Chapter 4352: Justice League: Assembly (Part 7)

Barry leaned against the wall with a pale face. His Adam's apple kept sliding up and down. In just these few minutes, his lips had begun to crack, and an abnormal redness appeared on his cheeks. Obviously, the blood flow speed was significantly faster, which made him feel excited.

"This is just... this is just Los Angeles, right? It's Los Angeles's problem." Barry pointed to the computer and looked at Lois and said, "I have heard from my rich fellow countrymen that big cities are very chaotic. People can always get drugs through various channels. That's why they..."

"In this way, you are a small-town person? I have to admit that the situation in small towns is indeed better. However, every place will have a dark side. You haven't seen it, doesn't mean it doesn't exist." Lois sat back on the bed, holding the coffee cup and sighed gently, and then said, "This is a systemic problem that generally exists in every corner of the United States. If you have a fluke mentality, I won't persuade you too much; after all, the innocent time is short and worth cherishing."

Barry pursed his lips tightly. He couldn't care about hiding his identity anymore, and he said: "I come from Central City; you know Central City, right? It is the capital of Missouri. Our security there is very good, and there are no homeless people on the street at all. Although there are people who commit crimes, but... but it's not like this..."

"Do you have medical insurance?" Lois asked.

"Yes, I study at Central City University, and I have student insurance. It only costs about 200 yuan a month."

"Very good," Lois said, "Do the classmates around you have it?"

"Almost. Those who can go to university don't care about this 200 yuan. And our school has tuition subsidies. I can pay back 1,000 yuan less in student loans every month. And if I work in a designated department, maybe I can be fully exempted..."

"What about people in society?"

"They should have insurance too." Barry thought about it and said, "My neighbors all have it. Some people even buy two copies."

"Where do you live? University town?"

"Yes, not far from the university, and it is also the city center of Central City."

"Have you been to more remote places?"

Barry shook his head and said: "I don't go out much. Except for soaking in the library, I stay at home."

"You can go there and see. Go ask them if they bought insurance. And, where did those who were not compensated by insurance go?"

Barry opened his mouth. He really didn't know. He had never used his medical insurance. And other college students like to rent cars to play on weekends, and maybe they have to buy vehicle insurance. But he is a houseman, almost never goes out, so he hasn't come into contact with any other types of insurance.

On the way back, Barry kept thinking. He really hadn't been to the more remote parts of Central City. But since the security situation of the whole city is among the best, it shouldn't be too bad, right?

His speed was very fast, and he returned to Central City in about a few minutes. Then he started to leave the area of the city center where he was active and walked toward more remote places.

But even in remote places, there were no homeless people. Barry breathed a sigh of relief in his heart, thinking: It must be Los Angeles's problem. It's that the managers there are not responsible enough, which led to this kind of thing happening.

Barry wandered there for dozens of minutes. He thought he had investigated almost enough, but thinking of what Lois said about insurance, he found a small coffee shop at the street corner, went in to buy a cup of coffee, and chatted with the boss.

He couldn't chat at all, so he could only find a lame excuse. He said: "That... I am a student at Central City University. We are doing a research survey on insurance..."

As soon as the two words "insurance" came out, Barry was covered in the boss's saliva. Immediately after, the boss performed a genuine West Coast for him for more than ten minutes, from the purchase of insurance to the compensation of insurance, every link of all personnel were relatives hanging high. Until Barry spoke to interrupt, the boss was still unfinished.

However, although this long paragraph of words was mixed with some important information in the swear words, Barry still listened carefully, grasped the important information, and asked: "So you are not very concerned about the high price or price increase of insurance, but you are concerned about compensation. You are worried that they will not pay."

"Of course! It's not that I'm worried they won't pay; it's that they don't pay at all! If it weren't for the fact that I have a lot of cash in the shop, when I had a car accident last time, I would have already rolled to Wickwood!"

"Where is Wickwood?"

The boss suddenly fell silent, then waved his hand and said: "Don't ask. Don't even think about going there to investigate. That place... is not something a student like you can go to."

Barry still wanted to ask, but the boss didn't receive him anymore and drove him out directly. Barry sighed, still not believing in evil. He had to find the so-called Wickwood.

Once the energy in his heart came up, social phobia didn't commit. He knocked on the doors of several convenience stores and other shops to ask where Wickwood was. Unfortunately, most people avoided talking about it. Only one black man told him that it was unlucky and it was better not to go.

Barry didn't believe it. He ran back to his home directly and started searching with his computer. After searching for a long time, there was not much information on the Internet, and even in the electronic system, it was vague. Finally, I don't know where I found a consultation post in a forum, asking whether to send my father to Wickwood. It wasn't until I saw this post that Barry knew it was a shelter. To be precise, it was a place where prisons, drug rehabilitation centers, psychiatric hospitals, shelters, welfare homes, etc. gathered.

Barry sat at the table and didn't speak for a long time, as if he suddenly realized something. He had been in Central City for so many years, and he really hadn't seen welfare homes and shelters. Was it that the government gathered them together?

Barry felt that this was actually quite good. If all these professional facilities were placed in one place, it should be better to help those vulnerable groups. And this at least proved that the Central City government was doing things.

However, there was a reply under that consultation post that impressed him: "Don't go, if you still love your father, don't send him there; you won't be able to come back after you go."

Barry vaguely felt that things might not be that simple. So, he started to check the surveillance cameras in the remote urban area one by one, just to find this mysterious Wickwood area. In the end, he really found it.

This place is much further than the place with the cafe he went to before, remote as if he was about to leave Missouri. And there are large farms around. No one can enter here by mistake.

Finding the place, Barry ran over again. After another long detour, it took half a day to finally find the so-called Wickwood. This place is simply like an independent small town; if it weren't for a road leading to Central City, Barry would have thought he had entered the inner world.

The scene here is completely different from Central City. Dilapidated, depressed, and sparsely populated. Even if the central state is always sunny, it gives people a feeling of being breathless.

Barry ran directly into the nearest gray building. He thought it would be like the outside, with few people and very desolate. But no, almost every room here was crowded with people.

Barry walked slowly in the corridor. He could see the situation in the room through the observation window of the door. The people here were not quite the same as the humans in his impression, looking like another kind of creature.

When they were lying on the bed, they were completely stiff. The expression was not the kind of relaxation when resting, but a kind of numbness that was hard to explain. When Barry saw a man lying motionless against the door, he thought he was asleep, but when the other party turned over, he was actually opening his eyes. There was no luster in his eyes, as if it were a corpse that could breathe.

Barry swallowed, and continued to walk into the depths. Soon he heard some howling. In a room in the deepest part, a person was hitting the door with his head. But this person's head was the part with the strongest presence on his body, because the remaining limbs had almost disappeared.

Just as Barry approached a little, the man suddenly raised his head and stared at him with protruding eyeballs. Barry was so scared that he took two steps back and almost flipped out of the corridor window.

"Hey, you, what are you doing!"

A voice appeared at the end of the corridor, and Barry turned his head and saw a woman wearing a nurse's uniform. He subconsciously wanted to run, but couldn't move his steps, and his feet seemed to be stuck to the floor.

"Where did you come from?" The nurse was very surprised, and she said, "Are you here to find someone?"

"I... maybe..." Barry didn't know what reason to find, and he said, "Can I come to find someone?"

"You can, but you'd better not have any hope. They won't be willing to leave with you, and some may not be able to leave."

"Why?"

"Because they will go to the street to wander, and eventually they will be caught back." The nurse sighed and said, "Central City does not allow homeless people. All homeless people must live in shelters."

"Then can't I take him back to my house?"

"Do you have your own house?" The nurse was a bit surprised and said, "You look like a small-town boy who came to Central City to work. I didn't expect you to be a local. Then can the community you are in agree?"

Barry had nothing to say. The requirements of the community he lived in were not generally strict, because he lived in a scenic spot, and the two buildings next to it were cultural relics. In addition to the various troublesome requirements of the community residents' association, there will also be municipal staff checking regularly. A building declares how many resident populations are how many populations, absolutely not allowed to increase, nor allowed to stay temporarily, and even newborns need to report to the community and the government, let alone adults.

"So, I advise you not to ask for trouble." The nurse said, "I know, the person who can make you run here to find him must be very important to you. However, if you lead him out, you may not only harm him, but also harm yourself."

The nurse led Barry out and said: "The municipal government is already very good. The shelter has expanded twice and can now meet the needs of almost all homeless people. It's not that the conditions are very good, but at least it won't let them starve or freeze to death. And it will also provide some drugs to quit drug addiction, although not everyone can get a share, but there are always some, which can make them less uncomfortable."

"Our medical facilities here are also okay, and we are equipped with two doctors. Someone had a drug addiction attack before and almost hit his neck, but he was rescued. And the medical treatment here is free; as long as you don't leave here, all medical expenses are borne by the government. But if you want to leave, you have to receive a bill."

"There is also a psychiatric hospital here. If the addiction symptoms are too serious, they will also be sent to the psychiatric patient control area, and there are professional psychologists checking regularly. Psychiatric treatment is also free."

"The only thing that can go out here is the children in the welfare home. The conditions and treatment there are actually quite good. As long as you are healthy and have a skill, you can go to the farm next door to work. Jobs like rolling grass bundles or shearing sheep are tiring, but they are considered a decent job, and you can work from 8 to 40." ===== CHAPTER 4353 =====