Just as the whole world was about to change, on the Void Ray Ship, Lei Zi also seemed a little uneasy.

"That... Lei?"

"What's wrong? Tears?"

Sitting on the chair, Lei looked out the window and turned to look at Lei Zi.

"Can you tell me why you want to go to that...that..."

"Eddielu Courtyard?"

"Yes, yes, Eddie Lu Courtyard."

Ruizi stuck out her tongue and looked at Lei.

"Think about it carefully. For such a long time, I never asked you why you went there."

“…”

In response to Ruizi's question, Lei was silent for a moment, then began to speak in a low voice.

"Because someone is calling me."

"call?"

"Yes, her name is Xia... She is my most important friend."

Looking out the window, Lei whispered the history to Lei Zi.

That past.

At that time, the world had begun to become unstable, so humans needed strength, and the Holy War Angels were seen as the necessary strength for them. People captured the Holy War Angels everywhere, enslaved them, and forced them to fight with them. At that time, Lei also lived in such a village of Holy War Angels.

However, Lei's experience is different from that of other holy war angels. She is the Seven Brilliant Treasure Tree, a legendary existence. Because of this, Lei has always been ostracized even in the village of holy war angels. It was Xiya who gradually opened Lei's heart and made her feel the joy of living again.

One day, Xia took the children to the mountains, where they met a human hunting team that came to capture the Holy War Angels. Xia, Lei and others were almost caught, but at this moment, another group of humans suddenly appeared, killed the human hunters who tried to capture Xia and others, and rescued them.

They are the envoys from the Edilu Courtyard, led by a young man named Qis. They came here on behalf of the Edilu Courtyard, hoping to build a bridge between humans and the Holy War Angels, change the status quo, and allow both sides to live in harmony.

After that, the envoys stayed in the village. At first, people kept their distance from these humans, but gradually, the two sides began to make contact. Not only that, the young man named Qis also fell in love with Xiya, became a couple, and eventually got married.

After that, Xia followed Qis away. Before leaving, Xia made an appointment with Lei that they would definitely meet again.

When Lei was fifteen, she did receive an invitation from the Eddielu Courtyard, but...

"...At that time, I was attacked and then sealed away. When I woke up again, I met you..."

“I see…”

“Knock, knock.”

At this moment, there was a knock on the door, and then Fang Zheng walked in.

"I'm sorry to interrupt your lovemaking, but it looks like we're almost there at the Eddie Lu Courtyard."

"What, really?"

Hearing this, Lei Zi stood up hurriedly, and Lei looked at Fang Zheng in surprise.

"Tinker Bell just made a discovery."

As he spoke, Fang Zheng stretched out his hand, and soon, a holographic image appeared in front of the girls. It was a group of floating islands floating in the sky. They looked like small islands covered with crystals, connected by chains. However, there were no lights on those buildings at the moment, and from the outside, they seemed to have been abandoned long ago.

"Is this the place?"

"I, I don't know, but... I can sense Xia's voice, right here..."

"So, should we rest for a night and set off tomorrow, or..."

"I can't wait any longer!"

"All right."

Hearing Lei's answer, Fang Zheng shrugged.

"Then you guys get ready. I'll also go inform Misaka Mikoto and Shirai Kuroko."

Soon, the Void Light Ship approached the floating islands under Fang Zheng's control, and then landed on the floating island in the center. Then a flash of light appeared, and the next moment everyone appeared on the ground.

"Is this the Eddielu Courtyard?"

Under the white light, the girls looked around curiously. But all they could see was a ruin, and from the outside, it didn't look like the product of natural weathering over a long period of time, but more like the ruins left after a war.

However, no matter what, this is far from the paradise-like place that Lei described.

"That... Lei, this..."

Although she had a premonition, she didn't know what to say when she saw this scene. Lei stared blankly at the ruins in front of her, and then suddenly ran inside.

"Wait a minute!"

Seeing Lei running inside, the others hurried to follow. However, not long after Lei ran into the building in front of them, the people behind saw Lei suddenly sway and fall to the ground.

"Lei, are you okay?"

At this moment, Lei Zi also hurried over and helped Lei up, but Lei shook her head.

"It's okay, I just tripped."

After hearing Lei's answer, everyone lowered their heads and looked at Lei's feet. There was a rhizome that had broken through the soil. However, judging from its appearance, the rhizome had obviously lost moisture and withered a long time ago. Everyone instinctively continued forward in the direction of the rhizome, and then...

"What is that!"

"Alas!"

When they saw the end of the root, Misaka Mikoto gasped, Shirai Kuroko turned pale, and Ruiko tightly grasped Lei's hand, her face pale. Only Fang Zheng stood behind the four of them and whistled.

Under the shining light, one can clearly see that at the end of the stem, something that looks like a human is tied up inside it - no, strictly speaking, it is a human.

Fang Zheng walked forward and took a closer look.

"Hmm... it's mummification..."

As he spoke, Fang Zheng reached out and fiddled with the corpse in front of him. That's right, the corpse in front of everyone was a mummified corpse, without flesh and blood, only skin covering bones. Judging from the remaining long hair and pendants, this mummy should have been a female when she was alive.

"He's been dead for about two hundred years."

Fang Zheng scanned it with his personal terminal and then gave a conclusion.

"In other words, this place was abandoned two hundred years ago?"

"That's about right. Anyway, just keep going and you'll know."

As Fang Zheng spoke, he walked forward, and Lei hurriedly followed. Seeing this scene, Lei Zi and the other three looked at each other, and finally followed behind him.

However, the deeper they went inside, the more wrong the situation seemed. The entire building looked like it had been broken through by the roots and vines of some plant. And as far as the eye could see, under the illumination of magical light, mummified corpses could be seen everywhere. Just looking at this scene was enough to imagine how tragic the situation was at the time.

"Why, why are there so many... so many mummies..."

At this moment, Misaka Mikoto was hiding behind Fang Zheng, looking like a cat with its fur standing on end.

“Oh, because they’re man-made.”

"What do you mean by artificial?!"

Misaka Mikoto just felt her legs go weak.

"To put it simply, something sucked out everything in their bodies except for the skin and bones in an instant, just like dehydration preservation, which is why there are so many mummies left."

"What, what could that be!?"

At this moment, Misaka Mikoto was already emitting electric currents all over her body, and even Shirai Kuroko had to retreat away.

"I don't know. According to the nature of Hollywood movies, it's usually some secret experiment that goes wrong, and then some monster comes out and destroys the entire base?"

"Experiments? Monsters?"

"Hmm...what do you think?"

Having said that, Fang Zheng winked at Misaka Mikoto and Shirai Kuroko, then curled his lips at Lei in front of him. The two were stunned at first, and then their expressions changed slightly.

Everyone here died in a cruel way, but Lei said that she heard the voice of the person she was looking for here. If the other party was not a ghost, then... there was only one possibility left.

In this way, everyone walked through the ruined passage and came to an indoor square. However, at this moment, Lei suddenly stopped and looked at a statue not far in front of her.

"bud?"

Seeing Lei's eyes, Lei Zi also raised her head and looked forward. There, there was a statue of a handsome man wearing white clothes and holding a long sword. Under the statue, the name of the statue and the date (2186-2401) were engraved.

"Keith..."

"Hey? Is this the guy named Chis you mentioned?"

"Um."

At this point, Lei was obviously a little sad. The life span of the holy war angels was different from that of humans. She knew this before, but she didn't pay much attention to it. But now, seeing that the people she knew had already died, leaving only a statue... Lei still didn't know what to say.

Then, will Lei Zi die too?

“How strange…”

At this moment, other people also came over and looked at the statue in front of them curiously, and then Shirai Kuroko frowned.

"What's so strange?"

"That Mr. Chiss... is he a human? Can a human live for two hundred years?"

"This... is indeed a bit weird."

Hearing Shirai Kuroko's question, Saten Ruiko was stunned for a moment before she realized that something was wrong. According to the date on the monument, the man named Chis had lived for at least 215 years. However... this world was not her own world after all, and she didn't know if the people here could really live that long.

But Lei obviously didn't pay attention to the conversation. She looked around and soon found a few faint lights flashing in the passage not far away. That was...

"Xue Jinghua! Xiya is here!"

While shouting, Lei ran quickly towards the direction of the light, and the others hurriedly followed her. Unlike the previous passage, the passage in front of them was tightly blocked by the ubiquitous vines and roots. What's more important is that on these roots, you can see flowers emitting a faint white glow, like lilies. Its crystal clear appearance looks as if it was condensed from ice and snow.

And finally, in the shot of the corridor, everyone saw a figure imprisoned in an iron cage.

It was a woman with long silver-white hair, wearing a ragged robe, and there were sparkling snow flowers all around her. At this moment, the woman closed her eyes and leaned against the wall, looking like she was in a deep sleep.

This scene was so strange that even Lei Zi couldn't help but stop, but Lei threw herself on the fence and shouted at the woman in front of her.

"Xia, it's me. I'm here at the Eddielu Courtyard because I promised you that I would definitely come! Even though I'm here so late and made you wait for so long, I..."

And at this moment, as Lei spoke, the woman slowly opened her eyes, looked at Lei in front of her, smiled, then opened her mouth and softly called the girl's name.

"bud."

"Xia!"

Hearing the woman's voice, Lei reached out and held her hand tightly.

"Wait, let me let you out first... What's going on with these vines? Xia, what happened in the Eddielu Courtyard? Why are you locked up here alone?"

After the joy of reunion after a long separation, Lei finally realized the current problem.

However……

"Where's Keith?"

With this question, Lei's movements suddenly froze. However, in front of her, Xiya was still looking at her with a smile.

"Lei, do you know where Qisi is now?"

"……?"

In the face of Xia Ya's answer, everyone looked at each other in bewilderment. Judging from the statue outside, the man named Qis had been dead for almost two hundred years, but how come... she looked like she knew nothing about it?

"You, what are you talking about..."

"Hate it, Lei won't forget about him."

Facing Lei's livid face, Xiya once again showed a gentle smile.

"That's the leader of the goodwill delegation, the hero of Orkanad, and the gem hunter Chis Firoug."

"Gem... Hunter?"

Hearing this name, Lei began to tremble for some reason, while Xia lowered her head.

"I miss Chis so much. I should be able to help her more... you see..."

As she spoke, Xiya raised her hands and showed her body to everyone. Seeing this, Fang Zheng frowned, and the girls were shocked and speechless.

The surface of the fair skin was covered with traces of erosion by plants, and there were even some horrible scars like bloodstains.

"Not only can I make more flowers bloom, but I've also become stronger than before, huh?"

"Xi...Xi Ya?"

Lei staggered back, staring at Xiya's body in front of her in amazement. It didn't look like a human body at all, but more like a disgusting mixture of machinery and plants cruelly inserted into a human body. But Xiya herself didn't show any pain at all, and still had an innocent and pure smile.

"Look, Lei, I'm strong, right? Because I work hard, ok?"

"Xi...Ya..."

"What's wrong with you? You look like you've seen a monster."

Xiya laughed and waved her hands.

"That's annoying, it's just because my hair is too long, wait a minute, I'm leaving now."

As Xia spoke, the roots that originally looked like they had withered long ago began to sway, and then tore apart the original cage. Then, the girl slowly walked out of it, and then she raised her head and looked at the people behind Lei.

"I didn't expect that you would bring me food, Lei. That's really great... Thank you. I haven't eaten for two hundred years and I'm troubled by it."

"Why?"

"brush--!"

Before Lei could react, she saw the vines suddenly shoot towards Fang Zheng, Misaka Mikoto and Shirai Kuroko. Facing the sudden attack, Fang Zheng just snorted and snapped his fingers. The next moment, flames suddenly erupted, burning the surrounding vines clean.

Seeing this scene, Xiya was not afraid, but became more excited.

"Wow! This power is even stronger than what I ate before. If I can obtain this power, then, then I will definitely become more beautiful, and Chis will definitely love me more!"

As Xiya spoke, more vines emerged from all around the passage and rushed towards everyone. But before the vines could catch their prey, Xiya saw a figure flash in front of her, and the next moment, she completely lost her target.

When everyone came to their senses again, they were back in the square outside the building.

"Xi...Xia..."

Lei sat down on the ground with a thud, trembling and not knowing what to say. The joy of seeing the person closest to her just now was now completely replaced by indescribable complex emotions.

"boom!!"

The earth roared, and the broken ruins collapsed completely. Then, Xia, who had been completely changed, walked out of it.

"Hurry up, give it to me quickly, I want to absorb their life and their power!"

“Stop it now!”

Looking at the monster in front of her that had almost become inhuman, Lei couldn't help but let out a cry of pain.

However……

"Who are you?"

"……Why?"

At this moment, when Xia Ya looked at Lei again, she no longer had the same affection as before. She stared at Lei coldly, as if she was looking at an enemy.

"You want me to stop? You actually want to order me? Who are you? What gives you the right to order me?!"

"boom--!!"

Along with Xia's roar, hundreds of roots emerged from the ground and stabbed towards Lei, but at this moment, Lei Zi suddenly appeared.

"Face the wind!"

A roaring wall of wind immediately rose from the ground, blocking the rushing roots.

"Lei, come on, let's make a pact!"

“…”

Hearing what Ruizi said, Lei raised her head, was silent for a moment, then nodded as if she had made up her mind and grabbed the hand that Ruizi extended.

The next moment, the wind roared.

"let's go."

Looking at the raging wind in front of him, Fang Zheng turned around and walked towards the other side of the ruins. Misaka Mikoto and Shirai Kuroko were both stunned to see him turn around and leave.

"Wait, Mr. Fang Zheng, aren't you going to help?"

"This is a fight between them. It's best if we don't interfere. Besides, I have things to do."

"…What's the matter?"

"That's right."

Fang Zheng snorted coldly when he said this.

"This poor lady is just a victim. If we want to fight, we should fight the mastermind, right?"

As he spoke, Fang Zheng raised his head and looked coldly towards the tall tower on the other side.