— — — — — —
The world around was a vast, endless white.
In this blank space, seven figures—one man and six women—appeared almost simultaneously.
"So this is the shared space?" Chika Fujiwara stepped in and instantly activated her Tenseigan-like 360-degree perception, her senses spreading out in every direction until she reached her absolute limit. But… there was nothing. No buildings, no people—just emptiness.
Which made sense, really.
The group system's [Shared Space] page had already explained: while the area was theoretically infinite, how much of it was actually usable depended entirely on how much EE (Energy Equivalent) the members were willing to invest.
At the start, the shared space was nothing more than its namesake—a wide, empty space.If members wanted to do anything with it, they'd either have to spend group points to modify it or bring materials from their own worlds to decorate it manually.
"I'll go first," Merlin said, snapping her fingers.
Soft pink petals began to fall around her, and from where she stood, a bed of vibrant flowers bloomed outward in all directions. Behind her, a towering pyramidal structure rose elegantly from the ground.
It was… beautiful. But only for a moment.
A few seconds later, she shook her head and waved her hand. Everything—flowers, tower, petals—vanished like mist.
"Yeah, illusion magic alone won't cut it," Merlin said calmly. "Unless I directly deceive reality and turn illusions into truth, the moment I leave this space, these illusions will just fade away."
That was the conclusion she came to after her brief test.
"So, basically," she continued, "if we're being practical, it's better to bring real stuff from our own worlds rather than waste points or magic making illusions?"
Selena picked up from there. She clearly preferred spending 'cash' over depleting precious points—it just felt less painful.
"I'll give it a shot too," said Veyron.
Under the curious gaze of the others, he took off the necklace around his neck and a plain-looking bracelet from his wrist. Then, with a casual flick, he tossed them both into the air.
Fwoosh—
A galaxy, stretching hundreds of thousands of light-years in diameter, unfolded beneath their feet like a cosmic rug.
"Wait… is this another illusion?" Fubuki's breath caught in her throat. "Or is it that thing Miss Merlin mentioned—illusion made real?"
"Neither," Veyron replied, shaking his head. "I grabbed this star system while I was working on that 'world fusion' mission. Originally, I wanted to use the stars to strengthen myself…"
But once he actually got them, he realized that for his [Photosynthesis (Gold)] skill, regular starlight wasn't enough—what he really needed was the sunlight itself. Real, proper, solar light.
Still, since the necklace had already been crafted, there wasn't much point in undoing it. So he kept it as a kind of accessory.
As for the bracelet he tossed out alongside the star necklace? That was made from the leftover celestial bodies—basically everything that wasn't a star in that system.
Fubuki: "..."
Chika, Hancock, Gwen, Selena: (Their eyes gleamed.)
They silently sent thoughts to Veyron, all asking the same thing—Could they… maybe have a taste of his so-called Almighty Serum? Just to see if it had changed from the last time?
Merlin the succubus, eyes sparkling llike a predator spotting prey: (☆ω☆)
Merlin sent a private telepathic message to Veyron, practically licking her lips as she asked if she could get a taste. After all, now that this guy could handcraft galaxies like they were toys, she had to know—did he taste different than before?
"Let me finish what I'm doing first," Veyron replied with a dry chuckle, also via telepathy, while accepting Merlin's invitation.
Then, with a casual wave of his Ki, he gathered the drifting particles within the galaxy and shaped them into a floating city—right above the black hole at the galactic center, directly beneath their feet. Around that city, he conjured a series of massive floating islands, each one stretching millions of kilometers across.
"This city sits at the center of the entire galaxy," he began explaining, "and the palace we're in now is located at the center of that city."
Veyron continued, "Here's the plan: this palace will serve as a central meeting point for the seven of us and anyone else who joins the group later."
"The city outside can act as a public hub for guests or outsiders we might bring in, while the floating islands will be private spaces, one for each of us…"
"As for the layout of the palace, city, and islands, I just used a basic template. If any of you have ideas or want to customize your own island, just use this."
He pointed upward, and a glowing white orb shot out from his fingertip, hovering high above the floating city.
"I've embedded a spatial-energy converter inside the orb—it basically works like a power furnace, converting space itself into energy. There's also a backup inside the black hole under our feet, so you won't need to worry about things like blackouts or energy failures."
"..." ×6
So basically, he just handed them each a personal paradise bigger than Earth's entire surface?
Following Veyron's instructions, everyone used a projection of their mental power to connect with the orb.
Once their identities were verified and they got a quick rundown on the interface—like how to teleport from the main city to their respective floating islands—they all got busy customizing their personal domains with excitement and creativity.
---
One day later
In Merlin's floating island, which she named: 'Utopia That Beckons Beyond.'
Inside a tall tower standing proudly at the center of her island, Veyron found himself blinking at Merlin.
Her figure looked exactly the same as usual—graceful curves, a slim waist, long shapely legs—but the problem was her size. She was about half a meter tall.
Veyron rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "…Still not even 80 centimeters tall, huh? Don't tell me I haven't even reached the 'passing grade' for affection points yet?"
Back in the Fate/Grand Order world, the two of them had made a deal during the first real battle: whenever they were alone together, Merlin would adjust her physical size based on her current level of affection for him.
Her standard height, without heels, was 156cm.
If the "passing score" was 50%, that meant she should be about 78cm tall.
But after a full day and night… she hadn't even broken 80cm.
And yeah—he and Merlin are already that close. I mean, who could possibly lie to Lady Avalon, a succubus, about something like the 'Almighty Serum' and get away with it?
Merlin smiled sweetly. "Let's be real here, Veyron—based on game logic, you're lucky my affection didn't drop. You always toss me into little Hancock's world for a month or two without even checking in. Honestly, it's a miracle I didn't block you."
"…And this?" Veyron looked pointedly at her slightly rounded belly.
"...Who told you that was a sign?!" Merlin shot him an annoyed glare, grinding her teeth as she looked away.
"Alright, alright, relax," Veyron said, pulling the chew stick out of her mouth and standing up. "It's been a full day. The others have probably finished their setups by now. Let's head back to the main city and check if there's anything we need to tweak in the shared space…"
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