She Told You to Let Go

"We have arrived at Shadow Street Station in the Lower City. Passengers leaving the train, please exit in order once the doors open..."

When the gentle announcement sounded through the carriage, Tianyang was already standing behind the yellow line by the doors. Only after they slid open did he step off the train.

The moment he reached the platform, a cold wind swept over him, making him feel as though he were deep inside a cave.

An aluminum can rolled across the ground in the wind, finally stopping beside a trash bin. The bin lay on its side, and several homeless men wrapped in ragged blankets were rummaging through it for food that simply wasn't there.

Tianyang walked briskly out of the station onto a broad but cluttered street.

Shadow Street!

It would take forty minutes to walk home from here. Supposedly, the Middle City and Upper City had public trams people could ride.

Unfortunately, the Lower City had none.

This district lay at the very bottom of the city. Even on sunny days, its streets remained dim, giving Tianyang the illusion that he had returned to the Inverse Realm.

The Lower City was synonymous with filth and chaos. The Fortress had placed almost all its factories here. Factories of every kind, machinery rooms, unprotected machinery, and vast networks of pipes were crammed together with the sheet-metal houses and shacks built by the lower citizens.

The people living here were like parasites on the city, lowly and helpless.

The streets were full of people hurrying along, most of them workers employed in the various factories. Even after working themselves to the bone all day, the contribution points they earned barely covered a day or two of living expenses.

There was no light in their eyes. Driven only by instinct, they mechanically repeated the same dull, monotonous work every day.

As he passed an alley, Tianyang saw that it was packed with homeless people. Some lay down, others sat, and whenever someone passed, they begged for a chance to work.

More often than not, their pleas went unanswered.

Sometimes children would race past you, chasing one another. They were probably the liveliest people in the Lower City. But if you weren't careful, they might steal your wallet or food.

Outside the bars, there were usually a few scantily dressed women.

They couldn't perform heavy manual labor, and their lack of education left them with no hope of sitting in an office, even as the most ordinary clerk.

So, to survive, they could only sell their bodies. But their only customers were fortune hunters who risked their lives for a living.

Only those men had the money to enjoy such extravagant services.

Volcano Bar.

This place was famous for a liquor called Volcano. Instead of going home, Tianyang had come here-not for a drink, but because his mother, Nanfei, would be working here as a cleaner at this hour.

It was one of the few respectable jobs suitable for women that she could find in the Lower City, so she treasured it.

Tianyang actually knew that she had only gotten the job because the bar's owner, Kaidi, liked her. That burly, rough-hewn man with thick chest hair had once been a member of the Gathering Team.

But after losing a leg in the Inverse Realm, he had retired and used his compensation money to open a bar in the Lower City.

Business was hardly booming, but he still lived far better than most people.

What surprised Tianyang was that, although the coarse fellow liked his mother, Kaidi had never said so. Yet whenever she ran into trouble, he was always happy to help.

In fact, it was thanks to Kaidi's efforts that Tianyang had been able to join the Gathering Team, so he was quite fond of the rough fellow.

He pushed open the bar's door. There weren't many customers in the afternoon, just a scattering of people seated in dim corners.

The air reeked of cheap alcohol. Tianyang looked around but didn't see his mother. He did spot Kaidi, who had a pipe clenched between his teeth and was wiping glasses behind the counter.

"Kaidi, where's my mom?"

Tianyang walked up to the counter and asked him directly.

Kaidi's thick eyebrows twitched. "You little brat, I've told you a thousand times to call me Uncle Kaidi. No respect for your elders! Your mom's going to give you a beating. Huh? Why's your hair turned white? What's with the eyepatch? Don't tell me you lost an eye on your very first trip to the Inverse Realm?"

Tianyang shrugged it off. "It's fine. They've already scheduled surgery to fit me with an electronic eye. Once it's installed in a few days, I won't need the eyepatch anymore."

Kaidi sighed. "That may be true, but seeing you like this will leave Nanfei upset for days."

Tianyang smiled. "No, it won't. I've brought her a surprise this time. She'll be happy."

"Let's hope so." Kaidi glanced toward the kitchen. Just then, its door opened and a figure emerged. "There's Nanfei. Go over yourself."

Tianyang looked over. Sure enough, it was his mother. Her long hair was pinned up, and a faint sheen of sweat covered her delicate face. Dressed in plain clothes, she carried a garbage bag and looked as though she had just finished cleaning the kitchen.

Tianyang was about to head over when a hand covered in black hair suddenly reached out and grabbed Nanfei.

A heavily muscled man wearing nothing over his torso but a tactical vest grinned at her. "Miss, how about a drink?"

Nanfei's expression changed. "Please show some respect," she said coldly. "I don't drink with customers. Let go of me."

The burly man laughed. "Then will you sleep with me?"

Before his laughter faded, a silver gleam flashed at the edge of his vision. Then a dagger plunged into his other hand, which rested on the table, pinning his broad palm to the wood!

Faint motes of light drifted down through silvery-gray hair. The radiance of star essence shone through Tianyang's skin, glowing softly in the dim bar.

Fury blazed in Tianyang's single eye, but the words he forced through his teeth were bone-chillingly cold. "She told you to let go!"

Behind the counter, a glass fell to the floor and shattered.

It had all happened so quickly that Kaidi hadn't even seen when the boy went over.

After all, the counter was at least ten meters from that table.

Yet Kaidi hadn't caught how Tianyang had moved.

"Bastard! My hand!" the burly man screamed. He released Nanfei and reached for the holster at his waist.

"Stop, Iron Mountain!"

His companion, a thin man, stood up. He watched Tianyang warily and spoke with the utmost respect. "Honored Ascender, please forgive my companion's insolence. I am willing to apologize for his recklessness and offer this lady appropriate compensation."

Only then did the man named Iron Mountain notice the faint light drifting from Tianyang's body. He couldn't help shuddering.

An Ascender.

Even the weakest Ascender was beyond an ordinary man like him, especially without a heavy weapon at hand.

If his companion hadn't stopped him just now, that dagger might already have pierced his heart.

Tianyang snorted, pulled out the dagger, and pointed toward the door. "Forget the apology and compensation. Get out. You're no longer welcome here!"

After all, this was Kaidi's bar. Tianyang didn't want to take things too far and hurt his business.

The thin man nodded repeatedly, helped his companion up, and left in disgrace.

"Tianyang, you're an Ascender now? Wait, why has your hair turned white? And what's with that eyepatch?"

Nanfei cried out, repeating the questions Kaidi had just asked. This time, though, the boy felt strangely guilty.

Looking at his anxious mother, Tianyang murmured, "Mom, let me explain..."

Behind the counter, Kaidi gave a dry chuckle. "Even after becoming an Ascender, the little brat's still scared of his mom."

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