This time, Sora went to the slums of Lungmen alone just to write a new song—a new song dedicated to the Infected. Her company didn't know about this plan. As an idol, Sora isn't a professional lyricist or composer, but as a singer, she definitely knows a bit about writing lyrics and arranging music.
So, this time, Sora didn't want to rely on anyone else. She wanted to use her own strength to create a song that belonged to the Infected.
According to Sora.
Just like the documentary Mr. Reeve filmed specifically for the Infected, she also wanted to do something for them. But Sora didn't know how to do anything but sing, so she could only pour all her strength into her music.
"To be honest, the lives of the Infected in Lungmen are already quite good, relatively speaking."
Said Lucas Reeve, who was being held in Sora's arms.
"At least in Lungmen, many Infected can try to find work. As long as they find a way, they basically won't starve to death, and there aren't people specifically designated to capture them. For the Infected in Ursus, this is simply bliss."
Lucas Reeve didn't want to deliberately hide it anymore, so he said what he knew.
Sora didn't press Lucas Reeve on how he knew all this. Perhaps, deep down, she already had an idea.
Sora smiled sweetly. "Yeah. I've been to too few places. I can't compare to Mr. Reeve. Mr. Reeve is amazing. He traveled to so, so many places to film that documentary, which is why it's so powerful. I haven't even traveled all over Lungmen... So, Bailey... can you help me... create a song like that?"
As Sora said this, her hands, which were hugging the teddy bear, clearly tightened.
Lucas Reeve laughed. "Of course. I'll help you create a song like that."
Sora's hands, which had been gripping tightly, relaxed a little, and the light in her eyes dimmed slightly.
"Thank you... Bailey."
One girl and one bear gradually went deeper into the Lungmen slums.
Although Sora had tried hard to dress plainly, as an idol, her beautiful and cute appearance couldn't be hidden. The people in the slums were uniformly sallow-faced and rough-skinned, looking utterly worn down. When Sora walked in, she was like a vibrant butterfly entering a patch of withered flowers, incredibly eye-catching. Even if she tried to cover it up, the radiance she emitted couldn't be concealed.
In the past, someone would have probably come up to start trouble.
But ever since the Lungmen Guard Department (L.G.D.) strengthened its control over the slums and stationed more officers in different areas, supplies donated from the common districts and even the upper districts were distributed every three days at a location specially set up by the L.G.D. These daily necessities, discarded by ordinary people and even the rich, were the greatest luxuries for the people of the slums. The recipients weren't just the Infected, but also other non-Infected refugees.
However, the non-Infected refugees had a much easier time than the average Infected.
After all, many of the labor-intensive factories in the slums only hired non-Infected refugees. Although these refugees also lived in hardship, they at least had money to buy food and daily necessities.
Walking the streets of the slums.
Sora was like an outside observer, witnessing everything in the slums. With Lucas Reeve around, Sora later boldly took a trip to Lungmen's most dangerous area, The Wastes. The Wastes was full of gang members, and she did indeed encounter many people with bad intentions. But Sora was always able to escape with her agile movements, and she even picked up a brick and knocked down two ordinary thugs.
Because of this, Lucas Reeve saw Sora in a new light. He hadn't expected her to actually have some skills. But, thinking about it, it wasn't surprising. If Sora were truly defenseless, Exusiai and the other two wouldn't have let her go deliver goods in the slums alone.
After wandering around the slums for a day.
When she truly immersed herself and looked at it as an observer, Sora discovered many things in the slums she had never noticed before. Even as night fell, Sora didn't plan to leave. To create lyrics that could sing of the deepest helplessness and despair in the hearts of the Infected, she chose to stay in the slums temporarily.
Actually, when she first announced this decision, Exusiai, Texas, and Croissant disagreed. However, with Sora's insistence, and with Lucas Reeve present, the three reluctantly agreed. Sora didn't dare tell her manager about this decision; it was too crazy. If Sister Zhang found out, she'd probably be angry enough to threaten to hang herself to force Sora to come back.
After walking through the slums all day, the number of people only started to increase when it got dark.
Sora was getting hungry too. Cradling Lucas Reeve, she headed to a stall in an open area she had seen earlier to eat dinner.
The stall was extremely crude.
It was completely open-air, with a simple blue plastic tarp stretched overhead to block the sun and rain. Several tables were set up underneath. The tables were incredibly old, glistening with grease. The owner was preparing food in the open-air kitchen at the front of the stall, while the owner's wife wiped the tables with a filthy, dark rag.
To be honest.
As a girl who lived in the upper districts, Sora was only considered an ordinary person there, but her annual income was quite substantial. A salary of over a million a year placed her at the very top of the working class, even in Lungmen's upper districts. She could already be considered middle-class.
Sora familiarly sat down on a rather dirty long bench. Since it was dinnertime, there were quite a few people eating at this small, open-air stall.
"Ma'am, one bowl of beef offal noodles..."
Sora raised her hand, and the owner's wife nodded cheerfully.
"Bailey, did you know? I've actually been here a few times before."
Sora said to Lucas Reeve: "Back when I just joined Penguin Logistics, I went out to deliver goods with Exu and Tex. Exu brought me here to grab lunch on the way. Of course, seeing the environment, I didn't dare touch my chopsticks for a long time..."
"It's pretty funny thinking about it now."
"It's actually really good, no worse than those so-called high-end restaurants in the upper districts, but the price is incredibly cheap."
Lucas Reeve didn't speak, listening quietly to Sora's story.
After a while, the steaming hot noodles were served. Having been hungry all afternoon, Sora was clearly starving. Plus, being in the slums, she could set aside her idol identity for a moment. She copied the others and began to eat, paying little mind to her image.
And nearby.
A purple figure kept glancing over at Sora.
After a while, Sora finished eating. Just as she paid and was about to leave, she suddenly heard the owner's voice from behind her.
"Sigh! How are you out of money again..."
"Sorry... I'm just really tight on cash recently, boss..."
Sora turned her head.
Behind her, a Cautus girl with long purple hair was standing there, looking pitiful.
The girl was thin and frail, clearly malnourished, and looked like she often missed meals. Her face was quite pretty, with long rabbit ears perched on top of her head. She looked to be around eighteen. Her skin wasn't in good condition, but that was normal. A person's skin needs maintenance. If Sora stayed in the slums for half a year, her hydrated skin would probably turn rough, too. But despite her poor skin, her facial features were still quite striking.
She wore an old, faded jacket, and her chest was flat.
"Sigh..."
The owner sighed. He was also from the slums and ran a small business. He had to pay a stall management fee to the gangs every month, which was a huge headache for him.
Just then.
Sora kindly walked over.
"Boss, I'll pay for this young lady."
Sora was very kind-hearted. For her, it was simple: help if she could. Plus, she wasn't short on money, so paying a little for someone else was no big deal.
"Sigh... You're too kind, miss."
The owner sighed. He had seen many people, and he could tell with one glance that Sora wasn't from the slums. He wasn't sure why she would come here.
After paying.
The Cautus girl "excitedly" grabbed Sora's hand.
"Sob! Thank you! If it weren't for you, I'd probably have to sell my body to pay... I haven't eaten in so long..."
"It's nothing, just a small gesture."
Sora tried to pull her hand away from the Cautus girl's, but the other girl held on tightly, making the situation a bit awkward.
"What's your name! My name is Rope! You're so pretty, so cute... *sob*~"
Sora smiled and used an alias. After all, the name "Sora" was quite famous in Lungmen. "Lemuel..."
"Miss Le-Le!"
"Uh... yeah."
Rope was extremely emotional right now, acting as if Sora was her 'savior'.
However, Lucas Reeve, held in Sora's other arm, didn't think so.
This girl was hiding her true emotions very well. To be honest, her acting was Oscar-worthy. But in these man-eating slums, it was a rule of survival.
However.
Under his Causality Vision.
The girl only had a tiny bit of dark aura on her.
A dark aura represented sin, such as trafficking, murder, and other evil deeds. This tiny bit of dark aura meant Rope had never done anything truly evil. At most, she was a petty thief. But in the slums, thievery seemed to be just a means of survival.
It had to be said.
Rope understood people very well.
She knew what to say to whom and could perfectly hide her true feelings.
At least.
Sora was completely fooled by the emotions Rope displayed.
Sora just had too little experience. After all, her main job was being an idol. For Rope, these were survival skills in the slums. One was an amateur, the other relied on this to eat. They were on completely different levels.
Lucas Reeve didn't warn her.
It would be good for Sora to experience this and learn for herself.
Rope, relying on her glib tongue, easily 'got familiar' with Sora. A person like this would make an excellent spy... truly brilliant.
"Le-Le, you're not from the slums, are you?"
Rope gently nudged Sora with her elbow, as if they were good friends. In reality, at that exact moment, her fingers had already slipped into the pocket where Sora had taken her wallet from earlier. Sora didn't notice at all.
Interesting...
Lucas Reeve used a little trick, and the wallet, which was just about to be lifted from the pocket, fell back in.
I almost had it!!
Rope, who was chatting with Sora, felt a slight ripple in her emotions and couldn't help but grit her teeth.
"What's wrong, Rope?"
Sora asked, confused.
But Rope quickly shook her head.
"Nothing. I just saw someone I really hate walk by."
Rope cleverly found an excuse.
Sora turned her head to look, and Rope saw her chance and tried again. However... she failed again.
???
A giant question mark flashed over Rope's head.
Impossible.
How could the thieving technique she relied on for survival fail twice in a row? Rope had succeeded on the first try with much harder targets. Why was she failing twice on such a simple one? Rope was starting to doubt herself. Had her skills gotten rusty?
But when Rope lowered her head, she happened to meet Lucas Reeve's gaze.
Her entire scalp suddenly tingled.
What... what's going on.
Why did it feel like the teddy bear's eyes just... moved?
No, no, no!
I must have seen it wrong. How could a doll move?
Under normal circumstances, Rope probably would have given up by now.
But Rope wasn't going to give up. This girl was clearly a rich person from the upper districts. Although she tried to look plain, Rope's eye for people was sharp. And that wallet looked expensive.
Besides, Rope had to brace herself and continue. Because she needed money. She needed a lot of money.