Chapter 839: Gotham Transformation In Progress (Part 2)_1

An older employee led a group of chattering children through the corridor, and along the way, Jason found that compared to an apartment building, this place really looked more like a hotel.

There were beige patterns on the dark grey floor tiles, and every three meters or so, there was a large potted plant. A carpet sat at the entrance to each room, and every three rooms, there was a trash can.

There were also quite a few patterns etched into the suspended ceiling. The lighting was rather soft; you could call it dim, but it added to the homely feel. They reach the last room where the employee pressed the nameplate on the door, displaying a name "Jason Todd".

Jason stepped forward, undaunted, and keyed his hand on the door handle. The handle flashed, and with a "clack", the lock opened.

The older employee conveyed: "The material of the door is very advanced. No firearm known in Gotham can break this door. The windows are the same."

Jason pushed the door open, and the sight of the room inside almost made him scream out loud.

Indeed, it was very much like a hotel, even the room. It was a small room, barely enough to fit a bed. However, on the wall near the corridor, there was a fixed cupboard, a painting by the bedhead, and a window across from it.

The window wasn't too big, about half the length of the bed, but it had a very small bay window where Jason could exactly fit.

Looking out of the window, there was a street yet to be renovated outside, and a construction site in the distance. Gazing far and wide, the view was excellent.

"The rooms around the corner have better views." The older employee said, "The interior rooms might not have such good views, but they are bigger, and some even have a balcony. The amount of sunlight is guaranteed."

Many children rushed into the room, chattering. Jason didn't get angry. Instead, Six-fingered Sister ran in and said, "All of you get out! Don't mess around here, careful you break things, you'll have to pay for it!"

One child, touching the soft bedsheets, commented, "Oh my god, if I sleep on this, I'll never want to wake up..."

"This cupboard is quite big. I can put a lot of stuff in it, but I don't have that much. Should I go out and find more?"

"Quick, look! There's also a cupboard under the bed. The bed can be pulled open, and there's space to put things..."

"Wow, you can put stuff behind the painting too!"

The children, like treasure hunters, turned the room upside down, finding that the room, despite being small, was fully equipped. Every possible storage space was utilized, even the bedhead had secret compartments.

Jason was very excited, he clenched his fists and muttered, "The cupboard on the wall can be used to put books, and the one under the bed for the clothes, no, no, it might get damp, or maybe....".

When the older employee heard him, he smiled and said, "You don't have to worry about the dampness. The whole building has an intelligent ventilation system that regulates both humidity and temperature. It won't be cold or damp."

The children erupted in cheers once again.

After leaving Jason's room, they turned around the corner at the end of the corridor, and it opened up into a wide space. Jason realized that this building was actually a cylinder, with a small open square in the middle, much like the structure of Hell's South Section.

During the water pipeline renovations in Hell, some of the wells were kept and turned into recreational squares. Although they were small and poorly lit, at least they provided a place for people to freely move about.

This place was no different. Standing at the bridge corridor, you could see the square below, laid with floor tiles, outfitted with benches, and a few fitness equipment items.

Apart from that, every third floor was slightly offset, with a crescent-shaped terrace jutting out from the building for activities. The west side of the building was not completely covered; it was designed that way to connect with other buildings.

After touring the residential area and everyone had visited their rooms, by which time it was already dark, the tour had not ended. The old employee led them to the elevator and descended to the first floor of the building.

At the level parallel to the small square was actually the lifestyle center. Small vendors, newsstands, and restaurants were all located here. You could imagine that, if there were tenants living here in the future, the children could work here.

Gotham had no qualms about child labor. Many children worked as kitchen assistants in the restaurant and kneaded dough at bakeries. This place had all the job opportunities they needed. Even if the weather in Gotham was often gloomy, they didn't have to leave the building to start work.

This was Wayne's philosophy in designing such buildings. Simply put, it was to internalize human cities thoroughly, integrating housing, business, and storage into the building, and then connecting the communities through the building.

As a result, they now had nearly unlimited expansion space. As long as the technology could support it, expansion could move upward and downward. The structures support one another; the functional areas complemented each other with the aim of transforming Gotham into an ever-growing tree.

Bruce and Shiller knew there could be a problem with Gotham's rain. Even without the Court of Owls, the rain here was far from clean. The rainwater could contaminate many water sources, resulting in problems for the groundwater and the ocean around here.

Once this multi-story building structure was put into use, water purification would become an integrated system. Making sure every resident had clean water would lower their chance of going mad.

After the tour of the lower levels, the veteran employee took the kids to the rooftop. The greenery on the rooftop was still unfinished, but the scenes of a park were apparent.

The veteran employee pointed to the construction site which was still in operation, and said, "The building next to us will be 16 stories higher than this one, and this garden will serve as the balcony garden for that building and your rooftop garden."

"The plants here will be incorporated into a drip irrigation system, you won't need to water them or maintain them, and they will provide fresh air for this place."

And the rooftop of that building across will become a shared high-rise square for you and them, making up for the lack of sunlight inside the building,

Just as he was saying this, they heard some commotion from below. Looking down, they saw quite a few mob members had gathered underneath.

Some of the kids said worriedly, "Although they won't come in, what if they blockade this place and won't let any vehicle in, what will we eat?"

"Don't worry, the transport routes do not pass through the roads. We currently have one underground transport route, and there are two more under construction on the same level as the fourth floor of the building. Even if they wait there for a year, they cannot affect you."

"At present, the prices here are in parity with the outside world, this is because the renovation project is not yet complete. Once all the renovation work for whole Gotham is finished, the prices will be intelligently controlled to ensure everyone has ample wealth to purchase basic living supplies."

The kids gasped in amazement while leaning on the railings, but they soon saw that the mob had brandished guns at them.

They retreated two steps in fear, but the veteran employee said, "It's alright, if they wait outside and don't fire, we won't fire either. But if they shoot at the building, the defense system will launch in tracking mode until they are subdued."

The children shuddered, remembering the horrific state of the mob members previously. They realised that these weapons only attacked the limbs of the mob members and not their vital parts; however, if someone was hit four or five times in their arms and legs, that person would likely not survive. Even if they did, they wouldn't have any mobility left.

"In the future, the chip markers on your bodies will grant you different access levels, allowing you to move around different places, all of this will be controlled by the system, no one can interfere…"

"What if I want to move houses?" one child raised his hand to ask.

"You can go to the sales office downstairs to apply for a change of residence, you can choose from any vacant houses, however, if it does not match the model of your current residence, you will need to pay extra or claim compensation."

The children started to ask questions all at once, mostly about small particulars, like, can they keep flowers, what if the flowers die, can they keep pets, who will clean the bathrooms, and so on.

Then, the veteran employee took them to the recreation area, which is an indoor square, or you could say, more like a canteen. All the windows were still vacant, but people would soon move in.

Next to the canteen was a bathhouse; there are two bathhouses in the building in total, one with individual cubicles for normal bathing, and another for soaking. The veteran employee said, "The water here is recycled, so you don't have to worry, but use is limited, you can't come every day, otherwise the recycling system won't keep up."

"But how would they know how many times we've been here?" Jason asked.

"When you enter the gate, the marker will be triggered, and the system will automatically record the time of your entry. In the summer, you can come every other day, and in winter, every three days. If you come before the interval period, you'll be kept outside."

The other children weren't interested in this, but Jason felt as if he was being monitored. But then he thought that only he would have such sensitive feelings; the kids were ecstatic.

When survival is a problem, privacy isn't even considered. Not to mention the monitoring of bathhouse entries. Even if there were cameras installed inside the bathhouse, they wouldn't mind. As long as they can soak in a warm pool, everything else can be left to God.

But Jason could imagine that once the kids get used to this mode, they will adapt even more to the city mode, and hence, to the so-called chip-based access control.

But he didn't know if this was a good system in the long run. He only knew that it was infinitely better than the mob system. At least here, the children could survive, and even live well.

When night fell, Jason dressed in his uniform again and went to the rooftop of this skyscraper, to the unfinished garden, and then he heard a deep voice behind him.

"Nice uniform, did you make it yourself?" Batman asked.

"No, my friend helped me make it." Jason looked down at his uniform and said, "A black uniform does look very cool, doesn't it?"

"I thought about making such a uniform for Dick too, but I hope he learns how to do it himself. Do you want to learn with him?"

Jason looked up into Batman's eyes and said, "No, I don't want to learn, because the uniform is not important."

But Batman's eyes only got brighter and brighter.