Dark Crow

(Beneath the brilliance of technological stride,

Civilization flourishes, yet humanity takes a slide.

Clever innovations, yet hearts grow arid,

Amidst progress, morality seems discarded.

Skyscrapers ascend, cityscapes reach the sky,

Yet in urban corners, whispers of despair belie.

Smartphones connect, an unbroken line,

Yet social solidarity seems to decline.

Neon lights shimmer in the urban night,

Values vanish, ethics out of sight.

Cultural richness yields to trends anew,

Civilization grows, yet hearts grow askew.

Beneath the glow of neon so bright,

Values erode, forgotten in the light.

Look at humanity, lost in its sphere,

Technology advances, but morality unclear.

As the world marvels at its own creation,

May we find our way back to moral foundation.

In the rush of progress, let hearts gleam,

True civilization is not just a dazzling dream.

May humanity awaken, rediscover the true path,

Technological leaps, yet let hearts emit a poetic aftermath.

A civilization genuine, not just in glittering spark,

But in enduring values, kindness leaving its mark.)

Vera City, Arsenal State!

It's the time of the new gubernatorial election campaign between Lady Violet vs. Mr. Lucas.

For the elite, this will be the decider of who will triumph and who will fall. It's not just about Violet and Lucas, but also about those who support either of them.

The Liberal Party that supports Violet wants a freer world while the Labor Party that supports Lucas wants higher wages.

However, each party has long since lost their identity.

They are nothing more than tools for politicians to achieve power.

Whichever party is in power, the first thing each party thinks about is how to make themselves wealthier for the next five years.

Unfortunately, this fact never reaches the lower classes, each of whom just keep hoping that the person they support will change their plight.

Even when they are told that fact with various proofs, they will not believe it, or perhaps they are too scared to believe that the world is a different place to their imagination.

Bad luck can only be erased by one's own ability, by one's own strength, something that stupid and weak people do not have.

Without that ability, it means they will continue to be at the bottom.

Sometimes the corruption of the world is not always the fault of the elite, but of the lower classes who are not smart enough to think.

A young man who was only 17 years old was walking on a sidewalk in a black jacket, which didn't match the current summer.

He had a handsome face, and what was most attractive were his black eyes and hair.

As for Levi, he seemed weak because of his rather thin body and fairly pale skin.

However, that was only from the perspective of an ordinary person.

Unfortunately, he was not an ordinary human.

Levi stopped his steps when he arrived at a neighborhood full of small bars that could be said to be unsanitary.

Trash was scattered in front of the bars, and quite a few women were dressed sexily.

They all gathered in a fairly large empty area, cheering for a very beautiful young lady with wavy blonde hair, wearing trousers and a rather formal shirt.

She was actually only 17, obviously around Levi's age.

And when observed, her face seemed to be quite similar to Levi's.

It was similar in terms of structure. Only, the woman's eyes were blue, unlike Levi who had black-colored eyes.

"Isabel," Levi said in a low voice when he saw the young woman.

Right behind the woman, there was a large poster with a picture of a woman who appeared to be in her early 30s.

She was dressed in professional attire consisting of a white shirt layered over a suit.

Her blonde hair was in a neat bun, and speaking of beauty, she was far too beautiful for a woman of her age.

She will let people know right away that she is a very intelligent woman and her blue eyes are so calm that it gives the impression that nothing can shake her mind.

She can practically charm all men no matter how old they are.

Even the ladies would subconsciously make her their unofficial leader if they were in a group with her.

Her face was so similar to Isabel's, anyone would instantly conclude that they were mother and daughter.

She was naturally Lady Violet, one of the candidates for governor of Arsenal State.

"My sisters, I'm sure you understand how vile men are these days. If they weren't, you wouldn't all be in this place, working as bar girls," Isabel said using a small microphone so that her voice echoed loudly.

She always smiled slightly, giving the impression that she was a very friendly woman.

The bar girls she was referring to were nothing more than a figure of speech to keep her from speaking too harshly. In reality, only a few of those women were bar girls. The rest were prostitutes.

"Right!" The women in front of her agreed with her words, as if they had a grudge against all men.

One of them said in a loud voice, "the men now consider themselves kings while we are slaves who are only fucked but not taken care of, they don't even take care of our children. We need an woman to lead us all and reverse this unfair situation."

Her words drew passionate applause from the other women including Isabel.

"You're right, Miss," Isabel said.

"My mother, Lady Violet, always fought for all of us women. She climbed from a very low place to get where she is today until she had the opportunity to become a candidate for governor. Whether she can lead us all to the life we dream of will depend on whether she will win this fight. It's a life and death battle for all of us. If she does not become governor, it means we all have to wait another five years and have to put up with this unfair life again. The enemy fights with a lot of money but we are never afraid. Our money is small, but our determination is as big as the sky."

Isabel seemed to be burning with fire as she said it all. She was filled with a burning passion, raising the spirits of everyone who heard her including the journalists filming from the side.

Even some men cheered for her. Her campaign may seem very feminist, but there is no shortage of men who resent the injustice to women in today's era.

Of course, that injustice is not entirely true.

It may be a dilapidated era, but there are no unequal rules between men and women.

If there are women who are victimized by men, it's mostly because of their own stupidity.

Unfortunately, that is often exploited by female politicians. They sometimes exaggerate problems that really aren't that big.

Because of solidarity, most women assume that it's a fact.

It was then exploited by female politicians to gain votes in the election.

Levi shook his head as he heard everything Isabel said.

He thought to himself, 'as if you care about them. You just want your mother to win so that your social status rises to a new level.'

How could Levi not understand the truth from Isabel. After all, he had grown up together with her since they were children.

Both of Levi's parents had died when he was a baby, so he was taken care of by his aunt, Violet, Isabel's mother, who was his father's sister. Even now he still shared a house with them.

He could live independently, but he was used to living in their house, which was why he chose not to leave.

Affection is the main factor of that.

Isabel is an ambitious and pragmatic woman, but she cares deeply for and loves her cousin.

Violet was the same, she considered her nephew as her own biological son.

If there was a problem, it was that there was something they didn't know about Levi while Levi knew everything about them.

'I'm sorry Isabel, I don't want to bother you, but the thing you're doing is something I need to interrupt. Otherwise, it'll seem like I'm being unfair as a criminal. Yeah, let's pray your mom can win the election even if I keep messing up,' Levi said to himself.

After that, he covered his head with the hood of his jacket then walked into a dark narrow alley.

Surprisingly, a long black coat appeared on his body along with a crow mask. Both of them appeared from nothing.

From the moment the crow mask appeared, Levi's eyes instantly turned a bright red color that looked like the sun at dusk.

Whoosh!

Levi's figure suddenly disappeared before appearing on the roof of the building behind Isabel, right above Violet's poster.

He sat there with his legs crossed, seemingly relaxing to watch the show on the baway.

It took a few minutes before anyone realized he was there.

"Dark Crow," said those who saw him.