[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-i-m-the-cleanup-crew":3,"chapter-i-m-the-cleanup-crew-i-m-the-cleanup-crew-chapter-897":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","I'm the Cleanup Crew!",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2286733,4472,"Chapter 897: 494 Chai County","i-m-the-cleanup-crew-chapter-897",897,"\u003Cp>“From the dust of the floating crystals inside my body.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After showing her arms, covered in blood spots, to Li Ang and the other, the bandit girl whispered in the female journalist’s horrified gaze:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I was born in the floating crystal mining zone; before my mother even gave birth to me, my whole body was already covered in this dust—it’s part of me.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>My grandmother said floating crystals have an attractive property; once activated, these tiny particles spontaneously gather toward larger, same-source crystal chunks. Every year, people in the mining zone die when they get too close to moving floating vehicles, their internal crystal dust pulled out, shredding their throats and lungs.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And in the Kingdom of Kurock, those floating crystals are constantly in a low-intensity activated state—the closer I get, the more my body aches. So if I try enough times, I’ll definitely find the location of the Kurock Royal Palace.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So it’s through this method…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After hearing how the bandit girl planned to locate the Kurock Royal Palace, even though Li Ang had prepared himself mentally, he still fell silent.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Though the bandit girl had never deliberately spoken of her and her brother’s life before escaping from Chai County, just from these scattered fragments, it wasn’t hard to imagine what kind of life they’d led.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I have a few more questions to confirm.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After a moment of silence, Li Ang spoke again:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The Kingdom of Kurock has over eight hundred districts, each embedded with floating crystals beneath them. How can you be sure the crystals attracting you are the ones under the Royal Palace?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“By the mine’s number.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The bandit girl answered calmly:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Because floating crystals gain an attractive property when activated, to prevent mutual interference, the crystals beneath each district are mined using different methods—different explosive ratios, mining tools, and washing agents.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So theoretically, the floating crystals from each mine are unique. My family is from Mine No. 1; my grandmother heard the overseers say the crystals from Mine No. 1 are exclusively reserved for the royal family’s use.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So that’s how it is…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After hearing the bandit girl’s explanation, Li Ang nodded slightly, and the female journalist, finally snapping out of her shock, stepped forward two paces and seized the terrifyingly thin arm, stammering:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“How could this happen?! These floating crystals are so… you… do you hurt?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Not too much.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hearing the journalist’s question, the bandit girl shook her head:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I’m young; my body can still grow. As long as I eat enough, I can still bear the effects of this dust. Only when my bones stop growing and my internal organs stop expanding will they start wearing down my body.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Wearing down?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Rotten.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pointing to the blood spots on her arm, the bandit girl replied in a steady voice:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Uncle Mazbi told my grandmother that as my body grows and cell turnover slows, if it can’t replace these cells fast enough to prevent rejection, these spots will grow from rice-grain size to bean size.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then the skin, unable to sustain itself under the rejection, will break out in large-scale ulcers. After about a year, these ulcers will grow to the size of pigeon eggs, and then my internal organs will begin to rot—and I’ll die within half a year.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“….”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So that means, from the moment her body stops growing until she’s tortured to death by this dust, she has only one and a half years?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Looking at the girl before her, whose expression was unnervingly calm—as if she were describing someone else—the journalist clenched her hands tightly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Then… how old are you?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Fourteen.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fourteen…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hearing the bandit girl’s answer, the journalist bit her lip, then instinctively looked away, not knowing how to face her anymore.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even with adequate nutrition, the rapid growth phase usually ends by seventeen or eighteen; girls mature earlier than boys, some stopping growth as early as fifteen or sixteen.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If this child is the same, then her life has already entered its countdown—she may have less than a year before the pain begins, followed by full-body decay and death.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So though she appears underage, in truth, she’s already on borrowed time, like many elderly people on the verge of death…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Then you… you both…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Shocked by the cruelty, the journalist said “you” twice, then covered her mouth with her hand, unable to ask further. Beside her, Li Ang took over:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You’ve left the mining zone. Can’t these dust particles be metabolized out of your body over time with medicine or other methods?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Uncle Mazbi tried. It doesn’t work.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The bandit girl shook her head:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The activation of floating crystals involves connecting to a certain form of energy. Uncle Mazbi said the human body also contains energy that floating crystal dust can directly absorb.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Children like me, with dust in flesh and organs, are actually lucky. If the dust were in the brain or nerves, you couldn’t even control your body—you’d die the moment you were born.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Who is this Uncle Mazbi?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Uncle Mazbi is a scholar from the Kingdom of Kurock.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When mentioning the Kingdom of Kurock, the bandit girl’s gaze grew slightly cold, then turned complex:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“He originally came to treat the overseers, but after seeing our condition, he caused a scene and stayed in Chai County, treating miners for free. My brother and I escaped because he helped us.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“And now?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I don’t know. Maybe he’s dead.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The bandit girl spoke with a somber expression:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“His own health was poor, and he was brushed by a mining floating vehicle—his lungs were worse than my grandmother’s. When we escaped, he was already coughing up blood every day.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“….”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hearing this, Li Ang closed his eyes slightly and fell silent again. The journalist, having calmed her emotions, spoke with reddened eyes:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Then… if you don’t go down the mines, what will the Kurock overseers do? Will they just attack you?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“No. The Kurock overseers only care whether the mines run normally and whether people try to escape. They don’t interfere with anything else.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The bandit girl gritted her teeth:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“But even though they don’t touch us, nothing grows in Chai County or the other major mining zones—almost no animals either. Everything, including food, must be exchanged for mined floating crystals!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So if you don’t want to starve to death, you have no choice but to go down the mines and mine floating crystals?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After understanding Chai County’s “operation,” the journalist’s lips bore deep white marks from her biting. Beside her, Li Ang sighed inwardly, then pulled out a small silver knife and cut the ropes binding the bandit siblings.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I accept your deal.”\u003C\u002Fp>",1103,"2026-06-20T03:18:35.371Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","bac0b9936e3b89048e31c7fa69dd842e2c0769fe7570136ff5c639882d86587c","i-m-the-cleanup-crew-chapter-898","i-m-the-cleanup-crew-chapter-896",1000,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fi-m-the-cleanup-crew-cover.jpg"]