The Church provided very simple clothes. Just how simple? A sleeveless undershirt and a pair of shorts. Oh, right. Speaking of which...
Before District 3, all the children he'd seen along the way seemed to be wearing similar clothes.
Why? To save on fabric?
Su Wu wore the sleeveless undershirt and ambled to work with his eyes closed. His Mana Bar had already refilled overnight, so he could use Cang to move at high speed, but... who would waste Cang on the way to work?
The undershirt's V-neck exposed the black tattoos on his arms and neck. His skin was strikingly pale, making the stark contrast with the black ink give him an eerie, sinister allure.
His workplace was the church in District 12, which was also the area Pampas managed. The church there was large, with plenty of staff. Aside from its members, everyone living there was a child under eight.
The man looked to be in his thirties, but was burly and muscular, with brown hair and eyes. Dressed as a priest, he began explaining the situation in an apparently gentle manner:
"My name is Sid. I'm the priest of District 12. These are all children abandoned in Meteor City, most of them left behind as soon as they were born."
"You'll understand once you start working."
"We teach these children from a young age how to survive in Meteor City. Once they turn eight, they can't stay in District 12 anymore. They have to survive in District 13."
The children of Meteor City had all sorts of hair and eye colors: black, red, blond, brown, and every kind of ethnicity.
By the looks of it, Meteor City wasn't just a garbage dump. It was also a massive foundling home.
"The Church's job is to deal with the garbage. Of course, there are many kinds of garbage." As he spoke of garbage, the man's eyes darkened, and a note of danger crept into his voice.
Clearly, cleaning up the garbage wasn't as simple as it sounded.
"Every day, the members of District 12 have to teach these brats and patrol the western perimeter of Meteor City, bringing back any abandoned babies who are still breathing."
"As for the children over eight outside District 12... they can survive on their own." The man spoke with the confidence of someone who believed every child over eight could live independently.
The white-haired, blue-eyed teenager, black tattoos covering his face and body, sat on a table in the church and swung his legs idly, drinking from a bottle of milk.
It was provided specifically for the children of District 12.
"So the Church really does raise these kids for free until they're eight..." Su Wu's tone was rather peculiar.
The Meteor City he'd imagined was full of four- and five-year-olds who were so cold-blooded they'd kill for a piece of bread.
But the Meteor City he'd found was... surprisingly harmonious between the children. They played together, bickering and roughhousing, not all that different from kids outside.
"This rule only came about a dozen years ago. The residents from before then, like me, didn't have it so good." Sid spoke with a hint of envy.
"A group negotiated with the Elder Council, and that's how District 12 came to be."
"Originally, Meteor City only had District 12. After that group appeared, the outer part of District 12 became District 13, while the inner part remained what's now District 12." His words made it clear how much he praised that group.
"That's a very kind benefactor group." Su Wu gave an indifferent nod and reached for another bottle of milk.
"...That's for the children. You..." Sid's expression turned peculiar, and his tone grew strange.
Well, the new arrival was a kid too. He'd let it slide.
"Just don't drink too much," he said at last.
Su Wu paid him no mind. Though he wasn't looking around on purpose, his Six Eyes had already taken in the children's condition throughout the church.
Aura leaked from the top of every child's head. Clearly, none of them knew Nen, but they were already surprisingly muscular for their age.
The boys wore the same sleeveless undershirt as Su Wu, while the girls wore a version with sleeves and a little more fabric. All of them wore the same black shorts.
District 12 had a large open area that served as their training ground.
People could be seen all over District 12. There were more than a hundred priests, each leading a group of children.
The children fought fiercely. Those who were knocked down and lost didn't get angry; they just got back up and kept fighting.
Because there were so many children, the scene was quite impressive.
After watching for a while, he started to get bored.
"I'm going on patrol." He jumped off the table and vanished from District 12 in an instant.
"...He's just going to slack off," Sid scoffed.
The white-haired brat's boredom was written all over his face. He hadn't even tried to hide it.
Why had Pampas assigned a kid with that kind of personality to District 12?
The children here had seen someone close to their age, and now they were itching to take him on. They weren't training nearly as hard as usual.
"What are you looking at? If you don't want to get killed the moment you're driven out of District 12, get back to training!" Sid shouted at the group of children.
After that, the children visibly focused harder on their training.
Su Wu didn't head straight to District 13 to patrol. Instead, he wandered around Meteor City.
The gate he'd blasted through yesterday had already been replaced overnight. Residents from every district acted completely unfazed, as if this sort of thing happened all the time.
Just like yesterday, when he was being hunted, the residents had calmly walked past him and gone about their business.
Meteor City had a very distinctive atmosphere, and its residents all carried a certain quality.
Their coldness was remarkably consistent.
"Which district was the Phantom Troupe in again...?" Su Wu ambled through the heaps of garbage in District 13, watching people in protective suits rummage through the trash and sort it into different categories.
He often saw dead babies.
Some had died in the garbage before their umbilical cords had even been cut.
The "cleaners" seemed completely at ease. Clearly, they were used to the sight.
"There's one alive here." One of the cleaners held up what he was carrying, his voice calm. He wasn't happy to find a survivor, just as he wasn't sad to find the dead.
"Take him back to District 12 first." The cleaner handed the baby to Su Wu, who was standing around doing nothing.
He wasn't wearing protective gear like the others, nor was he helping sort the garbage. He just stood to one side and watched.
He looked at the sky, the ground, the garbage—anything but work.
Now, faced with the baby the cleaner held out to him, he frowned and didn't reach for it, as if it were a terrifying beast.
"Handing me a baby? Is it for me to eat?" He smiled and licked his lips, as if something had awakened his "appetite."
Right now, he seemed more like a monster.
Sukuna preferred the bodies of children and young women. Surely their flesh tasted better than that of other people.
"Take. Him. To. District 12." A pressure gradually emanated from the cleaner as he spoke, one word at a time.
The Six Eyes saw that the aura around him was especially strong.
As expected, the Church's cleaners were Nen users too.
Nen users from Meteor City either worked for the Church or served the underworld gangs and nobles outside.
Even the Zoldyck family had servants from Meteor City.
"Tch. Since we're both members of the Church, I'll let you off this time." Su Wu took the baby, clearly displeased.
"If you ever speak to me like that again..." He slowly raised his right hand.
"Cang."
The cleaner was blasted away like a cannonball. He smashed through several heaps of garbage before finally coming to a stop.
By the time he climbed back out, his clothes were in tatters.
"I'll kill you." The white-haired, blue-eyed teenager, black tattoos covering his body, lowered his brows and gave the warning in a low voice.
With his current Cursed Energy, he might not be able to do that easily. But the other man didn't know that. As far as he was concerned, Su Wu could do it. It was all about looking fierce enough and acting domineering enough.
Besides, scaring people was fun.
[Congratulations, host. Ryomen Sukuna's synchronization has increased. Current synchronization: 15%.]
The system's notification rang out, and Su Wu's expression relaxed. His mood visibly improved.
The strongest in the making (?)
Before you continue