Chen Tiannuo didn't have much of a concept about Stage V. Even after looking at the photos, he thought, 'Doesn't seem like much.' After all, as long as it was something created by a virus, it couldn't possibly outmatch [The Scourge].
Born of virus, and able to control viruses in combat—what virus would stand a chance?
So, Chen Tiannuo wasn't afraid of Stage V at all. Worst case scenario, he'd just infect it with the Mutant Plague Virus and suppress it by bloodline dominance.
Chen Tiannuo left the hospital, planning to return to the base.
Enju Aihara stayed behind to keep Rentaro company. As for Kisara Tendo, she went off to gather information on Kagetane Hiruko.
…
"Phew~ finally back."
Chen Tiannuo entered the lab. Looking at the remaining time displayed on the Foundry, he suddenly had no idea what to do next.
"Oh right—class!" He suddenly remembered that he had promised to teach the kids.
Straightening his clothes, Chen Tiannuo headed for the classroom.
Peeking through the window, he saw Matsuzaki standing at the podium, lecturing the children. They were all listening very attentively.
'Looks like they don't need me to teach after all?'
Chen Tiannuo knocked on the door and walked in.
"It's Brother Tenno!"
"Brother Tenno's here!"
"Ahem, I'll be taking over the lesson from here," he said, then turned to Matsuzaki. "Thanks for your hard work, Elder Matsuzaki."
Matsuzaki smiled. "Not at all. The kids are very well-behaved—teaching them isn't tiring at all."
Chen Tiannuo nodded. He didn't know much about this world's knowledge, so instead he told stories from his past.
…
After more than an hour of storytelling, Chen Tiannuo left the classroom.
'Telling stories to kids is actually kind of fun.'
He returned to the lab to produce some Specters to guard the base.
After all, he wouldn't always be around. When he was away, the children would need some protection. Making a few extra Specters would help hold the line until he returned.
Chen Tiannuo opened the Foundry control panel. After considering the cost-performance ratio, he decided to craft Phase Specters. They could deploy five Warframes at once.
Phase Specters had decent strength, solid numbers, and most importantly—the materials were simple. The most needed resource, Nano Spores, could be extracted directly from Gastrea. Although Force Specters required more accessible biomass, their other materials were hard to get.
After some thought, he decided to craft four Specter summoners—twenty Warframe copies should suffice.
He glanced at the manufacturing time: eight hours.
"Perfect—'The Scourge' will be ready in eight hours too." Chen Tiannuo shut off the control panel.
He went back to his room and lay down in boredom.
"Brother Tenno~" a voice suddenly rang out.
"Donghui?" Chen Tiannuo sat up. "Aren't you supposed to be in class? Why'd you come looking for me?"
"It's break time, and today's lessons are done," Donghui looked at him expectantly.
Chen Tiannuo knew exactly what she wanted. Smiling, he ruffled her hair and said, "Perfect, I've got nothing planned this afternoon. Let's go—how about a trip to the city?"
"Yay!"
…
This time, Chen Tiannuo didn't speed like a maniac. There was no rush to get to the city.
Along the way, he observed his surroundings.
There were houses in the Outer Zones, but most had been ravaged by war—basically uninhabitable. Yet Chen Tiannuo occasionally spotted children living in them.
Watching all this, Chen Tiannuo made a mental note. Casually, he asked Donghui, "Donghui, do you know how many kids like you are out there in this world?"
"Mm, IISO has data from Civil Security stats. There are over 700,000 registered units, but since some kids aren't accounted for, it's estimated that there are over five million Cursed Children..."
"Donghui, have you looked into how Cursed Children are treated in Japan?" Chen Tiannuo asked again. He hadn't yet truly seen how hostile society could be toward them.
Donghui's tone dropped. "About the same as we were… maybe even worse."
"Is that so…"
They said nothing for the rest of the trip.
"We're here."
Chen Tiannuo brought Donghui to the largest shopping mall in Tokyo. They wandered around aimlessly.
Passing by a clothing store, Donghui's eyes lit up. Chen Tiannuo noticed her gaze and looked up—it was a men's clothing store.
"What is it? Want to buy me some clothes?" Chen Tiannuo had given Donghui a commission reward. She wasn't much help in combat, but she had assisted in other ways—giving her a fee was only fair.
Donghui nodded. After all, she'd never seen Chen Tiannuo wear anything but that same white outfit. He hadn't changed clothes once.
Chen Tiannuo chuckled and accepted her kind gesture.
…
"Did you have fun?" Chen Tiannuo asked.
"Mm! I did!"
"Then after this commission ends, we'll bring the others too."
"Okay!"
Of course, Donghui also wanted the other children to see the city.
While walking back to the car, Chen Tiannuo heard a distant, ethereal singing voice.
"Shall we check it out?" Though he phrased it as a question, he was already walking in that direction.
Donghui shook her head helplessly and followed.
A girl was singing. Her eyes were wrapped in layers of bandages, white hair draped behind her, and her pink clothes had several small holes. She held a sign that read—I am a Cursed Child from the Outer Zone.
Chen Tiannuo walked over, slowly squatted down, and asked, "Your eyes… are they injured?"
He recalled that Cursed Children didn't get sick, but they could be injured, so…
The girl unwrapped her bandages and said, "I filled them with lead. My mom, who abandoned me, hated my red eyes."
Chen Tiannuo had never imagined it could be for such a reason.
His expression darkened. "Come with me—back to the Outer Zone. Come live at my base."
"But… I have a little sister…"
"That's fine, we'll bring her too," Chen Tiannuo said. "Let's go now and pick her up."
With his lab's technology and the Cursed Child's regenerative ability, there was a chance he could heal this girl's eyes.
"…Okay."
"Donghui, help her out. We'll drive to pick up her sister."
"Got it." Donghui went to her side and helped her toward the car.
Along the way, Donghui explained everything about the base to her…
Once in the car, Donghui and the girl sat in the back.
"Where to?" Chen Tiannuo asked.
"Over by ** Road."
"Alright, I know the place." Chen Tiannuo nodded and started the car.