As they entered the city, the guards only verified the captain's identity. For the others, they merely checked the condition of their Smart Mechas. After confirming everything was in order, the squad Li Ban had infiltrated was allowed through.
Although the outer districts of Trash City contained only simple, ruined structures, the residents had decorated them into commercial streets brimming with a wasteland aesthetic.
The items for sale on each street were strictly categorized, making them as orderly as the streets themselves.
The closer one got to the heart of Trash City, the more intact the buildings became, and the higher the level of technology displayed inside and outside the shops.
Whether travelers or local merchants, everyone who saw Li Ban's group in their uniform, full-body Smart Mechas cast envious glances.
However, no one approached them on their own initiative, nor did any merchants try to hawk their wares.
Captain Ji 27 stopped after leading the group to the gates of Trash City's main city. He turned back to the squad and said, "I'm going to City Hall to submit the mission, and then I'll return to the Academy of Sciences to hand over the otherworldly native organism. Who wants to enter the city with me?"
Hu 343 eagerly took a step forward.
Another squad member who hadn't spoken with Li Ban also raised his hand.
The captain had no intention of rallying the rest. He nodded and led the two willing members into the city, taking the dead squadmate's mecha and corpse with him.
Li Ban chose not to enter the city with them.
The Main Brain's control over Trash City's main city was incomparable to anywhere else.
Standing at a street corner, Li Ban watched the captain lead the three Smart Mechas to the city gate. They retracted the mecha plating covering their faces and submitted to an inspection of the chips in the backs of their heads.
He saw that Ji 27 was a scruffy man in his forties.
He looked somewhat disheveled, but still gave off a safe and reliable feeling.
Through the mecha screen's prompts, he learned that this captain was surnamed Lei. When the mechanical probe at the gate approached, Captain Lei proactively lowered his head, allowing the probe to insert itself into the back of his neck.
Seeing this, Li Ban narrowed his eyes. "Good thing I didn't enter rashly. The security in the main city really is on another level compared to the outer city."
Li Ban could have tried using 'Command Tampering' to deal with the probe.
However, he worried the Main Brain would notice the anomaly with the probe afterward and upgrade its security measures again.
He still wanted to acquire a state-of-the-art reader here and didn't want to attract attention.
Just as Li Ban turned around, planning to check the outer city for any readers on sale, a squad member who hadn't spoken before walked up to him.
"Shen 19, are you still selling that game account of yours?"
The screen showed that this person was Gu 31, a wealthy descendant just like Shen 19.
However, Gu 31's family was a tier lower in wealth than Shen 19's.
Li Ban shook his head.
Even if Shen 19's account could be sold for money, he wouldn't know how to sell it.
Gu 31 looked a bit disappointed. After a moment's pause, he asked, "What brand of drugs are you using now?"
A mecha arm dropped onto Gu 31's shoulder, startling him.
Li Ban turned his head and saw another squadmate, Red 13.
The three of them were the only wealthy descendants in this patrol squad.
And Red 13's family was even richer than Shen 19's.
"Old Gu, if you're shooting up too, don't borrow my training ground anymore." Red 13's voice was a bit cold, clearly looking down on Shen 19 for taking drugs.
Curious about this Red 13, Li Ban tapped on his 'Detailed Info' on the screen.
[Red 13, 7th son of the 5th generation descendants of the Red clan.
Family's main business: Unmanned Combat Aircraft—]
Amidst the string of identity information, Li Ban noticed one particular term.
Order of Succession: 2.
He then checked Shen 19's order of succession, only to see several glaring words: No Right of Succession.
At least the guy in front of him, Gu 31, was sixth in line.
It seemed that even among the wealthy descendants, Shen 19 was doing the worst.
However, this suited Li Ban just fine.
A person with no right of succession would receive the least attention from their family.
Red 13 pulled Gu 31 away.
But Li Ban realized that Shen 19 actually seemed somewhat popular within this squad.
The squadmate who had previously covered for him to take drugs walked over after the others left.
The man was named Xie 132. Li Ban had noticed that even outside of combat, he had been diligently standing guard and patrolling.
If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, Li Ban would have found it hard to imagine that such a serious person would cover for Shen 19.
Li Ban, who had been about to leave, put his foot back down, prepared to hear what the man had to say.
"Why won't you sell that broken game account of yours?" Xie 132 asked with some frustration.
"I just don't want to sell it anymore."
Why were so many people interested in a game account?
Could it be some special game?
"Don't you still want to get the withdrawal surgery? If you don't sell the account, where are you going to get the credits?"
Li Ban turned around. "I'll think about it some more."
Xie 132 frowned. "You know where I live. Come find me if you need anything."
After everyone was gone, Li Ban finally checked Shen 19's information on the screen.
Halfway through, a prompt popped up on the screen.
[City wireless signal network detected. Connect?]
"No!" Li Ban immediately rejected it.
"It seems I'm too close to the main city." He quickly walked away, heading toward a street he had seen earlier that specialized in selling electronics and machinery.
At a corner, the mecha suddenly stopped, and a figure rushed out.
If the mecha hadn't stopped just then, the two might have crashed into each other.
Li Ban had naturally detected the person behind the corner ahead of time, but he had let the mecha control his movements anyway.
The person running out from around the corner was a woman.
She wore a nondescript sleeveless vest and windbreaker pants.
Her bare arms, as well as the parts of her legs exposed between her boots and pants, were fully mechanical.
She looked rather pale. Upon seeing Li Ban's mecha, her eyes flashed, and she slipped behind him to hide.
"Please," she pleaded in a low voice. "Help me."
She had just tucked herself into the pile of junk behind Li Ban when three tall men ran out from around the corner.
When they saw Li Ban, they were momentarily stunned, then simultaneously nodded in a simple greeting.
"Hello," the lead man said, but his eyes had already landed on the nearby junk pile. He stepped forward and roughly yanked out the panicked woman.
At first, Li Ban thought they were afraid of his mecha, but the man's subsequent words made him realize he had bumped into people who knew Shen 19.
"Young Master 19, this 9899 was just expelled from the corps. It's best if you don't get involved with her."
Li Ban hadn't planned on meddling, but upon hearing the woman's identity, he changed his mind.
"What are you going to do to her?" Li Ban asked.
The shivering woman looked up at Li Ban, surprise and hope in her eyes.
The leader hesitated for a moment before saying, "9899 caused serious losses to the company. She needs to pay a massive amount of credits in compensation, but she refused to pay and tried to escape."
Li Ban understood. No matter how she had caused losses for the Shen Family's company, as long as she couldn't afford the compensation, she would likely be forced to sell off her body's natural organs until the debt was paid.
9899 had already felt a sense of despair when she heard the words 'Young Master.' She had truly run out of escape routes, so when she saw a Smart Mecha, she had grasped at straws in her desperation.
She hadn't expected to be begging for help from their own associate.
With a clatter, 9899 slumped to the ground.
"It would be one thing if you wanted my other organs, but you want my heart."
The leader looked down at 9899. "We'll install an artificial heart for you."
"Artificial hearts are so fragile. If I get one, I'll never be able to fight and make money again." 9899 clutched her chest, trembling all over. "It's clearly your fault for not handling the infected Mechanical Dog properly! I warned you all beforehand, yet you're blaming me! And you even killed 132!"
Hearing this, Li Ban had a rough grasp of the situation.
"What's this about an infected Mechanical Dog? Was it really your fault? Don't lie; surveillance can prove everything."
The leader froze, not expecting Young Master 19—who never cared about company affairs—to speak up for a common woman.
He looked somewhat troubled. "This is a company secret. I need to ask Young Master 18 for instructions."
Shen 18 was likely the one set to inherit the family company.
The man used his communicator to report the situation.
Sensing a potential turning point, 9899 propped herself up on her mechanical arms, ran behind Li Ban, and peeked out.
At that moment, the reporting man held up his communicator, facing it toward Li Ban.
A handsome young man appeared on the communicator's screen.
He bore a slight resemblance to the real Shen 19.
"19, don't cause trouble for Uncle Li."
Li Ban frowned.
Although he had intended to learn more about Trash City from 9899 when he heard she used to be in the corps, if she was embroiled in too much trouble, it might affect his ultimate goal.
Seeing that Li Ban didn't answer, Shen 18 shook his head. "I get it. You don't want to cause trouble for Uncle Li; you want to cause trouble for me, right? Forget it. It's just a heart. Consider it bought with your living allowance for next month."
The man called Uncle Li pulled back the communicator, exchanged a few more words with Shen 18 on the screen, and then nodded at Li Ban. "Young Master 19, we'll be taking our leave."
Uncle Li led the two men behind him away without looking back.
Li Ban turned around and saw 9899 hugging her arms, shivering.
9899 offered a bitter smile toward the inside of the mecha. "Sometimes, a single word from you is more useful than me risking my life."
Li Ban shook his head. "I'm the one who bought you now."
9899 froze. "What do you need—Master?"
Having just been expelled from the corps and chased for debt by the Shen Family company, she was currently in a state of panic and unease.
Even if Li Ban hadn't said it, she had wanted to temporarily seek refuge with this Young Master 19 who could make even Uncle Li greet him respectfully.
9899 didn't know that Li Ban was disguised as a young master who had completely lost his right of succession. Otherwise, she wouldn't have called him 'Master' so readily.
Li Ban changed direction, bringing 9899 along as he headed toward Shen 19's outer-city residence displayed in the mecha.
Taking advantage of returning to Shen 19's house, Li Ban briefly went back to the Wizard World to check on the progress of his group's journey.
He pushed open the carriage door. After returning from the Trash Realm, he had to readjust to the slow-paced ancient life.
"Deng Jun, how much longer until we reach the Unreturning Place?"
Seeing that Li Ban was finally awake, Deng Jun answered happily, "My Lord, we'll be there in another five or six days."
—
"We're finally arriving." Li Ban looked at the unchanging barren scenery ahead. "It's already September.
Meeting Priest Zhu Yao on the road and following the large convoy saved a bit of time. However, we were delayed again later because of the matters in Capital City. So now it aligns with the set plan, taking more than two months to reach the Unreturning Place."
However, arriving at the Unreturning Place also meant that Li Ban's life as a Priest was about to enter a new stage.
Things were probably going to get busy.
'I'd better resolve the issue with the reader as soon as possible,' Li Ban thought.