Millennium Witch

Abella is considered a hidden disciple, having learned far more than Lant. However, ordering around a student is not as legitimate as ordering around a maid, and Abella also harbors unrealistic fantasies about being a formal student, which puts her at a disadvantage.

As for Lant, she couldn't say she disliked him, but she did indeed outsource all the teaching work to Abella, which showed a lack of dedication.

Even so, it did not stop Lant from being extremely grateful to her. In fact, he would go through fire and water for his teacher without hesitation if she asked him to.

What an honest child.

After gazing calmly for a long time, Yvette turned around and returned to her peaceful life, waiting for Abella to return.

Ten days later, Abella still hadn't returned, but a message from Lant arrived first in Yvette's study via the elemental wave communication device, in the form of a message.

"Teacher, I asked the Grand Elder of the Kingdom of Agashshe Puppet for help, and I have obtained information about Senior Ice Rain through the Sanctuary."

"A hundred years ago, she went to the Arctic because of a mysterious legend about the North Sea, and then disappeared and never returned. The Holy Church's 'Graceful Ones' went to the Arctic to search for her, but they all went and never returned; all of them disappeared."

"But the church says that all the missing people are still alive, including her!"

Chapter 145 The Mysterious Garden of the Polar Regions

The next day at noon, Yvette came to the study and saw Lant's message on the communicator. She was stunned for a moment, thinking that being missing for more than a hundred years was a bit too long, almost comparable to her own century of slumber.

However, the good news is that Ice Rain is only missing. Through some method of the Machine Race Sanctuary, it has been confirmed that she is still alive, which is a stroke of luck amidst misfortune.

Immediately, Yvette began to carefully read the information that Lant had sent later, regarding that mysterious legend.

The legend also originated more than a hundred years ago when a mechanical explorer risked his life to cross the Arctic ice field and discovered an incredible garden deep in the polar region. It was not only vast, resembling a huge city, but also contained strange man-made buildings, which did not match the descriptions of other explorers as desolate and empty.

After sharing his discovery with his friends, the explorer, filled with curiosity, stepped into the mysterious polar garden... and was never heard from again.

After that, this strange legend attracted many explorers like a magnet. They formed teams full of curiosity and tried to uncover the mystery of the polar garden. However, no matter the size of the team, all those who entered disappeared without a trace and never returned.

Even Bingyu was one of the earliest explorers.

Subsequently, after the "Blessed Ones" squad dispatched by the Holy Temple also failed to return, that area was finally officially designated as a "high-risk zone" by the Holy Temple, and all mechanical races of the Puppet Kingdom were given a stern warning not to approach it.

……

After reading Lant's message, Yvette raised an eyebrow, her curiosity piqued.

She remembered that the North Sea was the territory of the "King of the Heavenly Sea," one of the nine monarchs, and the Arctic was the core area under his jurisdiction.

The mechanical race disappeared there without a trace. Is it related to the King of the Sky and Sea? Is that mysterious polar garden the King of the Sky and Sea's habitat?

But how could the Sanctuary be so certain that the missing were still alive? How could they communicate with the outside world, or had the God of Machines and the King of the Sea had some kind of communication?

Regardless of the truth, Ice Rain was one of her few friends, and a mysterious garden with no return seemed worth exploring.

Three days later, Abella returned in her magical motorcycle. After briefly explaining the situation to her, Yvette immediately began modifying the motorcycle to better adapt it to the harsh polar environment.

Immediately after preparing the necessary supplies and equipment, she took Abella with her and drove into the depths of the Abyss North Sea, plunging into that vast, white, and frigid world built of endless ice and snow.

……

The endless polar night shrouded the frozen land, and the cold wind whipped up snow dust, swirling and howling across the wilderness.

Above, the emerald green aurora borealis, like a giant blue python, twisted and turned, turning the cold, hard snowfield into a hazy, ethereal green.

“Master, there are so many aurora borealis here.” Abella sat in the passenger seat, looking out at the scenery through the car window covered with a thin layer of frost.

"It's a pity these are all genuine aurora borealis," Yvette sighed regretfully.

When she first arrived in the polar region, she was pleasantly surprised to see the aurora borealis occasionally appearing during the polar night. However, she soon discovered that the aurora borealis here did not have any remnants, and it was completely different from the aurora borealis she wanted, which greatly diminished its significance.

The magical motorcycle sped across the hard ice.

In the boundless darkness, the metal car body resembled a giant ice mirror, reflecting the ever-changing blue-green light in the sky.

Occasionally, snow-limited aberrations appear, resembling frozen ghouls or white-furred snow monsters, in both human and animal forms. However, they are often crushed to death by magical motorcycles as soon as they emerge from the snow.

Several days passed, and the two wandered aimlessly across the vast ice plains without finding any clues. Until the seventh day, at the bottom of a deep ice fissure canyon, Yvette discovered something unusual.

It was the wreckage of a severely damaged magical mech, lying alone in the shadows of the canyon, almost blending into the ice and snow.

Yvette immediately got out of the car. The wreckage likely belonged to one of the Divine Graces who had disappeared in the polar regions, and might provide some clues about the Mystic Garden.

After carefully clearing away the ice, snow, and discarded parts, Yvette recognized a somewhat familiar bionic face among the wreckage.

She vaguely remembered that she and Abella had both seen the unconscious Divine Grace in this magical mech, whose name seemed to be "Elite White Dove," nicknamed "White Dove Detective." It was back in the Water Tower Kingdom, when Yvette's harvesting of mutants was so horrific and bloody that it attracted the attention of this White Dove Detective, who even gave her the nickname "Blood Demon."

During her subsequent 20-year journey, she met Detective White Dove several more times, each time at a scene related to the "Blood Demon Incident." But Detective White Dove never doubted the three of them, always firmly stating that he would find the terrifying Blood Demon and nip it in the bud.

I never expected to run into you here again after a century.

After dragging the unconscious Elite out of the wreckage and confirming that his vital parts were not damaged, Yvette found his charging port and transferred a little magic power to him.

A few minutes later, as magic flowed through the magic wires again, Elliott's body trembled slightly, and his closed bionic eyelids opened slightly, revealing a blank expression. He looked at Yvette and said blankly, "What... happened?"

“We should be asking you what happened,” Abella asked, arms crossed, with an air of haughty aloofness.

Yvette asked, "We found you here as we were passing by. How did you end up lying here?"

Elliott's gaze shifted blankly, moving between the two faces. But after a moment, as if a memory switch had been triggered, he suddenly sat up straight, looked up, and said, "I... I remember! I escaped from 'that place'! But 'White Blaze' and I were almost out of energy, and we were attacked by mutated creatures on the way... In the end... we collapsed here..."

He turned to look at the wreckage of the magical mech, his expression filled with sorrow. Clearly, "Bai Zhi" was referring to his battle comrade.

"'That garden'? The mysterious garden of the Arctic? Do you know where it is?" Yvette asked. "What kind of place is it? Why have all those who went there disappeared?"

Elliott's expression became complicated, as if he were recalling a terrible nightmare. He murmured, "That place... I've never seen such a beautiful place, but I've also never seen a more dangerous place... There are some strange rules there, and everything related to magic is restricted and cannot be used at will, yet there are also terrifying magical creatures that will attack you..."

He paused, then warned, "If that's your destination, I advise you not to go. Even the top-tier Divine Grace users won't be able to unleash their full potential there. You must stay far away from that place!"

Yvette's brows furrowed slightly. Judging from the other party's description, this mysterious garden was indeed very strange, as it could actually restrict magic itself, and even powerful beings like those with divine favor had to abide by its rules...

Why does this sound like some kind of massive, million-dollar-scale technique? Like the no-fly zone in Fusjiang.

Could this be a super ruin left behind by an ancient civilization? Are the so-called magical creatures and rules just automatic defense mechanisms of the ruin?

Although there are still many questions to ask, the other person has just recovered, so we should give them some time to rest and sort out their thoughts.

After confirming that even the core of the magical mecha "White Blaze" was damaged, Yvette helped the grief-stricken Elite into the car, then changed the subject: "Mr. Elite, it's been a long time. How's your investigation into that 'Blood Demon' going?"

Elite, who had just pulled a wire and was using the magic motorcycle to recharge himself, was taken aback when he heard this and asked, "How did you know I was secretly tracking the Blood Demon?"

Now it was Yvette's turn to be speechless. She had just chatted casually, trying to help Elliott recover from his depression, but more than a hundred years had passed, and it turned out that this guy was still looking for her?

“We met a few times when you were investigating the Blood Demon incident,” Yvette reminded her. “The first time was in the Water Tower Kingdom.”

"Oh, it's you guys... Uh, what are your names again? Sorry, there's a problem with the memory, that part of the data might be corrupted..." Elite said awkwardly.

“Master, this guy wants to catch you. Why don’t we catch him here…” Abella quietly leaned close to Yvette’s ear, made a throat-slitting gesture, and gave a wicked smile.

Yvette glanced at Abella, thinking to herself, "You're going too far... and where did you learn that pose?"

Then she briefly introduced the two of them to Ellit.

“So it’s you, Miss Yvette, Miss Abella,” Elliott said. “That Blood Demon… well, how should I put it, it’s much more cunning than I thought. It must have discovered that I was looking for it. For the past hundred years, it has been completely out of the public eye. It’s incredibly patient.”

No, she's just sleeping.

"But it's also possible that they used more covert methods to erase the traces, deliberately trying to test my reasoning skills and intentionally provoking me."

No, not at all.

"But please rest assured, my fellow countrymen, I will continue to investigate until I find out the truth!" Elliott said again, his expression resolute.

That would truly be a long-term career that one could dedicate their entire life to...

Yvette offered a perfunctory expression of her admiration before getting to the point, asking, "Mr. Elliott, could you tell me about what you saw inside that secret garden?"

Chapter 146 Invitation

Through Elliott's descriptions, his journey of exploring the mysterious garden unfolds like a scroll before Yvette's eyes.

Elliott came to the Arctic with the investigation team. Within the Divine Graces, there are five tiers from S-rank to D-rank, each dealing with different levels of investigation difficulty. When investigating the Blood Demon incident, he and his partner Bai Zhi were only a D-rank investigation team. Later, they earned some merits, improved their combat power, and thus became C-rank investigators, participating in the operation.

Accompanying him were an A-rank investigator who served as the team leader, a B-rank vice-captain, and two team members who were both C-rank—each with their corresponding level of magical mechs as combat partners.

After they found the secret garden, just as they were about to approach it, strange things began to happen.

They discovered that the mysterious garden would recede as they approached, like a mirage on the horizon.

After sprinting at full speed and flying a certain distance, the mysterious garden disappeared completely. When they turned around, they found that the garden had reappeared behind them. Even the analysis equipment on the magical mech could not figure out why this had happened.

So the team began to think that the entrance to the Mysterious Garden might be in this area, but it was impossible to enter directly.

Based on this idea, the group searched the ice field and finally found a magnificent white door in a cave under a glacier. It was carved with beautiful patterns, depicting various unfamiliar creatures and scenes, so complex that it seemed to be depicting a world. Moreover, the door was enormous, and even a three- or four-meter-tall magical mech could easily enter it.

After making contact with the door, the Divine Grace Investigation Team entered the dark world beyond it with little effort. It was pitch black, and all light could hardly travel far, even with increased output power.

Elite guided Bai Zhi forward until the darkness before him was restored to light. However, when the surrounding scenery became clear, he discovered that he and his teammates were separated, and he found himself in an unfamiliar place.

What came into his view was a street with mechanical puppets walking around. These puppets were old-fashioned, not highly skilled, stiff, and humanoid. They didn't speak and didn't react at all to the magical mechs that suddenly appeared next to them.

Then he saw many bizarrely shaped metal buildings nearby, their facades covered with pipes, and metal obelisks with various colored runes flowing around them like data.

Looking up, the scene that appeared was even more terrifying. There was no sky; instead, there was a brass-colored mechanical structure. Countless enormous gears, bearings, and levers slowly turned and meshed, forming a vast mechanical star map. The heavy structure was covered in rust and made loud noises, as if it would collapse at any moment.

Without a doubt, this is a super city filled with metal structures and mechanical puppets. Elite's location is likely just one floor here, and the mechanical star map above his head is probably just a ceiling, with even higher floors above.

After being stunned for a while, Elite and Bai Zhi, who were new to the place, did not realize what the problem was. They simply felt that the scene was in line with the mechanical aesthetics of the puppets, but their fellow puppets were too stiff and not lively at all, and each one looked like a fake human.

After failing to communicate, Elliott saw what appeared to be a tower leading to the upper levels in the distance, but he got lost as soon as he tried to go there.

To clear a path, he used the heavy cannon of the magical mechs. He had barely fired one shot when a crude steam robot came over, warned him that he couldn't use weapons there, and even gave him a ticket.

This didn't sound like a problem, but after receiving the ticket, Elite and Bai Zhi were shocked to find that their rune weapons were malfunctioning. Despite the fact that there were no abnormalities during the inspection and the magic energy supply was sufficient, they just couldn't use them!

Thus, Elite and Bai Zhi, their fighting strength drastically reduced, began their "wilderness survival" in the mechanical city. They discovered magical energy flowing in the building's pipes, and managed to steal some, solving their energy problem. After figuring out the maze-like street layout, they traveled for dozens of kilometers before finally entering a towering, pillar-like tower. Passing through the tower, they reached the upper level, only to find that this wasn't the top floor either, and they had to continue searching for their way…

And so, they were trapped in the mechanical city for nearly fifty years.

They discovered that each floor here had its own unique rules of order, and failure to comply would result in immediate punishment. Moreover, the way these rules were implemented was extremely bizarre, completely beyond the knowledge they had in their database... To be honest, even magic was insufficient to describe the strangeness of these rules.

They also encountered magical creatures that looked exactly like gears, bearings, or brocade plates, which, like the patrols here, would attack outsiders like them. Fortunately, they didn't get tickets during their encounters, and were still able to fight, managing to escape unscathed.

Finally, one day, after many trials, they climbed to the top of the mechanical city, saw the dazzling night sky filled with stars, and overcame the heavy guard of magical creatures before leaping off the edge of the top floor.

In the instant of the fall, countless eerie lights and shadows rapidly shifted.

As they plunged into a crystal-clear body of water dotted with wildflowers, the giant city behind them vanished, leaving only a small, exquisitely crafted, bronze-colored metallic island floating quietly on the azure waves not far away.

They sank to the bottom of the water and moved forward underwater. When they climbed out of the water, they found themselves at the edge of the mysterious garden, surrounded by high white walls. Every so often, there was a large gate in the wall, guarded by magical creatures in the shape of statues.

So, under the fierce attack of the magical creatures, they forced their way through the gate and returned to the icy plains of the real world, battered and bruised. But they were exhausted and could no longer fight. Finally, they encountered a powerful aberrant creature and were shattered at the bottom of the Ice Rift Canyon, where they remain to this day.

……

After listening to Elliott's description, Yvette and Abella both fell silent.

Even for these experienced immortals, they had never seen such a bizarre place.

And once you enter, you'll be teleported to an unknown place? Are those places interconnected, or does each person have a separate island as a prison?

Yvette had previously thought this place might be a super ruin of the Origin Civilization, but as someone who had been to the Origin Civilization, she was certain that the Origin Civilization did not have this technology, unless Elite did not enter the real world, but entered a virtual online game through a vision device.

The problem is that Elite and his partner are both machine race. Can machine races not distinguish whether they are in a virtual world or the real world?

Moreover, the injuries they sustained in the Secret Garden were also brought out, and the wear and tear on various parts was genuine. How do you explain that?

Thinking about this, Yvette suddenly felt that this was somewhat similar to the Dream Mist, but the Dream Mist was a genuine origin world, while everything in this Mysterious Garden was too fantastical and lacked the weight of reality, so it didn't feel quite the same.

"Master, are we really going to go into this place to look for someone..." Abella said fearfully. For the Divine Heir, living was the most important thing. Risking his life for so-called friends... was that something a Divine Heir could do?

Even for the sake of the master, it's impossible!

At most, she would light incense outside and then burn the manuscript she had written for her master.

“…Let’s go take a look,” Yvette said, though she was a little hesitant, but not as cowardly as Abella.

Seeing that Yvette still wanted to go see him, Elliott tried to dissuade her, clearly not wanting the two to repeat their past mistakes. But Yvette quickly silenced him with a single sentence: "Are you planning to go back like this?"

Elliott lowered his head. As the White Dove Detective, the mystery lay ahead, yet he couldn't solve it; as an investigator, the mission lay ahead, yet he couldn't complete it; as an ordinary machine, his companions were inside, yet he couldn't save them. Now, his companions were either missing or dead—a result he found difficult to accept from every angle.

“I’ll go with you,” Ellit finally made his choice, “but I can’t guarantee your safety.”

“You can use the equipment here to transmit information to the sanctuary, so that even if others come later, they can use your information as a reference,” Yvette said. “We’re just going to take a look; we haven’t decided yet whether we can go in or not.”

After all, she was a naturally cautious person. If she wasn't sure, she would rather just take a look and let Bingyu stay inside for hundreds or thousands of years until she was strong enough and confident enough to come and rescue her.

As a mechanical being, Ice Rain should have this lifespan... probably.

“Okay.” Ellit breathed a sigh of relief.

A few hours later, guided by Elliott, Yvette saw the location of the Secret Garden through the car window.