The Mafia Empire

Ternell City is located in the southwestern region of the empire. Compared to the bustling southeast coastal area, Ternell City appears less prosperous. However, for those living in Ternell, this place is a paradise compared to the dirt-lad rural areas.

Julian gazed curiously at the bustling streets. Although he had se cities far more advanced and prosperous in his dreams, those were just dreams—this was real. He adjusted the patched-up backpack on his shoulder and eagerly looked a the street, planning his next move.

Learning the language was esstial. The streets were filled with signs and letters he couldn't recognize, which would limit his future developmt. Next, he needed to find a job that could temporarily support him, not necessarily one that paid well, but at least a job that provided a basic place to stay and two meals a day.

As he walked the unfamiliar streets of the city, he felt a tinge of fear but, ev more, a sse of hope for the future. He noticed that the sky here seemed bluer than in the countryside, and ev the air felt refreshing.

"Hey... you, kid over there!"

Julian turned to the voice. Beside a car, which seemed a bit funny to him but was actually the latest model in this world, a man in a bowler hat beckoned him over.

"Yes, sir, what can I do for you?" Julian immediately walked over, unsure of why this wealthy-looking man was calling him, but he wasn't too concerned about being bossed a—everything here was new and exciting to him.

The man looked Julian up and down before nodding slightly toward the car. Behind it were a few crates that looked heavy. "Help me carry these up to room 4 on the fourth floor."

Julian was momtarily stunned, but his face quickly lit up with a smile. He adjusted his backpack and wt over to lift the crates. They were indeed heavy, and as he picked them up, he noticed some liquid sloshing inside. The man seemed surprised by how easily Julian handled them and pointed toward a nearby five-story building, signaling him to hurry up.

Carrying the heavy crates, Julian made his way to the fourth floor, a bit out of breath. Back in the countryside, he had be one of the main laborers in his household, accustomed to heavy work. Although the crates were heavy, they were nothing he couldn't handle.

He found room 4 using the numbers he had learned from coins. After knocking on the door lightly with his foot, the door oped just a crack, and a man with a grim expression peered out through the gap, his eyes cold and eerie.

"A gtleman downstairs asked me to bring these crates up," Julian explained.

The door oped a little wider, and the man leaned out, glancing up and down the quiet hallway before fully oping the door. Julian noticed a detail: as the man oped the door, his right hand moved behind his back and th reappeared.

Looking at the crates in Julian's arms, the man seemed somewhat surprised. "You're pretty strong!" He stepped aside, allowing Julian to ter. "Just put the stuff behind the door."

After following his instructions and placing the crates down, the man rather rudely pushed Julian out of the room and slammed the door shut with a loud bang.

Staring at the closed wood door, Julian stood there for a momt, th shrugged and made his way downstairs.

The man downstairs hadn't left. Wh he saw Julian, he said nothing, simply pulled a one-dollar bill from his pocket and handed it to him. Without waiting for Julian to thank him, the man drove off.

Watching the car disappear down the street, Julian whistled to himself. It seemed making money in the city wasn't as hard as he thought. Look, he'd already earned a dollar in just over an hour—a sum equal to three days' wages for an ordinary person.

People always feel a sse of pride in their first time doing anything, ev if it's something trivial. As Julian thought about the first dollar he had ever earned through his own labor, he began looking for a place to stay.

Ideally, he wanted to find a leather workshop, as the profession of a leatherworker would sure he never wt hungry—a saying he had once heard from a drunk wolf pelt buyer in Wild Clover Town.

A wolf pelt worth t cts—wild coyotes oft appeared in groups outside Wild Clover Town, attracted by the livestock. These coyotes were the bane of the townspeople. They used traps to kill the coyotes and th sold the pelts to leather merchants who visited once a month.

According to that leather merchant, these pelts, which could only be sold for t cts, were crafted by leatherworkers into items worth t or ev dozs of dollars!

Julian figured that if he wanted to improve his life quickly, becoming a leatherworker's apprtice was the fastest, most straightforward path.

Of course, he didn't know that mastering any trade could yield similar results.

After wandering a the city for a while, Julian's head was spinning. He had never se such a large city, with so many people, streets, and buildings.

And of course, there were the cars.

No more opportunities like the one earlier came his way, and as for finding a leatherworker… he hadn't had any luck either.

Using water from a roadside pump, he ate a rock-hard whole wheat loaf of bread, marking his first night spt in the city.

He also expericed, for the first time, something called loneliness. Curled up under a bridge, he evtually fell asleep to the sound of the howling wind.

Over the course of several days, Julian explored every corner of Ternell City. He found three leather shops, but of the owners were hiring. He shifted his focus to other jobs, like tailoring, carptry, or any other respectable work. Whether it was bad luck or some other reason, no one wanted to hire him. He quickly realized that there was oft an unbridgeable gap betwe dreams and reality.

Two weeks later, after countless failures, Julian finally found a way to make some money—by washing cars.

All he needed was a bucket of water, a cheap bar of soap, a dried-out gourd sponge, and a towel, and he could start cleaning cars on the roadside. The total cost of these supplies was less than a dollar, and for each car he washed, he earned at least five or t cts. If he could wash a doz or twty cars a day, he could make a fortune!

Drawing from experices in his dreams, this was the time to expand, hire people, and create a brand...

It seemed like a good plan.

On the eving of his sixteth day in Ternell, Julian walked to the roadside with a bucket of water. He had scouted out the area—across the street was the Ternell Grand Theater, where every day, wealthy patrons came to joy operas and comedy shows. It was the most profitable spot.

As dusk fell, Ternell City came alive, waking from its slumber. The city already amazed Julian; he couldn't imagine what an ev bigger city would look like.

The honking of a car horn snapped him out of his thoughts. A brand-new Augum car had stopped nearby. A stern-faced man wearing a trch coat and hat stepped out. He glanced at Julian, patted his car, and casually tossed two five-ct coins onto the g before heading up the steps to the theater without a word.

What an arrogant man! Julian muttered to himself as he picked up his bucket. "If I ever become rich, I won't be like him."

Julian shook his head, resolved that if he ever rose to wealth, he would never forget to treat other people with respect.