A day after leaving the “Dangtu” bar, Ning Zhuo returned to the original trading point, that private room.
But this time, Mr. “Rosen” clearly didn’t care about the formality.
After confirming through the special mark on the key that Ning Zhuo was clean and hadn’t copied or replaced it, Mr. “Rosen” took back the Iron Maiden’s car key and, feeling distressed, waved his hand to dismiss him.
His task was only to recover the key.
But Ning Zhuo didn’t move.
He was staring at a full-cover, light silver head-mounted device on Mr. “Rosen.”
Mr. “Rosen” hadn’t dared to sleep a minute from yesterday until now. He had been waiting for instructions, and his eyes were red and strained.
At this moment, under Ning Zhuo’s silent and cold gaze, his inner frustration was slowly being provoked.
His tone carried a hint of ambiguity: “What are you looking at?”
Ning Zhuo: “What’s that on your head?”
Ning Zhuo’s tone was somewhat unstable, with the ending trailing off.
Those familiar with him would know this was a very bad omen.
It meant Ning Zhuo’s emotions were in an abnormal state and he might go mad at any moment.
Mr. “Rosen” of course had no idea.
He lifted a hand to adjust the device on his head.
This was a device called “Dionysus World,” an emotional regulator with five modes, a diamond-level flagship product from the Interest Entertainment Company, which had been all the rage on the island for over a decade.
It could use pulses to stimulate the brain, promoting the secretion of appropriate hormones to ease anxiety.
“Dionysus World” was quite expensive and limited in availability, only citizens of B-grade or above were eligible to purchase.
Thinking about the grade issue, Mr. “Rosen” felt a wave of uncontrollable annoyance.
Although the transport segment he was responsible for had already failed before it even began, the final outcome was poor. The person they were supposed to protect was not protected, and with the blame falling on him, not only was his job in jeopardy, but even his citizen status might not be secured.
He was dizzy and frustrated, having no choice but to work with the emotional regulator.
Unfortunately, “Dionysus World” had long ceased to be effective in alleviating the mental pressure he faced at work.
Mr. “Rosen” had been considering whether he could increase the pulse setting.
Although the company producing “Dionysus World” strictly prohibited unauthorized increases in maximum power, he knew there were black market services for this…
His thoughts wandered, and his eyes grew dull.
This was one of the side effects of frequent use of “Dionysus World”: difficulty concentrating.
When Ning Zhuo asked him the same question a second time, he sluggishly lifted his eyelids and disdainfully glanced at him: “Why ask? What level citizen are you? Can you afford it?”
To Mr. “Rosen’s” ears, Ning Zhuo’s voice was muffled, as if veiled by a layer of gauze: “Don’t use it anymore.”
Mr. “Rosen” squinted at him.
Last night, he was in a hurry to handle the matter.
Now, with nothing to do, he realized this person was extraordinarily beautiful with a piercing aura, but his lips were pale and made one’s heart race, making him want to roughly color them, forcing them to bleed.
This was also one of the effects of “Dionysus World”: emotions were easily directed towards love and sex.
After all, sex is an important channel for relieving emotions.
Mr. “Rosen” swallowed and, without knowing any better, moved closer, pointing to his forehead: “If you want this, I can give it to you.”
Saying this, his hand reached to touch Ning Zhuo’s hand: “Is this price enough to buy you for ten minutes?”
The next second, he felt a sharp pain in his scalp.
Mr. “Rosen” first saw Ning Zhuo’s expressionless green eyes, then the glass coffee table rapidly approaching him.
With a bang.
Blood splattered.
Ning Zhuo held his head and slammed it against the coffee table once more.
In his eyes, there was not a head being smashed to a pulp, only that head-mounted device gradually disintegrating and turning into a mess.
His vision blurred, and his thoughts stumbled back down a distant path to the past.
The man whose blood-soaked face had been close to his in the hallucinations transformed from a figure covered in filthy, disgusting wounds into a gentle-faced man.
He stood there, awkwardly scratching his head: “Oh, Xiao Ning, Dad forgot to bring you something to eat again.”
Ning Zhuo smashed Mr. “Rosen’s” head onto the coffee table with a large hole, speaking to the air: “It’s alright.”
…
Ning Zhuo’s biological father, surnamed Hai, was a public security officer affiliated with “White Shield.”
If “White Shield” were a towering tree, he was the most ordinary leaf on its tip.
Withering and flourishing, easily replaced.
Fortunately, Officer Hai was also a man without visible ambition or future, primarily responsible for street patrol and disciplining delinquents. He had little authority, and often, young thieves would spit at him after being caught.
At that time, the district they lived in was called Yunmeng District.
Originally a very romantic name, but due to poverty, it was accompanied by terrifying chaos.
It was the most typical lower city area, a slum with only one comprehensive school responsible for all education from kindergarten to high school.
The school’s headmaster rode a Harley, waving a several-foot-long iron chain, patrolling the area and driving away delinquents planning to rob younger students, a local spectacle.
At that time, Ning Zhuo was not called Ning Zhuo.
He was called Hai Ning, a name full of good wishes.
His mother was a hydraulic engineer, who faced the plight of many working women in Silver Hammer City, being dismissed during “structural adjustments” in her position.
Even so, she still hoped this lonely island drifting in the sea would be “safe and peaceful for all nations.”
Ning Zhuo’s mother was the woman who often appeared in his hallucinations, covered in soot, holding a similarly scorched swaddling, reproaching Ning Zhuo as a useless person.
But she wasn’t like that before.
She didn’t smile much, and her thick eyebrows looked cold. A pair of emerald green eyes were entirely inherited by her eldest son.
She evaluated little Hai Ning: “Our Ningning doesn’t smile, but he’s a soft-hearted good child.”
Little Hai Ning, praised by her like this, wore the same cold expression as his mother, with a faint blush on his cheeks.
Little Hai Ning was quiet and not fond of conflict in school.
But because his appearance clashed with the district’s atmosphere, he was often troubled by others.
But it didn’t matter much.
He never troubled others, always carrying a brick, scissors, and everything needed for self-defense.
Little Hai Ning was naturally stronger and more robust than most, able to carry a small backpack and two 50-liter water buckets from the water station back home, walking briskly with a calm expression.
Yet he was always like a fragile glass lamp, with people wanting to violently break and destroy him.
Fortunately, Hai Ning’s violence, intuition, and wildness were as innate as his strength, like a natural wild animal.
Once, while Hai Ning was hitting someone, he was caught by his patrolling father.
At that time, he was holding a brick snatched from the opponent, sitting on the person, with blood splattered in his eyes, making him see his father as blood-soaked.
His father was stunned for a moment, then, realizing, shouted: “What are you doing?”
Hai Ning quickly left the bleeding man and turned to run.
His father drew his baton and chased after him, shouting.
Hai Ning waited for him at the corner of the next street.
Father and son stood side by side, with the father panting and asking, “What’s going on?”
Hai Ning clearly said: “He was trying to abduct me to sell me.”
Saying this, he pulled out a lollipop: “He gave it to me.”
For a child Hai Ning’s age in that district, this was the most tempting food.
Anyone who wasn’t very clever was a certain target.
His father was stunned, thought for a moment, spat angrily, and then rubbed his son’s head with a slightly pitiful look.
Hai Ning understood: “I’ll take you there.”
Hai Ning knew his father was timid.
Not to mention criminals; he was even a bit afraid of himself.
But Hai Ning didn’t see anything wrong with this.
People who cherish their lives live longer.
Living longer in this era is the best thing.
For thirteen-year-old Ning Zhuo, it seemed like the chaotic yet happy times would never end.
That year, a subsidiary of Interest Entertainment Company developed a headset device called “Dionysus World,” which they sold to all citizens, claiming it could bring “happiness.”
Ning’s family looked at the price and thought that buying such a thing would first make them economically unhappy, so they were unmoved.
In the same year, due to the extremely poor quality of the condoms they bought, his mother accidentally became pregnant with a second child.
The regular hospital, from a “humanitarian” standpoint, refused to provide abortion services. To have an abortion, one had to go to the black market with entirely random medical standards.
After weighing the pros and cons, Hai Ning got a younger brother.
Adding another mouth to feed made the household burden heavier.
The base salary at the “White Shield” police station was pitifully low. It mainly depended on performance and was paid per case. How much money they received each month relied on the case closure rate.
Hai Ning’s father’s conscience was vividly displayed here: He was timid and didn’t even have the courage to learn from colleagues or fabricate wrongful cases.
To earn more money, he would bring some police work back home and consult his precocious son.
After all, most of the people who roamed and committed crimes in the lower city district had received their highest education as prenatal education. They were ruthless, but their brains might not keep up with even a child’s reading ability.
One day, his father brought home a case that had already been concluded.
He rarely resolved a case by his own efforts. When he came back, he was eager and excited to tell his son about it.
The case was ridiculously simple.
Last night, a young man smashed the window of an electronics store, broke in to steal things, and then, for some unknown reason, suddenly died in the store.
The shop owner found the young man slumped in the corner when he opened the shop in the morning. Beside him were several “Dionysus World” devices scattered around.
His father happened to be on night duty. Before his shift ended, he received the shop owner’s report, happily took the body back, verified the identity, and only needed to write a few hundred words of a case closure report to earn five hundred credit points.
This money was enough to buy two cans of good milk powder for his younger son.
After hearing his father’s description, Hai Ning, who was helping his mother take care of his younger brother, asked, “What was he trying to steal?”
With half a mouthful of food in his mouth, his father answered indistinctly, “What else could he steal? Money and electronic equipment to sell.”
“If he wanted to steal something, what was the need to smash the glass?”
Hai Ning tested the temperature of his brother’s milk bottle with the back of his hand, expertly and standardly fed him, “I remember there’s no shop on that street that can hold electronic barriers. As long as you know a little bit about lock-picking and are patient, I could open that kind of lock. At night, he was in such a hurry he couldn’t even wait to pick the lock? It doesn’t make sense.”
His father was stunned and paused.
He didn’t rest at home but hurriedly ate a few bites of food before returning to the police station.
In the evening, he came back in a rush, and without explanation, kissed his son on the cheek.
Hia Ning, who was holding his younger brother, was caught off guard by the kiss, standing in place, his cheeks flushed, and his eyes widened.
Since giving birth to the younger brother, his mother had been in poor health and was resting in bed at this time.
Seeing her husband’s joy, she, who usually didn’t show emotions, also showed a small smile: “What’s going on?”
His father took a sip of water and excitedly said, “I found out! That young man wasn’t part of any gang and wasn’t a habitual thief. He didn’t even live in our district. He’s a child from a good family in the neighboring Chang’an district.”
He spoke with emphasis: “I went to their home, and I heard that they recently bought that ‘Dionysus World,’ the one… the one…”
He took out a promotional page torn from the shop’s door and pointed at the small, sleek, techy silver headset:
“Yes, this thing!”
His father continued, “This kid was often bullied by his classmates and didn’t have a good life. So as soon as he got his hands on it, he started using it.”
He pulled out a notebook and flipped through several pages, reading his notes: “According to the manual, this device should be used once every three days, and the frequency should be increased gradually. This kid used it according to the instructions, and his mental state did improve a lot. But his mother said his mood recently got worse and worse, and even with the ‘Dionysus World,’ he couldn’t control it.”
“He kept begging his parents to buy him the upgraded version, but his current one was only bought six months ago and wasn’t broken, so his parents naturally wouldn’t replace it. It’s very expensive. So the kid got the wrong idea.”
“I checked, and the specialized stores in Chang’an district had seen this kid. He only inquired about the price of the latest version of ‘Dionysus World’ and left quietly.”
“I looked at the surveillance, and his mental state was particularly confused and distracted, so the shop owner had a strong impression of him.”
“Chang’an district has good security measures. He might have really found no store to target, so he ended up sneaking into our district.”
“Coincidentally, the shop that was robbed yesterday had just received several new versions of ‘Dionysus World.’ The shop owner said they weren’t planning to sell them but to give them to friends, and they were temporarily stored in the shop. The kid saw them and smashed the glass that night… I checked, and the one he had thrown beside him was the latest version of ‘Dionysus World,’ with one of its power levels set to maximum—”
Hai Ning’s heart felt a chill.
The more his father spoke, the more he felt something was wrong.
His usually silent mother suddenly spoke in a deep voice: “Hai Ge, stop talking about this at home.”
His father blinked.
He rarely found fulfillment in his work and muttered, “Ningning wants to hear it.”
Then he continued excitedly: “There’s more. The owner of the ‘Dionysus World’ specialized store in Chang’an district refused to cooperate with the investigation, which is normal since I don’t handle their area. I contacted the owner of the robbed shop in Yunmeng and got the sales records for ‘Dionysus World,’ visited more than ten specialized stores, Ningning, guess how many had serious dependency issues?”
“This indicates that the ‘Dionysus World’ has quality problems!”
Ning finally realized something.
He had never used ‘Dionysus World,’ but he had heard of what drugs are.
The child’s behavior fit the symptoms of drug use perfectly.
Developing a mental dependency, confusion, gradually losing control, falling into the quagmire of crime, and eventually dying from using a higher frequency (dose)…
It was horrifyingly fitting.
He keenly sensed that his usually laid-back father suddenly became motivated and pursued the case vigorously with a hidden agenda.
He pressed his father’s notebook down: “Dad, stop investigating.”
His father was startled and met Ning’s gaze. Under his clear and indifferent look, it felt as if his little thoughts were completely exposed.
He glanced around at his wife, son, and younger son, and weakly defended: “I didn’t intend to sell it to the media. I just wanted to discuss with Interest Company if they could transfer me from Yunmeng District to a better area… Ningning needs to go to school, and Yunmeng doesn’t have universities… Besides, if they know about this, they could also upgrade the version and stop selling this addictive stuff…”
Hai Ning interrupted: “Dad, you rely on no one and have no resources. You’ve managed to uncover so many details. Why has no one, anywhere, mentioned even once that there’s a problem with this thing?”
His father suddenly shivered, his face changing, and he silently closed the notebook.
In the following half month, he never mentioned the matter again.
Hai Ning understood his father.
This scare was enough to frighten him thoroughly, making him give up any thoughts of reaching for more from a big company’s bowl.
On a certain day, half a month later, after Hai Ning greeted the headmaster who chased down petty criminals on his motorcycle, he set off on his way home.
Not long after he left school, a dilapidated small delivery truck followed him at a distance.
It followed him very obviously, and Hai Ning soon noticed it.
It was only six in the afternoon; the sky wasn’t fully dark yet, and there were still other scattered students around.
Hai Ning thought they would probably wait until he turned onto a quieter, less populated side road closer to home before making their move.
While he was still considering how to shake off this trouble, the sound of tires screeching violently against the pavement came suddenly.
The vehicle, moving at 40 kilometers per hour, slammed into Ning from behind.
Caught off guard, Hai Ning’s forehead hit the uneven curb hard.
As a deafening ringing in his ears and intense dizziness overwhelmed him, Ning instinctively reached out to the face of the person who was lifting him up, aiming his scraped and bloodied knuckles straight into the person’s eye socket.
Accompanied by the man’s agonized scream, which sounded like a pig being slaughtered, Hai Ning’s attacker let go.
Hai Ning staggered forward a few steps, trying to shout, but a breath caught in his chest, unable to escape.
Amidst the ringing in his ears, he noticed someone lunging at him from behind, so he sidestepped and kicked out hard.
He was certain that this kick landed right between the attacker’s lower abdomen and vital parts.
Using the momentum of the kick, he managed to throw himself a few meters backward.
Unfortunately, as he hit the ground, he struck his ear again.
In the brief moment before losing consciousness, Hai Ning heard a distant, muffled voice of a man cursing: “Waste!”
This curse had an oddly effective impact.
Seven or eight hands reached out from behind, locking Hai Ning’s joints, and together, they forced him into the dark cargo compartment of the vehicle.
—
Author’s Note:
[Silver Hammer Daily]
Editorial: “On the Citizen System of Silver Hammer City”
Recently, there have been rumors that citizens of Silver Hammer City are classified into four levels: A, B, C, and D, with a certain seriousness attached.
Level A citizens are those who serve as directors or higher management at the six core large companies in Silver Hammer and are scientific and research talents.
Level B citizens are those who serve as deputy directors and below in the core companies and institutions of Silver Hammer City, including top talents in culture, art, humanities, social sciences, and sports.
Level C citizens are those employed in other formal industries with long-term stable jobs.
Level D citizens are those without fixed formal jobs, relying on odd jobs for survival.
Below Level D, there are also vagrants.
Of course, resources available decrease sequentially from A to D, and there is much outcry over this perceived injustice.
This so-called “injustice” is obviously baseless.
Levels naturally exist.
From the dawn of humanity, there have been hierarchies among people. This has been eternal and unremarkable, so why be so shocked?
We live in Silver Hammer City, a rare enclave still teeming with life amidst great disaster. Our lives are tough, our future uncertain, and resources scarce. Naturally, they should be concentrated among those who contribute more.
This isn’t discrimination; it’s a way of survival.
Some citizens, who are complacent and unwilling to strive for a better job or change their living conditions, still wish to enjoy things beyond their means, such as natural milk and fruits, or “Dionysus World.” This is a shameless behavior.
We suggest these citizens, who are quick to point out class issues but never reflect on themselves, to devote more energy to self-improvement, complain less, and work harder. By stepping out of their narrow world, they might discover different beauties and opportunities.
Provided by: Interest Company
