The Storm's Fury, awaiting your command

"Heh, still have the heart to read novels?"

"Are you and your sister never planning to pay the months of rent you owe me for as long as you live?"

The fat landlord jingled the long string of keys at his waist as he barged into Li Wei's front door—if this dilapidated rental room of less than five square meters could even be called a home.

Li Wei had no choice but to put away the worn-out book and crooked fountain pen on his lap, pulling his legs back onto the bed to leave some standing room for the landlord.

In the process, he also reached out to carefully shield the little blue bird perched on his shoulder.

"Hmm?" The fat landlord frowned as he looked at the cute Blue Bird that was surprisingly pleasing to the eye. "Li Wei, why are you keeping a bird? Didn't I say no pets allowed in the apartment!"

"My apologies, Mr. Bill."

"Forget it, forget it, I won't nitpick over such trifles. Tell me, when exactly do you plan to pay the rent you owe me?"

"Mr. Bill, I'm sorry, I..."

"My money all went to my sister's medical bills~" Mr. Bill interrupted him impatiently. "Recently I was extorted by my fellow Zaunites~ I was harassed and shaken down by Enforcers~ I accidentally broke something at the factory and the boss made me pay for it~ blah, blah, blah."

"Good heavens, Janna above—"

"Why are you Zaunites all so shameless? You don't even blink when you lie!"

Li Wei was speechless.

Lie? He actually wished those things were lies.

But according to the memories he had inherited from this body, the bizarre stories in the eyes of Mr. Bill, a true "Old Piltover" native, were actually just the daily routine for Zaunite apprentices.

Helpless, he could only spread his hands. "But I really don't have any money right now, Mr. Bill."

"If you don't have money, write a letter back to Zaun and ask your parents for it!"

"My parents are long gone."

"What about your grandparents?"

"Not many people in Zaun have grandparents. They don't live that long."

"Then what about relatives? You must have relatives!"

"I had an uncle, but he wanted to sell my sister and me into a brothel, so..."

"I sold his corpse to an alchemy shop just to get enough money to come to Piltover as an apprentice."

Mr. Bill: "..."

"You Zaunites are truly, truly barbaric. Hmph, consider this me being kind-hearted. I'll give you one last day!"

He huffed and retreated two steps, moving from the bedside to outside the door.

"Li Wei, I'll bring the Enforcers here tomorrow afternoon. If you still haven't paid the overdue rent by then, just wait for the Enforcers to carry out an eviction!"

"Once that happens, you'll lose your eligibility to remain an apprentice in Piltover and will have to pack your bags and crawl back to your Zaunite hometown. Do you understand?"

These words gave Li Wei a headache.

The original owner's hometown of Zaun and the Piltover where he currently resided were two city-states separated only by a river.

But being close in distance did not mean their situations were similar.

The relationship between Zaun and Piltover was much like that of Mexico and the United States. A single river separated the two cities, and it also separated hell from heaven.

Li Wei was lucky; he had managed to bring his sister to Piltover alive. He hadn't sold his soul or his organs, arriving in one piece.

However, he had come as an apprentice:

An apprentice was roughly equivalent to a foreign trainee recruited by Japan from places like Vietnam—in other words, legally imported cheap labor.

Except, life for a Zaunite in Piltover was a hundred times harder than it was for those trainees in reality.

Even so, no Zaunite apprentice would ever think of leaving Piltover to return to their hometown in Zaun.

Because no matter how bad life in Piltover was, it was still far better than that city of sin, where even people from Gotham would weep in sympathy and where mere survival relied on luck.

And now, Li Wei was about to be forcibly evicted by the Enforcers because of unpaid rent—

For an apprentice to commit such an act of "dishonesty" in Piltover meant the Enforcers would immediately revoke his apprenticeship and deport him back to Zaun.

Li Wei certainly didn't want to go back.

He was still too weak, and his appearance was too valuable; returning to Zaun would be extremely dangerous.

"Mr. Bill, one day is far too tight. Could you please grant me a few more days? I will try my best to find a way to get the money."

"Besides, you know my sister is very talented. She is currently studying at Piltover University, majoring in the popular field of Hextech Mechanical Engineering. Once she graduates..."

"Enough!" Mr. Bill interrupted him impatiently. "I know your sister got lucky last year and was admitted to Piltover University."

"But how many years until she actually graduates? Do you expect to live here for free and wait three or four years before paying rent?"

"Not to mention..."

"Piltover University isn't a place where just any stray dog or cat can slack off. A Zaunite, heh, who knows if she'll even be able to graduate!"

Mr. Bill scolded him sourly, his attitude growing even worse.

"In any case, this one day is the final deadline!"

"Either pay the overdue rent, or pack your bags and get out with your sister!"

Having said that, Mr. Bill didn't wait for Li Wei to answer before he slammed the door and stormed off, cursing under his breath.

Li Wei wanted to say something more, but he could only hear the heavy thudding of footsteps and the jingle of keys echoing down the hallway. Clearly, Mr. Bill had already moved on to knock on the next tenant's door.

Not long after, through the thin wall that offered almost no soundproofing, Li Wei heard Mr. Bill's booming roar once again:

"Good heavens, by Janna—why are you Zaunites all so indecent? You don't even blink when you lie!"

"Haha." Li Wei couldn't help but laugh.

But he didn't say anything else, simply picking up the worn book, his notebook, and his slightly bent fountain pen, reading while diligently jotting things down.

The landlord assumed Li Wei had been reading a novel, but that wasn't the case.

Because the title printed on the cover of that old book was, "A Brief History of Piltover and Zaun."

Yes, he was reading a dry, tedious history book, and he had been at it for a long time before the landlord arrived.

The people of Piltover were always dreaming of the future.

The people of Zaun were struggling to survive in the present.

Thus, the residents of the Twin Cities had no time to study the past; historical research was not a popular subject here.

Yet Li Wei was studying it with immense seriousness, not just reading, but taking notes.

And not just taking notes, but consulting his teacher as he wrote:

"Janna."

Li Wei called out the name of that teacher.

If the landlord, Mr. Bill, had heard him, he surely would have been astonished that this person shared the same name as the legendary Storm Spirit, the Goddess Janna, whom he often invoked.

And if he were to see the true form of that history teacher, he would be even more shocked.

Because Li Wei's teacher was not a human at all.

She was a bird—that cute Blue Bird perched on Li Wei's shoulder.

"Janna?"

"I'm here." The Blue Bird actually communicated with Li Wei through telepathy.

She lazily stretched her wings on Li Wei's shoulder and asked, "What strange question are you going to ask me this time?"

"Mr. Summoner?"

New book launch~ Please collect, vote with monthly tickets, and recommend!

Thank you all for your support (:з"∠)

Additionally, I just want to write a simple utopian fantasy story; at the end of the day, it's just a self-indulgent fantasy. Everyone, just enjoy it for fun; please don't relate it too much to reality, and I hope the comment section can remain harmonious—let's not argue or get into keyboard politics.

Thank you all for your understanding.

PS: Some paragraphs in this book might be automatically modified by the "mythical beast" (censorship). Since the system doesn't notify me, I don't know exactly where things have been deleted or changed.

If new readers notice that the text doesn't connect or that paragraphs are missing, feel free to provide feedback in the comments.

Advance notice: This book has a single female lead, and the female lead is Seraphine.

Janna is a female protagonist, but not the "romantic lead." She will always be with the protagonist, but they are not lovers; they are like-minded comrades-in-arms.

In my setting, Janna is the forever impartial and selfless Goddess of Utopia, an immortal, sacred soul leading change, and she will not have such mundane desires.

In short, this is a self-indulgent novel, but the theme of the fantasy is an otherworldly utopian dream, not an otherworldly harem. Those who are fated, enter.