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nNick exited the shop with a bowl of veggie cube soup in his hands.

nWhen Nick had canceled the order after realizing that he couldn’t pay, the owner said that the bowl was on the house.

nAs a practical person, Nick saw no problem with that and simply accepted happily.

nNick also told the owner that he could ask Nick for help if there was anything he needed.

nAfter leaving the marketplace quite quickly, Nick looked at the bowl of veggie cube soup in his hands with wonder.

nIn the Dregs, the people mostly ate meat.

nRat, cat, dog, insects, and so on.

nHowever, it was also necessary to eat some veggie cubes every now and then.

nVeggie cubes were green cubes made of different vegetables, which could no longer be sold in the Outer City.

nWhen vegetables started to go bad, the shops sold them to one of the gangs, which then collected them all, threw them into some kind of furnace, and cooked them until there was zero water left in them.

nOne cube weighed about a hundred grams and cost a credit.

nIt was expensive!

nBecause of that, the people in the Dregs only ate them once a week or so.

nIf they didn’t, they would start to show various signs of malnourishment.

nThe bowl of veggie cube soup was beige in color, and there was some kind of oily layer on top, which seemed to have separated from the soup.

nThe cubes had turned into slimy and mushy bits that swam in the beige broth.

nNick could also see a couple of mosquito larvae swimming in the broth.

nThese were not the larvae of normal mosquitos but the larvae of the mosquitos that belonged to the Specter, the Mosquito.

nThe mosquitos of the Specter continually reproduced, and apparently, the Specter didn’t mind if anyone ate the larvae.

nIn fact, they mostly could be found in the Dregs, and they were very healthy.

nBut they were also expensive.

nThe larvae from these mosquitos were much bigger than the ones from normal mosquitos.

nEach one was around five centimeters long!

nWhen Nick saw the soup, he knew that he was holding something of extremely high class in his hands.

n‘No wonder this thing is so expensive!’ Nick thought with wonder.

n‘It has four or five larvae and probably over 300 grams of veggie cubes!’

n‘That’s enough food for two to three days!’

nNick slowly pushed the bowl to his mouth and drank the warm broth.

nThe fat had separated from the water, and the larvae had a bitter and metallic taste to them.

nThe distant taste of vegetables could also be slightly discerned.

nNick closed his eyes in bliss.

nIt was amazing.

nHe had never eaten anything this good in his entire life.

n‘Also, what is this strong taste? I can’t put my finger on it?’

n‘Wait, is that rust lick?!’

nIn Nick’s mind appeared the image of a big rock standing near the edge of the city.

nThat rock was made from a magical mineral that could treat some special conditions that caused dizziness, nausea, and vomiting.

nThe people just needed to lick the rock for a bit, and they would feel better.

nNick had heard some people refer to it as salt, but it was commonly known as rust lick since people licked it off a dirty stone.

n‘Putting rust lick into a soup. That’s genius!’ Nick thought.

n‘It tastes so amazing!’

nOver the next hour, Nick slowly consumed the broth, and after he was done, he felt so incredibly good.

nNick felt like his body was telling him how happy it was.

n‘This is the life,’ Nick thought in satisfaction. ‘If I could eat this soup every day, I could die happy.’

nA moment later, Nick yawned.

n‘Man, now I’m getting tired. Guess I should go back home and get some sleep.’

nNick stretched and turned to walk home.

nAfter he arrived, Nick entered his room and fell onto his comfy plate of rust-free metal.

nHis entire body relaxed as he felt the comfortable embrace of sleep take him.

nSeveral hours later, Nick woke up again, and this time, he felt awake and refreshed.

nHe slept amazingly!

nAfter he woke up, he slowly scratched the back of his head in relaxation.

n‘Man, I feel great,’ he thought with a yawn.

n‘So, what do I do today?’

nAfter some time of thinking, Nick decided to look at the Outer City.

nFor the entire day, Nick went sightseeing in the Outer City, and he learned many things.

nFor example, he had learned how many different kinds of shops there were.

nThere were actually shops that sold expensive stones that had no other purpose but to look nice!

nIt was insanity!

nWhy would anyone pay money to carry a stone with them?

nNick had also learned that there were places where he could sleep without making them his home.

nThese places were called hotels.

nHotels didn’t exist in the Dregs since there were more houses than people, but the same thing wasn’t true for the Outer City.

nAfter finding out about the hotels, Nick decided to rent a room for a couple of days and got Horua to come with him.

nNick didn’t want to spend all his time alone, and he also wanted to have someone with him that he was familiar with.

nNick even visited several restaurants, but he didn’t eat at any of them. 𝙡𝓲𝒃𝙖.𝙘𝓸𝒎

nThe prices were ridiculous for only a little bit of food!

nTen credits for 150 grams of meat?!

nHe could get that for free by just stomping on a couple of bugs!

nThe soup he had eaten the day before had weighed nearly a kilo, including the broth, and the ingredients had weighed over 400 grams!

nEventually, Nick got some physical credits from a bank, and he ate more of the veggie cube soup with Horua.

nThe day after that, Nick and Horua looked around the Outer City some more.

nAnd finally, it was time to return to work!

nIt was time for Horua to work with the Dreamer!

nThis chapter is updated by https:

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