Autophagy

Being held by the arms, Song Lei and Gabriela were brought into a sewer entrance in the outskirts of the city.

"Is this really the place? What are you guys even doing here?" Song Lei asked. Lennie cast him a silent glance.

"It is. Don't ask questions. Boss will explain it all to you," Lennie said. There was a bitter expression on his face as if he didn't really want to bring Song Lei to his boss.

As they entered the sewers the distinct smell of human waste and sewage-filled their nostrils. However, it wasn't as bad as the sewer in the middle of the city. For Song Lei, who was resistant to such a thing, it wasn't much.

Footsteps of seven people kept reverberating in the sewers. Occasionally, police on patrol duty would pass. However, Lennie and the others seemed to know how to properly avoid them as they never got caught.

After walking more than twenty minutes in the sewers, Song Lei realized that the normal stench of the sewers disappeared. Replacing it was a faint, pleasant smell of newly baked bread. Song Lei had to take a deep breath to understand what was going on. The smell felt nostalgic to him for some reason, however, he couldn't pinpoint what it was.

As they turned around a corner, they were meth with a somewhat wide opening. Right in the middle of this opening was a man sitting on a chair. He had a wooden table in front of him with a gun laying on top.

This person was very tall compared to the people Song Lei had seen since he had entered the dream space, standing around 1.9 meters tall. His face was very sharp with a naturally serious expression.

"Boss, we've brought them over," Lennie said while stepping aside. Their boss didn't answer.

Just him looking at a normal person could make a normal person shiver in their place. And that was the case at the moment. Including the five people that brought Song Lei here, everyone had become humbled. They were all looking at the ground with timid postures and expressions.

Gabriela was in the same situation although she had just met this person for the first time. Song Lei, however, was indifferent to the man's intimidating presence. There were two reasons for this. One was the fact that Song Lei had been living in the New World for a good amount of time. An intimidating normal person would be the smallest of his problems.

The other reason was because of Song Lei's soul stat. As his soul stat kept rising, his presence would become stronger, while the pressure from people with strong souls would lessen.

The man's black eyes wandered on Gabriela first. Noticing her timid posture, his eyes turned towards Song Lei. As soon as he cast a glance at him, his eyes widened. He instantly got up from his seat and started walking towards Song Lei.

Seeing their generally calm boss get up from his seat so suddenly, everyone took a few steps back. However, Song Lei stood in his place and looked at the man right in his eyes.

The man took large but rhythmic steps towards Song Lei. When there were less than fifty centimeters between them, the man stopped. He slightly bent down to reach Song Lei's height and looked at him square in the eyes. Song Lei could feel the man's mint-scented breath. Although he was slightly uncomfortable, he didn't back down from the man's challenge and kept his stoic face.

"I like your attitude. Do you want to work for me?" The man asked. Everyone was incredibly surprised by his words, including Song Lei. Although he didn't show it on his face, he wasn't expecting the man to say such a thing.

"I accept," Song Lei said. This man was probably the person that would show him the way to get out of this dream space. It was pretty obvious that this person had somewhat of an influence over the city's suburbs and slums. If Song Lei wanted to leave the dream space, he had to find the arch-villain and kill him. In his current situation, killing the arch-villain would probably be the easy part as finding that person was almost impossible without a proper lead in this city. If he wanted to find clues, working under this person would be the best choice

"Good decision kid. You're now an unpolished gem. If you work under me, you will be shaped in no time," the man said. "I'm called the Poison Eye in the underworld. Remember that and call me Boss from now on."

Song Lei nodded at his words. "Can I ask for something?" Song Lei asked. Poison Eye looked at him emotionlessly.

"Go ahead. Greed is human nature," he said.

Song Lei looked at the trembling and confused Gabriela.

"Can you make it so that she lives without worries?" He asked. Poison Eye's mouth twitched for a second.

"So be it. She will live a somewhat safe life from now on. I will take care of her lodgings. You and your brother will also be taken care of by me. The only thing you have to do is get trained by me. Then do whatever I say," Poison Eye said in one breath.

Song Lei nodded. Seeing him comply, Poison Eye patted his head. It felt weirdly comfortable to Song Lei. He then turned to one of his men.

"Bring him to the place he is going to live from now on and bring the girl to her quarters with her family. Don't forget to find them a job too," he said. Turning back towards Song Lei, he continued by saying, "I expect a lot from you. Don't disappoint me."

After that, the man that had brought Song Lei to this place held his arm and brought him towards the exit of the sewer. As Song Lei was passing by Lennie, Lennie whispered in his ear.

"Lucky bastard..."

Song Lei didn't even cast a single glance towards and just walked out. Lennie must've been incredibly furious. If Poison Eye wasn't there, he wouldn't be so silent.

As Song Lei and Gabriela left the sewers with the other two men. They all stopped.

"From now on, you will live in our orphanage," one of the men said to Song Lei. He then turned to Gabriela and said, "You, on the other hand, will live in one of our rental homes. We will give your dad a job. He won't get a wage but we will give you a place to live and proper food. So be grateful."

"Why are you doing this?" Gabriela asked with a frown on her face.

"Why are we doing what?" The man asked. His expression was indifferent.

"All this... Isn't it a bit much? Why is Poison Eye treating us so well?" Gabriela kept asking. The man scratched his cheek.

"It's a really rare occasion that this happens. Although rare, if someone catches our boss's eye, he will be treated incredibly well. This friend of yours is the first person that has managed to stand against the boss without getting nervous. He must've liked him a lot. Your lives will be much better from now on," the other man explained. "Anyways. See you, Royce, let's drink together tonight."

The other man nodded and held Song Lei by the arm. "Yeah see you," he said. Then one of them took Song Lei away while the other took Gabriela. Today was the day that their lives changed so drastically.

After walking for slightly more than a kilometer, they reached a car. It looked nowhere near a modern car. Song Lei didn't have much knowledge about cars, let alone this antique. After they both mounted the car, the man revved up the engine and started driving. Cars weren't very mainstream in these times London. Song Lei was surprised that this person had a car to himself.

"Boss must be very wealthy..." Song Lei muttered. Hearing his words, the man thought for a second and answered.

"Yes, he is. After all, almost more than half of London's underworld belongs to him," he explained. "I'm Otto by the way. We will probably work together in the future, young man."

"Nice to meet you. I'm Lewis," Song Lei said respectfully. Otto seemed to be a relatively nice person. "If the boss is so rich, why does he live in the sewers?"

"Hmm... It's like... a weird habit of his. Although he has a mansion, he usually comes here to distract his mind. I heard that some unpleasant things have happened recently..." Otto explained. "Personally, I would really be happy if he lived in his mansion instead. That place reeks, especially the place he stays, it's unbearable," he complained. Song Lei raised one of his brows.

"The place he stays? Do you mean the wide opening that we were just in?" He asked. "Didn't it smell really good?"

"What? Of course not. Since when did the smell of shit and garbage become good?" Otto asked with a weird expression on his face. Song Lei didn't answer his question and went deep into thought.

'Maybe that smell was something related to the rules of this dream space...' he thought. His thinking was disturbed by Otto.

"We've arrived...."