Sir! Don't close the net!

“Hahaha…” Carly managed a weak smile, then couldn’t help glancing at the cane in Rebecca’s hand. “This gentleman really loves to joke. Most human traffickers wouldn’t dare to stroll around the streets of the Triple Circle at night, let alone carry a cane like this.”

Li Yili raised an eyebrow.

Carly seemed very anxious, but considering Dr. Raven's tendency to poke his head off at the slightest provocation, Carly's expression that she was doomed if she didn't leave soon was understandable.

So what were Carly's reasons for choosing to take the risk during this dangerous time?

"I now need to go to the branch of the Church of Steam and Steel in the Triassic Circle."

Li Yili raised her hand and grabbed Aditi by the back of her collar, pulling Aditi, who had been completely silent for some reason, down and swaying her back and forth in front of Carly.

Aditi puffed out her cheeks slightly and turned her eyes away, neither struggling nor speaking, just like a delicate doll that had been dirtied.

"delivery."

Carly leaned back slightly.

Li Yili now seems a bit like a human trafficker.

But Carly didn't forget her current situation. She nodded vigorously to Li Yili and then turned around to grope her way forward. Although the visibility was very low due to the smog, she had been wandering in the San Die Quan for a long time and could find her way even with her eyes closed.

“Sir, the One and Only Ruler, you’re not thinking of just leaving her in this smog to see what happens to her, are you?” Abel peered out of the smog at Carly’s trembling figure. “She’s asking you for help, and before asking for your help, she’s choosing to fulfill your request first.”

"Carly isn't your lab animal."

"..."

What nonsense are you spouting?

Li Yili flicked the yellow raincoat she was wearing, and Rebecca, who was standing behind Li Yili and swaying anxiously, immediately reached out and grabbed the raincoat that was being tossed to her, and followed behind Li Yili.

After walking for a while, Carly couldn't help but turn back for the fifth time. In the thick smog, a tall, slender yellow figure remained within her sight. Although the figure appeared incredibly illusory and seemingly wriggling due to the shifting smog, Carly inexplicably felt a sense of peace.

Carly knew very well that this feeling was quite morbid, but once she lifted the manhole cover and chose to climb out, she could only continue in this morbid state.

Having made up her mind, Carly didn't look back and quickened her pace. The thick smog stirred up tiny vortexes around her as she moved, slowly twisting like strange eyes.

Li Yili, who had been following Carly the whole time, frowned.

It's so quiet.

Carly's movements were becoming increasingly larger, from cautiously groping forward to walking quickly, and now it was almost like running, but he still couldn't hear Carly's footsteps. Not only Carly's footsteps, but also his and Rebecca's footsteps were all stolen away by the strange fog.

Add to that the increasingly poor visibility caused by smog.

If someone were to sprint at full speed towards them, they would likely only see them when the impact hits their face.

Li Yili glanced at the small vortex that was slowly twisting in the smog. It was stirred up when Carly ran by. Normally, this small vortex should have spread out and disappeared by now.

"Delay?"

Li Yili spread his fingers, gathered the vortex into his palm, squeezed it tightly, and then opened them again. The vortex disappeared, but more tiny vortices began to form around his palm at an extremely slow speed.

"Um... we've arrived."

Carly's voice came from behind. Li Yili looked up and saw Carly standing in the thick smog with her neck hunched and her face full of tension, as if she might disappear at any moment. Behind her, there was only the swirling smog and emptiness.

Li Yili took a few steps forward, and a metal gate made of gears, levers and other parts emerged from the smog.

Chapter 8 is full? Now it's being cleared out.

At Li Yili's prompting, Carly mustered her courage, raised her hand, and slammed it heavily on the metal door.

"Please open the door!"

Li Yili raised an eyebrow.

The heavy knocking wasn't drowned out by the smog, perhaps because there was no smog inside the church, so the condition of being swallowed by smog wasn't met, and that's why the knocking sound could be heard.

Li Yili raised her hand and patted her ear, her brows furrowing slightly.

He wasn't far from Carly, and Carly was now shouting quite loudly to get someone to open the door. She was really into it, but the volume was even lower than when she was speaking to him cautiously face-to-face at the beginning.

Just as Li Yili was about to take a few steps back to test it, the huge gear on the metal gate began to turn. With the surge of orange light, the smog seemed to dissipate a little, and Carly's expression subconsciously relaxed, but that was all.

The metal door was only slightly ajar, and as a man appeared, a dark shadow rose in the warm light that dispelled the haze. Carly instinctively hunched over, exposing herself as much as possible to the leaking warm light.

The man raised his chin and looked down at Carly. "Knocking at this hour, I wondered who it could be. Isn't this Carly? What's wrong? Couldn't find a suitable sewer?"

“Mr. Ralph…we only need to stay in the church for one night,” Carly subconsciously lowered her voice, prepared herself to be kicked out in the end, but thinking that Li Yili was watching from behind, Carly braced herself and raised her voice, “The church has an obligation to provide shelter to wasteland citizens.”

“No—this place is already full,” Ralph scoffed. “Duty? Are you even a citizen of the wasteland? What have you contributed to the wasteland?”

Li Yili tilted her head to look inside the church.

The Cult of Steam and Steel is not a proper religion; it's more like a packaging to fit the current situation. Whether it's Bishop Azaveta, the Black Gate and the Celestials, or even the Galar Horn, they all have precise pantheon standards. Without appropriate pairings, it would be difficult for them to gain a foothold in the eyes of most people, so they packaged themselves as the Cult of Steam and Steel.

Since it's to be packaged as a religion, it naturally needs to have a proper and distinctive church.

It possesses the features of a church that everyone knows, and also has the style of a church of steam and steel.

Various exposed, crooked metal mechanisms, lacking sheet metal coverings, crisscrossed inside the church, shattering the sanctity inherent in a normal church and establishing an alternative steel order upon it. Protected by this steel order were several somewhat wealthy men elegantly cutting steaks around a dining table.

"Of course, if you can prove to me the contributions you can make to the wasteland, I might let you stay here for one night."

Lav noticed Li Yili and the others behind Carly, and his gaze fell on Aditi, who was standing to Li Yili's right. His eyes flashed with a strange light.

"If it satisfies me—"

“I can provide you with warm beds, freshly cooked food, and shelter.”

Laf's undisguised gaze made Aditi's face turn pale. She subconsciously grabbed Li Yili's hand and hid behind her. This act of resistance made Laf's gaze even more intense, but he did not leave the church. Instead, he raised his head like a gourmet waiting for a delicious meal to be served.

"Nights in the Triassic Circle can be very dangerous."

"The wasteland's law enforcement agency, Plague, will eradicate germs on the streets until dawn."

Ralph raised his hand and placed it on the metal door, pulling it shut slightly. His voice was as cold and thin as a snake's.

"You'll die—"

Carly's face paled, and before she could speak, she heard a soft sound beside her ear and saw an old yellow color appear in her vision. The next second, Ralph's cold face was covered by a palm.

Ralph felt a sharp pain on his face, and the next second the whole world began to spin. In the inverted world, a bewildered Carly was pushed into the church by a man wearing a tattered yellow raincoat.

"boom--"

The cold, damp touch and the stinging sensation on his face brought Lav back to his senses.

He was thrown out.

Ralph looked up sharply, staring at the swirling smog before him. He screamed, stood up, and turned to rush back to the church, but Li Yili blocked the only entrance, looking down at him just as she had looked down at Carly before.

Ralph snapped, "You bastard, do you know who I am?! If you want to see the sun rise tomorrow, get out of there!"

Li Yili didn't speak, but closed the church door a little. The warm light that fell on Laf's face disappeared a bit, and the haze that had been dispelled by the warm light began to stir.

Lav's face paled as he realized what was happening, and he awkwardly forced a fawning smile by rubbing his hands together.

“This, sir, what do you need? I’m not bragging, but whatever you want, I can get it for you with just a word.”

Li Yili raised the corners of her mouth, and under Laf's incredulous gaze, she turned around and slammed the church door shut. The moment the door hit the frame, the gears on the door turned and locked it.

Amidst the desperate knocking, Li Yili calmly walked to the central table in the church, where steak and red wine were laid out, and her gaze fell on an empty seat.

This is obviously Laf's position.

While everyone else sat and enjoyed their meal, Ralph left his seat to open the door.

Li Yili raised her hand and pressed down on the empty chair, slowly dragging it. The unusual, ear-piercing sound of the chair legs sliding against the ground tore through the desperate knocking sounds they had long been accustomed to and even enjoyed. Only then did the men sitting at the dining table react.

Li Yili did not haggle with Lav at all. As if she were a member of the church, she threw away the trash, closed the door, and returned to the dining table to continue the unfinished meal.

“Interesting… You’re more suited for this position than that Ralph. Sit down; his share is now yours.”

A middle-aged man with a gleaming bald head smiled and raised the glass in his hand, which was swirling with blood-red wine, to Li Yili.

The man appeared to be the leader of the group. After the others showed surprised expressions, they also raised their glasses to Li Yili.

Carly's eyes widened; those sitting here were all big names in the Triple Circle.

Li Yili tilted her head to the side.

The gears turned, and under Laf's surprised gaze, the door opened again. But instead of warm sunlight, he was greeted by a series of obese bodies. Laf didn't react in time and was crushed at the bottom, watching helplessly as the door closed once more.

Li Yili returned to the dining table, glanced down at the steak on the table that could only be considered high-end if it were a three-layer steak, sneered, and kicked the table away.

Chapter Nine: Open the Door!

This person is probably a madman.

Carly stared blankly at Li Yili, who sat upright in a chair with her eyes closed, seemingly enjoying the pitiful cries and desperate knocking outside the door.

The Triassic Circle was divided into three groups due to the appearance of strange industrial smog.

At the very bottom are those homeless people who can only hide in the sewers at night, shivering and waiting for the night to pass.

The middle class consists of ordinary wage earners who have a fixed place to live and can safely spend the night, but still keep their doors and windows sealed shut.

The upper class is the circle of people who can enjoy fine dining in the church built by the Church of the God of Steam and Steel during nights that most people would fear, and seek pleasure in danger and taboo.

The three overlapping circles form the triple rings of the wasteland.

Just now, Li Yili only needed to nod her head to instantly step into the asset circle of the Triple Circle. According to that man's meaning, Li Yili will get everything that Laf owns. It's unbelievable!

Even more incredibly, Li Yili actually threw everyone out!

Without the protection of others, those people's vast assets in the Triassic Circle will be divided up by others, and it will never be Li Yili, whose identity is unknown.

"I don't know who you are, but let me tell you, you're in big trouble!"

"You think you can get our assets like this? Don't even dream about it!"

"Open the door now and we can pretend nothing happened before!"

The shouting and cursing outside the door made Carly unsure whether to sit or stand. She couldn't help but look towards the door. Several times she wanted to persuade Li Yili to open the door, but when she thought of how Li Yili had just thrown everyone else out without hesitation, Carly worried that if she spoke up, she would be thrown out as well.

If she were alone, she would most likely disappear without a trace in this smog.

Carly looked at the other two for help, but she was disappointed. Aditi was just squatting in the corner, hugging her knees and hanging her head, while Rebecca was wolfing down the steak on the table.

But soon the flow changed, as if some terrible monster had appeared. The shouts outside the door turned into pleas, and the knocking frequency suddenly increased, making the entire metal door shake violently.

Please! Open the door!

"I'll give you all my assets! Please! Help me!"

"If we're all dead, you'll get nothing!"