When the scorching sun disperses the dark clouds and rises high, Nest City, the monster within which war, intrigue, slaughter... and dirty blood, all disappear into the shadows, as if they never existed.

No matter what happened last night, the sun above the city will rise as usual, turning the past into stories passed down by word of mouth, scattered by the wind.

Flowing people, ironclad city.

It's just... malice won't disappear into thin air, it only dissipates temporarily, waiting for the right moment.

...

At nine in the morning, Yun You bought a few starch-filled buns from a vending machine and ate them casually before heading home.

In the past year or so, being up at night and resting by day had become her habit.

She didn't want to attract attention, even if it was from someone trustworthy like Jing... or Kasidelle.

Being a little mouse in the sewer was pretty good, at least it helped her live a little longer.

For a girl who had nothing to rely on in the past, this was one of the few ways she could increase her survival rate.

"Click~"

Yun You looked around for a while, and only after ensuring no one was paying attention, she closed the door and added a couple of metal locks she had bought casually to the doorknob, fixed some pinhole alarm sensors by the windows, and set up a few tripwires...

The Insect Gang had already disbanded, so besides Old Jin and Shiqi, no one knew Yun You lived here.

Perhaps due to a lack of sense of security, she had set up several layers of protection.

After completing all this, Yun You finally breathed a sigh of relief.

However, she didn't put on her glasses directly but quietly walked to the bathroom and wiped the dust-covered electronic mirror on the washstand.

With a light "snap," the electronic mirror gradually shed its metal shell, revealing the display screen that hadn't lit up for a long time.

Yun You looked at her reflection.

Her face in the mirror was covered in mud and dust, with fringe and sideburns hanging messily, looking quite disheveled.

"Eh? Why do you cover your face?"

"Get a piece of paper to wipe the mud off your face, you look dirty..."

This was what Kasidelle had said to her before she left the Huangxing Bar. These were also the words she had heard the most in the past.

Aside from her master Old Jin, almost everyone who knew Yun You was puzzled by her mud-covered face.

Nowadays, the majority of people in Nest City, man or woman, try everything they can to pursue appearance.

Biotechnology, nano-cosmetic surgery, genetic modification, electronic faces... people were willing to pay a huge price to get a face that would amaze the world.

Because even in this era with so many entertainment options, pure physical desire remains a pleasure pursued by most people.

And a good face is the key to unlocking desire.

It can make ordinary people attract the attention of the upper-middle class, and aristocrats often only need to throw some leftovers to change the fate of those at the bottom, allowing them to become wealthy overnight.

In some way, in this era, cosmetic surgery is closer to the "path to success" than learning a skill or acquiring knowledge.

Therefore, in the city of Nest City No. 3, the Salon Group, which focuses on the beauty and makeup industry, once overshadowed many military-industrial enterprises and became one of the top ten giant companies in Nest City, ranking seventh, with its cosmetic surgery techniques.

This is a distorted era, even children still in school start to find ways to make themselves more attractive.

But Yun You was an outlier among them.

As for the reason...

"Swoosh——"

Yun You turned on the faucet, cupped a handful of tap water with a hint of heavy metal taste, and gently wiped it on her face.

The thick mud slid off, revealing the girl's pale white cheeks.

Unlike the plastic feel brought by cosmetic technology, Yun You's small face was smooth, tender, without a single flaw, and no sense of incongruity at all. It gave a very natural feel...

A feeling completely different from the "man-made beauties and handsome men."

She grinned, her rows of clean and neat teeth hidden beneath pretty cherry-colored soft lips.

Then she pulled the corners of her mouth into a smile, and two soft and bouncy dimples appeared, looking extremely cute, making people want to fiddling with her face.

This face brought Yun You a lot of trouble.

Even with her pair of bloody red eyes that symbolized "ominous," Yun You still encountered countless people coveting this face.

From the age of ten, the little girl's appearance started to evolve towards the word "flawless," and over time, she became even more beautiful.

To address the trouble caused by this face, her parents spent who knew how much effort and money...

There were always those with ill intentions wanting to get the girl... gangsters, nobility, human traffickers, talent scouts...

Yun You's most dangerous moment was when she was fifteen and encountered an officer with a silver star badge.

The man was stunned the moment he saw the little girl on the street.

He then directly used his connections to find Yun You's home in person, saying he would take the girl back no matter what.

Facing this level of big shot, Yun You's parents were helpless, even if they went all out... knocking their heads bloody didn't change the officer's mind.

It was only later that Yun You understood why the officer wanted her.

Because in the eyes of those at the top, she was not a "person," but a "gift" of great value.

As Zhou Kui, whom she had killed before, said, the upper echelon of Nest City also pursued beauty, but what they wanted was "natural beauty," not unstable genetic modifications and cosmetic technologies.

A naturally beautiful woman could be sold at an unimaginable price in the upper classes.

She could change the ugly faces of one... or even several aristocratic families.

And for a face like Yun You's... honestly, no one could estimate its value.

This was why people wanted her.

Luckily, that soldier was ordered away urgently and died on some battlefield before he could take any photos of Yun You and bring her back to the upper echelons.

This was one of the few pieces of good fortune in the little girl's life.

After that, Yun You habitually grew her fringe long and used mud to cover her face, making herself as ugly as possible...

This trick worked... because from that time on, those who coveted her appearance disappeared.

People are always realistic, no one wants to deal too much with a dirty little girl.

Thus they will never know what kind of peerless beauty was hidden beneath the mud.

But, no one would completely disregard their appearance, nor would anyone want to live forever in muck and disguise.

Yun You hoped that in the future, she could show her true face without worrying about others' scrutiny and live openly under the sun.

This was also the unfulfilled wish of her parents during their lifetime.

"There will be a chance."

Yun You closed the electronic mirror, lowered her head, and re-applied mud to her face.

"It will definitely come true..."

She repeated again, her eyes flashing with unwavering determination.

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