"Delicious! It's been so long since I've eaten anything this good!"
Zhong Chen and the others quietly watched Kanazawa wolf down a croissant.
"Burp! Phew…"
As Kanazawa let out a satisfied burp, signaling the end of his meal, the group could finally begin to communicate.
"How was it? Are you full?"
Zhong Chen asked Kanazawa with a slight smile.
In the original story, Kanazawa gave his hand-drawn map and his cherished camera to Xiao Qian and Yuri.
So, Zhong Chen didn't mind taking him along too.
After all, someone who could be kind to two children in a post-apocalyptic environment couldn't be considered a bad person.
"Um, may I ask who you are? How did you fly over here?"
Because Zhong Chen had immediately given him a croissant upon meeting, Kanazawa hadn't had a chance to ask.
"I am…"
"Kami-sama!"
Before Zhong Chen could speak, Yuri, who was beside him, shouted loudly.
"God?"
As an adult, Kanazawa wasn't as naive as the two children, believing whatever he was told.
Although they had flown in, Kanazawa was more inclined to believe they might have awakened some kind of superpower, as that's how it was written in post-apocalyptic novels.
"Hehe, the truth is…"
As Zhong Chen recounted the familiar story, Kanazawa finally understood what kind of important figures were before him.
"So that's it. You came to this world for these two children!"
Hearing Kanazawa's words, Zhong Chen nodded slightly, indicating he was correct.
"Um… I…"
Zhong Chen directly interrupted Kanazawa as soon as he started to speak:
"No need to say more. I can take you with us too. How you live afterward is up to you!"
Hearing Zhong Chen agree to take him along.
Kanazawa, who had been on the brink of despair, suddenly burst into tears of excitement and bowed 90 degrees to Zhong Chen in gratitude:
"Thank you so much. Your kindness is immeasurable. If you ever truly need me in the future, I will gladly lay down my life!"
Thinking of living in a peaceful and prosperous world in the future, he felt his entire body tremble uncontrollably.
Those who haven't experienced despair cannot truly understand the feelings of someone who has genuinely found hope.
"Alright, alright, we still need to find someone! No time for your thanks right now!"
"Let's go!"
With that, the familiar golden shield reappeared, the only difference being that this time there was one more person.
Buzz… Ishii, wearing a welding mask and a white lab coat, intently focused on the parts in her hand.
This was one of the most crucial components for assembling her plane; there could be no mistakes.
"Phew! Finally finished. It seems the time to fly away from here is getting closer!"
Ishii's plan was to assemble a propeller plane and fly to other cities to see if she could find human settlements there.
After all, she was skeptical about the possibility of any other survivors in this city.
In the original story, with the help of Xiao Qian and Yuri, she successfully assembled the plane, but it malfunctioned shortly after taking off.
She could only parachute to safety, but as her parachute descended, her eyes gradually lost their light.
From the words of the civilization cleaners that Xiao Qian and Yuri later encountered, it was learned that apart from the very top layer, only Xiao Qian and Yuri remained in the entire city.
This also indirectly revealed the fate of Kanazawa and Ishii; both likely committed suicide out of despair.
"I don't think it matters even if you assemble a fighter jet; there are no other survivors in other cities!"
Ishii, who was focused on the parts, suddenly heard a voice and was startled:
"Ah ah ah ah!"
Zhong Chen, annoyed by Ishii's scream, rubbed his ear and spoke, speechless:
"Hey, hey! Calm down! There are living people here!"
"Huh!!!"
Ishii turned around and saw Zhong Chen and the others, and she couldn't help but freeze.
As for why she froze, she simply didn't know what to say at the moment.
Because there were five people in front of her, five living, breathing people.
This filled her, who had believed there were no survivors in the entire city, with a deep sense of joy from the bottom of her heart.
"People… people… there are so many…Woo woo woo!"
"Ah ah ah ah!"
"I… I…Woo woo woo… I'm just… too excited… I can't…Woo woo"
Watching Ishii gradually go from shedding a few tears to sobbing uncontrollably, Kanazawa truly understood her feelings.
He, too, had been extremely emotional when he first met Zhong Chen and the other three.
"Sigh!"
Looking at Ishii, who was crouched on the ground, covering her face and weeping, Zhong Chen silently sighed.
One could only say that war was destructive; a perfectly good world had been reduced to this state because of it.
He suddenly realized that his mundane life in his previous world might already be an unattainable dream for those in war-torn countries.
Zhong Chen quietly walked up to Ishii, squatted down, and pulled a tissue from his pocket, handing it to her.
"Wipe your face. Say whatever you need to after you've calmed down!"
Hearing Zhong Chen's words, Ishii, her face covered in tears, nodded slightly and tremblingly took the offered tissue.
"Phew! Phew!"
"Thank you, I'm much better!"
Ishii, having calmed down, stood up and thanked Zhong Chen.
"Hehe! No need to thank me!"
"By the way, I haven't asked your names yet!"
"My name is Zhong Chen. This is Sakuya… Yuri…"
"We came specifically to find you, mainly because… never mind. Kanazawa, you explain it to her. I think I've explained enough!"
Zhong Chen had originally intended to explain it himself, but he suddenly realized that he seemed to have to constantly explain things in every world he visited.
[Damn it, System, can you give me something good to solve this kind of problem? I can't just directly invade their minds with divine sense, can I?]
[Ding, Host, the System has said that all rewards are completely random!]
[Ah, right, right, right! You're absolutely right. So, when will you give it to me?]
[…Tomor… Tomorrow, perhaps!]
[Why didn't you just say so earlier!]
[….]
While Zhong Chen was communicating with the System, Kanazawa also explained Zhong Chen's identity and purpose for being there to Ishii.
"He's an important figure from another world! Does that mean we can return to normal society?"
Hearing Ishii's question, Kanazawa also nodded vigorously, excitedly.
"That's wonderful!!! Truly wonderful!!!"
"This wretched world… can just go to hell!!"
Ishii became incoherently excited after receiving an affirmative answer.
"It seems you've finished talking. Then let's go to the final destination, and then we'll leave this world!"
"Okay * 4"
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh… "Eh eh eh! No need to fly? Is this the legendary teleportation?"
"Sugoi (So amazing)!"
Not wanting to waste time, Zhong Chen directly activated teleportation, taking the group directly to the exit of the uppermost layer.
"Is this the uppermost layer? So it's also…"
Everyone looked at the vast expanse of white before them and couldn't help but fall into a moment of silence.
"Xiao Qian! There's no Eden!"
"Yes, Yuri, there's no Eden!"
"But we don't need Eden anymore, do we?"
"Mhm mhm! Xiao Qian, you're right, we'll have a new home soon!"
At this moment, Zhong Chen took out the camera he had used in the Pirate World and aimed it at Xiao Qian and the other three.
Click… Zhong Chen looked at the world's only four survivors in the camera, a heartfelt smile on his face.
[Right, there seem to be quite a few world cleaners in this world, but I don't think they're needed anymore, so… hehehe…]
[Hahahaha… Hehehehehe… Let this immortal clean you up instead!]
[Wouldn't you say so, my dear!]
Zhong Chen looked at the miniature human emperor banner that suddenly appeared in his hand, a meaningful smile on his face…