The sun had already set in the west, and night had fallen upon Columbia.
Goki sat on the bus, taking a quick rest after leaving the Takela Valley High-Tech Development Zone by shuttle.
The surrounding skyscrapers gradually became shorter and more dilapidated, the brightly lit streetlights on both sides of the road grew sparse, and the comfortable road began to turn bumpy.
Goki knew he was almost home.
Saint Foucault City had over a dozen large districts, forming the entire massive mobile city, and was one of Columbia's most advanced and developed cities.
However, this advancement and development only referred to those districts where council members were willing to invest in construction, and where capitalists and merchants were willing to establish a presence.
Commercial districts, industrial districts, high-tech development zones, and wealthy residential areas—property taxes and other taxes in these areas were high, and the communities received enough tax revenue, so they were naturally willing to use a small portion for construction.
But for the impoverished districts, which offered no profit, no one would be willing to invest precious development funds into an already dilapidated area.
Wouldn't it be better to invest money in a research company? What if they developed a potion that allowed people to gain Originium Arts while avoiding the damage of oripathy to the human body? That would be a huge profit!
So, because of the extremely high investment and sponsorship, even as a newcomer, Goki received a high salary and the highest Rank of insurance while working at Rhine Lab.
He had the freshest food for three meals a day, the cafeteria chef was a five-star chef, and if he wished, he could also be provided with a kitchen to cook for himself. The beds in the lounge were unimaginably soft, and his personal dormitory was more comfortable than a presidential suite.
Compared to the lives of the residents in the impoverished districts, the lives of Rhine Lab employees were simply like paradise.
Goki believed that if it meant being experimented on, or even potentially dying at any moment, many Sarkaz in the impoverished districts might be willing to agree to enjoy the same treatment as Ifrit, free from worries about food and drink, and with someone to care for them.
The kindness of Saria and Silence made them pity Ifrit, who was treated as an experimental subject, but they wouldn't realize that, just over ten kilometers away in the impoverished districts, countless children like Ifrit were also living on a dangerous and difficult subsistence line.
Goki was not slandering the kindness of the two mothers; they were both excellent good people, and in the future, they would also go to Rhodes Island to fight for these infected people at the bottom.
It was Columbia's severe class divisions that prevented them from seeing these hardships so close at hand—this was not just Columbia's problem, but an ancient problem that existed in any world.
Even in Yharnam, before the Night of the Hunt began, many wealthy people had already fled.
Only the poor remained, spontaneously organizing themselves, then going mad together, using anti-King pitchforks to beat Goki, who had just arrived in Yharnam, until he was unrecognizable.
"Alas, the rich have their wine and meat while the poor freeze to death."
Goki was a Hunter; he lacked the knowledge and experience to become a revolutionary leader. Even if he could hunt Divine Souls, he couldn't reform a regime.
But fortunately, this world had its own answers. If Goki remembered correctly, now, in the distant east, within the ice fields of the Ursus Empire, an organization resisting the Empire had quietly formed.
However, this was temporarily irrelevant to Goki.
No matter how good the bustling high-tech development zone was, Goki would still rush home to his small place in the impoverished district on time every day.
The bus would never enter the most chaotic impoverished districts, nor could it carry infected passengers.
So, Goki would get off early in the adjacent agricultural zone, which was mainly composed of agricultural greenhouses, animal farms, and food processing plants.
"Hey, Mr. Goki, working quite late today?"
"Yes, I'm busy."
After leaving a frequently visited agricultural product market, Goki jogged all the way, relying on his boosted stamina to quickly run into the adjacent impoverished street, following the dim, dilapidated streets towards Kaltsit's clinic.
In the first few days of moving in, many low-level Gang members would come to pick a fight with Goki, emboldened by their connections.
However, after Goki, relying on his 25 points of Strength, repeatedly beat down Sarkaz and Caudus, the impoverished district Gangs all knew that such a formidable person had moved into the vicinity.
Compared to Kaltsit, who earned the respect of all residents through her medical skills, Goki mostly garnered the fear of the ruffians. Coupled with him bringing Skadi, occasionally helping neighbors carry heavy objects, and renovating houses, the three of them worked together to successfully turn the area around the clinic into a rare safe zone—they didn't know that Mon3tr and Skadi were far better fighters than Goki.
Soon, Goki fumbled through the darkness and returned to the dilapidated, unfinished building.
Carrying a shopping bag in his right hand, Goki took out a Hunter's Torch with his left, ignited it with a burst of flame from his hand, and held it as he walked into the pitch-black stairwell.
On the second-floor corridor, Goki saw a small figure curled up in a dark corner, dozing off.
"Ha… why are you sleeping by the door again? Anyone would think we were bullying you."
Bending down, Goki pinched the cute and soft little cheek beneath the brown long hair.
Kafka, whose height was similar to the current Little Fire Dragon, but was essentially a newly adult, legal loli, had recently grown accustomed to frequenting Kaltsit's clinic.
"Hmm, who... hey, Goki-ge~~ you're back! I didn't notice you approaching me again. Do you want to teach me your walking technique?"
Alertly opening her eyes, Kafka's pale yellow eyes and a few Originium crystals on her body shimmered in the darkness, and her small hands tightened around the large scissors hidden behind her back.
"All these things must be heavy, Kafka will help you~~"
But upon realizing who the newcomer was, Kafka immediately relaxed with a cheerful smile, stood up, and skillfully took the shopping bag from Goki's hand.
"It's all raw meat and vegetables, no snacks."
"Ah, then forget it, carry it yourself—ouch, don't tap my head."
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