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Chapter 46: Are they humans or wombs?
Shen Ti maintained a steadfastly skeptical attitude toward every statement he made.
He had experienced it before and was well aware that An Wujiu, standing before him, was in a cunning and complex stage. It was only because he believed that no one present posed a threat to him that An Wujiu slightly restrained his sharp edges.
Once there was a threat, he would immediately raise the gun in his hand.
In fact, whether good or evil, there was one thing about An Wujiu that remained constant. Under his seemingly affectionate appearance was an unfeeling heart.
No matter how kind, it was equally heartless.
So, when he spoke of protection, one part was true and nine parts were false.
“Why did you pull me just now?”
When he asked this question, Shen Ti knew that An Wujiu probably wouldn’t answer him. Even if he did, it would likely be a vague response.
Sure enough, the arrogant hostility on An Wujiu’s face gradually faded, and he retracted his gun to reload it. When he looked up again, An Wujiu stared at Shen Ti, a smile on his face that was impossible to tell whether it was genuine or fake.
“I haven’t cashed in on my benefits yet. If you die, where will I find some fun?”
After saying this, he walked toward the return service area, with Shen Ti following him. An Wujiu casually glanced at Shen Ti’s hand and noticed that Shen Ti had not pressed down on the wound at all. The place that had been bleeding profusely just moments ago was now completely blood-free.
It was too quick.
“Gloves off, let me see.”
Shen Ti had no intention of hiding, but he also didn’t plan to obediently follow An Wujiu’s words. He extended his hand toward An Wujiu, making a gesture as if to say, “You do it yourself.”
An Wujiu snorted, didn’t even extend his hand, and glanced at the slit in the gloves. The nearly dried blood concealed the faintly visible wound.
Something was not right.
But An Wujiu was unaware of whether this rapid healing was due to the game or Shen Ti himself.
He recalled Shen Ti’s words when his hand was injured, “It’s nothing to me.”
Was it really nothing?
Seeing An Wujiu remain silent, Shen Ti withdrew his hand on his own and said, “It doesn’t hurt.”
An Wujiu found this person inexplicable, “Did I ask you?”
Shen Ti paused, continued walking forward, and continued speaking nonsensically, “Once in the game, a long time ago, I had my left arm chopped off by a monster, the entire arm, starting from here.” He gestured to his left shoulder for An Wujiu to see.
But An Wujiu found it ridiculous. He had no intention of listening to a story, and he coldly chuckled.
However, Shen Ti regarded this laughter as a response and continued, “At that time, I thought I could finally die; although it hurt a bit, there was a sense of relief in my heart.”
“However, that monster just didn’t continue attacking me. As if it had visual impairments, after cutting off my arm, it ran in another direction and killed others.” Shen Ti’s green eyes seemed to flicker like fireflies, which was very beautiful. “Later, I reflected on it. It was probably because that person screamed, attracting the monster’s attention. I didn’t think to scream at the time.”
Despite the dry description, even lacking a decent portrayal, An Wujiu unexpectedly felt a bit curious.
But he suppressed it and had no intention of asking further.
In the distance, An Wujiu heard Wu You’s voice, seemingly arguing vehemently about something.
Shen Ti spoke slowly, as if talking to himself, “Later, I picked up the severed arm myself and walked to a place that seemed easy to encounter monsters, but I was too tired. So, I sat on the ground and fell asleep while holding my arm.”
After finishing the story, he looked at An Wujiu, almost sighing, “Still didn’t manage to die.”
For a brief moment, An Wujiu thought about ending this guy’s life with the gun in his hand, but the next second he changed his mind.
It might be better to keep him alive for more torment.
Either way, both ideas were extremely cruel.
“It’s lucky to have a strong will to live.” An Wujiu raised an eyebrow. “If you really want to die, you can leave that life to me.”
His tone seemed to be pre ordaining a new medal on his shoulder or a long-awaited exquisite stamp.
Not only that, An Wujiu also deliberately patted Shen Ti’s left arm.
As they spoke, they had already reached the entrance of the return room.
An Wujiu frowned.
There was the laughter of a baby inside.
Yang Erci woke up from her coma, and the scene before her left her speechless.
They were in a place resembling a factory, with densely packed living pods on both sides and a whole wall to the north. The pods were organized like a beehive, with variously colored women inside. Outside each pod, there were labels displaying information such as their weight, height, blood type, education level, and more. The only thing missing were their names.
Yes, no names, but they had their own numbers.
These women were locked in the pods like some kind of animal. Some were undergoing cleaning, a process that was convenient and didn’t even require changing locations. Water sprayed from above, quickly stopping, and the next step was drying.
Hot air gushed from all sides of the pod, and they waited naked for the drying process to finish. However, they were not allowed to put on clothes, perhaps because clothing would affect the system’s monitoring of the fetus’s health. In any case, they stayed like this, exposing their precious bellies.
More delicate and smaller robotic arms appeared in the pods, distributing identical food to them and then “voluntarily” injecting them with nutrient injections.
They had no right to refuse.
Throughout the process, they seemed not like humans, not even like living beings.
But like objects, products.
Organs.
After entering the return room, Wu You always felt that Nan Shan was not quite right, not because of physical exhaustion.
For example, at this moment, he saw Nan Shan staring at the “Return Policy” on the wall for a long time, as if lost in thought.
So Wu You also looked over.
[1. After appraisal, if the baby falls into the defective category (having disabilities, congenital diseases, maternal-fetal virus infections, intellectual defects, etc.), 50% of the breeding fee will be refunded.
2. If the baby dies within seven days of birth, 50% of the breeding fee will be refunded, and the customization fee will be waived for breeding another newborn for you.
3. If the baby is made ill, injured, or dies due to human causes, this institution is not responsible.
4. If not due to the baby’s own reasons, this institution does not accept returns.
5. Babies are special commodities; returns should be cautious. What you are returning may be a beautiful human life.]
The juxtaposition of the first four clauses with the last one is truly ironic.
Wu You turned his face and saw Nan Shan, still lost in thought.
“Hey, Taoist.”
Nan Shan snapped back, turning his face, “What’s wrong?”
“What’s wrong with you?” Wu You frowned. “You’ve been staring into space for a long time.”
“Nothing.” Nan Shan smiled at him but didn’t say anything else. “Check if there are any files or tags; there may be clues in the text materials.”
Josh inspected the baby incubators; almost all the children inside were asleep. There were labels in the upper left corner of the glass incubator, indicating gender, production time, and reasons for return.
These children didn’t even have names, only a cold string of numbers.
“Reason for return: congenital low vision,” Josh read aloud, finding this reason utterly unreasonable. “Why? It’s just a slight vision problem; many people have vision issues. How can you reject a child because of this?”
Nan Shan lowered his head, checking other babies while answering his confusion, “Because fundamentally, they are purchased. Children born by oneself, regardless of the circumstances, are a predetermined result and the crystallization of poured-in love. Therefore, they are more valuable than being too picky.”
“But once they become purchased goods, all you’ve invested is a sperm and an egg, and even the egg is bought. With something obtained by money, there will be a psychological attachment to getting value for money or even getting more than expected. Any flaw is unacceptable.”
Josh felt powerless. Besides this reason, there were many abandonment reasons that were not perfect enough.
Yet, on the other hand, he felt sympathy for couples who couldn’t conceive.
“But people who can’t have children also…”
Nan Shan’s raised lips carried a hint of a bitter smile, “There are plenty of children in the world; it’s just a simple matter to adopt one.”
“But sometimes what they want is not a child that needs proper nurturing but an exclusive item marked with their own identity, used to prove their existence, or even to make themselves ‘complete.’ That’s all.”
“Do people who can’t have children have to use someone else’s uterus to give birth? Since artificial uteri have appeared, why insist on forcing young and beautiful women to sacrifice their bodies?”
Wu You couldn’t accept this viewpoint. Although usually reserved, he felt unable to remain silent at this moment.
“Do you know about the Black Swan? The largest online black market. I saw a recruitment ad there, openly selling various human organs, from internal organs to reproductive organs. At the bottom of the ad was a section for hiring surrogate mothers, with different prices for different requirements: accepting multiple births, $20,000; accepting C-sections, $15,000; graduates from prestigious universities, especially attractive prices. Moreover, for humanitarian reasons, they also offer compensation, such as removing the uterus after childbirth due to danger and compensating $10,000.”
“I don’t have a uterus, and I haven’t seen these surrogate mothers in person, but just from this ad, I know that this is not the right thing to do.” Wu You’s expression was serious. “Operating under such commercial rules, are they humans or just wombs?”
Josh couldn’t find any reason to refute his earlier rudeness, so he sincerely apologized.
Wu You remained silent, and the atmosphere became very heavy. Nan Shan, who was expected to lighten the mood, also chose silence at this moment.
Wu You’s intuition told him that Nan Shan seemed to have a hidden agenda.
Perhaps he was also an abandoned person.
As everyone checked the shelves one by one, Nan Shan finally found an infant incubator in the second-to-last row of the last shelf, without a label.
Inside the incubator was a newborn Caucasian baby who might be only a few weeks old. At first glance, it seemed that there were no apparent disability issues.
Nan Shan noticed that one of the baby’s hands seemed to be tightly clenched, feeling something was amiss. So, he tried to open the incubator, but he couldn’t find any edges to pry open; it was seamlessly sealed.
But using violence to force open the box might harm the baby inside.
So, Nan Shan sat cross-legged, placed the incubator in front of him, calculated the time in his mind, and formed hand seals.
After Nan Shan took down the incubator, Josh unexpectedly found a mini hard drive in the spot where the box was placed. Just like before, it had Nan Shan and Zhong Yirou’s names on it.
On the hard drive that Josh found, his own number was written.
After collecting the hard drive and seeing Nan Shan acting strangely, Josh was about to approach, but Wu You grabbed him and shook his head, whispering that Nan Shan was casting a spell. Josh immediately understood, nodded repeatedly, and stepped back. Although he knew Nan Shan was a Taoist, it was the first time he had seen him perform magic, and he found it fascinating. During this time, several yellow talismans flew out of Nan Shan’s sleeve, and a shimmering golden magic circle appeared on the ground. The six yellow talismans spun around, sticking to every side of the incubator.
A few seconds after Nan Shan began chanting, a golden light flashed, and amidst the silence, there was the sound of shattering glass. The glass cover of the incubator, under the effect of magical power, lifted, and the talismans did not disappear but enveloped the baby in the middle, safely delivering him into Nan Shan’s hands.
“It actually worked?” Josh couldn’t believe his eyes.
Although Wu You knew it was effective, he didn’t want to show praise and admiration deliberately. He said to Nan Shan, “There must be a real solution; what you did is cheating.”
“Cheating is also a kind of ability.” Nan Shan grinned, holding the child’s hand. Temperature-wise, there seemed to be little difference. He gently pried open the child’s tightly clenched little hand, being careful not to apply too much force. After a while, he managed to open it.
Inside was just a small metal sphere, clutched by the child. Nothing else.
He took the small ball, closed the child’s hand, put him back into the incubator, and returned it to its original position.
Setting down the box, Nan Shan lowered his head to observe the nail-sized metal ball in his hand. It was extremely smooth, without any markings.
“It seems like there’s nothing else.” Josh suggested leaving first. “I’m afraid something might happen to them. Yirou fainted, didn’t she?”
That made sense, and Wu You agreed. Just as they were about to leave, they heard banging sounds.
It sounded like banging on the wall, yet also like someone pounding on a door.
Looking toward the door, Wu You saw An Wujiu and Shen Ti approaching.
Before they could figure out what the banging sound was, An Wujiu asked them, “Didn’t you hear the laughter of babies?”
An Wujiu stood at the doorway but didn’t enter, ordering them to come out.
Laughter?
The people in the room immediately responded, walking toward the exit, but the pounding sound behind them grew louder and more intense.
Countless pieces of glass eventually shattered, producing a loud noise. Shen Ti saw the babies who had been rejected crawling out of the broken glass incubators. Their bodies swelled and grew rapidly, transforming into strange creatures with a bluish-purple hue. Their reaction was extremely rapid, and one of them had already grabbed Josh’s ankle.
“Bang—!”
With a loud noise, the viscous green slime splattered on Josh’s leg, arm, and the side of his face.
“Wujiu, they are the babies who were rejected…”
“They are monsters out to kill you.”
An Wujiu shot without expression, not stopping for a moment. In his eyes, even though these monsters had the faces of infants and were not mutated, they were still fake, enemies fabricated by data.
He aimed and fired, one after another falling in front of him.
But there were too many.
“Dammit, I should’ve bought a machine gun.”
They quickly retreated, and An Wujiu kicked the door shut.
The horde of monsters behind them emitted sharp cries, resembling cries and laughter.
An Wujiu swiftly changed his shotgun shells. The shotgun had a limited firing rate, but every shot hit the mark with precision.
However, the bullets were running out.
Just as he was preparing to fire his last shot, he suddenly heard Shen Ti’s voice.
“Run back!”
Shen Ti grabbed An Wujiu’s hand, and amidst the chaos, An Wujiu saw Shen Ti’s injured hand tossing something.
Then, behind them, the pipes ignited into a raging fire. Amidst the intense heat and flames, they managed to escape to the square corridor they had initially entered, with the skeletons of the robots they had killed still present.
“I also redeemed one,” Shen Ti said casually, seemingly unaffected by the burning gas he had just thrown at the monsters. Behind him, the creatures writhed in pain, engulfed in flames. He calmly explained the events leading up to the fire. “I used it casually. The effect is not bad.”
His face displayed a calm and self-satisfied demeanor, unusual for someone committing a crime.
An Wujiu glanced at the tube-like passage that caught fire afterward. The burning monsters twisted and fell, their bodies turning red like a burning sunset, entangled together.
He chuckled, looking at Shen Ti. “What’s this?”
Shen Ti pondered seriously for two seconds.
“Complicit in misdeeds,” he said.
Author’s note:
The recruitment advertisement mentioned by Wu You is actually real, appearing in the ‘European Uterus’ Ukraine and circulating on Facebook. The content is roughly like this:”
“Urgent Plan! We are looking for a mother to carry twins!!! Embryos are ready!
Age not exceeding 35. Payment terms: Planned reward – 14,000 euros; Monthly – 300 euros; Clothing – 300 euros; Embryo transfer – 300 euros.
Risks and Compensation: – If a cesarean section is needed – 1,000 euros – If abortion is needed – 80 euros per week of pregnancy – Loss of fallopian tubes – 1,500 euros – Loss of the uterus – 3,000 euros – Waiting due to the fault of the embryo’s parents – 100 euros/month, starting 90 days from the signing date – Surgical intervention required – 300 euros If interested, please leave me a message.”
You can go and watch interviews about surrogate mothers. In reality, their living conditions are often not as depicted in the article, resembling more like barns than high-tech surrogacy factories. The compensation they receive, earned through risking their lives, is often exploited layer by layer, and they end up with very little. When this industry becomes a chain, the desire to exploit more from surrogate mothers inevitably starts with their ‘quality.’ By the way, if you come across ads for ‘donating eggs,’ be cautious and don’t be deceived. Extracting eggs from women is a very difficult and physically damaging process.
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