A little after three in the afternoon, Lucian pushed his massive food cart out for the mobile stall.
This was also an important part of his business.
Most people out and about in Lungmen at this hour were kids just getting out of school and elderly folks strolling around—the main customers for his tea snacks.
People always asked why he sold popcorn alongside Char Siu Bao, but that was purely because Lucian liked it.
He walked from the Mid Ring toward the Outer Ring, checking the stock in the cart.
"Yeah, that should be enough for today."
He took down the food cart sign, closed the dust cover, and wrapped up his work.
But instead of heading back, he kept walking toward the edge of Lungmen.
The closer he got to the Outer Ring, the fewer people there were. The skyscrapers gradually disappeared.
Lungmen was small in size but incredibly dense—a Commercial City-State with extreme population pressure.
The closer you lived to the center, the higher your social status.
Anyone who could afford a home in the Inner Ring was rich. Most ordinary people crammed into tall apartment blocks.
But outside the forest of high-rises, on the very edge of the city, lay the Outer Ring—
Or to put it plainly, the Slums.
Dirty streets, twisting Alleys, walls covered in graffiti and old flyers…it felt like a different era compared to the city center.
The people who lived here were Lungmen's lowest class.
Elderly who couldn't bear the cost of living, kids without guardians, and people who—for whatever reason—needed to stay out of sight.
Because of various complications, Lungmen's officials rarely managed this area seriously.
Over the years, the outskirts had simply become a no-man's-land.
But the people living here still had their own way of life.
A voice called from a tiny fish-ball stall beside the road:
"Hey there, kiddo! You're early today!"
"Morning, Dong."
Lucian walked over with a polite smile.
The elderly, slightly hunched shop owner waved his ladle affectionately.
"Lucian is a good boy. You'd never break a girl's heart, would you?"
"Uh… I'll try not to?"
Lucian felt the secondhand embarrassment hit him like a combo attack. He glanced around in sheer panic.
Like many elderly folks, Dong was extremely talkative. Another few sentences and Lucian would definitely get dragged into some kind of arranged date.
So he quickly counterattacked:
"Ah—Dong, did you see Xiaoling around? I haven't delivered the food for the kids yet."
"Oh, the children."
Dong's weathered face softened.
"They should all be in the Great Courtyard at this hour. Go on. Ah—take a few bowls of fish balls too! Just finished them!"
Unable to resist the old man's enthusiasm, Lucian accepted the bowls.
In exchange, he handed over a few bags of Soy Milk and Char Siu Bao to complete the trade.
This was Lucian's routine every time he came to the Slums.
He didn't come here to do business. He came to feed people.
Life in the Slums was harsh, which was exactly why the residents all helped one another. Neighbors looked after neighbors.
There were many children whose parents couldn't care for them—or who had no parents at all. They were all taken to a place everyone simply called the "Great Courtyard," where any available adult would watch over them in turns.
The girl Lucian was looking for—Xiaoling—was the oldest of them. She was basically everyone's big sister.
"Big brother!"
Before he even reached the Great Courtyard, a girl came running at full speed, then sprang off the food cart and launched herself straight at him.
"Oof—Xiaoling, you're full of energy today."
Lucian caught her, spun her around twice, then patted the child clinging to him like a sloth.
"Did you get heavier again? You—ow ow ow—why are you biting my ear?"
"Because big brother is a dummy."
The tiny girl puffed out her cheeks, her long rabbit ears bouncing.
Even angry, she didn't let go of him at all. She was obviously just being clingy.
So Lucian surrendered and soothed her:
"Okay, okay, sorry. I was joking. Xiaoling is the most slender girl ever—totally not heavy."
"Here, Dong sent fish balls today. Eat them with the other kids before they get cold."
Xiaoling: "Okay!"
The obedient girl nodded with bright enthusiasm and helped carry the packages into the Great Courtyard.
While she ran back and forth, Lucian's sharp eyes caught sight of the back of her neck peeking out from her collar.
"Xiaoling. Come here a sec."
He beckoned her over.
Lifting her hair, he examined the marble-sized stone embedded in her skin.
A chunk of black crystal jutted out as if it were growing from beneath her skin—striking and disturbing.
This was another reason Slum residents struggled to reintegrate into normal society: Oripathy.
In Terra, society couldn't develop without Originium.
But the same mineral that powered civilization also caused an incurable disease—Oripathy.
Once infected, it could never be cured.
Patients could only watch as more Originium erupted from their bodies, their organs slowly destroyed until they died.
Because of how severe it was, anyone with Oripathy was nearly guaranteed to be rejected by society.
Not everyone in the Slums was infected… but every Infected was forced to live here.
Still, unless a body went untreated after death, Oripathy patients weren't contagious by themselves.
As long as people were careful, the Infected weren't the monsters many imagined.
Lucian checked the size of Xiaoling's crystallization carefully. It hadn't grown.
Satisfied, he smiled and pulled out a small box of candy from a hidden compartment in the cart.
"Good girl. You've been following what I told you. Give these to the kids with Oripathy—one cube per day."
"Mm!" Xiaoling nodded firmly.
She picked out a bright red Sugar Cube, popped it into her mouth, and her eyes curved with delight.
"The candy you make is so sweet! And it feels all warm… my whole body feels nice! Everyone loves it. Even the kids without Oripathy are jealous!"
"Ahaha…" Lucian scratched his cheek awkwardly.
"They can eat it too. I just don't have enough to go around… If I could make more, that'd be great. Anyway, take your time eating. I have to go."
"Big brother!"
Xiaoling grabbed the corner of his shirt, looking at him with watery eyes.
"Aren't you eating with us? Everyone misses you… and I miss you too…"
Lucian grimaced. "I still have meals to deliver to the elders with no one to look after them. I'm running a bit—ah."
Mid-sentence, his eyes slid to a corner of the wall.
A tail.
A long, thin tail, smooth, hairless, with a red tip twitching guiltily behind the bricks.
Lucian knew that tail. Extremely well.
He leaned down to whisper in Xiaoling's ear. Her eyes lit up with mischief, and she nodded rapidly.
Then, using the same athleticism she'd shown when jumping onto him, Xiaoling bounded up the wall, scampered along the edge, and launched herself down—
"Big sister Hui-chieh!" she called out cheerfully.
"Waugh!?"
The woman Xiaoling landed on staggered back several steps, completely exposed in Lucian's line of sight.
Lucian took in her embarrassed, blushing face and grinned like a fox.
"Good afternoon, Ch'en Hui-chieh. Fancy running into you here. Want to grab some tea together?"