Beckland, the capital of all things, the land of hope.

Sitting on the bench waiting for the train, Esther quietly watched the crowd coming and going, holding a third-class ticket for the steam train half an hour later.

Aside from the bustling scenery described in the books and the center of the world in the news magazines, Esther doesn't have much concept of the city, just as she knows a little about extraordinary powers, and all she touches is the superficial and superficial.

For the Kingdom of Rune, the capital of Beckland was a natural center of commerce, industry and culture, and speculators sought to find the ideal springboard here, eager to soar into the sky. Many more flock to the factories to the east to feed their families, tying their lives to the chimneys that emit thick fog day after day, trying to keep their lives at the bottom of the line until the last bit of value is squeezed dry.

The two sides of the Tasok River, the deeper you go, the more like two worlds, the east and the west coexist in this million-inhabited city, the east side struggles to survive in poverty, and the west side sings and dances in the staggered landscape. The Beckland Bridge and ferries connect the east and west, and countless people and goods flow between the capillaries of the city, interweaving into the most dazzling stage of the north and south continents.

Esther was already thinking about where to stay, the bridge area was more dangerous, but it was easier to find traces of the wild extraordinary, there would be no shortage of job opportunities, but it was also prone to disputes. The situation in the East End is more chaotic than in the Bridge District, but it is also easier to hide and find job opportunities, and the advantages and disadvantages are equally obvious.

The Hilston area is the overlord of Rune's economy and finance, with stock exchanges, clearing houses, futures centers, etc., all kinds of famous predator companies occupying a place here, and the land price is naturally too expensive for Esther not to consider. But when it comes to job opportunities, she thinks that this place is indispensable for fishing in troubled waters, and maybe she will be lucky.

The Jowood district is close to the Tasok River, and most of the people living here are close to the small rich group, but because the situation here is too stable, it is not suitable for people like Esther who hide secrets, mainly because she does not have much money to spend, and the long-term rental here will put Esther under financial pressure, not to mention that many homeowners have to consider tenant identification.

In the North End, there is St. Samuel's Church of the Night, St. George's St. George's Cathedral of the Church of Steam and Machinery, and in the Jowood District there is the Church of the Holy Winds. Esther always remembered the special light spots on her body, and Xiao Qi and Xiao Wu also looked at odds with the official extraordinary, and she was unwilling to face any risk of being captured.

There was no law that required her to be religious!

The noisy dock area or factory area is still not considered, the south area seems to be okay, although the pollution is more serious, but the environment is relatively more stable than the east area, go to the vicinity to see first......

"Woo-"

The whistle is the roar of coal, water, and heat, and the continuous steam that "whirts" when rushing is the breath and heartbeat of these steel giants.

The head of the huge steam train appeared on the tracks, and the levers, gears and shafts extended the pull to the wheels behind, allowing the long line to continue to advance on the established route, tirelessly passing everywhere the tracks were paved, making the cost and risk of the average person traveling far away.

Esther felt the ground shaking slightly under her feet, and had to sigh at the wonder of the world, maybe history is always the same, people here will invent steam trains and telegraphs now, and maybe batteries and telephones will be invented later.

She looked at the creature that was crawling on the railroad tracks, constantly spitting smoke into the sky, and said to herself, "O ...... of human wisdom."

Even though extraordinary forces made life dangerous, the world tried to move in the footsteps of development, but Russell the Great pushed it harder, and many things appeared on the continent more quickly.

Esther didn't have that ambition, she held Xiao Qi in her arms and lined up with the flow of people to board the steam train.

There are no fixed seats in the third-class carriage, only the carriage number, and the passengers may not even be able to find a seat when they are unlucky, but Esther's luck is not too bad, she finds a vacant seat by the window. Soon someone crowded in, and the pot-bellied middle-aged man was carrying four suitcases, which took up a lot of space after sitting down, and he greeted Esther apologetically, and Esther smiled back.

Soon, as the scenery outside the window began to move slowly, the steam train was on its way to its next stop, stopping several cities on the way before reaching Beckland, and it would take four hours to reach Esther's destination.

After the middle-aged man took off his bowler hat, he took out a handkerchief, constantly wiped the beads of sweat on his half-bald forehead, the soft brown hair on the back of his head was also glued together, and his rosacea nose was red and shiny.

The man's decent suit was wrinkled by strenuous activity, and his stomach was propped up, and he was still fanning his face with his top hat at this time, trying to cool down as soon as possible.

The originally crowded third-class carriage was occupied by several of Jacob's boxes, and no one could come over again, and Jacob could only apologize again and again with those dissatisfied eyes, until the train increased its speed and no passengers approached to find a seat, only Esther and the gentleman sat together.

Esther glanced at him casually out of the corner of her eye, then turned her attention to the scenery outside the window.

Tingen was behind the steam train, gradually moving away from her.

But the gentleman didn't seem to be idle, and he greeted Esther happily: "The weather in Tingen is pretty good, isn't it?" ”

Esther hugged Xiao Qi's hand tightly, and hung up a smile with the meaning of "social mask": "Yes, it rained heavily some time ago to see such a blue sky." ”

"Where are you going? Bartin? ”

"I'm going to Beckland, and I've heard that the weather there is nowhere near as good as Tingen."

"Oh yes! What a coincidence that the storm is on board! The middle-aged man laughed and patted his thigh hard, "I came to Tingen this time to discuss business, and now I can go back to Beckland, and I don't need to come in person when the delivery is delivered next month." ”

"Don't know what business you do? These boxes don't look light. ”

"Hahaha, it's mostly filled with drawings and models, and there are a few pieces of material accessories that are weird......ly heavy," the man said, rummaging through his body, and quickly pulled out a business card that was crushed and deformed in his pocket, "But we are all in the ship business of ironclads, and you may not be interested, unlike those perfume gems that are loved by ladies." ”

Esther took the business card with "Duke Steel" printed on it and asked curiously, "Then why didn't you take the boat?" Down the Tasok River is Beckland. ”

The man's face turned red all of a sudden: "It's really a joke to say this, although I am also an old man in this ironclad ship company, but I am seasick and dizzy." ”

"That's a ...... It's a bit bleak. It took a lot of effort for Esther to hold back her smile, and Xiao Qi nestled in her arms, blinking her eyes obediently, eavesdropping on these trivial conversations that were not nutritious.

The man shook his head in distress: "So I've been doing it for so many years, and I can only run on the ground!" ”

"Just a tourist?"

"Haha, I think so too, anyway, I don't care about getting around, thanks to the popularity of steam trains."

"Yes, it's the first time I've ridden a steam train, and technology has changed my life."

The man's eyes lit up: "This sounds very philosophical!" ”

Esther hurriedly made up casually: "Maybe it's a famous quote from Russell the Great?" That's what I heard, too. ”

If you don't make a decision, it's right to throw it to a century-old fellow.

He can't crawl out of the grave and kick me twice, can he?

Obviously, when Esther thought so, she even forgot about her own "resurrection from the dead".

——

Esther learns that the middle-aged man's name is Jacob Barry, and also tells him her name "Esther", she doesn't use a pseudonym, considering that it's just the intersection of trains anyway, she doesn't care about being known.

They'll all forget anyway.

However, when he heard that Esther did not have a surname, Jacob's eyes still revealed a little pity, but he did not ask, but after complimenting Beckland on how good it was, he turned to talk about the purpose of Esther's visit to Beckland.

"Where are you going to look for a job?"

"Yes, this should be a common thing? After all, every day, people from all over the world visit Beckland to try their luck. ”

Jacob laughed and shook his head disapprovingly: "That's for a businessman, you can live well in Tingen at such a young age, there is no need to send yourself to the East End." ”

"Is the situation in the East End so bad?"

"The East District, the Factory District, it's all the same," Jacob lowered his voice, as if he didn't want anyone else to hear him, "After all, for the factory owner, the worker is the part on the assembly line, and it is cheaper to replace the part if it is broken than to repair it." ”

Esther, of course, knew what Jacob meant: "Especially when there are cheaper, newer parts." ”

Jacob cleared his throat and returned to his normal tone: "Ahem, since you know everything, why do you want to go there?" It's almost as good as you can get around. And you're here too early, and you might like the 'Russell Memorial Exhibition' at the Kingdom Museum next month. ”

Esther gently touched Xiao Qi's feathers, Xiao Qi looked up at Jacob and shouted, I don't know for what reason, he hid the white circle of his right eye again, at this time it looked no different from any ordinary crow in the cemetery.

Jacob couldn't suppress his curiosity and asked, "Is this your bird?" ”

"Hmm...... It's called Little Seven. ”

"It's strange, I've rarely seen anyone take crows as pets."

Esther tugged at the corners of her mouth: "Sometimes I think it's smarter than me, so it's more like my friend." ”

Jacob laughed, not paying attention to Esther's words, but began to use a tone of admonition to remind her to be vigilant when she went out, and not to go to the East Side if she could. Jacob's attitude was in stark contrast to the praise he had given to Beckland a few minutes earlier, and Esther couldn't help but laugh but also appreciated the gentleman's enthusiasm.

The presence of talkative people makes it feel like time flies, and Jacob's sincere and enthusiastic personality gives Esther a lot of insight into the local situation in Beckland.

This kind of opinion from the locals is much richer than that written in books and magazines, which makes Esther very happy.

"You're really a good guy, Jacob, and the future of your company is going to be very good."

"Alas, how can business be so good, our boss is worried. It would be nice to get new investment, so we could start the big plan to bring ironclad technology to the commercial marine sector. ”

"Don't worry, maybe some of the big nobles will come to support you in the future."

"Hahaha, that's awesome!" Jacob patted the box at his feet, "As long as you don't let me accompany that big client on board, anything!" ”

After getting off the train at the Bakeland station, Esther quickly said goodbye to Jacob, and she decided to walk around herself without delaying the kind gentleman back to hand over the work.

Perhaps because the workmanship of Esther's coat was quite good, a hand suddenly appeared in the dense crowd and reached into the pocket of the coat. Esther didn't stop the other man's move, and let the other party lean in and scoop up a few coins, and then suddenly her feet crooked, and hit the man.

The other party obviously didn't expect Esther's strength to be so great, and she was directly hit by her and fell to the ground, Esther apologized again and again, and helped the person up with a smile, and the little seven on her shoulder screamed twice, causing many people to look back here.

The thief muttered a few curses and walked away, re-entering the crowd, apparently not wanting too much attention and fearing that Esther would find out about the theft.

Esther touched the extra banknotes in her arms, the smile on her face became more and more sincere, and she walked slowly in the direction of the exit of the station.

"It's a huge profit to exchange pennies for Soul. Don't change white, don't change. ”

Xiao Qi whispered into her ear: "Aren't you just stealing?" ”

"I—I'm taking back what he took from me, and it's called an equivalent exchange."

"It's not equivalent."

"Those pennies are one-tenth of my wealth, and the Souler I took is also so much on him, of course I won't take more."

Xiao Qi's eyes became more and more disdainful, and such an expression hung on the crow's face but there was no sense of disobedience: "Do you really think you are fair?" ”

Esther shook her head, "I repaid his malice, and that's it. Since he did it to me, it was my luck that he was unlucky. I wasn't really overly kind in the first place, just because most of the people I met deserved to be treated kindly to them. ”

Xiao Qi sighed, feeling sad for Esther's insistence for no reason, but also feeling very interesting, and couldn't help but look forward to the day when she broke her bottom line: "What if you have to go against such kindness one day?" If you don't disobey, you can't live, and if you disobey, you can use others as stepping stones to live? ”

Esther opened her mouth, but said nothing.

Xiao Qiyang smacked his lips proudly: "Hypocrisy, it's really quite human-style hypocrisy." ”