"What happened? What happened? Where did it explode?"
Fei Yang rushed outside, and Leng quickly followed him.
When they got outside, they saw that Zachary was already there. The small courtyard, which had been lush and green earlier, was now in disarray, as if it had gone through a violent storm.
The most important thing was that Danielle was missing.
No matter how Zachary tried to sense it, he couldn't feel Danielle's presence.
Could something have happened?
He suddenly appeared in front of Jin Shan and punched him.
"Tell me, was it you people from the Jin family again?"
Jin Shan was stunned by the punch. He was just a chef with a keen sense of smell.
Although he usually trained, his combat ability was clearly not on par with Zachary's. He was knocked back several meters and only stopped when he hit the wall. Zachary, anxious, was about to strike again, but fortunately, Leng arrived in time.
"Fei Yang, why are you still standing there? Stop him."
Leng helped Jin Shan up and asked, "Jin Shan, are you okay?"
Jin Shan clutched his chest and coughed twice, a rare sign of worry on his usually calm face.
"I'm fine, but what's going on outside?"
Leng nodded and cast a healing spell on him before speaking.
"Danielle is missing."
Zachary stood beside them, his eyes burning with anxiety as he tried to shake off Fei Yang's grip.
"Stop holding me back."
Leng frowned and turned to him, "Zachary, calm down. When Danielle went missing, Jin Shan was still in the kitchen."
"If it wasn't him, who else could it be?"
Zachary's eyes turned red with worry.
Jin Shan pushed Leng aside and managed to stand up. He looked at Zachary seriously.
"I don't know what happened, but I'll look into it."
He immediately started dialing with his wristband, but after a while, he couldn't find any leads.
At this point, Zachary realized that this might not be connected to Jin Shan after all. His face turned cold, and without saying anything, he ran outside.
Fei Yang, unsure of what to do, asked, "Leng, what should we do?"
Just then, two small heads peeked out from upstairs. Rain looked confused as he stared at the people below.
"Aunt Leng, where are my mom and dad?"
Leng forced a smile, "Your mom and dad went to buy groceries. You two stay here and play, okay?"
She gave Fei Yang a meaningful glance. "Watch them closely and don't let anything slip, understand?"
Fei Yang nodded firmly, "Don't worry, Leng, I'll make sure nothing happens."
While they were talking, Jin Shan had finished putting on his jacket. His face was still pale.
"I'll keep investigating and contact you if I find anything about Danielle."
He added Leng to his contact list before leaving.
Leng nodded, trusting her instincts. She felt that this incident really had nothing to do with Jin Shan.
Now that Zachary was gone, it was up to her to handle everything that followed.
Meanwhile, the Duo Family was in chaos. Danielle, on the other hand, was staring at the transformed space in shock.
"What's going on here?"
The tomatoes and other plants she had grown were now buried underground, leaving only two small green saplings standing tall in the soil.
The area around the saplings was now dark, almost black, and a board appeared in the air.
"Level 1 plants have been harvested. You have been rewarded with ten seeds. Would you like to plant them now?"
Danielle blinked in surprise. "There's a reward?"
"Sure, plant them."
Ten seeds shot out from the air and planted themselves in the soil. Not long after, green shoots began sprouting from the dark earth.
Danielle, who had graduated from an agricultural university, could tell right away that these were good quality seedlings.
She gasped when she saw eggplant, potato sprouts, and even cucumber sprouts—these were vegetables that had never been seen before in the Elysium Wasteland.
Now, she was full of curiosity about her space.
Danielle mumbled to herself, "What exactly is this thing?"
Before she could finish speaking, she suddenly felt as if her body was being pulled hard and lifted into the sky.
The speed was so fast that the surrounding space looked twisted.
In the next second, Danielle found herself dizzy and standing in a strange little courtyard.
In the courtyard, there were two very large fruit trees, and beneath them were lush plants and wild grass.
As Danielle looked at the two fruit trees with yellowing leaves, she suddenly heard them crying.
Their cries were sad, but also had a hint of joy.
Danielle's heart was filled with strange emotions—mixed feelings of sorrow and happiness.
She walked over and gently touched the two fruit trees, which were leaning closely against each other.
"You know me, don't you?" she asked.
The leaves started to move even though there was no wind, and dry yellow leaves fell to the ground.
"Are you sick?"
Danielle quickly noticed something unusual about the trees and was about to check them carefully.
Then a loud, angry voice rang out, "Savior girl, hurry! The mother tree is reacting!"
Danielle turned around and saw Dora rushing toward her, face flushed with urgency.
Behind her were eight strange people wearing hooded cloaks.
Were they the representatives from the eight great families?
As Dora and the others came closer, Danielle awkwardly raised her hand.
"Hi, um, actually I…"
Before she could finish, she was shocked.
Dora passed right through her body.
Danielle looked down at herself—she still looked the same, not split in half or anything.
What… was going on?
She was completely confused and looked at the other eight people.
Only one of them raised their head and looked in her direction with a puzzled expression.
But it seemed like they didn't really see her, and they just followed Dora with a confused look.
Danielle was startled. Even though the person's face under the hood flashed by for only a second, it was horrifying—like a walking skeleton.
While she was panicking, another anxious voice called out.
"Dora, didn't you say the mother tree was getting better? Why are so many leaves falling today?"
Danielle forced herself to stay calm and walked to Dora's side.
Dora looked completely helpless. She walked around the mother tree several times, so anxious that she was almost crying.
"That's impossible. I already gave them the nutrient solution. They should be getting better."
Danielle looked at the tree roots. She sensed a strange, unpleasant energy coming from underground.
But none of the others seemed to notice it. Danielle frowned and tried to slap Dora to warn her.
For some reason, she didn't want anything bad to happen to these trees.
But her hand went right through Dora's body.
Danielle became even more anxious. "Dora, it's not about nutrients—it's something wrong with the roots!"
"Can you hear me?"
She kept shouting, but Dora didn't hear her and kept panicking around the tree.
Danielle was so frustrated she felt like her chest was going to explode.
Suddenly, she felt that same strong pulling force again. Her vision blurred.
And then—everything disappeared.