"beep....."

"beep......"

In a long and narrow corridor, the wall paint on both sides has fallen off in large areas after long-term oxidation. Orange lights filled every corner of the space, and some small particles were floating in the air.

The young man Shen Ran was sitting in a seat at the back, holding a mobile phone in his hands like a cross, but the only response was a blind tone.

Da da...

It sounded like a ticking second hand.

To his left, there was a strong man about forty years old, his right foot shaking like a typewriter.

The other party was wearing a dark black jacket. Under the jacket was a burly figure. If he stood up, he should be 1.9 meters tall.

A metal palm is exposed under its right cuff. It has an exquisite mechanical structure, and the electronic lines are like knotted steel muscles.

"The palm of the M2 model is a third-generation civilian product manufactured by Dongzheng. It is made of carbon fiber and ceramic polymer materials. The grip force in normal mode is more than 300KG."

Shen Ran glanced at the metal right hand from the corner of his eye, feeling a little uneasy.

Although this thing was originally designed by Dongzheng Technology for workers with heavy manual labor.

But he has no doubt that with the terrifying grip strength of 300KG, the opponent can crush every bone in his body like tofu.

Apart from the man in the jacket, the aisle was mostly filled with people like this.

They all have mechanical prosthetics on their bodies, some have a layer of bionic skin, and some have metal shells directly exposed. Some of them are damaged and scorched black, as if they had just finished fighting.

The cold mechanical steel is mixed with the ferocious and violent wildness...

These guys should be gang members in the underground city. They exude a typical aura like hyenas on the grassland.

As an ordinary young man mixed among such a group of criminals, the only thing Shen Ran could do was to restrain himself from showing anything strange.

At this moment, the door in front of the corridor opened.

A spider-like mechanical creature walked out of the room. It had a total of eight exoskeleton legs. The boxy box served as the body. Some of the exposed wires looked like blood vessels. They were not hidden under the metal shell, but rather complex. The ground connects everywhere.

A monitor was erected above the box, with an image of a weather-beaten old Western man inside.

Shen Ran was stunned.

"Old guy, you shouldn't come here and waste the government's only conscience. You should find a doctor to repair your prosthetic body. Look, the wires on your body are all exposed."

The man sitting on Shen Ran's left suddenly spoke.

In the monitor, the old man responded with a smile, then moved his eight legs and left.

"Is this guy still a person?"

Someone asked curiously.

The man in a black jacket said, "A poor old man, my neighbor, is called Old John. A few years ago, in order to raise money for his child's treatment, he sold his spine and signed a contract with Yaori Group. Contract, voluntarily transformed himself into this ghostly appearance in order to complete some dangerous tasks for those company dogs."

Shen Ran watched the old man leave silently.

In this era where the human body and machinery are combined, such people and things are not uncommon in the Fire City.

But every time I see it, I still feel weird.

"Where is the old guy's child? Has it been cured?"

The gang members in the corridor were still chatting away.

"How is it possible? A disease caused by a genetic defect can be cured by relying on the government's cheap medical facilities? That is a bottomless pit for money fraud."

"It's so miserable. Then why is he living like this without humans or ghosts?"

"Who knows?"

...

After a small episode.

The walkway became quiet again.

Da da......

There was only the sound of the man in the black jacket shaking his legs.

Sitting next to him, Shen Ran felt like a stone sculpture, his posture even more upright than usual in class.

Maybe I should have changed my time and shouldn't have come here today, otherwise I wouldn't have bumped into such a dangerous group of gang members.

Soon after, someone started violently knocking on the door and yelling angrily to urge those in the room to hurry up.

Fortunately, the worst case did not happen.

At 5 p.m. Mars time, Fire City Government Service Building.

The room at the end of the corridor opened and a man in a black jacket walked out.

The gang members who had been waiting in the aisle for a long time immediately gathered around him.

"A little better."

The man took out a pair of folding sunglasses, opened them and put them on, "However, the consultant advised me to reduce my prosthetic body appropriately, and also wanted me to replace the chip, saying that this would aggravate the confusion of self-perception."

Hearing this, another bald man frowned, as if there was a canyon called worry hidden between his eyebrows.

"The boss told me that there will be big changes in Fire City recently. And a batch of high-end goods just arrived yesterday, brother." The bald man hesitated.

"gone."

The man interrupted, and then coldly led the group of people away.

These guys have finally left...

Sitting in his seat, Shen Ran breathed a sigh of relief, then became curious again.

He noticed a few key words in the conversation just now. Is there anything big happening in Fire City recently?

"No. 107, Shen Ran."

At this moment, a new round of shouting rang out in the corridor.

Shen Ran immediately went over in his mind the questions he would have to say about himself when he went in.

When he got up, he looked at his phone again.

The screen was as dark and smooth as a mirror, reflecting only the disappointed face of a young man.

Open the door and enter the house.

The interior of the house is also crudely furnished, with an old and dull atmosphere permeating the walls.

A middle-aged woman in her forties was sitting on a torn leather sofa, spinning an electronic pen in her hand.

Shen Ran handed the other party a file he had filled out three hours ago.

The aunt read out the information on the file, "My name is Shen Ran. He was born in 2312 at Shengde Hospital in the High-tech Zone. He is now fifteen years old. He is currently studying at the No. 8 Middle School in the High-tech Zone and is a junior high school student. His parents are divorced and his father died due to alcoholism. After death, I am now being raised by your second uncle..."

"Not considered an orphan, do you have caregivers?"

Suddenly, the aunt looked at Shen Ran.

That look seemed to say that since there are adults, why would you waste your time here?

Shen Ran pursed her lips and nodded, "Yes. I'm at my second uncle's house now."

"Okay, welcome to the social welfare agency in Huocheng. I am Zhang Hua, a psychological counselor. I graduated from Zhurong University and majored in sociology as an undergraduate. Everyone has fifty minutes of free consultation time every week... "

While saying the repetitive opening remarks, Zhang Hua pressed the timer on the coffee table.

"Tell me, what is your purpose here today? Is there anything I can do to help you?"

The only advantage of this room is that it is quiet.

"I've been under a lot of pressure recently and have been suffering from insomnia." Shen Ran sat on the sofa with a thin voice.

"What kind of pressure is it?"

"It's academically related. The school took a mock test a week ago, and my results were not ideal. I'm afraid...I'm afraid I won't be able to get into a public high school."

Boring questions, boring boy.

It's just like living a boring life in a small room like this.

Zhang Hua yawned and said, "Didn't the education reform policy implemented by the Mars government a hundred and fifty years ago ensure that everyone can complete the most basic twelve years of compulsory education?"

"But if I fail to get into Gaoxin High School, I have only two choices, one is Yangji High School, the other is Gaoxin District Girls' High School." Shen Ran looked ugly.

Anji High School is a notorious high school in the Hi-tech Zone.

Due to limited government education funds, the number of teachers at Anji High School is so small that one class sometimes only has one class a day.

The actual situation is that there are often no teachers willing to come to even that class.

Shen Ran also heard that more than half of the students at Yangji High School are considered marginalized members of society and are very close to gang members.

School bullying is an understatement.

There are even frequent occurrences of serious incidents such as smoking of strong hallucinogens and shootings on campus.
To be continued...