Catastrophe Card King - Chapter 62

Chapter 62: Chapter 43 Grand Cemetery Labyrinth 2

Translator: 549690339         ¹⁷  —

But as time passed, he would grow increasingly stronger, and, this would pose a significant problem.

Leonard Churchill pondered how he would resolve this imminent risk in the future.

After having lunch, Leonard Churchill headed toward Team Five’s office.

It was payday.

Being a Corpse Collector comes with high risks; pay is distributed weekly. After knocking, Leonard found that Captain Dexter and two others were all present.

They had no relations beyond work, Leonard walked in and stated, “Captain, I’m here to receive my pay.”

Dexter glanced as he arrived and casually took out a thin stack of banknotes from a drawer and stated, “This is yours.”

Leonard took the money. Without counting it, he already knew the amount was off.

The advertised salary for a Corpse Collector is 3,500 per week, and he had just over a thousand in his hands.

He went straight to the point, “I remember the job listing stated…”

Before he even finished, Bald Cliff, an old member by Dexter’s side, seemed to know what he was going to ask and cynically replied, “Do you think the captain doesn’t have people to grease above and below? Without the captain…” Leonard was entirely disinterested in this man’s discourse. Before he finished speaking, he reaffirmed, “So, this is all I can get?

What they didn’t understand was that the three of them had long treated this position as a gold mine.

They didn’t do much work, but received a lot of money, mainly by exploiting newcomers together.

Upon hearing this, Dexter squinted at Leonard and retorted, “What else do you expect?”

Sometimes, you could tell some people were simply wicked just by looking at them.

Before being exiled, Dexter was a plundering murderer, and the two others were a rapist and a human trafficker, none of them were good apples. Leonard listened with an impassive expression and casually stated, “Oh.” There’s no reasoning in Sinless City.

The law of the jungle was the fundamental rule.

Saying this, he turned and unceremoniously left the room.

This attitude left Dexter and the others dumbfounded.

Leonard didn’t care too much for the amount of money.

A couple of thousand dollars wouldn’t be enough to buy a single page of the ‘Breathing Method’ technique.

There was no use harboring resentment either.

These characters were simply too petty to bother with.

But Leonard was firm about one principle; what was his, should be his.

For now, he still needed this job.

As for the remaining salary, it might as well be temporarily kept by those guys. After receiving his pay, Leonard had originally planned to head to the morgue to handle corpses and absorb more of their Extraordinary Traits.

Unfortunately, as he just ascended the lift, he suddenly heard a loud shout coming from the brass piping.

“Hey, boys, a big job’s come in! All Corpse Collectors in Eastern District 5, grab your gear and get in the truck. Don’t forget your Corpse-Wrapping Bags!” “Boss Shepherd, what happened?”

“Just received a message, a bunch attacked a cargo train on the outskirts of the Grand Cemetery heading towards the lift for Upper City. There’s an intense firefight going on right now.”

Who dares to attack an Inner-City supply train?”

“Probably scavengers or some gang members. Who cares, a lot of people are going to die, we must hurry up. If we’re late and the other squads get there first, there won’t be anything left for us.”

“Got it!”

Being assigned a mission on short notice was a common occurrence for Corpse Collectors, and it had become even more frequent over these past few days. Big job, though?

This piqued Leonard’s interest immediately.

Normal jobs would involve one small team, this was the first time that all four teams from Eastern District 5 were deployed together.

Leonard recognized that deep, gruff voice- it was Viv Shepherd, the division head of the Silver Moon Corporation’s Eastern District 5.

Because Viv Shepherd had a good relationship with the higher-ups at the Golden Oak headquarters, he was always able to obtain first-hand information. This allowed the Corpse Collector squads of Eastern District 5 to gain an edge. A firefight meant numerous casualties, and the corpses of outlaws bold enough to rob freight trains were worth far more than any inner city gang members killed in a firefight.

This was a corpse-retrieval mission that had some benefits.

And it’s in the suburbs where you have to fight for your share.

Whoever gets it, owns it.

“Suburban Grand Cemetery?”

Leonard Churchill’s thoughts took another turn.

He remembered seeing recruitment information for team members at the Hunter’s Association before.

It seemed to be an entry-level Alternate Dimension, not very challenging. Without delay, he quickly picked up the materials and tools and darted out of the dormitory, hopping onto a truck parked by the road.

Within moments, four corpse collector teams from Eastern District 5 headed toward the outskirts of the city.

The Sinless City and the Federation city above the Rich Ore Layer are separated by a few thousand meters of rock. In the past, exiled prisoners had to walk for months.

Now that the Old Continent has been discovered, the aristocrats from the upper city have installed an elevator, which carries a large amount of personnel and supplies down daily.

Many treasures from the Old Continent’s ruins are also transported from Sinless City to the upper city.

And between Sinless City and the elevator, there’s a transport railway track more than a hundred kilometers long.

It has also become the target of some robbers targeting the goods.

In the truck, the captain, Dexter, and two others were visibly excited.

After all, such a massive “job” could make them overnight millionaires if they were lucky.

As long as they get there first, the spoils of war in the suburbs will belong to the corpse collectors.

Now it’s all about the speed of the trucks.

Several steam trucks raced at full speed through the city.

There were only four people left in Team Five’s truck.

Gibb, the plump boy, hasn’t been seen since he asked for leave to go home; no one knows if something happened to him.

Now, only Leonard Churchill does the work.

Dexter and the other two were a small group, and they never chatted with newcomers.

Leonard Churchill didn’t want to either.

Sitting quietly in a corner alone, he looked out of the window.

Apart from its spectacular architectural ruins, the Underground City has hardly any scenery to speak of.

Leaving the outer city wall and the city area behind, there was no source of light in sight, only the dead quiet of pitch-black darkness.

A chain of truck lights pierced into the endless dark, like a spear of light. Occasionally, under the dim light, shadows could be seen near the railroad, which were the ghouls and mutated monsters roaming the wilderness.

“Grand Cemetery” is a place just off the railway track in the eastern suburbs of Sinless City.

It was said to be an ancient burial mound, frequented by a vast number of skeleton monsters.

There also exists a well-known Alternate Dimension, known to the city folk of Sinless City as the Grand Cemetery Labyrinth.

On the truck, with nothing to do, Dexter and the two senior team members chatted about the labyrinth.

“The Grand Cemetery Labyrinth covers a large area, and its entry trigger is erratic. Everyone should be clever; don’t meddle with things you don’t understand. It would be troublesome if you touched a Disaster Object and got rolled into the Alternate Dimension. Its exploration percentage remains at about 40% – no one knows the maze’s complete layout, and making it out purely depends on luck.”

“Yes.”

“But Captain, why does a basic dimension like the labyrinth only have an exploration rate of 4.0%?”

Because it’s a puzzle-type Alternate Dimension. Reportedly, the maze is incredibly vast, and the structure is overly complex. Going in once accidentally would waste several days. If you take a wrong turn, it’ll waste even more time and you might even die in there. Moreover, this Alternate Dimension only generates low-tier skeleton materials, not interesting to big teams or high-tier hunters. Only puzzle enthusiasts and cardmaster apprentices who need low-tier undead materials go here for materials, no one else wants to come to this hellhole…”

“Oh.”

Dexter, the team leader, was after all an old convict who was exiled here years ago, he knows more than the average person.

Leonard Churchill, sitting quietly in the corner of the carriage, listened carefully to their conversation.

He also got a general impression of this maze: low yield and somewhat risky.

Nothing worth fussing over.

Not only in the Old Continent, but also in Sinless City, there are many quirky strange Alternate Dimensions.

Leonard Churchill has a strong interest in these magical duplicates.

He still doesn’t understand what Alternate Dimensions really are – fragments of a low-dimensional world? Or a god’s game? Or the projection of a high-dimensional world?

None of these seem to be correct.

Just like ‘Enlightenment,’ Alternate Dimensions also have an inexplicable sense of mystery.

While lost in thought, a burst of light appeared ahead, unbeknownst to him.

The destination was in sight..