London in the 19th century was still at the junction of light and darkness.

The dawn sun had risen, but the sun had not brought any light on the dark surface of the Thames, and the white mist had almost swallowed up the entire river, and only the reddish light from the small boats moored near the docks could be faintly seen.

The chimneys in front of the city were lined up, and although it was still early, they were eager to spew out foul-smelling smoke, swaying the poisonous air that it was proud of, blocking out the already scarce daylight and making the already gloomy weather even more oppressive.

The narrow streets on both sides of the river are littered with hangover drunkards, homeless peasants, and unemployed workers, gulping down the polluted air, their unhealthy sallow complexion indicative of their poor health.

And in the shadows of the streets, pickpockets with thieves flashing in the corners of their eyes have also begun to look for their new targets.

Singing prostitutes greet customers in front of their rented houses filled with garbage and sewage, and have had to extend their opening hours in exchange for some bread and sugar because of the recent economic downturn.

The well-dressed Arthur looked out of place compared to them, and the roll of eyes and scolding he received along the way also illustrated the image of the newly formed Metropolitan Police in the eyes of the poor people.

In the chaotic, noisy, and filthy East End of London, people often like to refer to people like Arthur by another name.

They call him a 'peeler', and they feel that the London police are like apples' peelers, peeling off their 'skins' little by little, messing up their business, interfering in their lives, and squeezing their living space.

If he had just joined the company, Arthur might have reacted to their scolding.

But more than half a year has passed, and now he just feels numb.

Not far ahead, two drunks in tattered clothes scuffled.

As a skilled police officer, Arthur was well versed in dealing with such situations.

If you want to reason with drunks, it's best to give them a stick to sober up first, which sounds simple, but it's a valuable lesson that Arthur and his colleagues learned after being attacked by drunks many times.

Without hesitation, Arthur pulled out the battle of civilization from his waist and gave a blow to each of them on the head.

Arthur yelled, "If you two bastards don't want to be thrown into jail, you'd better stop me right now!" ”

The two drunkards were furious, and they rolled up their sleeves to teach Arthur a lesson, but before they could turn around, Arthur's police knife was already in their throats.

"I'll repeat, if you two don't want to get into trouble, you'd better get me out of here right now!"

The cold touch of the officer's knife suddenly made the drunks sober up.

A drunken man raised his hand to wipe the blood from his nose and apologized to Arthur: "It's just a little fight between friends, we are from Salford, Manchester, and our people there are so kind and friendly, you can't be offended." ”

Another drunk, who had half of his tooth knocked out, echoed, "No, that's right, Mr. Officer, we're not going to get into trouble, we're leaving." ”

After speaking, the two of them hurriedly picked up the felt hats that were thrown on the ground, supported each other and left slowly.

Arthur had just finished cleaning up the two drunks when he saw a lot of street vendors on the corner pushing fish carts and carrying woven bags to sell food.

They also found Arthur in uniform, but everyone's choice was different.

A small number of them chose to leave the area in a fun way, while the vast majority would rather die than give up the heavily trafficked street.

Now is the perfect time for the sun to rise and sell breakfast, and if they leave now, they will lose more than half of their day's income, which is more than they can afford to lose.

So even in the face of Officer Arthur, who was fully equipped and had just made a big move, they didn't intend to back down.

Agareth's illusory figure hovered around Arthur, laughing with unbridled malice: "Arthur, look at their eyes, fierce, vicious, I can't wait to drown you in the cold and foul Thames." In their eyes, maybe you are more of a devil than I am. ”

"Yes! Maybe in the past six months or so, I have lived more like a devil than you. The street vendors felt that I was a lackey of the authorities, and the authorities suspected that I might have Jacobin tendencies, and the Jacobin supporters felt that I had been sent to spy on them, while the military police who were actually monitoring them thought that I would give them a tip-off, and the magistrate felt that I was complicit in the criminals, who thought that I wanted to send them all to the gallows. This world is really absurd. ”

Arthur took off his bowler hat, looked at the Metropolitan Police badge above, and muttered, "Agareth, I've been thinking that maybe it's time for a different way of living." ”

Agares' eyes lit up when he heard this, and he even took out the meat linen that he rarely used and relieved his voice: "Oh! My dear Arthur, you have finally figured it out. If you had cooperated with me earlier, you might have become prime minister by now. Whoever is against you, you will kill them and send them all into my stomach, just as you did to Professor Demps. Come, let's start planning our next goal. Why don't you start with the sheriff boss who makes things difficult for you everywhere? ”

"I sincerely thank you for your kind help." Arthur said, "But that's not what I meant by changing the way of living. ”

"That's not what you mean?" Agareth was stunned and said, "Then what do you mean?" ”

Arthur didn't answer his question, but waved his hat and shouted at a trench coat man in front of him who was haggling with a vendor, "Elder over here!" ”

Elder heard Arthur's cry and complained to the vendor, and then trotted to Arthur.

"Yo, Arthur. The weather is bad today and my mood is a mess, but seeing you makes me feel better. ”

Arthur asked, "What did you just quarrel with the peddler?" ”

When Elder heard this, he couldn't help but burst out foul: "Arthur, you don't know how rude that fucking thing is!" Three of the four oysters he sold me were already stinking, and to charge me four pennies was a robbery! If you hadn't called me, I would have had to fight him! ”

Arthur said calmly: "Held, if you really fight him, it will be difficult for me to do it. I've just taught two drunks who were fighting. ”

"Whatever, it's a big deal that you can avoid it when I fight."

Elder took a pipe from his pocket and put it in his mouth, and from his chest he took out a tin box containing tobacco to fill it, and finally lit it with a match.

He puffed out the smoke ring, and then he felt more comfortable.

Elder asked, "Don't talk about that." I asked you the other day, how did you think about it? Instead of staying in this basin, you might as well get on the boat with me. We are in need of a learned naturalist like you to travel the world with us, and the days will be easy and pleasant, and the salary will be doubled, and maybe you will meet a few foreign ladies, so why not? ”

He took another pipe out of his pocket, filled it with tobacco, and without asking Arthur if he wanted it, he stuffed it into his mouth, and lit it to himself.

Elder was busy with his hands, and his mouth was not idle, he kept persuading.

"Arthur, you have to think about it. There's no future in the Metropolitan Police, and I've heard that most of the police you recruit are unemployed weavers, or peasants from the Northeast, or even Irish.

Those of us who graduated from the University of London are not recognized, but it is all because the bad people of Oxford and Cambridge are behind the scenes in collaboration with the archbishops of various dioceses. When it comes to knowledge, we are much better than them.

However, people like us are not able to get a degree just because the school allows non-Anglican believers to enroll. Is there anything more fucking up than that? ”

Arthur took a puff of his pipe and said, "Of course there is." ”

"For example?"

"For example, I know a guy from a well-to-do family. He himself believed in the state religion and had an uncle who held the rank of rear admiral in the Royal Navy, but he had to come to the University of London. He said that he wanted to rely on his own skills to break out of the world, but in the end, he had to rely on his uncle's relationship to go to the boat to earn a living. ”

Elder laughed when he heard this, and he punched Arthur in the shoulder: "Arthur, what you said is too mean! I didn't figure it out before, but now I do. Everyone is swimming in a basin, and if you don't think you can see, it's not because the environment is good, but because you've already dived in. ”

Arthur was silent for a while.

Elder asked, "Arthur, why don't you speak?" ”

"Held, it's really hard for me to imagine."

"What's wrong?"

Arthur sighed, "You actually graduated from classics. ”

Elder laughed and said, "It comes down to your ignorance of classical literature.

Nero said: No man, woman or woman, has a chaste body, but most people cleverly disguise their ugliness.

He's a bitch-raised bastard, but that's right.

Because for a man of letters, no man or woman has a clean mouth, and most of them don't even bother to hide it. And I sincerely hope that I can be one of them.

Not to mention this, what are you thinking about? Do you want to come to our ship? ”

Arthur nodded: "This time I admit your affection, I'm almost tired of my current job, and changing jobs is good for me and the world." ”

When Agares, who had been bored and wandering around, heard this, he suddenly became angry, and he conjured a pitchfork out of nowhere and put it on the back of Arthur's heart, roaring.

"Arthur! But it didn't do me any good! I'm the devil, the devil! Are you going to let me spend the next few years floating with you on the sea watching whales mate! ”

Elder obviously couldn't hear Agareth's complaints, and he was pleasantly surprised: "So you agreed?" ”

Arthur nodded, "I can't think of a reason to refuse." ”

"Great! Then let's settle it. ”

Elder whistled happily, "You're going to do better than that Cambridge graduate!" ”

"Cambridge graduates?" Arthur asked, "Do you have any other candidates?" ”

"It's not another candidate, he was supposed to come to the ship to be a chaplain. But if you can't find a suitable naturalist, the captain says that guy can also be filled. After all, that guy had studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh for a few years before going to Cambridge to study theology. ”

Arthur asked, "When are you going to set sail?" ”

Elder said: "It has to take into account the direction of the monsoon, if the Admiralty is in a hurry, then they will leave in September, if they are not in a hurry then they will have to wait until winter."

But you don't have to worry about your salary from April until you set sail, as long as you're sure to start your job, even if you're on shore, you'll get half the usual salary, which is still more than what you would get at the Metropolitan Police. ”

Arthur laughed at himself: "Of course I don't worry about the salary, even the skilled workers in the factory get more than me." It's just that I still don't understand why the Royal Navy is organizing a round-the-world expedition. From what I've learned, it seems that the Admiralty lords are not men of the art of sacrificing their lives for science. ”

Elder waved his hand indifferently: "Scientific investigation? Of course, it's taken out to fool people!

The Admiralty doesn't care about any scientific investigations. Our main orders were to survey and make important charts of South America, to investigate the sea conditions and political forces in the Pacific and near the Indies, and to provide intelligence support for future Royal Navy fleets in and out of the region.

But because the rebels in the North American colonies insisted on the Monroe Doctrine and refused to allow Great Britain and other European countries to intervene in the affairs of the Americas, we had to label ourselves scientific expeditions as a way to ensure that we would not come into conflict with them.

After all, we didn't get any bargain in the two wars of independence with them, and it was still necessary to pretend to be in harmony on the surface.

All in all, the position of naturalist is best if you can produce some scientific research results, and it doesn't hurt if you can't get it. There was nothing bad about it other than the rough waves and the narrow cabin of the Beagle.

Arthur, you're my best friend, and I can't fool you even if I cheat my uncle! ”