Brother Scar sniffed and said, "It's not like there's no delicious food in the outer city."
Chen An blinked his eyes, a little confused.
The two stepped onto the heavy wooden bridge, and the scene in front of them changed the cleanliness and beauty of the inner city.
The gray-white gravel on the ground is covered with cigarette butts, cans, chewing gum husks and other garbage. The surrounding houses are dilapidated and stained with oil. Tin cans and plastic sheets are lying on the ground basking in the sun. They are in ragged clothes and are severely malnourished. The out-of-towner with no sparkle in his eyes...
All these make up the scenery of the outer city.
It seems that every element is telling Chen An.
This is a slum.
Chen An's nose moved slightly and his brows furrowed slightly. He hadn't noticed it before when he was in the outer city. The smell here was... a bit unpleasant.
Sweat, garbage, and debris look dry and disgusting under the scorching sun.
After staying in the outer city for a long time, I got used to it, but as soon as I came out of the inner city, the difference was huge compared with the air in the inner city.
Brother Scar led the way, and Chen An followed beside him, slightly slower than half a step.
Passing through messy houses and dilapidated tents, they came to a house that could be considered a "house".
This house is made of wooden boards and steel bars, and is divided into two parts: an open roof on the outside and a normal house on the inside.
There are a few scattered tables and chairs under the ceiling, covered with washed white cloth.
“Very clean.”
This was Chen An's first impression of those pieces of cloth.
Even though the surrounding area is full of oil stains, the area around this store is relatively clean.
"Brother Scar."
A woman wearing an apron walked out of the door of the shop. The woman's hair was messy, permed into twist-like curls, and hung on her shoulders and back.
Her skin was dark, and her lips were thick, showing outward pink lips, with a dark gold lip nail on them.
When she saw Brother Scar, she said hello and put a smile on her face.
"Welcome from afar, Brother Scar is here, and the little house is full of glory."
Chen An blinked. This wording was a bit strange, as if it was too deliberate.
Brother Scar patted Chen An on the shoulder and told Chen An not to worry.
They found a seat on the right side and sat on the tall stools.
The stool is round and supported by three wooden legs driven into the gravel.
Very stable to sit on.
"This is Mruzawa, the owner of this noodle shop." Brother Scar adjusted the collar of his black shirt and waved to Mruzawa: "Zawa, two bowls of noodles, two stacks of salted dried radish. "
There was a smile on Mluzhawa's dark face. Her voice was a bit dry and hoarse by nature, but her tone was humble: "Okay, Brother Scar, there is a new batch of potatoes in the store today. Do you need to make some mashed potatoes?" ?”
When Brother Scar and Chen An heard the word potato, their hearts trembled subconsciously.
"No need." Brother Scar shook his head.
Seeing Mruzhawa walking back into the house, Chen An looked at Brother Scar in confusion.
"Mruzawa, strange name."
Brother Scar rolled up his sleeves, put his arms on the round table covered with washed white tablecloth, and glanced at the surroundings.
"On the dark side, people from all over the world will appear, whether it's our east or the far west.
Zawa is a player from a country close to the equatorial region, and in the outer city, she is already amazing. "
Chen An nodded: "I can feel that this noodle shop is very clean."
He touched the tablecloth. The tablecloth was dry and white after washing, but it showed that it was clean.
The gravel floor in the outer city easily stirred up dust, but it was invisible on the tablecloth.
Compared to the bullies like John and Monkey who blackmail newcomers, businessmen like Mruzhawa are too rare in the outer city.
At least Chen An has never seen it before.
"Actually, people from outside the city are quite pitiful." Chen An sighed and said, "But this is what they asked for themselves. If they don't face the dangers of the story world, they have to accept other bad things, such as poverty."
Brother Scar snorted and took out a beautiful leather box from his pocket. After opening it, he shook out two white paper rolls.
"Want one? There's no place that sells cigarettes. I rolled this myself. Don't mind it." Brother Scar pushed one in front of Chen An's eyes.
Chen An nodded.
He doesn't smoke much, but Brother Scar said so, so let's try it.
After becoming a mutant, the cells in the body were probably changed by strange substances. Wasn't Ding Ping's congenital heart disease also cured after becoming an "idiot"?
A few puffs should have no effect on the body.
Brother Scar took out a fire stick, lit it, took a deep breath, and sprayed out gray-white smoke. The smoke was very thick and dispersed after it was sprayed out.
Chen An smelled it and felt choked.
He followed Brother Scar's example, picked up the fire stick on the table, and lit the cigarette without the holder in his hand.
He took a small sip.
Immediately afterwards.
"Cough cough...cough cough cough..."
In an instant, his eyes were red and his nose felt like it was about to flow out.
"It's so choking." Chen An twitched the corners of his mouth and frowned.
Laughter came from Brother Scar's nose, the corners of his mouth slightly raised, and he looked at Chen An with a scarred face.
"Just get used to it. You know, this cigarette from Brother Scar is enough to make many people from outside the city work for me."
"So terrifying?" Chen An blinked, not quite understanding: "Aren't they unable to afford food?"
Brother Scar sighed: "Yes, not only that, they also have to face the threat of secret organizations. The existence of secret organizations is like a time bomb to the dark world. They preach that joining can lead to happiness, but they really join. , the ending is often extremely tragic.”
"I have never met anyone from the secret organization until now."
Chen An looked at the cigarette in his hand. It felt very precious, but he really couldn't get used to it.
"Otherwise, why is the secret organization called a secret organization?" Brother Scar said in a low voice: "Everyone you see may be a lunatic from the secret organization. Before they go crazy, they will pretend to be like normal players and normal outsiders. "
Indeed, Chen An nodded heartily, bad people would not have the word "bad guy" written on their faces.
"The people in the outer city actually have a hard life. I feel that it is better to survive and live a good life in the story world than to suffer in the outer city." Chen An sighed.
These people from outside the city have to experience not having enough food and clothing, not having good housing, and they have to be careful about the existence of secret organizations.
Living like this is so tiring.
Anyway, Chen An felt that even if he were an ordinary person, he would not choose to become a rat in the outer city.
"You can't say that." Brother Scar smiled lowly, his voice becoming a little hoarse from smoking.
Chen An looked over.
"You said that in this environment, it takes courage to enter the story world and face the deadly weirdness.
Or does it take more courage to survive in this environment? "
Brother Scar's deep voice echoed in Chen An's ears.
Chen An was slightly stunned when he heard this.
After a while, he said: "I feel that short-term pain is worse than long-term pain, and it is better to give it a try than to linger. But when it comes to courage... I can't tell the difference. I feel that they are not comparable."
Brother Scar smiled.
"You are right, but what do you think is the biggest difficulty that people from outside the city face?"
Chen An immediately said: "If you don't have enough to eat, you don't have enough clothes to wear."
Brother Scar shook his head and said seriously:
"Chen An, your thoughts are still stuck in the real world. This is very dangerous in the dark world. You have to know that no matter if you become a mutant, you may face loss of control and madness at any time.
Still in the story world, you have to face the weirdness.
It is also a secret organization hidden in the dark side.
These are all things that require you to resist with your most determined thoughts and your most tenacious will. You have to remember to keep your humanity at all times. "
Brother Scar pointed to his left chest and said solemnly:
“People from outside the city have to face the biggest difficulties.
It's your own soul.
If you don't have enough to eat and don't have warm clothes, you can still live frugally and live on.
But they trapped newcomers and murdered their companions, but they were experiencing mental torture all the time.
Once their spirits collapse, even on the verge of collapse, the lunatics of the secret organization will stalk them like tarsal drives and plunge them into complete destruction. "
Chen An nodded seriously.
Brother Scar is telling himself the importance of mental stability.
Brother Scar said in a low voice:
"Brother An, now, let me ask you a question. This is also one of the factors to avoid going crazy."
Chen An looked at Brother Scar in front of him and suddenly felt a sense of déjà vu.
Brother Scar is like a teacher, and he is sitting in front of the podium in the classroom, and now he is called to ask questions.
"You said it." Chen An said.
Brother Scar said:
“Where does the poverty of people from outer cities come from?”
Chen An pondered for a moment and said slowly:
"Hungry, naked, without a house, emptiness and suffering in the soul."
Brother Scar said nothing when he heard this.
Chen An was a little nervous. Did he answer wrong?
Brother Scar sighed and said: "Do you still remember what I said? Every player is actually a hero. Although the players are forced to experience the terrifying story world, every player in the story world uses his own How about using our lives to fight against pollution and protect reality?”
When Chen An heard this, his eyes suddenly shrank.
He suddenly understood something.
He also thought of the "idiot" belief of Ding Ping.
After a while, Chen An said hoarsely: "I think I know."
Brother Scar looked at Chen An.
Chen An half lowered his head, squinted his eyes slightly, clenched his fist with his right hand, rubbed his temples with the knuckle of his middle finger, and said:
"The poverty of people in outer cities,
The greatest poverty,
To be unwanted, unloved, and uncared for. "
