Mai hurried forward to help Long to his feet, as though she could easily lift a boy larger than herself. Long only smiled. He gently brushed her hand aside, dusted off his knees, and stood tall—his grin as bright as if he had never fallen at all.
Compared to the years he had spent playing with his friends and training under Mrs. Huong in Hope Village, these injuries were nothing.
Suddenly, Kiet ran over and wrapped his arms around Long's leg. He buried his face against Long's knee before looking up with a wide, radiant smile. His eyes sparkled as though Long were a superhero who had just saved the world. The cold distance from yesterday had completely disappeared.
"Are you okay? Should I take you to the hospital?" Mai asked, concern softening her voice.
Long shook his head. His gaze shifted immediately to Dreamy and the white AI Witch cat.
"I'm fine. I was on my way to meet Kiet at the address you gave me when I saw her being captured. I couldn't just stand by… I'm only worried about the AI Witch cat and Dreamy. I don't know if they're hurt."
As if in response, Mimi let out a long, trembling "Meooo." Its blue eyes shimmered—then flashed with a faint pink glow. A warm light radiated outward, gentle and soothing. Within seconds, the pain in Long's body vanished as though it had never existed.
Long blinked in astonishment. "What was that…?"
Mai nodded calmly, though her tone carried a note of warning. "Mimi is an AI Witch with the ability to regulate neural sensations. It reduced your pain—but the wound itself is still there. It needs treatment."
Indeed, blood still seeped from the tear in Long's knee, though he felt no discomfort.
Kiet made a small, subtle gesture with his hands. Mai understood immediately. She smiled.
"Kiet really likes you. He wants to invite you—and Mimi—to his home. It's safer there. Witchiecoop rarely comes to the Manualee district."
Before Long could respond, Mai turned to Ms. Phan.
"Ma'am, may I ask you and Noddy to assist us? We need to go to the Manualee area, where Kiet lives."
Ms. Phan inclined her head.
Noddy—the AI Witch owl—gave a low shudder. His golden eyes flashed.
The air around them distorted.
The world seemed to ripple like the surface of deep water. Streets and houses stretched, blurred, and dissolved into streams of light rushing past them. The group remained motionless within a transparent spatial sphere while the city itself flowed around them.
In only a few seconds, everything stilled.
Long's breath caught.
This was no ordinary neighborhood.
Before him lay a wasteland.
There were no proper houses—only crumbling ruins and makeshift shacks patched together from scrap metal and broken concrete. Columns of smoke rose in the distance. It was impossible to tell whether they came from cooking fires or smoldering debris.
A chill ran down his spine.
Eyes turned toward them.
Dozens of eyes.
Cold. Suspicious. Hostile.
A harsh voice rang out from the crowd:
"The nobles… and they've brought AI Witches with them!"
The air thickened instantly. Hatred spread like invisible smoke, suffocating and heavy.
Long stiffened.
Then, from within the crowd, another voice called out:
"Kiet? Mai? Ms. Phan? What are you doing here?"
Mai exhaled in relief. It was Uncle Lam—Kiet's foster father. His presence was like a sudden breeze, easing the suffocating tension. Mai and Ms. Phan quickly explained the situation, asking him to calm the crowd.
Gradually, the murmurs subsided.
Uncle Lam stepped closer, studying Long. The boy still looked slightly dazed, overwhelmed by everything he had seen.
"Who are you?" Uncle Lam asked gently.
Long drew in a steady breath. When he spoke, his voice was clear and firm, as though addressing the elders of his fishing village, his hometown.
"My name is Long. I'm from Hope Village. I came to the city to find the AI King Witch. When I saw Mimi in danger, I stepped in to help. I only just met everyone here… And this is Dreamy—the AI Witch who travels with me."
Silence fell over the entire Manualee district.
The words AI King Witch echoed like a myth spoken aloud. For many, it was nothing more than legend.
Ms. Phan smiled softly, her warm eyes offering quiet encouragement.
"It's a difficult journey," she said. "But keep going, child."
Long bowed respectfully. "Thank you."
Then curiosity overcame him. He turned to Uncle Lam.
"Uncle… why do people here look at us that way?"
Uncle Lam's shoulders sagged. His eyes carried a deep, weary sorrow.
"This is the Manualee district. The people here were once laborers. They worked alongside ordinary AI systems. But when the AI Witches appeared, magic replaced their jobs overnight. They lost their work. Their purpose. Their hope."
He paused, swallowing.
"Now they survive on minor tasks—anything that earns a bit of EN each day. So yes… they resent the nobles. And they resent AI Witches."
His voice grew quieter.
"I was the same. I used to pilot AI flying bats, transporting goods across the city. Then the AI Witches learned spatial teleportation. No one needed pilots anymore. I lost everything—and became a manualee."
As he spoke, he led them toward his small, patched-together shelter.
"In my despair, I almost made terrible choices," he continued. "But then I found Kiet… among the ruins near the headquarter of Witchiecoop. He was just a baby. Born deaf."
His expression softened as he looked at the boy resting against his shoulder.
When they arrived, Uncle Lam carefully laid Kiet down on an old straw mat. The child slept peacefully, dirt smudged across his small face.
Ms. Phan stepped closer.
Gently—so gently—she wiped the dirt from Kiet's cheek, as though trying to erase every hardship the child had endured. Compassion shone in her eyes, mingled with quiet contemplation.
Long stood still.
For a fleeting moment, he saw Mrs. Huong reflected in Ms. Phan's tenderness.
He remembered how he used to cling to Mrs. Huong's arms. How, after being teased for being an orphan, he once shouted that she was his real mother—just to silence his own pain. That night, he had cried in her embrace for hours.
Now, looking at Kiet, Long felt something stir inside him.
A silent kinship.
Both of them carried unseen emptiness. Invisible wounds.
Perhaps that was why they had connected so quickly.
Without a word, Long stepped outside.
The sky above Manualee had darkened. Without the glow of electric lights, the stars burned brighter than he had ever seen in the city.
He and Dreamy walked toward Mai.
She sat quietly with Miki and Mimi beside her. Her golden curls drifted in the night wind, her gaze fixed on something far beyond the ruins.
For a moment, Long forgot the city of Puresight entirely.
There was only the quiet wasteland.
Only the endless stars.
And the fragile hope that somewhere, beyond the darkness, a new path was waiting to be found.