AnnouIn one hour, the first chapter of my new work titled "Apocalypse: Mad Neancer’s Troops" will be published. The publishing schedule will be as follows: 8 chapters per day, at a rate of one chapter every 3 hours, until chapter 48.Chapter 52: The Butterfly Effect

  March 6th, m.

  Blood Moon City.

  Golden sunlight bathed the castle built into the mountainside.

  Two t spires pierced the sky, with surging waves of magical energy spreading outward tinuously.

  The white walls of the towers were intricately carved with plex spell ruhat gleamed softly with magical light as mana flowed through them.

  A few swift birds flew by, attempting to pass he towers.

  "Crackle!" A sharp sound rang out, and silver lightning struck swiftly, enveloping the birds in an instant.

  The birds didn’t have time to cry out before they were scorched bck by the deadly lightning, spiraling down to the ground.

  Weighihan half a pound, the birds thudded onto the dusty ground, dead beynition.

  Two small figures quickly emerged from the dark ers of an alley, snatg up the charred birds before anyone else arrived.

  Jifan cautiously watched the alley, wary that a tall vagrant might appear and snatch away the hard-wo in his arms.

  His small hand, hidden in his sleeve, gripped a rusty, chipped dagger tightly. The bde, although old, was still sharp enough to kill!

  In the dangerous slums, being ruthless was just one of the basic survival skills.

  But today, Jifan seemed to be lucky, managing t his prize back to his dipidated shack without i.

  He carefully knocked ourdy wooden door and, as agreed, let out three dog-like barks.

  The thick wooden door slowly opened, and a frail figure peeked out from behind the gap, speaking in a worried yet hopeful voice:

  "Brother, why are you back so early today? Did you get hurt?"

  Slipping ih practiced ease, Jifan slid the door’s heavy bar into pce, pced a small stone on the door frame, and patted his sister's head before pulling out the charred birds from his arms with a smile:

  "A gift from the lord. We’ll have meat to eat today."

  Little Jixiang beamed as she looked at the bed birds, nodding eagerly before rushing to the kit to fetch a basin of water.

  The two spent half an hour ing the charred birds, revealing the small amount of meat underh.

  Stifling her hunger, Jixiang sipped at a bowl of water, her rge bd-white eyes watg ily as her brother worked.

  Jifan carefully chopped the meat into small pieces and pced them into a chipped iron pot. He g their dwindling firewood, then at his sister's thin face, and made a decision:

  "The spoils from the first level of the sewers are getting scarcer. Even if it’s dangerous, I’ll have to go deeper. Otherwise, we’ll both starve..."

  "I’ll o find Tom ter. He’s not the brightest, but he’s reliable, and at least he fight detly..."

  "If we find something valuable on the sed level, some relics or parts, we might even save enough for the martial arts school fees..."

  "If Tom and I bee professionals, we’ll never have to go hungry again..."

  His plicated thoughts slowly faded as the rich st of soup began to fill the air.

  Jifan served most of the meat to his sister while he only sipped some broth.

  Looking down, he saw that his sister outing and him her bowl.

  His ung with emotion, and he forced a smile as they split the small portion of meat between them.

  After giving his sister stristrus not to open the door for anyone, Jifan prepared to leave.

  At that moment,

  Little Jixiang, watg her brother’s retreating figure, spoke softly with a hint of hesitation:

  "Brother, we not go underground? It’s too dangerous. We could always get the lord’s pe..."

  Jifan paused, turning to look at his sister’s worried face. He hesitated for a long moment before nodding slowly:

  "Alright, I won’t go."

  With that, Jifan carefully removed the stone and closed the dazing up at the sunlight streaming down, feeling a weight on his chest.

  g his teeth, Jifaually turned and headed into the darker alleyways.

  He had to go to the underground ruins—his sister didn’t have much time left!

  But to his surprise, the usually crowded entrao the underground ruins was nearly deserted. The few familiar faces he saw were all running toward the opposite street.

  Just then, a burly figure rushed over, calling out to Jifan:

  "Jifan, hurry! A big shot is recruiting people, and the pay is said to be great. We o get there quickly!"

  Jifan immediately reized the man—Tom, his old rade who had saved his life before.

  Normally a bit disheveled, Tom had tied his hair ly today, donned his tattered leather armor, and carried a wooden-handled axe, clearly having brought out all his belongings.

  Something seemed off about both the others and Tom. Narrowing his eyes slightly, Jifan suppressed his thoughts and bluntly asked:

  "A big shot? Who’s the big shot? And what’s he recruiting for? More on fodder?"

  Tom quickly shook his head. He was about to scratch his head before remembering to stop, thinking hard before finally exg:

  "I remember now! It’s a big shot from the mert guild, the generous Mr. Adam Smith!"

  "He’s hiring neushers and guards. They say he’s prepared over a hundred carts of supplies and is recruiting thousands of people..."

  Hearing Adam Smith's name, a shrewd mert immediately came to mind for Jifan. He g the sparse crowd at the ruirance, uo resist asking:

  "We probably won’t qualify as guards, but what about cart-pushers? What’s the pay?"

  Tom shook his head in fusion and gave the same familiar ahat always left Jifan exasperated yet amused:

  "Uh... I fot."

  Rolling his eyes, Jifan patted Tom’s arm as they hurried toward the opposite street, asking:

  "Did you find out where he’s going and how long the job is?"

  This time, Tom nodded quickly, pointing to the gathering crowd ahead with an incredulous tone:

  "They say it’s to a pce 300 kilometers away, a vilge called Bay Vilge. It’ll take about five days to get there, but there weren’t this many people earlier..."

  Not b to respond, Jifan pushed through the crowd, signaling Tom to clear the way...

  Bay Vilge.

  The vilgers who weren’t selected for the reserve soldier positions tinued w, keeping busy.

  The kobolds, who had worked all night, retreated to their underground burrows to sleep.

  "Ding, you have ged the fate of 35 people and gained 300 Fate s."

  Matthew looked at the gathering of children, his eyes filled with fusion:

  "What’s going on?"

  FAL