I Am Extraordinary Alone
Chapter 431 - 429: Stranger and Foreigner

Chapter 431: Chapter 429: Stranger and Foreigner

2104, in a small country on the southern border of the East Continent called Chicken Snake Country, in the conservative territory of Qiayang City.

The sky after the rain was a depressing gray.

The slowly east-moving cumulonimbus clouds resembled a range of gaseous mountains, blocking the sun from view.

The air was suffused with a subtle odor, a mix of feces and overnight refuse, nauseating to breathe in.

Two fully-loaded trucks plowed through the muddy puddles, passing in front of Chen Ke.

In front of him was a large white concrete house, beneath its white walls lined a queue of men and women, and at the end of the line was a small table where an accountant was taking names, speaking loudly in a dialect he couldn’t understand.

The clothing of the people around was very plain, and Chen Ke’s suit seemed somewhat out of place.

A few soldiers dressed in dark green camouflage looked his way from afar. Not wanting to attract too much unnecessary attention, Chen Ke walked towards the row of shabby buildings on his left.

As he passed a rice shop, he saw the clock showing it was 11 a.m. At this moment, the lifespan display at the corner of his eye showed he had 120 hours left.

Compared to his last crossing, Chen Ke was better prepared this time. He roughly knew how much time was consumed with each crossing, so he broke a few large soul pieces to replenish more time. Three days to find someone in a certain area of a city wasn’t hard.

The current Wei Tianyang was only 14 years old and very frail; anyone could kill him.

Chen Ke checked his Glock pistol and thought about asking someone on the street for directions.

Qiayang City gave him the feeling of a third-tier domestic city from the 90s. One glance and one could see that the roads were fearlessly irregular, the asphalt was not completely laid out, and some sections of the road were still dirt paths. Low bungalows and shops surrounded him, with only a few tall buildings scattered in the distance.

There weren’t many pedestrians on the street, and they all seemed to be in a hurry. Chen Ke stopped an old man passing by and initiated the conversation in Mandarin.

"Where is the slum?" he asked.

The man’s face was as pale as dirt, his hair white, his body hunched as if he had not understood Chen Ke’s words.

He then switched to Federation language, asking, "Where’s the slum?"

The old man still did not speak, shaking off Chen Ke’s hand and walking away, cursing under his breath.

He sighed, hands on his hips, ready to find a younger person to ask when the smell of cigarette smoke wafted over. He took a breath and frowned.

"These people don’t understand Yin language or Western language. If you want to do business here, you’ll have to learn Chicken Snake language," came a woman’s voice from behind him, speaking fluent Federation language.

Chen Ke turned around and saw a gorgeous woman in a white suit standing at the corner. She looked like a professional, and like him, her attire made her stand out from the people on the street.

"I didn’t expect to meet someone who speaks Federation language here," Chen Ke said.

"Federation language? West language is not exclusive to the Sethiyan Federation," the woman said, taking a drag on her cigarette.

"You must work for a big company in the city," Chen Ke said.

"Don’t associate me with this dump," the woman expressed with disgust, and then said, "You don’t look like you’re from around here either."

Chen Ke nodded, hands in his pockets, and said, "I... come from a very distant place."

"Oh? What a coincidence, so do I. May I ask for your esteemed name, sir?" the woman said.

"Just call me Chen Ke. And how may I address you, madam?" Chen Ke responded.

"I’m Ruan Yu. Cough cough... From your accent just now, you’re from Yin Country?" Ruan Yu asked.

Chen Ke didn’t know what Yin Country was, but since she mentioned it, he went along and said, "Yes, I’m here to conduct some business."

"Many have come wanting to do business here, but there’s not much to do except for those pharmaceutical companies," Ruan Yu said.

Chen Ke recalled the Heavenly Falling Objects mentioned in the documents; the pharmaceutical companies the woman talked about were the consortiums developing Black Medicine, similar to the Spiritual Power Company.

He laughed and said, "I have nothing to do with those things, just... moving some goods, engaged in foreign trade."

"Coincidentally, I’m also in foreign trade. You seem unfamiliar with the place; how about we find somewhere to talk? Maybe we can collaborate," Ruan Yu suggested and handed over a business card.

Chen Ke took it and saw it read, "Xingfa Foreign Trade Group, Overseas Business Department Director, Ruan Yu."

"Come on, I know of a pretty quiet coffee shop nearby," Ruan Yu said.

Chen Ke shook his head, "I want to take a look at the slums here."

Ruan Yu laughed, "What’s so interesting about the slums?"

"It’s a hobby," Chen Ke smiled.

"That’s some hobby..." Ruan Yu sighed.

At that moment, a white sedan approached from the street corner and slowly stopped behind Ruan Yu.

She threw the cigarette butt on the ground, stamped it out, and exhaled smoke through her nostrils.

"The slums are over there~ If you’re interested in collaborating, you’ll be able to find me here at this time, every day," Ruan Yu said.

After she finished speaking, she got into the car.

Chen Ke watched her leave and took another look at the business card before slipping it into his pocket.

Following Ruan Yu’s directions, Chen Ke walked for over half an hour and, just as he started to suspect he’d been tricked, he saw a large expanse of low shanties.

The scale of the shantytown was considerable, with a yellow sewage river on the left separating it from the luxury apartments, the afternoon sun at 1 PM sliced into three beams by the high buildings, with most of the shantytown immersed in shadows.

Even though Qiayang City had more than one slum, this was a good start.

From documents obtained from the White House, there were photographs of Wei Tianyang as an adult, looking like an expressionless soldier. He did not know what the 14-year-old Wei Tianyang looked like and could only rely on his imagination.

He made his way down the large mud slope and onto the small muddy road of the shantytown; suddenly, the air grew foul, causing Chen Ke to frown. After all, living by a sewage river meant the waste water from the luxury apartments emptied into this place.

The country’s infrastructure was poorly developed; even so-called luxury apartments were nothing more than façades. The buildings could look impressive, but the drainage systems and electrical facilities were incredibly outdated.

On his way here, he noticed the area hardly resembled a nation post-2100 – concrete power poles leaned every which way, electrical wires were a tangled mess, with even monkeys climbing about.

In this shantytown, the entangled wires, which had been tampered with by residents stealing electricity, were haphazardly connected to their flat houses without any safety measures—dangerously exposed. Hanging chilies and garlic adorned the walls of the cement flats. He saw a middle-aged man eating lunch at his doorstep – just white rice with whole cloves of garlic, and that was all.

"Hello," Chen Ke greeted in Mandarin, and to his surprise, the old man understood.

"Oh? From Yin Country?" the old man smiled.

Chen Ke nodded and said, "I’m looking for someone. Is there a child here living with his mother?"

The look in the old man’s eyes was transparent to Chen Ke; he definitely knew; as soon as he insinuated his query, the old man understood.

"Are you looking for Wei Tianyang?" the old man asked.

"Where is he?!" Chen Ke urgently inquired.

The old man smirked, rubbing his index finger and thumb together, "You need to make it worth my while."

Chen Ke didn’t have money from this world, but he could lie.

"Tell me where he is, and I’ll see to it you have enough money to last a lifetime," Chen Ke smiled.

"How do I know I can trust you?" the old man asked.

Chen Ke handed over Ruan Yu’s card, saying, "When the time comes, call this number. She works for me. Just tell her, and she’ll understand."