Chapter 135 [0133] Reincarnation in the Flame

Many years later, surrounded by blazing flames, Baron Coopers finally recalled the distant morning when he followed his father into the factory to work as a child.

If time went back thirty years, maybe he would be one of the cheering people?

After confirming that the container had been ignited, he found a relatively clean place and sat down cross-legged.

Thirty years ago, Coopers was only a twelve-year-old child.

On that rare night when he had a full meal - Coopers still remembers that he had stuffed bread that day, and the purple berry stuffing was very sour, but it was always memorable - after a rare full meal, his brother and sister went out to play the stone throwing game, and Coopers was left at home by his father.

"You are twelve years old." His father's voice was low and hoarse, but full of doubt, "Go to the factory with me to work tomorrow."

Coopers was very reluctant.

But he had no choice - or rather, most Zaun people of this age had no choice.

So, after tossing and turning all night, the next morning, he wore his father's shirt with two buttons missing, stuffed two more layers of pads in his worn leather shoes, put on filters, and walked through the iron gate for the first time to the alchemy factory.

Little Coopers watched his father give a golden, shiny gold hex to the supervisor and exchange his position for himself.

That was his first time seeing a factory, the first time seeing a roaring machine, and the first time seeing gold hex.

It was also the last time he saw his father.

Things like deaths are normal in Zaun's alchemy factory - there is a hell joke...

"Why do Zaun people's alchemy products, even paint, have so many impurities? Because Zaun people are these impurities."

There was no pension, no compensation. The only generosity of the "kind-hearted" Baron was not to take back Coopers' relatively safe position, but as a price, his salary was cut in half.

The halved salary was not enough to support Coopers and his younger brother and sister, and he was not able to save up another gold hex to give to the supervisor and send his younger brother to the factory. He wanted to find his father's former friends, but unfortunately, those people sympathized with the child, but all they could do was give him some bakery coupons.

With the coupons, Coopers could buy bread at half price, but he could only buy those that were not sold the day before - and because of Zaun's poor food safety, his younger brother also left him because of diarrhea. That year, he was fourteen years old.

He tried to find the owner of the bakery to argue, but was thrown out directly. Not only that, he also lost the right to use the coupons and no longer had half-price bread.

His brother's body was eventually sold to a human laboratory for the price of a gold hex. With this gold hex, Coopers sent his sister to a private workshop - his vision was much broader than his father's. He firmly believed that only by mastering a technology could one truly stand out.

There was no future for being a slave like himself.

Cooper's sister is very smart. She is very popular with the workshop owner. She even followed the chubby aunt to Piltover several times to talk business with people from another world.

Every time she came back from Piltover, she would excitedly tell Cooper about her experiences, her eyes shining like stars.

And seeing the longing in her eyes, Cooper would always say, "We will move to Piltover in the future, I promise."

In order to realize his sister's dream, Cooper began to try to make money in a side way - or in other words, for a Zaun person like him, there is no way to make money that is not a side way.

At first, Cooper chose to forge bakery coupons and then sell them to his co-workers at one-fifth of the price.

This method made him earn his first money.

But soon, his trick was discovered by the owner of the bakery - the other party spent money and hired a few gangsters to teach Cooper a lesson.

Cooper, who was well prepared, used more gold hex to turn these gangsters against him.

Since they were all working for money, they eventually followed Coopers and rushed into the bakery, beat up the mean boss, and robbed him of all his cash.

This was the first time Coopers used violence, and as the floodgates opened, things got out of control.

Coopers discovered that fists seemed to be particularly useful in Zaun sometimes - and he could use gold hex to hire more fists and earn more gold hex with more fists.

With this discovery, Coopers finally took another path. He no longer had to continue working in the factory, but gathered a large group of gangsters and thugs to start "robbing the rich to help the poor" and clean up those cunning small vendors.

Coopers' "career" was booming.

At this time, his sister met a young man from Piltover at a cooperative banquet.

He was a well-dressed guy, said to come from a poor family.

Unlike the sloppy Zaun people, he was always neat and tidy, and his cuffs always smelled of blue lavender. He admired the intelligence of Coopers' sister very much, and the two quickly fell in love.

In terms of love, Zaun people are always passionate and unrestrained - when Coopers knew about this, he already had a nephew.

Although he gnashed his teeth, Coopers still hoped to meet the Piltover man. He didn't ask him to give him anything, but only hoped that he could take his sister away from Zaun. As long as he could marry his sister, Coopers could also give a dowry that was considered a lot even for ordinary Piltover people.

But unfortunately, the other party had no such intention at all.

Even he was with Coopers's sister not for her as a person, but for some ingenious design schemes in her private workshop.

He registered the patent at the Piltover Patent Office, and then visited with law enforcement officers to condemn the "infringement" of Coopers' sister's workshop and claim compensation on the spot.

A conflict broke out.

In the conflict, Coopers lost his nephew and his sister.

This time, he was completely alone.

Coopers wanted to gather his fists to deal with the damn Piltover guy, but none of these thugs were willing to cross the canal and find trouble with a "big man" who lived in the Blue Haze Manor.

Not only that, there was also a "smart" guy who betrayed the news - Coopers' most trusted brother exposed his safe house for thirteen gold hexes.

The defenseless Coopers was pulled out and beaten up, and finally thrown into a sewage ditch. If he hadn't pretended to be dead in time and the sewage ditch was still very smelly, I'm afraid he would have been beaten to death.

That year, Coopers was 23 years old.

Coopers, who escaped from death, had no worries anymore. With the will of revenge, he took out all his savings, found out and found the bastard's competitor, and became a vicious dog with his own dog food.

In this way, he followed a Piltover guy and watched him use various means to coerce, lure, and divide, step by step squeeze the market, so that the bastard who stole his sister's wisdom went from being complacent to having nothing.

When he had to sell all his property, pay the fine of the parliament, and leave the Blue Scent Manor in disgrace to make a comeback, Coopers blocked him in an alley.

"My sister and nephew, they miss you."

After killing the bastard, Coopers did not stay in Piltover, but returned to Zaun.

The returning Coopers is no longer a diligent worker, no longer a low-class gangster. He has learned a lot from the Piltover guy, and now he plans to use these in Zaun, in this city that has brought him countless pains.

Unlike many alchemy barons who like to enjoy and are extremely greedy, Coopers has always been known for his cruelty. Anyone who provokes him will be retaliated by him regardless of the cost, and his thugs have always been like a group of wolves that can never be fed.

Others say that Coopers is vindictive, but only he knows that it is because after losing everything, only revenge can bring him a tiny bit of happiness.

In order to support his huge group of thugs, Coopers had to start running an industry, and because of this large-scale thugs, his industry is getting bigger and bigger.

No one dares to compete with Coopers in business, because that means they are likely to be beaten up, or even their lives will be in danger.

In this way, Coopers finally became an alchemy baron.

This time, Coopers drew his sword and looked around, but he was full of confusion.

The former "kind" alchemy baron went bankrupt long before Coopers became rich, and he didn't even have a grave left. He no longer had a goal.

Coopers, who was at a loss, finally kept up with the trend of the times this time and became more and more similar to other alchemy barons.

Open more factories, deal with those troublesome workers, find ways to deduct wages, and compete with peers without bottom line.

The only difference between Coopers and them is that he will give his thugs better treatment, that's all.

……………………

The flames were licking Coopers' body, and beside him, several loyal thugs were groaning in pain.

But Coopers didn't seem to feel any pain.

Compared to the pain, what he cared more about was the ten years after he became the Alchemist Baron - when he recalled these ten years, his mind was empty.

It seemed that ten years passed in a flash, but nothing was left.

He should have eaten a lot of delicious food, but those delicious food were far less impressive than a piece of sandwich bread.

He should have had a lot of extremely loyal subordinates who were willing to accompany him to the last moment even in the sea of ​​fire, but he never really believed in them.

At the last moment of his life, Coopers unexpectedly discovered that his life had been blank for a whole ten years, so that when he wanted to end this life in happy memories, all he could recall was the sourness of that corner of bread.

At this moment, Coopers suddenly envied the workers outside.

Not that he envied them for being alive, nor that they won in the end.

Coopers envied them for having a goal, just like his sister - envied their eyes that were as kind as the stars.

The flames were getting higher and higher, and the smoke was getting bigger and bigger.

Coopers coughed softly.

The hot air irritated his respiratory tract, making his cough more urgent - but he shook his hand, took the filter off his face, and threw it into the flames.

This was the last moment of his life. According to Zaun folklore, people should not wear filters at the last moment.

After finishing this last thing, Coopers sat quietly in the same place, without repenting his sins, nor feeling fear because of the coming of death.

For him, his life may have ended long ago.

Or, in other words, on that morning, when he first entered the alchemy factory at the age of twelve, his life had been determined - this city that advocates the wind of freedom is not as free as it seems.

On the contrary, now, when Coopers is about to die, this dull city like a can has finally opened a corner of the lid.

Closing his eyes, Coopers finally calmed down.

In a trance, it seemed that someone put a new filter on him to isolate him from the irritating gas.

But what surprised Coopers was that this filter was unexpectedly large, even covering his entire face.

"Let's go." A voice whispered in his ear, "Don't let the wolf wait anxiously."

Coopers didn't know whose voice it was.

But he didn't hesitate at all.

Reaching out his hand, Coopers adjusted the "filter" on his face, followed the guidance of the voice, and embarked on another new journey.

Just like the child who followed his father's footsteps thirty years ago, wearing a filter, an unbuttoned shirt, and a pair of large leather shoes.

Kalya's small class·Zuan's death folklore:

In Zaun, the dead should not wear any filters or bandages on their faces, because according to the ancient folklore of Wazuan, death will put a mask on people, and the dead wearing a mask can go to another world.