Chapter 2 : It Is Her (1/2)

She dug out the parasitic organism, then placed the egg-sized worm-like parasite into her backpack along with the previously collected vine parasite, and continued scavenging.

A total of 156 Federal copper coins.

“Cursing at someone means you pay compensation.”

“We’re even now.”

Even? 

This damn well isn’t even!

The pig-hoofed man looked incredulous and full of fear.

Once finished, she grabbed one of his legs and dragged him toward the river… 

When he realized what she was about to do, terror took over. 

He whimpered, his two pig-hoofed hands clawing at the ground in a futile attempt to resist.

Useless.

His fingers left deep scratches in the dirt.

He was still alive, not entirely dead. 

She pulled out the small arrow lodged in his neck and, before the blood could gush out, threw him into the river…

As soon as he hit the corrosive section of the river, there was a splash, and his skin started sizzling.

Cursing only required paying a fine.

But repeated sexual harassment?

That required a life.

Huo You turned to leave. 

After a series of actions, her face looked pale from exertion. 

She deliberately scraped her boots over the claw marks left by the man, erasing traces. 

She also placed the crude iron crossbow and the used small arrow into her backpack. 

But under the brim of her cap, her face remained expressionless. 

She simply pulled out a cloth from her backpack and wiped the few traces of dirty blood off her protective gloves.

Behind her, the corrosive river surface still rippled with the struggles of a dying man, his body dissolving in the toxic waters.

Her desires and ambitions always grew silently, unstoppable.

No matter which world she was in.

She moved quickly, soon returning to the garbage truck and the raft. 

She boarded the raft and drifted downstream…

Five minutes later, she reached the lower stream, abandoned the raft, and let it dissolve completely in the corrosive water.

Then, she pulled the garbage cart into the Garbage Dump, deliberately stepping into some thick, sticky substances to cover up her original tracks.

Time could be calculated.

Lives too.

At the outskirts of the Garbage Dump, the overwhelming stench kept most people away. 

Only scavengers, who relied on it to find food, metal, or electronic parts, dared to enter.

For someone like Huo You, with a weak immune system, she wouldn’t have survived here if it weren’t for the lowest-grade protective suit she earned by working at the pizza shop processing food waste. 

Just a few breaths of the air here could infect her with at least three diseases.

Some scavengers noticed her and eyed her protective suit greedily, but the large, bright red tomato logo on it made them hesitate and keep their distance.

Huo You walked for about ten minutes and found an area with many abandoned metal parts, most of them relatively new. 

Regular scavengers couldn’t access this place. 

She overturned her garbage cart.

The disgusting mix of solid and liquid waste gurgled as it seeped into the crevices of the metal scraps.

Bacteria clashed, fused, and emitted a chemically colored stench.

Huo You watched expressionlessly, silently thinking: Reactions are just energy fluctuations.

“Hey, Huo You, you’re here again? Isn’t the college entrance exam coming up? Still working so hard?”

“Did you buy your holographic helmet?”

A familiar scavenger, Zhang Ke, greeted her and asked with concern.

Huo You glanced at his left hand, which was always tucked in his pocket, hesitated for a second, then replied, “I bought it. It has already arrived.”

Arrived? 

Got it? 

Is it with her or at her house?

Zhang Ke discreetly observed her body. 

Given the size of the helmet, it was impossible for her to be carrying it. 

That meant it was at her house…

As they watched Huo You, several scavengers’ hands moved toward the bulges in their waist pockets.

Knives.

But their eyes flickered between her and the tomato logo on her suit…

She seemed oblivious, instead glancing at the nearby junk piles. 

Many of the old metal and electronic scraps were missing.

Something was “digesting” them.

Soon, Zhang Ke and the other hesitant scavengers watched as Huo You pulled her emptied garbage cart and left.

Zhang Ke narrowed his eyes, feeling annoyed. 

He had hinted multiple times that Huo You should pair with him, and he was even willing to provide her with a daily ration. 

But she always pretended not to understand. 

She must be involved with that pizza shop owner, Jones. 

Otherwise, did she really think the government’s assigned breeding partner would be better than him?

He spat on the ground, touched the knife in his pocket, and his gaze darkened.

Huo You lived in the northern outskirts of the Garbage Dump. 

Her rundown wooden hut wasn’t particularly filthy, but scavengers still found it unlivable. 

The only valuable thing there was her—her age, her gender, and her untainted, unbred body.

If it weren’t for her employment at Jones’ shop, she would have already been…

The door closed, and the dimly lit interior was illuminated by the flickering tin oil lamp. 

The burning metal scent filled the air along with the light.

In the corner, a modified textile machine had traces of metal smelting. 

Beside it, a reaction furnace contained a sediment of corrosive liquid—not a naturally formed mixture, but one carefully crafted through various bacterial cultures.

Without any professional equipment, she extracted, synthesized, and smelted electronic and metal scraps using only materials scavenged from the Garbage Dump and the pizza shop’s waste.

With a clank, the heavy crossbow was placed aside. 

Huo You glanced at her wrist—it was swollen and red.

Decline syndrome, leading to weakness and fatigue.

Her small arrow was now useless, and this body was reaching its limits.

Her wristband showed that her fever had risen from 40°C to 41°C. 

With her exhausted body and worsening immune system, bacterial infections were progressing rapidly, pushing her fever even higher.

…

Huo You let out a deep breath and took out two parasitic organisms. 

She used a steel needle to pierce the gland of one vine parasite. 

Nutrient fluid seeped out and dripped onto her skin, naturally absorbing. 

The pain was intense, but the nutrients nourished her frail, antibody-deficient body, killing off bacteria… and strengthening her physical form.

Jones and the others always assumed she was just an ordinary Decline Syndrome patient.

But they didn’t know—she was a pure double-zero Decline Syndrome carrier.

If they did, they would never have thought that her family still cared about her…

A true double-zero individual could never come from a bloodline family. 

According to the ironclad law of genetic breeding, both family lines must have a genetic index above zero. 

No matter how you add it up, it was impossible to result in a “zero” pairing. 

Generally, a double-zero individual was either the result of unnatural birth—deformed due to environmental interference—or the product of two parents who were both zero-type Decline Syndrome carriers. 

Generation after generation, inheriting poverty and weakness, ultimately forming an unbounded double-zero Decline Syndrome case.

It was nothing short of shameful.

It was also irrefutable genetic proof—she could not possibly be a child of the Huo family.

So…

Anyone on Brook Star who received that message would understand that no matter what they did to her, the Huo family would never seek revenge.

After fully absorbing the nutrients, Huo You picked up the machete, placed it into the reaction furnace, and watched it dissolve.

She had to temper and refine it before nightfall.

While waiting, she walked over to the garbage cart, took out a portion of the stored corrosive liquid, and mixed it with additional metal fragments. 

She then placed the mixture back into the garbage cart, pulled it outside to an open area ten meters away, and opened the cart’s door, letting the scent disperse…

This same scent had appeared in different areas of the Garbage Dump in recent days, forming a subtle path, leading from the Garbage Dump’s depths to its outskirts, then to the northern suburbs…

Once she finished her work inside, she picked up the few things she had managed to take from the Huo family. 

Aside from a few scraps of clothing, nothing else was allowed—except for the Little Overlord Learning Machine, which the Education Bureau mandated under the Juvenile Education Protection Act.

She was required to periodically complete basic coursework on it. 

It had no internet access, and she had to regularly submit assignments and study reports. 

The Bureau didn’t care how well she learned—only that they provided the baseline education. 

There was no aftercare.

Because of these strict educational regulations, even in a place known as the Land of Exile, everyone on Brook knew that once you turned eighteen, you had to take the college entrance exam—as long as you had a holographic helmet.

Huo You powered on the Little Overlord Learning Machine, but instead of launching the study program, she accessed the device’s internal system. 

She connected the chip slot at the back to a signal receiver—one she had salvaged and refurbished over three years of scavenging.

But this was only half of the signal receiver. 

The other half was not here.

Beep beep beep. 

Connection established.

Beep beep beep. 

Full connection achieved.

Soon, the screen displayed the educational course startup. 

The daily learning task was activated. 

Her eyes moved to the signal location address at the bottom of the screen—a small town.

The other half of the signal receiver was in that small town.

She scanned through the test questions but didn’t start answering them immediately. 

Instead, she reviewed all of them first.

Then, she scheduled all the answers to be submitted at different time intervals…

Starting at 5:00 PM.

From this moment on, according to official records, Huo You of Brook had been doing her homework the entire time.