Chapter 54: Do You Understand Chinese?
On the barge on the Thames River, Arthur leaned against the railing, smoking by himself and looking up at both banks, only to see numerous concrete sewage pipes tirelessly discharging tons of domestic sewage into the river.
The dark river water was like a pool of dense ink that could not be diluted, and the surface of the river was covered with layers of thick tar, almost all of which stemmed from the London Gas Light and Coke Company headquartered in Westminster.
Of course, aside from the tar, one could often see some novel objects floating on the river.
These included filthy, barely recognizable tattered clothes, various suspiciously sourced rusty knives, or half-used cosmetics and empty bottles of alcohol.
Or, if you were unlucky, you might encounter a highly decomposed corpse, almost unidentifiable in its original identity.
All sorts of corrupt bacteria thrived here, and any sane person would not like to linger here for a moment.