Even in Gwen's Old World, the Pearl of the Orient was a city of peculiar origins.

The city's name itself means "sea town", although the indigenous fishermen who gave it its name could not have imagined that it would become the single most important trading city among Asia's major cities. For the first time, the city saw the future during the Opium Wars, which bloodied the city's foundations and powerfully opened the sleepy fishing village at the tip of the Yangtze River Delta to international trade.

The next fifty years were turbulent for Shanghai, as the city was divided into autonomous concessions run by the British, French, and Americans, all independent of the declining Qing dynasty's sphere of influence. At the same time, the presence of each colony brings with it a unique style, architecture, and society, making the city an eclectic cultural mecca.

After the Russian Revolution of 1917, the Russian white race added another pile of feathers, bringing Shanghai to the peak of the cultural explosion.

By the 30s of the 20th century, Shanghai had become a melting pot, a cosmopolitan metropolis with its own characteristics, attracting locals and foreigners alike. In its heyday, this seaside city was a great place to be – it had some of the best art in Asia, some of the most ornate architecture, and the busiest trade. The city has the nastiest dance halls, the most lascivious brothels, the most glitzy restaurants, the most expensive international clubs, including the longest bar in the world. Shanghai was a sin city that catered to every whim of the rich and powerful, and despite the coexistence of abject poverty and affluence, many of the lower classes (mostly people) provided the cheap labor that kept the city running.

That's the Paris of the East.

A place of depravity and indulgence.

Then the conflict of the Second World War began.

But this world of magic and monsters has never experienced World War II.

Or at least that's what Gwen learned in Blackwater's limited history class.

In this world, World War II was the face of humanity against a 71-year wave of beasts awakened by the rebirth of an ancient world dragon in Central Europe, which drove humanity's unprepared kingdom into anarchy. Borders were redrawn, countries were cut in half, cities became isolated, and the known world split into several zones, from the habitable dead world of the black quarter to the disputed, resource-rich green belt.

Gwen wondered if she could recognize the city they were about to enter.

She won't.

The moment they enter the orbital highway, this point is self-evident. In Gwen's old reality, Shanghai was already one of the most developed cities in the world. In this changing world, Shanghai is much larger — a vast expanse of skyscrapers, more like a pyramid-shaped beehive city, with its epicenter condensed into a solid wall that towers over the entire city.

As Gwen and Joon cruised on the second orbital ring, they were confronted by a forest of tall buildings, identical buildings in piles and piles, sprouting from the flat ground like bamboo after a spring rain. There were too many of them, glittering in a wet shade of gray, ochre, lime and off-white, obscuring the skyline and obscuring the surrounding sunlight of the highway.

"It was a non-residential area," her uncle noted. ”。 "It's actually pretty good, no matter how they look. There is a small park underneath the apartment, as well as an underground mall. Very lively place, good food, if you don't mind

"Where do the mages live?" Gwen asked. If there is a second orbital ring, is there a first? a third and a fourth?

"It's all over the place, depending on your profession," her uncle replied. "In fact, we are going to the new district of the third rail loop, where party members have private homes. ”

Gwen tilted her head and turned to the view of the city, which she looked down on like an ethereal patient under the sweltering false summer heat brought by the smoke of Mana.

"Can you tell me about Daddy?" she asked as they passed under the hallucinatory magic billboard dozens of meters wide.

One of them shows a three-dimensional hallucination, depicting a kind-hearted middle-aged gentleman gazing out of the highway with infinite patience with a benevolent Buddha-like gaze. A series of Chinese characters next to his face are translated as "*** I implore you to live in harmony and assume civic responsibility", represented by a large red figure.

The next second, just before they passed, the image changed to a beautiful blonde with delicate elven features, her hair fluttering in the wind. The slogan of this section is: "Head and shoulders: who said gorgeous, dandruff-free hair doesn't smell gorgeous?"

"About the sea?" Joon ponders her question as Gwen looks away from the ad. "Okay, shoot. ”

"Alright," Gwen focused. "Who did Daddy kill - wow!"

The sudden inertia sent Gwen staggering forward, and Joan abruptly steered the car into the lane on the shoulder.

"What did he do now?" Jun turned, causing Gwen to sweat profusely.

Oddly enough, the screaming and braking cars did not honk. Instead, they drive by calmly, cautiously and politely.

"We are on the territory of the army," her uncle noted, capturing Gwen's bewilderment. "Well, tell me one more time. ”

"Once in Singapore, I pushed Moyer why he wanted to leave this first-tier city, and he said he 'killed' someone who shouldn't have left. ”

"And?"

And just like that, he didn't say anything in the future. ”

Jun scratched his beard.

"That's ......"

Then a look of epiphany appeared on his face.

"Wow, sea, you weasel. ”

"Uncle?" Gwen felt her curiosity fully piqued.

"Well, I think I know what your father meant. It's the sea, by the way, don't let grandpa hear you use his pseudonym. In our culture, there is a peculiar corollary to names, and it is disrespectful to reject the names given by ancestors. ”

Gwen lowered her chin in gratitude. She wondered if the ancestors would accept her foreign name or if she would have to get a new one. In her old world, she had two Asian colleagues, one used in public and one in her family's private company.

"So, about my father?"

"I'm just an assumption," Jun replied after a moment's hesitation, anyway, out of respect for the sea, I think he should tell him. ”

Continuing the journey, their jeep turned from a six-lane rail highway to an adjacent flyover. An elevated sign indicates that there is an exit ramp that connects to the third outer ring road. Jun pushes the steering wheel with his hand and lets the car slide along the spiraling slope. The crunching flywheel of the mana engine picks up momentum, keeping the speed of the jeep steady and cruising.

Jeeps slowed down as they entered a residential area, and the bare concrete of the highway gave way to rows of huge cypress trees flanked by a wide two-lane boulevard.

Their neighborhood was cordoned off before a jeep drove another kilometer and a half. A Chinese plaque reads "Plum Blossom Village"

"We've arrived," Jun announced.

The interior of the compound is a verdant garden and water feature carved from artesian stone into beautiful shapes. Although not sexy enough, Gwen is sure that her Opa will agree.

The entrance of the courtyard family courtyard of the courtyard residential community appeared in the garden of the community after several twists and turns.

Well, Gwen took a deep breath. It's time to meet her Creator.

This is the family that she completely ignored in her previous life. There are no expectations, no clues, no indication of their likes and dislikes here. She is a stranger, in a strange land, captive by forces she cannot comprehend, and now she is visiting the tiger's den, and she will have to use all her otherworldly knowledge to escape unscathed.

Jun gave her a confident smile and walked in, Gwen tensed her spine and followed.

Although the courtyard was built with new composite materials, it was still built in the old style. When Gwen enters the courtyard, there is an open-air atrium garden divided into four passages, one leading to the exit hall and the other three leading to the open public hall, bedrooms, and a large training building.

Now it is the public hall that solemnly awaits them.

Gwen moistened her lips and walked in. She felt nervous and trembled. This is no different than when she first presented a project to the board of directors when she was a junior advisor at McKinsey.

The hall itself is a two-storey building with a vaulted ceiling supported by two massive beams painted crimson with rich lacquer and edged with dark gold. The plaque hanging above her head is preceded by a set of Chinese characters with a set of hieroglyphs, the font of which was broken by a stone she borrowed.

"The state ... The other two words "...... justice" are still mysterious.

Gwen felt as if she had stepped back in time.

A faded crimson carpet, more than twenty meters long, drew her gaze to the spacious center of the room, where two dark mahogany chairs sat side by side, with a side table in the middle. On either side of the seats are four other sets of smaller chairs, four on each side, arranged on either side of the carpeted slide.

Currently, only one seat is still occupied.

To Gwen's surprise, the matriarch was a foreign woman, with flowing silver hair that set off her petite face, and a much younger appearance than she was. Her skin exudes an almost supernatural vitality, exuding an aura of kindness and kindness.

"Gwen Song, my granddaughter, my name is Klavdia. ”

Her grandmother's voice was soft as a whisper, but it was easy to hear in the hall.

"Grandma!" Gwen paced quickly on the carpet.

But when Gwen walked to where she could speak, she realized she didn't know what to do. She doesn't know human greetings. Are there any etiquettes to follow, some rituals to perform? Hopefully she won't kowtow, at least not in public.

In the end, she curtsy as if she were in Sydney for a senior mage and mentor.

"Great, dear, although a bow is enough. Her grandmother said her expression was mysterious and mysterious.

Their eyes met.

Claudia had a face that Gwen was familiar with, with the same straight nose, the same pursed lips, and the same high cheekbones. Inexplicably, Kravdia has thick silver-pale yellow hair, which is characteristic of her age despite the youthful vigor on her face.

Gwen had been wondering why she wasn't like her father or mother – despite the fact that she had her mother's eyes – and now the mystery was solved. She inherited her grandmother's looks.

"You can call me Nana, or Grandmother, or Babushka, but if fantasy catches you, a Pablia will certainly not be wrong. Her "Pabudia" was chanted in a calm, intelligent voice.

"That's it, Barbulia," Gwen said to herself. She loved that the word rolled off her tongue with three striking plosives.

Pabria then stepped out of the impressive mahogany chair and confidently walked towards Gwen, who felt a cloud of ambivalence make him hesitate.

Wow, little one!, that was Gwen's first thought. Her baby is only 5 feet 2 tall.

Gwen must have grown taller from her mother's side.

Her babulya wore a comfortable overalls consisting of a simple tunic and an ankle-length skirt paired with a pair of dark cotton flats. Even more striking was the fact that despite her advanced age, Pabria's spine was straight, her shoulders straight, her chin held high, though perhaps because Kraftia looked up at Gwen's face.

Then she opened her arms and put her arms around Gwen's waist.

Gwen lowered her head so their faces could meet, instead of Pabria burying her face in Gwen's chest, which was an awkward hug for both participants.

Claudia pecked Gwen the cheek.

"Finally! a granddaughter is as tall as the granddaughter I used to know in my home country!" her Pabria cried excitedly, carefully patting Gwen on the head and stroking her face and shoulders. "The bones are also good, strong and in good shape. Oh, I think there's still a little room for you to grow!"

When Kravdia's hand touched Gwen's chest, with the amulet hanging from it, Gwen felt her pulse suddenly quicken.

"Do you have a unicorn?" her Pabria seemed startled by the discovery.

"Yes," Gwen replied, sliding a hand between her blouse, taking the jade pendant off for Kraftia to examine.

"You don't have to pay it back. Her Pabria patted the gap in her chest. "It's yours - if the sea gives it. This will be of great benefit to you in the future. ”

Gwen carefully put the amulet back on her chest and sat there tightly, exuding warmth.

"So, let's take a good look at you. Clavdia pulled herself back and gently placed Gwen's arm around her waist.

Even though there was a clear sign of aging in her eyes, she could tell that her eyes were a little old. As a woman, Gwen knew not to ask, and instead decided to use deductive reasoning. After all, her father was thirty-seven years old, that is, her clavidia was no more than fifty years old at most, which was an impressive feat for a woman with three children and four grandchildren.

All this makes Kravdia's vibrant sight all the more startling.

"Detect!"

Babria's eyes shimmered with the magic of divination, mixed with a radiant aura of positive energy that formed a visible aura on her temples.

Gwen felt a warm current emanating from her Papulian hands, washing over her astral body with the gentle arrows of summer rain. It was a familiar feeling that she had known many times before from another petite angel.

"Are you...... A healer?" Gwen blurted out. Judging from Guo Jingming's behavior, Gwen believes that either Kravdia is a heroine with unfathomable power, or she is an iron-clad and copper-faced Babushka.

"You have many hidden scars there, my dear granddaughter," her grandmother mused. "Second-rate healers in second-tier cities aren't trained to deal with magical damage holistically, and from the looks of it, you've taken quite a hit. Some parts of your body have undergone extensive regeneration, but it doesn't seem to mesh well with the physical body that existed before you. ”

Gwen Pader covered her chest, shoulders, and then abdomen with one hand. She did feel a little unaccustomed to the youth of her new body, as if some parts of her body were a little out of sync with the movement of her mind.

"But now that you're here, we can heal you. Kravdia smiled softly, and took a shriveled hand to Gwen's own. There, Gwen saw her true age in Pabloa. "Come, come, sit with me. ”

She led Gwen to a chair closer to herself.

Next to them, Jun sat in the seat opposite.

"You must have suffered a lot when you were on the frontier. Cravdia clicked his tongue a few times and made it clear that Sydney is not a bad city by any means, but the constant exposure to merfolk must have caused you terrible losses. ”

"It's all right, Pabloa," Gwen replied cautiously. "I had loyal and loyal friends there, as well as mentors who helped me for a year and a half after I woke up. ”

"Oh, I'm sure. Her grandmother patted Gwen's hand gently. Kravdia has round almond eyes with amber eyes with a little yellow spot in the sun. Gwen wondered if it was her natural Pabulian color, or if years of positive energy training had altered her iris, just as the lightning elemental had made Gwen's eyes glitter with hysterical cobalt.

Gwen sensed the amiability that her grandmother exuded, as if it was time for her to appeal.

"Barbria," Gwen asked cautiously, keeping her tone and tone down. "Do you think grandpa will let me go back to Sydney?"

Her Pabria smiled.

Nothing.

Gwen couldn't tell anything from that face. It was as kind, caring, and considerate as the moment she walked into the room.

"Honey, do you want me to be honest with you?"

"Yes, Palbudia. ”

"All right," her grandmother said, holding her hand. "In a moment, your grandfather will be coming home"

At the mention of Guo, Gwen's heart beat irregularly, her diaphragm contracted by an acidic twist.

"- And then we're going to have a banquet. Then you can meet up with the rest of your family. ”

Gwen nodded dignifiedly, using willpower to untie her baggage.

"After that, you, me, grandpa and Jun, we're going to sit down, right here we're going to have a pleasant, long conversation......"

So, Gwen admitted the offer, and she was given a second chance.

When her father tells Gwen about her paternal family, Gwen fantasizes about meeting them. It was a strange, vertigo feeling and yet another opportunity to relive a life she had neglected before her life. She is grateful for the opportunity to be kidnapped and brought home. After all, when Gwen rationally considers her current predicament, isn't there a glimmer of hope behind it all?