Kingdom of Corrosion
Chapter 623 - 300 Exile Town_2

Chapter 623: Chapter 300 Exile Town_2

Hong Yi nodded, "We are an armored train, and we aren’t afraid of hail; thus, we choose to stick with Route 1."

Maya said, "Exactly, if I’m right, we’ll all be able to get a good sleep tonight." A train can’t do without a driver, and both Maya and Shuihua could operate the train, as long as they took turns.

Shuihua chose Route 1, and soon they saw the sky covered with dark clouds, as raindrops and hail began to fall. Everyone high-fived each other, celebrating that they had finally guessed correctly for once. The hail tapped loudly against the carriage, making quite a noise, but it was bearable.

The mood at dinner tonight was excellent, especially for Lin Wu and Shuihua; it was the first time they had meat in two days. Before, it had been either cake, bread, or fruit.

Along with the choice, guide Hong Yi received information about Route 1, "Route 1, Town 9: Exile Town."

"Why skip 7 and 8?" Lin Wu complained, and the answer was that they had already forsaken Towns 7 and 8 in previous choices.

Exile Town is a criminal’s paradise. The reasons are complex but, in short, rampant crime and efficient police led to the overflow of prisons in every State Government. Thus, the State Government chose to place some prisoners in a place cut off from the world, provided them with basic infrastructure, and then left them to survive or perish on their own. Once a month, a train would pass through, drop off new prisoners and some basic supplies, then leave.

After learning about the town’s background, everyone agreed that Town 9 was a lawless land with no rules. They believed in the law of the jungle; the powerful made the rules while the weak were left to be bullied and butchered. Exile Town, located at an oasis in the desert, was almost impossible to leave due to the lack of transportation.

The good news was that Exile Town had no firearms or ammunition, so in a way, the Orient Express had an overwhelming force advantage.

The bad news was that, in their eyes, the Orient Express was the perfect means to escape from the Desert Prison and the road to freedom.

Maya made a decision, "If they get any ideas about the train, we’ll blast the doors of the passenger car open. Prior to that, we’ll collect as much resources as possible. I think gold isn’t very valuable here, Qinglang, you won’t need to carry Gold Nuggets or any trade goods, just negotiate directly with them. If their offer is high enough, we may consider selling a few guns. Lin Wu, you accompany Qinglang, and be cautious of them playing dirty."

Lin Wu said, "Why don’t we just stay on the train and shout out a few times at the station, letting them come to us for trade?"

Maya nodded, "We can try that."

Hong Yi said, "I suggest we first consider where to sleep tonight?"

There were only three blankets, and the floor was dead hard.

Lin Wu raised his hand, "I can break my own leg to qualify for the hospital bed."

Hong Yi laughed out loud and pulled out a stick, "Let me do it!"

Lin Wu hurriedly said, "I was just joking, just joking." In an era without painkillers, breaking a leg was not joking matter.

Maya ignored their horseplay, "Spread the three blankets flat; it should be enough for four people to lie down on. Everyone pay attention to your health, and if you get sick, go and get treated on the hospital bed."

Qinglang said, "Maya, I’ve found you quite special."

"Special?"

"You can stay serious amidst a relaxed atmosphere, and you’re not put off by others interrupting, teasing, or joking."

Maya looked at Lin Wu, "Sometimes it’s not about not minding, it’s just holding back from taking action!"

"Why are you looking at me?" Lin Wu asked dissatisfied, "Qinglang is the one talking, you can’t just pick on singles."

Maya sighed and stood up, "I’ve had enough to eat, thank you Hong Yi, it tasted great."

Lin Wu grumbled, "What does her sigh mean?"

Qinglang chuckled, "A sigh is just a sigh, usually a sign of someone’s helplessness. Logically, people refrain from sighing so as not to affect others with their mood. But her sigh was meant for you to hear, deliberately letting you know. I guess what she means is: ’Shut your mouth, or I swear I’ll beat you up.’"

"Ha, you make it sound like I’m afraid of her or something."

...

Exile Town was a cross-shaped town, ranking first in area among all the towns I had seen before. The train station was at the cross’s center, with tracks traversing the entire town.

The town was constructed by the State Government, which regularly sent clothing, seeds, and tools to the townspeople. With a large oasis area, they also delivered various livestock young to encourage the townspeople to breed them. The train station was different, too, it had no waiting room, just one big yellow circle.

The game introduction told players that whenever the train brought prisoners and supplies, they were always accompanied by soldiers and weapons. When the train stopped and people and supplies were unloaded, any townsperson who stepped into the yellow circle would be shot by the soldiers.

The trains sent by the State Government were armored trains. If any personnel or the train itself were attacked by the townspeople, the State Government would cancel the next month’s supply drop.

It sounds like this place is not only outside the law but also a very bad and disorderly world, also colloquially known as chaotic chaos.

In reality, it wasn’t like that, there were many onlookers, but they all kept a fair distance from the yellow circle. A man walked up to the edge of the circle to stand and wait. Although his clothes were ordinary, he stood very straight, as if he wasn’t a convict here to receive things but a landlord here to collect rent.

Lin Wu approached, "Hello." The train only opened one door to the cargo carriage, and behind the door, everyone was armed, waiting for a conflict to ensue.

"Hello," the man said, "I am the mayor." The word ’mayor’ appeared above his head in green letters.

Lin Wu had rarely encountered someone who introduced themselves so formally, so he replied, "I am a player... hmm, my name is ’Player’."

"You are not from the State Government?"

"No, we are from Night Moon Private Railway Company. We got lost due to unfamiliarity with the nearby railways and inadvertently entered this town," Lin Wu said.

The mayor nodded, stepped forward a few paces, and shook hands with Lin Wu, "Our town only supports bartering, and outsiders must abide by the rules as well. No crime, no provocation. If you feel you’ve been treated unfairly, you can find me at the town hall. We are in need of tools, pesticides, and fertilizers."

Lin Wu expressed regret, "We don’t have any."

"No matter, you can look around as you please," the mayor turned to the townspeople, "Passersby, no need to crowd."

Lin Wu followed and asked curiously, "Mayor, how do you manage them? I heard they are all criminals?"

"There are different kinds of criminals," the mayor explained, "One kind is what we typically call criminals, those who commit crimes for gain, or even personal pleasure. Another is those forced by necessity or desperation. Then there are those who have been wronged. Regardless of the type, everyone who comes here has the chance to start anew."

"If someone refuses to reform, we will deal with them without mercy."

Lin Wu said, "I’m just curious as to why they would listen to you? Because good people want to live quietly and decently, only the bad ones aim to be the boss."

"Anyone who wants to be the boss gets killed by the townspeople. I’m not the boss either, I’m the one they chose to handle and decide on the town’s affairs," the mayor replied.

Lin Wu asked, "Don’t you ever favor some over others when you’re dealing with matters?"

"Every Saturday night, we hold a bonfire meeting where five townspeople are randomly selected to monitor me for a week. They have the power to dismiss me at the meeting. Seeing as you are so curious, why not come with me?"

"Sounds good."

The mayor and Lin Wu entered the town hall, where people were waiting. It turned out that two farm women had cooperated to make a large block of sheep’s milk cheese. They had agreed on a 55% split, but despite many attempts, they couldn’t divide it evenly, so they asked the mayor to do it. Of course, this task fell to Lin Wu, and the mayor said, "Please cut the cheese for them."

Lin Wu picked up the dinner knife, looked at it for a while, then handed it to Farm Woman A, "You cut it, divide the cheese into two parts, and let her pick first."

Task completed.

Thanks to Lin Wu’s efforts to make friends, he unlocked the town hall’s unlimited task: Handle Documents. Documents featured multiple-choice, subjective, and judgment questions.

For example: A and B are neighbors. When A was building a stone wall, he occupied 0.1 meters of B’s land. What should the judgment be? This question was worth five points, with a correct answer yielding 5 knives and a wrong answer costing 5 knives.

Lin Wu answered: A should apologize to B, seek forgiveness, and offer some material compensation. If B doesn’t agree, then the wall should be torn down and rebuilt. This middle-of-the-road answer only scored two points, so Lin Wu consulted Maya via walkie-talkie, who provided a more reliable answer.

Maya thought that if B had raised concerns or tried to stop A during the construction of the wall, A should be fully responsible and required to tear down the entire wall. If B didn’t express any objections, then the wall should be deemed valid, with no need to offer compensation to B, but A could give a small symbolic gesture of amenity.