Just at this moment, a completely black and peculiar car with no markings slowly drove into South Mansion Street. Inside the car were several men with sinister expressions.
A man with a somewhat gaunt face suddenly broke the silence, saying to the bald man sitting in front of him, "Boss, aren't we being too hasty this time? No matter what, there's a princess living there. There must be people secretly protecting her. What if they discover us when we make our move?"
The bald man's raspy voice replied, "Relax your mind. The Ding Family has already guaranteed it. That arrogant princess has driven away all her security personnel, including those secret government bodyguards. There's absolutely no one around that brat who can save him. As long as we are careful, who would find out who did it? Besides, even if we do get discovered, we can use that fool Young Master Liu as a scapegoat. With the Ding Family's power protecting us afterward, at worst, we'll be locked up for a few years. When we get out, we'll be rolling in money!"
At this point, a man with triangular eyes sitting next to the bald man chuckled, "Boss, speaking of which, that princess is a real beauty. Given that there won't be any guards around, why don't we..."
"Don't even think about it!" the bald man sternly rebuked. "Lao Dao, this is no joke! If you scare the princess, the Ding Family can still save you. But if you do something you shouldn't, it won't be the police coming after you, it'll be the military!"
"Yes, yes..." Lao Dao immediately laughed apologetically, "That's my bad habit, Boss. Don't take it seriously, I was just joking..."
"But—" the bald man paused and revealed a sinister smile, "we can't touch the princess, but that brat has a beautiful sister who's also a renowned beauty. We'll have our fun with her—hehe!"
"I'm not really interested in his sister," the gaunt-faced man said with a lewd smile. "But I heard that brat has a younger sister, only twelve or thirteen years old, and she's quite a beauty. And she's blind too, which adds a special flavor!"
The triangular-eyed man immediately snickered, "Ciwei, you sure have a thing for young girls, huh? But changing things up will be fun as well, hehe..."
The three of them laughed quietly, seemingly already fantasizing about some improper scene about to occur.
Naturally, I didn't know what was happening here. At that moment, we were hurrying to a nearby area of abandoned buildings.
A streak of white shadow swept across the deserted street like the wind, but due to some kind of force field, our high-speed travel didn't make any noise, truly like a ghost car.
In a parked black car by the roadside, a young man rubbed his eyes, puzzled, and asked the rich kid beside him, "Young Master Liu, what kind of car was that? It sped by so fast without making a sound!"
Sitting next to him was Liu Zicai!
"Maybe you were seeing things. Damn it, will Baldie and the others succeed or not? Even though they were sent by the Ding Family, I can't shake off this uneasy feeling..."
"Young Master Liu!" a young man sitting in the back seat suddenly screamed, startling Liu Zicai and the other person.
"What are you doing? Are you crazy?" Liu Zicai scolded.
The young man who screamed handed his trembling phone to Liu Zicai and stammered, "Young Master Liu, I was bored and took a photo just now, and look at this..."
Liu Zicai took the phone and gasped. The screen showed the gray car that had just sped by. Despite the phone being highly advanced, capturing a clear image even at night and with such high speed, he could clearly see there was no one in the driver's seat!
Recalling the car's silent movement, Liu Zicai's hair stood on end!
"Young Master Liu, did we just see a ghost?" the young man with the phone stammered, his face pale.
"Don't... don't talk nonsense! It must be your phone's problem," Liu Zicai said, quickly tossing the phone back as if it were something dirty. "Drive...get us out of here! Something's weird about this place!"
At this point, we finally reached the location indicated by Alaya.
Emperor Garden—that was the original name of this building complex. If construction had been completed smoothly, it would have become the largest and most luxurious residential area in all of K City. Unfortunately, the developer suffered a sudden misfortune: after drinking too much at a banquet, he mistakenly stumbled into the ladies' restroom, got thrown out, hit his head on a wall, and ended up in a car accident on the way to the hospital (what a convoluted way to die). This building complex thus became the largest unfinished zone in K City.
We parked our car in a hidden spot and then walked into the darkened area of buildings.
There was no lighting here, just the city lights reflected from the sky and occasional bursts of fireworks far away, barely allowing us to see. The rough, unfinished concrete walls and crisscrossing steel bars made it feel like we were walking into a war-torn city. The absence of lighting made the upstanding concrete columns and steel mesh almost blend in with the night, overlapping hazy black shadows like monsters ready to devour us. No wonder so many ghost stories emerged from this place.
"Alaya, you can come out now," I said through a spiritual connection.
A gust of wind blew from above, and I saw white light shadows drift down around us. A feeling of warmth and reassurance spread through my heart with the gradually brightening white light.
I looked up and was stunned.
A silver-haired, golden-eyed girl was sitting on a concrete beam ten meters high. She wore a sleeveless white dress adorned with delicate golden edges, revealing a pair of bare white feet playfully swaying in the air. A strange halo of white light emanated from her, illuminating everything within a hundred-meter radius. In that glow, her face was too pure to look directly at, but I could "see" her clearly: innocent, holy, like a goddess fallen to the mortal world.
Behind the girl, a pair of gigantic, white wings unfurled...
The dark night, the ruins, and an angel created a breathtakingly beautiful scene.
"Angel!" I cried out.
Hearing my voice, the angel girl smiled joyfully, flapping her wings once before gliding gracefully through the air and landing elegantly in front of me.
"An... angel!" I was at a loss for words. Alaya appearing in angelic form was beyond my comprehension, and all I could do was stammer out the term.
It was almost certain now that in the distant past, the Xyrin Apostles must have come to Earth and ruled this world as gods. How else could the Xyrin Apostles match human myths and legends so perfectly?!
I also recalled what Pandora had once told me: the Xyrin Empire's technology wasn't purely scientific but a fusion of magic, mysterious power, alchemy, and science. With even an angel-like being who couldn't possibly be explained by science showing up, I had no choice but to believe Pandora's words.
"Are you surprised?" Sandora's voice brought me back to reality. I turned to see her mischievous smile.
"You knew all along, didn't you? Why didn't you tell me earlier so I could mentally prepare?"
"Where's the fun in that? Living with these carbon-based beings is always filled with surprises for me. Now it's your turn to be surprised~~"
...Is there such a logic?
Realizing that teasing me was getting boring, Sandora's tone turned more serious, "Alright, now I'll tell you a bit about beings like Alaya, the Xyrin Apostles—as you know, the Xyrin Empire's technology is a combination of magic and science. The technology roughly divides into two parts: one represents mysterious and unknown magical forces, and the other represents rational and known technological forces. Most Xyrin Apostles are a blend of these two forces, like myself. But some are extreme manifestations of one of these forces. One extreme is the little girl in front of you, the embodiment of mystery and the unknown, Alaya. If I'm not wrong, your other two World Arbitration Agencies should include one with purely technological power, the other with hybrid power—though this is just my guess. Your connection with your home planet is too weak; I can't help you with the real situation."
At this moment, the angel Alaya, who had been watching us curiously, spoke. The voice was unlike any human's, carrying a serene, otherworldly tremor that was exceptionally pleasing and sacred: "Alaya awaits your command, Monarch."
I noticed that Alaya, unlike other Xyrin Apostles, called me "Monarch" instead of "Emperor," which puzzled me.
"Just a personal preference." Hearing my question, Sandora casually waved her hand. "For us, spiritual verification of authority is the only credible thing, and as for titles, they are more flexible. As long as it's not too over-the-top, it's acceptable. Otherwise, how could Pandora call you brother?"
So that's how it is. It seems I still used human thinking to measure these Xyrin Apostles.
Seeing Alaya still waiting for my instructions, I finally voiced my doubt, "Alaya, how did you suddenly come to Earth?"