Chapter 141 "Adventure" In the Eastern District

Backlund East Borough, a crossroads.

Mike Joseph saw many poor-eyed children in ragged clothes on the street, wiped their mouths with a handkerchief, and planned to go over and give them some pennies.

However, his actions were stopped by the former homeless old Kohler:

"Those are thieves!"

"Thiefs? What about their parents? Or are they all controlled by gangs?" As a senior reporter, although Mike has never been to the East District, he also vaguely heard that there are several gangs here who control street children to steal or beg.

"Parents? Either they don't have parents, or their parents used to be thieves, or they are still doing it now. Of course, Mr. Reporter, you are right. Many of them are indeed controlled by gangsters. It is said that those gangsters will teach them. How to steal, for example, hang a gentleman's coat on the wall, put a handkerchief in the pocket, and hang a pocket watch outside. Through repeated practice, you can steal the handkerchief without the pocket watch shaking. Oh, this is all my homelessness. I heard it from people in the workhouse when I was Han." Kohler said in a rambling voice, "I remember the youngest burglar caught on this street was only six years old, hey, six years old..."

He seemed to be thinking of the child he lost due to illness, so he couldn't help taking out a crumpled cigarette from his pocket, but he didn't want to smoke it, he just sniffed it.

"Six years old..." Mike was a little overwhelmed by this number.

After listening quietly, Klein sighed and said:

"This is the East End."

He looked around and adjusted his emotions:

"It's closer to a jungle than a human society."

"Our interviews have to be treated as an adventure, knowing how to avoid the territory of dangerous creatures, but also stay away from small things that don't seem to cause you much harm, um, I mean mosquitoes in the jungle. "

"Mike, if you expose the thickness of your wallet in front of those children, even if you protect it well and don't let them steal it, you will encounter a doomed robbery in the next adventure. If you dare to resist, Maybe there will be one more body floating in the Tussock River tomorrow morning."

"Mr. Detective, you are so right! There are so many people in the East District, and no one will care if a few disappear every day." Old Kohler agreed.

After listening with a serious expression, Mike was silent for a few seconds, then suddenly said:

"1.35 million.

"

"Huh?" Klein's voice was obviously a little hoarse due to a cold.

Mike stepped forward and said:

"This is the preliminary count of the population of the Eastern District."

"But I know that it must be much more than that."

"So many?" Old Kohler was taken aback.

Although he has experienced the day and night of the Eastern District, he intuitively knows that there are many residents here, but he did not expect it to be so many.

This is several times the population of Tingen City... Klein subconsciously compared it with the places he was most familiar with.

He glanced at the intersection a few steps away and said:

"Where do we go next?"

Old Kohler looked up and said:

"Don't go straight. That block is controlled by the Zmang Party. They are vicious and unreasonable. If they find a reporter interviewing us, they will definitely beat us up!"

Zmanger party? Isn't this the same gang as the "brainless" who caused my loss of 10,000 pounds? He is still some kind of executioner, uh, I don’t even remember his name... Fortunately, the 10,000 pounds were finally exchanged for the potion formulas of Sequence 7, Sequence 6, and Sequence 5 corresponding to the "Seer". The "All-Black Eye" was exchanged for the life of Ambassador Intis... I don't know which force finally got the manuscript about the third-generation difference engine... Klein recalled what happened at the beginning of last month matter.

"Zimang Party? That gang mainly composed of plateau people?" Mike asked thoughtfully.

"Mr. Reporter, have you heard of them?" Old Kohler asked in surprise

Mike snorted:

"They have been involved in many cases, and they have some reputation outside the Eastern District. It is said that some members were once involved in an Intis spy case."

...The person next to you is the person involved, the informant, the victim... Klein silently added.

"All you decent gentlemen know about the Zmanger Party, why don't the police arrest them all?" Old Kohler asked with the thinking of the people at the bottom.

Mike's expression suddenly became a little ugly, and he coughed twice:

"We can only arrest those who have done crimes. The rest can't be arrested without evidence. Moreover, the East District is so big and has such a large population. It's hard to find anyone who really wants to hide."

As he spoke, he sighed and said:

"It's easy to destroy a Zimang party, but as long as people from the highlands come to Backlund, as long as they retain the tradition of being brave and ruthless, and they don't find other ways to make a living, it's only a matter of time before a new Zimang party appears. The problem."

This is a complicated social issue... Klein pointed to the left and right sides:

"Choose a side."

Old Kohler looked towards the street on the right:

"The Huili Party is active there. As long as you don't provoke the girls who do, uh, that kind of business in the streets and bars, you won't be noticed by them. Hehe, it's morning, so there won't be any problems. They all still sleeping."

The word "Huili" means "outlaws" in Loen language, and the gangster with this name can be said to be quite self-aware.

Klein and Mike had no objection to this, and entered the block under the guidance of the guide.

The buildings here are relatively good, and the environment on the street is not so dirty. The air is filled with the smell of oyster soup, pan-fried meat and fish, ginger beer and other foods and drinks left by street vendors, as well as the smell of fish and aquatic products.

Walking here, Klein felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity, as if he had returned to Tingen City, Iron Cross Street, and the street outside the apartment where he originally lived.

The only difference is probably that Backlund is closer to the sea, the transportation is more developed, and there are quite a lot of sea fish here.

"It's a better apartment nearby. I've wandered around several times before, and found that the gentlemen and ladies in it are dressed relatively, um, relatively clean." Old Kohler pointed to a pale yellow three-story building.

The three of them approached and found that there was still a sign hanging at the door of the apartment, with pocket watches, wall clocks and screwdrivers drawn on it, and words such as "repair clocks and watches" were written on it.

"Is there a watchmaker living here?" Klein dug out a similar scene from the original owner's memory fragments.

At that time, Benson, Melissa and he went to a similar place to repair the silver pocket watch left by their father, but the item was repaired several times, and it broke down quickly, until it was completely fixed by Melissa. , became the most decent thing on Klein during that time.

After Klein "passed away", this pocket watch with dual value of money and emotion was not buried with him.

It should belong to Benson now, right? I don't know if he would think of me every time he took out that pocket watch... Klein suddenly blinked and drew the corners of his mouth.

"It should be." Mike wasn't sure.

If there is a problem with his pocket watch, it is usually sent to the original watch shop, and the other party assigns it to a subordinate repairer or entrusts it to a long-term cooperative craftsman.

As soon as they entered the apartment, they saw a middle-aged man with a beard.

The gentleman had just come out of the bathroom and was about to return to the room when he found three strangers coming in, so he hurriedly asked:

"Do you want to fix the clock?"

What a coincidence... I met that craftsman directly... Klein felt a little strange.

Mike took out his pocket watch, smiled and said:

"Yes, my pocket watch is always out of date recently, please help me have a look."

He did not reveal his identity and planned to conduct the interview in a casual manner.

The middle-aged man suddenly smiled, and led them into a two-bedroom room with the door ajar. He pointed to the chair beside the wooden table and said:

"Wait a minute, I'll get the tools."

"Your tools aren't at home?" Mike asked in surprise.

The watchmaker shook his head and said with a smile:

"how is this possible?"

"A set of tools is very expensive. I can't afford it by myself. We can only pool money to buy three or four sets. Whoever has business can use it. Therefore, we moved to one place. Haha, this is more convenient. If you travel too far, you will have to spend extra time and coach fare to borrow tools.”

As he spoke, he went out the door and walked to the side.

It turned out that it was not a coincidence that we met watchmakers. Many residents here are watchmakers... Klein suddenly realized.

The old Kohler inspected the room and said enviously:

"Before I got sick, I also lived in this kind of place. My wife would help people mend clothes at home, two children, two children..."

Mike sighed and lowered his voice:

"I thought watchmakers were rich."

"Me too..." Klein pinched his nose.

…………

After cordially communicating with several residents in the apartment, Klein and the others embarked on an adventurous journey again.

They walked a hundred meters and suddenly heard someone arguing on the street.

The two ladies greeted each other hoarsely in various obscene languages, allowing Klein to learn a lot of vocabulary that he had never heard before.

The reason for their quarrel was that the woman on the left accused the woman on the right of making the apartment environment dirty and making noise, while the woman on the right scolded the woman on the left, thinking it was her own problem. No one asked her to attract guests at night and sleep during the day.

"Is that a laundry lady?" Mike asked with a slight frown.

"Yes, I know her. She is a widow and she takes her two daughters to help people wash clothes." Old Kohler replied in the affirmative.

Mike thought for a few seconds and said:

"Take me to see their house."

The old Kohler nodded, and led the two of them around the scene of the quarrel, and entered the dilapidated house that was obviously not as good as the apartment just now.

As soon as he came outside the laundry lady's room, Klein immediately felt the humidity.

There were one dress after another that was not dry inside. A seventeen or eighteen-year-old girl was squatting in front of the big basin, washing the frothy things, and a girl younger than her was holding a coat to wet it. The red iron on the linen is carefully handling the washed and dried items. Her movements are cautious, as if she has been scalded by steam many times.

This is not only their workplace, but also the place where they sleep at night. The humid water vapor permeates the room and soaks into their bodies.

In addition, the stench of mixed smells is so obvious.

"Don't you feel bad?" Mike pinched his nose.

Klein replied in a low voice:

"I am sick……"

There was no smile in his words.

Mike let go of his fingers, walked into the room, and said to the two surprised girls:

"I'm a reporter and I want to interview a starcher."

The girl who was rubbing her clothes numbly shook her head:

"We have a lot to do and we cannot afford to delay."

Mike's interview request was thus denied.

He came out with a heavy expression, and walked back to the street silently.

After looking at it, he pursed his lips and said:

"Let's continue."

…………

In the City of Silver, Derrick Berg, who had auditory and visual hallucinations, was brought to the bottom of the round tower after a detailed examination.

——The residents who have signs of losing control are housed here, and various methods are used to try to save them.

Walking in the gloomy and dim corridor, he suddenly felt a little inexplicably chilly.

"Help!"

There was such a scream in a closed room.

"save……"

The sound stopped abruptly, and the surrounding area was silent.