21 Defending the Orphans

"How much is it?" asked Kael instinctively.

"Wait a second, I'm not on Earth right now. What kind of currency do these people use to buy goods?" thought Kael, with a confused look on his face.

"Sir, one pack of bread or 2 New Dawn coins per stone," said the stall owner, feigning a submissive smile.

"I don't have any of these New Dawn coins with me. Okay, then I will use a pack of bread for exchanging these stones," Kael thought for a moment and bought the pack of bread from the shop.

"Here is your payment," Kael took the pack of bread and put it on the table. Then he took the stones and put them in his pocket. The moment he did, they disappeared and were stored in his inventory.

The stall keeper looked right and left cautiously, then put the pack of bread into his clothes.

Kael didn't know that many eyes were watching him from the shadows, making him the target of many starving survivors.

He went to different kinds of stalls and triggered various side missions. Since they didn't have any time limit, he gladly accepted all of them.

There is even a restaurant, but he didn't bother to see what kind of dishes are served there because he has a general idea of how the food will taste.

He felt uneasy when he saw the orphans begging at the restaurant entrance, remembering his past life as an orphan.

One of the kids lost consciousness and fell to the ground, right in front of the restaurant entrance.

An old, rundown car appeared at the restaurant entrance, and a couple stepped out of it.

Other orphans immediately rushed to the boy who fell and dragged him away from the entrance.

The couple walked into the restaurant and shouted, "Manager, I said, next time I come here to eat, I don't want to see any low-class filth at the entrance. Look, filth is all over the entrance of your restaurant. Don't you want us to come here anymore?"

The restaurant owner peeked at the entrance, glared angrily at the guards, and shouted, "If you don't clean the entrance from that filth, you can forget about getting this month's wages."

He turned back to the couple and said, "Sir Veer, please have a seat. The guards will clear the filth in a minute."

"Hmph," Veer scoffed and went to sit at the grandly decorated table with his girlfriend.

The guards were annoyed when the owner threatened to dock their wages if the orphans weren't cleared from the entrance. They angrily rushed out with sturdy metal rods in their hands.

"I know... I know this is the apocalypse, and there are no laws, but I never thought there would be no humanity too. These people can throw humanity in the garbage, but I won't, since the humanity in me is what makes me feel I'm still human," Kael thought with a frustrated look on his face.

The guards approached the orphans and shouted angrily, "You filthy bastards, how many times have I told you not to stay at the entrance of the restaurant?"

"Bro, stop wasting time and beat them up," added the other guard.

One guard raised his hand, holding the iron rod, ready to strike the nearby girl. Even though the blow wouldn't kill her, it would surely break every bone it touched.

As the iron rod was about to make contact with her body, it stopped.

The girl, who had expected a beating, slowly opened her eyes when she realized she wasn't being struck.

The guard looked at the person holding the iron rod with furrowed brows.

"Sir, I've never seen you here before. It seems you're new to this place. These kinds of things are very common here. It would be better if you didn't get involved in unnecessary matters like this," said the guard, his brows furrowed.

Instead of responding to the guard's words, he turned to the girl and reached out his hand to gently rub her hair, asking, "Are you okay?"

Fear evident in her eyes, she nodded animatedly in response to Kael's question.

"See, even if you don't want humanity left in you, you don't have to resort to violence against kids suffering from extreme hunger. They're not entering the restaurant and disturbing the customers, right? What's wrong with staying outside of the restaurant?" asked Kael, his gaze stern.

For a moment, the guards didn't know what to say. They looked at each other, unsure how to respond to Kael's words.

Kael pulled the iron rod and bent it into an unrecognizable shape, then threw it aside. The guards jumped like scaredy-cats when Kael tossed it at their feet.

Then he turned to look at the orphans and asked with a gentle smile, "Don't you all have parents?"

One of the orphan girls stepped forward, nodding her head, and said, "Yes, we don't have parents. We eat the leftovers thrown in the garbage and sleep on the roadside."

Kael felt inwardly sad. He was an orphan himself, and if the officer that day hadn't taken him to the orphanage, he might have also eaten garbage food and slept on the roadside.

"Are there more orphans in this place?" asked Kael.

The little girl nodded her head.

"Do you know where they are?" inquired Kael.

Again, the little girl nodded.

"Okay, take me to those orphans," requested Kael.

"Okay," the little girl nodded and led the way to the other orphans in a different location.

Kael, Sita, Rita, and other orphans followed the little girl.

Many eyes watching Kael from the shadows immediately shut down the moment they saw him twisting the iron rod as if it were rubber, though a few pairs of eyes continued to watch him from the shadows.

After a few minutes, they all reached the dilapidated building, and the little girl entered first, followed by Kael, Rita, Sita, and the other orphans.

Seeing the strangers enter the building, all the orphans inside kept their distance, wearing wary expressions on their faces.