New World's Gate (Part 2)

On the way home, Tang Baona gazed thoughtfully at the fleeting night scenery outside the car window.

That little girl's simple self-introduction contained a wealth of information.

She has a formal name, Alice, and she knows and accepts the nickname Tang Baona has always used for her, "Little Sprite."

She also referred to herself as "Little Bell's Little Screw," proving that she knew Liu Shiling.

Tang Baona immediately recalled that she had indeed heard Little Bell mention her interactions with a friend Little Screw. For example, when Xiao Lingdang painted the huge birthday gift for Lao Xia, she mentioned that Little Screw had helped with it.

At that time, Tang Baona, Yang Zhen'er, and others all thought that "Little Screw" was just a good friend of "Little Bell". They all knew that Little Bell had several good friends in kindergartens in Shenhai and Star City, and they often contacted each other online and discussed drawing with her, such as a girl named "Da Lu" and a girl named "Xiao Mei".

Unexpectedly, the Little Screw wasn't a "real child," but rather a "Little Sprite" that appeared and disappeared without a trace, seemingly nonexistent yet also present everywhere.

If it were only these few sentences, Tang Baona might have thought that the connection shown by "Little Sprite" Alice's protection of her came from the closeness of Little Bell to her.

But Alice said something crucial – "She's the boss's assistant."

Who is her "boss"?

Although Alice didn't have time to say it then, a name instinctively popped into Tang Baona's mind:

Xiang Kun.

She remembered that not long after she Xiang Kun, he had mentioned the speech synthesis tool to her. She had helped provide a large number of speech samples. Later, there was a funny incident where Xiang Kun sent her a demo version of the tool, which included a speech example of "Xiang Kun, you are so handsome".

She suddenly realized that the reason the "Little Sprite's" voice sounded familiar was because it was actually her own voice in a childlike form. However, normally her own voice would sound somewhat distorted, and the recorded voices were mostly singing, so she couldn't tell the difference at first.

She remembered Xiang Kun saying that the voice synthesis system would be applied to an AI assistant, but there had been no further updates since.

She initially thought that AI assistant was the foundation for their later project, "Voice Genesis," but now it seems that Xiang Kun might have created an "assistant" —Alice —that transcends the digital world in another way.

The reason it resembles Lao Xia as a child might be because Lao Xia, like her, provided materials or samples for Xiang Kun's AI assistant project?

But how was this done? Is it really possible?

If this highly intelligent behavior were to occur on a computer, mobile phone, or other digital information carrier, or even in a robot, she might be surprised, but she wouldn't find it bizarre.

But now, that little girl, the Little Sprite Alice, her transformation between illusion and reality, her elusive yet seemingly omnipresent and ever-present existence, is too mysterious, beyond her comprehension and the scope of her past knowledge to explain.

She was certain the little girl wasn't a hallucination, because back in Chongyun Village, the little girl had clung to her leg, preventing her from tumbling down the stairs. And just hours earlier, the little girl had touched the back of her hand—the touch was real, even warm. Just moments before, she had even pinched the little girl's cheek.

How can something so real and alive appear and disappear in an instant?

Moreover, her ability to appear outside the window one second and in the corridor the next, as well as her performance on the wing of a passenger plane, demonstrates an extraordinary ability to disregard spatial distance. This kind of performance is not something that can be achieved through "programming" or electronic devices.

However, thinking about her own experiences, the magical Emotional Melody and Item Melody she perceived, and the lightning storm and the seemingly real fireworks show she had witnessed in Chongyun Village a few days ago, she felt that the appearance of "Little Sprite" Alice seemed quite... natural.

Could it be that Xiang Kun is truly a hidden "great wizard" or "great monk" among programmers?

Was he taking me, Lao Xia, Zhen'er, Little Bell, and Little Apple into a world of magic or superpowers?

Once home, Tang Baona naturally couldn't fall asleep immediately. She started calling out to "Little Sprite" again, and deliberately sat in the living room to do so—because "Little Sprite" had appeared in the living room before.

After calling out several times, she received no response. She looked around the living room, left and right, and even up and down, but couldn't see the little girl in the white dress.

Tang Baona wasn't worried about this. Over the past few months, she had summoned the "Little Sprite" countless times, but most of the time there was no response, so she was quite used to it.

Of course, whenever she gets into trouble or danger, or even if her family is in danger, the "Little Sprite" always appears in time to help and protect her.

Since Alice "Little Sprite," claims to be the "boss's assistant," then her protecting him must be on the orders of the "boss," Xiang Kun?

Thinking this, Tang Baona suddenly had an idea. She closed her eyes, touched the beads on the bracelet on her left wrist with her right hand, and sensed the rhythmic expression of the various objects in the room. Then, in these rhythms, she searched for that unusual rhythm.

When her father had a heart attack, she naturally had no time or inclination to perceive the Object Melody. But later, in the hospital, after her father had recovered, she saw Alice in the corridor and for a moment, on a whim, she tried to perceive the Object Melody and Emotional Melody around her.

Of course, Alice had disappeared by then because of her mother's sudden appearance, but she still managed to catch a peculiar rhythm and melody in the various objects and Emotional Melody around her.

Because her mother was there at the time, she didn't perceive it too deeply. But now that she's back home, she's using that rhythm and melody as a sample and searching around her, and she's found it again!

Moreover, that rhythm and melody seem to be everywhere, perceptible in every direction.

Tang Baona was somewhat excited, as if she had found a thread, and began to pull and tug at it, following these unique rhythms to perceive them more broadly, as if she wanted to complete them and form a whole piece of music.

But when she focused on it, eliminating other Emotional Melody and Item Melody, and only having that unique rhythm in her mind, a sense of vastness and remoteness suddenly filled her, as if the rhythm she was exploring had expanded into an endless universe and a mysterious and deep sea.

Tang Baona was startled, but she refused to give up easily and continued to delve deeper into the rhythm.

As she exited the subway station, Tang Baona squinted at the bright sun overhead, then walked briskly along the shaded side of the road.

Arriving at the entrance of a coffee shop, she glanced at her phone. Hmm, it wasn't time yet; she wasn't late. Good.

Although she didn't really want to go on a blind date, she couldn't refuse Sister Han's request, so she figured she'd just make another friend and go through with it. Since she was going to come, she definitely couldn't be late and leave a bad impression, making people think that the person Sister Han introduced was impolite.

She pushed open the door and stepped inside. The coffee shop was deserted. She glanced around and saw not a single customer. There wasn't even a person at the bar or service counter. Had the shop not opened yet? Impossible!

She found a seat in the corner, and a small waiter suddenly appeared with a menu, asking in a childish voice, "What would you like to eat?"

Tang Baona looked up and saw a chubby, adorable little girl who looked about five or six years old. She couldn't help but reach out and pinch the little girl's chubby cheeks, and said with a smile, "Are you the boss's daughter? Why are you helping out at such a young age?"

"Be serious, this is where we order food." The little girl shook her head, shook off her hand, and said seriously.

"Okay, give me an Americano first. My friend hasn't arrived yet; I'll order when he gets here."

"What's American style? All the food here is delicious, none of it is ugly." The little girl stared at her with wide eyes.

"Huh?" Tang Baona was taken aback for a moment, then couldn't help but laugh, "So what do you have here?"

The little girl looked at the menu and read aloud, "There's Chocolate, Ice Cream, Lemon Tea, Sachima, Mung Bean Cake, and Egg Pie."

Just as Tang Baona was about to suggest a Lemon Tea, the little girl continued reciting, "Our dry pot rabbit, spicy rabbit, pork rib soup, Napoleon cake, roasted chicken wings, and crispy pork knuckle are also delicious..." As she recited, she even slurped up a mouthful of saliva.

Tang Baona couldn't help but laugh, "Is this a coffee shop or a Chinese restaurant?" As she spoke, she reached out to touch her chubby face.

Just then, a loud bang was heard outside, followed by a bird's cry that pierced the eardrums. Tang Baona instinctively raised her hand to cover her ears, while the Little Chubby Girl waitress let out a cry, pulled up her hood, and rushed out of the coffee shop.

Tang Baona was startled and quickly got up to chase after the Little Chubby Girl, trying to pull her back.

But after following them out, the Little Chubby Girl disappeared. A shadow flew overhead, completely blocking out the blazing sun. She subconsciously looked up and stared in disbelief at a terrifying giant bird that blotted out the sky flying over the city. Its claws casually touched the surrounding buildings, and immediately large sections of brick walls fell from the sky.

Tang Baona covered her head and couldn't dodge in time. Just as she was about to be hit by a huge rock, someone suddenly grabbed her and pulled her aside, narrowly avoiding being hit.

She came to her senses and looked at the person who had saved her—a cute girl wearing sunglasses. Her expression was resolute. She turned around, waved her hand, and tens of thousands of golden doves flew out from nowhere, immediately swooping down to help block and push away the falling rocks.

Wait, it doesn't seem to be a pigeon?

Just as she was carefully trying to discern whether the plump golden birds were pigeons or some other species, a female warrior in silver armor swung her greatsword down at the giant bird from mid-air.

The greatsword crackled with lightning, exploding with a thunderous roar, and cleaved through the air in a web of arcs of electricity.

However, the next second, the silver-armored female warrior was flung away by the giant bird's gentle flap of its wings, tumbling and falling from the air with a scream of pain, landing not far from Tang Baona.

She rushed over, only to see the female soldier, who had fallen badly and whose helmet was cracked in two, crying Zhengyi School she struggled to her feet, leaning against the wall.

"Ah! Zhen'er? How could you... you actually..." Tang Baona immediately recognized that the silver-armored female warrior was actually her best friend Yang Zhen'er.

Yang Zhen'er sniffled, wiped away her tears, froze for a moment, then let out a loud "Aww!", covered her face, turned around abruptly, and ran away. "I'm not! You've mistaken me for someone else!"

"Wait! Zhen'er, danger!" Tang Baona saw the giant bird circle back in the sky, its claws outstretched, and it swooped down on Yang Zhen'er who was running past. The buildings on both sides shattered and crumbled in all directions as if they had been hit by a nuclear shockwave.

Suddenly, all the noise disappeared, and the giant bird's swooping motion seemed to freeze, as if the entire space had been paused.

The next instant, a bald man wearing a yellow jumpsuit, red gloves, red boots, and a white cape threw a punch from bottom to top, and his whole body shot into the air to meet the giant bird.

A burst of light exploded, and the giant bird screamed and struggled as it was swallowed up.

In an instant, Tang Baona recognized him as Saitama, the protagonist of an anime she used to watch often, but the voice that came out of her mouth in surprise was. "Xiang Kun!"

After the light exploded, a very rhythmic melody suddenly rang out, first with the thumping of drums, then with orchestral music, followed by various instruments, and then a woman's melodious humming.

That melody sounds so familiar.

"Sister Nana."

A woman's voice called to her.

She looked to her left; there was only white light, nothing else.

"Sister Nana."

She looked to her right again, but all she saw was a vast expanse of white.

"Sister Nana, Sister Nana, Sister Nana..."

As the voice called out and the melody continued to play, she suddenly felt her consciousness becoming clearer and clearer.

Wait, why "awake"?

Was I not originally conscious?

Tang Baona paused for a moment, realizing something. She looked up and found herself sitting in the same coffee shop again. Outside, the sun was shining brightly, and all the buildings were intact. There were no terrifying giant birds or world-destroying things.

Her gaze fell upon two girls, one older and one younger. The older one, with a ponytail, was the familiar Lao Xia. The younger one also resembled Lao Xia, but was much younger and wearing a white princess dress; she was Alice.

"Sister Nana," Lao Xia called softly.

"Sister Nana," Alice called softly in response.

"Am I... dreaming?" Tang Baona blurted out instinctively.

Everything around me suddenly became both concrete and illusory.