"Bell. Clang. Bell ......"

The quaint and majestic bell reverberates on campus, a masterpiece of the old bell tower that sits in the center of the campus.

When the accurate electronic watch was rendered worthless by the destruction of electrical civilization, the academy, with its dilapidated bell tower from two centuries ago, performed its duties slowly and persistently with the melody of the steam age, full of gears and mechanical power.

Perhaps, this is also a wonderful irony, the evolution of Shijie's rules, which has reinvigorated ancient creations beyond the crystallization of the latest technology.

At this moment, the clock is pointing to two o'clock in the afternoon.

It was not for nothing that school would leave so early, and the dim and cloudy light, which seemed to have been in operation for decades and could be completely destroyed at any moment, was the only light.

Jiang Shang glanced at the huge soul forging furnace that was located on the mountain peak in the distance, or, it should be called the artificial sun.

"Looks like the Night's Watch harvest hasn't been very good lately. It's only two o'clock, and now it's starting to enter the period of furnace light decline...... Well, it is estimated that it will be less than three o'clock, and it will go into darkness. ”

The artificial sun needs the beast crystals abandoned by the outside world as fuel, and Haiming City is the largest city within a radius of 300 kilometers, and the hunter's harvest is not small.

But the artificial sun consumes astronomical energy, and the light hours will not exceed five hours, and if the night watchmen who go out hunting do not have a good harvest, the light hours in the city will be shortened.

The shortening of sunlight will not only bring great trouble to people's lives, but also have a huge impact on agriculture, administration, and industry.

Of course, for a middle school student like Jiang Shang, these troubles are irrelevant, the only thing that worries people is that the more and more brief light will inevitably have a negative impact on his part-time job, and then the affected will be the more and more dry pockets and belly.

"Fortunately, Qi Lier returned to China to visit relatives, and Xiaoyue also went to school in Linshi, and my food expenses alone are not too expensive, and I should be able to support ...... next payday."

Sensing that it was about to be night, Jiang Shang quickened his pace, but the scene in front of him made him stop.

At the entrance of the alley, several teenagers were squatting together and smoking, but in the alley, there were sounds of brawls and exclamations.

Apparently, discordant violence is taking place in it.

The teenagers were dressed like the bad boys of the last century, in special attack uniforms, with long strips of cloth on their foreheads, and some wooden sticks in the corners of one side.

Seeing Jiang Shang's eyes on him, it was obvious that he was hostile, and some people even planned to get up.

Just seeing the white stone on Jiang Shang's neck made their expressions soften a little, after all, in a sense, they and Jiang Shang are also the same kind.

The hardships of life have smoothed out the water chestnut of the young man, and superfluous things, Jiang Shang generally won't care about being alone.

And what made Jiang Shang stay was that he saw his classmates, or yesterday's classmates, among these bad teenagers.

Alan, a former student in Class A of the year, saw Jiang Shang's gaze, but he didn't dare to look at him, he was a member of the class last month, but now, he has given up his studies.

He mustered up his ambition and said something to Jiang Shang, but he didn't say it.

And Jiang Shang also left directly.

Oran was about to get up and chase after him, but was stopped by the big hand next to him.

"Forget it, I'm not a shijie person anymore."

The one who spoke was a young man with a big back and sunglasses, although he couldn't see his face clearly, but his hoarse voice of cigarettes and alcohol had the majesty of a big brother.

Judging from his position and the way his companions looked at him, he was indeed the leader of this group of bad leaders.

Alan was silent, yes, the world has changed, yesterday he was still a good classmate, but today he has become a stranger who meets without saying a word.

"Archand......"

The nickname of his friend in a low voice, as the Lord's mood fell, the soul stone on Alain's chest became even darker.

"....... you and Ashang are friends?"

sighed but got an unexpected response, with the smile of the passerby, the big brother Liu smiled and handed him a cigarette.

Alain took the cigarette with trembling fingers and took a sharp puff,

"Brother Liu also knows Ah Shang...... Cough...... Ahem! “

The teenager, who was not used to the smell of smoke, wanted to speak, but was choked by the smoke and couldn't stop coughing.

Brother Liu, who knew Jiang Shang, slapped his frightened back violently.

"Of course we met, we graduated from elementary school, and we used to always joke together, and the relationship was really good. It's just that we don't have a good brain, and then we didn't continue to study, so naturally we have less contacts. ”

Alan was full of disbelief, before, he thought that this Brother Liu was already 2 or 30 years old.

The same age as Jiang Shang? Not to mention that his new brother Liu is about the same age as himself, but this big brother Liu is said to be quite famous and has been on the road for a long time.

"Ashand, that kid is also a celebrity. Obviously, as a 'white stone', it is destined to have no future, and it is the majority of people like us who give up on themselves and mess around. ”

But he had always worked hard to become a night watchman. He is like that, he is an anomaly, what is he doing so hard, does he really plan to rely on his infancy-level soul energy to be a night watchman? ”

As he spoke, he spat out his eyes at the sky, and the old god seemed to be recalling something.

"But I know that I can't do anything, but I still stick to my ideals, which is amazing."

"It's stupid!" Brother Liu slammed his fist to the ground, although he couldn't see the expression under the sunglasses, Alan trembled violently, as if he was being targeted by a fierce beast.

"Boy, now that you're in the gang, don't hesitate. If you push three or four and escape from the battle, Lao Tzu will skin you. ”

The arm lifted Alain's collar, and the twisted collar suddenly took his breath away.

"Ahem, big brother, no, no."

"Forget it, bad luck, it's all in the past. Mention what he does. It's getting dark, guys, get ready to work. Oh, I hope there is something to be gained today. ”

Throwing the half-smoked cigarette butt to the ground, and as soon as his foot twisted and stepped on, Brother Liu stood up.

Alan realized that this eldest brother of the same age as himself was half a head shorter than himself, who was not tall.

Brother Liu is not big, but his prestige is not low.

The words fell, and the bad guys next to him got up silently and walked towards the "arsenal".

Any civilization is inseparable from energy, and the most important things in the old era were oil and coal, and in this dark age, the only energy source soul energy is naturally the strongest hard currency.

Soul energy is liliang, and it is the strongest currency of this new shijie, which is indispensable for family daily use, industrial and agricultural production.

If you want to improve your soul energy, in addition to your own hard work, you can only snatch it.

In a sense, the Night's Watch hunting abandoned beasts is also a kind of soul snatching, and humans, the creatures that are best at infighting, tend to turn their eyes on their own kind, especially the weak and the minority.

And for Bai Shi, who accounted for more than 30% of the old human beings like Jiang Shang, the soul energy obtained by practicing the soul sleep technique overnight was often not enough to consume, and in the eyes of some people, snatching became the only way out.......

A certain night watchman who was known as the emperor once said something.

"Some people are willing to turn into wild beasts and defend humans from powerful enemies, hoping that kindness and humanity can survive in the dark shijie. And when they turned around, they found that the people they were desperately trying to protect had become something inferior to beasts. ”！ －－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－！

'Bang! Bang Dang! ”

The noise from the back mountain made Jiang Shang frown, it was the direction where the artificial sun furnace was located.

"It's earlier than expected."

The clanging of gears and machinery followed by a screeching noise like a balloon leaking air, plunged the city into darkness.

In the sky, dead gray-white twin stars hung above, but the cold light could not penetrate the endless darkness in front of them.

Not seeing your fingers is enough to describe the darkness in front of you, and under the double darkness of mystery and physics, the black fog in front of you even swallows the human body's sense of its own flesh.

And in the shadows in the distance, strange black shadows crawled out of the darkness, some of them were only the size of puppies, and some were behemoths seven or eight meters high.

Twisted into snakes, or shaken like mountains, the only thing they have in common is the black mist around their bodies, which makes their form impossible to fix.

It was the darling of the old gods, the nightmare of the human mind - the abandoned beast.

They roared and roared, instinctively hungry for flesh and soul, heading for the human dwelling.

But soon, the movement of the herd stopped.

Around the city, one lighthouse after another was lit up, and the huge crystal pillars at the top of the towers began to glow, and the orange-red light could not help but sweep everything around them.

And around the lighthouse, the colorful soul light is also announcing its existence, which is the guard of the pylon and often the sentry of the strongest in the city.

In the city, one after another sparkles of light swept low over the rooftops and alleys like meteors, or patrolled back and forth, or rowed towards the borders, or simply rowed towards the places where the beasts were loudest.

That is, the night watchman and the city watch began their "colorful" "nightlife".

The strong man's soul stone emitted a dazzling brilliance, announcing its existence to the abandoned beasts, and soon, after gauging the situation, the beasts retreated again.

Even though they have seen it countless times, and the last time the beast tide was five years ago, the retreat of the beast herd again still made the citizens breathe a sigh of relief.

The darkness was earlier than expected, but it didn't stop Jiang Shang's footsteps.

Gently stroking the white soul stone, a faint white light covered his body, which was the most basic function of the soul stone - to dispel the darkness.

And he wasn't the only one doing this.

The pedestrians on the road lit up the soul stones on their chests.

One figure after another, in the dark night, formed the path of Starfire.

For a while, the night sky of the starry sky was shining with stars, and the man-made Milky Way inexplicably made people feel at ease, while the path of the spark on the ground pointed out the direction of the main road.

"I never get tired of watching this scene."

Jiang Shang stroked the soul stone, and the white light dimmed a little again, just enough to illuminate the footsteps in front of him.

He could feel that there was less peeking eyes behind him.

"Heh, this kind of dim soul light that could be extinguished at any time doesn't have much oil and water. Such a prey, naturally, is meaningless. ”

Jiang Shang was a little proud, among the skills used by soul energy, it was inevitable to shine, but it was not easy to control.

Light is the overflow of soul energy, and often as long as you use skills, uncontrollable soul energy will leak and glow.

Convergence and control of light intensity are very advanced special techniques that are often only learned and mastered by professional hunters who need to act covertly.

“…… By reducing the light intensity and extending the light time, you can increase the time for practice.

In a sense, Jiang Shang's strengths were also forced out by life.

Not only has to work to maintain a living, but also has to work overtime to maintain the grades of top students, time is indispensable, neither is he a rich man who uses a miniature soul energy lamp, nor does he have the night vision ability of a new human being, Jiang Shang can only pay attention to himself.

Being able to master this technique called "Dark Light" is also a note left by his parents as night watchmen.

This skill may seem simple, but it is an advanced skill that elite scouts must master, and it is extremely difficult and extremely difficult.

However, Jiang Shang was able to teach himself just by relying on the notes left by his father, but it also showed that he was not inferior in talent in this "luster system" soul energy.

Of course, Jiang Shang, who was born in Yeluzi, would not have been able to come into contact with these, he was just happy to be able to divide one soul energy into two parts.

"Stupid, it's useless. Chase me! ”

"Brother, wait for me."

Two dark shadows passed by behind them, and they were a pair of children who were shuttling through the crowd.

Unlike Jiang Shang, who walked slowly and carefully avoided obstacles, although he was only 7 or 8 years old, he was as agile as a cheetah.

Like the darlings of the night, they avoided all obstacles and collisions in advance, whirling through the crowd and chasing and playing in the corners of the houses.

The crystalline pupils are secrets, and the night singers who are born with soul abilities can see their surroundings even without soul stones, and the night is not so difficult to accept compared to the old humans.

Of course, the chances of evolution and degradation of living things are equal, and since there is beneficial evolution, there is naturally harmful evolution, and the same variants of the new humans, the photophobic eyeless and one-eyed subhumans, can only live away from the towns with artificial suns.

As the name suggests, they are the darlings of the night, and even if they are just children, they have the instinct to see the night as day.

Gravity couldn't restrain their steps, and the two of them jumped and chased in front of the wall.

And they were able to make noise between the roof and the walls because of the pale yellow boots under their feet.

"The Anti-Gravity Boot 2000 is the latest addition to this year. A pair costs at least 1700 kaz, two months' living expenses. ”

Touching his reserve balance, which was less than 300 cards, Jiang Shang not only smacked his tongue slightly.

If the soul crystal is the energy of the new era, then the soul tool that matches it is the industrial civilization of the new era.

And being able to recognize this extravagant and trendy soul tool is not because Jiang Shang has any interest in the trendy, but because this X27 anti-gravity boot is a product of the Haiming Ink Research Institute, and he himself is a member of the R&D team.

"Heh, it was originally developed as a combat soul tool, but it turned out that there was no actual combat at all, and Zuihou became a small-scale toy with reduced materials and performance. It's a joke that the children of rich families can play, but the developers can't afford it. ”

He shook his head and threw a little dissatisfaction behind him.

I was able to work in the Ink Research Institute and accumulate experience and knowledge in soul energy research, which was already the little favor left by my parents that played a role, although I worked hard and had some results, but compared to the old monster of the Ink Research Institute, the weight was too light.

"Jiang Shang, don't be dissatisfied, take one step at a time, and strive to become a formal researcher first."

It is already very rare for me to be able to step into the circle of researchers with one foot at the age of fifteen, and it is really a bit unknowable to want to get benefits now.

"Hmmm! I will also work hard tomorrow, and if I can get A's in all subjects in the final exam, I will be the first in the overall score this year. According to the usual practice, I have been the first in the overall score for three consecutive years, and I can't say that the quota of the Ink Research Institute will not be given to me. Step up your game! Now the goal is to get the recommended quota of the Ink Research Institute first. ”

The teenager clenched his fists, what else is more attractive than the goal that is about to be achieved through years of hard work.

Neo-Moology is a school of soul energy research, and they are particularly good at developing various soul tools, and the Moology Research Institute in Heming City is also well-known in the entire Cape area.

Soul tools and soul skills must be driven by soul power, and a white stone like Jiang Shang is born with thin soul power, even if it is a soul tool with a slightly higher demand for activation, there is a problem.

"I can't even use it, so how can I research and develop."

But Jiang Shang did not give up, looking for his parents' past friends, at the cost of free services, and taking advantage of the gap between part-time jobs to prove his talent in developing the soul of Moxue as much as possible.

This is not to go through the back door, but to convince the researchers of their own potential, and not to kick himself out of the shortlist in the first place.

In the past two years, his efforts have made researchers who were not optimistic about him at the beginning begin to agree with him.

For decades, there has not been a Baishi researcher at the Haiming Ink Research Institute, but now Jiang Shang's efforts have made the recommendation of the Ink Research Institute fall into his own hands step by step.

If you can become a formal ink researcher, then you can become rich, and even get a commission for the commercialization of research products, how can you also be a wealthy class, but Jiang Shang's goal is not so simple.

Of course, the weak will inevitably get into trouble if they compete for interests that do not belong to them.

As the number of recommended places in the Moyan Institute is more and more inclined to Jiang Shang, there are more and more people who look at him unpleasantly and find trouble.

In the past six months, Jiang Shang has been extremely careful, but he is still in trouble, hostile takeovers, intimidation, fraud, and even assassins have encountered twice.

Fortunately, Jiang Shang has been careful and he is prepared to deal with it.

Expressing displeasure directly like Si Luer is already an alternative kind of kindness in his eyes.

"When I officially enter the Ink Research Institute, at least Jiang Xiaoyue's tuition fees don't have to worry, then I can also move towards a farther goal."

Becoming a member of the Ink Research Institute of Haiming City has naturally become the high-level and upper-class society of the city, but for Jiang Shang, the situation is a little different.

In the eyes of this fifteen-year-old boy, the Moyan Institute, which is envied by everyone, has always only regarded it as a place of transition.

"Even if the soul energy can't be advanced to the original stone level, as long as you master the memory of the soul equipment, soul martial arts, and soul movement machinery, as long as you practice the physical skills to the extreme, you can also become a battlefield logistics and enter the night watch team and go outside."

From the very beginning, Jiang Shang's goal has never wavered, what he wants to go to is the infinitely wide world beyond the layers of outer walls.

Even if you give up the possibility of becoming a rich man and enjoying life, you will become a battlefield logistics that is jokingly called a burden on the battlefield and has a very low survival rate.

Stepping into the inhuman realm with a mortal body, touring the arena with superhumans and beasts with a flesh and blood body, wandering between life and death, but only to realize the possibility of their ideals.

Jiang Shang, an ordinary fifteen-year-old boy and a native of Haiming City, is now the goal of life, to find his own answer in Shijie outside.