After returning to Lyovianne, Voltrania took the little girl to the Crimson Wing headquarters to get medical treatment and was examined by Ellyana in the medical section. Voltrania sat by the window with her arms crossed, she waited patiently for the results of her examination.
A few minutes later, Ellyana had finished examining the little girl, she stood up and approached Voltrania casually.
Ellyana began to speak.
"Voltrania, I've finished examining her. The little girl has some small scratches on her body, and she's lost a lot of fluids"
Voltrania sighed in relief and stood up.
"Huh, good. Can she eat and drink now?"
Ellyana shook her head.
"No, she's still not fully recovered, she's very hungry and has lost a lot of body fluids, so I'll put an IV on her for a while"
Voltrania nodded and held the mysterious cube that the little girl was actually holding.
"I'll go to the lab, you take care of her"
Ellyana nodded slowly and approached the little girl again to attach an IV line to her hand. Voltrania walked out slowly and closed the door behind her, she walked down the hall while thinking about the previous incident, about the Destroyer who could talk and about Alone, as well as who this girl really was.
Voltrania was lost in her own thoughts, until she didn't realize that she was already in front of the lab door, she entered the room while continuing to hold the mysterious cube. Inside there, Selena was playing a game boredly, she was waiting for something to do.
Selena spun around in her chair until she saw Voltrania standing in the doorway, she was shocked and fell to the floor, Selena held her bumpy head. She started to grumble.
"Ugh~, don't surprise me like that! Press the bell or knock on the door maybe"
Voltrania walked into the room while answering.
"Don't joke, there's no bell here. I need you to investigate this strange object" she said while holding out the mysterious cube.
Selena quickly took the cube and observed it carefully, she observed the design and texture that she had never seen before, as if this object was not made of ordinary metal, there must be a mechanism.
Selena asked in confusion.
"Where did you get this? This is something I have never seen before in my life"
Voltrania answered flatly while holding her waist.
"I got it from the little girl I saved, she was holding it with her when I first found it."
Selena asked again.
"Ohhh, then I'll ask her, where is she?"
Voltrania shook her head slowly.
"You can't see her now, she's in the medical room getting treatment and still won't talk, you can ask her another time."
Selena smiled and nodded, she understood the situation now.
"Okay then, I'll check this until he's willing to talk."
Voltrania turned to leave, but before she left, she turned to Selena.
"Don't keep me waiting."
With that she left her there alone. While walking, Voltrania was still thinking about this "Alone" organization, who they really were and why they wanted to destroy her, all the questions in her head started to make her dizzy, she stopped for a moment to massage her head gently to clear her mind for a moment.
After a while, she pressed a button on her uniform's arm device and started calling Cassandra and Lisa.
"Cassandra and Lisa, please come to my office immediately."
Lisa who was taking a break from training the troops got the call and immediately walked to Voltrania's office, meanwhile Casandra who was writing new regulations for the Crimson Wing education system also heard the call, she immediately stood up and walked to Voltrania's office. A few minutes later, the two of them entered Voltrania's office and found her sitting on her chair, they approached her.
Cassandra said with a faint smile.
"Ah Voltrania~, you look upset"
Lisa asked flatly.
"Why did you call us?"
Voltrania stood up from her chair and pressed one of the buttons on her desk. The room began to change, the walls began to fade, the floor began to disappear, all the places were only dark blue and had lines around them, but the bodies of the three of them shone white, this place was called the Soundproof Zone where only they could talk there without being disturbed or someone eavesdropping.
Voltrania began to speak flatly.
"I'll get straight to the point, while you were on missions or observing other troops' missions, have you ever heard of an organization or something called 'Alone'?"
Cassandra shrugged while shaking her head. "No, I've never heard of that."
Lisa held her chin.
"Alone? What does that mean?"
Voltrania sighed and began to tell her story. "Huh~. I was on a mission to kill a Destroyer, but this is not like usual, that thing can talk and has an intelligent mind."
Cassandra and Lisa were both shocked, they couldn't believe what she had just said, they both froze in place.
Finally Cassandra spoke.
"How is that possible? They are just dirty monsters that have no minds."
Lisa nodded in agreement.
"Yes, how is that possible?"
Voltrania continued.
"I know this is very hard to believe, but the Destroyer has a master, his master is one of Alone's top brass, a woman who has a mysterious dark aura. That means there are more than just her."
"And that woman said that Alone is something that will destroy me, I don't know what she meant, but I have a very strong feeling that the Injustice virus apocalypse a few years ago came from them."
"The Destroyer also said that he was ordered by the woman to find something to give to her, and coincidentally in the same place, I found a little girl around that place."
Cassandra held her hips while grinning. "Hehe~, This is not an accidental coincidence, all of this must be related. An organization that we have never met before, a Destroyer who can think and talk, and a little girl. This is very strange"
Lisa crossed her arms.
"So what are we going to do? Should we investigate or tell our other troops?"
Voltrania shook her head slowly while continuing to stare at them seriously.
"We still don't know much about this, we can't leak this to our troops yet, the main thing is we have to always be alert every time we go on any mission, we told them to always be alert if they travel out of town."
Cassandra and Lisa nodded in agreement, they knew the situation was getting more tense with the presence of a new organization that they had never heard of before, they couldn't let their guard down even a little because the real battle had just begun.
Meanwhile on the other side. Laura had just returned from her mission to evacuate and save some women outside, she landed the patrol plane on the runway and opened the back door so that the victims she saved could be immediately checked by the medical personnel who were waiting for them, immediately they all received medical treatment.
Laura got off the patrol plane while stretching her body, she had done her job well, she saw a woman with a nurse's hat with a long white dress like a robot approaching her, she was Gabriela the Crimson Wing nurse who was also a former White Moon troop.
Gabriela asked softly.
"How was your mission? Are you hurt?"
Laura shook her head while answering.
"Of course not, since getting Crimson energy, for some reason my body has become more agile and light."
Gabriela sighed in relief.
"Huh thank goodness you're okay, by the way what are you going to do after this?"
Laura answered excitedly.
"I want to walk around the city for a bit to find snacks or something, maybe I'll find something interesting, see you~"
she said with a small wave. Laura turned around and walked slowly towards the exit of the headquarters leaving Gabriela there, she walked while jumping happily on the side of the road, she passed several shops and stalls to find something that caught her attention, the atmosphere today was very peaceful where all the young or old women passed by everywhere.
Finally Laura saw a stall that caught her attention, a stall that sold Syr kosichka, her favorite food as a child that her mother often made before she died. Laura ran towards the stall so fast that the seller was surprised by her presence.
Laura pointed four fingers at the seller.
"I want FOUR!!"
The seller quickly wrapped four Syr kosuchka in a box and gave it to Laura, Laura put the money on the table and took the bag from the seller, she was very happy to finally find her favorite Russian snack. After some time Laura brought food packages and several cans of soda with fruit packages such as apples, bananas and others.
She walked on the street happily because she could finally rest from her tiring mission, until she saw a female teacher with little girls who were still in kindergarten sitting under a tree, the calm atmosphere and bright emotion were perfect for them to walk.
Laura decided to approach them and sat behind the other little girls while eating her snacks, it seemed like the teacher wanted to tell a story.
The teacher started asking the children.
"Okay girls, have you ever heard of the tree of life called Carmine Ecarlate?"
"The tree of life?" Said one of the girls in the line.
"Carmine...ekarled?" Said the girl who couldn't pronounce it properly.
"What does it look like?" Asked a girl curiously.
Laura heard that with curiosity, she had never heard the name of a tree like that, she felt interested to hear more.
The teacher continued.
"Today I will read a fairy tale and you must listen carefully for the assignment that I will give when the fairy tale ends."
The little girls waited with anticipation while Laura leaned forward to hear more clearly.
The teacher began to tell the story.
"A few centuries ago, a very beautiful woman named Egeria was exploring the vast world alone, she brought a golden brown seed that would grow into a tree."
"Egeria looked for a very suitable place to plant the seed safely and unknown to anyone, so she found a cave that had several gaps so that the sun could shine on it, and there was also a pond with very clear water."
"She planted the seed in the middle of the cave very carefully, she took care of the seed like her own child with love and affection, she took one of the coconuts that had been split by the monkeys around there to bring water from the pond to water the seed every day, she did it every day guarding and protecting it."
"During the wait, Egeria got some animal friends like wolves and bears, they swore to help Egeria protect the tree with their own lives."
"After several years, the small seed had finally become a very large tree, its roots were bright brown with very beautiful gold and green leaves."
Suddenly in the middle of the story a girl raised her hand to ask.
"Then why is it called Carmine Ecarlate if its color is gold and green, teacher?"
The teacher chuckled for a moment before continuing her story.
"A few months after the tree successfully grew, Egeria got a rare disease that was not known by its name, then the tree wanted to repay her kindness by growing some red fruits in an instant like apples, cherries or strawberries."
"Egeria ate one of the apples, then her body suddenly healed miraculously, her animal friends even ate some of the fruits there with her."
"Because the fruit was red, Egeria gave the tree the name 'Carmine Ecarlate' which has been legendary until now. THE END"
All the little girls were amazed to hear that, they all started clapping their hands while smiling.
"Wow~" said a girl who was amazed.
"That's a good story, teacher," said another child.
Laura smiled in satisfaction when she heard the story, for her the story was very good to tell to children, and she didn't want to just believe that the tree of life really existed, it was just a children's story.
She looked at her watch which showed one o'clock in the afternoon, the kindergarten girls would be home soon, she also needed to return to the base to make a report about her mission. Laura stood up and walked back to the base, she thought about the Carmine Ecarlate fairy tale before, she started to think whether the tree really existed? If the tree really existed, then where was it? She tried to get rid of the thought for a moment and started making notes in her head about what to report.
A few moments later, Laura arrived at the headquarters stairs and started to climb them, she entered the lobby casually while whistling and putting her hands in her pockets, but she saw Voltrania, Casandra and Lisa who were talking. At first she didn't really care because maybe they were just talking about work or missions, but her steps stopped when Cassandra whispered and mentioned 'that tree' in their conversation, her sharp ears perked up when she heard that.
Laura started to think about joining in and joining in the conversation, but seeing their expressions, she felt hesitant to approach them for fear of disturbing them. But she couldn't help but wonder about the topic of their conversation and Casandra's mention of 'that tree', she started to guess that 'that tree' was Carmine Ecarlate, but she thought it was just a fairy tale legend for children.
Voltrania, Casandra and Lisa stopped their conversation, they started to go out of the headquarters where Voltrania's motorbike was waiting, the three of them would go together on one motorbike. Voltrania got on first until Casandra sat behind her and Lisa sat in front of her while looking down Laura who saw that almost laughed because of their behavior, even though Crimson Wing had no shortage of vehicles. After they left, Laura quickly went to the lobby officer to borrow the motorbike key.
Laura said hurriedly.
"I want to borrow a motorbike, hurry up!"
The lobby officer was surprised by the haste, he held out the key to her and was immediately taken by her. Laura ran out and jumped onto one of the parked motorbikes, she quickly drove following the three of them to a place, she activated the invisible mode on her motorbike system which made her invisible so she could follow them without being noticed.
After a while of driving, they arrived at the cemetery, Voltrania, Cassandra, and Lisa walked silently, their eyes focused on an old warehouse at the end of the cemetery.
Unbeknownst to them, Laura followed from a distance, her body hidden behind the large tombs. She was curious about their purpose, especially since so far she had only heard vague stories about the secrets beneath the city.
After making sure that no one was watching, Voltrania slowly pushed open the wooden door of the warehouse. The sound of creaking hinges broke the silence of the night, and the three of them entered. Laura waited a moment, making sure everything was safe, then slipped inside. Inside the warehouse, Voltrania knocked on the floorboards three times, and a secret door opened in the floor.
Without hesitation, they descended one by one into the underground darkness. Laura held her breath and followed from a distance, making sure her steps were not heard. The underground passage was filled with old roots that wrapped around the stone walls, as if alive and moving slowly. The air inside was damp and filled with the scent of wet earth and something even stranger—like the smell of dried blood.
At the end of the tunnel, an old mine rail stretched with rusty carriages on it. Voltrania got on first, followed by Cassandra and Lisa. With one movement, Voltrania pulled the lever beside the rail, and the carriage slid into the darkness. Laura swallowed, then without thinking jumped into the last carriage before the entrance closed. The carriage sped along, penetrating the long corridor that was increasingly lit by reddish light.
Laura gripped the edge of the carriage, her heart beating fast.
"What's under this Lyovianne? What are they hiding from the public?"
Soon after, the mine track ended in a very large cave. Laura almost fell when she saw the sight before her. A large tree with blood-red leaves and several dark red flowers, its trunk had a red flow that pulsed in the shape of veins, its roots spread to the ground and walls of the cave, several points on the tree trunk released thick red water like blood that was very terrifying to anyone.
Laura's pupils shrank in fear, she tried to leave but the entrance was already covered by very thick roots, she had no choice but to follow them. The three women began to take off their clothes and began to enter the red pool under the tree, they soaked there for a while while chatting.
However, Lisa had known Laura's presence from the start.
"Don't hide anymore Laura."
Cassandra also called her.
"Yes, don't hide, come here."
Laura slowly came out of hiding and approached them, she still stared at the big tree in horror before turning her gaze to those who were soaking in the pool.
Laura asked tremblingly.
"W-what are you...doing...here."
Voltrania answered while crossing her arms. "We're charging our Crimson energy here."
"Charging Crimson energy?" Laura asked confusedly.
Cassandra chuckled.
"Hehe~, where do you think we get Crimson energy from? This tree gives us power and only the three of us can channel it to anyone we want to connect with this tree, but only a few have received it."
Lisa continued her explanation.
"Well, because there are still few people who have strong bodies to receive it, the way the three of us channel energy is different, Cassandra needs to strangle her target to channel it and I need to punch the target's stomach to channel it."
"Then what about Miss Voltrania?" Laura asked.
Voltrania just kept quiet while closing her eyes, Cassandra answered for her.
"Well she will stab her target, but the stab will heal because of the Crimson energy that is channeled so don't worry."
Laura widened her eyes in surprise when she heard that.
"WHAT?"
Voltrania spoke firmly.
"Anyway, whatever you see here, never leak it to anyone, they are not ready to know the truth."
Laura nodded quickly.
"I will not tell anyone about this Miss, just pretend I was never here."
Cassandra smiled and moved a little to make some space.
"Come join us."
Laura was hesitant at first, but when she saw them enjoying their bath, she decided to join them too. Laura took off her clothes and folded them to put them next to the three of them, she slowly went down into the blood-red pool, she sat next to Lisa while soaking.
Laura glanced at Voltrania and asked again. "Miss, can you tell me about Carmine Ecarlate? Is it true that this tree was brought by someone named Egeria?"
Voltrania sighed, Laura was worthy enough to know the truth, she answered while relaxing her body in the water.
"It is true that this tree was brought by a woman named Egeria, but I will tell this to our troops including you someday, because today I have a lot on my mind."
Laura nodded slowly, she knew when she saw her face, she was tired and didn't want to talk about it for now. When she was relaxing her mind and body, she felt something enter her body, it was the Crimson energy from Carmine Ecarlate, it turned out that she had received a blessing from the tree just like the three of them.