Her ability was limited against aliens, but ’soft’ human beings were easy for her to deal with.

She stole her captor’s dagger and threw the blade straight at the man who had been struggling to get up.

Squelch!

"AHHH!" he screamed, screeching at the pain of the dagger embedding into his flesh.

Was the dagger even that sharp? It went through his bones, and all one could see was the hilt!

In another instant, Naia grabbed another man and punched his arm. Specifically, the joints.

Crack!

As for Naia’s captor, his bones had been broken silently while they were distracted by the children’s entrance. Naia also took care of the rest rather quickly, and this all happened in less than a minute.

She dragged them to one spot so they were easier to see, kicking them all repeatedly for good measure. Each time she kicked, one could hear the sound of something being squeezed or crushed.

She looked at Hans, who was definitely on the verge of peeing himself. However, despite the fear, he and the others were gaping at her with wide sparkling eyes.

"You know where the rope is, right? Tie them up for me."

"E-Eh? M-M-Me?"

"You want the ladies and children to do it?"

Hans flinched and nodded after a pause, shooting up from his pitiful pose and walking with a little more purpose. Little Yaya and Riri, who fancied themselves as ’big men’, also came with him.

The next fifteen minutes, the three boneless burglars were lined up, tied up in awkward angles with a few broken bones.

Everyone stared at Naia in admiration, no longer having fear for the men who had almost taken their lives.

Naia checked on everyone and saw that while a bit pale, everyone was in good spirits.

She then looked at the three kids. "What are you guys doing here in the first place?" she asked. It was already past midnight.

Grandma answered for them. "Their house is the nearest one here, though it’s still far."

As for why Naia had never seen her granduncle, it was because he lost his vision a while back. Now, he made a living doing handicrafts he could create within his home, and the villagers would sell them in the town.

According to Grandma, the crafts were quite good and would almost always be sold out within the day.

The kids nodded, with Yaya giving her the details. For a while, only his milky voice was heard in the room. "Toto kept barking and trying to get out. So noisy, we woke up, followed, and then we heard brother Hans’ scream."

This was followed by a little yawn, making people’s hearts soften.

Naia’s itchy hands couldn’t help but pat their little heads. "Well, thank you, you saved us," she said. "You were very brave children."

"Really?!"

This was especially meaningful coming from the cool sister!

"Uh-huh," she giggled. "But...don’t do it again," she said. "When you encounter enemies stronger than you, you run, okay?

"Only while alive can you do more things, including saving more people."

She needed to tell them the only time they should put themselves at risk was when they were sure they had a chance, and if it was worth it at all.

She looked at Grandma. "Grandma...please bring them home," she said. "And do accompany them until they fall asleep; I’m sure this event will trigger some bad dreams."

Only when the kids, the dog, and the old woman left did Naia shift her attention back to the thieves.

The upcoming sight here wouldn’t be good for their little heads.

These three thieves would have to suffer for this attempt to gain knowledge.

Naia took out the fabric on one of the men’s mouths, throwing it to the side in disgust. "So, who sent you here?"

Naia already had an idea about their purpose, but she had to be certain about the culprit. After all, it could be that someone just received information from Aunt Michi and made moves on their own.

Aunt Michi seemed like a selfish bitch but, for her grandmother’s sake, Naia wanted to give them the benefit of the doubt.

Sadly, this benefit of the doubt was bound to be disappointed.

Aunt was a bit careful and used burner phones with voice mufflers when she put the hit. However, the instructions of what to look for, their sleeping schedule, the information about the neighbors, and so on pointed to someone who knew them well.

Naia couldn’t help but look at her grandmother, who was the model of silent resilience even while in pain. It was heartbreaking.

The worst was that there was no direct evidence. None of what they gathered could be usable in court against Michi.

Speaking of this, she got this information by torturing them a bit, pressing their wounds, and so on. She worried her violence was off-putting, but she looked at the twins who were staring at her as if she were some kind of god.

"WOW."

"Amazing..."

"Where did you learn all that, cousin?" Han asked. He remembered the bullying incident, so he knew this cousin wasn’t weak. But easily taking down three grown men was something Hans and Linlin wouldn’t be able to do even if they combined their forces.

At some point, Grandma returned from putting the kids to bed, and she looked at Naia as she continued to milk the men for information.

She was a bit worried that Grandma would find her terrifying, but when she met her eyes, Naia only saw love.

"I’m so sorry, child," the old woman said out-of-nowhere, embracing the puzzled girl.

"Grandma?"

"To grow so strong...how much did you go through?"

When people were weathered by the world, they would either become extremely weakened and meek, or so strong that even their hearts could get hardened.

Grandma’s eyes heated up whenever she imagined the life the girl went through. Naia felt her concern and embraced her back.

Naia felt a mix of emotions, but her heart was warm.

In her past life, she lost her parents early, was experimented on after a few years, and had to go through endless fights for survival after that.

However, she was fortunate enough that she had her parents with her through her formative years.

When they left her, she had already formed her personality and had a lot of memories with them to keep her going.

One of the things they taught her was to keep her optimism.

There was no need to make oneself suffer even more, because there was no point to it. The world was already as it was and it would not return to the peaceful times, so they might as well live through it without a heavy heart.

More importantly, going through hard times made the good moments—even the small ones—that much better.

There were times they could only eat one nutrient solution per day, her parents taught her that at least she’d be lighter on her feet. The insects might also find all of them unappetizing because they were so thin.

Still, at night, she would cry herself to sleep while missing them. She thought that she’d never feel that kind of familial love again.

Now, she was once again enveloped in warmth and unconditional love.

For the first time after arriving to this place, she finally felt like she wasn’t alone.

"I am happy, grandma, no matter what I went through," she said. "I’m especially happy that I have family with me this time."