When Feng Xue came out of the changing room, he had already donned a set of canvas clothes, a purchase that cost one hundred towers plus a temporary storage locker. The outfit wasn't comfortable, but it had the advantages of being durable and dirt-resistant, making it well-suited for picking through trash.
Wearing a pair of work gloves, Feng Xue returned to the square to find Old Li standing in front of a person clad in bizarre clothing, explaining something.
Seeing this, he didn't approach any closer but silently directed his gaze toward the huge clock at the entrance to the rubbish dump.
6:56.
There were still two hours until the rubbish dump officially opened.
"Am I a bit too early?" Feng Xue yawned widely, feeling as if he had the temperament of a student who aimed for a 7:30 AM study session but arrived at school at 5:30 AM, perhaps to cram for homework. However, as he looked at the increasingly large crowd around him, he suddenly thought that maybe this was the normal way of thinking.
After all, the trash that appeared in the rubbish dump was ultimately limited. With hundreds of thousands living in the filling area, not more than one-tenth were professionals; the rest depended on the dump for their livelihood. Coming a bit earlier meant getting a head start when entering; maybe they could pick up a bit more and thus increase their odds of survival.
One must know, according to Old Li, every rubbish day the dump welcomes tens of thousands of transmigrators, yet Feng Xue estimated that the death toll this week was only about two thousand. Even including the days before he started working there, the death toll for these ten days would not exceed four thousand. In other words, to maintain the stability of this population of several hundreds of thousands, at least six or seven thousand people had to die on each rubbish day.
Just as Feng Xue was wondering whether to find a place to sit down, suddenly, a piercing buzz came from above. His gaze instinctively shot toward the sky, his eyes wide in alarm—
The clear sky which, since his transmigration, had always seemed devoid of any weather change, was now covered with dark clouds; yet, just a minute earlier, the sky had been as serene and azure as a calm lake.
Within those thick clouds, which seemed as if they would drag the sky back into the night, flashes of blue and red lightning interweaved constantly. Something that might or might not be called a depression was forming in the middle of the dark clouds.
The clouds seemed to be transforming from a ball of cotton candy into a donut, and in the flickering of the two-toned lightning, a depression slowly became a void, black as pitch, as if an invisible storm was brewing.
Afterward, a massive—no, a vast amount of material fell from the clouds.
There were humans, as well as flowers, plants, trees, large chunks of soil, sandstone, and man-made objects like refrigerators and TVs. Occasionally, even a truck would plummet from the sky, but these were not the most exaggerated sights; actually, Feng Xue even saw half of a five- or six-story apartment building tumbling down with them.
Logically, such a high-altitude fall of thousands, tens of thousands of meters should have caused a huge impact, but unexpectedly, even after ten minutes when the clouds had completely dispersed, people outside the rubbish dump didn't feel the slightest shock.
"Isn't it magnificent?" Old Li's voice suddenly rang out, but Feng Xue had no mood to fuss about these things and just stared at the clear sky that had resumed its cloudlessness, murmuring:
"Is this how I also fell down when I first arrived?"
"Mm, you could say everyone did," Old Li said, fishing out a cigarette from nowhere. He didn't light it, just held it in his mouth, his tone slightly weary as he spoke:
"In Infinite City, human life is just that worthless. No matter how many die, it won't take long before replacements are found. After all, this place is the garbage dump for countless worlds, and to those vast worlds, humans really are like trash."
"Jeez..." Feng Xue clicked his tongue. Though he had already learned about the world's population refreshing, seeing it in person still inevitably produced a considerable feeling of unreality.
Just then, the doors of the garbage dump suddenly opened, and the people surrounding it immediately became restless. However, except for a few clueless youngsters, no one rushed toward the door. Those few who stuck their necks out were pinned to the ground before they even reached the door.
Gang members dressed in uniform sectioned off some of their numbers to tie up those who dared to break the rules, strapping them to the execution platform outside the garbage dump. The rest lined up in an orderly fashion and slowly disappeared into the garbage dump.
"Bang!" With the dull sound of metal colliding, the doors of the garbage dump closed once again, and Old Li, who had suddenly shut his mouth, then began to speak:
"These gang members will first roughly sift through the trash, collecting the majority of True Objects before our turn to enter."
Hearing Old Li's words, Feng Xue did not feel surprised but asked:
"What kind of trash is more valuable?"
This question wasn't particularly important to Feng Xue, since he was no longer among those who needed to scavenge trash for a living. However, considering he needed a significant amount of repurposing material, he thought it better to ask—after all, taking Items out of the garbage dump required paying an amount 1.5 times their appraised value.
Hearing Feng Xue's question, Old Li again revealed a sly grin reminiscent of a scheming merchant, and before Feng Xue could speak further, he quoted:
"1000 towers."
"No problem." Feng Xue didn't hesitate and directly pulled out a thousand tower bills from his work badge and handed them to Old Li. Taking the money, Old Li smiled contentedly:
"Actually, the matter of value is quite simple. True Objects are definitely the most valuable, although they are the least likely to slip through the net; and even if you manage to get one, directly absorbing it is more profitable than handing it over to the gang.
"Next are Items with full functionality, like bicycles, electric ovens, and the like. As long as they are fully functional, the valuation is usually given at market price. However, this relies on luck, and many Electrical Appliances simply can't be tested for their condition on the spot, so this requires an expert eye and good fortune.
"If you want a guaranteed income, picking through the metal trash is foolproof. Prices are stable and sales are hardly a worry, but don't expect to make a fortune."
"I see." Feng Xue thought back to when he had first transmigrated, trading five bricks for an old-fashioned television set, which must have taken advantage of being fully functional. Thinking about it now, should he be selecting Items that looked more damaged? But would this affect the repurposing results?
While Feng Xuexin was pondering this, Old Li suddenly seemed to remember something and reminded him:
"Right, one last thing, no matter whether Extraordinary Abilities exist in your original World or not, those Items imbued with magical Power become useless novelties here, unless they can undergo a Transformation into Illusionary Items. But finding Illusionary Items in the garbage dump is practically impossible. After all, the gang members are no fools. As for True Objects, they might overlook one or two with limited Storage, but they definitely won't miss a single Illusionary Item."