Throne of Radiance

Morningstar Empire, King's District.

Thick ink splashes the sky, and the night races against the waning moon.

The old and orderly buildings are like toy models fabricated from the same mold, neatly placed together.Looking down from the sky, it looks like a prank of the gods.

On the streets passing through the buildings, the sewage flowed horizontally, pedestrians came and went in a hurry, their expressions were numb and indifferent.On the corner of the street, someone is secretly trading some kind of stimulant drug.At the intersection, heavy locomotives rumbled past, and the splashed sewage drenched the trousers of pedestrians. Shouts, curses, and roars sounded one after another.

Then, a burst of dense gunfire covered it all.

When they heard gunshots, no one screamed, cried, or ran around, and they took refuge in the nearest building as usual—it might be a convenience store, their own house, a bar or a building. hostel.

When everything subsided, they came out as if nothing had happened, and continued with the unfinished business.

Pedestrians in a hurry continue to rush home; the convenience store owner who is settling the day’s income continues to count the accounts; They dragged each other away; the young lovers who were disturbed by the gunshots in the depths of the unlit alley continued to kiss each other intimately... This world is still how it should be.

In the Kings District, similar things have long been commonplace.Every few days, there will be nameless corpses lying in the dark corners, maybe they are fighting for territory, maybe because of friction caused by a wrong sentence, maybe because of a few ink-smelling imperial banknotes, or just a piece of bread...

These executioners who exchanged fire in the dark, pierced other people's bodies with cold bullets, and harvested other people's lives like nothing, may turn into well-behaved sons, honest husbands, and reliable fathers when they return home.Of course, there could be even scarier perpetrators.

Everyone is used to such a role change.

— This is the way of life in Kings District.

——The previous generation, the previous generation, they have always been like this.

Since he has long been accustomed to the environment here, naturally no one has noticed——

In the past month or so, the sound of gunfire has become more frequent and more orderly than in the past;

The conflicts that used to break out anytime and anywhere now seem to be concentrated in the middle of the night or in certain special time periods, as if they had been appointed;

Addicts who were once everywhere, unknowingly disappeared;

Gang leaders and arms dealers, who were once at odds with each other, began to frequent the same place, as if some kind of authority forced them to merge together.

As for those who were excluded, they were eliminated, devoured, and eaten away by this new small circle bit by bit with the gunshots in the middle of the night again and again.

——As if, there is an invisible hand controlling everyone, and in this seemingly disordered chaos, a new order has been established and a new set of rules has been established.

"call……"

Josiah exhaled a smoke ring full of blood and gunpowder smoke, threw the inferior cigarette in his hand on the ground, ran over the cigarette butt with the sole of his foot, and then put his hand on the doorknob in front of him.

As the leader of one of the largest gangs in the King's District, the "Scavengers", a guy who specializes in doing some shady jobs for the upper class of the upper class-in fact, the indulgence of the big men in the Morning Star Empire Underneath, there are quite a few guys like him in the Kings District, and they are just tools in the hands of big shots—I am afraid no one would believe that he would live in such an ordinary-looking, shabby, inconspicuous old building. in the house.

Those who try to follow him and grasp his weaknesses and loopholes will always be dazed by his careful positioning and various blindfolds, and no one is lucky enough to see his residence.

But Josiah loves it here.

Every night, when he sees the lights on in this house, pushes open the door, and is embraced by his wife and daughter, all his exhaustion will disappear, replaced by a sense of full satisfaction that wells up in his heart.

This is the existence that he has to protect even though he fights everything.

The cruelty of depriving others of their lives disappeared from him, and Josiah showed a tender smile on his face.

He opened the door and walked in.

"Boom--!"

The moment the door was pushed open, a sound sounded, as if someone had pressed heavily on the piano keys, and the sound of music poured out.

Low, elegant, gentle, sacred... like the carols of the church, the hymn when the marriage is concluded, the night seems to turn into dawn, the golden morning light passes through the clouds and falls in the room, and the angel descends to the world in the divine comedy.

Josiah had a surprised smile on his face.

He knew that his wife loved the piano, and even bought a piano for his wife after marriage. She cherished it very much, but he never knew that his wife's level had improved to this level...

"Clap clap clap!"

"Yes, yes, yes!"

The childish cheers of her daughter sounded in the living room. She clapped her hands excitedly, picked up a bouquet of roses on the table, and ran to the wall where the piano was, presenting flowers to the performers excitedly. Her little His face flushed with excitement.

So much so that he didn't notice his father's return at all.

Josiah looked in the direction of her daughter with doting eyes, and the surprised smile on her face froze little by little.

——A slender figure slowly got up from the piano, took the little girl's bouquet, and saluted gracefully, just like every performer who is about to leave the stage.

The moonlight came in from the window, and the man's pale golden hair seemed to be glowing, his deep blue eyes were gentler than the moonlight, and while taking the flowers, he took the little girl's hand with one hand, and made a gesture. A kiss without touching:

"Thank you, dear little lady~"

The little girl smiled even more happily.

The moment the man stretched out his hand to hold the little girl, Josiah's pupils suddenly showed unconcealable panic, anger, and fear, as if seeing the snake's kiss of a poisonous snake!

He stood there stiffly, not even daring to breathe.

It seemed that if she was a little careless, the poisonous snake in front of her would be alarmed, and her immature life would be buried under the snake's kiss.

As if he noticed his gaze, the man under the moonlight raised his eyes to look at him, his lips slowly curled up, like a doll in a window, delicate, perfect, and lacking in warmth.

The thick night spread behind him, his shadow completely enveloped the little girl in front of him, but it seemed to envelop the whole room, and Josiah himself fell into a deep, viscous, terrifying shadow middle.

"Joe, you're back!"

The voice of his wife's surprise sounded behind Josiah.

Also break this suffocating atmosphere.

She walked out of the kitchen wearing an apron, and put the hot food on the table: "Just in time, Mr. K came to visit today, and I prepared a sumptuous dinner for you!"

Saying this, she smiled at the man by the window: "Mr. K, I'm sorry for not being able to treat you well. I hope this little guy doesn't bother you."

"Where? The little lady is very cute."

The little girl pouted angrily, and raised her little head again because of his compliment.

One big and one small bypassed Josiah, who was stunned in the living room, and came to the dining table to sit down.

The hostess looked at her husband, who was as motionless as a statue, and yelled dissatisfiedly: "Joe, what are you still doing in a daze! How rude!"

The man named Mr. K smiled and said: "No, I should be the one to say that I was rude, and I took the liberty to come to the door without the permission of the host... However, I thought that during this time, Josiah and you have established quite a deep relationship. friendship."

Saying so, he let out a soft sigh.

"No!" Josiah yelled after finally reacting. Realizing his gaffe, he quickly smiled, "I'm just... I'm just so surprised! I didn't expect you to come to visit me, it's such a pleasant surprise to me Already!"

He was a little incoherent, but his movements were quick, he almost quickly came to the dining table, and before the three of them sat down, he sat beside K without even thinking about it, and quietly separated K from his wife and daughter on the other side. .

It was a great dinner.

The hostess was very enthusiastic about this elegant, gentle, personable guest with a high-society temperament that was completely different from the King's Quarter.If you compare her husband's former friends with those friends, the difference between the two is simply heaven and earth.

Therefore, when this guest came to visit, she almost showed the best etiquette in her life, and even generously borrowed the most cherished and precious piano on weekdays.

This woman who grew up in the King's District, with her intelligence and acumen, can tell at a glance that such a distinguished guest who is beyond the current class may be a big shot that they will never be able to climb to the second place in their lifetime. It's also a chance for their family to get out of King's District!

She can't allow her daughter to stay in this place for the rest of her life like herself, and when she gets old, she will either become a female worker, go out to stand in the street, or take a gamble and find a reliable man to marry—she can't allow it!

Now it seems that this Mr. K has a rare good temperament, he seems to appreciate her husband very much, and has a good impression of her daughter... The smile on her face is even more enthusiastic.

The little girl next to him obviously liked this guest too.

Probably the only person who wasn't enthusiastic enough was Josiah herself.He seemed a little overwrought.

It seems that he is really a distinguished guest... Thinking of this, the hostess took a few glances at her unbelievable husband, and could only take his share on herself.

Amidst the warm hospitality of the mother and daughter, K responded calmly. Even when faced with the little girl's naive childish speech, he could respond in a gentle and humorous tone, making the dinner table always full of laughter and the atmosphere was very happy.

Among them, Josiah, who was always tense, seemed out of place. His wife had frowned several times to look at him, and a pair of deep blue eyes full of gentle concern fell on him from time to time, and he forced a smile.

Until the end of the feast, Josia hurriedly asked his wife and daughter to go back to the room on the pretext of having something to discuss. He locked the door and walked angrily to the living room.

The fear, worry, panic, and anger that had accumulated all night seemed to explode at this moment.

——He can't tolerate anyone threatening his family!

—Even if, even if it was a devil!

A figure was sitting on the sofa with its back to him.

The man's light golden half-length hair hangs over his shoulders, a pair of long legs are straight and overlapped, and he is carelessly playing with a rose in his hand - this is a gift from a little girl.

Seeing this scene, Josiah's whole body deflated like a punctured balloon.

His mind, which was dazzled by anger, suddenly sobered up.

——How can I forget, this is an out-and-out devil!

In just over a month, how many people in the King's District have lost their lives silently because of the devil in front of them, dumped in the trash can, in the stinky gutter, and are even more contemptible than wild dogs...

As one of the executors selected by the opponent, it happened to be useful because he succumbed in time to become a dog and a running dog, and he who survived couldn't be more clear.

The lives of many, many of them, the treasures in their hearts that were more precious than life, and the secrets that, if leaked, would make the whole family in trouble, were now in the hands of this devil.

As for resistance?Sneak attack?

Anyone who has seen the picture of this person appearing and disappearing like a ghost, and the end of the rebels and sneak attackers, will not have such stupid ideas.

Standing in place for a long time as if his feet were glued together, Josiah's chest heaved violently.

Then, he walked slowly to the other side of the sofa, as if he was shrouded in the shadow that enveloped the whole room again.

He bowed his head respectfully: "Mr. K, please tell me."

……

In another distant country, a brush is writing.

[...After some unknown exchanges and explorations, after forming an unknown cooperation with the president of the Shadow Council, K left the already tired Yuanyang City and came to this planet, separated by oceans another country. ]

[He quickly finds a place that suits his aesthetics and decides to add some ammunition to his weapon. ]

[...The puppeteer who is well versed in the weaknesses of human nature, who is invincible in insight into people's hearts, and who has mastered the intelligence network of the Shadow Council, provided him with great help in this process, making up for his own lack of patience and layout. The defect of making a move due to impulsiveness and passion. ]

[The whole Kings Quarter has become his hunting ground. ]

[And K's strong execution ability and ruthless disposition not bound by any moral law make the plan's execution very smooth, so that the puppeteer gets the reward he deserves. ]

[The tentacles of the Shadow Council are expanding...]

[Lost a Dawn City, and a new Dawn City. ]

[——This country is just one of the choices. ]