Chapter 240

"Twelve, we've suffered a huge loss this time," Wuming said, groaning as he lay on the chair.

Twelve didn't answer; she just lay face down on the table.

There are only the two of them here, because everyone else is wandering around outside.

After a whole day, they had completely calmed down.

Even though Lady had transformed the entire spaceship into an aerial fortress using a combination of white and black keys, expecting it to withstand the aftershocks of a clash between two extra-class combatants was still a bit too much to ask.

The shockwave shattered all the bones in Twelve's body; the others probably fared no better. They nearly suffered total annihilation when they witnessed the extraordinary power of the Benevolent Ones.

It's as if the injury I just suffered was just an illusion; my whole body hasn't realized that my injury has healed, and I still feel the phantom pain of losing a limb.

But I only want to experience it once, to have my whole body crushed like that. It's really easy to leave a psychological scar.

However, almost all the goods were rendered unusable.

Fortunately, the central church stated that they would provide sufficient compensation for their goods, and then the customers could stay as long as they wanted. Just abide by the law.

Even the Yan siblings couldn't bring themselves to say anything bad about the church.

They are, in the end, good people, or at least they retain their humanity. They are not like monsters like Ark who have abandoned all compassion.

Lady has become completely withdrawn, and Deedris is almost the same. The only difference is that one doesn't want to go anywhere, while the other wants to see everywhere.

However, no matter what, leaving from here is extremely difficult.

“You should go and tell Lady. We need to leave here eventually,” Wuming said softly. “We can’t leave without her helping to fix it.”

"Why does it have to be me?" Twelve sighed helplessly.

“Nominally, you are the leader.”

"Is it just in name only?"

“Only in name,” Wuming said definitively. “If all else fails, I can have Xieying go to her.”

"That guy has a sharp tongue; I don't think they can talk to each other properly." Twelve stood up: "Is that guy in the room right now?"

Wuming nodded, while Twelve scratched his head with a slight headache, picked up a plate from the shelf next to him, which contained simply prepared food.

Those are baked cookies, sent by the church. These kinds of snacks are usually not cheap, and Twelve hadn't been able to bring herself to eat them. She planned to save some for the little mouse and Flame.

After all, he was a monster with a humanoid form, so eating might not be a good thing.

He walked to the side that had been given to Lady and tried pulling the lock.

Completely unsurprisingly, the door lock was welded shut.

Or rather, there is no such thing as a door. The entire hatch has been integrated into the metal walls.

They're staying home extremely well.

"Lady?" Twelve tried calling out, tapping on the metal wall with her hand.

He didn't know whether it was transparent or not.

Inside, Lady sat in complete darkness.

There wasn't a ray of light.

She hugged herself, shrinking herself into the ground.

The entire room was now completely enveloped by black keys.

Black keys are not something that ordinary people can break. This kind of metal, which has reached a bizarre level, is extremely difficult to deal with without special countermeasures.

Even high-ranking priests would find it difficult to destroy directly.

Even so, she could still hear sounds from outside.

She just didn't want to talk; she needed to calm down.

It turns out that Ark didn't want him because he was useless.

It's because he has decided to stand against everyone, whether it's monsters or the church, they are now his enemies.

That guy has lost his mind, or rather, he's completely left with only reason.

Why would someone want to destroy the world?

Perhaps it was because of utter disappointment, disappointment with everything, that the best outcome was to completely overturn everything and not start over.

Why should I be sad?

Lady had no idea; she felt completely bewildered.

It's clearly not my fault; I'm already a very powerful guy. I possess two magic seals, as well as a terrifying knowledge base and combat experience.

Those who could defeat Lady would probably only need one hand.

She just can't follow Ark anymore. Where can she go?

She can be anywhere; she has a place in any place.

Suddenly, light appeared in the dark room. Lady looked impatiently at the nameless person who appeared in front of her, and the red-clad girl she had brought in.

"Anyway, I don't know how to chat with girls." Wuming patted Yan on the shoulder: "It's up to you."

"Even if you say that, I can't talk to someone who has no ideas to share," Flame muttered softly, looking up at Lady's murderous gaze.

Several black keys floated in the air beside them.

The initial velocity of that thing, which seems to float in the air for a fleeting moment, could completely obliterate a person; it cannot be considered a normal object.

“We have no hostility.” Wuming quickly raised his hands to indicate that he was safe.

“I’m hostile,” Lady said softly. “You’d better get out of my sight.”

“We need your help,” Flame said hesitantly. “Our airship won’t start.”

“I’ll fix it,” Lady said simply. “But before that, give me a few minutes to calm down.”

"You really know how to fix it?" Wuming was stunned. He didn't expect to agree so easily.

“I said I would fix it, and I will.” Lady said, assembling black keys in her hand into a shotgun with an exaggerated caliber: “If you don’t want your body stuck to the wall, you’d better disappear now.”

She watched the two people flee in a hurry and sighed helplessly.

Even if they completely shut themselves off, they still have the ability to use space and suddenly appear.

There's no way to prevent this situation; she can't manipulate the spatial aspects at all. All she can control is metal.

She raised her hand, and a white key appeared in her palm, shining with a white light.

She looked around her room and slowly leaned back against the wall.

I've basically spent the past year in places like this.

It was a similar room, not particularly small. A girl in a wheelchair often chatted with me there.

A year later, she felt she was no longer a useless person. So she wanted to find Ark and continue their travels together.

If he continues his business, I would be a good protector.

Why? Why am I still so fixated on that guy named Ark?

Lady curled up in bed, watching the girl who appeared in front of her.

That's Riley, the one who used to call herself her sister. She's been programmed as a personality. When she's running, she often appears to give her helpful hints and stop her from doing anything foolish.

But it was no use; for her, doing foolish things wasn't something that could be easily stopped.

“I’m also curious, what exactly do you want from that Ark?” Riley looked at Lady speechlessly: “You don’t have any love for him. By design, you weren’t supposed to have any feelings for the opposite sex. So, liking him can be ruled out... Even if you don’t rule it out, I don’t know what use that guy is to you. I don’t think he’s a good person. He’s been a complete fraud from the beginning. A thoroughly evil person.”

Lady didn't answer; she just lay there silently, without uttering a word.

“You can’t go on like this forever. There are many people who need you. Like that guy who came to you just now. Right now, you’re the only one who can repair airships. You can turn this into an aerial fortress. If you want, you can even build an aerial city.” Leili said softly, “It’s amazing. From the beginning, we never thought an alchemical doll could do this. You’ve exceeded everyone’s expectations… But what are you expecting? That guy came to see you just to take the opportunity to steal the goat’s greatsword.”

"Shut up." Lady had barely finished speaking when a black key shot out.

But it was just a person's shadow; how could it be a matter of fate? In an instant, it was completely embedded in the wall.

When that thing landed on the wall, it shook the entire airship so much that it sounded like it was about to fall apart.

That was a deafening roar.

However, it was just a collision between black keys. In order to absorb the impact, the wall behind the black keys was instantly crushed.

“You can’t hurt what’s in your head,” Riley said, somewhat speechless. “If you really hate me, just bring me out when you’re replacing parts. You know, I’m just a soul residing in an alchemical artifact.”

Lady didn't say anything, but just huddled in the corner, fiddling with a square black key in her hand.

This is the best-performing metal I could create; it has almost surpassed the standard of metals and can be considered the defining standard of matter.

"It breaks my heart to see you like this," she said softly. "You shouldn't care about someone so much."

“For me, he might represent freedom?” Lady suddenly said. “Have I told you before? For a period of time after my father, who is also my creator, created me, I even thought that the world was the same size as a carriage.”

Did that person show you how big the world is?

“At least I learned that the world is much bigger than I thought. I was truly helpless after being released from the birdcage,” Lady said. “For a long time afterward, I only knew that there was so little I could do.”

"It's incomprehensible; many of its logics don't hold water."

"Then don't try to understand me."

“I’m just advising you to take good care of yourself. A lot of people need you. Like those two guys waiting for you to repair the airship.” Riley hesitated for a moment before saying, “You also need to repair one more wall.”

Lady silently looked at the huge dent she had made with the black keys and sighed helplessly.

She raised her hand, and the wall, which had been completely sunken, became flat again.

The black keys covering the entire interior of the room disintegrated and floated in the air.

Each one is a weapon with absolute destructive power.

After the black keys were put away, the room suddenly felt cold.

Because the wall had been breached, light from next door shone through.

"Hey!" The woman in the next room waved at her. "You look a bit irritable."

"Who are you?" Lady asked softly. "Do I know you?"

“We can get to know each other now. Let me introduce myself. In ancient times, I was the shadow of angels.” She said with a smile, “They called me Shadow Shadow. It’s really rude to call a girl that.”

“All I know is that two cats are looking for you,” Lady remembered. “They seem to really want to send you to your coffin.”

"I don't want to go into a coffin."

"Then don't bother me."

"Actually, you were the one who punched through the wall first." Xie Ying looked at the hole in the wall and sighed, "If you hadn't used that thing to block it, I'd be dead by now, wouldn't I?"

"You're smart enough to leave now. I don't want to fight." Lady's face darkened again. "You'd better not mess with me until I consider you my enemy."

She waved her hand, and the door that had been sealed was instantly blasted open. Dozens of black keys circled around before shooting straight through half a meter of metal wall. As the thing fell to the ground, Lady emerged from the room into the light of day.

"Uh, are all powerful guys this bad-tempered?" Xie Ying muttered helplessly, letting out a sigh.

There's no other way; there are hardly any easy guys to mess with here right now.

If you get angry, you'll probably be killed on the spot.

A black key that can penetrate such a thick metal wall is not something you should try to withstand with your body. You'd probably die instantly upon contact.

With another loud bang, Xie Ying was genuinely startled before she realized that she had lifted the metal door that had fallen to the ground and closed it.

In the hallway, Lady took a deep breath to calm herself down. She hadn't been exposed to fresh air all day, and she was feeling rather annoyed.

She heard some commotion and looked outside with a bit of impatience. A group of people were gathered around them, pointing and discussing the airship.

Lady then realized that they had been moved into the city at some point.

It seems that the benevolent ones put several interlocking chains on it and dragged it directly into the city.

"Do you need help with the repairs?" A man of somewhat exaggerated build asked from a distance, holding a hammer in his hand.

"How much does it cost?" Lady asked without turning her head.

“No, we don’t use currency here.” The man shook his head and said, “They told us to do our best to help you.”

“Is that so?” Lady sighed. “It certainly requires a lot of people. You saw just how damaged this thing is.”

She looked out the window and suddenly froze.

Several hundred meters apart, she and Deedri looked at each other.

The guy stood on a rooftop, silently watching himself. Perhaps noticing Lady watching him, he waved.

It seems like it's greeting itself, or perhaps it's saying hello to someone else.