Gacha games can't save this bizarre world.

Unsolicited kindness is either a sign of ulterior motives or theft!

Or they'll offer a huge reward to motivate people to risk their lives!

Neither of these is a good sign.

Zhao Hao thought it best to get Gou Quan to move some funds overseas as soon as possible, just in case. If the US government really wanted him to sacrifice his own interests for the greater good, then he should just run away.

Don't think you can fool me into working for you.

……

Soon, Zhao Hao and the other thirteen people were gathered together and met with the director of the Mysterious Bureau.

The phrase "like a dragon whose head is seen but not its tail" is more symbolic than practical; it refers to a bureau chief who doesn't actually manage things. Of course, their position is still very high.

The director was a chubby man, around fifty years old, with a perpetually mysterious smile on his face, a double chin, and glasses that made him resemble an American version of Coach Anzai.

Zhao Hao couldn't even sense any spiritual energy from him; the chubby bureau chief was just an ordinary person.

These thirteen of them were singled out and formed into a small team, tasked with "specifically dealing with malign supernatural events occurring within Aramco, protecting the Aramco government, and making Aramco great again!"

Please, there are Italians, Scandinavians, Franks, South Americans, Soong Americans, Native Americans... What kind of American government did they protect? Great America my foot!

He inexplicably became Amei's savior!

Also, has it been discovered that I was promoted to Bronze?

Zhao Hao discovered that among these people, apart from Xiluo who was a Black Iron 4-star, the others were at least Black Iron 5-star, and there were several Bronze-level individuals as well. This was almost catching up with the Shadow Organization.

Where did you find it?

These thirteen people are:

Song Yi, a temporary worker at the Mysterious Bureau who was promoted to a permanent position, is Zhao Hao's half-close associate.

Indian Beast Spirit Shaman Sheriff Braesta.

Brook Saipan is a grumpy redneck and former mentor to the Witcher.

Gou Quan's girlfriend is Prada Lavieu, a Voodoo sorcerer.

Carlos Graf, the bearded, pot-bellied Thor from Iceland.

Tiamat Siro, an Italian down-on-his-luck artist, a master of flattery, and a prophetic poet particularly adept at creating atmosphere.

Francis Martell, a paladin of the Roman Catholic Church from France, was particularly skilled in social interaction.

The gloomy and obscure necromancer Sandru Yoda has already gone far down the path of necromancy.

Farina, a witch with a mad demeanor, adorned with numerous metal ornaments such as earrings, and speaking incoherently.

Thomas Schmidt, a psychic scientist with a melancholy expression, whom Zhao Hao calls the Iron Man.

Blake Lincoln, a bald, muscular Black man with a slicked-back physique that looked like he'd been polished with shoe polish.

Sykes Sturck, a psychic superhuman who appears to have schizophrenia, with two expressions on his face, is secretly referred to as Doctor X by Zhao Hao because of his baldness.

There's also Sam Rice, an 18-year-old from Queens, a telepathic teleporter.

"Damn it, there isn't a single decent person here! How can this be a good thing?" Zhao Hao said indignantly.

Chapter 338 The Art Sanctuary of the Slums

In 80, President Lee Geun came to power. He was quite a legendary figure, being the only president to have started his career as an actor.

He used to act in Hollywood movies, and then he actually became the president. Isn't that a miracle? As far as Zhao Hao's memory, it seems that only Wu Ermao replicated this move.

The year President Lee took office was the most difficult time for Aramco in recent years. During the financial crisis brought about by the second oil crisis, nearly 800 million people in Aramco were unemployed.

Average hourly wages for workers have fallen by 5% since 1976, while the federal government's average personal tax rate is as high as 67%. The national debt is nearly $1 trillion, and the fiscal deficit is severe…

In order to end inflation, President Lee tightened the money supply. This meant stopping the printing of money, reducing the money supply, and actively increasing the value of the US dollar.

This caused a huge uproar. "We're already so poor, and you're still tightening things up? Are you trying to kill me?"

The Aramco economy began its sharp decline in July 1981, and the period leading up to Christmas last year was arguably the worst it had ever been. The Aramco people hadn't experienced such a poor Christmas in nearly a decade…

The economic recession was within Zhao Hao's expectations. After all, in his somewhat unreliable financial knowledge, he vaguely remembered that the actor-turned-President Li was able to be re-elected because he revitalized the economy.

He never imagined that a few words written casually online would lead to such hardship in reality.

To put it simply, there are several times more women dressed in simple clothes standing on the streets in those alleys than in previous years. And the competition is fierce; basically, you can get a piece of paper to do business in one of the alleys.

Moreover, the number of homeless people spending Christmas in sheltered corners of the streets this year is more than three times that of last year!

That day, Zhao Hao and the agents from the Mysterious Bureau were running around capturing various extraordinary creatures from the otherworld, and there were homeless people and beggars in almost every block. This added a lot of trouble to the mission.

Moreover, this is not an ordinary, materialistic world. Economic hardship to this extent is a great frustration and damage to people's hearts.

In this world, widespread negative emotions are not a good thing.

At the time, Zhao Hao didn't know what he could do. He was waiting for the economy to recover so that the high-quality resources he had bought at rock-bottom prices would skyrocket.

He wasn't exactly an Amis, after all; he lacked a sense of belonging and wasn't very responsible.

Besides, he was immediately summoned by Colt and promoted to one of his "thirteen special members," followed by group assignments and medal presentations. He was now filled with vigilance.

History has proven that if Amei suddenly becomes nice to you, it's not a good thing.

He has already started making preparations in secret. If things really come to a head, he will have to retreat as soon as possible.

Of course, the best approach is to maintain a semblance of balance. Since I still have some use, I won't be harmed anytime soon.

……

That day, he was assigned another task: to investigate a missing person case.

This case is a bit strange. It was initially suppressed, and even the intelligence department of the Liberty City branch couldn't get any information. If someone hadn't escaped and attracted the police's attention, it might still be undiscovered.

The incident occurred in a slum in the Bronx, which has a very large slum area that stretches as far as the eye can see.

Especially in the current economic climate, personal and corporate bankruptcies are commonplace. Once you lose your job and can't pay your bills, you might lose your house. The better off sleep in their cars, the worse off are forced to live on the streets with their bedding. Once you're in that situation, there's basically no chance of recovery.

It can be said that in the past two years, the number of "residents" in the nearby slums has more than doubled.

Initially, most of the victims were Black families, but now the group also includes more ethnic minorities and some white homeless people.

This area has a high degree of local autonomy; several large districts could almost stand alone as a new city.

The local government is very fragmented, with a large slum often spanning several counties and consisting of more than a dozen independent towns and districts.

These fragmented local governments are like small businesses, with independent administration and taxation, serving only taxpayers within their own jurisdictions, which greatly exacerbates polarization.

The result is that wealthy neighborhoods have high taxes, good security, and beautiful public infrastructure.

The slums have low tax revenue, abandoned infrastructure, disbanded fire brigades, and no sense of security.

The cheap apartments in the Bronx slums are made up of countless illegal buildings that form a sprawling, interconnected complex that often envelops the streets. The oldest of these buildings are probably over a hundred years old.

You lean on me, I support you, he connects you and me, we are all intertwined and haphazardly connected, forming a three-dimensional behemoth, like a monster formed from ruins... somewhat like the Kowloon Walled City.

The police basically don't go here anymore. The nearby police station has been closed, and many alley entrances have been specially blocked off so that police cars can't get in.

Furthermore, the police are unwilling to go in, as the probability of dying while on duty in this area is actually quite high. They are even reluctant to respond to calls for help.

That's why we talk about autonomy.

Generally, whatever happens here is handled by the local gangs or community themselves. Calling the police usually doesn't solve the problem, and they might only come to check on things for a couple of days, ask a few questions, and then leave.

Yesterday, a black man stumbled out of the slums, saying there were man-eating monsters there.

To be honest, even secret agents in black wouldn't want to go into a place like this.

It's practically a three-dimensional, dark ant nest built from industrial ruins; you're bound to get lost if you go inside.

What's more, there's always a blank-faced pauper staring at you from any corner, or a homeless person lying oblivious to their fate in a tiny crevice, or a group of malicious gang members, or even a drug addict driven mad...

However, extraordinary events must not be delayed; this is an ironclad rule.

To date, no extraordinary event has ever been resolved on its own by simply dragging it out. In most cases, the longer it's delayed, the more serious the situation becomes.

It is conservatively estimated that there are 15,000 permanent residents in this slum, but the exact number is impossible to count because the population is too large.

Some people may suddenly appear one day, stay for more than ten days, and then suddenly disappear one day. It's impossible to know whether they left or died.

Stepping into the entrance of a slum, the stench emanating from the unattended streets assaults the nostrils, and through the open doorway, an even more foul and terrifying stench of poverty permeates the air...

What one could see were exhausted and hungry mothers, dirty babies, old women who looked like witches, lazy and slovenly young girls, and thin, emaciated homeless men leaning against the corner of the wall, panting.

The faces hiding behind the doors and windows were all wary.

……

"Was this place always like this? The psionic fluctuations are too high!" Zhao Hao asked, wrinkling his nose.

To be honest, having overly sensitive senses can sometimes be a weakness. For example, right now, the smell is too strong for Zhao Hao to bear.

He pretended to touch his nose and created a small barrier to cover it.

A black-clad agent, flipping through files, replied, "While the psionic reactions were quite intense and fluctuated frequently before, they improved significantly after using the department's negative emotion dispelling array. The current state is likely a change that occurred after Christmas..."

Now, on the psionic testing device, the psionic energy reaction of those dozen-story-high ruins in front of us exceeds that of ordinary superhumans. This is abnormal; it's excessively high. This isn't the other world!

"How come we only just realized this now? Why is the intelligence department becoming more and more useless?" Zhao Hao complained.

You always only find out when things get out of hand. What use are you guys? I could hire a few old ladies from the street who are better informed than you.

The black-clad agent glanced around, then leaned close to Zhao Hao and whispered, "Zhao sir, it's said that someone has once again secretly blocked the intelligence department's information channels, even the sources of information about those supernatural items have become invalid..."

Zhao Hao suddenly realized that, just like the last wave of Japanese ninjas, someone was secretly setting up a mysterious scheme.

He gestured with his chin toward the slums a few dozen meters away. "Did Colt say what to do about this place?"

The agent said, "The boss has already consulted with the higher-ups, but they don't agree to demolish it. After all, the economy is bad right now, and they simply don't have the financial resources to move this slum. Besides, there are several places like this in Liberty City. The higher-ups said..."

"What are you saying?"

"They said that as long as the impact could be contained within the slums, the mission would be accomplished."

"Holy crap..." This is a complete abandonment of the poor people here. Life and death are predestined, and wealth is determined by fate!

Zhao Hao recalled the blond young man he had seen last Christmas. He later famously said, "Maybe this is life."

It was decided from the moment we were born.

Zhao Hao now has a choice: simply create a large barrier to seal off this place, and no matter what kind of monsters come out, his mission will be completed.

He could also take the opportunity to skim some money from the bureau's coffers. After all, what big project doesn't involve someone else?