the polluted monsters exist?"

"I don't know the situation in other cities, but currently, in all eleven cities with pollution cleanup departments, pollution monsters exist,"

Ishia said, "To be precise, it is precisely because of the pollution monsters that the Pollution Cleanup Division has value."

"These eleven cities are all controlled by the Kegete Group?"

He Ao regained his composure, put the fried chicken in his mouth, and asked.

"Not entirely,"

Ishia shook her head. "However, the Kegete Group has branches in all these cities. The group organizes local large conglomerates to 'invest' in the Pollution Cleanup Department in order to gain support from local officials through these conglomerates. These 'shareholder' conglomerates will also join the council of the Pollution Cleanup Department."

"Is the Kegete Group the largest 'shareholder' of your Pollution Cleanup Division?"

He asked in a low voice.

"Yes."