I! Cleaner!-Chapter 1149 - 1054: The Capital’s Morning

Thrushes, the capital city, early morning.

The thick white morning mist crawls along the outer river, with mists rising over the bridge and making the newly painted handrails shine as dockworkers' greasy fingers just reach for their pocket watches, six chimes leisurely roll from the old town's clock tower above.

"Dong... Dong... Dong... Dong... Dong... Dong"

The heavy sound of the iron bell spreads out, waking up the entire city from its slumber, and with the first ray of sunlight breaking through the morning fog, the whistle of public carriage lines, newsboys shouting headlines, selling newspapers along the streets all break out from the mist, clearly flowing into the ears of pedestrians.

It's been so long since I've seen the morning in the capital city...

Listening to the familiar yet strange noises around him, Leon, who repaid his entire night's debt, couldn't help but squint toward the sun on the horizon, and then instinctively took a deep breath, a unique complex scent of the capital city's morning mist quietly spread through his nasal cavity.

Due to unrestrained excessive pollution discharge over the past few decades, the air above the outer river in the capital city often carries a pungent slightly spicy odor of industrial sewage, and a thick stench that nearly clogs the nostrils, with suspicious trash floating on the river surface, along with oily, dirty rainbow patterns.

And after more than half a year of governance, moving twenty-something factories, and completely separating the municipal sewage river from the public water area, the wind from the outer river finally stops being suffocatingly foul, barely having the freshness that morning wind should possess.

Although the stench hasn't completely dissipated, at noon when the river water starts to evaporate significantly, occasionally one can still smell some "lingering scent of the old era," it might take several more years to self-clean successfully, but at least people can bear it.

Why not go back and chat with Senior Amien, ask her if there's any purification potion that could be used to clean the river water in one go?

Hmm... or maybe forget it, if I ask her to act, although the river water could quickly become clean, the fish newly moved into the outer river might start frantically squirt, thinking about it this way, perhaps it's more prudent to take it slow.

After dismissing the unreliable notion of using dung to treat pollution, Leon didn't shuffle directly in the mirror world but draped the coat he had wrinkled last night over his arm, leisurely walked across the bridge that separates the old city from the upper city, heading toward Bridge Street.

Even though Veronica approved a large fund to renovate the entire municipal project of the old city after ascending to power, such a large project isn't something that can be completed in just one or two years, the changes in the old city compared to the past aren't considered significant.

As Leon stepped into the old city's range, the surrounding buildings instantly became considerably lower in height, with ancient coal ash seeping from old brick walls mixing with the slightly pungent smell of newly painted walls, waging war with the sweet steam spewing from the chimneys of street-side bakeries, in the narrow alleyways.

"Make way! Please make way!"

Accompanied by a somewhat urgent plea, a clerk wearing a bowler hat trotted past Leon, carefully avoiding horse dung at the side of the sidewalk, yet couldn't dodge the quilt being shaken from the second floor and got covered in fine fluff mixed with ashes from the fireplace.

"Hey! Are you blind?"

"You're the one who's blind! An adult that doesn't know to dodge?"

"Where am I supposed to dodge? Didn't you see the horse dung on the ground?"

"That's none of my business, anyway I shouted before shaking, who are you blaming for not hearing?"

"You fu..."

"..."

Alright, although there has been quite a bit of change, public hygiene still hasn't caught up; at the very least the horse dung on the roadside needs a good cleaning...

Passing by the arguing pair, Leon queued at a nearby bakery to buy two loaves of bread, and then quickly walked to the public carriage stop to wait for a ride, and upon noticing his "suspicious" actions, the old horse resting under the opposite arcade immediately snorted loudly.

While the coachman nearby, who was licking his rolling paper, upon hearing the sound, promptly spat out the tobacco from his mouth, lightly tapped the horse's rear with the coiled whip tip, amid the curse of the morning rush hour traffic, he crossed the street pulling the entire coach over.

"Passenger, want to rent a ride?"

"No... Are you just crossing the street like this? As far as I remember the transport department just issued new traffic regulations last month? You're violating traffic rules, aren't you?"

"Hey, who's going to care about that."

After casually waving his hand, the coachman with two cigarettes tucked behind his ear reached out and rubbed his shiny bald head, then he chuckled:

"Traffic cops haven't started work yet, as long as you're not caught on the spot it doesn't count, plus I've got my license plate covered, someone nosy wants to report me but doesn't know my coach number… Where are you heading, passenger?"

"..."

I want to report you to the transport department... Cross the road amidst traffic flow, dangerous driving and obscuring the license, you are no ordinary road killer.

Well... Forget it, the new public coaches with doubled speed haven't been rolled out yet, pulling this isn't overly dangerous, but seriously I must remind Veronica to thoroughly reeducate the public on traffic regulations before the coaches speed up...

"Bridge Street, Happiness Apartments."

Having remembered all the problems he saw this morning, Leon, holding onto steaming hot loaves of bread, boarded the coach's cabin, sat on the padded leather seat, then curiously gazed at the hanging basket on the wall of the compartment.

"Hmm? Why are there newspapers in your hanging basket? Left behind by the previous passenger?"

"No, those are for sale."

Manually pulling the starting whistle, the coachman said with a grin:

"Didn't Veronica issue a decree to reduce the cost of public travel? Naturally, my coach fares also must drop accordingly.

As compensation for lowering costs, we can now sell some small goods, or newspapers and magazines of the day, and this part is taxable under a small amount or whatever... in short, not exceeding a certain limit is exempt from tax…

Hey passenger, would you like to buy two copies of today's newspaper? If not purchasing, just browsing will cost you an extra Copper Wheel when disembarking."

"Uh... Then let me buy two copies..."

Leon, slightly interested in the news on the newspapers, felt that renting a newspaper for ten minutes for a Copper Wheel wasn't really worth it and reached into the sealed side basket to pick and pull out several familiar newspapers.

New Industry News: "Large Development in Ryan County, Mining and Infrastructure Industries Promise Long-Term Benefits"

Commentators News: "Minimum Hourly Wage to Rise Again! Business Federation Raises Objection!"

Royal Mail News: "Veronica Majesty's New Policy 'Fifteen Clauses' Explained, Reorganization of Lands Beginning of National Strength"

Corner Alley News: "Queen's Order in Chaos? Roads Department Resists Large-scale Reductions, Prime Minister Expresses Support"

The Sun News: "Shocking! Prince Leon Long-Term Absence from Palace, Queen Suspected to Face Marital Issues!"

"..."

Marital issues my ass! I'm just freaking busy with work! And! I really... this blind-shit-writing newspaper, why the hell is it still not done yet?

Black-faced, tossing three Copper Wheels into the hanging basket, he took the newspapers that interested him, prepared to flip through and see what nonsense this rubbish newspaper is spewing about him this time, but suddenly felt his upper body lurch forward.

"Passenger, we've arrived at Happiness Apartments!"