hunting light

Leaving the Abbey of San Miro and stepping into the cobweb-like neighborhood, the sky was suddenly overcast.

Sang Xia looked up wonderingly, the sky was still clear and blue, and the White Tower of the Empire shone so crystally in the sun.But……

"Why is there no sunlight here?"

Advi laughed, his voice was deep and thick, like a bell chiming: "Everyone who is new to the place will ask this question, Miss. But so far there is no unified answer."

Along the way, Leon looked around with a stern face.

In Area 96 during the day, all the mottled and dirty places have nowhere to hide.If it wasn't for the fact that the neon signs were still on and there were still pedestrians on the road, this place would be like a deserted city abandoned after the war.

"Do you think this is like a scar hidden in the clothes?" Ian asked.

"I think it's more like a piece of burned and festered skin, bleeding pus, and never healed." Leon said, "In fact, no one is going to cover it, it's right under our feet. It's just that we've passed by countless times, and we won't Go look down."

Adwei turned his head and glanced at the blond young man behind him.

"Please pay attention to your feet, ladies and gentlemen." Father Adway stretched out his gorgeous bass, "the last repair on the street here was probably before you were born. If you step into the garbage, your beautiful leather shoes It's about to be scrapped, miss."

Adway led the crowd around the intricate neighborhood.

The expanded buildings are like children's building blocks, stacked haphazardly on top of the head, with protruding terraces everywhere, and exposed wires like a mess.People were walking underneath, worried that something would fall on their heads at any moment.

The buildings here are dense enough to violate any fire safety regulations.But because of this, looking at it from any angle is a view that makes the heartbeat of cyberpunk fans speed up.

Behind the art is an ant-like life, and under the steam are countless souls struggling in the quagmire.

Sang Xia saw those warblers standing in the dark alley.

Some were younger than her, clearly underage.And some of them are old, but still show their breasts and show off their breasts, scratching their heads and posing at passers-by.

Sang Xia's biological mother was a very popular high-level courtesan, she went in and out of high society, and her life was extravagant and refined, far from being comparable to the wandering warbler standing on the street.

Especially after giving birth to children, the birth mother washes her hands in the golden basin.With the support of General Hughes, the mother and daughter live in a community with a good environment on the star ring.

Although Sang Xia was discriminated against because of her biological mother's status, she lived a very prosperous life since she was a child. She was surrounded by housekeepers and maids at home, and she didn't know the sufferings of the world.

Today, I originally came here to play with the idea of ​​helping friends meet their sweethearts, but I didn't expect to come into close contact with the naked poor bottom for the first time.

"Come here." She waved to the youngest wandering warbler.

The little girl was pushed by her peers, and timidly walked up to the gorgeously dressed girl.

Dirty remnants of snow piled up on the side of the road, and this little girl was wearing a short skirt, with big holes in the stockings on her legs, and her skin was purple with cold.She smiled at Sang Xia very hard, her big gray eyes were full of humble envy.

"Good lady, do you need my service?"

Her lips were chapped, her teeth were black and yellow, and she smiled like a stray dog ​​who was frightened by a beating and had to wag its tail at humans.

"Here." Sangxia gave a silver coin that she usually used to play with to the little prostitute, "Take it to buy a pair... buy what you need."

The little prostitute was so happy that she almost knelt down and kissed Sang Xia's shoes.

Sang Xia looked at the back of the child bouncing away, feeling mixed feelings in her heart, a kind of sadness and fear of a survivor looking at the remains of the victim.

Leon came over and put his arms around her shoulders.He knew Sang Xia's background and understood her mood at the moment.

"The Lord will praise your kindness, miss." Adwei nodded towards Sangxia.

"One silver coin can't change her fate." Sangxia smiled wryly, "I don't know how many children like her are here. Is their dropout rate so high?"

"There are six public schools in District 96," Ian said.Thanks to the handling of official documents in the past few days, he has theoretically mastered various data of the diocese, "However, the enrollment rate and enrollment rate are very low, and the dropout rate remains high."

Imperial law stipulates that citizens must receive 12 years of compulsory education, but enforcement of the law is extremely weak.Although the country has exempted public school tuition fees, tuition and miscellaneous fees are still a considerable burden for poor families.Poor families are more likely to let their children drop out of school early and work to subsidize their families.

"For the young people here, it is the most ideal life to be able to learn a skill from a vocational school and then work in the Midtown or Uptown." Father Adway led the crowd and continued to move forward, " But there are very few children who can graduate from middle school and enter vocational schools."

"Education investment is still too heavy a burden for these families. They think it is not worthwhile." Ian explained, "They are more inclined to have more children and let their children work early. Only by having a large number of people can they gain a foothold in the local area. .”

"Imperial laws must not apply here," said Leon.

Adevi nodded: "They have their own gangs and clan forces, and they have their own rules to resolve conflicts and disputes. The laws of the empire are here. Probably only the points exchange system is effective, and the others are useless. Want to reduce tuition and miscellaneous fees, or To go to a better school, you need points to redeem. But there are not many points that can be exchanged for physical labor.”

They returned from the alley to the street.

It is said that it is a street, but it is only a driveway about [-] meters wide, and there are some overland four-wheel vehicles parked on both sides that should have been scrapped long ago.Wild cats and dogs fought in the sewage over the dead mouse.

Leon's body tensed suddenly, his eyes narrowed, and a sharp murderous aura radiated from him.This is Alpha's instinctive reaction when he senses a crisis.

In the snow beside a car, a man stripped to his underwear was lying twisted, his skin was bruised, and there was a wine bottle beside him.Pedestrians passed by, turning a blind eye to the frozen man.

"My God, he..." Sang Xia whispered.

"Don't look." Ian pulled Sangxia behind him, "It's okay, don't be afraid."

"Don't make a fuss." Advi dialed the phone with his wristband, "People who die violently are almost the most rare sights here. When gangs fight, sometimes the whole street is full of corpses... Sheriff Bud, I It's Advi... yes, God bless you and your lottery ticket too. I'm on 12th Avenue, and there's a 'popsicle' here that needs to be dealt with..."

Ian felt his hand being held.

"This is it?" Leon lowered his head and smiled wryly, "You came all the way from Fryer? For me..."

"Don't be more frightened than Sangxia, okay?" Ian couldn't help laughing, "I'm a person with a priesthood, and my job is to represent the Holy Lord to rescue the suffering in the world."

Leon held Ian's hand tightly, glanced at Adwei and Sangxia who were standing in the distance talking, and whispered: "Father has come back, he knows everything about you. He asked me to thank you .We really need some religious help right now."

"The duke and the prince are so close, how does Prince Louis react?" Ian asked.

"He is as happy as a pig that has eaten cabbage." Leon mocked, "In private, he spared no effort to fabricate more scandals for his father and the prince. However, the father and the prince have kept their sense of proportion and kept the rumors under control. In the category of 'rumours', there is no real evidence to prove that they...have an affair. So the emperor has not shown any dissatisfaction yet."

"How is Your Majesty?"

"I don't see any major problems."

Advi waved at them from the other end.Leon held Ian's hand and followed.

"However," Leon winked at Ian meaningfully, "he has changed seven imperial medical officers in a row in just three years. Moreover, each of them is genetically ill. top experts."

Ian suddenly changed color, and subconsciously held Leon's hand.

If the emperor has a dominant genetic disease, then Leon is likely to have this disease too!

"Don't worry." Leon raised the corners of his lips and comforted softly, "The Coleman family does not have any fatal genetic diseases. My father and I analyzed that the emperor is likely to be deceitful and deliberately showing weakness. When you are strong, completely resolve the dispute between the two sons."

"Don't take it lightly." Ian said, "The succession to the throne has always been in accordance with the sequential system, unless the heir is illegal or mentally ill. Although Raphael has obvious immorality, the emperor is still very determined to protect him. So, I think Luis's ambitions are a little bit irrational."

"what do you mean?"

"I think, unless he must have some heavyweight handle in his hand, he can deprive Raphael of his inheritance rights. But he hasn't used it yet."

Leon was thoughtful: "And his jumping up and down again and again is actually testing the emperor's bottom line?"

"The emperor only has these two sons." Ian said, "And based on my research on His Majesty Felix, he should be a person who values ​​A more than O."

"There are more than a few." Leon said, "His preference for Alpha and discrimination against Omega are undisguised in his daily words and deeds. In his mind, Beta is probably similar to domestic animals such as pigs and dogs. It is not a human being. Anyone with a discerning eye can see that Prince Raphael has tried his best to gain his father's attention, but with little success. In one hunting, Raphael shot a wild boar, and Louis shot a deer. But the emperor Declare Louis champion, and praise him for his dexterity with the bow."

Ian said: "Your Majesty probably thinks that, as an Omega, he shot and killed the male wild boar, which symbolizes mighty masculinity, as a great provocation to their Alphas."

"Yes!" Leon exclaimed, looking at Ian with amazed eyes, "You are so smart, Ian. At that time, Raphael was not convinced, but His Majesty reprimanded him to 'be a little Omega' and 'be humble and restrained. , don’t be too aggressive’. If Queen Ayres hadn’t come out to smooth things over, the father and son would have quarreled again that day.”

"Louis is the most ideal heir in the emperor's heart." Ian said, "It's really strange. The queen mother of His Majesty Adam II and Felix IV—the great Queen Catalina, is an Omega. Fei Why does His Majesty Lix discriminate against Omega so much?"

"Because the queen is very partial to his elder brother Adam." Leon said, "my father told me. They are half-brothers. My grandfather Adam was born to the queen and her favorite original husband. And Felix's father is a prince who married the queen after the death of his original wife. He is noble, but the relationship between husband and wife is cold."

"Ah, the feud accumulated within the family."

"Yes." Leon lowered his voice, "I don't know what ugly creatures will be bred if this old grudge accumulates."

Ian naturally thought of the bizarre deaths of Emperor Adam and his wife.

He gave the clue to the decryption to the Duke of Oran, and now he doesn't know how far the Duke of Oran has solved the puzzle?

"Father asked me to ask you," Leon said, "if you like, can you try to come to the Duke's mansion once or twice a week to give us a lecture. It's better to come openly than to come and go secretly."

"Of course I am willing!" Ian said happily, "This way we can meet often."

The young man held the priest's hand tightly.

This reminded Ian instead.As priests in cassocks, it was inappropriate to hold hands with the same boy in the street.Fortunately, there are few people here, and Adwei and Sangxia walked far ahead.

Ian tried to pull his hand out calmly.Leon let go of his hand, but suddenly grabbed it with his backhand, his fingers intertwined, interlocking with the five fingers of the priest's hand.

"..." Ian was speechless for a while, "Leon?"

"Huh?" The young man turned his head blankly.

Ian tried to pull back his hand.

"What's the matter?" Leon stopped, lowered his tone, but squeezed his hand even tighter, "Is there something wrong nearby?"

"No." Ian thought of a non-embarrassing reason.

"Or do you feel unwell?" Leon became nervous, grasping Ian's hand with both hands, "Feeling cold? Do you want me to escort you back?"

The young man even directly pulled the priest's hand into his coat and pressed it against his chest: "Ian, your hands are really cold. We've been out for a long time, and it's time to go back."

The young Alpha's body was quite strong, and he was not afraid of the severe cold. Leon only wore two layers of unlined clothing under his coat.Ian was caught off guard, and his palms were grasped and placed on the young man's thick and hard chest muscles, and he felt the vigorous body temperature and heartbeat under the clothes extremely intuitively.

"By the way, do you still have work the day after tomorrow?" Leon asked again.

"Ah?" Ian's mind was a little confused, and he didn't know which situation to deal with first. "The day after tomorrow is New Year's Eve? Then it should be...nothing..."

"That's great." Leon leaned over and approached Ian with a bright smiling face, "Then let's celebrate New Year together. I'll pick you up. We'll go to the Empire Tower for dinner. I've already made an appointment." Tahitian Restaurant's Star Terrace Seats…”

"Excuse me—" Father Adway's extremely magnetic voice floated from afar, and the elongated tone was full of sarcasm, "You don't mind following us? Or we need to find you... a rest for drinking ?”

Ian quickly pulled his hand back from Leon's coat, buried his head and walked quickly towards Advi and the others.

Advi was expressionless.Sang Xia made a face at Leon instead.

Leon put his hands in his pockets, met Adwei's gaze, and walked over casually.

"I'm sorry for interrupting your private conversation." Adway said indifferently, his eyes swept over the two Omega, especially staying for a moment longer on Ian's tense handsome face.

"The terrain we are going to visit next is very complicated. Once you step into some dark alleys by mistake, you will be dragged away by the creatures inside, and you will not even leave a shoe. After a month, you will appear in a certain place. On the black market display stand on a star ring, the clothes are not covered, the price is clearly marked, it is auctioned off, and it becomes someone's private collection."

"You are scaremongering, Father." Sang Xia forced a smile, "After all, this is still the imperial capital, and the law and order will not be so chaotic."

"Then are you going to risk yourself, Miss Hughes?"

Sangxia got angry: "Is it only Omega who will encounter this kind of danger? What should you do if you go to those places alone and encounter danger?"

Advi sneered at this question, and said arrogantly: "It's very simple, I will..."

"what----------"

A hysterical scream cut him off.

Ian & Leon & Sangxia: "..."

The corners of Adwei's mouth twitched, and he said cautiously: "I won't, like that, scream!"

"Oh," Sang Xia laughed, "Of course."

"Let me go—" the voice called out again, a young male voice, "Help!"

Leon frowned alertly.

Even Ian felt that something was wrong: "Why does it sound familiar to me?"

Everyone ran towards the place where the sound came from.On a narrow street, several men were pulling a young boy into a door.The boy's two bodyguards had fallen to the ground, their faces covered with blood.

"Hey!" Leon yelled angrily, and the black ring on his wrist transformed quickly, wrapping his arm and forming a laser quantum arm gun.

The gangsters left the young man behind, smeared the soles of their feet with oil, and scurried into the dark crevices like mice.

Leon raised his hand, the arm gun disintegrated, and recovered into a black bracelet.

"Oh, Leon!" With tears in his eyes, Daniel flew over and hugged Leon's waist, "You saved me, you are my hero!"

Leon raised his hands in surrender, his face expressionless, and he glanced at Ian from the corner of his eye.

Ian was fine.However, Adwei couldn't help breaking his usual arrogance and coldness, and rolled his eyes towards the sky.

"I'm so glad you showed up!" Daniel rubbed his flushed face against Leon's chest.

"Evil..." Sang Xia looked resentful, "I said why is there a smell in the wind, so it was you, a little chicken, who came here."