Chapter 503: The Cursed Child

"Whoosh—" Lingyun's figure appeared in an alleyway. He straightened his clothes and then walked out.

Looking at the crowd coming and going on the street, Lingyun could not help but frown. On the faces of these people, he could not feel a shred of hope; there was only numbness and despair.

"Quick, catch her!"

"Don't let her run away!"

"Beat that monster to death!"

Just as Lingyun was sizing up this city, a burst of shouts caught his attention. Lingyun turned his head to look and saw a little girl running forward at high speed. The girl was about ten years old, wearing tattered clothes, her face covered in soot. The girl was running forward in a panic, pushing through the crowd while constantly glancing backward.

Behind the young girl was a group of middle-aged and young men shouting loudly; judging by their momentum, they were no different from bandits. Clearly, this young girl was being chased by these people. To be honest, if he hadn't had some understanding of this world, Lingyun would have nine times out of ten assumed these people had some deep-seated blood feud with the girl running in front.

In Lingyun's eyes, the girl was already weak to the extreme, stumbling as she ran. However, what was surprising was that the girl's speed was very fast, making it impossible for those people to catch her.

"Have these guys' minds become twisted?" Lingyun muttered as he looked at the slightly distorted faces of those people.

There was naturally no shortage of people around who liked to watch the excitement, wanting to crowd over to see what was happening, but when they saw the girl's eyes, their own eyes immediately welled up with full-blown disgust and even hatred, after which they quickened their pace and left.

"Red eyes, is that a Cursed Child?" Lingyun raised an eyebrow, and he roughly understood why this girl was being chased by the people behind her.

"Ah!"

Perhaps because she was too focused on the people behind her, the girl did not notice Lingyun standing in front of her. By the time she noticed someone in front of her, she could no longer stop her forward momentum and slammed heavily into Lingyun.

Seeing Lingyun blocking her path, a look of despair appeared in the girl's eyes.

"Damn it, finally caught you, monster!"

"Abominable monster, watch how I deal with you!"

"..."

The people who had caught up from behind swarmed over, reaching out their hands to grab the girl. Judging by their gestures, there was no mercy in this grab at all.

Just as that hand was about to touch the girl's arm, Lingyun suddenly reached out to wrap his arm around the girl, pulling and turning, and the girl was instantly pulled behind him. At the same time, he flicked his left hand forward lightly, and those who had reached out suddenly felt an irresistible force surge toward them, causing them to stumble back several steps before they could steady their bodies.

"Who are you?"

"Why are you blocking us?"

"Don't you know this thing is a monster?"

"Watch out, she'll turn into a Gastrea and eat you, brat!"

Given the bizarre situation just now, the people forced back by Lingyun did not dare to move forward for a moment, instead pointing fingers and accusing Lingyun in a cacophony of voices.

Lingyun could feel that these words were filled with malice, constantly assailing the girl behind him, causing her body to start trembling.

Looking at these people who were hurling abuse at him and the girl behind him, a surge of anger suddenly rose in Lingyun's heart. He stepped forward and shouted coldly: "Shut up, get lost!"

A terrifying aura erupted from Lingyun, and the chilling murderous intent scared those who had been spewing abuse into falling flat on their backs.

"Damn it, this kind of aura, is he a Civil Security Officer?"

"Tch, it's actually a Civil Security Officer..."

Feeling the chilling aura on Lingyun, those people did not dare to do anything more and began to disperse unwillingly.

"Big brother, are you a Civil Security Officer?" Just then, the little girl behind Lingyun suddenly tugged on his sleeve and asked.

"Nope!" Lingyun turned around, squatted down, and looked at the young girl in front of him.

Cursed Children are special existences in this world. They are children born with the Gastrea Virus factor because their mothers ingested the Gastrea Virus during pregnancy, causing the virus to accumulate in the fetus, thus possessing certain Gastrea abilities—namely, extraordinary physical prowess and regenerative capabilities. Originally, the gender of a fetus cannot be chosen, but due to some influence brought about by the Gastrea Virus, all known Gastrea Virus-infected children are girls.

When Cursed Children use their abilities, their pupils turn red; that is the proof of being a Cursed Child. However, when Cursed Children use their abilities, the erosion rate of the Gastrea Virus in their bodies will gradually rise, and when the erosion rate exceeds 50%, they will turn into Gastrea.

Because Cursed Children possess power rivaling that of Gastrea, people have thoroughly utilized this power in the war against the Gastrea. Under these circumstances, Civil Security Corporations came into being.

Civil Security Officers in Civil Security Corporations are generally partners in pairs. One of them is a Cursed Child; possessing super combat power, they are usually the main combat force of the combination and are called Initiators. The other acts as the Initiator's partner to assist in combat and provide core support to the Initiator. They are also generally the Initiator's guardian, mostly ordinary humans; although their combat ability may not compare to the Initiator, they are basically all skilled fighters and are called Promoters.

The so-called Cursed Children are, in essence, just a group of little girls under ten years old. These girls, who had no choice in their own birth, were used as tools by others and, because of the Gastrea Virus in their bodies, were subjected to disgust, hatred, and even persecution by others.

Regarding the humans of this world, Lingyun held most of them in contempt. Venting one's own cowardice and fear on a group of little girls was in itself a disgusting act, yet those people still acted as if it were only natural, which truly made him feel disgusted.

"Perhaps I can do something for these little girls." Lingyun looked at the emaciated girl in front of him and pondered to himself. "Ruoxi, is this why you intend to bring these children into the Cloud Realm?"

"That's right! Since these children cannot receive love and blessings in this world, it would be better to bring them into the Cloud Realm. At the very least, they won't be discriminated against or persecuted in the Cloud Realm!" Ruoxi's energetic voice rang out in Lingyun's heart.