The Modern Age of the Mysterious

A young face, brown eyes full of complex emotions.

Anger, humiliation, fear...

At that time, the remnant Max, or Mike Downs, was still a slightly thin boy.

He was forced to stand against the wall, along with Fry and Holly, and several other children from downtown.

This alley is facing the main road. There are other people on the road, but they don't pay attention to what happens at the entrance of the alley.

Standing in front of Mike and his buddies were three tall, tall people who had obviously grown up first.

They were the notorious "Leslie Brothers" of downtown.

Since childhood, they have served as "little bad guys" in local gangs, specializing in burning newsstands or robbing alcoholics. Occasionally help the gang do some disgusting things.

Mike Downs and others worked hard all day, and they finally earned some steel pegs by selling newspapers on the street and picking up cans, but they were about to be raided by the Leslie brothers again.

After being bullied, Mike, who had been unable to bear it, was actually ready for this moment - he hid a switchblade in his arms.

He had planned that if he met the Leslie brothers again, for the guys behind him, for himself, he would fight these sturdy beasts to the death...

However, when he was really blocked by them at the alley again, he couldn't raise his hand to get the switchblade in his arms...

Among the Leslie brothers, the thinnest black eye, Toby Leslie began to search one by one.

When he found the trembling Holly, he had a mean expression and his hands were not clean. Thanks to Mike pushing Toby away, Holly didn't continue to be humiliated.

Encountered with all this, the girl who was originally introverted and withdrawn could only cover her mouth and cry lowly.

The pennies they had earned with great difficulty were wiped out.

After searching Mike Downs' trouser pockets, the largest of the Leslie's, Tom Leslie, noticed something was wrong with Mike's expression.

Under his instruction, Toby found the switch knife in the inner pocket of Mike's shirt.

The Leslie brothers knew Mike's thoughts and threw the knife on the ground in front of him, beating him hard.

The most humiliating thing is that they didn't take away Mike's switchblade after beating him to the point of dizzying and lying on the dusty alley.

Not only that, but Leslie's eldest, Tom, seems to have noticed that Holly has grown up a bit.

He asked them to bring Holly to this alley tomorrow night or kill them.

After Leslie's group left, Holly burst into tears in the alley.

When the buddies were all gone, and it was getting dark, Mike Downs was still sitting at the entrance of the alley, not wanting to go home.

On the one hand, the gambler must still be hanging out in the underground casino, and he doesn't want to go back to the "home" where there is no temperature.

On the other hand, he could not accept his own cowardice in the face of the Leslie brothers at dusk.

When he was in the worst mood and was thinking about what to do tomorrow night, someone suddenly came over.

It was a big boy with blond hair and a slightly raised corner of his mouth that seemed to be smiling.

He walked to Mike's side, opened a small cylindrical tin, took out a star-shaped cookie from it, and handed it to Mike Downs: "My name is Peter Barry, and I just moved to this place today. What's your name on the street?"

Without taking the biscuits handed by the other party, Mike Downes didn't want to pay attention to this boy who suddenly appeared and seemed to be exuding optimism...

Looking at his clean shirt, Mike thought: These idiots who live happily don't know the truth of life at all.

Not seeming to be irritated by Mike's rudeness, Peter Barry actually sat on the ground opposite Mike, leaning against the other wall at the entrance of the alley, and said, "I saw it all."

Mike asked sensitively, "What did you see?"

"I saw those big guys searching for your money, and I saw you brought a knife...

"I also saw them threatening you and asking you to bring that girl named Holly out tomorrow night."

Mike Downes realized that the other party wanted to make fun of and humiliate him, his blood surged, and he gritted his teeth and wanted to get up and leave.

"Seriously, what are you going to do?" Peter Barry asked.

Gu "I'm going to kill them!" Mike clenched the switchblade that was not in use today, his eyes suddenly widened.

He swears in his heart that blood must be seen on this knife tomorrow night.

"I can help you," Peter said lightly.

People who didn't know each other even said that they wanted to help themselves. Mike thought the other party was joking.

Not knowing how to react for a while, Mike could only stand against the wall, so as to ease the dizziness from suddenly standing up.

"Seriously, I can help you," he repeated.

"Why do you want to help me?" Mike turned to the boy who seemed to have a problem in his head, "Do you think this is funny?!"

Mike also stood up: "No, it's not fun.

"I just think that if you want to change, you can only do it yourself—

"I'm going to hang out on this street in the future, and sooner or later, some unstable factors will have to be resolved."

"Earlier is better than later...

"Besides..." Peter said, stroking the snubbed cookie jar, "I appreciate you."

Mike sneered and was about to leave.

Peter Barry hurriedly said behind him: "You don't have to take Holly out tomorrow, you can do it yourself..."

"Tomorrow, as soon as you see the light, lie down on the wall!"

Mike, who had no intention of trusting the other party at all, endured the pain all over his body and limped away.

Peter Barry was left, looking at his somewhat comical back.

On the second night, Mike Downs, who had been thinking about his ending, waited in the alley with a resolute expression.

Standing beside him was Foley with a long face.

Mike asked him not to come, but he wanted to come.

Usually his face that seemed to be elongated, looked very sad, but tonight it looked even more tragic.

Foley also had a murder weapon in his arms - whatever the outcome, they decided to break up with the Leslie brothers tonight.

The night wind poured into the alley, and Mike and Foley saw the three tall figures approaching.

The dim light in the street lengthened their figures, and they seemed taller.

Although he had rehearsed it many times in his mind, Mike began to doubt his plan again.

He angrily beat himself, who flinched again, and simply held the knife in his hand.

However, as the three Leslie brothers got closer, their breathing became more and more difficult—

They realize that even with a knife in their hands...

I'm afraid it's not the three of Leslie who died tonight.

Seeming to have discovered Holly's absence, Tom Leslie looked mad as he rushed over like a beast.

There was no doubt that Mike felt that the other party wanted to twist his neck.

The hand holding the knife kept shaking, and both he and Foley wanted to run away.

At this moment, they suddenly found that the light at the entrance of the alley was blocked.

The rumbling sounded behind Leslie, and the five people in the alley looked over in surprise...

Something big, black, roaring from the alley!

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