Late at night, the clamor of the streets gradually settled, leaving only the occasional passing vehicle and the faint wail of distant sirens.
Wade still sat on the bench. Fragments of various sounds still reached his ears, but there was almost no valuable intelligence among them.
"Clatter—clatter—"
The sound of tin cans striking the ground drew closer. A homeless man, dragging all his possessions behind him, was looking for a place to sleep for the night.
He spotted the bench and the young man sitting on it, who did not look particularly strong. His eyes immediately lit up. Licking his lips, his expression turned somewhat vicious and determined as he strode straight over.
Yet the closer he got, the more confused the homeless man became. When he reached the bench, he stopped hesitantly.
The man's face was blank with confusion, and his eyes were not fixed on the young man. As though he had forgotten why he had come, he scratched his greasy long hair, dragged his rattling cart in another direction, and soon disappeared into the distance.
Delinquents who stayed out all night, streetwalkers, idle Black youths... Among the people who appeared on the streets for all kinds of reasons, there were always some who set their sights on the young man who looked like he would have a gentle temperament.
Yet without exception, they all repeated the homeless man's experience—approaching, then drifting away without realizing it. In the end, the small park became a silent place that no one dared approach.
Wade removed the Communication Pea.
Everyone in the inn had already gone to sleep. Even the front door had been locked by the innkeeper, with only the faint creaking of a rocking chair audible from within.
Wade rested an arm along the back of the bench and