Wen Xiang Yuan wasn't speaking in metaphors; she was telling the truth.
"The pollution world is a nightmare for the citizens of the federation. It is a boundary where the vengeful spirits of the poor linger after death, and it is a horror that the rich cannot escape."
"You are scavengers, created by the federation specifically to clear these nightmares."
The four of them stood frozen in place. They had originally thought they would hear that the pollution world wasn't impossible to eliminate, or that they had abandoned it to save themselves—some truth that would make them feel guilty toward the pollution world. Instead, they were met with this.
"What did you say?"
Nan Yue was stunned, her eyes instinctively releasing a chilling coldness.
Wen Xiang Yuan gritted her teeth and met Nan Yue's icy gaze.
"You've been to my nightmare. That wasn't the pollution world; it was just my deepest fear."
"As for the other worlds—Blooming Media Company, Antswamp Village, Entertainment to Death... those are all projections twisted from the resentment of ordinary people in the federation."
"Those are things that actually happened, or perhaps things that are currently happening. The truth might not be exactly the same as what you encountered in the pollution world, but they all reflect the greatest fears and grudges people experience when undergoing pain."
Wen Xiang Yuan spoke slowly with a firm tone. Since she had decided to be honest, she would not hide anything.
"You mean..."
For the first time, Nan Yue felt like her mind couldn't keep up. She struggled to ask the question, terrified of the answer.
"Our world is fake?"
For the first time, Wen Xiang Yuan saw confusion and panic in Nan Yue's eyes. At this moment, she truly looked like a girl in her early twenties, matching Wen Xiang Yuan's perception of her age.
A dull ache throbbed in Wen Xiang Yuan's heart. She gritted her teeth.
"Yes."
"Your world, and you yourselves, were all created by the federation to serve the federation."
The factory office fell into a deathly silence.
This silence contained anger, despair, and murderous intent...
Wen Xiang Yuan's body trembled slightly, but her expression remained unchanged as she continued to look at Nan Yue with determination.
The murderous intent they radiated wasn't their conscious will, but a reaction from their bodies that preceded their minds.
She was gambling.
By revealing everything, she was the one in the most danger.
Because she represented the federation.
"What... are we?"
It took a long time before Nan Yue asked this question. Her voice was hoarse and devoid of emotion.
"You are the latest batch of artificial humans cultivated by the federation, created using technology embryos and cloning techniques. Because your genetic coding was altered, there is a certain probability of awakening abilities."
"Your world is a realm the federation carved out in an alternate space, completely isolated from other existences—an independent world."
"Initially, scavengers were raised by specific individuals chosen by the federation. There were no training schools, so the survival rate for purifying pollution was very low."
"Later, to improve the purification rate and increase the cost-effectiveness of scavengers, the training school model was adopted."
"Scavengers who survived the purification project would train the new ones. Over a long period, the training model was gradually perfected, and the average mortality rate during purification was reduced to 70%."
Nan Yue felt like laughing. Cost-effectiveness?
It was the first time she had heard humans described in terms of cost-effectiveness.
No matter how she looked at it, that world felt so absurd that it was the one that should be fake.
Wen Xiang Yuan paused to let the others absorb the news.
"I'll start from the beginning."
"Emotions like fear and despair contain negative energy. Negative energy can affect the world."
"The federation is a place where people devour each other. Both the poor and the rich have their own fears. The only difference is that the rich have more rights to survival to a certain extent."
Wen Xiang Yuan's expression was calm as she said this, but Nan Yue could still hear the mockery in her tone.
"The federation fears this negative energy. For a world that is rotten to its core, solving this is a matter of urgent priority."
"Thus, the Scavenger Purification Project was put on the agenda."
Hearing the Scavenger Purification Project mentioned in this context created a sense of extreme, ironic contrast.
"You purify worlds, but in reality, you are purifying fear. You can be understood as nightmare cleaners. Once you have cleared a nightmare, it will no longer exist."
Nan Yue asked slowly, "Like your nightmare?"
Wen Xiang Yuan nodded. "Like Eden Garden. You purified that nightmare, and the completion rate was very high. You untangled the source of my fear. I won't have any more fears regarding my family in the future."
But there would be other fears.
How could a human have no fear?
"What happens to those fears if no one purifies them?"
A cold sneer appeared on Wen Xiang Yuan's face. "Actually, not much would happen. Fear is a normal physiological response. It's just that the people of the federation have lived comfortable lives for too long and want to live like gods."
"You mean, our existence isn't actually that necessary?"
This was the first time Jiang Siyan had spoken since the conversation began.
His tone was flat, as if he didn't care about the result, but Wen Xiang Yuan instinctively shivered.
"Yes."
Wen Xiang Yuan gritted her teeth and admitted it. "In the beginning, this was just a service project to relieve the worries of the federation's nobility."
"You've been to Eden Garden and caught a glimpse of a corner of the federation. In a world like that, it's impossible for the massive population of lower-class people to have no resentment. When that resentment accumulates to a certain point, and many people die for various absurd reasons, the purification project becomes necessary."
"Especially now."
Wen Xiang Yuan didn't continue, but all four of them understood.
If this project was optional at the beginning, the scavengers had now become a cog in the federation's social machinery. If they stopped purifying, the consequences would be more than just letting the federation's nobility experience negative emotions again.
That massive resentment would backfire on the federation.
In a way, they really were purifying the world and performing an indispensable job.
Except, it wasn't for their own world.
From beginning to end, they were nothing more than tools produced for a purpose.
Their deaths, fears, pain, and sacrifices had no meaning; they existed only to make life a bit more comfortable for the people of another world.
From birth to death, they existed to complete one task: to serve the federation.
They were no different from machines.
The redemption, faith, and sacrifice that the scavengers believed in were all laughable forms of self-comfort.
In reality, they were merely expendables.
If it weren't for the need to better empathize with the emotions of the people in the nightmares to purify the world more effectively, they might not have even been born as humans.
Wait... could they even be considered human?
Boom!
A loud crash echoed as Jiang Siyan kicked over the table in front of him. Countless documents flew into the air. His face was expressionless, but his hands hanging at his sides were shaking unnaturally.
His eyes were bloodshot as he stared at Wen Xiang Yuan.
Wen Xiang Yuan felt an intense surge of killing intent, so thick it made her suffocate.
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