“Hehe…
Could you give me another piece?” Toriko rubbed his hands together.
The glutton clearly had not eaten to his satisfaction and was now eyeing the portions Saku Hayashi and Komatsu had deliberately set aside.
“Who was it that said he would eat less if Tom managed to fish up the Galala Gator?” Saku Hayashi asked with a faint smile.
Toriko awkwardly scratched his head.
Who could have imagined that Tom possessed such outrageously illogical strength?
Apparently, one could not judge a cat by its fur.
“Mr.
Toriko, don’t look at me,” Komatsu said, enduring the pressure of Toriko’s stare.
“I need to take this portion back as proof that I completed my assignment.” If Komatsu returned empty-handed, his superiors probably would not blame him because Toriko had accompanied him.
However, Komatsu himself would feel embarrassed.
“Fine.” Toriko sighed.
Seeing their firm attitudes, he could only give up.
It was not as though he desperately needed that small amount of meat.
He was simply craving more.
Komatsu helplessly looked toward Saku Hayashi.
The gaze Saku Hayashi returned seemed to say: You have a long road ahead of you.
Get used to it.
…
[Elysia]: “Kevin, open the door!
I’ve brought visitors from the Golden Courtyard to deliver some warmth—no, wait.
We’re here to look around.” [Rocks]: “I’m also interested in other worlds.
Count me in.” [Natsuki Minamiya]: “The chat group says I can temporarily leave my world.
I wouldn’t mind taking a trip.” Natsuki’s circumstances were somewhat unusual because her real body remained inside another dimension.
However, she could still leave her world without causing any problems.
[Saku Hayashi (Group Leader)]: “There aren’t many members in the group yet, but we can still meet in person.
Let’s gather in Kevin’s world.” [Kevin]: “Wait a moment.
I’ll return to reality first.” Kevin left coordinates behind inside the bubble universe before activating the One-Way Teleportation Talisman.
With those coordinates, finding this location again would be easy.
There was practically nothing inside the Sea of Quanta.
It was not a suitable place for everyone’s first gathering.
…
At World Serpent’s headquarters, Gray Serpent stared at Kevin, who had suddenly appeared upon the throne.
Its processor nearly stopped functioning.
That was unquestionably its revered Sire.
However, Gray Serpent had not yet obtained even a single Herrscher Core.
How had Kevin escaped the Sea of Quanta by himself?
“What’s wrong, Gray Serpent?” Kevin calmly looked down at Gray Serpent, his blue eyes devoid of either joy or sorrow.
“Congratulations on your return from the Sea of Quanta, Sire,” Gray Serpent said respectfully.
“How should we proceed with our plans?” Strictly speaking, all thirteen Flame-Chasers could be regarded as revered leaders of World Serpent.
However, in terms of priority, Mobius undoubtedly stood first, while Kevin came afterward.
World Serpent had technically been founded by Mobius.
Unfortunately, few Flame-Chasers remained, and Mobius had disappeared long ago.
“Proceed as normal.” After speaking indifferently, Kevin dismissed Gray Serpent and told it to continue its work.
Kevin was soon alone inside the vast, empty hall.
[Kevin…
How did you escape the Sea of Quanta?] Su’s voice reached him through the Cosmic Juggernaut.
At this point, Su had not yet begun his game against that unknown existence.
He had suddenly sensed Kevin’s weakened yet still formidable presence appear in reality and could not understand what had happened.
Kevin should not have been able to return at this time.
“Su…” Hearing the voice of his closest friend, a trace of nostalgia appeared on Kevin’s face.
He wondered how Hua was doing.
“I will not interfere with reality for the time being.” After hearing those words, Su asked no further questions.
The Kevin he knew was not someone who would lie.
Su could not doubt his closest friend again as he had during their previous confrontation.
Kevin accepted the group members’ requests to cross into his world.
Saku Hayashi was the first to emerge.
He examined Kevin for a moment.
This man truly felt freezing.
No wonder Pardo claimed that standing beside Kevin during summer removed any need for air-conditioning.
Although Kevin could now control his body temperature, his aura alone still gave others an icy sensation.
“Wahahaha!
I really have entered another world!” Rocks looked around curiously.
The familiar scent of the sea that permeated almost everything in his world was completely absent.
“Tsk.
Another gloomy place.” Natsuki examined their surroundings and found them strangely familiar.
Her real body remained inside the Prison Barrier, which possessed an equally sinister atmosphere.
“Natsuki-chan, you really are adorable in person.
You look like a little porcelain doll,” Saku Hayashi teased with a smile.
“I don’t need you to tell me that.” Natsuki rolled her eyes.
She was extremely confident in her appearance.
“Hi♪ Kevin of this world, I brought quite a few people with me.
You don’t mind, do you?” Elysia had brought every resident of the Golden Courtyard.
They were all curious about their counterparts in another world.
They had initially assumed Elysia was joking, never expecting that she could actually bring them here.
Chat group members were forbidden from revealing the group’s existence, but they were allowed to bring other people into different worlds.
Of course, no group member would reveal something so unbelievable to anyone they did not trust completely.
“It doesn’t matter,” Kevin replied.
Kevin looked at the twelve people standing beside Elysia and briefly fell into a daze.
None possessed the physical characteristics of Fusion Warriors, but their familiar faces filled him with nostalgia.
Kevin, the office worker.
Fu Hua, the student.
Elysia, the livestreamer…
The peaceful lives these people possessed were precisely what those who had fought against the Honkai had always desired but could never obtain.
“Boss Kevin, why do I feel like the Kevin sitting up there has much more presence than you?” Pardo whispered.
The Golden Courtyard’s Kevin fell silent.
“…” Pardo was not wrong, but could she at least preserve some of his dignity?
They were both Kevin, so why did the other one look so intimidating and cool?
He did not know that his peaceful life was precisely what the other Kevin envied.
“You’re as cold as a block of ice.” Mobius looked up at the Kevin of this world, a meaningful curve appearing on her lips.
Her expression seemed to contain a trace of pity.
“You live like a walking corpse—a puppet that only executes the programs written into it.
Do you still possess a self?” Kevin silently stared at Mobius.
She was considerably different from the Mobius he knew.
That made sense.
The Elysia in the chat group came from an ordinary, peaceful world.
Everyone there pursued different things, so their personalities could not be identical.
“Kevin, can you take us into the Elysian Realm?” Elysia asked, changing the subject before the situation became too awkward.
The Golden Courtyard’s Kevin felt the corner of his mouth twitch.
He knew Elysia was addressing the other Kevin, but he still instinctively wanted to respond.
Kevin nodded and led everyone through a dim corridor into the Elysian Realm.
“Hm?
Kevin♪” The moment Kevin entered, a surprised voice rang out.
Elysia of the Elysian Realm appeared before them.
The only noticeable differences between the two Elysias were their ears and clothing.
Elysia examined Kevin with great interest.
It had been many years since she last met the real Kevin.
She had believed she would never have another opportunity to see him.
“Hi♪ It’s lovely to meet the version of me from this world.” The Golden Courtyard’s Elysia greeted her counterpart enthusiastically.
She showed no shyness whatsoever, and her natural social-butterfly instincts immediately erupted.
“You are…” The Elysian Realm’s Elysia stared at her in delight.
This other version of herself was just as adorable.
What a wonderful surprise!
She then noticed the others, and astonishment appeared on her face.
How interesting.
There were so many familiar faces♪ “Kevin, I never expected you to bring such an enormous surprise after staying away from the Elysian Realm for so long♪” she said with a bright smile.
Kevin nodded.
As long as Elysia was happy, that was enough.
The First Herrscher was supposedly somewhere in the real world.
Should Kevin capture him and bring him here?
No.
That Herrscher appeared to be male.
If Kevin brought Elysia a female Herrscher instead, she would probably be much happier.
“So many people have arrived!
I should call everyone else over.” The Elysian Realm’s Elysia pulled out a small pink megaphone and happily skipped away.
“I think she’s fatter than you,” Mobius remarked.
“How could you say that about a girl, Mobius?” Dark lines seemed to descend across the Golden Courtyard’s Elysia’s face.
That was a perfect figure!
It was called being curvaceous, not being fat.
“Still, both versions of you are equally irritating,” Mobius added with a quiet snort.
She had never been compatible with people who possessed Elysia’s personality.
“As expected, Mobius is stubborn in every world,” Saku Hayashi teased.
“Even if Earth exploded, her stubborn mouth would survive and continue repeating, ‘Elysia, you’ve gained weight again.'” “Who are you calling stubborn?
I refuse to accept that.” Mobius glared at Saku Hayashi.
“You can omit the first part, but the final sentence was entirely correct.” She strongly agreed with the statement that Elysia had gained weight again.
Elysia clenched her fist.
She was beginning to feel a powerful urge to punch someone.