He is the leader of the Tantric sect in Chagdu.

"I have heard the song of birds."

Nest, the end of the third quarter of the year 2077 in the Primordial Era.

Xiacheng, Beihe District.

The downtown area is always noisy, and the commotion never stops, even in the dead of night.

The store manager, who was lying down, poked his head out from behind the counter, propped himself up on the table with his arms, and directed the staff outside to put up posters while straining his neck.

"A little more to the left... is that about right?"

The girl outside waved to the shopkeeper through the window, her golden-red wings slightly unfurled, and she gracefully jumped down from the ladder, hands on her hips, admiring her masterpiece—

The old, worn-out signboard was replaced with a line of bright, artistic lettering:

"Wings-Spreading Convenience Store"

A cute smiley face was also placed next to it.

"That's so true to me!"

The winged girl nodded in satisfaction, turned around and put away the ladder. Just as she was about to return to the shop, the expansive view brought by her bird-like characteristics made her discover a strange place—a small, pitiful-looking gray shadow was huddled in a backlit corner, its hands wrapped around its knees, its face completely buried between its thighs, motionless.

-A small child? Or a smaller variety?

Nana gently flapped her wings, looking a little nervous and at a loss.

In places like the bottom hive, children and small species are equally dangerous—they are smaller thieves, killers, and fugitives: they are convenient tools, whether raised from childhood to consolidate power or used as sharp daggers to maintain a reign of terror, they are equally "useful".

.

"wrong!"

Nana shook her head vigorously, patted her cheeks, and cleared her mind of the random thoughts she had just been having. She then silently told herself, "I'm a citizen of the Lower City now... Don't think about those things anymore. I've left the Lower Nest and I'll never go back."

"Forget about that, forget about that..."

After reassuring herself, Nana dared to approach the petite silhouette. She had originally planned to ask the shop manager for his opinion, but then she thought that if that overly affectionate, silly bird saw this scene, things might become very troublesome.

I'll do it myself.

When they were close enough, Nana cautiously whispered in the gray shadow's ear, "Hello..."

No response.

Undeterred by being ignored, Nana initially reached out to pat him, but out of timidity, she quietly withdrew her hand halfway through. In the end, she decided to use the tip of her wing to poke the man's hair.

A wing that was halfway out touched a soft, fluffy little face.

"Oh—I'm sorry!"

Seeing the gray ball slowly raise its head, its face marked by scratches from its own feathers, Nana slid to her knees at lightning speed, clasped her hands together, and bowed deeply, repeating "sorry" a dozen times. Only after making sure her attitude was sincere enough did she dare to weakly raise her head, only to find that the little guy was staring at her with wide eyes.

Then she belatedly realized that although she wasn't wearing a low-cut dress today, the amount of exposure she had just given off was still astonishing—but that wasn't the point. Her golden-red eyes were shining brightly, and her gaze as she looked back was nothing short of brutal.

She was so stunned that she couldn't make a sound, and could only roar in her heart.

"So...so cute!"

.

Following her instincts, Nana brought the fox she found by the roadside back to the shop.

"Welcome... Hey, what did you bring back?"

A formulaic greeting came from behind the counter... but soon, the store manager sensed something was wrong. He peeked out with his wings and immediately spotted the gray fox following Nana.

"Wow!"

Even after living in the city for so long, Dodo had never seen such a beautiful grey fennec fox.

She exclaimed in amazement, then began flapping her wings wildly, slapping the sofa beneath her with a "bang, bang!" "Bring her in so I can see her! Where did you find this child...?"

"He's right by the door, sitting in the corner, looking rather pitiful." Nana started rummaging through the counter, seemingly looking for something to feed him. "It's too late now, Sister Dodo, how about we take care of him for the night, and then go find his family tomorrow..."

"Excuse me, may I bother you?" The fox, who had been led around the whole time, finally spoke up weakly. He took out his employee badge from his chest and waved it in his hand. "I'm not a child anymore, I'm an adult..."

But the next second, he regretted saying those words.

The two birds' gazes changed in an instant, though they vanished abruptly the next moment. The fox, however, felt a chill run down its spine and let out a silent wail.

- I was targeted as prey by a big sister with wings (sad).

Suddenly, Dodo, who had been carefully observing the fox, chuckled softly, then quickly switched to a strange expression, as if he was suppressing laughter.

"What?" Nana glared at her.

"I just suddenly realized that he looks a lot like you~" Dudu put a finger to her lips and winked mischievously, "Nana, you were just like this when you first came here, exactly the same."

"What's exactly the same?" Nana persisted in asking, finally receiving a lighthearted reply from Dudu.

"Like an abandoned child."

"..."

- Is it rigid, numb, blocked, bound and trapped in emptiness?

The fox listened to their conversation, chewing on the Cheetos that Nana had stuffed into its mouth, and remained noncommittal.

- Perhaps.

.

Life in the city is always very boring.

In the gaps of his busy daily life, the fox visits the "Wings Out Convenience Store" more and more often. It has become his second home, and going home after get off work is like returning to his den after a long day.

That day, the fox, a little tipsy from a few drinks, casually asked, "Sister Nana, how did you climb up from the bottom of the nest?"

"Well, of course, it flies with wings."

"Didn't they say... wings, a characteristic of birds, prevent people from flying?" The fox, clearly not thinking straight, didn't realize it was a joke and asked blankly, "What about your family? Aren't they worried about you coming down to the city alone?"

"Pfft..." Nana chuckled, then waved her hand and said nonchalantly, "I have a father, a mother who disappeared after I was born, and an older brother... My father died when a stray bullet shattered his skull during the firefight. Later, I burned his ashes and made a die, but it didn't seem to protect me at all. It often rolled a zero. As for my brother, I guess he's dead too. I don't know."

The fox paused for a moment, then said softly, "I'm sorry."

Nana didn't bother arguing with him and continued stroking his tail. After a long silence, the fox suddenly asked a second question: "Sister Nana, where are you going from now on?"

Nana flapped her wings gently, regaining her composure, and chuckled softly, "Of course, we'll keep flying upwards."

"Fly upwards...fly to where?" The fox looked up at the dark dome outside the window, momentarily confused.

"A higher place, closer to the sky."

Perhaps it's the upper city, or perhaps it's even higher.

"I want to go to a place where I can touch and see the sky simply by looking up..."

Nana's voice was very soft, weaker than the wind, yet more resolute than anything else.

"No matter where I come from, no matter where I am going... every winged person knows one thing: the ground is not the bird's home. We are born with wings—whether they are broken or not, they are always light and always pointing upwards."

She played with the fox's ears, bending them with her fingers and watching the big ears bounce up with great elasticity.

"Hmph, we're different from you foxes!" Nana said proudly, head held high. "The world's gravity pulls birds upwards; the highest places are where we belong!"

"What about me? What about me?" Dodo suddenly interjected, jokingly asking, "If you fly up there, what will happen to Dodo-nee? Can I fly that high too?"

"Hmph..." The bird and the fox both froze for a moment, but Nana quickly released the fox and pounced on Dodo on the sofa, scratching her wing roots in retaliation. She chuckled, "My wings are strong. Once I fly up, I'll definitely bring Dodo up too. Hmm... I can bring the fox up as well. Then the three of us can continue running our convenience store in the sky!"

"Then it can't be called 'Wings-Spreading Convenience Store' anymore..."

"...How about calling it 'Claw-Stretching Convenience Store'?"

…………

Imagine the noise of the future, and the exhilarating feeling of forgetting the world.

"I've seen it."

The pair of golden-red wings were slightly raised, each feather was well-maintained, and they shone brightly in the transparent texture, their color even brighter than blood.

"I've heard it."

She opened her lips, and a melodious and moving murmur flowed from between her teeth:

-Eh See Ro--T，

-Let Meh Seh Tre Ver-Eh Swor Tih,

-Ke Nai Sa-Ee Ne Strof Fey En Mi Ned Sna.

Like a proud and vibrant sun, the girl firmly believes in the future. So she softly recites that promise in a tone like a bird's song—a scene that every winged person has dreamed of: now shrouded by a dark dome, but in the past leading straight to the azure realm... that place where wind, clouds, and mist forever linger, a paradise above gravity.

"Birds, after all, are destined to soar in the sky!"

.

.

.

The Lost Secret History.

Fukano, Rusty Village.

When the tobacco was finished smoking, Ai casually stubbed it out, lowered her head and exhaled the last puff of white mist. The rich secret substance filled the vessel, and the red liquid quietly stopped vibrating.

The flashlight was placed aside, and on the table lay the open book, its contents frozen on this page:

"Though birds are children of the sky, they are not born from that paradise of wind, clouds, and mist, but from the ground. Birds emerge from eggs covered with thin shells, their hard beaks protruding, then their wing bones extending—the bones of chicks are incredibly fragile, easily broken, and they are not born with feathers. The growth of light creatures requires understanding the principles of flight, and thus, they take the sky as their promised destination… The wind flowing from there is their guide… Every winged being firmly believes that all birds will eventually reach the land of the high places."

The last line of text:

"Birds, after all, are destined to soar in the sky."

- Tsk.

He silently closed the book he had only read half of, "The Story of the Sky," then rubbed his sore eyes and remained silent.

Lighthearted moments are the most precious treasures. Memories are lighter than feathers, yet they are as memorable as that faded bone white, and are not easily forgotten.

Perhaps it stirred up some memories, because the bitterness rising on my tongue at this moment was even more pungent than licking rust.

"Tsk..."

He glanced at Abram, who was slumped on the floor behind him, and looked at his watch; two hours had passed.

After being brutally beaten and forced to witness that bloody stain, Abram has been quiet like this ever since. He's not dead, but he's practically dead. Ai doesn't bother with him anymore and just thinks he's pathetic.

There were ways to prevent things from becoming so tragic, but we took the wrong first step, and everything that followed led us astray.

He sighed, turned his gaze away from Abram, and then walked out of the room.

The desolate Rusty Village resembles a gaping hole in the earth, opened by a giant beast.

He looked up at the pitch-black sky—in the monotonous color, the outline of the fields turned into an empty projection, stretching into the distance, flowing forward with the great river, and disappearing into the end of the sky.

Ys, a nation just entering an era of exploration, is a land where gold is everywhere.

Rapidly developing technology, constantly innovating systems, emerging ideas that keep pace with the times, extremely low trial-and-error costs, ample upward mobility, and a future that allows for unbridled imagination.

This is an era rising with steam and sparks, and everything is different from that rotten nest.

Ai had high hopes for it.

But because this era wasn't as corrupt as the capital, some things became even more unbearable.

Like someone who has grown accustomed to darkness, he becomes enraged upon seeing others disregard and desecrate the light—he recalls that golden-red shadow and vents his violence on Abram.

Perhaps it's also a way of beating up that powerless version of myself from the past.

Of course, this bastard deserved to be beaten, and killing him wouldn't be an exaggeration—he had also participated in the ugliness hidden in the darkness of the rusty village, which is why he was torn apart and dragged into the cycle of sin by that old priest.

As for the emotions that just erupted, it's hard to say how much of it came from the fox himself.

"Tsk..."

He stared at his rough hands and suddenly burst out laughing.

Actually, there's no need to make too clear a distinction—after venting her anger, Ai also miraculously empathized with "Laud," and the moth's whimsical idea accommodated him, successfully turning this historical phantom into one of her masks.

When he re-examined the personality contained within this body, he glimpsed Lot's original image: a naive rich second-generation heir born into a prominent family, yet still full of conviction, adhering to his own ideals, with justice and a thirst for exploration as his underlying qualities.

It sounds like a very classic character design, and it works quite well—the relaxed feeling from Ai's original body softens Rhodes's dullness, making him seem like a third-rate detective with explosive action.

Second-rate is fine.

Ai sighed. She wanted to light another cigarette, but then felt a little sorry for her special edition cigarette. So she squatted in the dark, lost in thought, and pondered what to do next.

Abram is probably a lost cause... so let's make the most of him and use seduction techniques to extract all his secrets.

But this would raise suspicions of spoilers.

In the original history, Lot, as an ordinary person, certainly wouldn't have been able to obtain so much information from Abram. His understanding of Rusty Village would have far exceeded the limits of this stage, and it's unknown whether this would have affected subsequent explorations.

But now it seems that this is perhaps the only way...

What else can we do? Wait for the main storyline to come to us on its own?

He sighed and turned to walk back towards the house.

.

"Buzz—"

Suddenly, a vibration rang in his ears, like an insect touching a spider web.

"Eh..."

He stopped and tilted his head slightly.

-Don't tell me, you really shouldn't tell me!

Ai couldn't help but laugh.

"So... clues really do come to us on their own."

He remained motionless, and shadowy figures lurked in the deep night.

The next moment, the sharp blade grazed his cheek.