Levi Keynes
Near Wool's Orphanage, Goldfinch District was a notorious slum in London, infested with a large number of gang thugs and vagrants, alongside low-wage laborers scraping by.
Compared to the chaotic district, what was even more terrifying was a horrifying urban legend circulating in Goldfinch District:
Rumor had it that a young boy who was once abused and tortured to death by thugs had turned into a vengeful ghost returning from hell, killing dozens of gang members in a row until their corpses practically choked the streets!
To this day, one could still hear the wails of the ghost echoing in the dead of night throughout this district...
Levi Keynes sneezed at this rumor with utter contempt.
He busily scooped up ice cream for the customer in front of him, handed over the goods, collected the money, and said:
"Sir, your strawberry cream cornet ice cream comes to one Pound Sterling in total. Thank you!"
First doing this, then doing that; finishing this, moving on to that.
Swamped with work, Levi paid no mind to whether there were any so-called ghosts lingering nearby, even when he noticed that it was getting late.
As for the jobless gang thugs with malicious expressions wandering around the perimeter of the district, he ignored them completely.
Busy until the lights came on and the moon dropped to the treetops, an exhausted Levi finally pushed his small food cart, preparing to return to Wool's Orphanage where he lived.
That was right, Levi, who had started a stall and business at only eleven years old, was an orphan living at Wool's Orphanage.
In fact, he still held a secret in his heart that he had never confided to anyone: he was a transmigrator from the Celestial Empire!
During an act of chivalry eleven years ago, he failed to escape the summons of the Grim Reaper, came to this foreign island nation, and became a baby boy at the doorstep of Wool's Orphanage.
Able to live a second life and even retain the memories of his past life, Levi gladly accepted this joyous stroke of fortune!
He had once thought about returning to the Celestial Empire, but he had no money, nor was he anything more than a child, so he could find no way back and could only honestly settle down at Wool's Orphanage.
Life at the orphanage was poor and dull, and the nuns and caretakers who looked after orphans like them had only one main demand every day: be honest, be obedient, and don't cause trouble!
In fact, orphans like Levi could not cause much trouble anyway.
In the current British Empire, a certain female prime minister cursed as a "bitch" by the workers had just left office, and the nation was in an economic slump. Not only were wages even thinner for low- and middle-income groups, but even the donations received by the orphanage were pitifully small.
The orphanage had no money, so there was even less food to distribute to orphans like them.
The feeling of an empty stomach was not pleasant; before Levi figured out a way to make a living, most of these orphans had one meal without knowing where the next would come from, and could only lie on their small beds fantasizing about tomorrow's watery breakfast.
Fortunately, after Levi barged and bargained with the orphanage nuns and caretakers, he secured some initial investment and started a stall to make money, and this situation finally improved somewhat.
Pushing the small food cart through a dark alley, apart from the cart's wheels rumbling over the uneven alleyway, the surroundings were utterly silent.
Levi hummed a little tune, calculating in his mind that once he saved enough Pound Sterling, he would move out of the orphanage, rent a small room, and continue starting with a street stall to carry forward the cuisine of the Celestial Empire, grow it big and strong, and maybe even become a catering tycoon in this culinary desert!
As Levi was indulging in sweet daydreams, he suddenly heard another set of footsteps approaching from behind.
Leveraging the gloomy moonlight, Levi looked back and, just as he expected, the person coming was none other than the thug who had been lingering in front of his stall earlier.
The fellow was clutching a gleaming silver dagger, rushing up eagerly from behind. Noticing Levi looking back, he even let out a vicious yell:
"Stop right there, brat! Hand over the money you made today!"
Yet, contrary to what the thug expected, not only did Levi ignore his threat, but he pushed his food cart and ran even faster, as if he didn't take the threat to heart at all.
"Damn it, you're asking for death!"
Bloodshot eyes flared in the thug's fury, alcohol reeking from his mouth and nose with veins bulging on his face. A foul qi surged to his head as he took two steps in one, rushing up to teach Levi a harsh lesson.
He didn't just want to rob money now!
He wanted to beat someone! He wanted to kill someone!
He wanted to make this damned brat groan, wail in agony, and scream in misery under his feet!
Yet after chasing for barely two steps, his ankles felt as though they had slammed into a steel cable. Amidst excruciating pain, he suffered a miserable face-plant into the dirt!
Before he could even recover his wits, his throbbing ankle felt as though it had been gripped by an invisible giant hand, and his entire body was hoisted up like a giant toad!
Amidst his terrified, shrieking screams, the invisible giant hand flung him hard against the brick wall—once, twice...
Levi pushed his food cart out of the alley, acting as though he hadn't heard the screams and crashes behind him, still leisurely humming his little tune.
Only when the tune ended, amidst the moonlight and the faint, hazy sound of a steamship whistle, Levi's soft murmurs drifted out:
"Honestly, haven't you heard the legend of the Goldfinch Street ghost? And you still dare walk the night alone! The quality of local gangs is getting worse by the day."