South City · Low-rise District "The city council passed the ’Old Urban District Reconstruction Bill’ yesterday. According to a statement from the White Jasmine Palace, it was signed into effect by Mayor Lin En last night. Additionally, the first list of old districts to be reconstructed has been announced, including all districts in the Southern District." "It is reported that the City Government plans to build a large number of government-operated affordable rental buildings in the Southern District, providing complete infrastructure, and all eligible citizens will be able to move into desirable homes at low prices or even for free." "Additionally, an insider revealed that after the reconstruction, the City Government plans to build the largest hospital in Yilan City in the Southern District. The hospital will be jointly invested by Nolanka Group and the City Government, serving as a branch of Limen City’s Pet-Qiming Hospital, with most of its doctors coming from Pet-Qiming Medical College." Beneath the enormous billboard, people are bustling, some bowing their heads moving forward, and others stopping to watch the news on the overhead billboard. The light of the dawn splashes down on the old, disheveled roads, also illuminating the clothes of the passerby. Some were taken by surprise, looking back at the old buildings surrounding them, realizing that the news was not about the opulent Saint Yilan District, nor about the grand factories and mines, but about these decaying low-rise buildings beside them. The drifting clouds sweep across the morning glow, illuminating the faces of the pedestrians. It seems that following the bloody storm that occurred the night before last, the city has undergone a certain profound change. This change seems both distant and near to everyone. It is like a budding flower, silently standing among the green leaves, waiting to slowly bloom. "Next, we’ll continue with the following news," The young female host in a red top appeared a bit nervous, clutching her script, attempting to maintain a calm and gentle demeanor as she smiled at the camera, "According to Yilan City Police Department, due to allegations of collusion with financial groups and undermining the Yilan government, Yilan Morning News has been sealed by the police. The company’s directors, president, and vice president, along with many senior executives involved in this incident, have been arrested," "The Yilan City Communications Commission has decided to temporarily revoke the media license of Yilan Morning News, ordering it to cease operations. This centuries-old newspaper may face closure." "This concludes our morning news for today. After the advertisements, we will air an exclusive interview with Mayor Lin En. Please don’t miss it." Accompanied by a cheerful tune, the entire billboard screen transitioned to an advertisement. Meanwhile, the flowing music followed the steps of pedestrians, passing through the streets and buildings under the morning light, reaching an old rolling shutter door. An elderly man in a grey tailored suit inserted a key into the rusty lock of the rolling shutter door, slowly turning it. Following that, the rust-streaked rolling shutter was abruptly pulled up, revealing a somewhat dim lower-level storefront. The elderly man withdrew the key, glanced around, and pressed the mechanical light switch behind the door. The bright lights, together with the morning light, illuminated the narrow shop. An old television, a simple workbench, and several plastic containers filled with second-hand bracelet electronic components appeared before the elderly man. He glanced around, spotted an old TV remote on a small cabinet near the door, picked it up, and casually turned on the old television deep inside the shop. Accompanied by a faint sound, the old television slowly activated. As the television screen brightened fully, a ’no signal’ interface appeared on the TV. The elderly man raised his hand to glance at the television then lifted the remote to select a television channel to play. It appears to be a TV station in Dawn City. The young and beautiful host stands before the camera, rapidly presenting the news, "Next up, Federation news:" "Earlier today, the Federal Central Government hosted a special press conference regarding the situation where ’several cities near Yilan City cut off the trade routes, affecting the shipment of food and raw materials to Yilan City.’" "At this press conference, the Federation’s spokesperson vehemently criticized the Evis Spatial System and Kopes Mining for their attempts to split the Federation and create a humanitarian disaster, and announced that investigation teams will be dispatched to these two conglomerates for an investigation." "Meanwhile, a special investigation team from the Federation, heading to cities surrounding Yilan City, boarded a special aircraft this morning and departed from Ains City. The Federal Central Army is also rushing towards Yilan City to ensure the smooth restoration of the trade routes." "The Federation’s spokesperson stated, ’For the commercial order and stability of the Federation, we will not tolerate any attempts to create a humanitarian crisis by disrupting trade routes,’" "The special investigation team will clarify the truth of the incident within a maximum of seven days and restore the trade routes near Yilan City." "In response, the spokesperson for Yilan City expressed support and agreement with the Federation’s municipal government. Daisy, the Chief of Staff for Mayor Lin En of Yilan City, publicly stated, ’Yilan City is grateful for the Federal Government’s efforts in maintaining the unity and order of the Federation and believes that the Federal Government will make efficient and fair decisions to protect the nine million people of Yilan City from a humanitarian crisis.’" "In this event, the Federal Government showed astonishing efficiency and execution power; they established an investigative team overnight, which usually takes at least half a month, and managed to dispatch the team the next day, and for the first time in ten years, issued a rebuke against the super conglomerates." "Such high efficiency and unusual actions have aroused suspicions from all parties." "The Ains Post quoted an insider saying, ’The Federal Government felt challenged and threatened by Yilan City, forcing them to make some changes.’" "The Monthly report obtained insider information from a Federation employee, who revealed, ’Yilan City once took a very tough stance, demanding the Federal Government to respond timely and effectively, including extreme contingency plans such as seceding from the Federation or using military force to restore trade routes.’" "An editor of the Ains City Newspaper believes that this is the first time in hundreds of years that a municipal government has been so assertive against the Federation. But the military record of Yilan indeed shows they have the strength, under this significant threat, the Federal Central Government had to respond to achieve a ’fair’ outcome to appease Yilan City." "However, the Federation Times expressed more pointedly, ’The weak federal bureaucrats shiver under the blade of Yilan’s army, to the extent that they had to feign bravado towards their conglomerate masters.’" "Nevertheless, facing commentary and disclosures from various fronts, the spokesperson for the Federation’s news office stated that the procedures this time were completely legal and standard, no different from previous ones, and the Federation had not received any threats from any local cities, all cities sincerely and resolutely maintain the integrity of the Federation." Amidst the clamor of news, He Ao lowered his head, rested his cane beside him, and gazed at the simple workbench in front of him. The basket on the workbench originally labeled with second-hand parts was completely empty, replaced by several neatly arranged second-hand wristbands. Vaguely, He Ao saw someone sitting at this workbench, repairing the damaged wristbands and then neatly arranging them. He Ao looked around the entire shop. Apart from the boxes filled with parts and the arranged repaired wristbands, the shop’s interior decoration was extremely simple, with just a small corner beside the television squeezed with a small iron bed decked with simple bedding. He Ao returned his gaze to the workbench before him. In the lower left side of the workbench was a small metal drawer. He reached out and tried to pull it but couldn’t. The drawer seemed to be locked, with no keyhole, probably an electronic sensor lock. He Ao took out the mechanical key he used to open the door earlier, examining the flat head of the key, then extended his hand and pressed the key’s handle against the metal surface of the drawer. With a light sound, the lock was released. He Ao pulled open the drawer and looked inside. A black notebook, resembling a traditional diary, lay inside the empty drawer, coming into his view. He picked up the notebook and slowly opened it. This notebook contains no lengthy diaries, just various ’insights’ accompanied by different ’stickers’. Inside are various repair problems encountered by the owner of the notebook and the methods to solve these problems, which also lead to the owner’s reflections on similar incidents and the extended issues encountered while solving the problem. Strictly speaking, the professionalism in this notebook is not strong, and any undergraduate student in electronics could probably outdo the owner in terms of professionalism and theoretical knowledge. However, in practical handling, the owner often demonstrates flexible thinking methods and some ’out-of-the-box’ but effective techniques. Upon careful examination of the entire notebook, it seems that the owner doesn’t need to grasp so many principles, because in the niche industry of wrist device repair, there is no need to know too much theoretical knowledge, and the relevant principles that are used are also recorded in the ’extended’ materials by the notebook owner. In a sense, this is an excellent secret manual for outsiders to enter the wrist device repair industry, containing not only complete repair ideas but also various difficult and complex repair methods and principle analyses. A soft sound pulled He Ao out of browsing through the notebook. He turned his head to look, a little boy was peeping outside the door, looking into the shop. "Jerin, why are you here?" He Ao put down the notebook in his hand and smiled at the boy. The boy looked at He Ao, hesitated for a moment, then slowly walked into the shop with some nervousness, stopping in front of the workbench, looking at He Ao, "I came looking for Brother Wills. He didn’t open the door all day yesterday, I thought he was sick." "He’s not sick, but he won’t be coming back anymore." He Ao said to the boy in a gentle tone. The boy was slightly taken aback, sighed lightly, "Brother Wills won’t come back, huh? Alas, he was the best wrist device repair expert in the entire Southern District." "How is your mother’s condition?" He Ao looked at the boy and asked in a low voice. "The doctor said she is recovering very well," The boy showed a slight smile when he talked about this, "Thank you, Mr. Lin En, the doctor you recommended is really excellent, my mom always says she’ll personally thank you once she’s recovered." Then he scratched his head, looked around the shop, "I also wanted to buy a wrist device from Brother Wills as a post-surgery gift for my mom, the brothers selling wrist devices on the west side are expensive, and their skills are nowhere near as good as Brother Wills’, their wrist devices often have issues." During the conversation, he glanced unintentionally at the repair equipment in front of He Ao. "Are you interested in these things?" He Ao also glanced at the repair equipment and then smiled at the boy. The boy hesitated when he heard the question, but still nodded gently, "I quite like these things, I had actually been thinking that when I’m a bit older, I’d come to ask Brother Wills, see if I could apprentice under him." "Do you have experience repairing electronic devices?" He Ao looked at the boy. "I’ve picked up some circuit boards from the trash before, tinkered with them by watching videos on wrist devices," The boy said cautiously, "And I even fixed an old camera once." Then he leaned in to look around at all the parts and equipment in the room, carefully asked, "Mr. Lin En, now, has this shop been taken over by the city government? Are wrist devices still sold here?" He Ao glanced at the keys in his hand and the black notebook he placed on the table, "Wills left this shop and these things to me." He placed the keys on the notebook, picked up a walking stick that was casually placed aside, then slowly pushed the notebook supporting the keys toward the boy, "And now, they are yours." The boy looked at the notebook in front of him, slightly stunned. For a while, he didn’t react, and then he looked up, looking in front, "Mr. Lin En, I..." But by that moment, the elderly figure was no longer visible in front of him. "The city government provides education subsidies and interest-free loans for impoverished students, remember to apply, remember to go to school." The aged and hoarse voice echoed in the boy’s ears, and the source of this voice was no longer traceable. The boy turned and ran out of the shop, but what he saw were only the empty streets and the roads covered with dawn light. He returned to the shop somewhat bewildered, looking at the keys and notebook on the workbench, and rubbed his eyes. After a brief hesitation, the boy slowly reached out, picked up the keys and the notebook. He opened the notebook, looked at the contents inside, first startled slightly, then bent down his head, reading carefully. The glow of the morning sun streamed in from the old shutter door below, shining on the boy’s lean and upright back. Two streets away in the dawn light, He Ao gently lifted the walking stick in his hand. The stick in front of him seemed much lighter than before, as if some lingering regret had finally been resolved and freed. A bit of scattered energy was entering the golden body of the stick, fully integrating with the stick. In He Ao’s hand, the golden walking stick transformed into a sharp longsword, he lifted his hand, pointing forward, and the longsword almost as a part of his body thrust forward. The consumption decreased when Divine Sense was attached, the body felt lighter, and the movements followed more readily. This weapon had moved up a step in terms of usability. He Ao turned the longsword back into a walking stick, planting it on the ground. Just then, his wrist device vibrated, and the tense and serious figure of Mid appeared in his field of view, He Ao lifted his head, looking at the increasingly distinct giant shadow only perceptible to his keen senses in the middle of the city, "Go ahead."