2219, January 4.

Dragon County, the magic capital.

Here, it was originally a small fishing village by the East Sea, and for some years, it was called the Paris of the East; I don't know when the city has a name that sounds like the home base of villains in shonen comics.

Cities built by human beings, like those dynasties established by human beings, will rise and fall due to various factors in the long river of history, and will go through ups and downs, ups and downs, glory and disgrace.

However, in the last two hundred years, the magic capital has not changed much; Under federal rule, it remains one of the largest, most prosperous, densest, and resource-stressed cities in the world.

The feeling of the magic capital is contradictory, and the residents who live here enjoy all the conveniences and preferential policies of the metropolis, but also endure great pressure from many aspects.

To use a metaphor, Modu is like a rich relative who you don't know where to go, who generously sponsors you to go to college, but at the same time always does something to you at every opportunity.

For those who are truly in the upper echelons of society, the Magic City is by no means a place they want to live in for a long time, Crystal County is; But the magic capital ...... It does have a unique charm.

It's like a huge table for speculators and adventurers, a gray area that no one can fully control...... Money, power, talent, beauty...... Countless desires and capital are intertwined here; People stake their lives on this table, and then tear each other apart, dump it, devour each other, until they burn out the last bit of value.

Those who are committed to this dark world will win, and they will overlook the neon lights from a high place; defeat, then at the bottom of the Huangpu River with sediment as a companion.

Today, there is a professional gambler who came to the troubled waters of the magic capital.

His name is Sakaki Sakaki, and he is known as "Sakaki Sakaki".

Although in this world and this era, population migration has become quite common and convenient, but Sakaki is a person who has never left Sakurafu since he was a child, and he rarely even goes out of Kagetsu Town.

And the purpose of his trip...... But even he himself was not sure.

Two days ago, the black card with the "reverse cross" logo on Sakaki's hand suddenly changed, and a map and a row of tiny numbers appeared on the side of the cross, "221901050000".

Numbers are easy to understand, and at a glance it is clear that they refer to the date and time; But the map doesn't mean you can tell where it is at a glance.

Fortunately, the electronic map functions of this era are very powerful, like this case, you only need to take a picture and search for it in any software that has satellite positioning services, and you can search for matching locations around the world.

Therefore, Sakaki quickly ascertained that this was a top-down view of the central and southwestern districts of the Magic City; It is speculated that the message on the card should be telling him that at midnight on January 5, 2219, something will happen in this area of the Demon Capital.

Feeling apprehensive and curious, Sakaki eventually bought a plane ticket......

After spending the day doing some errands and packing his belongings, he embarked on this journey to Dragon County.

He didn't know exactly what he would encounter on his trip, and he wasn't sure if he would be able to find the person who had rescued him from the sea in the first place, or at least he thought so...... But in any case, it doesn't hurt to take a trip, even if you don't get anything, it's a good trip.

…………

Sakaki arrived on the afternoon of the 4th, because the airport in the magic capital was very busy, it took Sakaki more than an hour to pick up his luggage and wait in line for a taxi.

Unexpectedly, as soon as he lay flat on the bed, about to catch his breath, the phone on the bedside table rang.

Sakaki thought for two seconds, turned over and rolled to the counter, because it was the hotel's internal phone, he didn't look at the caller ID and answered it directly: "Hello?" ”

"Hello, this is the front desk, is this Mr. Shen from Room 1203?" On the other end of the phone came the sweet and polite voice of the front desk lady.

"It's me." Sakaki is a cautious person, and after dealing with the "winner and loser", he became more careful, so he came here this time to buy air tickets or stay in hotels with a fake identity called "Shen Qiang".

As an aside, some people may wonder why it seems easy to stay in a hotel or even take a plane with fake documents in this day and age. It seems that more than one character in this book has done something similar.

In fact, the reason is very simple -

First, because on the earth of this universe, taking an airplane is almost the same as taking a bus.

State-of-the-art security and dispatch systems have dramatically reduced check-in times (of course, at high-traffic airports, you'll still have to queue up), and flight delays have been negligible, making flying the vast majority of citizens the preferred mode of travel across cities.

Under this premise, it is imperative to make the check-in process as simple as possible...... So how to keep it simple? To sum it up in three words, it is "automation"; The document inspection and baggage check-in process that was originally done manually is now done by the passengers themselves in front of the machine, and the entire planet is the territory of the Federation anyway, and there is no such thing as a "visa" at all, and there is no problem of "smuggling...... As long as anyone buys a ticket, they can fly wherever they want, so the supervision of this piece will naturally be loosened over time.

Second, in this technologically advanced future, all kinds of counterfeiting technologies are also advancing with the times.

Fakes, like the real thing, are also a "you get what you pay for" market; If you want to be cheap, you can't even fool the machine with fake documents you bought, but if you are willing to spend money, you can get good goods that are difficult to see even by manual labor.

Sakaki is also a master who has been mixing in Daoer for many years, and he still has some connections, so it is not difficult to get a few high-quality fake ID cards.

"That's right, Mr. Shen......" After confirming the identity of the other party, the front desk lady asked, "Just now someone sent an envelope to the front desk, saying that it was for you, do you come down to pick it up yourself, or will I ask the waiter to send it to your room?" ”

"Envelopes?" Hearing this, Sakaki's heart immediately became suspicious, he paused for a second, and asked, "What kind of person sent it?" ”

"It's a boy of about fifteen or sixteen years old, skinny, and looks like a native of Dragon County." The front desk lady replied.

Because of the frequent movement of people, in this universe, no matter what continent you are on, it is also common to piggyback on the race when describing the appearance of others.

"Hmm...... I see, I'll get it right away, thank you. After saying this, Sakaki hung up the phone.

Then, he thought silently for a moment, then took out the black card he was carrying, looked at him and said, "I have clearly confirmed that I am not being followed, but I was still found as soon as I stayed...... Well...... I faintly smelled the smell of the Hongmen banquet......"