Children of District 12

The clothes provided by the church were very simple—how simple? Just an old man's undershirt and a pair of shorts.

Oh right, speaking of which...

Before District 3, all the kids he'd seen along the way seemed to be wearing similar clothes.

Why? Saving on fabric?

Su Wu wore the old man's undershirt, eyes closed, slowly trudging along the road to work. Though after a full night, his Mana Bar had long since recovered and he could use Cang for high-speed movement, who would waste mana on the way to work?

The V-neck of the old man's undershirt exposed the black tattoos on his arms and neck, but his skin was snow-white, the contrast between black and white extremely sharp, giving him a strange, sinister charm.

His workplace was the church in District 12, which was also the area under Pampas's management. The church here was large and well-staffed. Besides the church members, all the residents were children under eight years old.

A man who looked around thirty but was very burly and strong, with brown hair and brown eyes, dressed as a priest, spoke in a seemingly good-natured tone as he introduced the situation:

"My name is Sid, the priest of District 12. These are all children abandoned in Meteor City, most of them discarded right after birth."

"You'll understand once you start working."

"We teach these kids from a young age how to survive in Meteor City. Once they turn eight, they can no longer stay in District 12 and have to go to District 13 to live."

The children of Meteor City had all kinds of hair and eye colors—black hair, red hair, blond hair, brown hair, every race imaginable.

Looking at it this way, Meteor City wasn't just a garbage dump; it was also a massive abandoned infant shelter.

"The church's job is to handle the garbage. Of course, there are many kinds of garbage." When he said "garbage," the man's eyes darkened, and his tone took on a hint of danger.

Clearly, "cleaning up garbage" wasn't as simple as the words suggested.

"The members of District 12 not only have to teach these brats every day but also patrol the western perimeter of Meteor City, bringing back abandoned babies who are still breathing."

"As for outside District 12, kids over eight... they can survive on their own." The man said this with a confident attitude, as if all children over eight could live independently.

The white-haired, blue-eyed youth with black tattoos on his face and body sat on the church table, lightly swinging his legs, holding a bottle of milk in one hand as he drank.

This was specially provided by District 12 for the kids here.

"The church actually raises these kids for free until they're eight..." Su Wu's tone was a bit odd.

He had imagined Meteor City like this—four- or five-year-old kids being cold and ruthless, killing for a piece of bread.

The reality of Meteor City—the kids actually got along pretty harmoniously? They played and roughhoused, not much different from the outside world.

"That rule was only established a dozen years ago. Earlier batches, like mine, didn't have such good treatment." Sid spoke with a slightly envious tone.

"After a certain group negotiated with the Elder Council, District 12 came into existence."

"Originally, Meteor City only had District 12. After that group appeared, the area outside District 12 became District 13, and the inner area became the current District 12." His words carried praise for that so-called group.

"That's quite a charitable sponsorship group." Su Wu nodded indifferently and casually grabbed another bottle of milk.

"...That's meant for the kids. You..." Sid's expression was odd, his tone strange.

Forget it, this newcomer was also a kid. Let it slide.

"Don't drink too much." He finally said.

Su Wu ignored him completely. Though he wasn't deliberately looking, his Six Eyes had already observed the situation of the kids in the church well enough.

Qi was leaking from the tops of their heads—clearly none of them knew Nen—but their physical condition was quite good. At such a young age, they already had muscle.

The boys wore the same old man's undershirt as Su Wu, while the girls' shirts had a bit more fabric for sleeves. Below, they all wore matching black shorts.

District 12 had a large open space that served as their training ground.

Figures could be seen everywhere in District 12—hundreds of priests, each leading a team of kids.

Groups of children fought fiercely. Those knocked to the ground didn't get angry but got up and continued fighting.

Because of the sheer number of children, the scene was somewhat shocking.

Watching them, he soon grew bored.

"I'm going on patrol." He jumped off the table, and his figure vanished from District 12 in an instant.

"...He's going to slack off." Sid snorted in mockery.

The white-haired brat's boredom was written plainly on his face, with no intention of hiding it.

Why on earth did Pampas arrange for a brat with this kind of personality to be sent to District 12?

The kids in District 12, seeing someone not much older than them, all stirred restlessly, even their training lacking the usual focus.

"What are you looking at? If you don't want to get killed by some random person on your first day outside District 12, then get back to training immediately!" Sid yelled at the group of kids.

After that, the children's training visibly became more focused.

Su Wu didn't immediately go to patrol District 13. Instead, he wandered around Meteor City.

The gate he had blasted open yesterday had been replaced with a new one overnight. The residents of each district were very calm, as if this was a common sight.

Just like yesterday when he was being chased, the residents had calmly walked past him, coolly going about their own business.

The atmosphere of Meteor City was very unique, and as a result, the residents here all carried a special kind of aura.

The cold, indifferent emotions were extremely stable.

"Which district was the Phantom Troupe in again..." Su Wu muttered to himself as he slowly walked through the piles of trash in District 13, watching people in protective suits sift through the garbage, sorting different types of waste.

He often saw the bodies of dead infants.

Children whose umbilical cords hadn't even been cut, dead early among this refuse.

The emotions of the "Cleaners" were perfectly natural; they were clearly long accustomed to this sight.

"There's still a live one here." One of the Cleaners raised the thing in his hand, his voice calm, feeling no joy for the surviving life, just as they felt no sorrow for the dead.

"Take him back to District 12 first." The garbage handler handed the infant to Su Wu, who was standing idly nearby.

He wasn't wearing protective gear like the others, nor was he helping them sort the trash. He just stood there watching.

Watching the sky, watching the ground, watching the garbage—just not working.

Now, faced with the infant the Cleaner was handing him, he furrowed his brow and didn't reach out, as if confronting a ferocious beast.

"Handing me a baby? Is it for me to eat?" He laughed, licking his lips with his tongue, as if some kind of "appetite" had been triggered.

The way he looked now, he was like a demon beast.

Sukuna favored the bodies of children and young women; the texture of their flesh was presumably much better than that of other groups.

"Take. Him. To. District. Twelve." The Cleaner said the words one by one, a pressure gradually emanating from his body.

The Six Eyes observed that the other's aura was exceptionally vigorous.

So, the Cleaners of the Church were also Nen users.

Nen users from Meteor City either worked for the Church, or for outside mafias and nobles.

For instance, even the Zoldyck family had servants from Meteor City.

"Tch. For the sake of us both being Church members, I'll let you off this time." Su Wu took the infant with little enthusiasm.

"If you ever speak to me in that tone again..." He raised his right hand gently.

"Blue."

The Cleaner was instantly blasted away by a cannonball-like energy, crashing through several mountains of trash before finally stopping.

When the other crawled out of the garbage heap, his clothes were completely shredded into rags.

"Then I'll kill you." The white-haired, blue-eyed youth with black tattoos pressed down his brows, his tone low in warning.

Although with his current Cursed Energy, he might not be able to easily accomplish that, others didn't know that. In their eyes, he had to appear capable, fierce enough in presence, and strong enough in personality.

Besides, scaring people was really fun.

[Congratulations, Host. Ryomen Sukuna's compatibility has increased. Current compatibility: 15%]

The system's prompt suddenly rang out. Su Wu's brows relaxed, and his mood was visibly much brighter.

A nurture-type strongest (?)