When the early morning sun shone from the sky, Munch and his party of three had already entered the urban area of Dent City.
Monk kept thinking about the duel match that Apu mentioned last night. If the prize is really an obsidian fragment, it would be worth taking the time to see. Apu had no other companions on this trip. In a chaotic city like Dante, being accompanied by two men, Monk and Calvin, gave him a lot of sense of security. Monk invites Apu to follow him until the duel starts tonight.
This move is not only a gentlemanly gesture towards the girl, but also more of a hibernation before getting the truth. Apu's appearance is definitely not simple. Even though she can easily hit what she wants most in her heart, she cannot take it lightly.
Munch asked Bobo to search for relevant information last night. Because the mechanical creature duel competition has always existed illegally, Bobo did not find any more information, only a text message:
"The scale of the mechanical biological duel in Dante City is getting bigger and bigger, and the amount involved is expected to reach tens of billions of dollars. It has gradually become a pillar industry in Dante City. Due to the lack of corresponding law enforcement agencies, in this brutally growing economic form, various forces have They are all full of interest and have been coveting it for a long time.”
Because there are no water drop trucks in Dante, several people can only choose to walk. This makes Calvin particularly uncomfortable. He usually lacks exercise and starts sweating profusely after taking a few steps, and his voice of complaint never stops.
The height of the sun gradually increases and the temperature becomes hotter. Apu's hand didn't move very much. The top of the black umbrella was equipped with a positioning device, which could be adjusted synchronously according to different angles of the sun, so that Apu was always in the center of the shadow under the umbrella.
"How far are we from our destination?" Calvin's back was wet with sweat again, and white sweat stains had formed on his clothes.
"It's not too far. It's five blocks away. No. 34 Yorkan Street. At the current speed, we'll be there in forty minutes at most."
"Forty minutes?" After hearing this, Calvin was instantly exhausted and didn't want to take another step forward. He hasn't had a good rest since last night. "When I go back, I must file a complaint with Lauterlane Company to classify Dent City outside the service scope. This stupid behavior clearly violates the basic rights of citizens to survive!"
"Then you rest where you are. Apu and I will go ahead. Someone will greet you later." The two of them smiled at Calvin and walked straight forward, ignoring Calvin.
In the alleys of the surrounding buildings, there were several naked, dark-skinned homeless men leaning against each other. Their eyes were always looking at Calvin, who had thin skin and tender flesh, like hunters coveting their prey.
Looking at the two people walking further and further away, Calvin also noticed the homeless man who was about to move. He subconsciously covered his sweaty collar and yelled: "Wait, I'm coming." He ran forward desperately. , shed sweat along the way.
"Have you seen the people next to you? They look like they are trying to eat people?" Calvin finally caught up. Before he could adjust his breathing, he spoke intermittently.
"Dante City is quite normal during the day. When night falls, you will know what the real city of chaos is." Apu said lightly, obviously she had done a lot of homework before coming.
Munch noticed that the architecture in Dante was very different from the architecture in other places. Both sides of the street are dominated by low-rise buildings with a height of four or five stories. The roofs and main bodies of the buildings are largely red, giving the entire city a sense of uncontrollable excitement. Perhaps it was to cover up the blood that spewed out from time to time? The thoughts in Munch's mind began to get wild.
At the alley entrance of two low-rise buildings in front, under two-story red eaves, two six- or seven-year-old boys stuck their heads out and looked at the three foreigners on the road, their eyes shining brightly.
One of the children wearing a blue tattered hat ran up to Munch, shook the brightly colored card in his hand, and whispered: "Sir, do you want a ticket? Tickets for tonight's mechanical creature duel, fidelity ." The child's eyes looked at the other little boy hiding at the entrance of the alley from time to time, his eyes full of longing.
At this time, Calvin had already got into Apu's black umbrella to avoid the direct sunlight, and was chattering endlessly about the interesting things he encountered as a policeman. His generous body and the obstruction of the umbrella edge made Munch's position , becoming a blind spot in sight.
"How much does one cost?"
"Each card is only 1 domain yuan." The child licked the dead skin at the corner of his mouth with his tongue, and his throat squirmed slightly.
"How many do you have in total?"
"Sir, there are only three in total. Tickets for the Mechanical Biological Duel are hard to buy. I managed to get these three."
"Just in time, my friend and I have one ticket each." Munch took the ticket and was about to use the implant to pay for it. Suddenly he realized the mistake he had made, and then he looked for it in his pocket and took out a ticket filled with The crumpled banknotes were handed to the little boy. "Here is 20 Yuan. You can take it without looking for it. Is that your brother at the entrance of the alley?"
"Well, yes, he is 4 and a half years old this year." The little boy took the money and bowed deeply to Monk: "Thank you, sir. I wish you a happy watching the game tonight." Then he ran over as fast as he could. , the two children held up the money, hugged each other and cheered.
"Come, please come and watch tonight's final. It's a good seat."
Munch walked a few steps quickly, caught up with the two people who were some distance away, and handed the tickets in his hands to the two of them respectively. The two couldn't help laughing as they looked at the crude children's hand-painted tickets.
"Are you soft-hearted? Are you fooled by such an obvious person?" Apu's voice was full of tenderness.
"Those two children probably haven't had enough to eat for a long time, and they haven't had any body implants. I really don't know how they can live."
"Relying on countless people like you." Apu continued, "You think your money will help them? This is Dent City, the city of chaos. Those children are just tools, just like their hand-painted tickets. , a tool for inspiring compassion.”
Munch turned around and saw that the two children had disappeared at the entrance of the alley and disappeared.
"However, I still accepted it as a gift." Apu folded the hand-painted ticket and put it in his pocket.
Munch took the ticket in his hand and looked at it in the sun.
A total of four biomechanical combinations were drawn on the ticket, two in front and two in back. From his childish brushstrokes, Munch struggled to recognize the images of the four creatures, namely spotted hyena, giraffe, wild boar and mandrill. As for the mechanical transformation part, it was really impossible to recognize, so in the end I had to ask Bobo for help.
Munch put the hand-drawn tickets into the scanning port of the implant. After searching and matching, Bobo redrawn the images of the four creatures and presented them to Munch through the screen of the implant.
The spots on Spotted Hyena No. 1 were replaced with circular mechanical holes. Sharp steel needles protruded from the holes. The tops of the steel needles burst out ultra-high-voltage arcs. The armor composed of arcs covered the spotted hyena. Protection is in the center.
Giraffe No. 2 has a foldable metal armor re-implanted on its neck. Munch speculates that it can freely expand and contract the length of its neck according to different situations. The mask covered with barbs on the head changed its original benevolent temperament. The red eyes were filled with bloodshot eyes. Judging from the reflection of the pupils, laser devices should be installed in the eyes to prevent them from being hit by the opponent when they fall. control.
…
Although Munch's footsteps still closely followed Apu, his mind was silent in the sea of mechanical transformation, unable to extricate himself. His mind even began to imagine the scene of a duel, with adrenaline soaring and mechanical weapons colliding. Munch even felt that even if there was no Because of the obsidian fragments, I would also go and watch them.
Calvin's noisy voice sounded again, pointing to a road sign not far ahead covered with various graffiti elements, and shouted loudly; "No. 34 Yorkan Street, we are finally here."
Munch came to his senses, hid the pattern drawn by Bobo, and quickly walked to the front.
It was a long and narrow alley, only big enough for two people to walk side by side. The black umbrella Apu held up just filled the space of the alley. The walls on both sides were full of traces of time, mottled and worn, and now there were scratches from Apu's black umbrella. Seeing this, Apu pressed the hidden button on the umbrella handle with his thumb, and the edge of the umbrella automatically shrank toward the center and was adjusted to a suitable size.
The pavement of the alley is paved with bluestone slabs that are inconsistent with the style of the surrounding roads, and the gaps are filled with uneven cobblestones. At the end of the alley is a small Chinese-style courtyard with a carved wooden plaque that reads "Lao Deng's Grocery Store".
Munch stepped forward and pulled the brass knocker on the door, but no one answered. Munch put his face close to the crack of the door, wanting to see the environment inside the small courtyard. A strange smell wafted out from the depths of the courtyard. Munch quickly covered his nose with his hands, turned to the other two people and said, "Do you smell it? What is this smell? It's too fishy."
Calvin also walked up the steps to the door, "Can't we find out if we go in and take a look?" As he spoke, he pushed gently, and the door was unlocked and opened slowly.
Munch shouted a few words inside, but still no one answered. Just as he was hesitating, Calvin stepped forward, crossed the threshold, and stepped into the door. Monk and Apu saw this and followed him into the yard.
The alley is very narrow, but the internal space is unusually wide. The top of the yard is a ceiling that can simulate real-time sky conditions, giving people the feeling of being outdoors. The two sides of the yard are lined with shelves, and the shelves are all filled with daily necessities, which is in line with the positioning of a grocery store.
Between the shelves, a winding passage disappeared behind the last shelf, and a strange fishy smell came from that location.
Along with the fishy smell, the sound of breathing became louder and louder. A dark cloud formed on the ceiling of the sky, seeming to match the sound of breathing, dimming the light in the entire space.
"How about we wait here, it's no longer good to break into the yard without permission." Apu told the two men beside him in a low voice, for fear of waking up unknown creatures behind the shelves.
"What's the matter? Shouldn't grocery stores be open to everyone? Miss Apu, don't be afraid. I'm here, no problem." Calvin's male hormones were completely stimulated in front of Apu, suppressing his heart. The emotion of fear moved towards the end of the passage.
"You wait where you are, and we'll go take a look." Monk followed closely behind Calvin.
The strong fishy smell made both of them feel sick. Several times, if it weren't for the fact that Apu was looking at him from behind, Calvin could hardly suppress the surging mixture.
When he reached the end, Calvin held his hand on the edge of the shelf and carefully poked his head over. In the darkness, an invisible sense of oppression made his pupils dilate instantly.
He turned his head, with an ugly expression on his face, and said to Munch tremblingly: "Look, what is that thing lying in that corner?"
