Seele: Have You Lost Your Mind???

"Boss, it's me... Don't you recognize me?"

The boss was busy taking customers' money. Hearing this, he looked up impatiently.

When he saw Jiang Mo clearly, his brow furrowed even tighter.

This little brat again?

He hadn't been beaten to death last time, and now he was back begging?

Just as he was about to start cursing, he froze the instant he met Jiang Mo's eyes.

Those eyes looked far too bright under the dim lighting, yet they were filled with a child's clarity and a helplessness that made one's heart ache.

"Last time, you beat me so badly... I couldn't even lift my arm. I didn't even have the strength to pick through trash anymore..."

As Jiang Mo spoke, he cooperatively moved his left arm, making it look extremely stiff.

He wasn't lying. Those blows had indeed hurt badly, but now that he was physically exhausted, it looked even more serious.

As the boss looked at Jiang Mo's skinny figure, as though a gust of wind could knock him over, an emotion suddenly surged through him—one he found strange even himself.

Half guilt, half pity.

The feeling came too suddenly, too intensely.

A vague image flashed through his mind: his son Turner, who had gone to the Upper District with his wife.

My kid... he should be about this old too, shouldn't he?

Looking at Jiang Mo's pitiful state, the boss felt a painful blockage in his chest. It was as though he had committed some terrible sin, completely unlike the man who had spent decades scraping by in the Underworld, a man with a heart harder than iron.

"R-Really?" the boss asked as if possessed, even stammering a little. "Was I really that heavy-handed back then?"

He didn't even carefully check whether Jiang Mo's arm was truly injured that badly.

He only felt waves of sourness in his heart as he looked at the dusty, pitiful little face before him and recalled what his son looked like in his memories.

Jiang Mo noticed the change in the boss's expression and knew Silver Tongue had taken effect!

He struck while the iron was hot, continuing to look pitiful as he choked out:

"It hurts... Three days. I haven't eaten anything for three days, and then you beat me too... Boss, I'm already this miserable. Shouldn't you compensate me a little? Anything is fine..."

Looking at Jiang Mo's face and listening to his tearful voice, the boss's mind buzzed and completely short-circuited.

He never even considered whether the little brat was deceiving him. He only felt that the guilt in his heart was growing like wild grass, leaving him utterly at a loss.

"Compensate... Right, I should compensate you..."

The boss muttered as though something had taken control of him.

As if possessed, he turned around, grabbed several steaming hot Belobog sausages fresh off the grill, then took two skewers of sizzling, oil-dripping roasted meat from the stove.

Then he fumbled around in his apron and pulled out a small handful of Winter City Coins.

"Quick! Take them!"

He stuffed the food and money into Jiang Mo's arms all at once. His movements were rough, but his eyes held the frantic unease of someone desperate to shake something off.

"Go! Get out of here! Don't come back again!"

Jiang Mo steadily accepted the food and money. The Belobog sausages and meat skewers were warm in his hands, while the Winter City Coins felt cold.

He looked up at the boss. That somewhat twisted face, warped by inner struggle, almost made him laugh.

"Thank you, Boss."

Jiang Mo turned away, suppressing the curve of his lips as he swiftly left the food stall.

He didn't run. He merely quickened his pace until he rounded a street corner. Only after confirming that the boss hadn't followed him did he finally let out a breath.

The warmth in his hands seeped through his tattered clothes, and Jiang Mo could no longer hold himself back. He began wolfing down the food.

He first bit into a Belobog sausage. Inside was meat filling rich with spices, and scalding grease burst across his mouth.

Then he tore a piece of meat from a skewer, savoring the smoky char and rich fat.

The flavor was rough, even somewhat greasy, but to Jiang Mo, who was starving to the limit, it was the most delicious food in the world!

He chewed and swallowed in huge mouthfuls. After finishing one sausage, he quickly devoured a skewer of roasted meat.

The emptiness in his stomach slowly filled as the food went down.

The burning hunger receded, replaced by an intense, long-lost feeling of fullness. He was even a little stuffed.

Jiang Mo felt like he had come back to life!

He rubbed his stomach, which had finally stopped crying out in agony. He still had two heavy Belobog sausages and one skewer of roasted meat left.

Normally, this amount of food could last him several days.

But today was different. He had expended far too much physical and mental energy and needed to eat more.

Jiang Mo counted the Winter City Coins the boss had given him. One was worth fifty, and three were worth ten each—a full eighty coins!

It wasn't much, but if he was careful, it would be enough to keep him from starving to death for a week.

Suddenly, Jiang Mo thought of Seele.

She had to be starving too.

He had to share some of such good food with her.

Jiang Mo tucked away the money, took the remaining food, and headed toward the scrap collection site Seele often visited.

As he walked, he thought about the effect of Silver Tongue.

Sure enough, it worked exceptionally well on people who were simple-minded and easily swayed by emotion!

That boss had usually been so fierce, yet just a few words from him had made the man pour his heart out, giving him food and money.

This skill was truly divine!

No wonder it had been system-selected!

The scrap collection site was on the other side of town, a massive garbage dump where all kinds of discarded waste were piled into mountains.

Jiang Mo quickened his pace, eager to find Seele and share the food with her.

The wind grew stronger, cutting painfully across his face.

Jiang Mo looked up at the sky. The Underworld's sky, blocked by the thick ceiling overhead, was forever an oppressive gray.

The scrap collection site drew closer, and the stench of rot in the air grew thicker.

Jiang Mo rounded a mountain of foul-smelling garbage and finally saw the familiar area.

However, when his gaze swept over the scrap heap, his footsteps abruptly stopped.

Something there seemed wrong.

Several figures were gathered together, apparently arguing about something.

One of them looked rather small, with short black-blue hair...

That was... Seele?

Jiang Mo's heart suddenly sank.

A bad feeling rose within him.

Ignoring everything else, he rushed toward the scrap collection site.

Seele: Have You Lost Your Mind???

As Jiang Mo approached, he paused, his gaze fixed firmly on the figures ahead.

It really was Seele.

She was surrounded by three or four people in crisp uniforms.

They held weapons and wore cold helmets, their voices carrying the arrogance of the Upper District.

The Silvermane Guards, symbols of order in the Underworld. Though their symbolic value outweighed their actual usefulness, their appearance always meant trouble.

Why were they here?

And why were they surrounding Seele?

Jiang Mo hid behind a pile of garbage, pricked up his ears, and listened in on their conversation.

One Guard holding a piece of paper handed it to Seele. With a hint of disgust in his voice, he pointed to the portraits on it.

"These three brats. Do you know them?"

Through the gaps in the garbage heap, Jiang Mo tried hard to see the paper in the Guard's hand.

Three blurry faces were drawn on it, but he recognized their outlines—it was Huzi and his gang!

Seele lowered her head, her voice quiet. "I know them... I've run into them before."

Another Guard said, "Heh, then do you know all three of them are dead?"

"Dead?" Seele looked astonished. "I didn't know... Isn't it normal for people to die? Things like that happen every day in the Underworld..."

"Enough with the nonsense." The lead Guard clearly didn't want to waste time. "Do you know who did that to them? Or did you see anyone suspicious?"

Hearing this, Jiang Mo didn't panic at all.

Although the Silvermane Guards had discovered the three were dead, it seemed they couldn't even be bothered to ask their names. They were merely holding up sketches and asking around as a routine matter.

Sure enough, no one cared even if vagrants died.

"I don't know anything... I haven't seen that bunch for several days."

There was a slight tremor in Seele's voice, but she looked calm.

The Guard scrutinized her. "Are you sure? I heard you weren't on good terms with those kids. Didn't they rob you before and beat you up?"

Jiang Mo's heart skipped a beat.

The Silvermane Guards actually knew about Seele's conflict with Huzi and the others?

Seele was silent for several seconds before she quietly said:

"Yes... They took my things and beat me up. But that was all in the past."

"I really don't know anything about this time."

Jiang Mo let out a breath of relief.

Seele really hadn't betrayed him.

She had clearly seen it, yet she said she knew nothing.

"Don't know anything? Fine... But someone who could strike that hard definitely isn't someone like you, little brat."

The Guard glanced at Seele's slender body and spoke disdainfully.

"Forget it, there's no point asking her." The lead Guard waved a hand and said perfunctorily, "They're just a few vagrants. Dead is dead. Report it later and have the cleaners deal with it."

Hidden in the shadows, Jiang Mo felt no ripples in his heart.

This was the Underworld.

Lives were as cheap as weeds by the roadside. Even if you died, no one would care who you were.

"Alright, disperse."

"This place is filthy. Let's get out of here."

"Let's go, let's go."

Jiang Mo listened as the sound of their boots against the ground gradually faded away.

He waited patiently.

Only when the scrap collection site returned to dead silence, with nothing but the wind sweeping trash about, did he move.

After confirming it was safe, Jiang Mo finally stepped out.

Seele was still standing where she was, her body somewhat stiff.

"Seele."