Alaya

Just then, a strange pitch-black car with no markings slowly drove onto Nanfu Street. Several sinister-looking men sat inside.

A gaunt-faced man suddenly broke the silence and said to the bald man sitting across from him, "Boss, aren't we being a little too careless this time? No matter what, a princess lives there. There must be plenty of people protecting her in secret. What if they discover us once we make our move?"

The bald man spoke in a raspy voice. "Relax. The Ding Family already guaranteed it. That princess who doesn't know her place really drove away all her guards. Even the plainclothes bodyguards secretly assigned by the government are gone. There's absolutely no one around that kid who can save his life now. As long as we're careful, who'll know who did it? Besides, even if we're discovered, we can use that idiot Young Master Liu as a scapegoat. With the Ding Family backing us, we'll spend a few years in prison at most. When we get out, we'll be millionaires!"

At that moment, a triangle-eyed man seated beside the bald man chuckled. "Boss, that princess really is a breathtaking beauty. Since there aren't any guards around anyway, since we're doing this once, why don't we..."

"Don't even think about it!" the bald man snapped in a low voice. "Lao Dao, this isn't a game! If you scare the princess, the Ding Family might still save you. But if you do something you shouldn't, the ones coming after you won't be the police. It'll be the military!"

"Yeah, yeah..." Scolded by the bald man, Lao Dao immediately forced a smile. "That's just how I am, Boss. Don't take it seriously. I was only joking..."

"But—" The bald man abruptly changed his tone, revealing a strange smile. "We can't touch the princess, but that kid has a beautiful older sister. She's a famous beauty too. When the time comes, we can all have some fun—hehe!"

"I'm not interested in his sister," the gaunt-faced man said with a lewd grin. "But I heard that kid has a younger sister. She's only twelve or thirteen, but she's already a little beauty. And she's blind too. That must have a special kind of charm."

The triangle-eyed man immediately laughed quietly. "Only you, Hedgehog, have that kind of taste for little girls—but changing things up might not be bad either. Hehe..."

The three men laughed softly, apparently already fantasizing about the inappropriate scenes that would soon unfold.

Naturally, I had no idea what was happening there. Right now, the few of us were speeding toward a nearby unfinished construction site.

A streak of white flashed like the wind through the deserted streets. Yet due to some kind of force field, our high-speed travel produced not the slightest sound. It truly was like a ghost car.

Inside a black sedan parked by the roadside, a young man rubbed his eyes and asked the Young Master beside him in surprise, "Liu Shao, what kind of car was that just now? It was going so fast, but it didn't make a sound!"

The person sitting beside him was none other than Liu Zicai!

"Maybe you were seeing things. Seriously, can those bald guys pull this off or not? They were sent by the Ding Family, but I can't shake this uneasy feeling. I don't know why..."

"Liu Shao!" A young man in the back seat suddenly cried out, startling Liu Zicai and the other man.

"What are you doing? Have you gone crazy?" Liu Zicai barked.

The young man who had shouted held out his phone to Liu Zicai with trembling hands and said shakily, "Liu Shao, I was bored just now, so I took some pictures with my phone, and then..."

Liu Zicai took the phone and immediately sucked in a cold breath. The image on the phone showed the gray car that had just sped past. Since the phone was an advanced high-end model, the image was not too blurry despite the darkness and the car's speed. He could clearly see that there was no one in the driver's seat!

Thinking of how that car had made no sound at all, every hair on Liu Zicai's body stood on end!

"Liu Shao, did we just see a ghost?" the young man who had taken the photo asked, his face pale.

"Don't... don't talk nonsense! Your phone must be garbage," Liu Zicai said, quickly tossing the phone back as if it were something unclean. "Drive... drive! There's something wrong with this place!"

By then, we had finally arrived at the location Alaya had sent us.

Emperor's Garden was the original name of this complex. If construction had been completed smoothly, it would have become the largest and most upscale residential district in K City. Unfortunately, the developer suffered an unexpected disaster: after drinking too much at a banquet, he became dizzy, wandered into the women's restroom, was chased out, rammed headfirst into a wall, and then got into a car accident on the way to the hospital. Thus, this complex became the largest unfinished construction site in K City.

We parked the car somewhere hidden, then entered the dark complex.

There was no lighting here. Only the city lights reflected in the sky and the distant flashes of fireworks around us allowed us to barely see. The weathered, rough concrete walls of the surrounding buildings and the crisscrossing steel rebar overhead made us feel as if we had entered a war-ravaged urban ruin. Without lights, the protruding concrete pillars and steel mesh almost blended into the night. Those vague black shadows layered over one another, like ghosts waiting to devour someone. No wonder this place had spawned so many ghost stories.

"Alaya, you can come out now," I said through the Spiritual Connection.

A gust of wind came from above us. Then I saw white light drifting down around us, and a warm, reassuring feeling filled my heart as the white glow gradually brightened the area.

I looked up—and froze.

A silver-haired, golden-eyed girl sat on a concrete beam more than ten meters above the ground. She wore a sleeveless white dress adorned with delicate golden trim. Beneath the skirt, a pair of bare white feet swayed playfully in the air. A strange white radiance spread from her body, making everything within a hundred meters clearly visible. Within that glow, her face could not be looked at directly, yet I could clearly "see" her appearance: pure, holy, like a Goddess who had accidentally fallen into the mortal world.

Behind the girl, a pair of enormous white wings slowly unfurled...

Dark night, ruins, and an angel formed a scene so beautiful it was suffocating.

"An angel!" I cried out.

Hearing my voice, the angelic girl immediately revealed a delighted smile. She beat her wings once and soared into the air, drawing a beautiful arc of light across the sky before gracefully landing in front of me.

"An... angel!" I no longer knew how I should react. Alaya's angelic form had completely exceeded my capacity for understanding, leaving me able only to point at her and stammer out that word.

It was now almost certain that the Shilin Apostles had once come to Earth in the distant past and ruled this world as gods. Otherwise, how could the Shilin Apostles match humanity's myths and legends so perfectly?!

I finally remembered what Pandora had told me: Shilin Apostle technology was not technology in the ordinary sense, but a powerful system formed by the fusion of magic and mysterious forces, alchemy and science. Now that even angels—beings that could not possibly have anything to do with technology—had appeared, I had no choice but to believe Pandora's words.

"Are you surprised?" Sandora's voice pulled me back to my senses at just the right moment. I turned and saw the mischievous smile on her face.

"You knew all along, didn't you? Why didn't you tell me earlier? At least then I could have prepared myself!"

"Wouldn't that have been boring? Ever since I started living with these Carbon-Based Lifeforms, I've been getting startled all the time. Now it's finally your turn to be surprised~~"

...What kind of logic was that?

Perhaps she felt there was no point in teasing me any longer. Sandora's tone finally became more serious. "All right, I'll tell you a little about Shilin Apostles like Alaya. As you know, Shilin Apostle technology is a fusion of magic and science. Broadly speaking, it can be divided into two parts. One represents magic, mystery, and the unknown; the other represents technology, reason, and the known. Most Shilin Apostles are products of these two forces blending together, like me. But another group embodies the extremes of these two powers. One of those extremes is the little girl standing before you: Alaya, who represents mystery and the unknown. If I'm not mistaken, among your other two World Arbitration Organizations, one should be pure technological power, while the other should be a fusion type. Of course, that's only my guess. Your connection to your home planet is far too weak, so I can't help you determine the truth."

At that moment, the angel Alaya, who had been curiously watching us speak, suddenly opened her mouth. Her voice was unlike anything a human could produce, for it carried a faint, ethereal tremor that made it especially pleasant and sacred. "Alaya awaits your command, Sovereign."

I noticed that Alaya seemed different from the other Shilin Apostles. She did not call me "Emperor," but "Sovereign," which made me curious.

"Just personal preference." Hearing my question, Sandora waved her hand dismissively. "For us, authorization on the spiritual level is the only thing that can truly be trusted. Forms of address are relatively flexible, as long as they aren't too disrespectful. Otherwise, how could Pandora call you Brother?"

So that was it. It seemed I was still somewhat used to judging these Shilin Apostles with human ways of thinking.

Seeing that Alaya was still waiting for my instructions, I finally voiced my question. "Alaya, why did you suddenly come to Earth?"