This was a fog-shrouded morning. Drizzling spring rain fell from the sky, fine and lingering, silently sprinkling the lush fern leaves.
Rainwater dripped from the leaves, flowing down ruined steel frames and alloy pipes before pooling into puddles that reflected the rust-speckled skeletons of distant towers and the tiny, antlike figures bustling even farther away.
Suddenly, a short boot stepped into a puddle, and the scene of intertwined decay and vitality quickly dissolved amid the ripples.
"This is the capital of the Sky Kingdom?" Standing in the woods outside the city beneath an umbrella, Abera looked curiously at the ruined metropolis in the distance.
Ivette stood quietly at her side, her gaze piercing through the curtain of rain. Bingyu stood beside her, nodding like an echo.
Half a month ago, after concluding their journey through the Emerald Continent, Ivette had considered that they would certainly need to meet up with Bingyu on the Silver Mirror Continent. Before setting off, she had used a Sanctum in the Puppet Kingdom to send Bingyu a message and arrange a meeting at a designated location.
Bingyu had chosen this meeting point long ago because it was not far from the royal capital of the Sky Kingdom. After they met again following such a long separation, Bingyu joyfully hugged them both, then led the three of them to this most renowned capital of the Mechanical Race.
Even the Sanctum headquarters was here, though not on the ground. It was aboard an anti-gravity aerospace carrier that floated above the clouds all year round, its enormous form visible in the sky only on clear days.
"I live in the capital. I'll show you around!" Reuniting with her old friends after so many years had put Bingyu in an exceptionally high mood, and she set off with light