Chapter 92 – Advanced Technology
Tu Ran glanced at Xie Xu with a complex expression.
Xie Xu completely ignored the woman in front of him, walking around her without any hesitation.
Once he left, the woman’s attention shifted entirely to Tu Ran.
“Hey, handsome—” She even leaned towards Tu Ran.
Startled, Tu Ran quickly stepped back to avoid her.
“I’m a woman!” Tu Ran said.
After she spoke, Tu Ran noticed the woman’s eyes go blank for a moment, her body stiffening as if her wire-made brain couldn’t process the fact that she had mistaken the gender of her customer.
Just when Tu Ran thought the woman would move on to her next target, she suddenly smiled, her expression as seductive as before, “We serve women too.”
This statement hit Tu Ran like a tidal wave.
She quickly bypassed the woman and fled in panic.
Catching up to Xie Xu, Tu Ran finally breathed a sigh of relief.
She vaguely heard a low chuckle from Xie Xu.
She could already imagine him silently calling her an idiot again.
“Truly, in a technologically advanced society, even the means for addressing physiological needs are so sophisticated,” Tu Ran sneered.
“Advanced technology doesn’t equate to advanced civilization.”
“This place is still under federal jurisdiction, and it’s such a mess,” Tu Ran criticized. “In my hometown, these things are illegal and would never happen.”
Xie Xu replied indifferently, “Every city has places where the light doesn’t reach. You say your city is wonderful because you live in a good part of it. You’ve never ventured into the darker areas.”
Tu Ran opened her mouth but had nothing to say.
Alright, he had a point.
“Don’t the federals care about this?” Tu Ran asked, looking around.
There were many mechanical beings like the woman just now, almost every few steps she saw another one.
“They can’t manage it. If all this were banned, some people’s violent impulses would have no outlet and would shift to other areas like robbery, rebellion, murder… these would harm federal interests.”
“So, the existence of the black market is tacitly approved by the Federation?” Tu Ran’s tone was heavy.
“More or less,” Xie Xu said.
Tu Ran fell silent.
Xie Xu’s demeanor also grew colder.
It was an unpleasant topic.
They finally arrived at the suspended electric rail station, and the two of them boarded the train one after the other.
Tu Ran found a seat and sat down. After an entire afternoon of activity, she was sore and exhausted and didn’t want to stand.
Xie Xu stood about four or five meters away, leaning against a handrail with his arms crossed, his hat pulled low over his eyes, staring at the ground, lost in thought.
Neither of them spoke again.
Now, they were strangers.
The train smoothly started and headed to the next station.
The Ansa black market was nearly an hour’s ride from the administration building.
People got on and off intermittently during the ride.
As the doors closed again, a mechanical female voice announced, “Next stop, Yongchang Station. Please prepare to disembark.”
The next stop after Yongchang Station was Dawn Station, where Tu Ran would get off.
She was finally going home to rest, and she felt a surge of joy.
She planned to take a hot bath, apply some medicine to her body, and then immediately lie down in bed and sleep until tomorrow.
Suddenly, screams erupted from the front of the car, interrupting Tu Ran’s thoughts.
“Ah—ah—ah!”
The screams of women and children mixed with the curses of men and the sound of rapid footsteps.
A man running quickly reached their carriage, shouting, “Run! Someone up front has gone mad and is biting people!”
Without further explanation, he ran into the next carriage.
