Scavenging at the safe zone exit

Alex was unfamiliar with the locations of the Safe Zone exits. The map of the Safe Zone was enormous, to the extent that even the geography teacher at Haven Academy didn't possess a detailed one.

Naturally, Alex only knew the approximate location of Exit Gate Number One because it was relatively close to him.

Among the tens of thousands of numbered Safe Zone exits, he was aware of only this one.

Who would pay attention to the locations of Safe Zone exits unless they intended to climb up the social ladder by associating with Sequence Ability Holders?

Not knowing the locations of the Safe Zone exits wasn't a pressing issue. He remembered seeing a route map near the main road's bus stop. The map might include the positions of the Safe Zone exits.

Unlike previous weekends where Alex would spend his days lying around at home to minimize food consumption, this weekend was destined to be unusual.

Now, he was filled with fighting spirit.

His mind was consumed by a single belief.

Get stronger.

Only by getting stronger could he escape this dreary place!

With his backpack filled with food, Alex walked for more than ten minutes to reach the bus stop.

This was his first time visiting a bus stop, as he couldn't afford to ride the bus due to his financial constraints.

In Alex's world, the poor traveled by foot, while the wealthy took the bus.

As for driving a private car? Petrol was an even scarcer resource than electricity, and no one in the marginalized areas of the Safe Zone possessed such luxury.

He stood at the bus stop, examining the route map for a long time.

He discovered that many of the bus stop names along the route were named after Safe Zone exits. The only bus line at the edge of the Safe Zone passed through several Safe Zone exits, and their numbers were all smaller than one.

As for which Safe Zone exit to go to, Alex was uncertain.

He decided to take it one step by step.

Alex had never ridden a bus in this life, so he didn't know how far one bus stop was from another.

"If only riding the bus for orphans were free," Alex sighed as he looked at the fare of five coppers. His remaining ten coppers, which he had earned from yesterday's work, were all he had.

"Five coppers for a one-way trip and ten for a round trip. I might as well go to the internet cafe and search for some information instead," Alex muttered, shaking his head.

He began to walk, measuring the distance between bus stops with his feet. He needed to know the approximate distances to estimate which Safe Zone exits were within walking distance.

After walking for twenty minutes along the bus route, he arrived at the next bus stop.

"These bus stops seem much farther apart than in my previous life," Alex observed.

After consuming the deity remnants yesterday, his strength had increased, allowing him to walk much faster than ordinary people. Whenever the road was empty, he would quicken his pace and move forward with all his might.

Even so, he could only cover the distance of three bus stops in an hour.

Having determined the distance between stops, he roughly understood his travel range.

"Exit Gate Number Seven is at the seventh stop, Exit Gate Number Seventeen at the seventeenth, and Exit Gate Number Twenty at the twentieth. It seems like these are the only three I can reach by walking."

"The farthest, Exit Gate Number Twenty, will allow me to return home before tomorrow. Any farther would prevent me from getting back before Monday, and I wouldn't be able to go to school on time."

On Monday, Alex needed to arrive at school early to inform the librarian of his intention to continue his work-study program.

Otherwise, his position as a work-study librarian might be taken by someone else next week, and he wouldn't have the money to go to the internet cafe.

After some contemplation, Alex decided to head to Exit Gate Number Seventeen to assess the situation.

The journey of one hour and forty minutes didn't fatigue Alex in the slightest. Instead, he grew more cheerful with each step.

Material wealth and spiritual fulfillment are often discussed separately. Once a person has something to look forward to, they become energetic in everything they do.

Although it was daytime, the sun had disappeared a decade ago. Despite being morning, the sky forever remained as dark as midnight.

The infrastructure at the edge of the Safe Zone was rudimentary. The main road he was on only had a dim streetlight every few dozen meters, barely illuminating a few steps ahead.

The alleys beside it were plunged in darkness, navigable only by touch.

Looking up, he could faintly see stars through the Safe Zone's air-defense glass, along with the occasional deity silhouette passing by.

A chill wind blew, piercing through Alex's layers of uninsulating clothing, sending shivers down his spine.

Alex turned up his collar, covering his face to shield it from the biting wind, and continued to walk briskly.

After walking seven stops, he arrived at Exit Gate Number Seventeen.

This exit, with a number over 50,000 smaller than One, logically should have more Sequence Ability Holders hunting deities here.

Upon reaching there, Alex ascended a dilapidated building to observe the scene below.

Indeed, he saw nearly a hundred Sequence Ability Holders clad in cold-weather gear, far outnumbering those at Exit Gate Number One.

Ordinary people like him, dressed similarly, had surrounded the exit, totaling nearly ten thousand.

He scanned the crowd and the Sequence Ability Holders conversing in the center, noting no one paid him any attention.

Pretending to wander aimlessly, Alex searched for trash bins containing deity remnants.

Eventually, a block away from the exit, he spotted the trash bins filled with deity remnants.

Moreover, the scale of these bins far exceeded those at Exit Gate Number One.

If Exit Gate Number One's bins were a luxurious banquet, then those at Exit Gate Number Seventeen were a royal feast!

Seven or eight trash bins lined up, each filled to the brim with deity remnants—an assortment of bizarre shapes and sizes that whetted Alex's appetite.

If he could empty these seven or eight bins, he would soar in strength!

Alex's heart raced as he pondered how to swiftly clear out all the deity remnants.

However, he suddenly noticed two cleaners covered in bloodstains nearby.

Alex initially planned to wait at a distance until the cleaners left.

But the moment he entered their field of vision, they both looked up at him.

After a brief exchange of glances, they resumed cleaning the bins.

Alex felt a tightness in his chest and altered his plan.

Instead of stopping, he continued walking towards the bins and the cleaners.

Pretending to be a student passing by, Alex casually walked past them without turning back.

The two cleaners glanced at Alex, dismissing him due to his humble attire and youthful appearance.

Once he was far enough away to be out of that neighborhood, Alex exhaled a sigh of relief.

"What's going on? Why are there guards at the trash bins? And why are they in plainclothes? Could it be that yesterday's uniformed recorder reported me?"

When Alex locked eyes with those two individuals, his heart raced. Despite his poker face, his observations were meticulous, and his mind worked overtime.

He realized that those two people were definitely not ordinary cleaners.

The stains on their clothes were too deliberate.

The deity remnants in the trash bins had long separated from the deity's bodies, and their blood had drained out during the hunt.

Yesterday, the cleaner at Exit Gate Number One had only minor bloodstains on his clothing.

Even at Exit Gate Number One, where there were numerous deity remnants, the trash bins didn't have much blood on them.

Yet, those two were covered in bloodstains, as if they had just killed someone, splattered all over, far from what cleaners should look like!

It was obvious they had smeared the blood on intentionally.

Moreover, when Alex appeared quite a distance from the trash bins, both of them inexplicably looked up at him.

This indicated that they were extremely vigilant.

Cleaners should just focus on their jobs. Why should they be vigilant and observe their surroundings? Both of them, too!

"It seems that the disappearance of deity remnants from the trash bins yesterday caused others' attention. Perhaps these deity remnants are recycled for other purposes?"

His earlier worries were not unfounded.

Within just one night, the United Government had initiated an investigation into the matter.

It was unnecessary to think that the trash bins at Exit Gate Number Seventeen would surely have more plainclothes agents waiting for him.

Alex sighed, "If I had only taken one deity remnant yesterday, would I be in less trouble?"

However, taking just one deity remnant daily seemed safe but would require over thirty trips to the trash bins to achieve his current strength.

Making so many trips increased the likelihood of exposure and getting caught on the spot.

It was better to make one big score.

Considering this, he decided to clear out all the deity remnants in the trash bins yesterday.

Alex knew that his plan to obtain deity remnants from the trash bins might be foiled. But he hadn't given up completely.

Even though he had a favorable view of the United Government, he doubted the efficiency of its lower-level operations.

Otherwise, how could Haven Academy still not offer courses related to Sequence Ability Holders?

Perhaps the situation hadn't escalated to the point of cutting off all his opportunities.

"Forget it. There's no chance with these trash bins. I'll keep walking and see if I have better luck. Even if there are no opportunities, I've become much stronger thanks to yesterday's harvest. I didn't lose anything!"

Alex left Exit Gate Number Seventeen and continued walking along the bus route towards the distance.

The next Safe Zone Exit was ten stops away, Exit Gate Number Thirty-Seven.

"Ten stops, huh. That's another three hours of walking. I wonder if I'll make it home today. "

On his way, Alex pulled out a portion of thousand-legged mushrooms he had taken from the cafeteria on Friday, using them as his lunch while walking and eating.

In the cafeteria, mushrooms were considered a top-tier delicacy. With their meat-like texture and the unique flavor of mushrooms, they could be served as a dish with just a simple stir-fry.

However, Alex had no interest in enjoying his meal. His entire focus was on how to grow stronger in the future.

When Alex arrived at the Safe Zone Exit Number Thirty-Seven, it was already afternoon.

Fortunately, his body had been enhanced and strengthened the previous day. He had been walking for nearly six hours since leaving his home, yet he still didn't feel tired.

But he knew that this state couldn't last too long, as he was already unable to maintain his initial rapid pace.

This made him pessimistic about traveling even further to the Safe Zone Exit Number Fifty-Seven.

"It would add another two hours of walking back and forth. That's not a wise choice."

Seeing the sign for Exit Gate Number Thirty-Seven brought him a sigh of relief.

"Finally, I'm here."

This time, he didn't go directly to the Safe Zone Exit. His target wasn't the Sequence Ability Holders there.

To avoid exposure, he chose to take a detour through a small alley, first checking on the situation at the trash bins.

After looking for trash bins near two Safe Zone Exits, he had a rough estimate of their locations.

Indeed, after navigating through a neighborhood, he spotted three trash bins filled with deity remnants.

Seeing the deep purple tentacles slowly crawling and adhering to the edges of the trash bins, Alex's mouth nearly watered with envy.

He carefully observed his surroundings, finding no one, no cleaners either.

Was this an opportunity, or a trap?

As he casually walked by, he analyzed the situation meticulously.

The disorderliness of this trash bin area seemed unorganized, with no signs of deliberate tidying.

Alex glanced at the filth on the ground, noticing only a single striped footprint践踏来回 around the trash bins, likely belonging to a cleaner.

As for whether anyone was watching from afar?

It was probably unlikely.

Safe Zone Exit Number Thirty-Seven had fewer Sequence Ability Holders compared to Safe Zone Exit Number Seventeen. Consequently, the trash bins here were unlikely to be prioritized over those at Exit Gate Number Seventeen.

If even the vast trash station at Exit Gate Number Seventeen only had two plainclothes agents, then undoubtedly, there couldn't be a more sophisticated surveillance method at Exit Gate Number Thirty-Seven!

No one nearby meant no surveillance!

In other words, the incident of deity remnants disappearing from the trash bins at Exit Gate Number Seventeen last night had only reached the authorities at Exit Gate Number Seventeen and hadn't spread further!

He had initially considered checking out the trash bins at the even farther Exit Gate Number Fifty-Seven, where undoubtedly a feast awaited him. But now, his body showed signs of fatigue, seemingly insufficient to support him in seeking his luck there.

He decided on the trash bins at Exit Gate Number Thirty-Seven!

Alex knew that his analysis wasn't foolproof.

Reputation and fortune are won swiftly, risks are sought in wealth!

To grow stronger, one must take risks. Seeking only stability will only lead to missed opportunities!

Alex, having lived another life, didn't want to endure the humiliation of his past life again.

He wanted to leave the fringes of the Safe Zone!

He wanted to grow stronger!

And to grow stronger as quickly as possible!