The NO.1 Food Stall in the Wasteland novel Chapter 21

Chapter 21: Chapter 21: "Boss Shen, It’s Me.

The rain stopped the next day, but the sun remained hidden. The temperature, however, soared, turning the entire Imperial City into a giant steamer—hot, stuffy, and incredibly humid.

The moment Shen Lu opened her door, a wave of hot, damp air hit her in the face. She had only taken a couple of steps before sweat began to bead on her forehead.

"What is with this awful weather? It’s so weird."

Shen Lu couldn’t help but complain, fanning herself continuously with her hand.

When she reached the No. 3 Landfill, the thick smell of rust assaulted her nostrils, making them itch. Shen Lu let out a series of sneezes before she finally stopped.

"This is going to be the death of me."

Shen Lu muttered to herself, covered her mouth and nose, and entered the landfill with her tools.

After she had knocked over a metal tower the day before, the entire "forest" of towers in that area had collapsed, slightly altering the landscape of the landfill.

Shen Lu didn’t move to a new spot, continuing to rummage through the trash in the area of the collapsed metal towers.

Perhaps as a reward for her bravery the previous day, she found a lump of tin and a platinum ring in less than half an hour.

The platinum ring was pulled from a mechanical hand covered in realistic synthetic skin.

This world had extremely advanced medical technology. If one’s physical condition allowed, they could replace limbs with artificial mechanical prosthetics, whose flexibility and durability far surpassed that of the original human body parts.

However, only the powerful and wealthy could afford such technology.

Someone in Fu Cheng’s condition could also have received an artificial mechanical prosthetic, but he wasn’t fit for the surgery. With his Spiritual Sea in turmoil and uncontrollable spiritual toxins rampaging through his system, he wouldn’t even be able to withstand the anesthesia.

Shen Lu took a closer look at the mechanical hand and found that its functionality was largely intact. She had no idea why it had been thrown away as trash.

Judging by the degree of corrosion on the synthetic skin, it had been discarded for quite some time—at least over a year.

’Maybe they thought this hand wasn’t good-looking enough? So they got a better-looking one?’

’And because they were so rich, they just threw the platinum ring away with it?’

The world of the rich was probably just that simple, unadorned, and wasteful.

Her good luck didn’t seem to last long. For the next hour, aside from steel plates, Shen Lu found no other decent metals.

Staying in the landfill in this weather was truly unbearable.

The place already smelled foul, and the heavy humidity only intensified the scent of rust. Even with her mouth and nose covered by a cloth, she couldn’t block it out completely.

Shen Lu felt like she was about to pass out from the fumes. For safety’s sake, she had to end her scavenging early and return to her rented room.

"So annoying. I’m covered in that rusty smell."

Shen Lu sniffed her arms and shoulders. Even after returning to her room, the smell clinging to her was still strong.

’I really want to take a bath...’

For the past few days, she had only managed to give herself a quick wipe-down. She hadn’t changed her clothes or washed her hair, and it felt absolutely awful.

Gritting her teeth, Shen Lu decided to splurge and use some water to wash up today.

But there was no bathroom in her rented room. Besides, with Fu Cheng lying there, she couldn’t very well strip in front of him.

Shen Lu went to ask Granny Jin about bathrooms.

"There are no bathrooms," Granny Jin said, looking at her with amusement. "It’s not just my place; nobody else has a bathroom in their home either."

"Does that mean no one bathes?" Shen Lu was shocked.

"There’s a bathhouse. It’s in the Fifteenth District. But there’s no water there either, just ultrasonic bathing pods. You won’t get the comfort of a water bath, but they get you very clean."

Water was a precious resource. How could anyone possibly use it for bathing?

Shen Lu thanked Granny Jin, grabbed her money, and headed to the Fifteenth District to find the bathhouse. On the way, she bought a complete change of clothes, from the inside out, so she could change after her bath.

The bathhouse was easy to find; Shen Lu located it without much effort.

The fee for a bath was very low, only 5 Star Coins.

Shen Lu took the numbered tag from the owner and went to the women’s section.

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