Asahi and Luke began walking around the Silver King's Dominion.
Though called a stroll, it was actually a patrol of the surrounding area.
The dominion was now enclosed by barricades and watchtowers with surveillance, the lowest height reaching four meters. There was fundamentally no need to worry about materials, as everything was repurposed from the abandoned structures in the area. They were fully utilized; even individual wall sections were carefully lifted, brought here, and processed into new barrier walls.
And this wasn't all. After the outermost wall was another layer of wall inside. This barrier wall was extremely thick, precisely a thick block of architecture, the height equivalent to a five-story building. The inside of the wall wasn't solid but consisted of integrated living quarters. After the second wall was the final layer, separating the war zone from the civil settlement area.
The civil area appeared empty, but it was actually protected by an invisible shield covering the sky as well, used to prevent flying Gastrea or fighter jets from infiltrating.
Due to the scarcity of labor, Asahi directly emptied his "wallet" to purchase a large number of robots—the same group that followed him when he went before the Tokyo defense branch. Additionally, because the volume of construction work was immense, he had to buy an AI to control the entire robot system and help him operate.
The situation was quite worrisome with his accumulated points running low. Fortunately, if he lacked points, he could go out and kill Gastrea or activate Gastrea elimination missions to earn more points.
Low points weren't important; after all, Gastrea were numerous, and he could always gather enough. Furthermore, selling Gastrea corpses back to the powers in Tokyo could also earn a significant amount. It should be noted that the Gastrea that caught his attention, those worth spending time on to earn accumulation points, were all difficult-to-kill, high-danger types. They were fundamentally incomparable to the petty Gastrea that accidentally slipped through the Monoliths.
The civil area had an octagonal structure, centered around the command center—the Silver King's Palace—and radiating outward into a total of eight zones. These included the school zone, recreation zone, training zone, storage zone, medical zone, and three zones for residential use. The Silver King's Palace was both the control center for all robots and the dominion's surveillance system, and the power plant supplying energy for the entire place.
Asahi and Luke walked to the school, arriving right at the students' break time.
The person in charge of the lesson was an elderly man, dressed in plain, simple clothes, his back slightly hunched, wearing glasses, and with a gentle demeanor.
His name was Matsuzaki, and in the neighboring Area 39, he had collected and sheltered a considerable number of Cursed Children. The children all called him Elder (Trưởng Lão).
"Mr. Matsuzaki."
"Your Highness, Silver King."
Matsuzaki currently held the position of principal of this school. Seeing that his complexion was much better compared to their first meeting, Asahi smiled and asked.
"Is everything still good here?"
"Very stable, sir. The children are well and very diligent."
Although Matsuzaki's tone was calm, a slight tremor of emotion could still be detected.
Even now, he felt moved, even unreal. It was only when he truly saw everything, touched everything, and watched the children he cherished no longer having to hide in the sewers but could freely walk under the sun, sleeping soundly without worrying about what to eat tomorrow, that he knew it was all real.
"I am old, and I have no great talent. Being able to see the children as they are now is deeply satisfying."
"You have done enough."
Asahi said softly.
The most important thing was courage.
Good people were not few, but those who dared to stand up, who dared to be a hero, were always the minority.
Mr. Matsuzaki did not possess great strength; he was just an ordinary person. Sheltering dozens of Cursed Children was already a great strain. Moreover, in this era where mere existence was a crime, the pressure from society itself was even more terrifying.
The two fell silent, both understanding each other. Suddenly, Matsuzaki seemed to remember something and spoke.
"Ah, right. Although the children study well, however..."
Hearing this, Asahi was not surprised, only sighing.
"Alright, I will address it."
"I apologize for the trouble, sir."
Asahi instructed Luke to continue with Matsuzaki, while he headed up to the school's rooftop.
Up there, Nene was staring blankly outwards, lost in thought, surely burdened with many anxieties.
Here was the problem.
To say these children were innocent was true, but to say they weren't innocent was also absolutely true.
Compared to other children, who grew up within the embrace of family and society, the Cursed Children were abandoned by humanity since birth, their existence becoming a sin. How could one hope that a newborn baby abandoned in a river since birth would be the same as normal children?
In fact, most Cursed Children abandoned as newborns had already died. Partially because the circumstances were too harsh for an infant, and partially, even if they somehow survived, they gradually became twisted and deformed, eventually suffering a Gastrea virus outbreak and turning into a Gastrea to be vanquished by Civil Security. The Cursed Children he saw here had mostly lived within society for a time before being discarded. Although still naive, they at least had some awareness.
This was their "luck."
And after surviving in a harsh environment for too long, where every piece of food was worth a thousand gold, sometimes costing their very lives, they understood just how precious what they enjoyed here was. When they obtained all of these things for free without having to pay any price, they gradually transitioned from joy to confusion, and then to crisis.
This was a type of relative anxiety complex.
"Nene."
He called the little girl's name.
"You are probably still very vague about why I am doing all of this. You think you should bear some responsibility, like the Initiators, right?"
"Actually, it's all for the future."
"For the future, when you become an adult, bearing responsibility, just like me, like Mr. Matsuzaki, like all the adults here."
Just like parents.
Giving their child everything from living necessities to education, not expecting the child to provide great filial piety, only hoping that in the future, they can live better.
It's that simple.
Nene's eyes welled up, and she threw herself into his arms.
In fact, the little girl didn't need the answer. Because no matter how Asahi answered, even if he said he was intentionally raising Cursed Children to train an army to dominate the world, it would still be the same.
He gently stroked her head. Suddenly, his pupils contracted.
At that moment, he felt Nene's body undergoing a change.
"I... I... can... feel... it..."
"Being... able... to... witness... all... of... this... I'm already... satisfied..."
The girl's voice gradually became faint and weak.
Asahi could feel her body being transformed and destroyed by the Gastrea virus; she was on the verge of collapse.
He made an extremely quick decision, directly carrying Nene and rushing toward the medical zone. Asahi placed Nene into a rhombus-shaped containment unit. Through the glass, cold air could be seen emanating, and her body was frozen inside. Looking at the peaceful expression on the little girl's face, he remained silent.
The Gastrea Virus is irreversible.