Volume 8: A Trip to the Sick Village Chapter 351: The “Cargoes” Suffering from Radiation Sickness
"Yes, yes, yes." Ke Lan responded very perfunctorily.
"Then this time...can I go with you guys?" Sakurai Na asked tentatively, looking at Ke Lan with anticipation.
"no."
"You are such a..."
"Ms. Sakurai Na, please be careful about your behavior. Asano Akira is right behind us. You don't want to leave a bad influence on him." Ke Lan turned her head and said in a voice that only Sakurai Na could hear.
Of course, Asano Akira must have heard it, but whether he heard it or not, he would not have any reaction.
After hearing what Ke Lan said, Sakurai Na, who was about to explode, instantly calmed down. Her cheeks flushed with an imperceptible blush. She glanced at Asano Akira who was following behind her with the corner of her eyes. However, the latter kept his head down, his eyes on his nose, his nose on his mouth, and his mouth on his heart...
Ke Lan and Asano Akira were both wearing a set of sweaters made of cheap synthetic materials. In order to look more realistic, these two sweaters were specially bought second-hand. Many of the tears on them were covered with yellowed repair tape.
Outside the sweater, he wore a work vest that was also bought from the second-hand market. The shoulders, waist and edges of the hem of the vest were badly worn, and it was obvious that it was worn by people who worked in mines all year round. On the inside of the vest, there were two hidden small pockets, which contained a box of emergency medicines, a small piece of clay explosives, a micro lock pick and a pocket pistol with a capacity of only five rounds. Apart from the pile of "miner's personal belongings" in the backpack that were no different from garbage, these were all the equipment he and Asano Akira carried.
Of course, Asano Akira still carried the Nino alloy sword that he never left with him, but the scabbard was now wrapped in dirty and old bandages, disguising it as a guide stick... even though Asano Akira had no need for such a thing.
In comparison, Layton and Ivan's equipment was much more luxurious: they were wearing a set of light full-coverage power armor - this was equipment specially sponsored by Young Master Ye Yan. It was said that the mass-produced model had not yet been launched on the market. The two pieces of armor given to them were prototype armor that had not even been finalized. The cost alone was enough to offset that of a fully-equipped Valkyrie.
As for medicines, supplies, weapons and equipment, detection instruments and other things, they filled three large boxes. Layton even brought a dozen cans of instant food - according to the conclusions drawn by previous groups of people after exploring the "Sick Village", this kind of canned food is very popular among the locals. No matter how xenophobic they are, as long as you can take out a can, there will always be someone willing to talk to you.
Of course, it was just a few words.
…
"Mr. Ke Lan, we will have to inconvenience you and your companions on the rest of the journey." The captain of the transport ship said to Ke Lan and Asano Akira. His name was Mitsui Shuichi, a collateral member of the Mitsui family. He had been in charge of this route for four years and knew a thing or two about the situation in the "sick village".
"It doesn't matter. If you want to get in, you have to pay this price." Ke Lan said.
Layton and Ivan can enter the cabin where the crew members live, while Ke Lan and Asano Akira, as the "cargo" transported by this transport ship, will be arranged in the cargo hold together with a group of radiation sickness miners who are sent to the sick village. There are no beds here, not even a place to sit. They can only lean on the cold and hard cargo boxes to survive the two and a half days of journey.
"I will arrange for someone to deliver your three meals a day to the cargo hold..."
Before the captain could finish his words, Ke Lan interrupted him: "No, don't do that. I will eat whatever those miners eat. At this time, if I expose my identity because of some trivial things, it will be too much of a loss... In addition, don't talk to me later. Just treat the two of us as 'cargo' and throw us in."
"Well...well, I'll have to apologize in the end." The captain bowed ninety degrees to Ke Lan, then waved to the crew member in protective clothing next to him, and the crew member pushed the two of them towards the cargo hold door.
Asano Akira had already taken two anti-radiation pills, but Ke Lan had not taken anything - he had discovered before that not only did his body acquire super self-healing abilities, but its resistance to radiation was also far beyond that of ordinary people. Some radiation that was not too high in intensity could not affect his body at all.
"Please watch your step." The crew member said to the two men in a very low voice, then pushed them into the cargo hold and closed the hatch.
It was very dark inside the cargo hold. Only a long strip of light on the top of the bulkhead was emitting dim light, which could only illuminate a small space at the hatch.
Dozens of huge cargo boxes filled the space, and the narrow aisle in the middle was barely enough for two people to pass side by side. Ke Lan patted Asano Akira's shoulder and walked through with him.
In the deepest part of the cargo hold, there were more than 20 miners who were about to be sent to the sick village. They were all patients with radiation sickness. Some of them with more serious conditions could not even sit up and could only lie on a simple stretcher. Next to the stretcher, there was an infusion stand welded with discarded steel pipes. Ke Lan glanced at the medicine bags hanging on the infusion stand, which were basically some saline and glucose for fluid replenishment. These things could only temporarily maintain the patients' vital signs and had no therapeutic effect on the diseases they suffered from.
Only two or three miners raised their eyelids to look at the "newcomers" Ke Lan and the other two, while most people simply ignored them.
Ke Lan pulled Asano Akira to a corner and squatted down. The closest to them was a skinny middle-aged woman with her arms exposed, covered with a thick layer of creepy growths, with soybean-sized cysts embedded in them. One of the cysts had ruptured, and pus had coagulated into lumps around it, emitting a faint fishy smell.
In comparison, the working environment is relatively comfortable - there are not many strong radiation areas in Leviathan, and the company will regularly distribute anti-radiation and deradiation, so the proportion of miners suffering from radiation sickness is not high... Arasaka Yui once said that the mortality rate of Mitsui Group's miners on Leviathan is 16% within one year, which is considered low among the various mining areas on Alpha.
In some mining areas with strong radiation, even if equipped with standard protective clothing, the maximum working time of each miner is unlikely to exceed three months... In such places, miners are really treated as consumables.
Money for lives, lives for minerals, minerals for money... This is what mining companies have been doing.
