In the blink of an eye, one month had already passed.
Everything was proceeding according to plan in Uzushiogakure. The village's economy was booming with new trade agreements. The diplomatic delegations were slowly making progress. The captured ninja had all been ransomed back to their villages for enormous sums that would fund the clan's expansion for years.
And most importantly, Elric's mother had perfected the artificial chakra pathway seal some time ago—except "perfected" was actually an understatement for what she'd accomplished.
She'd gone beyond perfection into something entirely new.
After carefully observing Elric's karma marking, she had somehow managed to develop a degraded version of chakra absorption and incorporate it into the seal array.
It was beyond Elric's wildest imagination. He'd asked for a refined version of the research team's work. Instead, his mother had essentially created a seal that could turn ordinary people into chakra vampires, able to absorb and utilize energy from their surroundings.
Not that he was complaining. This made the seal even more valuable for the other versions of himself.
And today was the day he'd promised to hand over the completed sealing technique to his counterparts in the White Space.
Elric closed his eyes, focused his consciousness on that metaphysical realm between dimensions, and felt reality shift around him.
.....
The White Space
When Elric opened his eyes in the pure white expanse, he immediately froze.
A large skeleton sat waiting in the emptiness—easily eight feet tall even while seated, its bones gleaming white like polished ivory. Two points of burning blue fire occupied its eye sockets, turning to fix on him with intelligent awareness.
If Elric hadn't felt the somewhat familiar spiritual resonance emanating from the skeletal figure, if he hadn't known intellectually that nothing other than versions of himself could enter the White Space, he might have instinctively attacked on sight.
Because seeing a massive undead entity waiting for you was objectively terrifying.
"You know, I've been waiting here alone for almost four hours," the skeleton spoke, its voice impossibly deep, resonating from the bones themselves rather than any vocal cords. "Four. Hours. Do you have any idea how boring this place is when you're by yourself?"
Hearing that somewhat unfamiliar but distinctive complaining tone, recognition finally clicked in Elric's mind.
"Holy shit, you actually succeeded!" Elric's eyes widened with genuine excitement and surprise. "The Yggdrasil transfer actually worked!"
"Of course it worked," Overlord Elric—now Momonga, his chosen name in that world—replied with what might have been a smile if skeletons could smile. "Did you think I'd fail something this important?"
"So nothing unusual happened?" Naruto Elric asked, his analytical mind immediately searching for potential problems or complications. "The transition went smoothly? No unexpected side effects?"
"Yeah, everything went according to the plot I remembered from the original timeline," Momonga confirmed, gesturing with one skeletal hand. The movement was oddly graceful despite the inhuman form. "After the server closed at midnight, I stayed behind instead of logging out. And then... well, I was transported. Body, mind, soul—everything. Without any complications or unexpected hitches."
He paused, then added with dry humor, "Though being literally transformed into an undead overlord was somewhat unexpected on a visceral level, even if I knew it was coming intellectually. The lack of a beating heart takes some getting used to."
Naruto Elric looked at the skeletal form with barely concealed envy, his expression openly covetous.
Transporting into a new world with your personal castle, he thought with bitter jealousy. Obedient subordinates who will follow your every command without question. An entire treasure vault filled with legendary items. And that includes dozens of beautiful maids programmed to adore you. Plus access to any luxury imaginable, and gaining unimaginable power without doing literally anything to earn it.
His mind ran through the list of benefits like counting sheep, except each one made him more envious.
Now that I think about it, Naruto Elric reconsidered slightly, the last part—gaining power without effort—also happened to him. So I really can't complain about that specifically.
But the castle, the subordinates, the instant respect and authority, the beautiful NPCs...
That part is genuinely enviable.
If given any chance, he would definitely be happy to trade places with this lucky bastard. No hesitation whatsoever.
But whatever, Naruto Elric thought, forcefully suppressing his jealousy. Envy is pointless. This guy is still technically me, just in a different universe. His success is my success in a weird, roundabout way.
He decided to push down the green-eyed monster and focus on the practical implications.
While they were talking, two points of light suddenly flared into existence in the White Space, signaling new arrivals.
"Oh, look at that! Look what we have here!" Even before the light completely disappeared, One Piece Elric's excited voice rang out across the empty space.
Without bothering to wait for the teleportation to complete, without any sense of personal dignity or restraint, he directly launched himself toward Momonga's skeletal form with arms outstretched.
"FINALLY! Someone taller than me to hug—"
His intended target suddenly teleported using a casual spatial manipulation technique, leaving only empty space where Momonga had been sitting a microsecond earlier.
One Piece Elric landed directly on his face without any suspense, his momentum carrying him forward into a completely undignified faceplant.
"Cough." Momonga's skeletal hand came up to his face in an approximation of covering his mouth politely. "Please respect yourself. Don't hug random men you just meet. I have standards."
"You bastard!" One Piece Elric's face was red with embarrassment and fury as he pushed himself up. "Get back here! I'll break your dog skull today!"
"It's not a dog skull, it's an overlord lich's skull. There's a distinction."
"I DON'T CARE WHAT KIND OF SKULL IT IS!"
"Okay, okay, calm down everyone." Marvel Elric, who had arrived during the commotion, immediately stepped in as the peacemaker. "We're all adults here. Mostly. Let's act like it."
He walked directly up to Momonga and extended his hand for a high-five, which the skeleton reciprocated with a satisfying crack of bone on flesh.
"Congratulations on the successful transfer," Marvel Elric said warmly. "And welcome to the multidimensional club of overpowered Elrics."
"Thanks. It's good to finally meet in person."
After some more bickering and joking—mostly One Piece Elric complaining about the failed hug while Momonga continued to teleport away from him—the four of them finally sat down in a circle on the white expanse.
It was important to note that when they shared memories and experiences through the White Space connection, they received each other's memories of events but not their thoughts or emotions about those events. They got the objective facts of what happened, not the subjective experience.
So each of them was curious about what the others had been feeling and planning during their respective adventures.
"So what's your plan for the future?" Naruto Elric asked Momonga directly, genuinely curious. "Now that you're essentially an immortal undead god in that world, what are you going to do with eternity?"
Momonga sat there for a moment, his skeletal form somehow managing to convey thoughtfulness despite the lack of facial expressions. His burning eye-flames flickered slightly.
"I really don't have any particular grand plans for now," he admitted with surprising honesty. "I should already be functionally invincible after receiving all of the power from this merger—not only Yggdrasil abilities but now Ōtsutsuki techniques, chakra systems, and whatever Marvel brings to the table."
He gestured vaguely. "Not only that, but I don't lack anything material in that world. Nazarick has literally everything I could want. And honestly? There's nothing in that world that particularly interests me from a challenge perspective either."
Momonga's tone became more contemplative. "Maybe I'll catch some dragons to do experiments on. The New World has some interesting creatures I wouldn't mind studying. But mostly..."
His skeletal jaw somehow conveyed a knowing smile. "I'll be spending most of my time with Albedo until I get bored. If I ever get bored."
He let out a knowing laugh that echoed strangely from his skeletal form.
"You lucky bastard," all three of the others said simultaneously, perfect synchronization born from shared jealousy.
Having a beautiful, loyal, incredibly powerful woman who was literally programmed to love you? That was the dream. The absolute dream.
"Okay, besides you living your best life," Marvel Elric said, forcefully moving the conversation along before they all died from envy, "what are the rest of us going to do?"
He turned to One Piece Elric specifically. "Do you still plan to use the same excuse that you 'don't know enough about the One Piece world to act safely'?"
Three pairs of eyes—two human, one skeletal—turned toward One Piece Elric with pointed expressions.
The redheaded pirate version shifted uncomfortably under their collective gaze. "Okay, okay! I'll go out and start actually doing things after I get back this time! Happy?"
It wasn't that he genuinely didn't want to leave his island and engage with the world. The truth was more complicated.
He felt that with his current personality—which was considerably more ruthless than the original—and his overwhelming power level that exceeded anything in that world...
He might mess up the One Piece world really, really badly.
Which was already quite problematic in its original form.
"The world is already messed up," Naruto Elric pointed out pragmatically. "Slavery, oppression, corrupt government. How much worse could you make it by actually trying to fix things?"
"You'd be surprised," One Piece Elric muttered.
"That's just an excuse for laziness," Marvel Elric accused.
"It's a valid concern about unintended consequences!"
"It's laziness with philosophical window dressing."
Momonga's skeletal hand came down between them in a peacemaking gesture. "Gentlemen, please. We're getting off-topic. Naruto version, didn't you say you had something important to share? The improved seal?"
"Oh, right!" Naruto Elric brightened immediately, reaching into his storage space. "Yeah, my mom finished perfecting it. You're going to love what she added."
He pulled out a scroll and unrolled it, revealing intricate seal formulas that made even the other versions of himself pause in appreciation.
"She not only refined the artificial chakra pathway to ninety-eight percent efficiency," Naruto Elric explained with obvious pride, "but she also somehow managed to integrate a degraded version of chakra absorption based on my Ōtsutsuki karma seal."
All three of the others leaned forward with sudden, intense interest.
"Wait, chakra absorption?" Marvel Elric's eyes lit up with possibilities. "As in, the ability to drain energy from others?"
"Exactly. It's not as powerful as my full karma seal—probably only about thirty percent effectiveness—but it's still functional. Anyone with this seal implanted can absorb ambient energy and even drain chakra from direct contact."
"That's..." Momonga's eye-flames burned brighter. "That's incredibly valuable. Especially for Marvel version."
"Right?" Naruto Elric grinned. "Imagine giving this to ordinary humans in the Marvel universe. They become chakra users who can also absorb energy. Instant super-soldier program."
You guys can check out my patreon with 30 advance chapter, and want to support this story.
patreon.com/LMStar666