In Yun You's childhood memories, her father and mother's skin was always very pale. Even though they labored all day under the blazing sun, they would catch colds at the drop of a hat, and their bodies were very weak.

Back then the girl thought it was because her parents were frail by nature, and long-term malnutrition had left them with such a sickly constitution.

But looking at it now, she had been completely wrong.

She suddenly remembered a wedding photo she'd once seen at home, of Yun Jiang and Jiu Xiang. Twenty years ago, the two of them had been an undeniably handsome couple, with not a single health problem.

When did those two start having trouble with their health?

"..."

It was precisely after they had "her."

Actually, long ago, Yun Youyou had sworn to herself in secret that she had to be stronger, that she shouldn't burst into tears at every little thing anymore.

But now... the truth was like a dulled knife, rubbing back and forth at her heart. It didn't cut open a wound, but the pain made it almost impossible to breathe.

Yun Jiang and Jiu Xiang had probably realized "the truth" long ago, but they didn't care about such a so‑called truth.

They had told Yun You countless times that the little girl was a treasure gifted to them by Heaven. In the past, Yun You hadn't really understood what those words meant, but now she finally did.

These two clearly shared not a drop of blood with her, yet they treated her as their own flesh and blood, and without asking for anything in return, they gave her everything.

They weren't Apprentice Death Gods, nor any great Saint or Prophet, just the most ordinary, common Mortals.

And yet these two people had given Yun You a love and acceptance that was utterly unique... and utterly without reservation.

Jin let out a sigh.

"Kid, do you know something?"

"In my life, I've actually seen a whole lot of Calamity Demons."

"Especially in the war years, Calamity Demons were the most common. Their personalities were mostly dominated by madness, and their Sequences were almost always Mad Dog and Tuner."

"They hated everything in this world without distinction, wanting to destroy everything before them, leaving not a single living thing behind."

"Why did it turn out like that? It's actually simple. I've said before, the source of a Calamity Demon's power is the surrounding environment. As the saying goes, 'Those near vermilion are stained red, those near ink are stained black.' If the environment is good, then a Calamity Demon's Ability will lean toward 'order,' and their temperament will be comparatively normal."

"But conversely, if the environment is too vile, filled everywhere with deceit and mutual slaughter, then a Calamity Demon will only become a textbook case of antisocial personality—only wanting to kill and destroy... They're an extremely 'realistic' lifeform. However people treat them, they will repay it tenfold."

"I know you're probably thinking, in that case there should still be at least a few 'normal' Calamity Demons, right? But in reality, that's not how it is..."

At this point, Jin sighed softly, turned his head, and cast his gaze out the window toward the Lower City. Neon lights flashed past; faintly, you could still see trades in contraband strictly banned by law, as well as street brawls and gang shoot‑outs.

Even though Jin and Mokaka had already been in power for a full year, had greatly improved the environment in all districts of Nest City, and had aggressively cracked down on gangs, in the dead of night things hiding in the shadows would still crawl out to rampage. Such things never truly disappeared.

If a city under Jin's governance was still like this, there was even less need to mention the Lower City of the past.

That had been pure "street free‑for‑all," where everything boiled down to who was more ruthless, who was more cruel, and who could live more comfortably because of it.

"The environment in Nest City was rotten to begin with. Even children who had parents, kids from 'normal' families, not many of them could get through a peaceful, uneventful childhood..."

"I once had the Statistics Department run the numbers. Before the year 2077, 20 million newborns were born in Nest City Lower City every year. Of them, 2.5 million died of radiation and disease, 2.5 million died of congenital organ defects, 3 million went through being abducted at least once, and 1 million were deformed due to pollution from Nest City's industrial exhaust."

"In other words, only half the children could grow up normally... But 'normally' doesn't mean without suffering. In fact, the vast majority of Nest City's children spent their early years in endless domestic violence and abuse. Parents who didn't believe in 'beating is teaching' were rarer than phoenix feathers and unicorn horns."

"If that's how it is for kids who have parents, there's even less need to speak of Calamity Demons with no father or mother."

"In truth, the plight of Calamity Demons is only more tragic than that of Mortal children. They have no parents of their own, no one they can rely on. Even if someone picks them up and takes them in, in all likelihood it's to use them as child labor or force them into prostitution—humiliated, tormented, worked like livestock and squeezed dry, until— they awaken their own power, and begin to fight back, and to massacre."

"So all these years, I've never met a single Calamity Demon who could be called 'normal.' They grew up steeped in hatred, and naturally they're filled with hatred toward the world itself."

"Except for you... You're the exception among them."

Jin turned back, giving Yun You a rather emotional look.

"I've never seen your parents with my own eyes, but from you, I can feel the tolerance and love they gave you."

"They may not have been strong, but they were great enough. To raise a kid like you, with a nature just as great as theirs... I'm sincerely grateful to them as well."

Listening to Jin's words, Yun You didn't answer again. She only lowered her head in silence.

Her parents were, of course, great. There was no doubt about that.

That couple had not only given her life and a home that wasn't rich but was warm enough; with their kindness and sense of responsibility, they had shaped in her a straight and upright set of values.