Thanks for the invitation. I'm in Type-Moon, inheriting the legacy of Zi-O.

“Yes, yes!” Tong Yao nodded, rolling up her sleeves to reveal her arms.

What should have been a girl's arm, white as jade, now revealed large areas of burn marks, with stitches visible in many places.

"Alice... although she was hit by the bomb, she didn't die, you know?" Tong Yao rolled up her sleeves again, looking at Nian Zhuo in front of her. "To be precise, Alice passed away a few years later."

"I see. Is it due to complications?" Nian Zhuo had just recovered from the shock of seeing the other woman's horribly burned arm. "After all, she's been burned like that. For a girl her age, her physical condition is a big problem..."

"Wrong, wrong, big brother, you guessed wrong again." Tong Yao held up her index finger and shook it in front of Nian Zhuo, while shaking her head vigorously to show that Nian Zhuo had guessed wrong again.

"Then I can't guess." Nian Zhuo smiled helplessly. "So, how did she—"

"—He died from human experimentation, big brother." Before he could finish speaking, Tong Yao immediately answered the question he wanted to ask.

Nianzhuo's hand, which was on the table, clenched instantly.

Goodbye, flying birds. We've made a promise.

"What did you say?" Nianzhuo stared at Tongyao, who was smiling at him, in disbelief. He even curled his lip. "...Tongyao, are you joking...?"

“No.” Tong Yao calmly shook her head, while rolling up her sleeves. “I’m based on Alice (me)… I imitated her appearance, so you understand when you see this, right?”

Suddenly, Tong Yao began to circulate magic, but instead of launching any attack, she rolled up her sleeves.

With a low hum, emerald green patterns appeared—the very same [Magic Circuits] that her Master, Alice, had imitated.

Nianzhuo recognized the thing, which is why he was surprised.

"It's... a magic circuit..." His gaze lingered on Tong Yao's delicate face and her scarred arms. "Such a young child... and she already possesses a magic circuit...?!"

Logically speaking, magic circuits can only be inherited from the family's [magic crest], and you must even grow into a magician who can stand on his own by then. But in any case... a girl Alice's age should not have magic circuits.

“Yes… Alice survived because she was born with these things called ‘magic circuits.’” Nursery Rhyme gently stroked her arm. “Of course, she also died because of these things in the end…”

Memories from the little master gradually surfaced in his mind, and the surrounding scenery rapidly transformed.

It hurts...it hurts so much...the girl with pink and white hair couldn't help but think.

When I opened my eyes, I was already lying on a clean white hospital bed.

Its entire body was wrapped in bandages, making it look like a mummy from a picture book...

Immediately afterwards, Alice saw the picture book placed beside her bedside—"Alice's Adventures in Wonderland".

Alice tried to reach for it, but her arms were wrapped in thick bandages, making it impossible for her to move.

Anyone... it doesn't matter... Alice looked at the girl in the blue dress on the cover of the picture book, who was still not charred, and struggled to move her arm, even if it was just one finger.

Finally, seemingly through my own relentless efforts, my fingers seemed to move slightly.

A beam of emerald green light pierced through her arm and into her eyes.

"So beautiful..." The light that caught her eye came from her arm, where the emerald green patterns were full of life. "What is this...?" She wanted to reach out and touch it, but she still felt powerless all over.

"Ah...she's awake!" Suddenly, an unfamiliar voice rang out, and a man in a white coat rushed to Alice's side, carefully lifting her arm, which shimmered with emerald green patterns. "This...this is...!" His eyes shone with immense surprise and ecstasy.

"Quick! Someone come quick!" he shouted outside. Soon, a large number of people in white coats poured into the room. They all gasped when they saw the girl's shimmering arms.

"Hurry! No matter the cost, no matter how much effort it takes!" The man released Alice's arm, pointing at her lying on the hospital bed. "I must see this child safe and sound, no matter the cost!"

What a kind person! Alice thought to herself.

Immediately afterwards, a lot of people rushed in from outside the room and took Alice to a room that looked very... expensive, where they treated her with various instruments.

It's said... the hospital even set up a special team for her? Just to treat her specific condition—

If that's really the case, that would be wonderful...

Alice also didn't understand why the medical staff cared about her so much, even to a morbid degree.

However, she didn't think much of it, just felt that everyone in the hospital was a good person.

Until one sunset, with the hospital's almost all-out treatment, Alice finally began to recover from her severe burns, even going from being completely motionless to being able to sit up in bed... although she needed help to get up.

The sunset illuminated half of the room, and Alice gently stroked the charred book in her hand, using the glow of the sunset as a guide.

As usual, the kind-looking researcher uncle came in again, but today he brought a small box with him.

"Alright, Alice, Uncle has a favor to ask of you today~" The uncle took her hand and took a syringe from the box. "Uncle, I need a little bit of Alice's blood, is that alright?"

"--Hmm!" Although she sensed that something was off about the uncle in front of her, Alice still nodded and stretched out her arm.

Since this person has been kind to her, her request should naturally be fulfilled—Alice thought to herself.

The uncle smiled even more kindly, nodded, and praised her as a 'good girl'.

It was just a syringe of blood, but the uncle left as if he had found a treasure.

"...Eh." After a slight moment of confusion, Alice patted the spot where blood had just been drawn and hugged the picture book in her arms tightly.

Today passed like any other day... However, the next day, my uncle brought me another syringe.

"Is it... a bit bigger than before?" Alice looked at the syringe in the medical staff's hand and tilted her head in confusion.

She didn't resist or question them, but as the days went by, their demands became increasingly strange.

Not only is the demand for blood increasing, but many... strange demands have also emerged, such as needing a strand of her hair or something.

Finally, one day, they tore off their kind masks and became completely unfamiliar to Alice.

That day marked the first time Alice mustered the courage to refuse the medical staff's request.

Kindness, smiles, and all sorts of expressions Alice was familiar with vanished from his face, leaving only indifference.

"Really?" He pushed up his glasses. "I understand."

He nodded, packed up the box, put his hands inside his white coat, and left the room without a word.

"...Phew." Alice patted her chest, somewhat incredulous. "It's...over just like that?"

Then, the next day, Alice was suddenly transferred to another place.

This is no longer a hospital ward, but a prison-like...cage.

The medical staff imprisoned Alice here, like a bird trapped in a cage.

Then... they removed their masks of hypocrisy and became vicious and greedy.

"We crave the 'Children of Heaven' born with innate magical circuits, thereby achieving human evolution!" They justify their actions as righteous, but their methods are more cruel than those of demons. "Only in this way can we take another step forward on the path to uncovering the root of all evil!"

War? I don't care what kind of war it is.

They're all crazy now, a bunch of fanatics chasing after so-called magic.

They broke the bird's wings and prepared to pluck her feathers one by one.

And then came the endless pain... Alice, whose body was not yet fully healed, was forced to undergo various experiments by those 'medical staff'.

Electric shocks... drugs... all sorts of experiments were conducted to obtain the data they wanted from Alice, completely disregarding her life or death.

No, at least it's based on the premise that Alice won't die, because such good "experimental material" can't be easily discarded.

Blood soaked through the bandages, yet Alice could not even express her pain.

She clutched the charred picture book in her hands, all alone... It was the only thing she could take with her after arriving here.

In just a few years, not only did the war end, but the world also began to develop tremendously.

The town, destroyed by air raids, rose from the ruins, but no one paid any attention to a missing girl with silver hair.

After computers appeared, this group of people immediately adopted them and used them to record Alice's physical condition and various data.

However, this did nothing to alleviate her pain.

She suffered immense physical torment as an experimental subject, and coupled with the aftereffects of her initial burns, the girl lived in constant agony every day. It would be incredibly fortunate for her if the pain were to disappear one day.

This continued for several years until Alice died in endless agony.

The caged bird has had its feathers plucked, yet it still cannot gain freedom.

Even her body was dissected and taken away by researchers—until the very end, it was unknown whether she could rest in peace in the earth.

Even after death, Alice could not find peace.

By a stroke of luck, her spirit was transformed into data and transferred to a computer.

Alice lived on the internet in its early days.

Wandering alone, witnessing the changing world.

Her burnt picture book has been disposed of as a keepsake.

As a computer demon, Alice has endured countless years of loneliness.

Finally, she wandered around and ended up in Mooncell, a supercomputer located on the moon.

There, she encountered what she most wanted to see—nursery rhymes.

No, back then it should have been called a magic book, a book that rivaled even pseudo-servants, and it made a contract with the girl.

"This is the story of Alice, a girl whose life was filled with suffering." Just like the end of a story, the nursery rhyme gently recounted the life of the girl named Alice.

“…” Nian Zhuo remained silent, but his hands on the table were clenched into fists, even turning white.

"—I'm sorry, but even knowing this, I will still defeat you." After a long silence, Nianzhuo finally raised his head and looked at the nursery rhyme in front of him. "Even though the child named Alice suffered such pain..."

"...But this is not your world." With the Time Driver at his waist, Nian Zhuo looked at Tong Yao in front of him while turning the dial on his watch. "This is a singularity, an illusion that does not exist in history."

"...And now, I must save the lives of the people in this city."

“Zio—!” Nian Zhuo flipped the driver at his waist.

A giant clock appeared behind them, and the time ring gently embraced Nian Zhuo's body.

Just like when Tong Yao first met Nian Zhuo, he put on silver armor and hid all his expressions behind a mask.

"—Kill you." His right hand flashed with purple light, grasped the Time Gun Sword, and raised the slender blade.

"...Really? There's no Alice here... in this world either..." Nursery Rhyme nodded gently, put the books in front of her down one by one, and then stood up as well.

Patting her skirt and straightening her clothes, Tong Yao blinked her pink eyes at Nian Zhuo, who was raising his sword at her.

"Well, that's settled then~" she said casually, opening her arms and pointing her chest at Nian Zhuo's sword tip. "Then, kill me, big brother."

"...Why don't you resist?" Nian Zhuo looked at Tong Yao, but still did not put down the sword in his hand.

"Because I'm already satisfied." Patting her cheeks, Tong Yao seemed nonchalant. "Knowing that Alice doesn't exist in this world, I already wanted to give up—"