"I always feel like my brain is going to explode."
Lying on the bed, looking at the night sky outside the window, Aetheria sighed.
"I never thought the world could be so vast..."
"Hmm..."
Hearing Aetheria’s lament, Neflen silently nodded.
"But, yet, there’s no evidence to prove this, right? Maybe he was just saying it casually. After all, how could the world be so big?"
Katori was still somewhat unable to accept it. Her concept of the world was limited to floating islands and the earth. But now, upon learning that the world she lived in was just a tiny speck of dust in the desert, Katori felt a palpable sense of fear.
"Just think of them as floating islands a hundred times bigger, right?"
Although having learned that their world was a sphere as well, Aetheria was not as puzzled as the dwarves or elves about why they didn’t fall off. After all, compared to them, Aetheria and other fairies always lived on floating islands. For them, it wasn’t strange that the earth floated in the sky; it was ordinary daily life. Hence, they quickly accepted the concept — just imagine their planet as a super large spherical floating island.
It seems one’s living environment truly affects their range of acceptance.
"The future... To be honest, I’ve never even thought about it..."
Aetheria held her head with both hands, staring at the ceiling. The fate of the Golden Fairies was to fight, and then perish. Even surviving was a luxury for them, let alone thinking about the future.
But now, it seems they had a brand new choice.
"......"
Hearing this, Katori remained silent and spoke no words. She had never considered this issue either.
But now, perhaps she must start considering it.
While Katori and others pondered their future, on the second floating island, the Grand Sage listened with a serious expression to the report from the Lizard Officer.
"You’re saying that man gave the Fairy Soldiers a very strange but remarkably powerful weapon?"
"Yes, My Lord Sage, the weapon is very similar to our firearms and cannons but thousands of times more powerful! Over two hundred heads of the Sixth Beast didn’t last even half an hour before being completely wiped out under the barrage of these weapons!!"
The Lizard Officer’s tone was filled with excitement and enthusiasm. Although it didn’t fully understand the principle of these weapons, after consulting Katori and others, it gained a considerable level of understanding. Powerfully effective and easy to use. More importantly, unlike relic weapons, these weapons seemed usable by anyone!
It could imagine that once these weapons spread, beasts would no longer be a threat. They could easily protect the floating islands!
"Well, what about those weapons?"
"Sorry... they were taken back by that man."
This was also something the Lizard Officer was somewhat helpless about. It originally intended to acquire a weapon from Katori and others for careful examination, but was informed that Fang Zheng retracted the weapons after the battle, expressing — they would be brought out for use in the next battle.
Clearly, he had no intention of letting them see the weapons.
"......"
Upon hearing this, the Sage fell into silence.
Mysterious weapons, of unknown origin, a man claiming to be human — all these exceeded the Sage’s realm of understanding. It originally assumed the man might be, like itself, a survivor from an era gone by. But now the Sage no longer thought so, as even in their time, such weapons did not exist. If they had, humans wouldn’t have needed to create the Holy Sword and cultivate Heroes.
Just who is this man?
"My Lord Sage, what should we do?"
"... Let me think about it."
This time, the Sage didn’t answer immediately. It always felt this matter was far more complex than it imagined.
When the next morning came, the three dragged their weary bodies to the deck and the first thing they saw was Fang Zheng sipping coffee on the deck.
"Yo, looks like you didn’t sleep well."
Seeing the three, Fang Zheng waved, and hearing his teasing, Katori snorted lightly and turned away.
"After hearing what you said, how could we sleep well."
Aetheria still carried a playful demeanor.
"But man, do you really think we can completely eliminate those beasts? The beasts in this world number in the thousands, yet the Fairy Soldiers only consist of me, Katori, Neflen... plus two others not present, making a total of just five Fairy Soldiers. Can we really wipe out that many beasts?"
"True, relying solely on you is insufficient."
Fang Zheng nodded.
"But I have a fleet. With their power, dealing with mere tens of thousands of beasts is a breeze."
"A fleet? Where is it?"
"They’re not here right now. Once I finish dealing with my matters, I can call them over."
"The matter you need to deal with, is it related to the Star God?"
At this, Neflen, who had been silent, suddenly spoke up, while Fang Zheng nodded.
"That’s right. The Star God is the reason I arrived in your world. Unfortunately, it seems finding the Star God will require more time."
"Then what are we waiting for, if there are any clues, we’ll help out too."
Hearing this, Aetheria became immediately excited.
"Let’s settle this thing called the Star God quickly, then you can call the fleet to annihilate these damned creatures!"
"Of course, if help is needed, I certainly..."
However, at this moment, Fang Zheng suddenly stopped and squinted his eyes, gazing into the distance. Seeing Fang Zheng’s reaction, the three Golden Fairies turned their heads in confusion, following Fang Zheng’s line of sight. They then discovered Fang Zheng was staring at a floating island in the distance.
"What place is that?"
"Over there? That’s the Kingdom of Elpes, a country with ill intentions."
Hearing Fang Zheng’s inquiry, Aetheria pursed her lips and answered, evidently not favoring that country.
"Let the airship go over there."
Fang Zheng immediately issued the order, but hearing his words, the three girls looked at each other in confusion.
"Over there? But the Winged Guard doesn’t intervene in other countries’ internal affairs, and it’s not under beast attack..."
"So in simple terms, it’s impossible?"
"Well... probably impossible..."
Katori grudgingly answered, and Fang Zheng nodded.
"Alright, I understand, then I’ll be right back."
Saying these words, Fang Zheng’s figure flickered, and in the next moment, he soared into the sky, flying towards the floating island.
Seeing this scene, the three girls couldn’t help but widen their eyes in surprise.
"Why is he going to Elpes?"
Aetheria asked in confusion, while Katori shook her head. But before she could say anything more, Neflen, who had been silent, suddenly manifested a set of shimmering, colorful wings behind her. Without a word, she soared into the sky, following the direction Fang Zheng had left.
"Wait, Neflen, I’m coming too!"
Seeing Neflen leave, Aetheria also shouted and hurriedly followed, leaving Katori standing there, dumbfounded.
"Wait, where are you going? Traveling to another country without notification is illegal... oh!"
However, before Katori could finish her sentence, Neflen and Aetheria had already flown far away. Seeing this, Katori stamped her foot angrily and quickly unfolded her wings, chasing after them.
The scene before them flashed by.
Fang Zheng paid no attention to the town below; he only listened to the sound coming to his ears as he flew forward until he reached a castle.
"That’s the King’s City of Elpes. What is he doing there?"
Seeing this from afar, Aetheria’s eyes widened in surprise. But the next moment, Fang Zheng’s actions left her dumbfounded—he charged straight ahead, crashing into the castle and creating a massive hole!
"Oh my, what is he thinking?"
Seeing this, Aetheria was stunned, and even Neflen paused for a moment. But soon, she flapped her wings again, flying forward.
"Boom!!"
The sound of a violent collision echoed. The castle was evidently unable to withstand Fang Zheng’s impact. He smashed through the wall and broke through the floor. When Fang Zheng landed on the ground again, he found himself in a dimly lit basement. The place was illuminated by a faint firelight and filled with strange apparatuses, resembling an alchemy atelier. Nearby, a group of pigmen in white coats turned their surprised gazes towards this uninvited guest.
"Who are you?"
"Why have you barged in here?"
The pigmen angrily questioned, but Fang Zheng did not respond. Instead, he directed his gaze towards the wall, where several girls were bound by iron chains. They were pierced with tube-like devices, with blood and magical power slowly seeping out, and pitch black iron blocks restrained them.
This scene did not surprise Fang Zheng. People in the Black World had done similar things before, so it wasn’t shocking that people in this world would be the same.
However, this didn’t mean he would accept such actions.
And Fang Zheng’s response was simple.
He snapped his fingers, and soon, invisible magical power quickly released the girls from their shackles, protecting them in a spherical bubble.
"What are you trying to do? Stop it now! You are making an enemy of the Elpes Royal Family!"
A pigman roared and rushed over, but Fang Zheng merely waved his hand without looking back. The next moment, the large pig’s head shot skyward, flying off to the side with blood trailing behind it. The fat body in a noble costume wobbled and fell to the ground.
This scene immediately angered the people present and filled them with fear.
"What are you doing, young man?"
At this moment, Neflen and Aetheria, along with Katori, also arrived. Seeing the pigman’s decapitated body on the ground, they were equally shocked. But soon, upon seeing the scene and those girls, they were even more dumbfounded.
"Are these... Golden Fairies?"
Aetheria immediately recognized the girls, whose bodies were cut open and looked horribly miserable, as her own kind. Her initially puzzled expression instantly turned to anger.
"How dare Elpes do this? This is a violation of the treaty!"
According to the treaty, every Golden Fairy on the Floating Continent should be managed by the Winged Guard. Golden Fairies are not born from humans like the Cursed Children; rather, they are like natural elves, conceived and born from natural lakes. They appear as infants in lakes, streams, and rivers, and are then discovered and raised.
Of course, after Golden Fairies were found capable of using relic weapons to fight beasts, they were generally handed over to the Winged Guard for unified management, as per the treaty signed by the Floating Island Civilization.
But now, Elpes secretly imprisoned Golden Fairies and even used them for experiments?
"Kill them all!!"
Realizing their hidden conspiracy was exposed, another noble-dressed pigman shouted, and a group of soldiers wielding firearms rushed forward, raising their guns at Fang Zheng and the others.
However, Fang Zheng simply extended his hand and snapped his fingers. In the next moment, the bodies of the surrounding soldiers and the white-clad researchers exploded like balloons filled with air, scattering blood and entrails everywhere, bringing a bloody stench.
"Hey, this... "
"Can you take them away?"
Without even glancing at the bodies, as if he had done something trivial, Fang Zheng turned and asked Katori. Katori looked at the corpses with a complex expression and then nodded.
"I can contact a first-class military officer to take them aboard the airship!"
"That’s good."
Fang Zheng nodded.
As he spoke, he turned around, approached a noble who had collapsed on the ground in fear, grabbed it by the collar, and hauled the pigman up.
"Who planned this?"
"It... it..."
Facing Fang Zheng’s question, the pigman trembled all over.
"Who?"
"It was, it was His Majesty the King..."
"Oh, I see."
Hearing this, Fang Zheng nodded, then casually threw it. The next moment, the pig noble flew out, crashing headfirst into the wall, its head bursting like a watermelon.
"Alright, let’s get out of here."
Saying this, Fang Zheng clapped his hands as if completing a trivial task. Yet, this left the three of them at a loss for words for a moment. After a while, Katori seemed to come to her senses.
"What are you doing?! How can you...?"
"Of course I can. I’ll do whatever I want."
Fang Zheng looked at Katori.
"But..."
"I understand what you mean."
Fang Zheng waved his hand, interrupting Katori.
"I know, you Golden Fairies see yourselves as warriors, as consumables, destined to die someday. To you, none of this matters. But it’s the same for me. How you see yourselves, and how others see you, are your and their business. How I see you is my business. Your view of yourselves, and others’ views of you, have nothing to do with me. I just do what I want to do."
"...So, how do you see us?"
At this point, Neflen spoke again, asking, and Fang Zheng shrugged.
"At the very least... I don’t think you should be treated like this."
Then, he calmly stated.

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