In Backlund

Under the gloomy sky, a red-breasted robin flapped its wings, riding the air currents through the air that carried a distinct odor.

"Ming Yiyi"

Below it, a colossal steel beast roared and spewed white steam as it drove into the city along its tracks.

The robin had grown accustomed to these strange-sounding insects, knowing they only walked on those shimmering "lines," rushing towards the world pieced together from countless odd "large stones." It disliked the even stranger smells and the pervasive smoke that obscured its vision.

It prefers the outskirts of the city, where there is bright sunshine and plump insects.

The robin had no idea that, in the mouths of those who hid inside the giant beast's belly, this place it loathed was called— Backlund.

This is the capital of the Loen Kingdom, known as the "City of Cities" and the "Land of Hope." It is the most prosperous city on the Northern and Southern Continents, with nearly five million people living here. From the top tycoons, nobles, and high-ranking officials to penniless vagrants, villains, and prostitutes... all sorts of people gather here.

Every day, a series of realistic tragicomedies unfold here.

Looking down from the air, this metropolis can be roughly divided into several areas: the West Borough and the adjacent Empress Borough are the Upper East Side, where Royal Family, nobility, and wealthy merchants reside.

The East Borough and Backlund Bridge Borough are poor, with harsh environments and chaotic security.

The other urban areas, which are residential areas for ordinary citizens, as well as commercial areas, industrial areas, and dock areas, will not be discussed in detail for now.

The robin's wings swept over a dock on the Tussock River, its feathers feeling the dampness of the water. It flew along the Backlund Bridge over the East Borough, where a group of people were moving about in a panic, as if they had encountered some emergency.

The bird paid no heed to human joys and sorrows. It adjusted its wings, turned in mid-air, and flew towards the sunny suburbs.

Somewhere in the East Borough Backlund.

"Are the women from the Jack family home? Your man's in trouble!"

In the chaotic, dirty streets, someone suddenly shouted in panic. A group of shirtless men, clearly dockworkers, were carrying something and moving forward. Outside, a crowd of onlookers followed closely behind. In the Apartment on both sides of the street...

Some emaciated children also leaned out of the windows to look down.

"Where are the women from Lame Jack's family? Come out here!"

The men stopped in front of an Apartment and continued shouting.

Soon, a woman dressed in oil-stained clothes pushed through the crowd to the center. When she saw what the men were carrying, she immediately let out a short, sharp scream. It's hard to describe how tragic that desperate scream was; it was like the last hoofbeat of a titmouse being crushed to death by bare hands.

"Jack! Jack, open your eyes!"

The woman cried loudly.

Several thin, frail children from the clothing building followed behind her, looking bewildered and helpless.

The onlookers watched the woman's breakdown with a mixture of satisfied sorrow and pity. They felt grief for the woman...

On one hand, they were relieved that they weren't the ones experiencing this.

The men were carrying a severely wounded man. Judging from his attire, he was probably a dockworker. His right leg was badly deformed, as if it had been crushed by a heavy object, and was now a flat, mushy mess mixed with white bone fragments.

Lame Jack is going to become Legless Jack now.

Blood was gushing out rapidly, and the man's face was as pale as a corpse as he groaned softly.

What's wrong with my man?!

The woman shouted at the other workers.

"The crane rope broke while they were unloading cargo on the ship," the dockworker who carried the man back said awkwardly. "Lame Jack was unlucky; he was hit by a falling cargo container..."

"Where's your manager? My man was smashed like this, and they just threw him back like that?!"

"The manager said that Jack's death was entirely due to his own carelessness; because of saving him, the unloading was delayed, and he deserved to die. He was only willing to compensate him with a soli, saying it was out of some kind of humanitarian consideration."

The dockworker awkwardly repeated advanced vocabulary he'd never heard before, handing over a silver coin that successfully filled the woman's eyes with hatred and rage.

"Damn pig! You bastard who lets a donkey fuck his ass..."

Clutching the silver coin, she cursed vehemently in her Filth, rural accent, but there was no way to get justice. The people at the dock company had connections with gangs and the government, and she, an illiterate village woman, was powerless to fight back.

The children around her sensed the atmosphere among the adults and were too scared to cry.

After yelling for a while, the woman's emotions gradually calmed down. She looked at her husband again and found that his breathing was weakening and the blood flowing from his leg was decreasing.

"Jack's family, your man's dying. Why don't you go find some drugs from the mob and make his death less painful..."

Someone offered advice.

The woman remained silent for a moment, then raised her head, her expression hardening as if she had made a decision.

"You guys need to do me a favor and carry Jack to that house at the end of the street..."

She said to the workers, then turned to her eldest child, "Little William, go to Aunt Mary and borrow five pounds of fresh fish. If she refuses, tell her we have the money now and can definitely pay her back!"

Before the workers could say anything, the crowd began to murmur in surprise, as if they knew what the woman was about to do.

"Jack's family, you really want to ask them for help? They seem really strange, like they're sinister..."

"Stop talking nonsense!"

The woman abruptly interrupted the others, "I know they have problems, and I know they haven't really shown their skills... but this is the only option I have left, so don't interfere!"

The people were speechless, letting the workers carry the injured man toward a two-story detached house at the end of the street.

Despite it being broad Daytime, the house felt unusually dark, as if sunlight had lost its effect. From Concealment corners, whispers and prying eyes could be heard.

People shrank back, stopping a distance away from the house; even the boldest onlookers dared not get too close.

The woman stepped forward, and although she had spoken resolutely, her face turned extremely pale when she reached the door.

"Right now."

She reached out and knocked on the door.

"They've arrived."

A girl's cheerful voice came from the other side of the door, and soon the door opened.

A strikingly beautiful young woman stood behind the door. Although she was dressed in the coarse cloth clothes common in the East Borough, they were very clean. Combined with her face, it was hard to believe that she was a resident of the East Borough.

The girl looked around at the crowd, her azure eyes carrying a gentle smile, as if she were meeting the gaze of everyone.

The crowd fell silent for a moment, everyone seemingly mesmerized by the girl's beauty, unable to utter a sound. It was precisely because of her striking appearance that the nearby residents even began to spread rumors that Witch lived in the house.

"What's up?"

She asked.

With a hint of fear, the woman pleaded:

"I need your help, Miss Cecilia."