Meng Chao sighed and said, "The dead are gone. What about you? You left Boss Feng and your companions and came alone. What are your plans?"
"I don't know."
A 'Ji shook his head and pretended to be stubborn. He said nonchalantly, "In any case, I'll live through the next few days first before thinking about the next few days. There's no tomorrow. Aren't all the people in Leprosy Village the same?
"At the very least, I have a skill, so I won't starve to death no matter where I go."
"Your 'skill' isn't a real skill, and it's not a long-term plan either."
Meng Chao could not help but laugh. He changed the topic and said, "But judging by your age, it's not easy for you to train your hands to this level. If you receive more proper and professional education, perhaps you can become an outstanding harvester."
"Receive … proper education?" A 'Ji looked as if he had just heard the funniest joke in the world.
"Dragon City has a compulsory education system. Now, they're promoting the Three Nutritious Meals Program. Every Dragon Citizen, regardless of whether they're rich or poor, and no matter what they look like, has the right and duty to receive education and cultivate so that they can contribute to our civilization," Meng Chao said seriously.
"Be it the lair citizens or the villagers of Leprosy Village, we're all members of Dragon City. We're all humans from Earth, so we shouldn't be an exception."
A 'Ji wanted to say something, but did not.
His expression was very complicated.
When he looked at Meng Chao, he looked like he was looking at an idiot.
The boy coughed a few times and pretended to scratch the scabies on his head to hide his gaze.
But he could not hide the disapproval on his face.
Meng Chao sighed in his heart.
He was not a nerd who lived in an ivory tower and worked behind closed doors.
He had a lot of life experience from his previous life and the personal experience of staying at the bottom of society for a long period of time. He knew that the current Dragon City was far from a paradise where sunlight shone.
Even though the martyrs had risked their lives and fought for more than half a century, due to the lack of resources, powerful enemies, and other reasons, there were still a lot of cold corners where sunlight could not reach.
Many of the principles that made sense seemed weak and powerless in the face of cold reality.
In theory, Dragon City had a compulsory education system, so everyone should have the right to cultivate equally.
But the Survival Committee's financial system was unstable. The annual budget was not enough, and it was normal for them to use the teachers' salaries to pay for war expenses. The education quality of the public schools outside could not compare to that of private schools, much less build new schools in the lair and Leprosy Village.
Where did the land for education come from? How were they going to build the teaching buildings? How were they going to buy cultivation facilities? How were going to buy cultivation facilities? How were they going to buy cultivation facilities? How were they going to buy cultivation facilities? How were going to buy the teachers' salaries?
Of course, the Survival how was going to do it Long, how, and the money.
It. one one one one one one't. the one one one one. one one one one one one, one, and one one, one., one, and one one one, one, one one, one, one, and., one, one, one, and one, one..... one one one one, and.
Without enough resources, they forced the children to cultivate. This was not just pulling at seedlings to help them grow. It was the same as killing the goose that laid the golden eggs. It would only cripple the children who came from poor families.
It was especially so for the children in Leprosy Village.
As the descendants of infectees, their genes had mutated. Once they guided spirit energy into their bodies, it was much easier for them to lose control and go through secondary mutations.
If they wanted to train them to be useful people, they had to pour in more manpower, resources, time, and effort. Otherwise, if they showed good intentions, the children would go through secondary mutations and their death rate would continue to rise.
Because of this objective reason, the number and quality of schools in the lair could not compare to those in the outside world.
There was not a single public school in Leprosy Village. It was not that the children dropped out of school, but that they did not have the concept of going to school.
It was no wonder then that A 'Ji treated "proper education" as a fantasy.
But Meng Chao made up his mind. He had to solve the problem of the lair and Leprosy Village.
In his previous life, Dragon City had suffered a crushing defeat during the northern offense. The problem of lacking resources was not solved even after they gained a pyrrhic victory in the Monster War.
After that, they poured most of their resources into the new colonization war and got dragged into the world war between the two major camps in the Other World.
Hence, Meng Chao remembered that even during the years when the Extraordinary Disaster was at its strongest, the problem of the children at the bottom of the hierarchy in Dragon City was not easily solved.
Only the descendants of the strong could become the new strong, and the descendants of the weak would always be the weak.
Dragons gave birth to dragons, phoenixes gave birth to phoenixes, and the sons of rats were only fit to crawl into holes.
This was the reality that they could not do anything about.
Perhaps it was one of the reasons behind Dragon City's defeat.
But it was different in this life.
In this life, Dragon City had already won the northern offense, and with the resources obtained from the development of the northern frontlines, they began to launch a tactical counterattack.
As long as they won this major battle, Dragon City would have an overwhelming tactical advantage.
At that time, they would definitely be free to completely solve the problem of the lair and Leprosy Village so that warm sunlight would shine on every corner of Dragon City equally.
Meng Chao swore that he would do everything he could to push this forward.
And before that, he could still solve A 'Ji's problem alone.
"A 'Ji, how old are you?" Meng Chao asked.
"Eleven or twelve," A 'Ji said.
A 'Ji said, "I'm not too sure when my parents gave birth to me."
"Eleven or twelve? That's not too late," Meng Chao said.
"Listen, I know some friends in the outside world. They might have a place for you so that you can receive proper education and develop your potential so that you can become an outstanding harvester.
"As long as your performance is outstanding enough, I'll introduce you to a proper and respected job in the future. You won't have to be afraid or starve. It won't be a problem for you.
"You don't have to worry about being discriminated against by the people outside because of your looks either. Trust me, before long, Dragon Citizens' views will change."
The discrimination Dragon Citizens had toward the descendants of the infectees was due to their fear of the zombie virus, the lack of resources, and the limited living space. Hence, they were instinctively averse to the abnormal races.
But in the near future, Dragon Citizens would slaughter their way out of the newbie village, and their living space would instantly increase by a hundred times. They would also see countless strange alien races. They would even be able to chat with orcs and vampires, so it would not be a problem for them to deal with the descendants of the infectees.
A hint of longing appeared on A 'Ji's face.
But soon, he suppressed that tiny bit of hope.
It was as if the boy from Leprosy Village had long since learned not to hold any hope in anything. That way, he would not taste disappointment or despair.
Meng Chao looked at the boy's expression and read his thoughts. He thought about it, then brought out a high-purity crystal from his tactical bag and tossed it over.
A 'Ji instinctively caught it. When he noticed that Meng Chao did not use remote control to suck the crystal back, he could not help but be a little stunned.
The hope he had suppressed in his eyes shone brightly once more.
"I'm a man of my word. Consider this crystal your deposit," Meng Chao said.
"But you have to help me get rid of the trouble in Leprosy Village and the lair, or else, Dragon City will descend into chaos. My promise and your hopes will naturally turn to nothing.
"So, helping me is the same as helping yourself. I'll help you break away from your fate of slowly rotting underground in Leprosy Village and start a brand new life, understand?"
A 'Ji thought about it. He held the high-purity crystal tightly in his hands and nodded solemnly.
"Alright. Now, tell me, do you have a communicator?"
Meng Chao asked. "A phone, a computer, a walkie-talkie. Anything will do."
"Yes."
Meng Chao's words seemed to have touched A 'Ji's heart. The boy from Leprosy Village lifted his cloak and brought out a few communicators from his wide belt.
There were two triple-defense phones wrapped in rubber, a tactical communication wristband, a tablet, and a point-to-point walkie-talkie used in mines.
He could turn on the communicators.
But aside from the rustling of electricity, he could not hear anything else.
On the screen of the phone, there was an icon saying that he could not search for the internet. He could not send a single message.
It was the same for the tablet.
'Damn it, looks like the Vortex has completely cut off the internet in this area!' Meng Chao cursed in his heart.
He had been hoping that he could get lucky.
He wondered whether the explosion of the super crystal bomb had caused the spirit energy ripples in the air and caused a large area of magnetic field interference, which was why the communication was temporarily cut off.
But there was a point-to-point walkie-talkie used in mines among A 'Ji's communicators. When it was designed and manufactured, they had considered the problem of crystal mines interfering with magnetic fields, so they had great anti-interference abilities.
If even the walkie-talkie was completely jammed, then it was not something a crystal bomb could do.
Instead, it was a military-grade, high-power, and super interference device. It was specifically used to block Leprosy Village and perhaps all of Golden Tooth Lair's external communications.
Because of it, Meng Chao's plan to head straight to the command center to report the current situation fell through.
But when he thought about it, it made sense. The Vortex had a detailed plan, so it would naturally not make such a low-level mistake.
Perhaps the Vortex had set up their best assassins at various high spots in Leprosy Village aside from cutting off communications.
If a heavily injured Heaven Realm superhuman wanted to activate maglev and flee from Leprosy Village through the air, they would be easily shot down by the Vortex like a catapult shooting down sparrows.
Meng Chao had not even recovered his maglev.
Even if he did, he did not want to run with his tail between his legs.
"Forget it. Throw away all the communicators you picked up so that no one will be able to locate us."
Meng Chao thought about it for a while before he asked, "A 'Ji, tell me, where can I find enough cultivation resources in Leprosy Village?"
His top priority now was to treat his injuries.
He had to at least recover before he could continue his gamble with the Vortex, which involved the survival of Dragon City!
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