"It should be fine here."

After carrying the girl away from the crowd, Fang Zheng turned several corners before finding an uninhabited area, where he put the girl down.

"How is it? Can you walk on your own?"

"Ah... OK..."

Feeling Fang Zheng's action, the girl was a little surprised. She reluctantly left Fang Zheng's arms, then stood on the ground again and lowered her head towards Fang Zheng.

"Thank you for saving me..."

"You're welcome. It's just a piece of cake."

Facing the girl's thanks, Fang Zheng waved his hand.

"But what on earth are those bastards doing? Bullying a girl? Is this their hobby? They are really a bunch of psychopaths..."

"that……"

Hearing Fang Zheng's mumbling sigh, the girl hesitated for a moment, then looked at him and asked in a low voice.

"Excuse me...you, aren't you afraid of me?"

"Me? Afraid of you?"

Faced with the girl's question, Fang Zheng was completely confused.

"Why should I be afraid of you?"

"Because, because I am the 'cursed child'..."

As she spoke, the girl stretched out her hand and pressed down the pair of cat ears on top of her head as if to cover something.

"Big brother, everyone says that the 'Cursed Child' is terrible and hates our existence..."

Looking at the girl who lowered her head in front of him, Fang Zheng smiled slightly, reached out his hand and touched her little head.

"I don't think there's anything to be afraid of. How could someone dislike a cute kid like you? I can only say that those people have problems with their brains."

"Why?"

Hearing Fang Zheng's answer, the girl looked up in surprise, her lavender eyes shining with pure brilliance.

"Am I... cute?"

"Of course, how could anyone dislike a child as cute as you? Not to mention, cat ears are a cute attribute."

As he spoke, Fang Zheng reached out and gently pinched the girl's cat ears... Mm, they were soft and felt really comfortable to touch.

“Woo…”

Feeling Fang Zheng's touch, the girl trembled and looked at Fang Zheng with a dissatisfied expression.

"Big brother...it's itchy..."

"Sorry, sorry."

Seeing the girl's flushed face, Fang Zheng quickly let go of the pair of cute cat ears.

"By the way, what are you doing here?"

"this……"

Facing Fang Zheng's question, the girl showed an uneasy expression.

"I, I want to see if I can find some food. We haven't eaten for several days..."

"Everyone?"

"Well... a 'cursed child' like me..."

“…”

Looking at the girl's expression, Fang Zheng was silent for a moment.

"Do you need food?"

"Yes, and... winter is coming soon. If we don't get some warm clothes, life will be very difficult for everyone."

"In that case, let me help you."

"Why?"

Hearing Fang Zheng's answer, the girl looked up in surprise.

"May I?"

"certainly."

Looking at the girl's surprised expression, Fang Zheng smiled slightly.

"It's fate that we met. I don't quite understand why the people in this city regard you as monsters, but... no matter what, bullying a group of children is not in line with my values. But first..."

At this point, Fang Zheng carefully looked at the girl in front of him. At the moment, the girl was only wearing a thin and tattered dress that he didn't know whether he had picked up from a garbage dump or somewhere else. She didn't even have shoes on. It was already late autumn in this world, and the howling cold wind blew, making the girl's petite body shiver.

"Let me get you changed first. You are familiar with this place. Are there any clothing stores nearby?"

"No, that's not possible..."

When the girl heard Fang Zheng's question, she took a step back in surprise, reached out her hand again to cover her cat ears and shook her head.

"I can't enter those stores, otherwise I will be kicked out..."

Is it because of the cat ears?

Seeing the girl's reaction, Fang Zheng sighed silently, then he reached out and looked through his space. I remember there should be something here... Well, it's okay.

"Put on this hat."

As he spoke, Fang Zheng took out a black hat that looked like a witch's hat from his space bag and put it on the girl's head. This was the hat he bought when he accompanied Tilia to buy clothes. Fang Zheng threw it here because he didn't like this style. But now it looks... very suitable for this girl.

"Why?"

When the girl noticed the hat on her head, her eyes widened in surprise, while Fang Zheng looked at her and smiled.

"That way, you don't have to worry about being discovered."

"……Thanks……"

Grasping the edge of the hat, the girl lowered her head and whispered thanks with a slightly red face. For the girl, this was the first time in her life that someone treated her so gently. In the past, when those people saw her, their eyes were always filled with disgust and hatred. The girl was used to it. Even she herself thought that maybe she really shouldn't have been born into this world. Her mother abandoned her, and other people also looked at her with hatred.

But... this is the first time... someone has treated me so gently.

"Well, before that, let's introduce ourselves."

Fang Zheng squatted down and looked at the girl in front of him.

"My name is Fang Zheng, you can call me whatever you want... So, what's your name?"

"...Bushitsuei."

Even if a long and long time has passed since then, Bushicui will never forget the figure who appeared beside her on that day and saved her from that infinitely dark world.

Shopping street.

The riot that Fang Zheng had just caused did not seem to cause much trouble, and everything around him seemed to be the same as usual. Fang Zheng leaned against the wall next to him, looking at the people walking around outside the store while flipping through a magazine called "Gut War". Through this magazine, Fang Zheng finally had some understanding of the current situation in this world.

Eight years ago, a kind of viral parasite called "protogastrics" appeared in the world. They had a huge body and strength, and a resilience that was almost impossible to kill. Humans fought against these monsters and were defeated. Humans lost 80% of their territory and could only huddle in a small urban area. They built a huge stone monument outside the city using "iron" metal. This "iron" metal can prevent the protogastrics from approaching, and after being made into weapons, it can effectively kill the protogastrics and weaken their regeneration ability.

People who are attacked and bitten by protostomes will be injected with body fluids by protostomes, which will cause genetic mutations and turn them into one of them. In Fang Zheng's opinion, this so-called virus is actually not much different from the Resident Evil, except that the virus in the Resident Evil will turn people into zombies after biting, while the one here will turn people into monsters after being bitten.

But for Fang Zheng, the most important thing is... "the cursed child".

Generally speaking, according to research, unless the protozoan virus is injected into the blood, it will not cause mutations in the human body. However, protozoan viruses that enter through the mouth have a certain chance of infecting infants. Those infants will have red eyes after birth, and some infants will have appearance changes similar to protozoans due to various mutations.

Unlike the victims who turned into monsters directly after being bitten by protogastric animals, these "cursed children" can inhibit the erosion of protogastric viruses to a certain extent. However, as they grow up, the erosion rate of these protogastric viruses on the "cursed children" will become higher and higher. Once the erosion rate of the "cursed children" exceeds 50%, they will turn into protogastric monsters.

Moreover, due to the instability of the Y chromosome, all the "cursed children" who survived the enterovirus infection were girls.

Is this why those people are afraid of them?

“Crash.”

At this moment, the curtain in front of Fang Zheng opened, and then Bushicui walked out with a slightly red face.

"I, I've already chosen my clothes, big brother, do they look good?"