A Future Without a Future

The place where Skywing A appears.

It was in a rather strange little corner of the city.

The buildings in this small corner are very densely packed and not very aesthetically pleasing; each building is crammed together tightly.

It completely blocks out the sunlight and has poor ventilation, making it look very cramped and oppressive.

As soon as Skywing got close, she felt a wave of heat, like a steamer, hit her.

Although the temperature here is much lower than outside, it's not actually that low.

It would be extremely uncomfortable for a person to stay in such an environment.

A large number of people live here.

Most of them were dressed lightly and revealingly, and their clothing was very simple. They were busy like ants.

Skywing A's ability allows him to hear sounds from a great distance; if he listens carefully, the words will be carried to his ears by the wind.

He heard many people complaining.

When will this kind of work finally end?

"It's so hot! But we have no choice. We need to earn enough money to cover the heat. After all, those great people have been incredibly kind to let us live here and avoid the scorching sun outside."

"We work hard for them every day, but they are unwilling to install refrigeration equipment for us."

"Only the upper class can afford refrigeration equipment. We have neither the ability nor the money, so how can we afford such equipment?"

Countless words reached my ears.

"Dad, I'm so hot."

"Sweetheart, just bear with it a little longer."

"It's my turn to go outside and move ore today."

"Hopefully I can move more this time, and ideally pay enough for next month's rent, otherwise I'll have no way to survive if I get evicted."

Let's go together, so we can look out for each other.

"Good."

Even so, the resentment emanating from all of them generated an extremely powerful force. This force continued to condense and eventually rose, all surging into one place.

This power is invisible to ordinary people.

However, Skywing A, being Contract Anomalist, saw it with perfect clarity, exclaiming, "Wow~"

He let out a sound of surprise that was difficult to decipher.

Looking towards the source of that powerful resentment, it turned out to be the tallest building in the city center.

Perhaps the vortex is rather unusual.

This resentment is also manifested in the images seen below the city.

They were a little confused, and a little scared.

"What is that strange city?"

Is it some country we don't know about?

"Impossible! Where in our world could there be such a huge city? If there were, it would definitely be very famous."

"You all know that our country has always blocked information from the outside world, and much of the information we have is outdated or false."

"Could it be some mysterious country in the East?"

"But what is that black mist? It feels really scary. Is it some kind of powerful, eerie entity?"

Some people didn't understand what it meant, while others seemed to be pondering it.

Some people understand something, but they dare not discuss it freely.

The events in Ravitan City also alarmed the United States.

"You said a giant vortex appeared in the sky above Ravitan City, which seems to be an anomaly?"

"Then let's go and invite the Contract Anomalist. No matter the cost, we must get the Contract Anomalist here."

If this strange phenomenon, capable of affecting an entire city, isn't contained soon, who knows if it might wreak havoc on other cities? What if it were to spread to the capital, especially to him?

It's not a big deal if some ordinary people die, but if the wealthy gentry get caught up in it, that would be a real headache.

"What?"

"You said that the last scene played by the wind cluster featured the S-rank Contract Anomalist Skywing A?"

"Since Contract Anomalist went, isn't that even better? It can save us a lot of money."

Sometimes, the Contract Anomalist will accept missions from Headquarters to contain strange and supernatural phenomena around the world.

However, some strange entities have not yet been assigned tasks. If the local country cannot deal with the strange entity but wants to contain it as soon as possible, it can only spend money to invite Contract Anomalist to come over.

This is when you'll need to spend a lot of money.

Because the level of the strange entities they can't handle is very high, neither newcomers who lack money nor skilled Contract Anomalist can take on this commission.

Those highly skilled Contract Anomalist are not short of money; they also have their own tasks to do and are very busy. Inviting them would definitely cost a huge amount of money.

Especially now that their country's economy is in dire straits, they should save money wherever possible. Of course, a cup of coffee costing tens of thousands of dollars is something they absolutely cannot skimp on, and even a bag of screws costs tens of thousands of dollars.

"Rebroadcast that footage. It's a rare opportunity to see Contract Anomalist contain a strange entity in real combat; I can't miss it."

No one understands the Contract Anomalist better than me.

In the picture.

Skywing walked through the stuffy, crowded buildings. The paths were so narrow that only two people could pass at a time.

The buildings are so crowded that even the windows are probably just for show; with such spacing, even if the windows are open, no light will get in.

During the day, I can only turn on the lights at home, otherwise the house is completely dark.

They live in these kinds of houses.

Moreover, almost everyone has a job, even very young children. They seem to have no access to education and only learn some technical skills under the guidance of their parents.

Once they grow up, they'll probably be able to immediately apply for jobs and do the hardest and most tiring work in the city.

Even if that's all, as long as you work hard, there's still hope for the future.

However, piecing together the truth from the words Skywing heard along the way, it seems that the people living here have little future.

A tremendous change has taken place in the world.

Perhaps it's because humans have damaged the world's environment too much, or perhaps the pollution is too severe; in any case, their temperature has been rising to the point where people would die from the heat if special insulation facilities weren't built.

As a result, a segment of the world's population has invested heavily in building massive cities capable of housing hundreds of millions of people.

The massive insulation layer allowed them to live in the city.

However, the world's population is too large, and very few people are qualified to live in such cities.

If they didn't need labor, perhaps only elites and wealthy people from all walks of life could move in.

Even so, ordinary people still need to pay a hefty fee to move in.

This fee is payable monthly, and they will need to keep paying it as long as they want to live there.

This is true for their generation, the next generation, and the generation after that.