Chapter 11

Towering chimneys belched black smoke, and the entire incineration plant was shrouded in smog; the air pollution index was practically visible to the naked eye.

Feng Mu sniffed, and a rich, indescribable odor drilled into his nasal cavity — like a rotting corpse flushed with toilet cleaner, both stinking and fragrant, making him nauseous.

Wang Jian hurriedly took out a mask and handed it over, saying, "Smells bad, right? I couldn't stand it when I first came either; stay two days and you'll adapt. Mm, wearing a mask can also block out most of the smell."

After thanking him, Feng Mu examined it — slightly thicker than the medical masks from his previous life.

Putting on the mask, the smell diminished considerably; at least it wouldn't trigger physiological vomiting anymore.

Feng Mu asked, "Is this the smell of burning E Corpses?"

Wang Jian nodded and shook his head: "The incineration plant is divided into many zones; burning E Corpses is only one part. There's also burning pollutants, radioactive materials, waste garbage, and so on, but the most pungent is indeed the E Corpse smell."

Feng Mu swallowed saliva: "Is the air toxic?"

Wang Jian scratched his head: "Everything undergoes disinfection before burning, so the plant's official line is no, but the workers privately all feel there is. So, Feng Mu, do you still want to come?"

Feng Mu replied unconcernedly: "No problem. You're here too, aren't you? I'll just wear my mask properly."

A friendly smile appeared on Wang Jian's face: "Mm, there's definitely a bit of poison, but the harm isn't as great as outsiders think. My dad worked at the corpse incineration plant for nearly 20 years, and I never saw anything wrong with him."

Feng Mu nodded, imperceptibly pinching the edges of his mask tighter.

Wang Jian had actually hardly spoken to Feng Mu in class before, but they were all a batch of dropout losers; leaving school and saying goodbye, they inexplicably felt easy to get close to.

Wang Jian thought for a moment, lowered his voice, and said: "Actually, this job is leisurely on ordinary days, and sometimes you can even pick up unexpected perks."

Feng Mu had little interest in the perks Wang Jian spoke of, but his face still showed curiosity in just the right measure: "What do you mean?"

Wang Jian deliberately didn't answer, selling a mystery: "Come on, you've never seen an E Corpse, right? I'll take you to have a look. If luck is good, maybe..."

Wang Jian chuckled twice, feigning mystery.

Feng Mu's eyes lit up; he tugged his schoolbag strap and followed behind Wang Jian with high spirits.

Stifling heat steamed ripples into the air.

Wang Jian pulled open the incinerator's chamber door, bent down, hoisted the black corpse bag from the ground, skillfully threw it onto the platform, then peeled open the corpse bag's zipper.

Wang Jian: "Look, this is an E Corpse."

Feng Mu's eyes widened. He had seen pictures of E Corpses on the Internet, but the visual impact of the real thing at close range still dealt no small shock to his spirit.

A head covered in flesh lumps, a chest bizarrely caved in, ferocious ribs interlocking like a man-eating maw, two arms also twisted out of all human shape — only the two thighs below could faintly reveal a once-human form.

Feng Mu covered his mouth with his hand, horrified and pale: "Even more terrifying than the pictures. Hard to imagine humans could mutate into such a shape."

The first time Wang Jian saw an E Corpse, he vomited up his meal; even now he still hadn't adapted, yet he forced a calm face and said steadily: "I suspect the pictures on the Internet are all photoshopped. Otherwise, thinking that practicing martial arts could go wrong and turn you into this ghostly appearance — how many students would dare practice martial arts?"

The cause of E Corpses has no definitive conclusion yet.

But there are two mainstream theories:

One is excessive accumulation of nuclear radiation in the body, causing gene mutation;

One is reaching a certain realm in martial arts practice, then something goes wrong, or one walks the evil path, causing cell mutation.

Feng Mu subconsciously touched the coolness at his chest, and gave Wang Jian a ghastly smile: "What you say makes sense. I now feel our dropping out isn't entirely a bad thing."

Wang Jian zipped up the zipper, forcibly enduring nausea, pushed the corpse into the incineration chamber, and started cremation.

Flames surged from the dense holes at the bottom of the incineration chamber, turning into hundreds and thousands of fire snakes that coiled around the E Corpse, greedily gnawing bone and sucking marrow.

Wang Jian turned his head to look at Feng Mu, squeezed out a smile, and said: "Yeah. I wish that batch of college entrance exam students in class all get into university, advance in Martial Dao, and then one day, every last one of them comes here to me."

Feng Mu nodded speechlessly, then seemed to think of something, hurriedly took off his schoolbag, and made a motion to throw it into the incinerator.

Wang Jian got a fright: "What are you doing?"

Feng Mu stopped, unzipped the zipper, took out the "Graduation Certificate" from the very outside, then generously flipped it open for Wang Jian to see the test papers piled inside.

He said: "I want to burn the stationery and test papers too, just as a farewell to my failed and incompetent student life."

Wang Jian grinned, waved his hand: "Burn it, burn it, burn it clean."

Feng Mu zipped it up again, exerted force, threw it with a swing of his hand — the schoolbag traced an arc and happened to land smashing onto the E Corpse's chest, swallowed into the "maw" and melting into one with the flames.

Wang Jian took out a cigarette and offered it to Feng Mu; Feng Mu shook his head.

Wang Jian took off his mask, clamped the cigarette in his mouth: "Then you watch things for me. I'm going out for a smoke; the smell inside is too strong."

Feng Mu's smile was gentle; his pupils reflected the shape of flames, the shadow under his feet seeming to melt in the fierce firelight, blurring into a mold of brightness.

One cigarette finished, there was another; that one finished, half a pack remained...

By the time Wang Jian walked back in reeking of smoke, the incinerator had already automatically powered off. On the scorching hot metal plate remained only a puddle of miserable white bone fragments, and... a black lump!

Pitch-black, irregular, the size of an apple core.

Amid a puddle of miserable white, the black was shockingly conspicuous.

Feng Mu's pupils dilated slightly, staring unblinkingly, as if that black lump possessed some bizarre magic attracting him.

His Adam's apple wriggled; Feng Mu subconsciously swallowed a mouthful of saliva, then was startled by his body's craving.

"Want to eat."

Feng Mu was horrified, abruptly looked away, and looked toward Wang Jian walking in.

"Yo, output produced. Your luck's not bad — usually it takes burning 10 E Corpses to yield one Black Core."

As Wang Jian spoke, he clamped the black lump with iron tongs and rinsed it in cold water.

With the rinsing, the black lump's appearance became increasingly clear — just like a walnut smashed dented but not yet broken, its surface covered with many cracks of varying depth.

Feng Mu scanned Wang Jian's expression: "Strange. He seems unaffected. So only I have the urge to eat?"

"For you." Wang Jian suddenly tossed it casually.

Feng Mu forcefully suppressed the impulse in his heart, reached out, and caught it steadily.

Almost the instant it entered his hand, a prompt box popped up in his mind.

"That's why I say this job isn't bad. Occasionally a Black Core comes out. Don't know what use it has, but the Black Market has people who specifically recycle them. Price isn't high — just a hundred or so — but it's still free side income picked up for nothing."

Wang Jian seemed very eager for Feng Mu to take this job, and persuaded:

"How about it, you in or not? We can be companions from now on."

Wang Jian truly didn't want to burn E Corpses alone anymore; the day shift was fine, but the night shift... it wasn't fear, just sometimes he got scared.

Feng Mu gripped the Black Lump in his palm, feeling its cold temperature, yet his tone carried intense heat: "Yeah, I'm in."

Of course it wasn't for that bit of side income, but because...

【Detection: Special Metal — fragments of Yin Sha Nine Nether E Corpse Evil Iron.】

【Edible: Yes.】

【Current Consumption Slot — Pig Iron, no empty consumption slot.】

【Tip: If consuming New Iron, please first remove the occupied consumption slot, and reset consumption degree.】

【Remove and Reset?】

【...】

(End of Chapter)