My Master Annie

"Sigh, this place is fun and all, but I'm hungry~!"

As night fell, Annie, wearing a red princess dress and a matching little red hood, sat alone on a swing in the park, swaying back and forth.

At just eight years old, she had been perfectly fine wandering the wilds of the Voodoo Lands earlier that morning, carefree and happy, occasionally bullying the local monsters when she felt bored. Things like trolls, giant snakes, crocodiles, and that old dragon! Oh, wait, that old dragon had been burned to a crisp by her a long, long time ago; it didn't exist anymore!

The entire Voodoo Lands were Annie's backyard. She made it a habit to go out for a stroll every few days, even though the Voodoo Lands were already intimately familiar to her.

Yet, she could still find little trinkets to play with from time to time—perhaps a pretty gemstone, or maybe a cute little animal? Well, even if some of those animals were a bit large in size and looked a little "cute" (ferocious?), that was absolutely no problem for Annie!

What? You say the Voodoo Lands are dangerous?

To an Annie who could capture a ferocious Shadow Bear alive at age two (My master, could you please stop picking at my scars?), burn a rampaging old dragon to death at age three, break through to the Hero tier at age five, and approach the demigod realm by age eight—all while finding fire magic easier than breathing—did the Voodoo Lands hold any danger?

Surely, you must be joking, right?

Perhaps the mysterious warlock Gregori Hastur and his wife, the shadow witch Amoline, were more worried about little Annie accidentally burning some poor soul into charcoal again.

Therefore, for the wild creatures of the Voodoo Lands, the daily routine—aside from foraging and avoiding natural predators—included one extra rule: never, ever appear within the line of sight of the Great Demon King Annie!

If you were unlucky enough to be spotted by Annie, you had better bow your head and press yourself into the dirt, never drawing her attention! Always remember: little Annie was the greatest danger and the most terrifying demon in the Voodoo Lands! Without exception!

Of course, that was all earlier this morning.

Earlier, while wandering around the Voodoo Lands, Annie had curiously stepped through a suddenly appearing portal that looked like a barrier of mist, and that was how she ended up here...

And here, was Earth's New York, specifically Central Park?

By now, it was dinner time, and Central Park in New York seemed somewhat deserted. Although all the streetlights had been turned on, the stingy Americans hadn't installed many lights in the park.

According to the official line: one must not waste taxpayer money! So, with an insufficient number of streetlights and the influence of the dense trees, it was no surprise that the park appeared quite dim once night fell.

Now, Annie noticed that the visitors in the park were becoming fewer and fewer. Even those shameless, pretty big sisters who liked to lie on the grass reading books and sunbathing in their tops had slowly left after the sun dipped low. And just a moment ago, that kind-hearted black auntie who sold burgers and drinks by the lawn had driven her food truck away, too!

Hmm... thinking of that thing called a burger, little Annie couldn't help but swallow her saliva. That thing was truly delicious... she was still savoring the memory of it!

It was just a pity that the black auntie wouldn't accept her gold coins or gemstones. That was truly annoying!

Gold coins and gemstones couldn't buy things? But those pieces of paper with colorful drawings on them could? What kind of logic was that?

Her little bear, Tibbers, had wanted to incite her to just snatch the food, but Annie was a good child; how could she openly and brazenly rob someone? Wouldn't that look bad?

Besides, her mother Amoline had told her not to use magic to bully the weak, and certainly not to rob others! That black auntie was definitely a human, not some animal, so little Annie hadn't dared to use force.

Annie still remembered that at noon, when she had run up to that strange auntie's cart and grabbed a handful of gold coins to buy a burger, she had given the woman quite a fright!

The auntie, whose name was Jenny, had stared at her for a long time but ultimately hadn't taken her gold.

However, in the end, she had kindly given little Annie a triple-decker burger for free. After all, a cute little girl always had some privileges, didn't she?

Thinking back, this was the first time Annie had relied on her face to get a free meal. It made her feel a little embarrassed.

You have to know, back in the Voodoo Lands, she always relied on her strength—whether overtly or covertly, through various threats, or by conjuring fireballs to coerce others into giving her what she liked for free.

That's right, "giving"! Definitely not robbing! Don't you dare go around saying otherwise.

Annie looked at the mountain of gemstones and gold coins piled up in her dimensional pocket and sighed helplessly.

Some of these gold coins and gemstones were picked up in the wilds of the Voodoo Lands—Annie could always find interesting little things out there—some were given by her mom and dad, and some she had just grabbed because they looked pretty while visiting the vaults of the Gray Order. However, a large portion of them had been found in the nest of that hateful old dragon after she burned it.

"Who told it not to let Annie fly?! It was a bad thing!"

That was Annie's original explanation at the time. After learning the truth, Gregori Hastur and his wife could only express deep condolences to the ignorant old dragon and enthusiastically help Annie confiscate its inheritance.

However, the mysterious warlock Gregori Hastur never misappropriated his daughter's spoils. The Gray Order was very wealthy; as the saying goes: even the poorest mage is never truly poor! Especially not the Gray Order, which was composed of a group of mages.

For this reason, Annie's mother, the shadow witch Amoline, had specifically stabilized a dimensional space in the pocket of Annie's dress so that Annie could store her "toys," "interesting little things," "shiny rocks," or... "spoils of war."

"Tibbers... I'm hungry now! Are you hungry?"

(Tibbers did not answer its master through telepathy, because no one understood its master's dark belly and power better than Tibbers! Having spent six full years under her thumb, it would no longer be fooled by her acting cute or playing the victim. Back in the day, she had acted cute and silly to trick it into eating her, but the result... sigh... forget it, let's not talk about those things! Back then, she was only two years old! And the wise and mighty future King of Shadow Bears, how could it have fallen for her tricks?)

Annie swayed on the swing, pulling the toy Shadow Bear in front of her as she spoke, fiddling with its two furry arms.

Although this place called a park was fun—much more fun than the Voodoo Lands—it had swings, a carousel, many other children to play with, and delicious cotton candy, fried chicken, and burgers... well, the moment she thought of burgers, Annie felt even hungrier!

"Why hasn't Mommy found us yet? Tibbers... I clearly activated the coordinates! I think Mommy must have forgotten! How annoying!"

Annie was starting to feel a little homesick.

In the past, whenever Annie got lost in the Voodoo Lands, she would activate the necklace her mother gave her, and within ten breaths, either Amoline or her father, Gregori Hastur, would arrive by her side.

It was said that this necklace was also enchanted with many interesting defensive spells.

However, little Annie had never tested them, nor had she ever needed to use those defensive spells; she was a very powerful mage in her own right!

What she activated most often was the spatial magic that locked onto her coordinates. Once activated, the Hasturs would immediately lock onto Annie's position and teleport to her side.

Originally, this magic was meant to protect Annie just in case, but since Annie used it often when she got lost, over time, she preferred to call this magic: "The Great Summoning Spell!" Summoning Daddy or Mommy?

But unfortunately, today, Annie's summoning spell had failed for the first time; she hadn't received any response.

(As for the fact that Annie's magic received no response, Tibbers actually knew why. It knew that this place was no longer the main material world of Valoran, but a different world entirely. However, Tibbers didn't give Annie any warning. Having finally gotten out and left that safe Voodoo Lands, Tibbers was hoping this world would be as dangerous as possible; that way, it might get to come out and stretch its legs more often!

You have to know, back in the Voodoo Lands, aside from beating up that old dragon, it had been trapped inside a toy bear for six whole years! Tibbers had once considered ending its bear life, but after thinking about human lifespans and then considering its own bear life of at least several thousand years, it decided it was better to just endure it! Anyway, it was only a matter of decades or a century, just endure it, right?)

By now, the sky was gradually darkening.

As the saying goes: in a large forest, you'll find all sorts of birds. At noon, the gold coins that Auntie Jenny hadn't dared to take had already been spotted by a gang of good-for-nothing thugs. They hadn't dared to make a move when there were many people around, but now...

"Hey there, little girl! Come, look at this. It's a lollipop. Do you want it?"

Deep in the dense woods of the park, three sleazy-looking young black men suddenly emerged. They scanned their surroundings warily, then simultaneously pulled the brims of their baseball caps lower. Only after confirming that the surveillance cameras couldn't capture their faces in the dim light did they surround little Annie, who was swinging alone on the swing set.

One of them, a black man named Bruce, held a large lollipop and thrust it toward Annie. His accomplices, Andy and Mike, stared greedily at Annie's pockets from the side.

These three had once worked at a jewelry store with the intent of stealing gold, but they were unfortunately caught by the owner during the heist and reported to the police. Consequently, they had the honor of spending a few years in prison. They had only recently been paroled and were currently unemployed.

At noon, having worked at a jewelry store, they had recognized at a glance that the gold coins in Annie's hand were the real deal! However, they hadn't dared to make a scene then, merely exchanging secret glances and keeping it in mind.

Originally, they had intended to find an opportunity to steal them, but the park had been too crowded at the time. Furthermore, they weren't professional pickpockets; lacking the proper expertise, they weren't confident they could swipe the coins from little Annie's pocket without being noticed.

Thus, they had kept their eyes on Annie, waiting until now.

At this hour, this part of the park had become very deserted, and in the dim environment, the effectiveness of the surveillance cameras was reduced to a minimum!

This was the perfect opportunity for them to strike!

"Look! It's a lollipop, want it? It's very sweet! Just give us some of those gold coins, and it's yours right away."

Annie tilted her head to look at the lollipop, then at Bruce, the man holding it. After a moment of thought, she pulled a handful of gold coins and gemstones from her pocket.

"Is this what you want?" Annie blinked her innocent, large eyes and asked adorably.

(Sigh... these idiots! Tibbers, clutched in Annie's hand, rolled his eyes. These scumbags with a combat power of less than five dared to act presumptuously in front of Master Annie? This was simply courting death! Their combat power was so pathetic that Tibbers felt he wouldn't even have a chance to be released, so he simply started to doze off.)

Gold coins! And... gemstones?!

Seeing this, the eyes of Bruce and his two cohorts turned blood-red, and hot, ragged breaths puffed from their nostrils. They thought to themselves: We've hit the jackpot! We've really hit it big this time! Between the fine wine and women at the nightclubs and those lovely little bags of powder, these gold coins and gems would keep the three of them living in luxury for a long time!

Bruce reached out to grab them, but Annie nimbly pulled her hand back and stuffed the coins and gems back into her pocket. Then, she hopped lightly off the swing, grabbed one of Tibbers' arms, and skipped toward the park entrance.

"I won't eat candy from creepy uncles~! Annie is going home now, bye-bye!"

Watching Annie walk away, the three men grew anxious. Mike, who had always been the impatient one, immediately pulled out his pocketknife and gave chase.

"Don't be stupid, guys, let's just rob her!"

They weren't exactly law-abiding citizens! Just a few days ago, shortly after their release, they had stabbed a poor soul to death in an alleyway just to steal a few dozen dollars! Who knew if that poor guy's corpse in the sewer had started to stink yet?

Seeing the three men blocking her path again, Annie tilted her head and furrowed her cute brows. She hadn't expected these people to dare treat her like this. It actually surprised her a little.

"White-skinned brat, cut the crap! Hurry up and hand over all the gold coins in your pockets, or I'll slash that pretty little face of yours!" Mike gestured with his gleaming knife while reaching toward Annie's left pocket.

"Don't slash her! Mike, don't you think this little girl looks soft and delicate, very pretty? Why don't we kidnap her too? Maybe those rich perverts with special tastes would pay a high price?"

"Right, right! That works, good idea! But first, get the gold coins, and those gems too!" Andy, on the other side, also reached out to grab Annie's right arm, probing toward her right pocket.

Bruce, who had arrived in front just in time, had already tossed the lollipop aside. He spread his palms to cover Annie's face, intending to forcibly gag her so she wouldn't scream in fear and attract unnecessary trouble.

"White-skinned brats? Hmph! Annie hates you, you must be bad people!"

Annie performed a nimble little hop backward, dodging their groping hands just in time. They actually dared to lay hands on her?

"Mommy said: if you run into bad people, you can burn them!"

As she spoke, she extended her right hand—the one not holding Tibbers—and opened her palm, her fair, delicate hand facing the three men.

"Fire..."

Officer Rick Grimes was a small-town patrolman who had just finished his day's patrol, and his beat happened to cover the Central Park area.

Technically, he could have clocked out and gone home ten minutes ago, but another jerk of an officer had mentioned over the radio before going off-shift that there was a little girl playing alone in the park. And, it seemed, she had no parents with her?

Therefore, the police station's dispatcher had just requested that Rick, before heading home, should go and double-check.

In this city, taxpayers were a formidable species. To avoid being reported for dereliction of duty, and for the sake of his meager bonus, Rick had to grit his teeth and reluctantly delay his departure. He planned to head to the location his colleague mentioned to confirm the situation with the naughty little brat.

What a troublesome little girl... maybe I'll have to find her mother in a bit? Or take her home? This is killing me!

Rick was starving now; he just wanted to get off work early, go home, take a comfortable hot shower, and have a delicious dinner.

However, orders from above had to be carried out, unless he didn't want to work in this line anymore. So, in the end, he could only complain helplessly to himself while walking slowly toward his destination.

Finally, after wandering for a while, Officer Rick turned a corner.

"Oh~! My God! This, how can this... this is impossible!"

"Hello? Gentlemen... I think, you guys, you'll never guess what I just saw?!"

Rick pressed the transmit button on the radio clipped to his shoulder, staring blankly at the scene in the distance, his face filled with shock.

In truth, it was more than just shock. The scene that had just unfolded not far away completely overturned the worldview Rick had held for decades! He could never have imagined how such a thing could possibly happen.