Chapter 1 The Back Garden

In Rum Town, under the setting sun, the shadows on the ground were exceptionally long. As a gathering place of people in the southern region of the Gamma Empire, this place was famous for its delicious rum.

Countless merchants, no matter how busy they were, would all come to Rum Town. They would try their best to deliver the rum to the other towns of the Gamma Empire to obtain high profits.

Because of the prosperity of business, the human traffic in the whole town was extraordinarily high. Although the sun was setting, the bustling night in the town was only beginning.

In Rum Town, there was a remote area that was regarded as the waste field of the entire town. Tons of household waste and industrial waste would be piled up here every day. Over time, it formed a trash mountain.

Normally, other than the garbage transporting staff, no other town residents would show up at this trash mountain. Sometimes a few homeless people passed by, but even for them, it was difficult to endure this filthy and chaotic environment. They wouldn't be able to stay for long before they left in a hurry.

However, just as the night was about to fall, there was another lively scene inside the trash mountain pile...

"Carl, it's getting dark! We have to go back as soon as possible. Otherwise, if we are caught by the dean, he will punish us and not let us have dinner!"

A girl with short dark green hair and white linen clothes shouted at the boy in front of her, who was constantly overturning the garbage.

"Okay! I got it!"

The boy named Carl impatiently put down the things in his hand. He had searched in the trash mountain for such a long time but found nothing useful, which made him very unhappy.

Carl wanted to vent his anger, but he didn't dare to be angry with Sofia, who had just reminded him. There was a tacit rule among the children, which was that it was better to provoke Carl, the leader, than to provoke Sofia when she was angry.

Looking up at the almost-dark sky, Carl shouted to the side, "Arthur! Send the signal. Let's call it a day. Let's go back to the orphanage!"

Hearing Carl's shout, Arthur, who was also buried in the garbage dump, wiped the sweat on his forehead with his dirty right hand and then whistled loudly.

In the quiet trash mountain, the sound of whistling drifted out in all directions. After a while, the other six figures came from different directions.

Carl first glanced at the people who had come from the back. After making sure that everyone had returned, he was relieved.

Although the trash mountain was quiet and deserted, its surface area was slightly large. If one was not careful, they might get lost in the maze made up of garbage. Sometimes even picking up things could cause the garbage to fall from a high place and bury people underneath in an instant.

As the leader of this group of children, Carl was responsible to take them back to the orphanage intact after taking them out to scavenge in the trash mountain.

For this group of children, who were only 15 or 16 years old, the trash mountain could be an extremely dangerous area, as all the residents of Rum Town had strictly prohibited their children from approaching.

The parents even said things like, "If you don't listen to me, I will throw you into the trash mountain," to threaten the children.

Only Carl's group of children was different. Since they were little, they had already lived in the only orphanage in Rum Town. The trash mountain, which was regarded as a forbidden area by the residents of Rum Town, became the precious back garden of Carl's group.

The back garden was extremely important to Carl and the others.

Different from the other children in Rum Town, the children in the orphanage did not have parents to dote on them, high-quality toys, or a good education.

What they had were merely the love and care for each other as well as the time they spent together in the trash mountain, which made their special childhood.

All the orphanage gave Carl and the others was three meals a day to keep them alive. But what child does not want to eat snacks? What child does not want to wear new clothes? What child does not want to have their beloved toys?

For Carl and the others, who were still young, the only way of gaining income was to find some trash that was still in good condition in the back garden. Then, at a low price, they would sell it to the merchants in Rum Town to make new products.

That was also the reason why Carl became a little irritated because he had gotten nothing today.

"Have you found anything useful?" Although Carl did not find anything himself, he still had a glimmer of hope for the other children.

Unfortunately, after hearing Carl's question, the seven children who came later all shook their heads with faces full of dirt.

Carl sighed helplessly, waved his hand, and told everyone to go home with him.

"Carl! Carl!" A thin little boy in a shabby gray cloth gown with red hair ran up to Carl from behind.

Carl raised his eyebrows, wiped the dirt on the boy's face smilingly with his hand, and asked, "Ron. What is it? If we don't go back now, the dean won't let us have dinner!"

"Hahaha, little Ron, are you hungry? Go to Carl and ask him for candy!" Joel, who had always been good friends with Ron, laughed at him from not far away.

Upon hearing that, Ron blushed and said in a low voice, "No, I'm not," and looked at Carl with respect.

"Carl, today I went to the top of the garbage heap and found a group of soldiers outside the back garden!" Ron was relatively thin and flexible, which also gave him the advantage to be able to easily climb to the top of the trash mountain.

Carl answered in surprise, "Soldiers?"

Carl turned around to take a look and asked, "Tom, Jerry, the two of you were in charge of the same area with Ron today. Did you see this?"

Tom and Jerry were biological brothers of this group of children, which was rare. They were abandoned by their parents when they were born and were sent to the orphanage in Rum Town.

Tom and Jerry nodded. Although they couldn't climb to the top of the trash mountain like Ron, when they got a little higher, they saw a large group of people in military uniforms gathering around the trash mountain.

Carl then looked at Vivian, who hadn't said anything. She was a cute little girl who looked like a doll. Chris, a boy with a dirty braid and brown skin, had also been silent.

Both of them shook their heads. They did not find anything unusual in the area in which they were in charge.

"That's strange... This group of military soldiers is usually in charge of public security. Why do they have time to come to the trash mountain today?" While Carl was thinking in his heart, the children were about to reach the exit and they encountered the military soldiers!