"No... You made the right choice."

"Thank you very much. You helped me retrieve something very important. Thank you."

Turing wiped away tears and let out a heavy sigh.

"I really should thank you properly... This is what you deserve."

"Is there something you want?"

Watching as Anna-Ki was about to be taken away by the prison guards, Turing realized that she must have done something wrong.

Turing gave a slight glance towards the guards, and the various individuals in prison uniforms who were surrounding Anna-Ki immediately froze in fear, all instinctively making way for Turing and Anna-Ki to converse.

"Just like we discussed before, Miss Turing."

"Let me join your band, give me a chance to perform for you."

Anna-Ki said earnestly.

"... Don't you want me to bail you out? Wasn't that what you thought when you first met me before?"

Turing asked perplexed.

"... The time for release will come eventually."

"But I don't want to miss this opportunity."

"Even though the chances of success are infinitesimally small, I still want to try."

"Otherwise, I will surely regret it."

Anna-Ki shook his head gently. He showed a faint, gentle smile and said to Turing.

Turing had a feeling that Anna-Ki wasn't telling the truth.

But Turing smiled faintly and then accepted it.

She didn't want to test human nature with a cold demeanor.

The process of emotions is about being deceived, hurt, and angered.

If she stood on the high ground of emotions using a cold demeanor, she wouldn't be able to experience any emotions herself.

【Mother probably thinks the same way.】

【She relies too much on magic, to the point where she has forgotten how to interact with people without it.】

"Alright then."

"I agree to the band. I will also grant you the freedom you desire. Otherwise, you won't be able to come out and perform with us."

"But I still need to test you."

"If your skills are not up to par... I will still kick you out."

Upon hearing Turing's words, Anna-Ki immediately knelt down excitedly, reverently kissing Turing's hand.

"Thank you, I won't disappoint your expectations..."

---------------------------------------------------------

"First of all, I'm puzzled about how the Tide Witch knew Turing was coming."

"Turing and I just set off for Red Port on a whim."

"But her? She has been rooted in Red Port for over two years. Sneakily killing has claimed five to six hundred lives."

"How did she manage to do that..."

Merka, with furrowed brows, gently stroked the scattered clues on the tabletop blueprint, speaking to herself.

"The window (Oracle Window)."

The shadow pointed to the photo belonging to the Maria camp placed on Merka's table, speaking softly.

"The laboratory also researched attacking angels, but without the necessary research materials, they struggled."

"In the end, they only produced a half-finished product."

"This woman must have been a high-ranking researcher who escaped from the lab."

"If I'm not mistaken, when the lab was destroyed, she definitely took a lot of unfinished products and escaped."

"Among them, I believe there must be backdrops, asides, portals, and windows."

The shadow flicked its black mist-like skirt, lifted one leg, and sat on the desk in front of Merka.

"I simply don't use water magic."

"I won't waste energy to generate water flow, such an inefficient attack pattern."

"That woman, she used a backdrop to disguise the water flow."

"At the same time, she used the lab's specially developed angel suppressant on your angels."

"With both tactics in play, she created an illusion of using water magic to suppress you."

"In fact, the principle is inspired by the imitation of mechanical deities."

"That stuff is very precious, already out of production, I imagine the remaining small portion has also been taken by her."