1 Traveled

A girl looked lifelessly outside the window with her red eyes as she reminiscence back when she still hadn't seen the harsh reality.

As an infant, she already remembered how the warm feeling engulfed her inside her mother's womb.

Being born, a vague feeling there was clearly rewritten from her memory. All she could remember was the warmth of a large hand, a delicate hand, and two more little hands. It was kind of a feeling that made her want to know who were those people badly.

She started to immerse herself in books to deal with her boredom as a baby which would be absurd.

At 4 years old, her memory was now clear, without any signs of blur or rewriting. Her foster father, Luca, and his wife, Lane, were both the top agents of the secret government that opposes the current political stars.

They already made her their scapegoat in every failed mission ever since she could talk and walk by herself. Luca and Lane always left her alone in their house or let their neighbor take care of her in a discreet manner: leaving her at the front door, ringing the doorbell, and running.

Those two always came home to retrieve her once every year. When she became 7 years old, she had to learn house chores to help her neighbor as she already helped her and was not expecting anything in return. She also learned various bodily arts for protecting her benefactor and its relatives, in case she was found out by the opposing faction.

With these, she was forced to mature and was able to depend on herself at such a young age of 10. Many people had helped her to survive through the hard days of reality. They also supported her in making an AI cope with her loneliness. This made her the youngest scientist and earned lots of money titled her the youngest millionaire. On how she wasn't recognized, she used another alias and made the company to hide her true identity.

If ever her face came out, the time when she was used as a scapegoat would come out and the people around her would be in trouble.

The day she turned 16, her foster parents came back to retrieve her. This time, she was made like a meat shield for the opposing faction. Taken as a hostage for 2 months, she experienced hell that time. Thankfully, her AI01 was there to make her rationality remain.

"01, when do you think I'll die?" She asked in the midst of her reminiscence.

A watch on her wrist blinked. [Speech not recognized, please clearly repeat the words.]

She smiled bitterly. She closed the window then looked around at the 36 square meter apartment of her. Sighing, she went to shower to prepare herself for school after 2 months of leave.

She dressed in her uniform; a white shirt, a black necktie, a gray overcoat, a black knee-length skirt and her Michaela black school shoes. She was currently a Grade 10 student in Melbourne Academy, the so-called school of the royals and elites. This was where the riches and the geniuses gather.

After locking her apartment door, she departed.

On the way to Melbourne Academy, all of the students turned their gazes to her. They continued walking as they whispered and gossiped. Three girls and two boys were looking at her with mockery. Clearly, this group of teenagers was here to create trouble. However, they didn't continue their plan when they saw an arrogant female walking toward the red-eyed girl.

"Oh my, look who's here to finally show up after 2 months of leave. Do your parents have enough tuitions to have you continued your studies here in Melbourne? Just how poor are you? Do you want me to pay for your expensive tuitions?" The girl who approached her was Claire Marie D. Undine, 17 years old and the 2nd daughter of the Undine Royal Family.

The girl with red eyes kept quiet and just stared at Claire. She experienced hell in those 2 months, physical and mental tortures were at such a high level. How could a mere 16-year-old be able to bear it? However, she got away unscathed...

Looking back on her experience for 2 months, this kind of provocation was clearly nothing to her. This was just made by a 17-year-old immature teenager who was thirsty for the masses' attention.

She just smiled before brushing her off. Claire smiled and grabbed her to be forcefully thrown into the wall. "How can such a poor girl like you are enrolled in the top academy without money? Did you use your body to one of the teachers, or perhaps, to the principal? You will not be able to make it to S-class in such a state. You sold yourself, I see!"

The red-eyed girl bit her lips and wanted to tell the truth that she was one of the biggest investors in building the Academy. Without her, the construction of the school would be 2 years longer than prior. Almost all of the teacher revered her higher than the principal itself, even the principal had to be polite towards her in private. Don't mention such a meager top academy, even the top university revered her as their benefactor.

She just couldn't say that, 'I am the youngest millionaire!' to them. It would be unbelievable as she used another name and kept her true identity as a secret.

She grabbed the girl's wrist and twisted it. Claire groaned in pain as she let go to soothe the pain caused by the red-eyed girl. "Hmph! How dare a person of the lowest caste system assault the member of the high caste system?! Once the someone reported this, your education identity and the token will be revoked! You will be reduced to nothing! Do you people saw it? She assaulted me when I just wanted to talk to her, right?!"

Claire glared at every student. The students nodded their heads repeatedly; this cunning Undine daughter was much more troublesome when her needs and wants weren't satisfied. Once you oppose her, your whole family would suffer under her words. They had no choice but to comply even if they wanted to protect the red-eyed girl. Well, some of them.

The red-eyed girl was just an irregular. Their family was much more important than a mere stranger in the same academy.

The red-eyed girl just stood there without moving. All of the people around were happy for the misfortune of the red-eyed girl and some were filled with pity. Claire's mouth formed a beautiful arc as she looked with her arms crossed in front of her flat chest.

But then, a commotion broke out 1 kilometer behind her. There was a black cloaked person with a red glint in his eyes under the hood. He ran as if he was searching for someone to hurriedly find the person he was searching for. After reaching the intersection, he saw a bright red glow that spanned 10 meters around that girl. This red glow was only seen by him as the surrounding people had not yet been blinded by the radiance.

He brandished his knife as he set his pace faster. "Found you!"

As Claire mockingly looked at the silent red-eyed girl, her eyes caught the moving black figure towards her. Her eyes showed shock then fear. The red-eyed girl caught hold of this and looked confusingly at Claire's strange behavior.

She turned around just to see the black figure stood like a sword before her, staring at her with killing intent.

Before she could speak, 5 bodies collapsed. It was the three girls and two boys who previously had a plan to create trouble for the red-eyed girl. The surrounding people had their knees gave out as they saw such a brutal and gore scene.

"Call the police!"

"911! Call 911!"

"No! Summon the FBI!"

The people screamed as they escaped for their lives.

"May this be your first and last life. Even though you haven't implicated the Universe with terror, I need to end your life. Rest peacefully, the lost daughter." The black cloaked person thrust his knife with a blue glow into the red-eyed girl's stomach.

[Speech recognized, we all are living a good life.]

The red-eyed girl laughed at AI01. She took one final look at her killer; he had this brilliant color of red in his eyes, a young and handsome face.

She closed her eyes and her body turned cold. The black cloaked person disappeared in space and left the body of the red-eyed girl on the asphalt as it bathed the ground with red.

***

A screen showed up out of nowhere in the dark abyss.

[Mode 1: Murdered by an otherwolder. Coercing to Mode 2.]

[Registering... error. Next host, Chang Xiuying, is too young to be transferred to. 5% chance of survivability. Would you still like to proceed? Yes / No.]

The red-eyed girl stared blankly at the screen in front of her. She slowly blinked her eyes, as if she was uninterested in it.

She pressed [No].

"Huh?" She repeatedly pressed the [No] but it produced no result. The button couldn't be pressed, instead, it was colored in gray. The only available answer was [Yes].

'What's the use of the question then?' She thought to herself. Since there was no choice, she pressed the only available button. Warm light enveloped her as she slowly became transparent in the dark abyss.

...

A place where it is surrounded by a powerful barrier that consisted of the notorious Divine Lightning Element that was 1 million volts per streak. At the very center of the barrier, there stood a tree that was 300 meters high with pink leaves much like the cherry blossoms from Japan on Earth. In its body, a face appeared then disappeared alternatively.

Since this tree was still unknown, they just called it the Pink tree. Once you entered its range, it will suck some of your personality as its supplement. Once one entered the soft and wetland 50 meters, it would instantly sense the person, and that one would surely be the prey of the Pink tree. This was where they originated the name of the whole place, the Central Marsh.

Around the range of the Pink tree, there stood a village. The houses were not that well made. The stone houses were just a stack pile of stones and some were made of woods. At the four directions of the Central Marsh, there stood towering pagodas. They were named; North Garden Pagoda, South Garden Pagoda, West Garden Pagoda and the East Garden Pagoda.

Outside the town, there was a forest of beasts. Only the sun was present above the sky. Once it was dark, there would be nothing but darkness. That was when the beasts came to attack and fed on humans.

At the edge of the forest, there stood a lady in her 20's with a 3-year-old girl. The lady's countenance was pretty ordinary. Everything about her was normal, her actions, manners and even her face. She was 1.57 meters tall, she had this unique sea green eyes and her shoulder-length brown hair. This lady's name was Jiang Li. The little kid was Chang Xiuying, who had clear black eyes, she was 95 centimeters tall, and her black hair that has some silver color that was invisible to the naked eye.

"Xiuying, come on. You have to get me that beautiful flower that you and Uncle Jiang discovered yesterday in the martial field."

"The beautiful flower?" Chang Xiuying tilted her little head confusingly with her innocent look.

"Yes, that beautiful flower." Jiang Li smiled sweetly as she looked profoundly at the little kid.

"Will it make Big sister Jiang happy?" Chang Xiuying asked with a sparkle in her charming black eyes.

"Extremely happy. How about this, getting that flower for me and for Aunt Irene will be an extreme blessing for us when you picked it by yourself. Are you on this?"

Chang Xiuying bit her thumb and pondered before nodding excitedly. "Hmm... okay!"

"Now, now, you have to be careful, okay? I'll wait for you here!" Jiang Li waved her hands as she sent the little girl into the forest. Chang Xiuying excitedly jumped while waving at Jiang Li as she departed.

When Chang Xiuying's figure disappeared in the forest, Jiang Li hysterically laughed. "What a good kid you are, Xiuying." She flipped her hair and turned back.

***

The little kid approached a beautiful seven-colored flower near a cave. She carefully dug out its roots before putting it in her storage bag. She giggled as she skipped through to find another one. Strangely, a white glow appeared in front of her. It grew a limb and beckoned her before moving to another place.

"A will-o'-the-wisp..." She happily approached it. Hoping to get one for her Big sister Jiang. After reaching a dead-end, there was an extremely rare 10-colored flower swaying by the wind. "Fortune! What good fortune! This will truly please Big sister!"

But then, a large Python emerged atop the tree. Hissing murderously as it pounced on the little girl. Chang Xiuying picked the 10-colored flower but was instantly killed by the Python. When her body collapsed on the ground, a white radiance emanated from her that instantly enveloped and disintegrated the Python.

When the little girl opened her eyes, a shining light came out and revealed her white-eyes.