"In this photograph, the flames of the missile explosion covered the sky like the clouds of Hell, with the drizzle and the night serving as the backdrop of the world." As if embodying the Grim Reaper, the missile hung tightly above the head of the warplane. Amidst this grand and dim background, under those flame-spewing missiles, the frail floating warplane sharply pulled upward, looking up, with towering Mechas behind it and continuous, dimly lit buildings twinkling in the darkness below its feet. Floating between Heaven and Earth, the weak floating warplane, at this moment, seemed like a determined barrier, protecting the faint lights below it. Ini, gazing at this photograph, couldn’t help but exclaim in awe. This photo lacked any deliberate composition or exquisite techniques; it captured a moment in time so harmoniously, as if a Divine Being drew it, naturally flawless. Taking a deep breath to stabilize her emotions, Ini continued to flip through the photos. When she saw the floating warplane swallowed by the flame of an exploding missile, her thoughts tightened. And upon seeing the floating warplane burst out of the flames like a Divine Being descending upon the world, she felt a surge of joy. Had she not seen these scenes in the photo, she could never have imagined that the neatly dressed, dignified old mayor had gone through such a life-and-death battle before returning to the Mayor’s Mansion. Most critically, the mayor had the chance to leave; he didn’t have to save anyone. He could have left calmly and blamed the destruction caused by the missiles on the assassins afterward. As someone in the journalism industry, Ini was well aware of these maneuvers. Yet, the mayor did not leave; instead, he used himself as the most dangerous lure to intercept and destroy all the missiles. It sounded more like a legend story’s hero than a mayor of the Federation. This news had to be broadcast. Ini inhaled deeply, lifting her eyes to Jerin, the boy beside her, who was watching her intently. "These photos are significant, well-captured. If we could find an excellent special effects artist to recreate last night’s scene based on these photos, it would be even more sensational. This is great material for a story, but..." She paused, slightly opening her mouth. "You don’t have money, do you?" Jerin looked at the young woman in front of him and asked calmly. Ini’s cheeks turned slightly red, her expression a bit embarrassed, "I don’t have much money, so I can’t offer a very good price. Right now, I can only give a little cash; I might be able to give more if you can accept credit cards." The boy stared at the woman in front of him, hesitating slightly. He turned his head to look at his mother sitting on the bed. As the boy’s gaze shifted towards her, Zhao Jia looked at Ini, paused for a moment, then smiled, "If you make money from these photos, you can pay us for them later." Ini, stunned, glanced at Jerin, then at Zhao Jia sitting on the bed, seemingly not expecting the mother to provide such an answer. "My mom’s word is my word," Jerin reached out to take the camera from Ini’s hand, removed the memory chip, glanced at Ini, and handed it over quickly, "You said Mr. Mayor saved us, right? You’re a journalist, everyone should know the good he did, know that he is a respectable person. My dad always told me before he passed, good people should receive good rewards." Ini looked at Jerin’s thin cheeks, took the storage chip, and nodded firmly, Jerin packed up the camera, rummaged through a pile of stuff to find an old, thin disposable umbrella, "I’ll walk you out of here. The roads nearby are all blocked; you can’t drive directly in. Outsiders coming here might get their things stolen." Ini nodded and quickly stood up with her umbrella. She looked at Zhao Jia, who lay on the bed looking frail. She hesitated for a moment before speaking, "Goodbye, sister." Zhao Jia smiled slightly and nodded, "Be careful on the road." At that moment, Jerin had already stood by the door, waving to Ini. Ini nodded and left the room. She saw the boy lock the door again, and then followed him downstairs. "Your mother looks very young." Watching the boy’s quick footsteps descending, Ini softly remarked. "She’s just in her twenties, of course she is young," Jerin swung the umbrella in his hand, "Twenty-eight, not even thirty yet." Ini paused, sighing softly, "I had seen documents before that said many malignant tumors are treatable now." "The Doctor said surgery could cure it and that the sooner, the better," Jerin walked ahead, glancing through the staircase window at the dilapidated low-rise buildings in the rain, "But we don’t have the money." Ini opened her mouth, sighing lightly. She wanted to do something, but she was also worried about her rent for the next week. She thought for a moment and changed the subject, "You’re eleven, your mother is twenty-eight, did she get pregnant when she was sixteen or seventeen?" "It’s always like that," The boy sighed, descending the stairs, "My aunts were the same age when they got pregnant, right after finishing elementary or middle school, then they got a job, nothing to do, and soon got married and had children." "Does your mother have any sisters?" Ini asked, puzzled, "They..." She paused halfway through her sentence, realizing she had asked a silly question. If Zhao Jia’s relatives were willing to help, they wouldn’t still be living here, and Jerin wouldn’t need to work. "After my dad died, there was some contact, but since my mom got sick, there’s been almost none," Now, as they quickly reached the ground floor, Jerin showed little emotion. He glanced at the morbid sky and the dripping rain, speaking slowly, "But I don’t hold a grudge against them. My mom always tells me that they don’t have it easy either, none of them do. Ever since I started working, I’ve realized this even more. Their money is hard-earned, being able to support themselves and their families is already difficult enough." He opened the umbrella, walking with Ini into the rain, "Moreover, they haven’t completely cut off contact. Every holiday, they still come to see my mom, bringing some synthetic meat or canned goods. That’s already pretty good." The raindrops hit the somewhat faded disposable umbrella, accompanying their intertwined footsteps, flowing along the umbrella ribs down to the puddled ground. The narrow road was already filled with some bleary-eyed people. Some held umbrellas; some ran wildly through the rain. They quickly passed by the two, their expressions showing a slight surprise upon seeing Ini, but after seeing the boy, they quickly averted their gaze. "Most people here work in the nearby factories, and it’s almost time for the morning shift," Jerin glanced at the surrounding crowd and quickly asked, "Can you issue a proof of fixed address here?" Ini was a bit stunned, she looked at some dilapidated buildings around, "When I went to the factory to look for part-time jobs before, they all required me to provide a proof of fixed address issued by the landlord or the apartment company." "Yes, some of us had a fixed address before moving here, and their jobs didn’t change, so they don’t need additional proof of fixed address," Jerin continued forward with Ini, slowly saying, "Others found jobs after moving here, then the Prisoners’ Gang would help us issue the proof of fixed address." Jerin pursed his lips, motioning Ini to look towards the end of the road ahead. There, a gate that seemed to be an exit was blocked by a simple, old barrier, and a few armed gang members stood under the porch at the gate, smoking. "The Prisoners’ Gang is the biggest gang in this area," Jerin continued slowly, "People living in these low-rise buildings here have to pay them protection money, they maintain the basic order here." Then she looked back at Ini and continued onwards, "Of course, it’s just basic order; robbing, and thieving are mostly overlooked by them unless it becomes a big issue. Then they’d intervene, beat both parties, and consider it managed. The upside is, other gangs won’t come here to steal." Ini looked at the gang members guarding the gate, shrank her neck, and asked in a low voice, "Are we going out that way?" "We’ll go the other way, there’s a small gate unguarded," Jerin led Ini into a small alley, "With the way you’re dressed, going directly there, you’d be asked for money." After a few steps, a huge high-altitude curved screen appeared in Ini’s field of view. The building they were just at was perfectly hidden by this display screen. Now, the screen was broadcasting an advertisement for an adult product claiming to delay and enhance size. However, this advertising screen was clearly old, many of its light beads were broken, causing the advertisement to display with colored or black bars. "That’s the biggest advertising screen nearby; most of the low buildings can see it, usually just displaying these... advertisements." Jerin noticed Ini looking up and casually explained. "You can actually break even with such a big screen here?" Jerin scratched his head, continuing forward with Ini, "I overheard Doctor Kewis and others talking; it seems it was left by a former consortium. The Prisoners’ Gang spent some effort and took it for free; they just pay some electricity costs, they never maintain it." He looked up at the screen, "Such huge billboards are quite numerous around here, almost every block has one, though not many in number." "Maybe the nearby billboards are almost all scrapped, and these singular big billboards can fill the market gap." "Don’t know, do people from Saint Ilan District always speak so elaborately?" Jerin scratched his head. "I’m not from Saint Ilan; I live in the north in Wick District, just work in Saint Ilan." Ini shook her head, diverting her gaze from the screen, "By the way, you just mentioned Doctor Kewis?" "He’s the underground doctor from around here," Jerin pointed towards a small three-story building nearby, where people were currently queuing outside, "Of the underground doctors in this district, Doctor Kewis is a little nicer, doesn’t sell fake medicine, and the prices he offers are quite cheap," He glanced sideways at the door of the small building and continued forward with Ini, "He also gave me a leaflet; a lot of the stuff in it is quite useful, like not drinking cold water, frequent mouth rinsing, and it even mentions that bleeding gums might be due to a lack of Vitamin C, while periodontitis could be a lack of Vitamins A or B, "And regular cleaning, getting rid of rats, flies, mosquitoes and the like. My mom is weak, and our food sources aren’t plentiful, so we need to be extra careful," He led Ini into a small alley, "Anyway, felt quite helpful; following the instructions from that leaflet, we indeed felt much better, not getting sick as easily." "I seem to have seen that leaflet at your place," Ini recalled, "However, the name signed wasn’t Doctor Kewis, but Doctor Linen?" Jerin continued along the alley, stepping over a larger pond ahead, "Watch out for the pond... Doctor Kewis said those leaflets weren’t made by him, just directly photocopied from others, must have been from that Doctor Linen." He paused briefly, looking at the steel fence ahead, "That Doctor Linen, must be a good person." Ini nodded, "But it seems the current mayor is also called Linen," She looked up at the gray sky ahead, "He used to be a doctor too." Jerin was also confused, it took him a while to respond, "You’re saying Doctor Linen is the mayor?" Ini shook her head, moving alongside Jerin, "Could be a coincidence, but I think, very likely." Jerin turned his head to look at Ini. Ini shook her head, walking forward with Jerin, "I just feel like the things they do, seem a bit similar." Jerin stopped in front of a broken fence, "Out here and you’re on the street, you can catch a cab." Ini looked at the break and cautiously moved forward, crawling through the gap. Jerin followed closely behind her. Raindrops pattered against their umbrellas, neon lights from the street reflected in the puddles on the road. Ini raised her hand, hailed a cab, and as she was about to lower her wristlet, waiting for the taxi to arrive, a call came in from her roommate ’Liz’. Ini was slightly taken aback, glanced at Jerin beside her, and reached out to answer the call. "Hey, Ini, are you back? This part-time job I found pays really well, 75 federal coin a day, and they’re still short of people, can you make it over here?"