Strong winds blew constantly at the Tosh family's small shack, and the Haji reindeer moss and fluffy hay used to keep it warm rustled.
While sitting on the bench with one leg missing in front of the shack, Gabriel Tosh stared at the rolling waves in trance, watching one wave after another smash into pieces as it hit the shore.
The sea in Haiji is ice blue, and the warm sunlight in early winter is like the gradation layer that is not yet dry on an oil painting, with various spots and stains on it, which are the turbid sewage discharged by the heavy metal smelting factories in the city and along the coast.
A dilapidated diesel fishing boat with a clattering motor is sitting at an equally dilapidated small dock on the coast. The blue-green flag fluttering in the wind at the stern of the boat is like a rag struggling in the wind.
The fishermen of Geladi always go fishing day after day in their small fishing boats that seem to have come from centuries ago. This is their only chance to get some money or even identification.
But no one has ever succeeded.
This ocean was once rich in aquatic products and picturesque, but now it is on the verge of death because of the brilliant glory of human civilization. People here always cannot see hope, but in this poor and backward world, tomorrow will never be better than
It's worse today.
The clouds in the sky were loose, and the strong wind was blowing them here and there, as if they were a lens playing ten times or a hundred times faster. Sometimes Tosh would try to figure out what was on the other side of the ocean, and later he realized that it was all the way to the other side of the ocean.
In front of you, the sea is still a sea, and on the other side is a wilderness that is vaster than this ocean.
When Tosh realized that his increasingly elderly grandmother was calling him, he stood up and looked back from the roof of his shack to see more shabby houses and shacks built with bricks, rotten wood, and scrap metal.
There is no end in sight.
There is a turbine wind engine every few hundred feet, and the huge fan blades rotate with the strong winds sweeping through the slums, bringing precious electricity to the poor people. This is also the most important thing in Haiji, a moon world where hurricanes and tornadoes are always rolling around.
Cheap resources.
The noise of the wind wheel and the sound of wind are the sounds of this world that will never fade away, better than the chirping of birds and beasts. Only the restless heavy metal rock music can bring a touch of ups and downs and passion to the hopeless and depressed life here, which is as pale as water.
At the end of the slum area, on the other side of the inlet is the city of Grande, lined with high-rise buildings, where there are bright lights, factories, goods and clean streets. The slums and the bustling city are so close to the people here.
So much so that they could cross this distance in less than forty minutes on foot.
Tosh has never been to Grand City. He has been in this slum with no hope for as long as he can remember. Just like the people in this slum, Tosh has no way to go to school, or even accept the most difficult life.
Simple education.
People in slums and shacks can always see the splendid city that seems to stand in the sky when they look up, but no one has ever been able to step into it. In a corner on the edge of the city, even strong winds cannot dispel the filth and stench.
Poverty, hunger and disease are still destroying the lives of everyone here, causing them to age prematurely.
It is also a place where filth and evil gather, where gray interests and gangs run rampant. The Grandy slums that have accompanied the city since its establishment are the dark side of the entire city.
"Little Gabriel, go back to the house." Tosh's grandmother was still calling him.
"Manan Thres told me that a powerful storm is coming. She will destroy everything and the walls will collapse."
Tosh's grandmother was incredibly old, her dark brown skin was covered with wrinkles and spots, and she was so thin that she seemed to be skin and bones.
My grandmother has always been a strong family patriarch and the leader of this small tribe. Her whole body was wrapped in the robe of the high priest of the Haiji Voodoo sect. It was a dark linen robe with blood-like robes on it.
The bright red paint paints twisted and absurd totems, and the most eye-catching VEVE logo symbolizes Manan Thres, the goddess of death in Haiji.
After hearing his grandmother's words, Tosh turned and returned to his little shack that seemed to be crumbling.
His grandmother has always believed that she is a person blessed by Manan Threshold, and red is the representative color of the goddess of death. Followers of the Haiji Voodoo sect believe that the goddess of death is real, and the symbol of Manan Thres
Their totems and ornaments will bring them protection and strength.
Low education, superstition and ignorance caused the people in the slums of Grandia to retreat into the chaotic structure of gangs, families and tribes after more than a dozen generations, while in the more remote corners, the nomadic tribes who were outside of civilization
Is a major worshiper of the popular Voodoo sect.
Tosh's small shack is built with several suspended car frames and rain shelters. It cannot last long after a hurricane hits. But the same is true for stone houses. After hurricanes destroy everything, people always have to rebuild their homes.
Day after day, year after year.
There was a five-foot-long bed in the shack, which was Tosh's most precious possession. The rest were bottles, cans, animal skins, and other things Tosh picked up from the trash.
Incoming items, expired food or rotten apples.
"Take it and kill it. Manan Thres needs blood to sacrifice." Grandma opened the blue gauze curtain of the small shack to block mosquitoes, flies and thieves from prying eyes, and handed Tosh a pointed knife.
Screaming Grandyx blue-eyed mouse.
Originally there were no rats in Haji. Just like flies and mosquitoes, they all followed the footsteps of the Tyranid human colonists to this remote lunar planet. These cunning rodent creatures have perfectly adapted to the environment here.
The ethnic group is much more prosperous than humans.
Tosh pinched the screaming rat's tail to keep it from biting his finger.
Then, Tosh pulled out a sharp triangular dagger from the nearby garbage pile and inserted it into the mouse's brain and nailed it to the ground. Then Tosh used another knife to cut the mouse open.
He drained the throat and drained the blood, and then peeled off its skin cleanly.
"You did a great job, Gabriel, my child, the angel that Manan Thérèse gave me." Grandma knelt down in front of the small pool of rat blood.
"An angel who declares God's will and announces his death."
"But remember, before peeling off its skin next time." She took the blood of the mouse and wrote the VEVE logo while kindly telling Tosh: "Keep it alive."
"Manan Thrace will tell you what is the right time for sacrifice at the right time...Blood, killing and death will win the favor of the goddess of death."
"But why, we have been offering sacrifices to the goddess of death, but she never responded to me?" Tosh asked his grandmother.
"It's not the time of destiny yet." Grandma showed an angry expression for a moment, which frightened Tosh for a while. Fortunately, her anger quickly disappeared.
"Manan Thres is deep in the soul world, in yours, and in our hearts." Grandma has always been kind to Tosh - even though she is a strong person who is feared by her tribe.
Grandmother is a loyal believer in Manan Thres, the goddess of death. She is weird and mysterious, and a fatalist. Even Tosh, who can read other people's thoughts, cannot see through her.
"Did I not do enough?" Tosh's black eyes showed a milky white luster, and a red light lingered on the surface of his body.
"Oh - she is looking at you." The wrinkles on my grandmother's face were all gathered together with joy: "That is witchcraft, but don't show it in front of other people...except
Voodoo people. Destiny will guide you, it will never turn its back on you."
"Witchcraft." Tosh concentrated his energy and released a powerful psychic power. Everything in the shack flew off the ground and floated in mid-air. He knew that he could crush them easily.
It's like crushing the soft tissue in a brain or throat.
However, Tosh cannot show his power because it will attract the police from the Tyranid Federation or people from other departments. Whenever people from the federal government come here, nothing good will happen. They are better than
People who are feared as murderers are synonymous with trouble.
That will bring misfortune.
Tosh once showed his "witchcraft" when he was young, which triggered a terrible super power phenomenon. People around him were extremely afraid of Tosh's power and expelled his family to the slums.
edge, which is why this shack is so close to the sea.
For a long time, Tosh has believed deeply in his grandmother's words. His grandmother's words are the authority and all the facts. His power is of course a kind of witchcraft. It is the power given to him by the goddess of death, and his mission is to bring happiness to her.
Get rid of the blood.
"When you are ready, you can bring some higher-level sacrifices to Manan Thres." Grandma picked up the skinned and boneless mouse, sucked the blood from her fingers and said: "
She said that water is what makes up everything in the world, and people are part of water."
"I don't like killing... I don't like doing that, grandma." Tosh once again rejected his majestic grandmother: "Forgive me, I can't kill. No... I can't
To hurt those innocent people."
"I only hear the souls of the dead crying, but Manan Thres remains silent." He said: "If possible, I hope I can kill some heinous people instead of homeless people and homeless people on the streets.
Those who are homeless."
"Under your face that makes those people fearful, you are so kind." Grandma did not show any anger: "Then who should define the measure of crime... Haiji is a criminal.
land."
"On me, Grandma," Tosh said.
"You will be a leader with a sense of honor, and one day you will rule the world." Grandma laughed, but the laughter was as sharp as glass scratching a cement wall.
"Gabriel, you are the savior of Haji, the gospel of this world." She said with a smile: "You have to save others and declare the death of the enemies for Manan Thres."
"Praise be to Manan Thrace and her gifts. She has made you born special. You are destined to be a leader and the master of the world."
As she spoke, the grandmother took out several strings of beads from her long priest's robe and put them on Tosh's neck one after another. Finally she took out a necklace with a small rag doll hanging on it.
Put it on Tosh and watch his grandson smile.
It was a human-shaped doll, no more than a few inches in size, sewn with cloth and buttons. The two sides of the doll had two expressions, one happy and one sad.
An ancient spell doll.
"If you encounter an enemy you cannot defeat..." Grandma said slowly.
"Just nail it," Tosh replied.
"Many roots."
At this time, the howling wind outside suddenly intensified many times. It was a roar like a mountain roaring and a tsunami, as if the gods were roaring. This hurricane was far stronger than before, and the shack was shaking violently. Soon it would
Leave them alone.
Tosh suddenly felt uneasy. He saw a gloomy, dark cloud-filled sky from behind the blown door curtain. A tornado sweeping across the ocean was forming, which would bring terrible disaster and death.
The sky dimmed in an instant, as if it had entered the dark night. The small-tonnage fishing boats that were too late to enter the port were one of the few lights left on the ocean. They were racing against time. If they were any slower, they would be swallowed up by the tornado behind them.
.
The rain poured down heavily, soaking the waterproof canopy above Tosh's head in just a few seconds.
The city of Grande in the distance is still brightly lit, and the neon lights shine even more brightly at this moment. The city extends among the colorful lights, including countless Christmas trees hanging with colorful lights or a beetle carrying fireflies on its back.
The shaking and creaking of the shed became more intense, but Tosh heard some different sounds from it.
"There's a monster coming," Tosh said to his grandmother.
"The monsters...maybe they are the messengers of Manan Thres, where are they?" asked the grandmother.
"In heaven." Tosh answered as he stood up.
At the same time, heart-rending air raid sirens sounded in the distant Grand City. Storms are a common occurrence in Haiji. When they come, sirens will sound in the city, but that sound should never be heard.
Such.
Several old-fashioned Avenger fighter jets passed by at high speed over the slums, their tail lights flying above the dark clouds against the heavy rain.
The accumulated cumulus clouds triggered a thunderstorm at this time, and in a flash of lightning, Tosh saw hundreds of black dots falling from the gaps in the clouds in the sky.
In an instant, the face of a roaring monster suddenly appeared in Tosh's mind. It was a creature with a dragon-like head, bat membrane wings and a worm body. In the light of another lightning,
A large number of huge, flying beetle-like creatures fell from the sky, like debris falling from the gaps in the clouds.
Several bright orange flashes of explosions appeared on the horizon, which was the final fate of those brave Avenger fighter pilots.
"Run!" Tosh suddenly rushed out of the shack and ran wildly through the slums.