The Black Mine

His mother, Nanfei, was a hardworking woman. In Tianyang's childhood memories, whenever he woke in the middle of the night, he would see her making handicrafts under the lamplight. Those things would provide their family's income for the next day or two.

When she was not working, or during breaks, his mother would put their shack in perfect order. She had almost exacting standards of cleanliness and had trained Tianyang to be mindful of hygiene from an early age.

That was also why Kaidi had hired her to clean his bar, though the bigger reason was that the old veteran liked Nanfei.

If his mother had been home these past few days, there would never have been this much dust on the door. Tianyang took out his key and opened it. The shack was dim, and the air was stuffy, as though it had not been aired out for days.

Tianyang turned on the light. As it came on, he saw the table and chairs overturned on the floor, with both bedroom doors standing open. His own bedroom was untouched, but his mother Nanfei's looked as though it had been ransacked, with all sorts of belongings scattered across the floor.

A blanket hung over the edge of the bed. Tianyang could almost picture his mother being dragged out of bed in her sleep!

What happened?

The boy could find no clues in the room and had no way of knowing where his mother was. Then inspiration struck, and he rushed out of the shack without even stopping to lock the door.

He jumped onto the Electromagnetic Motorcycle and headed straight for East Street.

East Gate Avenue in the Lower City was a place where all sorts mingled. It was even more chaotic than the street where Tianyang lived or the one where the Volcano Bar stood.

When Tianyang rode his Electromagnetic Motorcycle into East Street, gazes from behind doors and windows, from shadowy alleys, and from all sorts of other places settled on his motorcycle.

It was a fine piece of machinery, and those eyes quickly filled with naked greed. But when they noticed Tianyang's black Nightwalkers uniform and the Assaulter Rifle hanging at his waist, they restrained themselves and looked away.

The people living in the Lower City, especially here on East Street, were no angels. But they were not fools, either. They knew better than to provoke the Nightwalkers, who regularly ventured into the Inverse Realm. They knew full well that these people in long black coats were the truly dangerous ones!

The motorcycle finally stopped outside an unremarkable shop. On the surface, it was a general store, but there was actually a treatment room in the back.

No one remembered the shopkeeper's real name anymore. Because he had a lame left leg, everyone who knew him simply called him Cripple.

Rumor had it that Cripple had once been an Upper Citizen and worked as a surgeon at the Fortress's Medical Center, but he had offended someone powerful. Not only had he been stripped of his Upper Citizen status, but someone had also crippled his leg and dumped him in the Lower City.

Cripple ran his general store here and had cobbled together a treatment room using various pieces of medical equipment salvaged from a recycling depot.

Cripple was a capable doctor, too. After all, his medical skills were what allowed him to establish himself on East Street.

The homeless man had said that Kaidi was being treated by Cripple, which was why Tianyang had come here.

Bang, bang, bang-

Tianyang pounded on the general store's door. A yellow light came on inside, and a figure limped toward him. "Coming, coming! Stop banging. Fuck, if you break my door, don't expect me to treat you when you get sick!"

The door swung open with a snap, revealing a short, middle-aged man. He was balding, wore glasses, and had a large nose. His shirt was yellowed, and he smelled of disinfectant.

When he got a clear look at Tianyang, he gave a surprised grunt. "What brings a distinguished Nightwalker to a little shop like mine? Kid, you didn't steal that uniform, did you?"

Tianyang grabbed him impatiently by the collar. "Where's Kaidi? Is Kaidi here?"

"What are you doing? Let go! I don't know any Kaidi!" Cripple shouted. "If you don't let go, I'm calling for help!"

As a doctor in the Lower City, he had saved plenty of lives, and plenty more people were waiting for him to save theirs. That gave Cripple some influence here on East Street. All he had to do was shout, and there would be no shortage of desperate men willing to stand up for him.

Just then, Kaidi's voice came from deep inside the general store. "Tianyang? Is that you?"

"Kaidi, you really are here!" Tianyang shoved Cripple aside and rushed in. In a room packed with equipment, the boy found Kaidi.

Kaidi lay on a hospital bed with an IV running, his body wrapped in bandages. Hemostatic gauze covered his chest, already stained red with blood. He looked utterly miserable.

Tianyang had not expected his injuries to be so severe. He sucked in a sharp breath. "Kaidi, what happened to you...?"

Kaidi struggled to sit up, even though the movement made the bloodstain on his chest spread further. "Forget about me, Tianyang. Get to the Black Mine! Nanfei-someone took Nanfei!"

"What!"

Tianyang cried out in shock. "How could this happen?"

The Black Mine was a mining site thirty kilometers outside the Fortress. The black metal it produced could be refined into black steel. Black steel was the primary material used for the Train's rails in the Inverse Realm, so the mine's demand for workers had grown steadily over the past few decades.

At first, the mine's workers had mostly been residents of the Lower City. Since they had to work outside the Fortress, the mine offered fairly substantial wages.

Later, to cut costs and increase output, the Fortress began sending prisoners to the mine. Prisoners had no rights there, and the overseers never treated them as human beings. They were given only the bare essentials to survive. As a result, many prisoners either worked themselves to death or were beaten to death by the overseers.

Judging by the state of their home, if his mother had been taken to the Black Mine, it definitely was not as a worker, but as a prisoner!

That was what Tianyang could not understand.

After getting the news from Kaidi, Tianyang rushed out of the general store and rode his Electromagnetic Motorcycle toward the Fortress's exit.

His mother had already been at the mine for several days. In a place like that, even a burly man like Kaidi would not last long, let alone a woman.

At that thought, the boy wished he could sprout wings and fly straight to the mine.

Now he could only hope he was still in time.

Normally, leaving the city required authorization, but Tianyang wore a Nightwalkers uniform, and the information on his identity card confirmed that he was an Ascender.

So the two Iron Wall soldiers on duty at the exit saluted him, then opened the gate and let him through.

Night stretched endlessly beneath the stars. Tianyang pushed the motorcycle to its maximum speed and looked toward the Black Mine.

Half an hour later, a mine appeared below the highway. Although it was already night, the mine was still brightly lit, and he could see numerous heavy vehicles moving around from a distance.

A short while later, Tianyang arrived at the mine's main gate. Two searchlights mounted above it swung toward him, and then a guard called out, "Who are you? What are you doing at the mine this late?"

P.S. Here are four updates, with one more coming tonight. We're now second on the new releases rankings, so give me another boost, friends. If you have votes, send them my way-let's take first place again!