A mineral mine on the west side of the city, Sector C…
"Damn it! Hit him harder! Don't let him off!"
"You bastard! How dare you disobey our orders? This is what you get!"
"Hahaha! This kid is really unlucky. Unfortunately, I won't forgive him tonight."
In the deepest part of the dark and silent mine cave, three burly men beat a seventeen-year-old teenager.
They attacked him mercilessly again and again, inflicting unbearable pain on his body.
After fifteen minutes, they were finally satisfied and stopped.
"That's enough for today. If we keep going, the boy will die," one of them said coldly. "Tomorrow, if he messes around again, we'd better just finish him off. After all, there's no one around at this hour."
The other two nodded in agreement. Without another word, the three of them turned and left, leaving the teenager lying helplessly in a pitiful state.
"Ugh…" Morgan groaned in pain.
He wanted to move, but he couldn't. It felt as if every bone in his body was broken.
After struggling for five minutes, he finally managed to sit up, his face pale.
He looked down at his arms, legs, and stomach, all covered in dark blue and black bruises.
"They're so cruel…" he whispered, filled with anger and sadness.
He had never intended to do anything to them. Yet the three of them kept harassing him until he could no longer endure it.
But who would have thought they would be this violent and ruthless?
If he had known, he would never have dared to show his anger earlier.
Even so, he understood that from now on, they would definitely continue to target him.
After all, many people had already fallen victim to them. Not a single one had survived.
Pushing the thought out of his mind, Morgan tried to get up but failed.
Pain spread through his cells and nerves, yet he did not give up.
He dragged his weak body toward the stone wall, then used all his strength to pull himself up while holding onto it.
Despite the pain, he eventually managed to stand.
Still holding the stone wall, he forced himself to walk toward the cave's exit.
"Hey, kid, did they hurt you?" a middle-aged man asked in a playful tone.
The man sat casually on the counter chair, his feet resting on the desk.
He wore a yellow vest and a green hat.
Morgan glanced at him irritably and said, "Can't you see my condition, Jack?"
Jack looked him up and down, then put on a pitying expression.
"You're right. I was very stupid for not realizing it. I'm sorry."
His tone remained casual, as if he didn't really care.
Morgan gave a wry smile and shook his head.
The man in front of him was Jack, a mineral exchange operator—a place where workers like Morgan traded their mining proceeds for money.
Morgan limped toward him, carrying an iron bucket in his left hand.
He placed the bucket on the desk and said, "Count all the Arcanox I got."
Jack took the bucket and began counting its contents.
In less than two minutes, he finished and said in a serious tone, "Not much today, huh? Only two hundred Arcanox. Kid, your work performance is really bad. If this keeps up, I doubt the supervisors will keep you on."
His words made Morgan fall silent. It wasn't that he didn't want to mine more Arcanox; it was simply very difficult to obtain.
He had to hoe in the mining area for three hours just to get fifty Arcanox.
Not to mention the conflicts with other workers, who often fought over mining spots.
For him, two hundred Arcanox was already a huge amount.
Seeing Morgan remain silent, Jack only shook his head. He took out twenty bills, each worth ten thousand, and handed them to him.
"I know you're in serious financial trouble. But don't give up. Do your best," he said.
Morgan smiled faintly and gave a short nod. After receiving his payment, he limped out of the room.
Watching him leave, Jack took out a cigarette and lit it.
"What an unfortunate boy," he muttered, taking a drag before exhaling the smoke.
…
Morgan stepped out of the mining area and felt the cool night breeze on his face.
He looked up at the sky and saw a painful, chaotic sight. The moon, Earth's only satellite, had been shattered into pieces.
Most of the fragments were scattered across space, while the rest formed a ring around Earth.
"The Martians, huh? This war really has no end," he whispered weakly.
About 450 years ago—more precisely, in the year 2050—for the first time in human history, ten astronauts were sent to the planet Mars.
They had two objectives: to search for traces of life and to attempt to build a civilization there.
Unexpectedly, the ten astronauts discovered an ancient artifact left behind by a mysterious civilization that had once existed on Mars.
The artifact was known as Genesis.
Genesis functioned like an advanced programming tool, capable of creating giant robots with extraordinary power.
The ten people sent to Mars began to control and study its mechanisms without informing anyone on Earth.
They cut off all communication with Earth and started their own civilization, relying on the Genesis they had discovered.
Since then, a war between the Martians, backed by Genesis technology, has begun and continues to this day.
Naturally, Earth suffered defeat after defeat. After all, Genesis technology was far too advanced.
A scientist once stated in the year 2100 that if humanity wanted to create similar technology, it would require at least ten million years.
It was such an immense span of time that it seemed utterly impossible.
"I'm sure the bigwigs must have a headache—no, I'm wrong. They're probably partying without caring about the fate of us all," he quipped softly.
Corruption, nepotism, and collusion have been human vices since ancient times and are still nurtured today.
No wonder Earth had suffered so many defeats at the hands of the Martians.
Shaking off his thoughts, Morgan continued walking until he finally reached a slum far from the mining area.
Being poor, he didn't have enough money to rent a decent place for himself and his sister.
"Oh, right. I forgot. Melissa probably hasn't eaten yet. I should buy her dinner first."
He turned right in search of food. Although the area was slummy, many people lived there.
In addition, many food stalls and shops operated twenty-four hours a day.
Morgan stopped in front of a small bakery run by a short, elderly woman.
"Good evening, Grandma Tina. Could you give me two sandwiches—one meat and one chocolate?"
"Oh, Morgan, I'm glad to see you're doing well, son. Just a moment," Tina said with her familiar gentle smile.
She packed his order and handed it to him.
Morgan reached into his pocket and took out two silver coins, each worth a hundred cents.
"By the way, Morgan, you should go home immediately."
Tina's words startled him.
"Go home immediately? What's wrong? Did something happen to my sister?" he asked frantically.
Tina nodded weakly. "I haven't seen her come out. I'm afraid something might have happened to her."
Morgan's heart began to race. Without another word, he turned and ran toward his house, ignoring the pain still lingering in his body.