In the East District of Backlund, at a crossroads.
Mike Joseph saw many poorly dressed children with pitiful eyes on the street, wiped his mouth with a handkerchief, and intended to go give them some pennies.
But his action was stopped by the former tramp, Old Kohler:
"Those are thieves!"
"Thieves? What about their parents? Or are they controlled by gangsters?" As an experienced journalist, Mike had never been to the East District, but he had vaguely heard that several gangs here controlled wandering children to steal or beg.
"Parents? They either have no parents, or their parents were once thieves, or still are. Of course, Mr. Journalist, you are right, many of them are indeed controlled by gangs. It is said that those gangs even teach them how to steal, for example, hanging a gentleman's coat on the wall, putting a handkerchief in the pocket, with a pocket watch hanging outside, and through repeated practice, they can steal the handkerchief without the watch shaking. Ha, I heard all this when I was a tramp, in the poorhouse." Old Kohler rambled on, "I remember the youngest thief caught on this street was only six years old. Ah, six..."
He seemed to remember his child who died of illness, and couldn't help but pull out a crumpled cigarette from his pocket, but didn't dare to smoke, only sniffed it.
"Six..." Mike was still stunned by this number.
Klein listened quietly, then sighed and said:
"This is the East District."
He looked around, adjusted his mood, and said:
"It's closer to a jungle than to human society."
"We should treat this interview as an adventure, needing to know how to avoid the territories of dangerous creatures, and stay away from those small things that seem harmless. Well, I mean the mosquitoes in the jungle."
"Mike, if you reveal the thickness of your wallet in front of those children, even if you protect it well and they don't steal it, you will inevitably encounter a robbery in the following adventure. If you dare to resist, perhaps tomorrow there will be one more corpse floating in the Tussock River."
"Detective, you're absolutely right! With so many people in the East District, no one will care if a few go missing every day." Old Kohler agreed.
Mike listened with a grave expression, was silent for a few seconds, then suddenly said:
"1.35 million."
"What?" Klein's throat was obviously a little hoarse due to a cold.
Mike walked forward and said:
"This is the initial count of the population in the East District."
"But I know the actual number must be much higher."
"So many?" Old Kohler was startled.
Although he had experienced the day and night of the East District and intuitively knew there were many residents there, he didn't expect it to reach such a level.
Several times the population of Tingen... Klein subconsciously compared it with the most familiar place.
He glanced at the crossroads a few steps away and said:
"Which direction should we go next?"
Old Kohler looked up and said:
"Never go straight. That block is controlled by the Zmann Gang. They are very vicious and completely unreasonable. If they find a journalist interviewing, they will definitely beat us up!"
Zmann Gang? Isn't this the gang that caused me a loss of 10,000 pounds and the "brainless" one? He's also an executioner? Ah, I don't even remember his name... Luckily, those 10,000 pounds eventually got me the potion formulas for Sequence 7, Sequence 6, and Sequence 5 corresponding to the "Seer", got the "All-Black Eye", and got the life of the Intis ambassador. I wonder which faction finally got the manuscript about the third-generation difference engine... Klein suddenly recalled the events from the beginning of last month.
"Zmann Gang? The gang mainly composed of highlanders?" Mike asked thoughtfully.
"Mr. Journalist, you've heard of them?" Old Kohler was surprised.
Mike snorted:
"They are involved in many cases and have some reputation outside the East District. It is said that a member was once involved in an Intis spy case."
...The person next to you is the party involved, the reporter, the victim... Klein silently added.
"You decent gentlemen know about the Zmann Gang, why don't the police arrest them all?" Old Kohler asked with the mindset of the lower class.
Mike's expression suddenly became a bit ugly, coughed, and said:
"We can only arrest those who have committed crimes. For the rest, without evidence, they cannot be arrested. Moreover, the East District is so big with so many people. If someone wants to hide, it's very hard to find them."
As he spoke, he sighed:
"It's easy to destroy a Zmann Gang, but as long as highlanders come to Backlund, as long as they retain their tradition of being aggressive and have no other means of livelihood, it's only a matter of time before a new Zmann Gang appears."
This is a complex social issue... Klein pointed left and right:
"Pick one side."
Old Kohler looked at the right street:
"The Hulley Gang is active there. As long as you don't provoke the women doing, well, that kind of business on the street or in the bars, they won't notice you. Ha, it's morning now, so there won't be any problems; they're still sleeping."
The word "Hulley" in Rune language means "outlaw". A gang with this name can be said to be quite self-aware.
Klein and Mike had no objection and, led by the guide, entered that block.
The buildings here were relatively better, and the streets were not so dirty. The air was filled with the smells of oyster soup, fried meat fish, ginger beer, and other food and drink left by street vendors, as well as the fishy smell of aquatic products.
Walking here, Klein had a strange sense of familiarity, as if he had returned to Tingen, to Iron Cross Street, to the street outside the first apartment he lived in.
The only difference was probably that Backlund was closer to the sea, with more developed transportation, and there were plenty of sea fish here.
"This is one of the better apartments nearby. I wandered around here several times before and found that the gentlemen and ladies inside were all dressed quite, well, cleanly." Old Kohler pointed to a three-story light yellow building.
The three of them approached and found a sign hanging at the entrance of the apartment, with a pocket watch, a wall clock, and a screwdriver drawn on it, along with words like "repair clocks and watches".
"A clockmaker lives here?" Klein recalled a similar scene from his original's memory fragments.
At that time, Benson, Melissa, and he had gone to a similar place to repair the silver pocket watch left by their father, but that item broke down several times after being repaired, until Melissa finally fixed it completely, becoming the most respectable thing Klein had at that time.
After Klein's "death", this pocket watch, which had both monetary and emotional value, was not buried with him.
It should be with Benson now? I wonder if every time he takes out that watch, he thinks of me... Klein blinked and curled the corner of his mouth.
"It should be." Mike was not sure.