Last Totem Novel - Chapter 1

Chapter 1 Young Man
Above the azure sky floated a beautiful city-Silver City.

It was said that it was spring all year round, and that it was warm every day; It was said that the streets were clean and there were no piles of stinky rubbish; It was said that there were many beautiful little houses, situated between gardens and lakes; It was said that the people there were friendly and did not need to worry about the knife behind them. It is said that there is enough food there every day …

These rumors had been circulating in the slums below Silver City. This is a topic that people enjoy talking about in their spare time. Just as men dream of Snow White and women dream of Prince Black Horse, people always dream of a beautiful new world.

However, dreams belong to dreams, and reality belongs to reality. Millions of civilians lived in the slums below Silver City. They relied on the rubbish left behind by Silver City to live. They found valuable items among the abandoned and even poisonous rubbish, then recast them in the furnace, and then send the raw materials to Silver City in exchange for a certain living expenses. To Silver City, they were like garbage disposal plants.

At this time, the afternoon sun shone on Silver City, casting a huge shadow on the ground.

Within the shadows, there were mountains of garbage. The amount of garbage was indescribably large. It was like mountains overlapping with peaks, endless in sight.

“139, 138, 137, 136, 135 …” A youth stood on the rubbish dump and looked at the bottom of Silver City, muttering in his heart, “139, 138, 137, 136, 135 …”

As time went on, more and more people gathered on the garbage dump. When he counted to zero, the city in the sky rang continuously. All kinds of rubbish fell into the rubbish ocean at a height of several hundred meters like a waterfall.

No one dares to approach the rubbish waterfall. There are all sorts of heavy objects inside, such as refrigerators, color televisions, robot wreckage, seats, and even cars …

Once smashed, it would definitely become a pile of meat paste.

Except for that youth! He narrowed his eyes and rushed into the falling rubbish. He dodged left and right, looking for something valuable in extreme danger.

“F*ck! It’s that brat Iron Slag again. He really doesn’t want to die.”

“He is the same as the old man from his family. He doesn’t want to die.”

“He snatched all the good stuff!”

Those who were waiting to pick up the garbage guarded the outer perimeter of the garbage disposal area, pointing fingers at the youth from afar and discussing with each other.

After a while, the garbage was thrown into the air. People rushed forward to fight for the newly dropped garbage. Before that, the teenager known as Tie Zha had left the rubbish dump long ago in order to avoid clashing with the looting crowd.

“Hey! Tie Zha, did you find anything good?” Just as the youth jumped down from the rubbish dump, a short, fat middle-aged businessman came up to greet him.

Tie Zha smiled and opened his hand to show it to him. He saw a translucent glass tube lying on the palm of his hand.

“Good stuff” The merchant looked at the item in Tie Zha’s hand, his small eyes shining brightly. He repeatedly sparred his hands and involuntarily sighed.

Seeing the greedy expression on the merchant’s face, Tie Zha put away his hand and walked past the merchant to the town. The merchant hurriedly caught up and licked his face, “Brother Tie, make a bid.”

“I don’t lack food, drinks, or anything. What do you plan to trade for?” Tie Zha asked as he walked, with no intention of stopping to discuss.

“Brother Tie, how old are you this year?” The merchant rolled his eyes and asked him.

“What does it have to do with you?” The iron slag walked faster and faster as it replied impatiently.

“I remember it’s almost eighteen this year, right?” The merchant laughed. His eyes, nose, and mouth were squeezed together, making him look very vulgar. He chased Tie Zha and whispered, “Have you ever seen a woman?”

“Not interested!” Iron Cinder frowned and took three steps forward at the same time.

“Brother Tie … Brother Tie … Wait for me …” Tie Zha walked extremely fast, faster than ordinary people. The merchant was chasing after him, and he was out of breath.

“Are you bored? This thing of mine can save your life. If you don’t have something of equal value, don’t even think about it.” Tie Zha stopped and said impatiently.

“She’s different from the girls you’ve seen before. She’s completely different. Come, come, take a look. Just take a look.” The merchant continued to pester him tirelessly.

The two of them usually had a deal, so they were considered half friends. Tie Zha refused, so he agreed to take a look.

Ten minutes later, the two of them walked along the crumbled gravel road into Tieshan Town. The streets were as dirty as ever, with dust and paper scraps flying everywhere. The streets were filled with stalls of various colors, selling some strange semi-useless products. Every corner of the alley or building was occupied by vagrants, with messy daily necessities, black quilts, old and sticky clothes …

At regular intervals on the streets, one could see a man in dark blue canvas. They were the cleaners of the town, but they didn’t clean the garbage and were only responsible for transporting the bodies that could appear on the streets at any time.

The merchant was doing well here. Along the way, many people who set up stalls greeted him. He runs a grocery store here. The so-called grocery store was to sell everything and collect everything, as long as it had value.

At this time, an old man with gray hair and only one eye rushed out from the corner of the street. He stood in front of the merchant with a smile on his face and said, “Boss, I have good stuff, I have good stuff.”

The merchant frowned and took a step back. The old man’s blind eyes were filled with pus, and his gray hair was stained with viscous blood scab. It looked very disgusting.

“Go, go! What good stuff can you have? Go, I’m busy with big business.”

“Spine, fresh spine, a young man who just died today! Good stuff.” The old man said reluctantly.

“Alright, alright. Come to the shop and find me later.” The merchant waved his hand and signaled for him to leave.

“Boss, I haven’t eaten for a few days …” The old man still didn’t want to leave and stood there without moving.

The merchant interrupted him impatiently, “You old blind man, you don’t want your life anymore, do you? Look clearly who the person beside me is! How many lives do you have if you dare to ruin Brother Tie’s business?”

The old man wiped his eyes with his dirty sleeves and saw the people beside the merchant. His entire body trembled, and he hurriedly retreated, making way for the road.

After walking for more than ten meters, the two of them arrived in front of the merchant’s grocery store. It was a wooden and iron house with graffiti written all over the walls.

‘Thieves die-Iron Mountain Town’s Autonomous Council.’

“Brother Tie, this way, please.” The merchant opened the door and invited Tie Zha in.

The shop was pitch black and emitted an oily stench. There were all sorts of old parts and tattered electrical appliances everywhere …

The merchant turned on the light and the dim light illuminated the room. A young girl appeared in the corner. She curled up, chained to a corner, and sold like merchandise.

When he saw the young girl, Tie Zha secretly exclaimed in admiration. He had never seen such a white woman before. She was as white as the book said, like an angel who had fallen into the mortal world.

The merchant said that this was sold to him by a group of Desert Travellers a few days ago. It is said that they found her in the desert and brought her back. Last night, he asked the brothel’s father to examine her body. She was still perfect, and it was worth a lot of money.

Tie Zha walked over to the girl and observed her carefully. She wore a dirty white dress, stained with grease and dust. Many parts of her dress were torn, revealing her fair skin. This kind of skin color was definitely not something that people who lived on the ground could possess.

“What’s your name?” The iron slag lowered its voice, trying to be as friendly as possible.

The girl raised her head, her messy silver curls concealing a pair of starry eyes. She pursed her lips tightly and stared at Tie Zha without saying a word.

“If we can send it to Sand City as soon as possible, we will definitely be able to sell it for a good price.” Said the merchant from the side.

“I’m not a commodity!” The young girl shouted loudly, and then she coughed violently.

The iron slag took out the kettle from her body and handed it over to her. The girl snatched the kettle and drank it in one breath.

“I’m not your enemy.” Tie Zha said calmly, “If you are willing to come with me, I will bring you to Sand City. Find a well-meaning wealthy person to buy you. It should be much better than the situation here.”

“Human trafficker! Bastard! Scum! Villain” The girl who finished drinking the water became spirited and cursed the youth in front of her with all sorts of vicious words.

The merchant’s face turned red and white. Previously, this girl had given him a headache, and she even took a bite of him. Now she dared to insult his most distinguished guest, it was simply shameless. In his rage, he raised his hand and slapped him!

The girl instinctively closed her eyes and turned her face away, but she did not wait for that slap.

“How much do you sell if you break it?” The teenager’s lazy voice rang in her ears. The young girl slowly opened her eyes. Sweat was dripping down the merchant’s forehead. Her entire face was twisted, and her expression was extremely painful.

“Brother Tie, I’m venting my anger for you.” The merchant said with a sad face. Just now, Tie Zha casually waved his hand, blocking his palm. He could only feel his wrist bumping into an iron plate, so painful that tears almost fell from his eyes.

“Jusang, I’m sorry.” Tie Zha grinned. Although he was apologizing, it was unknown how sincere he was.

The merchant turned around and saw that the girl was actually snickering. He immediately said with a straight face, “Young lady, I’m doing this for your own good. Brother Tie is a good person. It’s your luck that he wants to buy you, you know?”

“Tsk ~ A human trafficker or a good person?” The girl turned her head in disdain.

“You fainted in the desert. If it weren’t for the brigade saving you, you would have become a pile of bones.” The merchant said earnestly, “It’s fair that they sold you to me in exchange for the reward for saving you. If they sold you to the old man in the brothel, I believe they would get more reward. Similarly, if I sold you to Blade Fang and Ghost Head, I believe the price would be higher. You know, in this kind of place …”

“Long-winded!” Tie Zha roared for no reason and interrupted the merchant. He stood upright and drew a straight machete from his back. This was a single-edged saber made of steel. The back of the saber was very thick, and there were many scrolls on the blade, making it look like a pit. The merchant did not know what he was going to do, so he hurriedly moved aside. Tie Zha clasped his hands together and slashed down at the girl!

“Ah!” The girl cried out in alarm when she saw the arrogant youth slashing at her with his saber!

With a’ding ‘sound, sparks shot out from the blade and the chains broke.

“Off you go.” Tie Zha said to the girl, “As long as you walk out of this shop, I guarantee that you won’t survive for three hours.”

As he spoke, Tie Zha took out the translucent glass tube and casually tossed it to the merchant. The merchant hurriedly caught it and cursed in his heart, ‘Madman! What if it’s broken? Can’t you pass it to me? The whole family is crazy!’

The girl was stunned for a moment before looking at the youth in disbelief. Then, she slowly bypassed the young man and merchant and turned around to snatch the door!

“She actually … really ran away.” The two people in the grocery store looked at each other.