Black Coal Street

People forced themselves to keep their spirits up, smiling as they greeted Will.

Quite a few old women dragged their children over, ordering them to show off the pitiful little bit of muscle on their bodies.

They begged Will to take in those children and let them join the mining crews to earn a living. Their families truly could not afford to feed these young boys anymore.

Will merely smiled and responded to each of them.

He took one in and gently refused all the rest.

"Grow a little taller first. Sending little ones like you into the mines now will get you killed!"

That was what Will said.

Though they had been refused, the people remained orderly and quietly dispersed.

Perhaps to the Governor, Will was merely an insignificant figure who could be replaced at any time.

But on Black Coal Street, Will was their king.

The thousands of miners under his command controlled the livelihoods of Black Coal Street's residents. No one dared defy him.

Of course, no one would defy him either. He had already earned their respect.

Will walked to the door, then turned back to look at everyone. "Hurry and notify those boys who went home. Don't keep them waiting too long."

Once the crowd scattered, Will pushed open the door and swept up the two little treasures who came running toward him.

The door closed, leaving only the girls' tinkling laughter drifting out.

In a low shack deep within the district, Mika's family sat around the center of their home, having lunch together.

In truth, this was the only meal Mika's family could afford each day.

They had to finish eating before noon. Otherwise, once the sunlight shifted, the shacks deep in the street would be left eating in darkness.

As for candles, they absolutely could not afford them.

Candles were a luxury. On Black Coal Street, only Mr. Will and the captains under him could afford to use them.

That was simply how the world worked. The miners dug up Energy Stones to generate electricity, yet they could not afford to use electricity themselves.

Most of the electricity was used to maintain the Upper Hive's shields and air circulation systems, or supplied to the major factories for production.

Whatever electricity remained was all sent to the Palatine District, to light up its night sky.

Mika looked lovingly at his little boy, who was wolfing down the last bit of food.

The little boy was twelve years old.

In a few more years, he would be able to find work, and the family would have hope.

"Dad, I'm still a little hungry..." The little boy raised his head and spoke softly.

Yes, hungry...

Mika's smile faded.

He could see the longing in those little eyes. The boy was still growing. How could he not be hungry?

But there was no food left at home.

His wife's hands were crippled, and no factory would hire her. The entire family relied on the little income Mika earned from the mining crew.

But yesterday, the mining crew had put him on "paid leave."

Mika did not really understand what that meant, but he muddleheadedly received tomorrow's daily wage.

At first, he had been rather happy, but the faintly pitying looks from the others made him gradually realize that this was not a good thing.

He pressed the person in charge of delivering the notice, asking why he could not come tomorrow.

But the man only said it was the Governor's order. Everyone who received tomorrow's daily wage was to stay home obediently and was forbidden from coming to the mining crew.

Everyone was terrified and kept asking why.

What if they did not come tomorrow and someone else took their position?

Would they still be allowed to come back afterward?

The person in charge could not give a clear answer either. He merely berated everyone, saying they had to obey the Governor's orders.

After that, overseers from the Palatine District rushed over and drove everyone away. A few unlucky people were even injured.

"Dad..." The little boy tugged at Mika's hand and looked at him pitifully.

Mika lovingly rubbed the boy's head. "Go to sleep. You won't be hungry once you're asleep. When Dad goes down into the mine tomorrow and gets his daily wage, I promise I'll fill your belly!"

"Okay."

The little boy nodded and ran to the bed in the shack, wrapping himself in the cotton padding as he lay down.

He seemed a little uneasy and sat back up again. "Is that true? Will I be able to eat my fill tomorrow?"

"You little brat, when have I ever lied to you?"

Satisfied with the answer, the little boy lay back down and soon fell into a deep sleep.

After a moment of silence, his wife looked at Mika with great worry. "Can you go back to the mine tomorrow?"

"I don't know."

Mika slumped completely. "Mr. Will went to see the Governor. There should be a good outcome, right?"

"But... but I heard people saying that the Palatine District has run out of food. Even the Governor can't eat delicious Sawdust Bread anymore..."

Mika's wife was nearly crying. "They also said the mining crew can't afford to pay so many daily wages anymore. Once people like you leave the mining crew, you'll never be able to return!"

She burst into tears, then immediately covered her mouth, afraid of waking the child.

"God-Emperor, we'll starve to death!"

When the man of the household could no longer go down into the mines, someone often starved to death.

There were too many stories like that on Black Coal Street. People had long grown used to them.

But when it happened to them, they finally understood just how terrifying it was.

Seeing his wife cry, Mika was at a loss. He did not know what he could say to comfort her.

In truth, he had no confidence that he would be able to return to the mine tomorrow either.

"Let's wait for word from the mining crew. Mr. Will will speak for us!"

Mika forced out those words, then fell silent again. Only the woman's muffled sobs remained in the room.

As the noon sunlight shifted, the light began to disappear.

This shack, carefully maintained by its mistress, gradually sank into deep darkness.

If nothing unexpected happened, this family would be the same, like countless families in the Upper Hive District.

Gradually, the woman's sobbing stopped as well.

Only deathly silent darkness remained.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The shack's iron door was pounded hard.

Mika instantly became alert and reached out to grip the iron rod beside him.

Black Coal Street was not absolutely safe. Unexplained attacks occasionally occurred.

"Who is it?"

"It's me, Mika!" a burly voice answered.

The mining crew captain!

Mika nearly jumped to his feet and urgently asked, "Did Mr. Will get a result?"

"Heh heh, when the boss steps in, of course there won't be a problem!"

The burly voice sounded pleased. "The Governor said the mining crew will continue as before. You can keep going down into the mine tomorrow!"

"Th-then that's wonderful!"

Mika was so excited he could barely speak.

"Please come in and sit... sit down?" Mika's wife was equally excited and wanted to invite the captain inside.

But she immediately realized that there was nothing left in the house to offer him.

The shadow at the door seemed not to notice the woman's embarrassment and shouted, "No need. I have to hurry and notify the other boys."

The shadow turned and left. Before going far, it crashed into something with a loud clang.

"Damn Black Coal Street! Once noon passes, you can't even see where you're going!"

The cursing voice faded away.

The child woke up and ran over through the darkness to hug Mika. He was a little scared. "What's wrong?"

"Hahaha, it was an uncle from the mine! Tomorrow, you'll be able to eat your fill!"

Mika excitedly embraced his wife and child.

They held each other tightly.

The day no longer seemed quite so dark.

"Hmm..."

The office at the Spire of the Palatine District.

Ron frowned slightly.

A maid immediately went to draw the sheer curtains over the balcony, preventing the overly bright sunlight from distracting the Governor.

Ron was deeply troubled. The territory's food supply would only last for one month.

In other words, he had to travel to Green Wave Farm on the Space Hulk within a month.

He needed to obtain the food there, along with its cultivation techniques.

Otherwise, once the stored food ran out and the territory fell into chaos, it would become even harder to obtain Power of Hope.

"Sigh!"

Ron shut off the Data-slate and leaned back in his chair. "Just how can I nurture people's hope?"

He seemed to have caught hold of a spark of inspiration, yet could not put it into words.

"Governor, do you have a moment?" Bayev entered and bowed to Ron.

"What is it?"