The continent of Aion, the union of the southern city-states, and the industrial mobile city of Evind.

In the middle of the night, the holy sun had set, and the red light of the demon moon shone through the layers of dark clouds that illuminated the earth, like the eyes of a bloodthirsty giant in the darkness.

Unlike the quiet residential neighborhoods around the core city, the industrial areas of the lower city on the edge of the city are still noisy, and workers working in two shifts act as fuel, filling the bellies of the behemoths with a roar that spews out enough black smoke to cover the entire mobile city.

Any city has an industrial zone, after all, any mobile city must have a minimum of self-sustaining industrial standards.

Of course, self-maintenance alone is not enough, and if something happens to the city on the road, then the basic industry will not be able to carry out a complete repair.

Therefore, any large mobile city has a complete set of industrial system, and only small mobile city-states need to go to large cities every few years to carry out maintenance and inspection, repair damage, and carry out large-scale exchange and trade by the way.

There are even some mobile cities that make a living by carrying out maintenance inspections for other cities.

The industrial city of Evend is one such mobile city, which travels south of the Asmodean Empire, traveling back and forth between the Southridge mining area and the southern coast in order to obtain sufficient industrial raw materials.

And in the process, a large number of small mobile city-states will move closer to it, like iron sand attracted by magnets.

Boom, boom. In the factory, violent fluctuations of source energy came, and its might was superior to the full force of the transcendent of the Heart Light Realm.

This is not surprising, as the foundation of the source energy industry, the energy level of the large source energy furnace is far beyond the ordinary heart light level, and the source energy fluctuations it emits can even change the celestial phenomena in a small area, if reasonable protection is not taken, this level of source energy radiation is enough to make all the people who work in it suffer from demonic disease.

The core of a large mobile city, the super-giant energy furnace that can drive a mountain peak, is claimed to be able to set off man-made natural disasters, and the protective shield maintained can resist natural disasters for a period of time.

Therefore, in the world of Aion, workers are a high-end profession that is quite respected: their daily work is to protect the arteries of urban life, so they must master certain source energy skills, and they can also protect themselves under source energy radiation, and the salary is not low.

A skilled senior worker, or engineer, even if he is not a professional, can be compared to a knight.

But that's just a 'regular job'.

There are so many jobs in an industrial city that it is impossible for everyone to be a respectable worker, a pilot, and the city cannot afford such a salary, and not all factory jobs need professional workers to do it.

Hence the creation of positions such as 'temporary workers'.

Temporary workers don't need much skill, or even culture, even if they can't read a word, they only need to assemble molds on the assembly line, or do some manual work of carrying - this kind of work is the majority, so that the lowly children in the slums, the farmers from the farms, when needed, can become temporary workers in the fastest time.

Because of this, the salary is meager and squeezed.

Most of them get up at dawn and don't return until late in the evening, and the night shift workers are a little more relaxed, but they are more dangerous: the glow of the magic moon will increase the activity of the source energy, making the workers in the factory more susceptible to demonic disease.

But what does it matter? The average age of the workers could not even be more than forty years old, and they would be lost before the onset of demonism worsened.

And whether they are infected or not, the factory owners will squeeze the last of their strength.

"Ahem......"

In the dim light, a slight cough was heard, and a plainly dressed, even shabby, teenager walked out of the side door of the factory slowly.

Seneca has short brown hair, he is blind in his left eye, and the physical mutation caused by the demonic disease has made half of the boy's face lithotic, but the remaining half of his face can still be called handsome, and even because of the lithified left face, there is a crippled beauty.

In particular, the right eye has an icy green jewel color, and the depths of the eye even seem to glow faintly.

Because of the demonic disease, Seneca's eyesight was enhanced, allowing him to see the defects in the substandard products at a glance, so he was hired as a quality inspector.

Most of the demons have abilities that ordinary people don't have, as long as they don't reach the late stage of demonization, it's not difficult to find a job in a related major, although they have to endure discrimination and rejection, but it's better than not being able to live.

The night shift has ended, and Seneca is now preparing to leave the factory and return to the orphanage to rest.

There are more than 30 orphans of all sizes in the Xiguang Orphanage, and a few old women are hired to take care of them, and Professor Svetley bears the expenses alone, although it is hard, but it is quite bearable.

But recently, in order to raise funds for the war, the empire has imposed all kinds of heavy taxes on various places, and the orphanage has also been apportioned a large amount of taxes, and even Professor Svetley, who has always been calm, has a few gray hairs, and he doesn't know what to do.

"Think of a way, there will always be a way."

The old professor always comforted the children in this way when they were asked worriedly, but the older children knew that the tax of 90,000 Imperial Coins was not a problem that could be solved by trying to figure out a solution.

Actually, this is not reasonable at all, even a fool knows that an orphanage can't squeeze so much oil and water, and such a high tax just wants to ruin this place.

You must know that if you can earn 10,000 or 20,000 imperial coins a year, it is considered a high salary in major mobile cities, and if you are a farmer in a fixed village, a surplus of more than 500 a year can be considered a good year.

Many ordinary people don't earn 90,000 yuan in their lifetime.

But the professor still used all his connections to figure out a way, he scraped together, and hurried to complete the commission, and temporarily scraped together more than 20,000 yuan, but this was still far from enough.

Until he took on a mysterious mission from a wandering knight and got a deposit of 40,000 imperial coins.

With this deposit, as well as the money he had scraped together, Professor Svetley temporarily sent the tax collector of the Department of Taxation to prove that he was indeed capable of delivering, and then took the two apprentices to the northwestern mountains.

And as soon as it went, it was two months.

Although before leaving, the professor left a sum of money for the daily expenses of the orphanage, but there were always more accidents than expected, as the climate turned cooler, several children in the hospital were sick and needed to take medicine, and the funds left by the professor were obviously not enough.

So as the eldest child in the hospital, Seneca took the lead and went to work in the factory to earn money and buy medicine.

“…… Alas, my source energy talent is too poor, otherwise I wouldn't need the two children of Xiao Loya and Gasha to accompany the professor to endure hardships. ”

Sighing softly, the brown-haired and green-eyed young man couldn't help but sigh in his heart: "We have dragged down the professor." ”

Although Banner worked hard in the factory, he was paid daily and provided a free dinner at night, and although he was very stingy like the other factory owners, he squeezed the labor of the workers, but at least he was given the wages he should have paid, so that he was not always in arrears.

This is a rare conscience for the other factory owners in the whole city, who not only oppress, but also owe wages in various ways—although it is a little ridiculous to say the word conscience to the factory owners, but at least there is a dark conscience.

It would be better if there were no fellow workers who were psychologically twisted.

Syllable.

In the middle of the walk, a stone flew from a short distance and struck the boy in the shoulder, causing him to stumble and almost fall.

A rude laugh came from behind him, and all sorts of dirty, obscene insults and sarcasm came towards Seneca.

"Stinky boy, dare to say that Lao Tzu's work is not qualified?"

"Demonizer get out!"

"What shit quality inspector, help the factory owner squeeze us, go to the cemetery to find your parents early!"

"Stinky boy who sells ass, [Ai'an]!"

It was a bunch of people who were more street ruffians than workers.

They occasionally come to work in the factory, and after a few days of drinking money, they wander the streets, and when the money is spent, they continue to work, and there are many such people.

Fixed skilled workers, because of the particularity of the source energy skills, are rare, and various factories are rushing to get them.

The job of the inspector is like this, these temporary workers who make mistakes are not willing to admit their mistakes and do not dare to vent their anger on the factory owners who punished them, so they hate the inspector in turn, because it is he who points out their mistakes.

And the identity of the demonic patient is a catalyst for these ruffians to openly bully each other in a common-sense structure.

“……”

Rubbing his shoulders, Seneca didn't speak, he just took a deep look at the rascals, and then silently continued to walk forward.

"What the hell, dare to stare at Lao Tzu? Find a chance to gouge out your eyes! ”

The clamor was loud, but the hooligans did not dare to move forward.

Demonic disease is contagious, and although the chance of infection will be greatly reduced if you do a good job of protecting against it, as long as the demonizer is desperate, general protection is meaningless.

It's just a matter of bullying a marginal person, and you really run the risk of becoming a demonizer yourself...... Hooligans are not fools either, they don't do such pointless things.

But the Demonizer ...... In other words, if an orphan without parents and dependents wants to live with dignity in this world, he has to face more than just such weak malice.

"Little Seneca, do you still want to run today?"

When the boy got rid of the hooligans and came to the slum alley between the factory and the orphanage, Seneca, who was in a hurry, was suddenly pushed in the chest and slammed his back against the wall.

"Ahem......"

Seneca, who was already in poor health, lowered her head and coughed violently, but before he could finish coughing, a rough hand pressed his shoulder, and the other hand pressed against his chin, forcibly lifting his face.

It was a tall man, with a heavy carapace on his left hand, wearing leather armor and a handmade energy gun and short sword pinned to his waist, dressed as an armed mercenary.

The bearded man who seemed to have barbarian blood had been waiting here for a long time, and he let out a rude laugh as he looked at Seneca's demonized but still handsome face.

"I said, if you want money, I can give it to you, why go to the factory to make hard-earned money?"

The man's heavy breathing and thick bad breath came, which made Seneca almost nauseous, and couldn't help but want to turn his head, but the other party forcefully broke his face: "Spend a few nights with me, I have paid for the medicine of your little brothers and sisters." ”

As a fellow demon, he was not afraid of infection at all—rather, Seneca was afraid that the other party's more serious symptoms would resonate with him.

"Maras, get out of here! You wouldn't dare do that when the professor is here! ”

He struggled hard, but he couldn't escape the other party's hands - Maras was a veteran mercenary with the strength of Linghui, he had been on the battlefield to exterminate the rebels of Moras Plains Farm, and there were many lives in his hands, and it was not at all possible for a fifteen or sixteen-year-old boy to break free.

Professor Svetley...... Hmph, if he can come back, of course I don't dare, who would dare to provoke a real alchemy professor as a mercenary, I don't know how he died. ”

With a cold snort, easily suppressing Seneca's resistance, Maras's tone was subtle: "As for now...... To tell you the truth, I'm really helping you, the Xiguang Orphanage is over, you can still live with me, continue to stay there just waiting for death. ”

"Unless you want to be arrested and work to death in Simov's farms and mines - with your face, someone will look at you at that time, but not necessarily like I am 'reasonable'."

"What ......"

Seneca was not stupid, he could tell what the mercenary meant: in Maras's sources, Professor Svetley had obviously had an accident, otherwise the mercenary, who had always been 'smart', would never have acted so roughly.

Sensing the weakening of the young man's struggle, Maraston smiled proudly, and he greedily glanced at the other party's face: "You must not know, there was a natural disaster in the North Ionian Mountains, and there was an earthquake, I checked, it happened to be the place where the wandering knight took your dean, good fellow, the mountains have collapsed." ”

"If they're unlucky, they're going to die, and even if they survive, they won't be able to pay their taxes before the end of the year - you have a better chance of surviving if you follow me than if you were sent to the farm."

The news really shocked the boy and made him motionless.

But just when Maras was disheartened and decided to give up resistance, Seneca suddenly looked up, and a round of emerald light bloomed in her right eye, reflecting the mercenary's eyes.

"...... you?!"

Maras was taken aback, he had thought that Seneca's demonic ability was simply good eyesight and no other special abilities.

But this was obviously wrong, and he suddenly felt extremely tired, his body stiffened, and then he fell to the ground on the spot, and fell into a deep sleep.

“…… The professor said that the use of my source energy ability will worsen my physical condition......"

Taking a few steps back, away from the mercenary's sleeping body, Seneca looked at the other with a complicated expression.

What Maras said was not false, and the reason why he had suddenly become bold after following the rules was because of the professor's accident.

"If the professor really has an accident......

Thinking like this, the boy's heart sank, but he had no other choice.

There was no shame in surviving for his life, but he followed Maras, who told the other children in the orphanage the news? And how can we save more people?

Without hesitation, he got up and took a step, ignoring his right eye, which was in severe pain because of the use of his source energy ability, and took advantage of the night to stride towards the orphanage.

Dark depths.

There were two pairs of eyes staring at all this.

"Is it human immobilization, or is it sleep? This demonization ability is good, and it's useful for infiltrating combat. ”

"But at the end of the day, it's a demon...... Do you still need to continue monitoring? Obviously, Major Yelena has been killed, and this mission has failed. ”

"There's no order from above, so let's just watch...... It's a pity that such a young child is just beginning to enjoy youth in my hometown. ”

"Heh, where did you get the sympathy for the demonizers? A group of imps and orphans who have been infected with demonic diseases, and they don't know what the professor is sick about, and they have found themselves such a lot of troublesome burdens. ”

A brief exchange that proved their identity as the Third Army.

They watched everything coldly, not caring what happened to the children in the Xiguang orphanage.

If Professor Svetley had accepted the invitation and had been his boss, he might have taken care of him in the face of him, but now that the mission had failed, he was naturally too lazy to take care of things.

As for these bullies......

An orphan in a slum, what does life or death have to do with them?

"Ahem, ahem, ahem......"

As dawn approached, Seneca staggered through the intricate streets of the slums of the lower city, and the sounds of life gradually came from both sides of the streets, most of the people were about to wake up, and he took advantage of this chaotic time to return to the orphanage as fast as he could.

As Maras said, most of the children in the Xiguang Orphanage are demonic patients, and this is not what Professor Svetley is looking for, but rather that orphans without parents can easily be infected by the source of chaos without shelter.

Because of this, no ordinary person dared to contact these children except Professor Svetley; But again, thanks to this, not many people dared to approach the orphanage during the time that Professor Svetley was away.

Soon, when Seneca, the eldest child who had gone out to work and earned money for medicine, returned and told everyone that the professor might have had an accident, the entire orphanage panicked.

But with the help of Aunt Daria, a kind old woman who was invited by the professor to help take care of her, the children, who had experienced the warmth and coldness of human affection, calmed down.

Aunt Daria once had a child, but because of the early death of the demonic disease, she estimated that she would not live for a few years, so after Professor Svetley invited, she simply came to take care of these children who were also infected with the demonization disease.

When the professor is away, it is this aunt who takes care of everyone.

But when you calm down, you notice that things are bad.

A couple of children went out to buy (or even steal) newspapers from the last few days, which did tell of natural disasters in the Northern Ionian Mountains, leading to earthquakes and landslides, which happened to be in the same place where the remains of the professor were going to excavate.

This sad news has greatly damaged everyone's confidence.

Without a professor, no matter how hard the orphans tried to support them, they were just hollow reeds, which broke when they broke, and a few children who were already sick could not stand the toss, let alone be sent to work on the farm, as long as there was no medicine for the past few days, a high fever could kill them.

"Isabella and Aphro, they can't hold it anymore, last time brother, the money you left behind was only enough to buy a pair of medicines, and they all said to let the younger Kselina drink ......"

"Big brother, we are too conspicuous to escape...... If you really want to run, you should run alone! ”

"Is the Dean really dead...... Woowoo woo ......"

Listening to the children's voices one after another, Seneca also felt a huge headache, and he knew very well that since mercenaries like Maras had started to move, it meant that everyone else who should know about it already knew.

If you don't leave with everyone as soon as possible, then the end of the entire Xiguang Orphanage will be absolutely miserable...... Even beyond their imagination.

But alas, Seneca noticed it too late.

Just as he was about to sell the furniture in the orphanage, and some of the alchemy equipment left by the professor in exchange for money to buy medicine, and then flee to the depths of the lower city.

The tax collector of Evind City has arrived.

Just as all tax collectors are the core and most powerful armed force of the local lords, so are the tax collectors of Avender City, who is dressed in heavy armor, with a source energy gun of the same style as the military pinned to his waist, and his head is completely covered by a helmet, and his whole person is like a tin can.

"Xiguang Orphanage, right...... I'm ready to pay my taxes. ”

The steel giant, who weighed at least half a ton, stood at the door of the orphanage, flipped through the records in his hand, and said in a tone of indifference: "Ninety-four thousand imperial coins to be paid, sixty-seven thousand imperial coins have been paid, and twenty-seven thousand imperial coins need to be paid." ”

"Take it out now."

Unlike mercenaries like Maras, the Tax Collector is a direct manifestation of the nobility's violent will and ruling authority, not to mention that Seneca's demonic abilities can't be effective against people wearing helmets, and even if they could, he wouldn't dare attack them.

So after working hard all night, the young man who hadn't slept now could only puff up his chest and cheer up to meet him: "Lord Tax Officer, didn't you say that this tax was paid in January?" Why ...... now?"

But an indifferent voice interrupted him: "What, do you still want to stall for time?" ”

Even if his eyes were put behind his helmet like this, Seneca could still feel the contempt and impatience under the tax officer's cold words: "You demonic bastards, can you really afford to pay your taxes?" Or do you think you don't have any money now, and you can make it in two or three months? ”

The Iron Giant looked down condescendingly, he sneered and looked around the entire orphanage, mockingly, "To tell you the truth, your professor is long dead—the devil knows how the alchemy professor valued you demonic little bits, with no breasts, no ass. ”

"What a good master, but because of taking you in, life is so poor, it's just a brain problem."

Speaking of this, the tax collector lowered his head to look at Seneca, and he said thoughtfully: "Well, but the big people do have some inexplicable hobbies...... Hahaha, he's dead anyway, and there's no way you're going to pay the taxes. ”

Undisguised ridicule rang out, but he quickly regained his original indifference, and wherever the tax collector's gaze swept over, all the children could not help but take a few steps back, except for Aunt Daria, who stepped forward angrily, like a hen guarding eggs, and protected the trembling child behind her.

But he didn't care, just shook his head: "Don't think about it, the man will go to the mining area to mine and make money sooner, and he will be able to contribute to Lord Earl Evander sooner." ”

"As for the woman, well, there are so many sick? Then you can only dispose of it, so as not to infect it...... It's really cheap. ”

Commenting wantonly, the tax collector enjoyed the feeling that the life of others was in his own hands.

But he felt a cold threat.

No, not just a hint.

Almost all the children were staring at him with bitter hatred.

At this moment, the tax collector suddenly remembered the origin of these children.

They were all orphans that Professor Svetley had picked up from the wilderness four years earlier during the great drought and famine in the southern city-states......

Most of the cowardly children died at the beginning of the famine and were eaten as food.

And the children who can survive, no matter how harmless and weak they seem on the surface...... That's the same person who can survive the famine chaos until Professor Svetley picks them up!

"Hmph...... Forget it today. ”

His heart was like lightning, and the tax collector simply turned around neatly - he also knew very well that things should not be pushed too far, after all, these people are children, or children with demonic diseases, if they are really angry, they are not as rational as adults.

Especially if you are accidentally infected with demonic disease, it will be more than worth the loss.

Thinking so in his heart, the tax collector thought cautiously: "Tomorrow, come with the team...... I've said a long time ago that you can't let the demons into the city, they're too dangerous, even for children. ”

But, just as he was about to leave.

In the communication circle built into the armor, an urgent announcement suddenly came.

[Attention of all departments, enter the B-level alert state.] 】

"What's going on?"

The tax officer was stunned for a moment, he didn't understand why this alert state was initiated: "B-level alert...... Could it be that there is a rebel army that wants to attack the city? ”

But soon, the next report answered his doubts: [The sentry observed that in the northwest direction, there was a very dilapidated mobile battleship, which was approaching us at a very abnormal speed! 】

[The Earl ordered that he want the battleship.] 】

Meanwhile.

It's really dilapidated and old, and I'm afraid there aren't many older warships in the entire Aion world.

"That's where you're going?"

The half-elf dawn voice came, and her tone was filled with a hint of doubt: "It's ...... There seems to be a lot of anger and hatred in this city, and these emotions are aimless...... In addition to this, there is a lot of malice against us. ”

"In the past few eras, I have rarely seen such an emotional build-up." She commented.

"Well, here it is."

Standing on the top of the research ship, the oncoming wind made the man's clothes hunt, Su Sun stared at the city in front of him that was as huge as a mountain peak, but carried on a man-made base, and the shadows of the city and heaven and earth were reflected in his eyes.

He saw several smaller, mobile city-states connected to the city, like satellites, looking magnificent and magnificent.

"I just want to get those kids back."

But the man just shook his head lightly, and he said indifferently: "Let them be, let their malice, or any anger or hatred." ”

"I don't care."