Chapter 8: The Overly Cruel Reality of Another World (Patron Bonus Chapter)

"A somewhat familiar scenery, yet not quite so familiar."

Strolling along the seaside street of the dock district, breathing in the somewhat familiar sea breeze, and looking at the crooked little houses around him, Li En felt as though he had returned to his own childhood.

The same seaside town, the same chaos and clamour under the premise of a less-than-prosperous economy, and the same abundance of opportunity and risk.

"Smack!"

"Owowow! You big oaf!"

The little cat-person knocked down by Li En was still cursing and grumbling.

But upon seeing those calm, icy pupils, he shivered and tried to turn and run.

"Hand it over."

The cold, sheathed longsword was placed against the little fellow's neck, and he instantly regained his composure.

A flat, empty wallet was handed back. The kid was still muttering things like "broke bastard."

"Didn't your mother raise you properly?" After counting and confirming nothing was missing, Li En continued.

"She's sick in bed."

Li En knew this little fellow; in fact, they had quite a history of grudge and gratitude. Literally — both the gratitude and the grudge were there.

The orphans adopted by that female bodhisattva Li En had once helped — this little Weir in front of him was one of them, and doing fairly well at that, able to earn his own living.

The grudge was that Li En had smashed the source of his livelihood.

"What's the point of picking my pocket? I'm a Holy Knight — what money would I even have?"

A Holy Knight might represent the moral ceiling, but they're also basically the floor of personal wealth; the Oath Knights are the very model of this, living lives of extreme hardship under their oaths of "poverty and integrity."

It's hard to say whether a pickpocket has more money or a knight after payday.

"Hah, whoever can steal your wallet will be our new boss."

At this, Li En suddenly understood.

The reason he'd smashed little Weir's livelihood was that he'd charged straight in and wiped out the pickpocket den in the dock district, killing the previous bloodsucking pickpocket boss.

Now this grumbling little fellow was actually reminding him?

"Let them come."

Li En shook his head, left the little fellow behind, and continued his patrol.

Wherever Li En passed, chickens flew and dogs leapt — and that was exactly the effect he wanted.

The familiar smell of fish hit his nose; a large ship not far away was unloading cargo,

The dock district's port is the largest point of wealth flow in this area; various rare materials from the underground ruins sell for astronomical prices in other cities.

But the reality is that this wealth has nothing to do with the dock district; instead, the wild dogs drawn by the wealth bring all sorts of trouble.

Among all the districts of Radiance City, this one's public order is, without dispute, dead last.

All sorts of messy gangs and criminal organizations are here, as well as cross-border cults and illegal groups — everything from pickpockets scraping out a living to evil black wizards in need of experimental subjects.

"Tch, looking back, three days ago I moved into a cheap little inn here to save money — a textbook example of a foreigner seeking death." Reviewing it, Li En figured he'd probably been in peacetime too long, never once considering that even inns in a slum have no safe zones.

In reality, the dock district police station can only patrol within a limited range; maintaining public order is out of the question — solving some serious criminal cases would already be good enough.

That noble son collecting "tails" here earlier was only natural.

Basically, no one cares how many people go missing today.

The crime-rate-number-one quagmire thus became Li En's first choice for his vigilante patrols.

The Heroic Spirit Card had less than ten days left; he needed more "evil." As far as Li En had heard, every other path to gaining power carried an extremely high cost and price — the Heroic Spirit Card's value was practically a cheat code.

Here there's no need to worry about a lack of crime and villains; you only need to worry about digging too deep and not being able to rein it in.

Looking at the gorgeous jade palace-style roof not far away, and the endless red walls and green tiles surrounding it, Li En gripped his sword hilt — and ultimately sighed.

This architectural complex, with a style completely different from the dock district, was the slave market — yet it was legal and tax-paying. According to the laws of this era, even Holy Knight Su Er couldn't go in to enforce the law.

In the memory fragments, Su Er wouldn't even sense anything wrong with it; he'd only instinctively keep his distance.

Li En, however, felt a disgust from the very depths of his heart.

And the reason the slave market was located in the dock district, the most chaotic slum...

"No rushing, no crowding, the literate go this way, the illiterate that way, those with skills take the third lane, those who've undergone racial evolution the fourth."

The bustling crowd over there wasn't lining up for welfare — they were queuing to sell themselves into slavery.

The reality is that freemen sometimes really don't live as well as slaves. Of course, that's assuming commercial slaves who sell their labor but not their lives; war slaves and full-bondage slaves are treated as property of their holders.

Passing by here, Li En gripped his sword hilt, and the guards stared over at him too. The "reckless mad knight" had become somewhat famous these past few days — Holy Knights who consider slavery a sin aren't few in number.

But in the end, he still walked past. His teeth bit lip-marks into his mouth.

"A fake, no matter how closely it imitates, remains only a fake."

Li En closed his eyes and showed a self-mocking smile — you think you're really a Holy Knight who never compromises?

"Sure enough, I'm just a coward who bullies the weak and fears the strong."

Su Er considered it legal, because in his era, slavery was even more widespread and brutal.

And Li En didn't draw his sword simply because he feared this overwhelmingly powerful evil.

"... I'm just a weak ordinary person, after all."

【Sync Rate increased by 1%】

And strangely, after acknowledging his own weakness, Su Er actually resonated with him — or perhaps offered comfort?

Li En shook his head and continued his patrol.

If he's a weakling, an ordinary person, then start with what he can actually do.

Do not commit evil because it is small; do not omit good because it is small. Do as much as one is capable of.

Those "small deeds" of his had actually already changed other people's lives.

Eliminating that tail-collecting maniac who'd been running rampant in the dock district — how many children's lives could that save?

Helping that female Bodhisattva escape the snakehead will at least let those orphans live a bit better; at the very least, little Will's life will change because of it, and perhaps he can find a righteous path in the future.

Heh, this awkward little rascal.

"He actually came."

Li En sighed; his Dragon Eyes had already seen the encirclement.

Behind him, a Lizard Thief tried to blend into the background wall, while two rabbit ears peeked out from behind the wall over there; hanging on the back of the wall were a spider and a bat.

Lizardmen (Reptiles), Catfolk, Dogfolk, Crested Clans (Chickenfolk), and Horned Hoof Clans (Horses, Cows, Sheep) are mockingly called the Five Great Races in this world because they have numerous subspecies and branches, outstanding fertility, yet they rank at the very bottom in racial stats.

If a Lizardman walks the "Path of Secret Scales," it is easy to forcibly shed scales to create the ability of "Skin Illusion Color," the cheapest invisibility ability in this world... and this is also one of the most rampant evolution formulas in this world.

In this world, Beastman bloodlines can be evolved and refined, but they require corresponding materials and rituals.

This knowledge and asset are also a precious and rare wealth, and the foundation upon which noble bloodlines stand at the pinnacle.

Leaving the distant past aside, as long as one completes a full evolution, physical strength will increase greatly, and lifespan will increase greatly; commoners not only live poorly, but their lifespans are also much shorter.

The image of Lizardmen as prolific thieves and pickpockets exists because this rampant universal evolution formula is used to mass-produce invisible thieves and assassins.

"This world is simply too unfair."

And this time, Heroic Soul Su Er did not respond; in his understanding, this was the most normal common sense.

Similarly, the Multi-Tail Nobles actually all know very well that the culprit this time should be a noble Catfolk, because within the secret advancement paths, there exists a quite powerful "Multi-Tail Cat System."

It is said that this advancement path involves high-level Fate Power; they can use their tails to die in their stead, along with many other wonderful uses.

But normal multi-tails are cultivated and evolved; this kind of deviant path is obviously abnormal, most likely involving evil cults and evil gods—this is undoubtedly a public-enemy-level taboo, yet some people naturally do not take taboos seriously.

"Perhaps nobles are using them to extend their own lives," Talia said, feeling somewhat ashamed and hesitant as she spoke.

In the understanding of this world, Leopardfolk are actually also regarded as a branch of Catfolk; it is possible that she, also locally born, has some kinship with the criminal.

No one cares if a few more people go missing in the Dock District, just as no one cares if a noble Catfolk gains a few more tails.

It is also for this reason that Li En, who dared to single-handedly intercept a noble carriage and catch them red-handed, is considered to have solved a super major trouble for the Dock District; these matters, caught on the spot with ironclad evidence, mean the nobles have no way to pursue it openly.

But even so, beheading that Spiderfolk Young Master Diego still caused trouble; his family will surely retaliate against Li En.

If it were not for his "fiancée" stopping them, the assassins would have already set out.

"Sin Domain Judgment."

"Evil-Breaking... Sheathed Slash!"

Facing the pickpocket gang's encirclement, Li En quickly resolved the problem; less than three minutes passed from start to finish.

He did not completely eliminate them because the sin light on their bodies was not of a high enough grade.

But immediately, he encountered evil of a sufficient grade.

"Uncle Li En, brother, brother, something happened!"

A little rascal grabbed Li En's hand.

Fifteen minutes later, in that dilapidated ruin, Li En saw the boy from the beginning once again.

He, with hollow eye sockets staring coldly at the sky, lay on broken bricks, a silver coin mockingly thrown onto his face.

As if to say, "This price is a bargain for you."

His internal organs were hollowed out and piled to one side; the corpse was unusually desiccated.

That bloody severed tail was even more of a naked mockery.

Will, the boy who was still jumping around just a few hours ago, was dead.

This, this is this world.

"No one cares about the disappearance or death of an orphan."

"No one cares about the cries of the weak."

"No one remembers that a little pickpocket once lived."

No, someone will care, someone will remember.

I will care.

Li En's index finger traced across his own cheek, a bloodline engraved upon it.

"Justice, perhaps, truly should not compromise."

The youth tightened his grip on the sword hilt.

This time, there was no relaxation.

【Heroic Soul Resonance, Synchronization Rate increased by 3%】

Um, thank you to reader Dong Zhao for the Alliance Leader support; an extra chapter is presented.

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(End of Chapter)