[8] WEIRD PEACH TREE.
The two researchers who went to join the once-in-a-century auction were his bosses. He would be doomed if he couldn't find the thief!
He was scared that he would really lose the track of the thief because the Supreme rank Mecha masters also went to join in the auction and thus there was no one to run right behind that mysterious Supreme rank Mecha!
The men of the search teams panicked and knew the threat from their captain wasn't light, and he had the authority to dismantle any of them on the spot.
Thus with a lot of anxiety in their hearts, the soldiers went on their own accord to find the mecha!
…
Cardinal continued to hide in the clouds until the other people left. He slowly shrank his body and hid under a tree with a black trunk and leaves.
Kayra was still asleep in the cockpit and the mecha didn't ask her command about what to do. He simply stood on top of a branch of an Onyx tree.
When she opened her eyes a very uncomfortable feeling grabbed her heart tightly. Kayra had the illusion that her blood was running backwards.
"Where are we?'' Kayra asked groggily and rubbed her eyes. She frowned as she saw barren lands around her except for some gigantic black trees.
Those trees were so black that she felt very uncomfortable with the shade. She felt her mind being sucked into that color when she concentrated on it for more than one second.
Kayra moved her eyes away despite having the uncontrollable urge to stare at those trees.
Beep~ Beep~
A virtual window showed up in front of Kayra, on the glass surface of the oxygen mask. She noticed a battery-like part where only 5% showed.
"Oh no!" She realized what that meant.
In the next second, the mecha stopped using energy and then walked ahead in large and hurried steps.
After walking for a long time, he suddenly stopped and stared at the ground.
Then he hugged his front with his two metallic arms and like an earth auger, he drilled into the soil. At the same time, the body of the mecha disappeared and Kayra again dropped from the sky and fell on a little lake.
'The 'fall' word has some fate with me…' While thinking, Kayra began to sink underwater. After a while, her eyes got a clear view as she used her all to emerge from the lake.
This time, she didn't ask for help from the system and despite not knowing how to swim, she succeeded. Phiphi was surprised as it felt the brain waves as well as saw the shining red eyes of Kayra using its perception.
After coming out of the lake, Kayra glanced around and was delighted to see the vast greenery around the lake.
The ground was coated with green grass and it looked so beautiful that she had the urge to jump on it and run all around.
When she swam up to the edge of the lake, she hurriedly stepped on the soil, and then she took off the silver-colored shoes which materialized when she got thrown from the cockpit of the mecha.
"Ah~ The feeling of grass…" Kayra leaned down and stared at the grass. The feeling of soft yet poky grasses beneath her feet gave a different relief.
She felt as if many centuries had passed since she had touched a life form. When she caressed the grass with her fingers, finally she noticed an anomaly.
Her head swirled up and noticed the bright sun in the sky. She frowned and then remembered just a moment ago, Cardinal had sunk in the soil.
"How is the sun, I mean the Delta showing in the sky?! Didn't we go underground? Weird." She whispered.
Right then the red nonagon block of the mecha appeared and floated in front of her.
Her clothes and shoes didn't disappear. The block got engulfed in bright silver color. Then it transformed and turned into a little butterfly-shaped earring.
It flew beside Kayra's left cheek and pasted itself on the earlobe. She slowly touched the thing and whispered, "Cardinal, thanks but can you divide yourself in two. I want to put a piece on the other ear two. Only putting on one ear looks weird… "
{It's not weird. You look beautiful.}
"Awe~ Alright then."
In the end, she glanced around and began to walk on the narrow road after wearing her shoes again.
She touched her dry hair and thought, 'Weird, shouldn't it be wet?'
Her silver suit was also dry. With a lot of doubts and confusion, she stepped on the road. But after walking for some distance, she stopped.
In front of her was a huge peach tree. She noticed those super red peaches and even the tiniest details of dew falling by those. She licked her lips and whispered, 'I seem to be… hungry?'
Kayra remembered that the last time she seemed to have eaten a peach given by the Dean of the orphanage. After she left, she never ate this fruit.
With sparkling eyes, she walked ahead but the more she walked, the more she felt she could not get to the tree. At the same time, she noticed the tree was becoming bigger and bigger.
She stopped in her tracks and stared at the tree warily. At that moment, the tree wriggled like noodles and inched towards Kayra.
It shook a branch and 7 large-sized peaches fell. Then, a branch turned into a hand and gathered the fruits in a heart shape and moved them towards her slowly.
Kayra saw all of these with trembling eyes and wanted to run away but looking at the red peaches, she could not bring herself to.
With caution, she approached and picked up one but, contrary to her expectations, that thing was large. She had to use both palms to hold it.
"Cute~" Kayra was happy and wanted to bite but had to stop. Some weird noises began to waft towards her. The tree became anxious. A small branch extended and tugged on her shoulder.