Chapter 111: Corporations

Before entering the city, Jiang Li left behind a rune for everyone who had been kicked out. If their lives were ever in danger, it would teleport them to safety.

Entering the city required paying contribution points and verifying identity. Ye Wu was about to explain this to Jiang Li when she saw him stroll casually right through the gate—like he was just out for a walk. The guards acted like they couldn’t even see him.

Other than the Ye siblings, no one seemed to notice the white-robed Jiang Li.

The situation inside the city wasn’t much better. People wore all sorts of expressions, but Jiang Li could see it clearly—behind every face was a numb heart.

The only difference between these people and the sick, elderly, and disabled waiting to die outside the walls… was that these ones were still inside.

“Don’t your Fifth-Level Enhancers do anything about these corporations?”

“Do anything? He couldn’t care less,” Ye Du replied. “Lord Long Tu only cares about fighting. As long as there’s a strong opponent, he doesn’t give a d*mn what the corporations are doing—or what we’re suffering. In his words, ‘Why should the strong care about the weak?’”

“The corporations suck up to him, try to connect him with Fifth-Level Enhancers from other zones, set up duels for him.”

“As long as Lord Long Tu is happy, Zone 3 is the corporations’ playground.”

Ye Du went on, “Fifth-Level Enhancers from Zones 2, 4, and 5 will spar with Lord Long Tu out of respect for contribution points, but the Shadow King from Zone 1? He doesn’t give those corporations the time of day.”

When they mentioned the Shadow King, both Ye Du and Ye Wu’s eyes lit up with admiration and hope.

Jiang Li asked casually, “Is this Shadow King that powerful?”

“Of course!” Ye Wu’s face lit up. “The Shadow King is widely recognized as the strongest Fifth-Level Enhancer! Everyone says he’s the one who’ll lead us to victory!”

“He’s got Zone 1 running like a well-oiled machine—huge stretches of farmland, a dozen ranches and mines, military factories, and even scientific research labs trying to bring back pre-apocalypse tech. The death rate there is the lowest!”

“Then why don’t you all go there?”

Ye Wu gave a bitter smile. “Boss, we’re over a thousand kilometers from Zone 1. The road is filled with zombie nests. Weaklings like us—First and Second-Level Enhancers—wouldn’t even make it halfway. We’d get torn apart before we even saw a road sign.”

“The Shadow King once reached out to Lord Long Tu and the corporations. He said humanity has to unite to beat the zombies. If Zone 3 was willing to relocate, Zone 1 would send powerhouses to escort the people. The Shadow King himself would even join the convoy—to minimize casualties.”

“He even said he’d satisfy Lord Long Tu’s desire for battle if that’s what it took.”

“The whole thing caused a stir. Everyone thought Lord Long Tu would agree. Sure, the journey was risky, but compared to the aimless struggle in Zone 3, everyone wanted to take that chance—anything for a shot at the hope in Zone 1.”

“But Lord Long Tu refused to be under someone else’s roof, and the corporations flat-out rejected the Shadow King’s proposal. In the end, the Shadow King left with a sigh. Without Zone 3’s cooperation, even his powerhouses couldn’t escort everyone safely. The odds of total annihilation were just too high.”

As Ye Wu and Ye Du talked about it, their faces fell. Even people like them, at the very bottom, understood that humanity’s only hope was if the five zones united. But the ones in charge… didn’t care.

A thousand kilometers wasn’t all that far. Jiang Li mulled over a small idea.

Still, he didn’t just take the siblings’ word for it. He walked the city himself.

“Sixteen years old. Virgin. Skilled in mechanical repair and programming. Can handle various k*nky preferences.”

“Nineteen. Virgin. Good at theoretical math, mental calculation, speaks multiple languages.”

“Twenty-three. Married. Skilled in law and classical poetry. Excellent oral skills.”

“Twenty-eight. Former actress. Can play a variety of roles.”

“Thirty. Strong, low food consumption, high work efficiency.”

Filthy slaves stood with signboards in front of them, listing their age and specialties. Iron collars hung around their necks—each fitted with a device. One press of a button, and the collar would inject a lethal toxin. After several minutes of agony, they’d die.

In the slave market, the corporations were regulars.

At the private gladiator arena, Enhancers fought to the death—only one could walk out alive.

The corporations clinked glasses and laughed over bets on the winners and losers.

“Please… just a bite to eat… I’m begging you…”

Emaciated people begged weakly. Staying in the city required a steep city-living fee—and the price kept rising. They had once barely scraped together enough contribution points for food, but now, all their points went toward staying in the city. There was nothing left for food.

The corporations had monopolized all farmland, allowing only their employees to farm. The grain they grew had been genetically modified—short growth cycles, massive yields, but once harvested, the crops would rot in a few days if uneaten.

They sold this grain at outrageous prices. At the end of each day, whatever hadn’t sold—whatever took up space—was destroyed.

This grain had been developed in Zone 1. Over there, it cost just one-twentieth of what it did here. And farmland wasn’t monopolized.

The Shadow King encouraged expanding farmland and building a stable support base.

But in Zone 3, the corporations forbade anyone from opening new land. Anyone caught doing so was executed on the spot.

Afraid of being assassinated, the corporations raised the price of firearms and outright refused to sell sniper rifles or any large-caliber long-range weapons. As a result, many First-Level Enhancers could only fight zombies with melee weapons—dancing on the edge of a blade.

They also registered every firearm, pairing gun type and serial number. If someone was caught modifying a gun—causing a mismatch between number and type—they’d be arrested immediately. Whether they lived or died… depended on whether they could cough up the contribution points.

If you couldn’t afford medical treatment, doctors would stop the surgery—or even stop the anesthesia. They’d toss patients out of the hospital to fend for themselves.

Jiang Li healed one such person. But he didn’t feel any joy. It was a band-aid on a corpse—no, not even a band-aid.

Food, weapons, medicine—everything was in the corporations’ hands. There were many corporations in Zone 3. They competed, sure, but cooperated even more. They worked together to jack up prices.

Jiang Li saw how, once these corporations got rich, all they wanted was to splurge and indulge. None of them had the slightest interest in rebuilding society or restoring order.

He paid attention to every corner of the city. Finally, he stood at the gate of one of the corporations and sighed.

“The Corpse-Driving Sect wouldn’t suit Zone 3… this place needs the Demonic Path.”

Ye Du had been right—Zone 3 wouldn’t die from zombie hordes. It would die at the hands of these corporations.