The small town of Tangaan, Utah, USA, ten years ago.

The streets were dark.

Sixteen-year-old Shore Robert is secretly hiding under the kitchen window of a family with two of his best friends of the same age, Kane Maitt and Rod Statham, who were also born in the slums.

They've been here for days, just looking for an opportunity to get into the kitchen and have a big meal. After all, they hadn't eaten or drunk anything other than water for three whole days.

Kane, the tallest, slowly looked up from the edge of the window to observe the kitchen, and after making sure that there was no one in the kitchen, he gestured to the other two partners that everything was going well. Shore and Rod sprang into action, quickly pulling out a few tools they had stolen from the locksmith from their tattered trousers, and the two of them scrambled to open the window locks, but luckily managed to open the closed windows.

One by one, the trio crept into the kitchen, Rod tiptoed to lock the kitchen door, while Shore and Kane expertly opened the refrigerator, oven, and microwave, searching around for everything they could find, but to their dismay, there was nothing to eat in this place.

"Is this the heaven you told us about?" Kane yelled at Shore with a grunt. Xiao Er also shouted with a look of grievance: "How do I know that there is nothing to fill my stomach in this place, and besides, this is the only house on the entire street that has the least number of police patrols and is the easiest to sneak into." ”

"Don't make a noise, you two fools!" Rod whispered to the tantrums as he stood by the locked kitchen door, "do you want to lure everyone in the house?"

The two obediently shut up, but they still glared at each other with unconvinced eyes. When the three of them were about to leave this place of disappointment, Rode, who was walking at the end of the line, stopped suddenly, he seemed to smell a special fragrance in the air, and then reached out and grabbed the clothes in front of him who were about to leave the two.

Shore and Kane looked at him with puzzled eyes, but Rhodes smiled as if he were confident and asked them, "Guys, what else do you smell here?"

Shore and Rod skeptically sniffed the air with their noses. After a while, they shouted in unison: "It's the smell of pie!"

The trio searched for the source of the faint but enticing aroma, which they soon discovered was wafting from the kitchen door.

Rod gently unlocked the kitchen door, and the three of them cautiously entered the living room, the delicious food they were looking for was steaming hot on the table in front of them.

Dozens of minutes later, the underground garage of Tangyan Town.

Shore, Rhodes and Kane have eaten all the stolen pies, not even a little scrap from the plate.

Kane burped in satisfaction, picked his teeth with his dirt and oil-stained nails, and said, "This is a fucking life, we should not only steal some food next time, but also get all their money, so that we can become rich too!"

Shore stared at him with wide-eyed eyes as if he was looking at an idiot, while Rhodes smiled helplessly at Kane, who was dancing with his eyebrows, and said, "Don't say something like an idiot, in this country, the poor can only live safely if they don't cause trouble, so stop thinking about those messy things." ”

Kane jumped up from the ground in displeasure and yelled at Rhodes: "I'm fed up with living like this, we get some leftovers from the garbage dump every day, drink dirty water from the stinky ditch that even the beasts don't drink, and don't even have the pets of the rich people to live, is this the life you call people supposed to live!?

Shore nervously grabbed Kane's immature fist and motioned with his eyes to stop talking.

But Rhodes had already stood up from the ground, and he shouted at the two of them with a grim face: "That's right, I just want to live like this, don't you see the cruelty and danger of this world? All I want is to be able to protect you and let you live, why don't you understand?" Tears flowed from the corners of his eyes, "I really don't want to lose you anymore, because you are my only remaining brothers in this world!"

Shore and Kane's eyes moistened unconsciously, and they both lowered their heads in shame, and Rod's words pierced the most vulnerable place in their hearts.

Yes, Rhodes has been trying to take care of them, protect them, and keep them alive even in this cruel and hostile world.

Like Shore and Kane, Rod's parents abandoned him when he was very young because of poverty, and their three wandering orphans have forgotten when they met, eating garbage together, stealing together, and playing pranks together...... Although they never said it verbally, in fact, they were already the closest relatives in the world that they recognized in each other's hearts.

"I apologize for what I just said, Rod. Kane said in a voice that was almost choked, and then he stepped forward and hugged Rod, and Shore stepped forward to do something to see Kane, and finally the three of them hugged each other tightly, as if they were inseparable brothers.

"We are the biggest fools in the world, please forgive us, brother. Shore whispered apologetically into Rod's ear.

"You two fools. Rod gasped with a sour nose and said, "Why don't you let go of me, do you two want to strangle me?" The two laughed and let go of their hands, and Rod made a funny grimace at them, but a smile was already on his face.

But just as the three of them were reconciled, a pair of blood-red eyes were silently watching them in the darkness.

The sound of heavy breathing sounded in the garage with a dim light, and the three of them suddenly felt a creepy feeling spread throughout their bodies, and the air around them seemed to make people's hairs stand on end like an ice cellar, and they could even feel their teeth chatter slightly, and their legs couldn't stop shaking.

"Who's there!?" Rod shouted boldly. "Whew, whew, whew......" As the sound of breathing got closer and closer, the three of them finally saw the owner of the voice.

"Oh my God!" Shore exclaimed. In the dim light, a bat-like monster with long hair was staring at them with its glowing red eyes.

The monster was about a man's height, with two sharp canine teeth sticking out from its upper and lower jaws, and although it looked like a bat, it was much more terrifying than a bat. Its saliva dripped from its mouth to the ground, and it was clear that it had taken them for dinner tonight.

"Run, run!" Rod yelled suddenly. Shore and Kane reacted at this point, and the three of them quickly ran in the direction of the garage door. The monster roared as well, and it ran on all fours in a strange manner, quickly chasing them.

The monster soon caught up with them, roaring and lunging at Shore, who was running at the end of the team. Shore watched the monster's ugly face rush towards him, and his heart was filled with fear: I don't want to die, how can I die in such a place, help, who can save me!? Just as the monster's claws were about to stab Shore, a familiar figure jumped out and blocked him.

"Rod, no!" Shore cried out in a heartbroken voice. The monster's claws pierced through Rod's chest accurately, and blood rained down on Shore's face. Rod turned his head, barely squeezing out a smile on his pale face: "Run, Shore, run...... You and Kane must live, along with mine, to create our own future......" His voice grew faint and finally died out completely.

The monster pulled out the claws that pierced Rod's chest, and Rhodes fell to the ground limp like a puppet with broken strings. The monster's mouth burst into a ruddy laugh, as if pleased with its "masterpiece".

Kane stared blankly at Rod's stiffening corpse, and he felt a pang in his heart: No, it couldn't be. How could Rhodes die like that? Was that guy like a brother to us killed by someone like that?

Shore knelt down in front of Rod's corpse with a glazed gaze. He stroked Rod's bloodstained cheeks with trembling hands, just now, he was taking care of us like a brother, and now he fell to the ground silently, how could that guy die!?

He stared at the monster in front of him with eyes full of hatred, I am going to kill that guy, the anger in his heart is roaring, I want to kill it, I want to avenge Rod!

Shore dragged his collapsed body to his feet, his bloodshot and tearful eyes filled with anger that was about to erupt. "I'm going to kill you!" Shore roared as it echoed through the space.

The monster in front of him only narrowed its eyes, its blood-stained claws raised again, and then stabbed at Shore's head with lightning speed.

It was as if everything happened in an instant, and instead of feeling the pain of the claws piercing his skull, Shore saw a sword covered in runes shining in front of his eyes. And with the flicker of the sword's light, the monster's claws stabbing at Shore flew in the air with black, viscous blood, followed by the monster's painful wail.

"Boy, do you dare to be tough if you don't have the ability?" The man in the black robe and hood was smiling at him with a row of white teeth. And in his hand was the sword that saved Shore's life.

The monster screamed in pain and fled, and the man in black had no intention of continuing the chase. He put away his sword, then leaned down and felt Rod's pulse, he shook his head silently, and reached out to close Rod's round eyes, "Unfortunately, his soul has returned to heaven." ”

"No, it won't. Shore muttered to himself, both he and Kane staring at Rhodes' body in silence as if they were now in a trance.

"Hey, cheer me up!" the man in black slapped Shaw and Kane mercilessly. The two of them looked at the man in front of them vigorously as if they had just been woken up by cold water.

"What are you doing?" Kane shouted angrily at the man in black.

"What am I going to do?" said the man with a sharp gaze. "Your friend died to save you, and he was a man of true courage, but you will only lose your soul like a fool and cry and cry. Do you think it's worth trading his life for you? Weak and incompetent fellows are not worthy of being called a man, your courage, your strength, you are not worthy of being saved by the man who died like a hero!"

Shore and Kane were dumbfounded, the man was right, they were so weak and incompetent, they could only cry so powerlessly in the face of their best friend's death, and they deserved to be spurned by the people.

Shore looked down at the corpse of his brother next to him, and his heart seemed to be torn apart. What am I doing? What can I do? I can't protect anything, no, people like me don't even have the right to have someone else protect me. Living like a maggot is the future that Rhodes said he wanted him to go to before he died?

After an embarrassing silence, the man turned to leave, but Shore grabbed the man's arm violently, and he slowly raised his head with determined eyes: "I don't want anyone to sacrifice for me anymore, I really want to, I want to protect others! Maybe I may not even be garbage in your eyes, but please give us the opportunity to prove the value of our life in this world, I beg you to take us with you!"

The man smiled again, this time from the heart. "Do you want to gain the power to protect others, and do you want to prove that you have the will to be human?

"But always remember that only the toughest will can make the toughest decisions. If you have the courage to accept it, then I will train you, and you will truly have the strength to fight against this cruel world, or I will be your teacher from now on. ”

The wind was blowing, blowing away the dark clouds that had obscured the sun, and the warm sun finally lit up the streets of Tangaan again. Unbeknownst to the boys, the path they are heading for is thorny and dangerous, and they do not know that the true legend has already begun.