Xu An knew this and although she felt it was a pity that her mother could not awaken her abilities, she was still very happy that she could strengthen her body.
Ten minutes later, Xu An arrived at the negative first floor, following the route in her memory to once again head to the dark alley to look for the long-lost Rat.
However, upon reaching the negative first floor, Xu An frowned as she looked at the tragic scene before her.
People lay everywhere on the streets, like walking corpses.
In just half a year, the number of people flooding into the relief center had already reached several times the number when Xu An and the others first arrived at the lighthouse.
"Please, good person, could you spare a piece of compressed biscuit?"
"Give me some water, I haven't had any for three days."
"Miss, do you need a servant? One contribution point a day is enough."
Xu An watched as these people on the roadside constantly pushed themselves forward, selling themselves cheap.
Among them were many beautiful women. When they saw that Xu An was a woman, they even shook their heads with regret.
However, from the bruises on their exposed skin and the heavy makeup on their faces, it was not difficult to discern the profession these women engaged in.
After rejecting the fifth wave of beggars, Xu An looked at the surrounding scene, almost unable to believe it.
"How did this place become like this?"
Zeyuan floated in mid-air, looking curious. "Is there a problem?"
Xu An's expression was solemn, and an unprecedented worry flickered on her face.
"There are so many refugees on the negative first floor, and they are completely unable to support the rescue of so many disaster victims. The weather is so cold now, if there is a large-scale death and the bodies cannot be dealt with promptly, it will turn into a plague."
After walking only a few steps, all of Xu An's worries became unnecessary.
She saw two workers, who were tall and strong but gaunt from hunger, pulling a cart.
On the cart were several stiff corpses.
The two lifted a metal lid under their feet, and a strong airflow instantly blew in through the opened window.
Then, the two threw the cartload of corpses one by one down through the window.
Xu An could not see what was below the window, but she did not expect the lighthouse to deal with these corpses in such a simple and crude way.
She stepped forward, only to see the scene she least wanted to see.
The eyes of the two men looking at the corpses held a strange longing, as if regretful, yet also greedy.
Zeyuan stood by with his arms crossed. "Those two men's eyes look as if they want to eat these corpses."
He glanced at the corpses and then understood why those people were so hungry but did not touch the corpses.
Xu An did not feel relieved just because these people were dead. After all, no one understood better than her the horrors that desperate people could commit.
In her previous life, those people could even boil and eat humans alive.
Just as Xu An was about to step forward to inquire about the situation, Zeyuan on the other side stopped her first.
"Don't worry, those people won't eat these corpses."
"How do you know?" Xu An still didn't believe it.
It was not that she didn't believe these two, but rather she didn't believe in human nature at all.
People in desperate situations could do no less than wild beasts.
"Those people are all sick, and now they have just died, so it's not obvious. I think it's related to the radiation in the negative first floor, so these corpses can only be disposed of."
"However, the source of pollution should also be the source of these people getting sick."
Xu An thought that the negative first floor was responsible for the operation of the entire lighthouse, and there must be many radiation machines and engines there.
Humans living there long-term would certainly be affected.
But even though she now knew the source of the pollution, Xu An was powerless.
She could not stop the lighthouse, nor could she stop these machines from working.
Therefore, these people living on the negative first floor had to endure low wages and the high prices on the lighthouse.
This caused many people to starve to death on the streets.
Just as Xu An was lost in her thoughts, a familiar yet hoarse voice came from behind her.
"Xu An, you're here."
Xu An turned her head and saw Rat, whom she had not seen for many days.
However, Rat now no longer had the unruly and arrogant aura he once possessed. Rat was now more like an ordinary girl.
Her normally neat shoulder-length bob had been cut raggedly, turning into a messy short style.
Even her face, which was often smiling, was now covered in clouds, filled with a dangerous gloom at all times.
"Rat, you..."
But before she could finish, Rat interrupted her. Without even looking at Xu An, she turned around and led Xu An into an alley.
The moment Rat turned around, Xu An saw that Rat had a limp, making it very difficult for her to walk.
But despite this, Rat still held her back straight and walked forward without looking sideways.
Her eyes were devoid of joy or sorrow, as if she had merged with the earth.
She did not need anyone's help or sympathy, and perhaps she did not need anyone's malicious kindness.
Xu An did not know what had happened to Rat to make her become like this.
"Your friend's eyes seem a bit off," Zeyuan said to Xu An.
"I think so too. Rat sent me a message once saying that something had happened in the dark alley, but I was busy with other things at the time, and I didn't expect Rat to become like this."
"Follow her and see what's going on. If this woman's path doesn't work out, we'll have a hard time."
"Okay."
Although Xu An sympathized with Rat's situation, she did not forget her purpose for coming here today.
It wasn't until Rat led Xu An to a dilapidated shack that she finally stopped.
But there was no longer the tall and mighty man guarding the door for Rat, nor the tall and strong but honest man leading the way for them.
This was a dilapidated shack, not even warm, barely enough to sleep in.
But Rat acted as if she couldn't see it. After entering, she directly smashed onto a cushion whose color was indistinguishable and sat down.
"Sit wherever you like, things are not what they used to be here."
Xu An did not show any signs of disgust, but she scanned the room with her eyes, unable to find the shy girl who used to smile sweetly whenever she saw her.
"Are you looking for that little girl from before?" Rat asked Xu An, who was looking around, with a hint of self-mockery.
Xu An did not hide it and nodded directly. "What about that little girl? I always forget her name. She must have grown taller by now."
As Xu An was speaking, she met Rat's strange gaze.
"It's okay, you probably won't see her again anyway."
Xu An stared intently into Rat's eyes.
"What are you talking about?"
She curved her lips and smiled as if retaliating. "Don't you understand me? I said you'll never see her again, so there's no need to know her name."
Xu An was enraged and immediately stepped forward, grabbing Rat by the collar. "Rat, what exactly do you mean? Speak clearly, what happened here!"