Autophagy

While Song Lei was thinking deeply, he was disturbed by Otto.

"We've arrived," Otto said while stopping the car. The car's engine slowly stopped and cooled down as bot Song Lei and Otto got off from the car. "Someone has been sent to take your brother here. they should be here at any minute," Otto said. Song Lei nodded and looked at the majestic building that was spanning across for more than two kilometers. "Look. There he comes," Otto said. Song Lei turned his head towards the road.

A similar car to Otto's was coming near to them. There were two people on it. One had a very fragile and small figure. This person was Adrian, Lewis' sickly little brother. The other person was someone who worked for Poison Eye, just like Otto.

As they stopped in front of the orphanage and left the car, Adrian timidly walked up to Song Lei's side and hugged his leg.

"This little guy is in a very bad condition. We'll probably have to assign him to section B for at least a few years," the man said to Otto. Otto scratched his cheek and nodded. "Well... You will have to separate now," the man said. He patted Adrian's head and held his arm. "Let's go."

Hearing him, Adrian looked at Song Lei with pleading in his eyes. However, Song Lei knew that this was the best for both Adrian and him.

"Aren't we going too?" Song Lei asked. Otto looked at Song Lei.

"Sure. Let's go," he said. They entered the orphanage. There were twenty teenagers around the age of Song Lei that were training with knives in their hands. Their figures looked shapely, indicating that they had a good amount of physical training and proper nutrition. They were all swinging their knives in a uniform manner. They looked more like a bunch of soldiers rather than teenagers.

"You will be training like that too," Otto said. Song Lei nodded without looking at him. His eyes were still wandering around at the training grounds.

"What are those sections you guys mentioned?" Song Lei asked.

"I was expecting you to ask this question," Otto said. "There are three sections in this orphanage. Sections A, B, and C. Section B, which your brother was sent to, is a section that is for children too young to train and children that are too sickly. For your information, your brother is included in both of those categories."

"Is that so? Well, you guys treat people very humanely. Much more than I expected," Song Lei said. Otto didn't reply to Song Lei. "So? What are the other sections?" Song Lei kept on asking. "And which one am I going to be assigned to?"

"The A section is for the people that don't need manner education. You're going to be in there. After all, you know what is good and what is bad for you. And you are able to make good decisions from what we could see. So that's why we're going to assign you there," Otto said in one breath. He then took a deep breath and continued by saying, "Section C is for those who could be called problem children. They have great potential but they have behavioral problems. Like anger issues, kleptomania, trust issues, and so on... We try to cure them out of their psychological problems so that they can work for us properly."

"You guys have been talking about us working for you, what is this exact 'work' you are talking about?" Song Lei asked curiously. Although he had some guesses, he wanted to be sure.

"All kinds of thing actually," Otto said. Seeing that they reached a small guard shack, Otto stopped and started unlocking the door with a key that he took out of his pocket. "You are going to be trained in a lot of things, CQC, assassination, business management... When your training is over, an assessment will take place that will help us decide what your main profession will be. In the end, whatever you're the best at, you'll be doing that."

"I see..." Song Lei muttered while thinking deeply. The clicking sound of the door unlocking woke him up from his daze.

"Come here," Otto said. Song Lei walked to his side and entered the guard shack to look at the documents in Otto's hand. "Do you know how to read?" Otto asked. Seeing Song Lei nod, he was visibly surprised. "Where did you learn it? From what I know, you shouldn't be able to read..."

"I learned it myself," Song Lei said. "I picked up some books to learn reading."

"Hmm..." Otto narrowed his eyes and looked at Song Lei's face. He couldn't detect any lies from Song Lei, however, it was still very suspicious for a street boy such as Song Lei to know how to read. "Whatever, come here and fill these forms then."

Nodding, Song Lei walked up and took the documents. He had to write certain information about him like his name, birth date, and several other things of which Song Lei only knew one. Other than his name, he had to make up the remaining details. After filling the form, he handed it back to Otto. Otto took the document from his hands and inspected the things that were written on them. Seeing no problems with it, he opened a drawer and put the documents in.

He then turned around and gave Song Lei a map. This was a detailed map showing every part of the orphanage.

"Got to the medical section that's shown on the map to get a check-up. Tell them to record your height, weight, and so on," Otto said. He pinched his nose bridge and continued by saying, "They'll give you your uniform and show you to your quarters. You will be living in the same room with three other people. Ask them and they'll probably help you out."

Song Lei nodded after properly memorizing every single word of Otto. He then bade his farewells and left the guard shack.

"*Sigh..."

Otto sighed deeply after Song Lei left. He looked at the back of Song Lei for some time. After leaving the guard shack, he went to the management department of the orphanage and entered a certain room.

"Department head?" He said in a respectful manner. The room was partially covered with cigarette smoke and dust floating here and there. The sun was about to dip into the horizon. The orange lights that were coming out of it hit the windows of the room. Half of those lights were blocked by the white blinds that were attached to the windows.

The other half illuminated the room and made the dust that was floating in the air like small spirits much more prominent.

There was a spacious executive desk that seemed to be made out of walnut wood. The desk was filled with all kinds of paperwork, documents, and files of all colors and kinds. Right behind the desk was a big black office chair that had its back turned towards Otto. Shortly after Otto's voice resounded in the room, the chair turned around and stopped after facing him.

On this chair, was a man of averageness. He looked average from every aspect. His height, his face, his attitude, and even the expression on his face exuded average energy into the room. However, Otto seemed to be really respectful to this man. After all, he was the department head of the Eye Orphanage.

"What happened Otto?" The department had asked while placing his elbows on the table. He then proceeded to put his chin between two of his hands. "Are you here to ask for a leave again? I'm sorry but you've already spent all of them."

"No sir," Otto said. "Today, a new kid came to our orphanage."

"Oh? It's rare that you talk about such matters to me," the department head said. He leaned forward a little bit and continued by saying, "What is so special about this boy?"

Otto nervously tugged on his necktie and spoke.

"He was chosen personally by the boss. And he was able to endure boss' intimidation without even breaking a sweat."

"That's incredible," the department head said with a wide smile on his face. "However, from your expression, I can tell that you're not here to talk about a new prominent recruit."

"Yes sir. There seems to be a slight problem with this child," Otto said. He took a deep breath and continued talking.

"Although he has lived all of his life in the slums, he is able to write and read. Him being able to beat three people that have stronger bodies than him on his own is already suspicious enough. And he is even able to write and read. His smarts and manners are really something else too."

"So you're implying that..?" The department head urged Otto to continue. The carefree tone in his voice was long gone, replaced with a serious one.

"He might be a spy...."