[BL] Daily Disposable Persona

120: Little Majesty 11

What was London like during the 19th century?

In the 19th century, throughout the entire world, the British Isles was the place that best depicted the unique, decadent beauty of the Steam Age.

In this period, the Industrial Revolution was just beginning the process of adapting society to new ideas of high productivity. Trains chugged through the magnificent district of Whitechapel, swept through the newly-paved streets, bid farewell to the dark and dirty slums, and entered a land of industry and steam-powered gears.

This was the scene of the 19th century depicted by Dickens in A Tale of Two Cities.

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness..."

The famous Sherlock Holmes series took place in the same context. Against a backdrop of intense change, an artist's creative potential could be infinitely magnified.

The Night Watchman stood atop the tall spire of a tower. His black leather shoes tread on a flowing mass of shadows.

On his slender hands were a pair of half-finger gloves. He lazily held a black umbrella, clasping his index finger around the handle.

The silvery white moon rose behind him, outlining his silhouette with pale, foreboding light.

The thin gold chain of a pocket watch dangled from a hidden pocket in his vest, jingling and tinkling in the evening breeze, fluttering in the wind with the hem of his trench coat.

His dark gray hair was tangled beneath a top hat. The Night Watchman slightly narrowed his scarlet eyes, just like a demon from a Western myth who'd escaped from hell to plague the earth.

The harbinger bird landed on his shoulder and lifted a claw to scratch at its feathers. The plague mask on its face was striking.

"London..."

Zong Yan squinted his eyes and stared into the distance. Everywhere he could see, towering chimneys rose up beneath the cover of night, ceaselessly spewing their industrial exhaust into the air.

Capitalists in this period didn't understand the devastating harm these fumes would cause London in the future. The only thing in their eyes were piles of gold coins, so they drove child workers into their factories and harvested cheap productivity with moldy black bread.

Zong Yan caught a glimpse of his current appearance from a reflection on the brass beak of the harbinger bird's mask.

Although the temperament and aura were quite different, the face was the same as his own.

This meant Zong Yan's previous guesses were correct.

He'd cycled through the Sun God and the King of Clouds, and now he'd arrived on the set of the Night Watchman. According to this logic, if you excluded the Cloud of the Wind persona card, which he'd lost when he synthesized Yun Zhong Jun, the next one was probably the Astrologer.

And then, after the Astrologer, it might really be the Lord of the Universe.

Zong Yan's eyes were unreadable. He stared at the empty, night-cloaked streets beneath his feet and suddenly felt a strange sense of peace.

He'd thought about it long ago. It didn't matter where the path ended. He wouldn't run away.

A few years ago, after Zong Yan went through the metal box that Grandma Zong hid from him under the bed, he'd stopped asking certain questions.