City of Time: Falling into the kill zone at the start

Chapter 019 Onion-Shaped City

The next day, at 7 o'clock.

From the distant direction of the mine, a long rumble echoed, signifying that the miners had begun their day's hard work.

However, Lu Chen did not appear at the mine as he had in the past two days.

At this moment, Lu Chen was wearing a trench coat and a face mask.

I sat in the passenger seat of a dilapidated pickup truck whose original paint color was no longer recognizable.

Outside the dusty windshield, the city gate, hundreds of meters wide but only a dozen meters high, slowly rose like a roller shutter.

"Scavenger: No. 18-172-9101"

"Recovered: No. 9527"

Near the city gate, a number of vehicles of all kinds were gathered—all of them dilapidated.

But when the cold broadcast sounded, only Yu started the pickup truck and slowly drove into one of the dozens of security checkpoints in the center of the city gate.

As the pickup truck slowly came to a stop in the passage, a robotic arm on each side extended a card reader out of the window.

Yu and Lu Chen each extended their left arms and paid for the [time] through the car windows on either side.

Then, the railings in the passageway suddenly lifted, and the pickup truck drove out of the passageway, plunging into the desolate wilderness.

Inside the city gate, the broadcast announcement sounded again.

"Next batch, in 28 minutes and 51 seconds."

"Scavenger: 18-172-4375".

"18, is it area 18?"

Yu smiled and nodded.

"We usually call it District 18."

"Everyone in District 18 has their ID number prefixed with '18'."

"172 is the occupational number of a scavenger."

"243 is a parasite."

As she spoke, Yu smiled inexplicably and began to tease Lu Chen.

"If all goes well, Officer Lu's future identification number will be: Scavenger No. 18-172-9527."

Upon hearing this, Lu Chen shook his head with a wry smile.

"Hopefully it's not Parasite No. 18-243-9527."

What was meant as a self-deprecating remark prompted Yu to nod thoughtfully.

"Um……"

"It's not impossible."

"After the debt is paid off, if you don't want to risk going out of the city again, you can indeed choose to become a parasite."

"But the parasites reside at the very bottom of the City of Time."

"-- There are 243 occupational codes in total."

"And the parasite is number 243."

"I don't think Officer Lu would want to become a parasite."

Lu Chen remained silent for a moment, then nodded slightly.

"I hope not."

...

As Lu Chen finished speaking, a brief silence fell over the driver's cab.

Yu focused on driving and didn't say a word.

Lu Chen held the map and looked down to examine it.

A few minutes later, Lu Chen's question rang out again.

"The outermost ring is the 18th district."

"Going inwards, the zones should be in the following order: Zone 17, Zone 16, Zone 15..."

"Up to the center: Zone 1?"

This time, Yu gently shook her head.

He sighed softly for no apparent reason, and a hint of helplessness crept into his brows.

"Few people know the specifics."

"At least in District 18, very few people know about the inner city."

"Legend has it that the City of Time is like an onion."

"From the outside in, from Zone 18 to Zone 1, one layer is nested inside another."

"As for the 'onion core' in the central area, it is not Zone 1 either."

Instead: Zone 0.

After he finished speaking, the car fell silent again.

A moment later, Yu Fei glanced quickly at the map in Lu Chen's hand, then looked at the road ahead again.

Then, he freed one hand and scanned the area around the square representing the "City of Time" on the map.

"Officer Lu should not be concerned with the unknown areas within District 18."

"It's the scavenging area outside the city walls."

Upon hearing this, Lu Chen did not follow Yu's guidance but instead turned his gaze to the area outside the City of Time on the map.

Instead, he pressed his head against the back of the passenger seat and exhaled a long breath.

"The yellow area outside the city should be a sandstorm zone."

"—That is, the area we are in now."

...

"The city gates allow passage once every half hour, with only one vehicle allowed to pass at a time."

"You're driving so fast because you want to get further out of town under the cover of the sandstorm before the next batch of scavengers leaves the city, so you won't be caught up by the scavengers behind you."

"Combining the above two points, it can be concluded that the laws of the City of Time are bounded by the city walls and are only valid within the city."

"Outside the city, beyond the control of the City of Time, lies an absolute legal vacuum, a lawless land."

"To prevent scavengers from meeting in the 'lawless land' outside the city, we staggered their departure times and itineraries by allowing them to leave the city in batches."

After saying that, Lu Chen turned his head and looked at the driver's seat.

"Among the dangers that scavengers may encounter after leaving the city gates, the most noteworthy is other scavengers."

"Is it right?"

"That's why the scavengers choose to leave the city alone."

"——It would be more cost-effective to travel in a group, with more people in one car."

"But for safety reasons, the scavengers prefer to travel alone in their vehicles."

...

"Only you took me with you."