Orphanage

Hearing Jiang Mo's voice, Seele whipped her head around, a trace of fear still lingering in her eyes.

When she saw that it was Jiang Mo, all the strength seemed to drain from her body, and her shoulders instantly slumped.

"Jiang Mo..."

Jiang Mo walked up to Seele. Seeing her pale little face, he felt a little uneasy.

Only then did he realize how frightened she had been just now.

"You... heard everything just now?" Seele asked softly.

Jiang Mo nodded.

Seele lowered her eyes and kicked at the gravel by her feet.

"They asked me if I'd seen who it was... I didn't tell them."

She was not seeking credit. She was merely stating it calmly.

"Thank you."

Jiang Mo looked at her and said seriously.

Seele glanced up at him, her expression complicated, but said nothing.

The smell of scrap and garbage mixed together in the alley, making the air unpleasant to breathe.

Jiang Mo remembered what he had in his arms.

Food that was still warm.

He took out the remaining Belobog sausage and grilled meat skewers and held them out to Seele.

"Seele, here."

Seele froze.

She looked at the steaming food in Jiang Mo's hand, its tempting meaty aroma filling the air, then looked back at him, her eyes full of confusion.

"Where did you get those?"

"They're hot... and there's meat! Did you buy them?!"

In a godforsaken place like this, being able to eat hot, whole meat dishes was practically a fantasy.

Jiang Mo casually explained, "Oh, I ran into that snack stall owner earlier. He thought I looked pitiful, so he gave them to me."

Seele grew even more suspicious.

She knew exactly what kind of person that owner was. He was fiercer than a rabid dog. How could he possibly be so kind?

Seele stared at Jiang Mo suspiciously. She even wanted to ask why the Silvermane Guards had said all three of those men were dead.

Clearly, one of them had only been unconscious before.

But when the words reached her lips, she swallowed them back down.

Jiang Mo noticed her suspicion, but he did not explain further. He simply shoved the food into her hands.

"Don't worry about it. Hurry up and eat. You must be starving."

Seele took the food, feeling its warmth in her hands.

She did not ask any more questions. She truly was starving.

She found a relatively clean spot and sat down, taking small bites as she ate, though her eyes still occasionally flicked toward Jiang Mo.

Jiang Mo sat down as well and watched Seele eat.

"There are more and more Riftworld Monsters over in Rivet Town." Seele chatted idly as she ate. "You can't even get outside the town anymore, and there are fewer and fewer scraps to find inside."

"Yeah."

Jiang Mo answered.

"I keep feeling that we can't go on like this forever..."

Seele's voice dropped. "Living like cockroaches every day, never knowing when we'll die."

Jiang Mo looked at Seele, deeply sharing her feelings.

In his previous life, he had been an ordinary office worker. After transmigrating in this life, he had first nearly starved to death, then been forced to kill.

He did not want to live this garbage life for even one more day.

Before, he had only wanted to fill his stomach.

But now, he had the system, and he had traits.

He did not want to merely survive. He wanted to climb out of here, go to the Upper District, and see a wider world.

After finishing his food, he looked at Seele with determined eyes.

"Seele, I've decided. I'm going to the Upper District."

Seele reacted as though she had heard something unbelievable.

She abruptly looked up, her eyes widening as she even forgot to chew the sausage in her hand.

"What did you say? The Upper District?!"

She looked at Jiang Mo as if he had gone mad. "Are you kidding? How could people like us possibly get to a place like that?!"

The Upper District was another world.

Clean streets, plentiful food, warm houses, and those well-dressed people who looked down on everyone else.

People from the Underworld could barely even catch a glimpse of the Upper District, let alone cross over into it.

Jiang Mo did not waver. He said calmly,

"There will always be a way... I don't want to rot here for the rest of my life. I want to make money, then find a way to get to the Upper District."

He began calculating the uses of his traits. Berserk was far too dangerous. Using it once would leave him drained for at least an entire day, so he could not use it carelessly.

Trait Devour only had a chance to trigger after killing people or monsters. As a six-year-old child, he could not possibly kill Stellaron Creatures, while killing people would easily expose him, and he could not beat adults either.

It seemed he could only use Silver Tongue as support for now, finding a way to earn some money in the Underworld first and build up resources.

Seele looked at Jiang Mo's serious expression. Though she found it unbelievable, she saw something in his eyes that she had never seen before—some kind of hope she did not dare touch.

She fell silent and lowered her head to keep eating the sausage.

She did not know why Jiang Mo had suddenly changed like this.

Nor did she know what kind of seed his words had already planted in her heart.

Once Seele finished the last bit of food, Jiang Mo stood up.

"I'll be going now."

Seele stood as well. Her lips moved as she looked at Jiang Mo, as though she wanted to say something, but in the end, she merely nodded lightly.

"Mm."

Jiang Mo said nothing more and turned toward the town.

Seele remained where she was, watching Jiang Mo's back disappear between the buildings.

She lowered her head and looked at her empty palm again, as if she could still feel the lingering warmth of the food.

The Upper District?

Could a place like that... really be reached?

A voice in her heart asked.

Chapter 14: Orphanage

Jiang Mo walked along the gloomy streets of the Underworld.

The Upper District.

Once that thought surfaced, it could no longer be suppressed.

But how was he supposed to get there?

He was a six-year-old child with no parents and nothing to his name.

With the little Winter City Coins he had now, reaching the Upper District was nothing but a fool's dream.

He walked while thinking.

As a transmigrator, he remembered some of the Honkai: Star Rail plot.

But not much of it was useful for his current situation.

There truly were not many opportunities in the Underworld, but if there was some shortcut or opportunity...

He thought of a place.

Jiang Mo quickened his pace and headed toward Rivet Town.

The road to Rivet Town was not easy to travel. He had to pass through several ruined areas.

The ground was covered in gravel and garbage, and one careless step could make him slip.

Occasionally, a few equally skin-and-bones vagrants huddled in corners, watching him with numb eyes.

Jiang Mo kept his gaze straight ahead and tried not to invite trouble.

After walking for about half an hour, Rivet Town came into view.

It was about the same size as Boulder Town, where Jiang Mo had been before, but it was even poorer and more rundown.

Dilapidated buildings stood crookedly, as if they could collapse at any moment.

After entering the town, Jiang Mo did not stop. He headed straight in the direction he remembered.

First, he needed to buy something.

After passing through several narrow alleys, he reached a relatively lively area in the town center.

A few stalls were scattered around, selling food or miscellaneous goods.

Jiang Mo's gaze settled on a small drink stall.

The stall stood in the town center. Though it was not large, compared to the surrounding decay, it looked much cleaner and tidier.

The wooden counter had been wiped clean, with several washed glass cups and a massive block of ice placed on top.

Something appeared to be frozen inside the ice, giving off wisps of cold air.

"Boss, that looks really tasty... Could you give me a cup?"

Jiang Mo walked over and pointed at the drink on the sign as he asked.

The vendor was a lean middle-aged man wearing a relatively clean apron.

He glanced at Jiang Mo. Seeing a frail child, disdain appeared in his eyes.

"Get lost, kid. Don't make trouble. If you don't have money, scram."

Seeing that Silver Tongue had little effect on the man, perhaps because they were unfamiliar or because the man was hard to fool, Jiang Mo changed his approach.

He took out the fifty-denomination Winter City Coin from his clothes and waved it in front of the vendor.

The vendor's eyes immediately lit up.

He had thought the kid was here to freeload, but he actually had money.

"Oh! Little brother! What would you like?"

"That one."

Jiang Mo pointed at the stall's signature drink again.

"Black Bread Soda Iceberg? You've got good taste! That's our specialty—absolutely sweet and delicious, with rich milky flavor!"

The vendor immediately changed his attitude, his face breaking into a wide smile.

He skillfully chipped off a piece of frost-covered ice, dropped it into a glass, then scooped a spoonful of liquid from a bucket and poured it in.

Jiang Mo looked at the ice and the liquid about to be poured into the cup. He knew this was already the best stuff in town, but it still looked rather low-quality.