(The update is a bit slower again, and this time I won't explain.) ）

A little boy and a boy of half age sat in the rain with a worn-out oil-paper umbrella, surrounded by a pile of flames that burned forcibly in the rain, and the light of the fire in the night shook and illuminated their faces.

Occasionally, a drop of rain would fall over the umbrella and fall on the flames, and each drop of rain would dim the flames.

But the flame kept burning, saying nothing and refusing to extinguish its own flame in the face of the rain.

The two of them found a large rock and planned to sleep with their backs to it.

The older boy looked like he had been tired from a long day's work, and he quickly fell asleep leaning against the stones, and he snored softly.

But the little boy couldn't sleep, and he couldn't fall asleep for a long time looking at the pile of flames in front of him.

After a long time, he woke up another boy beside him: "Big brother...... I can't sleep. ”

The boy, who was still half-asleep and half-awake, looked at him inexplicably: "...... Why can't you sleep and wake me up, I still have to work tomorrow. ”

"Big brother, tell me a story."

“…… Damn, how old are you, and you still want me to tell a story!? ”

"Yes...... However, every time I couldn't sleep, my mother would tell me stories. ”

The older boy of the "......" had fully awakened and looked at each other speechlessly.

The little boy shook his body coquettishly: "Big brother...... Tell me about one......

The older boy felt that he couldn't resist the other party, so he could only surrender: "Okay, okay, I'm really afraid of you......"

He paused at this point, and then said, "I don't know anything about the story, but when I'm working, I hear a lot of things that I didn't know before......

"I heard that outside our Yilun slums, there is a big world, and the continent we are on now is called the Azure Continent, which is a very big continent, so big that we can't ......imagine it at all."

The little boy asked curiously, "It's big, big...... How big is that? ”

The older boy frowned slightly, as if he didn't expect the other party to ask such a question, so he said nonsense: "How can there be dozens of slums so big?" ”

When the little boy heard this, he immediately showed an extremely surprised expression, because in his heart, one Yilun slum was already incredibly large, and if there were dozens of slums combined, he could not imagine how huge it would be.

The older boy saw the little boy's surprised expression, and his face suddenly turned smug, and he was very proud: "So you don't know...... Our Iren slums, placed on the entire continent, are simply a small part of it. ”

The little boy looked at the older boy adoringly and nodded his head as if he didn't understand.

"Outside of our Iren slums, there is the powerful Human Empire, which occupies almost most of the land of the Azure Continent, I heard...... In the human empire, everyone can have enough to eat, and everyone can have a fixed place to live. And everyone doesn't have to worry about their food being robbed by others, because in the Human Empire, all acts of stealing, hurting, and killing people are not allowed! ”

"Huh!? Is there such a good place in this world!? The little boy couldn't believe what he was hearing.

There was no stealing, no robbers, no killing and hurting, everyone was fed...... Isn't this the legendary paradise?

"I heard that the outsiders who provide us with food are from the Human Empire," the older boy's eyes brightened as he said this, "If I have the chance, I wish I could go to the Human Empire as well." ”

"Yes, yes......," the little boy nodded in agreement, "such a nice place, of course I hope to go." ”

Unexpectedly, after he said this, the older boy looked at him with disdain: "No ambition." ”

“…… Yes? What do you mean, big brother? ”

"I don't want to go to the Human Empire just to live comfortably...... I want to see the outside world because I have heard that people outside are different from us, they don't fight for their own survival every day, and they can 'cultivate' every day if they don't worry about survival...... Although I don't know exactly what 'cultivation' means, I've heard that 'cultivation' is such a thing as helping people gain very powerful power. ”

"Force...... Strength? The little boy looked at him quizzically.

The older boy nodded, looking at the rainy night sky seriously: "Yes, the reason why I want to go outside is because I want to be like those people outside...... To be able to 'cultivate', to be able to gain enough strength through 'cultivation', to be ...... strong"

"The power to change everything."

"Then big brother, why do you want such power?" The little boy followed the older boy's gaze upwards, only to find that the night sky was pitch black and he couldn't see anything at all.

The older boy glanced at the little boy and said in a very serious tone: "Because since I was very young, I decided that I must change the world. ”

The young boy obviously couldn't understand what it meant to change the world, so he just stared at him blankly.

"I've been wondering a little bit since I was a kid -

Why......

The fate of our Iren people must be controlled by those outsiders?

Why do we Ilun people need to see other people's faces even to survive!?

Why can't we Iren be as powerful as those outsiders!?

Are we Iren inherently inferior to others, and inherently deserve to be inferior to others!?

I'm not reconciled...... Why are they outsiders so powerful and able to control the lives and deaths of all our Irons, and we can't even survive!?

I want to go to the outside world, to learn the way of 'cultivation', to gain great power, and then ......"

The words spoken by the older boy at this time rang loudly in the empty environment, like a bell ringing in the night: "Lead all of us Iren to change this hellish world!" ”

The boy's every word was sonorous and powerful, and a little fanatical look appeared on his immature face.

"Big brother is so powerful...... the little boy looked unaware of it, and his eyes were full of little stars when he looked at his big brother.

"I've decided!" He clapped his hands suddenly, an expression of excitement on his face.

The older boy was stunned: "...... What did you decide? ”

"I'm going to be by your side all the time, big brother, even though I'm still stupid...... But I'm going to try, I'm going to work hard to help my big brother make his wish come true! ”

The older boy obviously didn't expect the other party to react like this, he was stunned for a moment, and then laughed and said, "Okay! Let's change the world together! ”

The little boy suddenly stretched out his right hand to the older boy and cocked his little thumb.

“…… What are you doing? The little boy's performance puzzled the older boy.

"When I was a child, my mother told me that if two people made an appointment, they would pull each other's little thumbs to indicate that they had made an appointment." The little boy explained to the other party.

“…… Where did you learn these habits? The older boys looked at each other with displeasure on their faces.

But the little boy's expression was more serious than ever.

The two confronted each other in silence for a long time, and the older boy was the first to lose: "...... Okay, okay, I'm losing, it's all up to you. ”

Reluctantly, he stretched out his right hand, his little finger gently hooking the other's little finger.

"Pull the hook—" The little boy shook his right hand gently.

"Hanging—" The older boy thought it was a strange feeling.

"One hundred years—" The little boy's voice was clear, drowning out the sound of the rain.

"Don't change!" The reddish flames illuminated the two who were gently rocking, as well as the worn-out oil-paper umbrella that was shaking with them.

No amount of fierce rain could extinguish the flames, which were faint but still burning.

"Big brother, it's an appointment."

"Well, it's an appointment."