Natasha's Care

Natasha's care made Jing Yan feel warm. Most people in the Underworld were kindhearted, aside from a handful of cynics who spent all day preaching their "doomsday theories."

Most people were fairly optimistic—or rather, in their daily lives, they followed a philosophy of making the best of things.

"Jing Yan, you went up to the Upper District and came back with these people? Are they from the Upper District... Huh, I've never seen clothes that stylish before!"

Many people looked puzzled when they saw Dan Heng, March 7th, and Stelle, but they soon realized what was going on.

These three seemed to be the outsiders from beyond the stars that people in the Upper District talked about—and they were wanted criminals, too.

Of course, at this point, in the Upper District, these three weren't called outsiders from beyond the stars. They were called foreign visitors. According to Cocolia, they had come to Belobog to seize power from the Architects, overthrow the government, and bring about its destruction.

However, Sampo had already returned to the Underworld and brought the news down from above, so the people there had already heard about the outsiders from beyond the stars.

Now that they had seen it confirmed for themselves, they were beginning to believe it.

Even so, for most ordinary people in the Underworld, this news was still of little use. Only leaders of the Underworld Fire, such as Seele, Oleg, and Natasha, took it seriously.

The reason was that the Underworld Fire had originally been a resistance group. In their eyes, the Supreme Guardian of the Upper District had shut them away and abandoned them completely.

The people of the Underworld not only had to mine Geomarrow Ore to provide heat for those in the Upper District; they also received practically no aid from above.

When Oleg took Seele to inspect the Upper District, she saw people there wasting fine food, while many in the Underworld still went hungry.

People there hardly ever wasted food.

This disparity would only widen the divide between the Underworld and the Upper District.

The people of the Underworld had little faith in the Supreme Guardian by now.

And they were absolutely right to think that way.

For the Supreme Guardians had betrayed them before. The same had happened generation after generation, all the way to the eighteenth.

In the course of colluding with the Stellaron, the Supreme Guardian had lost her faith in Qlipoth, the Preservation, and turned instead toward the Destruction represented by the Stellaron, swayed by its promises.

Cocolia had all but led her people toward the final generation—their extinction. At this point, she wanted to unleash the Stellaron's power completely, let the Fragmentum consume all of Belobog, and transform everyone into Fragmentum Creatures.

People would no longer exist as they were. All things would wither in the endless blizzard, but they would live on in another form, retaining some of their memories from life.

The Stellaron had beguiled Cocolia into believing in this beautiful "new world" and "rebirth," but deep down, she had long been fated to walk this path.

After all, every Supreme Guardian was chosen from among the people of Belobog by the previous one.

They were sweet-faced, and at first glance, seemed to represent light and justice. But if the Stellaron couldn't beguile them, their only fate was death.

Perhaps this would be Bronya's fate in the future.

Or perhaps there wouldn't be time for a new Supreme Guardian. With destruction at hand, there might not be another one at all!

"Jing Yan, by the way, did you get cold while you were up there?" Natasha lowered her head and began checking him over, lifting his arms to see if he was hurt.

Jing Yan cooperated, though a helpless smile crossed his face. "I'm fine, Sister Natasha. Not a scratch."

"You're the one I'm worried about. More and more patients have been injured by Fragmentum Creatures lately. You must have been busy for a long time. Why don't you go get some rest?"

Jing Yan asked.

Natasha smiled at that. "What's there to be tired about? Seeing that everyone's okay is enough to make me forget all about it."

Jing Yan said nothing.

"By the way, have you figured anything out about that stone I gave you?"

Jing Yan asked casually.

Since materials were scarce, most research here was practical.

If something didn't have much effect on animals when they took it, they would try giving it to people. If it caused no problems in people, and could even treat illness, then it was considered useful.

When Dan Heng learned about this, he praised them for it.

He said their medical practices were quite similar to those on the Xianzhou.

The conditions they needed to treat, however, were different.

After all, thanks to the Abundance's blessing, Xianzhou natives had a theoretically endless lifespan, yet they could still contract a condition called being Mara-Struck.

They became a kind of immortal monster.

In such a state, they might still be immortal, but they could no longer be called human.

"You mean this?" Natasha took the "Emotion Stone" from her pocket.

"I hadn't studied it for long before more and more patients started coming to the clinic, so my research is still pretty superficial." Natasha spoke with a hint of apology.

"That's all right." Jing Yan smiled.

"Just tell me what you found."

Natasha blinked as she studied Jing Yan's expression, looking a little suspicious.

"Could it be that you know something about it?" Natasha asked, puzzled.

"In theory, I know most of the medicinal materials on this planet. The substances I don't know are mostly materials from ancient ruins or things that are very rarely found outside the city. So what exactly is this colorful stone..."

Natasha continued.

Clearly, she was very curious about the stone's origins.

"My understanding is limited, too, but I might know a little more than you do, Sister Natasha," Jing Yan replied.

"Is that so? All right, then I'll tell you what I've found. This stone can lift people's spirits. Just being near it is enough to stop a child who was crying, and before long, they'll even start smiling."

"The power in it is very unusual, but it probably isn't harmful. It doesn't have any corrupting effect like the power of the Fragmentum Creatures."

"That makes it quite remarkable."

Natasha summed up, holding the "Emotion Stone."

"Exactly." Jing Yan agreed with her findings.

Jing Yan approved of Natasha's research and couldn't help admiring how perceptive she was.

His power was indeed difficult to detect.