***A bright full moon hung high above the mountain ridge.At the top of the deep, dark mountain stood a solitary house—strange, almost otherworldly. The courtyard, lit by stone lanterns, was a magnificent sight. And yet, the air was thick with the stench of blood.The owner of this house must have been a devotee of geomancy. Golden fish charms hung from the eaves of the tiled roof, and every eight feet along the beams and pillars were carvings of flowers and butterflies. But the corpses strewn everywhere turned the entire place eerie and grotesque.Someone pinched their nose as they looked at the bodies. It was a pale woman cradling a baby in her arms, gently rocking it to sleep. She wrinkled her brow as if she’d just caught a whiff of something vile.“Ugh, the smell. Do none of you have a shred of class? How many did you kill? Was it really necessary to make such a mess?”“Well… it’s fine. The bastards who lived here killed the original owner and fed him to stray dogs. I don’t see what’s wrong with me killing them in return. They were the ones who sinned first.”The man leaning lazily against a nearby stone table shrugged his shoulders. The woman’s lovely, unlined face twisted into a sigh.“Honestly. If I’d known that, I would’ve peeled their flesh off piece by piece and stuffed it back into their mouths. What a waste.”“Mother Ship, the baby can hear you. Try saying something nice for once.”“Oh dear, when did this little one wake up? What should I do?”“What do you mean, what should you do? Put it back to sleep, you crazy old hag!”“What did you just call me, you horny bastard?”“What, shit! My big cock’s not doing you any favors, is it?!”The man lying under the main beam, chugging down alcohol, shouted in outrage. Mother Ship hurled the baby bottle at him. It struck him square on the forehead, making him grunt.The baby, startled from its nap, began to wail. Mother Ship quickly rocked it, murmuring softly. As the baby flailed its arms and legs, the swaddling cloth came undone with frightening speed. The infant was nothing like an ordinary newborn.Its skin was pale as porcelain, and a strange malice flickered in its violet eyes. Each time it blinked, its form shimmered like a candle flame—sometimes a five-year-old, sometimes a toddler, sometimes even a shape that hadn’t yet been born.But no one in the room found this strange. Mother Ship, smiling tenderly, kissed the baby’s cheek and carefully wrapped it in the cloth again.“Oh my, my sweet little Podo, go back to sleep now. Yes, that’s it. Such a pretty thing, my baby.”The child cooed and drifted back to sleep. Mother Ship suddenly noticed a pool of blood creeping toward her feet and looked up at the man sitting at the stone table.“Hyde, don’t you think this is a bit gloomy? Change the scenery. It’s so dreary the baby might wake up again.”“Hmm, really? What kind of scenery would you prefer?”“Something peaceful and elegant. A beautiful garden would be perfect.”The man folded his arms, silent in brief thought. On the surface, he was flawless—a tall, broad-shouldered man whose gentle air was almost hypnotic to behold.But that outer shell was false. He was a man of a hundred faces, changing them daily, and one of the most notorious villains alive. Among In the Hell, none could rival him. The very definition of undefeated. To have him as an enemy would be disastrous.There was only one way to recognize him despite his changing faces: his white eyes, within which gleamed the constellation of the Big Dipper.“Well, fine. Uichan will be here soon anyway. No need to show him something this morbid.”After a moment’s thought, the man snapped his fingers. The gruesome, blood-soaked scenery vanished, replaced by a serene, Eastern-style garden. In a black pond at one corner, the round moon floated softly, shyly glimmering within its reflection.“Oh my, how beautiful.”“You think so? Good. Changing a stage is nothing difficult for me.”“Ugh, you make me sick.”“What’s that supposed to mean?”The drunken man on the floor guzzled another mouthful and then rolled onto his side, pretending to retch—though nothing came out. His hair was white, his eyes a wicked red, and his mouth curved oddly—one corner drooping low, the other lifted high, like a mask fixed in place.“Hey, Jack. Your mouth slipped again.”“Ah, damn it! I told you not to come out when I’m drinking!”Jekyll Jack smacked his own face hard, the drooping side of his mouth twitching before lifting again into a sharp grin. When his pointed fangs caught the light, he looked like the proud, menacing king of white beasts.“So, when’s Phantom Thief Kill getting here? Did he run off with the kid?”“You worry too much, old hag. He’s got them in the palm of his hand anyway.”“Keep calling me an old hag and see what happens. You’ve lost your mind, haven’t you?”“What else should I call you? ‘Sister’? With that face? Oh, my, what a lovely older sister! Ha! Out there you’re probably batting your lashes, saying, ‘Oh dear, won’t someone help me, my legs just gave out,’ and then draining some poor fool dry. Hahaha! Ahaha!”At that, something dark and fast shot out of the baby’s bundle and smacked Jack square in the face. He rolled several times across the floor, clutching his jaw with a groan. When he looked up, the porcelain-skinned child was crouched on all fours like a beast, baring tiny teeth at him.“You little brat! You gonna glare at me like that ‘cause I insulted your mom?”“Oh, I don’t care. Podo, you woke up. You deal with him.”Mother Ship yawned, shook out the baby blanket, and neatly folded it aside. Hyde, arms still crossed, watched Jack scuffle with the child in mild amusement. Then, after a moment, he murmured,“They’re here.”No sooner had he spoken than the ground trembled faintly. A door rose up from the earth, its hinges creaking open. From the darkness beyond, two figures emerged.The first wore a white tuxedo; the second followed in jeans and a hoodie. At the sight of them, the others immediately brightened.The child’s eyes rounded, and it darted forward like a small animal, throwing itself into the arms of the man in the hoodie. The slender figure staggered slightly before steadying the child with a broad hand.“Look at Podo, absolutely thrilled to see you, Uichan. But this rascal’s stopped listening to its mother. How many times did I tell you not to jump like that—it makes your big brother tired.”“It’s fine, Mother. I’m happy to see Podo too.”His face was calm, voice low and composed. Maybe the tone pleased the child, because it let out a soft, chirping noise—almost like a young fox’s cry.“Oh, who could’ve given birth to such a sweet boy, even his voice is lovely. Come, sweetheart, let your sister hold you.”“‘Sister,’ my ass! Uichan, it’s your brother!”Jekyll Jack charged in, hair flying wildly, arms open wide—but Mother Ship reached Uichan first and crushed him in a plush, suffocating embrace. Wrapped in her soft, generous arms, Uichan instinctively cupped the small head pressed between them so the baby wouldn’t get squashed.“You greedy old bat. Say hello and move aside already!”A large hand seized Mother Ship’s shoulder and yanked her backward. Before retreating, she grabbed Podo again and tucked it back into the blanket. “There, there,” she crooned, and the baby quickly fell back asleep.“Uichan, didn’t you miss your big brother? I brought you something nice!”“More liquor, I’m guessing.”“What? Uh… yeah! Nothing beats liquor! What else could it be?”The man’s huge hand ruffled Uichan’s hair violently before patting his shoulder with a heavy thud. Behind them, Mother Ship glanced sideways at Phantom Thief Kill and asked in a teasing tone,“So, why are you so late? The kid’s been waiting forever. I thought you ran off with him.”“Haha, I didn’t realize my reliability was in such doubt. I ran into some heroes on the way here. We played a little, and before I knew it, time had slipped away.”“Oh my. Why?”“Well, rumor has it the Three Great Heroes have been searching for our little one lately. I suppose it’s connected to that.”—Squawk! Those crazy bastards are looking for Under Doom! Know your place, you overblown idiots, why’re you sniffing around our kid? Squawk!A small finger puppet perched on Phantom Thief Kill’s shoulder squawked in a bizarre voice. Mother Ship waved her hand dismissively.“Oh, he’s not ugly at all. Our Podo’s eyes sparkled when it saw all three of them—said they were handsome! My baby’s got good taste.”“I respect your sense of beauty, Mother Ship. But I also understand Komi’s sense of beauty, you know.”“You’re saying that with your own puppet’s mouth, you sly thing.”It had been two years since In the Hell was formed. Founded under Hyde’s lead, the group had only truly begun operating after Jekyll Jack’s recruitment. The struggles they endured to unite into a single team were beyond words.They were monsters with nothing in common, solitary creatures with temperaments so vile and egos so sharp that no one else could have bound them together.Except for one thing—their youngest.The man had black hair and eyes as dark as pitch. His fine features still held a trace of boyishness, though his expression was softened and hidden behind clear, round glasses.The large, thick-rimmed frames were what made his face appear ordinary, mild, unthreatening. Whenever he tried to take them off, his “brothers” raised hell until he put them back on. They were relentless about it.That man was Ha Uichan, the youngest member of In the Hell, and the one the world mockingly called the defective villain, Under Doom.

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