The armed guards did not look like people they could communicate with peacefully, so Zhou Jinru quickly walked into a nearby bakery.
The boss quickly put up a sign that said he was closed for business. Another young man in the store was nailing a wooden board to the window of the store with a hammer. When he saw Zhou Jinru coming in, he subconsciously stopped him and said, "Sorry, sir, we are closed today."
"I just want to buy some food, I won't delay you too long."
Zhou Jinru looked at the oily yellow donuts and long thick bread placed on the counter, and his request was agreed to by the shop owner.
"Sir, here are the donuts and bread you asked for, one shilling and fourpence."
Zhou Jinru took out two shillings from his wallet and took the required pennies as a tip. When he walked out of the bakery with the food in his arms, he felt that the prices in Londinium were not ordinary. These staple foods could be enough for an adult to consume for a day at most. , but it is equivalent to the weekly income of workers in the Eastern Region and even the slums.
The food he held in his hands attracted the attention of the surrounding marchers, especially the still-heated bread, which was enough to make several eyes express longing.
He walked very slowly, holding his hat in one hand and holding the food bag in the other. If this demonstration against the right to exchange lunches was just an emergency, Zhou Jinru would not mind if the things in his hands were taken away.
However, those eyes were just watching, and no one took action to snatch it. It seemed that they were still sane, or someone was keeping sane for them.
"My behavior will quickly attract the attention of some people."
Zhou Jinru thought silently in his heart, and soon, a young man in a straight uniform walked over quickly, with two companions behind him, blocking the front.
The leading young man raised his hand to stop him from moving forward: "Sir, if I were you, I would not be walking alone on the street right now."
This parade cannot be without someone's guidance. It cannot be ignited by the spontaneous actions of a few people. There must be an organization and premeditation behind it. These foods are bait. It doesn't matter if they are swallowed, but they can help me catch big fish... ...Zhou Jinru raised his head, glanced at the three young people, and said hoarsely: "I want to go home now, what should I do?"
"If you don't want to be captured by the military police, you should find a place to hide and wait until everything settles before taking action. If you agree, my companion can take you to the nearest shelter."
Zhou Jinru had no reason to refuse. He followed one of the young men, walked upstream through the crowd of marchers, and walked into a closed handicraft workshop. In addition to a few gentlemen who did not want to show their faces, the people hiding inside were also some women and others. Children, he arrived with food, which naturally attracted the attention of several children.
"Thank you, I owe you a favor."
The young man who brought him here just smiled, then turned and left. Zhou Jinru stared at his back and slowly closed his eyes.
These people hope for change and hope that they can use their power to help the poor to fight against the flesh-sucking capital. The starting point is good, but they lack a program. The so-called change is not a dinner party, let alone the conscience of capital.
In Victoria, where the power of capital has the upper hand, such a plot can be filmed. It seems that the producer either has great power or has the tacit approval of some people.
Zhou Jinru opened his eyes and saw several children looking at him with longing eyes. He waved his hand and motioned for the children to come closer.
"gentlemen."
The older children did not dare to get too close, and the mothers of some children were calling them to go back and not to offend a gentleman, which seemed very impolite.
"Children, I like equal exchange. If you can tell a good story, I am willing to pay for bread and donuts."
His words made the children want to move. If the man in front of them kept his word, they would not lack food for a day.
A little boy who looked to be more than ten years old asked tentatively: "Sir, what kind of story do you want?"
"If you are curious enough, or have relatively mysterious rumors, you should start a conversation by introducing yourself. Children, you can call me Mr. Zhou."
The freckles on the little boy's face were slightly red, and he introduced himself stammeringly: "B-Bill, they all call me Hat Bill."
Zhou Jinru sat in the corner without hesitation, with a smile on his face: "Mr. Bill, what's your story?"
Hat Bill has never seen a well-dressed gentleman sitting in a dusty corner like them. This handicraft workshop has obviously not been opened for a while, so naturally no one has cleaned it, and dust can be seen everywhere.
"Mr. Zhou, two years ago, I was a chimney cleaning employee. I once helped a young lady clean the fireplace and saw something very scary."
Hat Bill secretly glanced at Zhou Jinru's expression while nervously telling his story. He bet that everything he said was true.
Zhou Jinru asked curiously: "Two years ago, you were a hired worker cleaning chimneys?"
"Yeah, back then my body wasn't what it is now."
The little boy stood up. He was not too small and could be as big as half an adult. Zhou Jinru guessed that it might be because his clan is the Fengtu people, because children who clean chimneys must be very small. After training, they can quickly climb the chimney and clean the soot and debris inside (Note 1).
Speaking of what happened two years ago, Bill said in frustration: "I could have continued working for another half a year, but His Majesty the King promulgated the Child Labor Abolition Act. I lost my job and no one dared to hire me again. Many of my companions It’s all like that.”
When Victoria lost its source of income without any guarantee of life, Zhou Jinru could completely understand the plight of these children, and how desperate the heroine Adela was two years ago before she went to steal the property of the Quiet Church, and was finally caught by Chen police station.
"Let's continue the topic. What did you see in that lady's house? Please remember my needs. If you want to tell me that she has several male companions or female companions, I'm sorry, I'm not interested in these."
Zhou Jinru reminded him timely.
Hat Bill put his hands on his knees, glanced at the marchers passing through the gap in the wooden door, and said slowly: "That's not the case sir, that young lady is a solitary person, she is a painter, I guess it’s because of her profession that she lives alone.”
The little boy took out a crumpled cigarette from his pocket, put it in front of his nose, and sniffed the smell of tobacco, as if it could bring him calmness.
"I'm interested, you can continue."
"Sir, it was one afternoon. After I helped her clean the chimney, I accidentally slipped from it and fell into the fireplace. Fortunately, her living room was not dirty, and I was not injured."
Zhou Jinru listened patiently and signaled that the other party could continue.
"The young lady was painting and didn't seem to notice the movement I caused. Her brush kept smearing on the paper. I couldn't understand what she was doing. Maybe she was venting her emotions. I was fascinated by it. , looking at it, an eye appeared faintly on the paper that could be said to be scribbled. Behind the scrawled colors, there seemed to be a terrifying monster hidden. I was frightened and immediately I climbed out of the chimney and felt restless for several days.”
Zhou Jinru was fascinated by what he heard and asked: "Then what?"
Hat Bill sniffed: "I couldn't help but go to the Silent Church. Father Albert is a good person, and the nun is also very gentle. I listened to his sermon and felt much better. I will never be in that kind of moment again. The illusion of staring.”
After he finished telling his story, he looked at Zhou Jinru and the food with awe.
"Nice story. Now I suspect that you are a preacher hired by the Quiet Church, because I also want to go there and have a look."
Zhou Jinru took out a loaf of bread and handed it to Bill the Hat. He kept his promise and exchanged stories for food, which attracted the attention of several other children. They rushed to tell their own stories. Some were just folklore, and some may be misunderstandings of events. However, Zhou Jinru was not stingy. After distributing the last donut in his hand, he stood up and patted his clothes: "Children, thank you for your stories. I feel very happy. Goodbye."
The gentleman holding the cane pushed open the door of the handicraft workshop, walked into the crowd under the gaze of several eyes, and quickly disappeared.
"Ming Yuexin, what do you think of those stories?"
"Doctor, I am just a subsystem and cannot analyze these stories, but from the descriptions of those children, it seems that there are members of the Deep Sea Council lurking in Londinium."
Zhou Jinru did not deny it: "I think it is possible. A young lady, a painter, likes to paint some weird paintings. If she is not ready to take up arms to make changes, I think it is very likely that she is one of our operators."
"Doctor, do you mean Miss Deep Sea Color?"
Zhou Jinru wore a top hat and swam upstream. He said calmly: "It is very possible that the ghost shark disappeared suddenly. Skadi went after her and then disappeared. This incident caused a lot of trouble among the Rhode Island operators. The commotion is because the ghost shark is in an extremely unstable state. She doesn’t even have the ability to move. How could she disappear from the tightly monitored Rhode Island? I suspect someone is acting as an inside agent.”
It is not uncommon for spies from other countries to exist in Rhodes Island. The key is for everyone to maintain peaceful coexistence. Otherwise, why would Mr. Wei from Longmen send so many people in?
And Lateran, Syracuse, Victoria...
On the one hand, Rhode Island is full of talents, but on the other hand, which country has not placed an informant?
It can only be said that Kelxi's methods were forceful and unknowingly made them afraid to cause trouble.
"The doctor suspects that the Deep Sea color operator is an insider of the Deep Sea Council?"
Zhou Jinru shook his head and said: "I didn't say that. The Deep Sea Council is good at mind control and biological modification technology. The problem of the ghost shark is before us. It is very clear in the medical files that there is liquid source stone in her body, which has even damaged nerves and endangered her life. , leading to an unstable mental state. Based on several incidents I have experienced before, it can be determined that they have interference and control technology at both physical and mental levels."
It's just that these techniques are ineffective on him.
The rigid shield and mountain skill are immune to mental control, giving him an iron turtle shell that cannot be beaten or controlled by others.
"Did you remember all those stories just now?"
Ming Yuexin made a sign of completion: "Everything has been entered into the database and can be retrieved at any time. When I return to the real world, I will compare it with similar information in the Rhode Island database."
Knowing that there are all kinds of magical events in Victoria, Zhou Jinru also wants to find some clues from those stories, but unfortunately there is no time to carry out the operation yet.
He walked for a while and finally came to the end of the parade, only a few steps away from the Western District.
Once he encounters an unexpected situation, his transportation is his legs. Fortunately, he exercises regularly, and his overall quality has improved a lot compared to before traveling. After walking such a long way, his physical strength is well preserved, and there is no need to find a place to rest for the time being.
"Doctor, the Church of Silence is located in Belgravia. You still have to walk a while. If possible, I suggest you take a car. You should be familiar with that place."
"Yes, I was here not long ago."
Belgravia is an upper-class residential area in Londinium. What Ming Yue Xin said about not being a stranger was that Yin Hui had invited him to meet him at the nearby Twilight Bar.
Zhou Jinru found an open carriage on the way. There were not many single-seater carriages here, but they were not uncommon. It seemed that the nobles and rich people here were in demand for them. The reason for the small number may be the cold weather in winter.
"We have to walk through Chester Square and pass by the door of the Speaker of the Victoria Parliament. This place is full of mansions of nobles, belonging to the most powerful handful of people in Victoria."
In fact, some people are not here.
Zhou Jinru raised his head and looked towards the sky. There was nothing above Londinium except thick clouds. What he was thinking about was the city in the sky that he saw in reality, the small Londinium floating above the mobile city. .
"Before the era of mobile cities arrived, Little Londinium did not have the conditions to take off. Even in reality, Victoria's awareness of it was still pitiful."
Not long after, the carriage stopped on an empty roadside. There were no carriages waiting for guests nearby, and there were very few people walking.
Zhou Jinru looked at the quiet church in the distance. It was so simple, with no luxurious decorations and not many security personnel. It was located in the corner of the West District. It was almost difficult to find its existence if not deliberately looking for it.
Standing outside the church, Zhou Jinru's inner doubts became more intense. He was wondering why the heroine and her companions were allowed to enter here two years ago since the Western District is a gathering place for nobles and rich people.
He climbed up the stairs and reached out to push open the ajar door of the church. A beam of light shone in from the outside. Following his footsteps, it illuminated the church bit by bit. People sitting on the prayer benches listened quietly to the podium. priest explains the scriptures.
“Light will follow him, saith the Lord.”
