In that very moment, Anthony suddenly remembered something — and abruptly whipped his head around, shooting a glance back at Namikaze Minato behind him.
Namikaze Minato! Why are you just standing there watching?! Say something, would you?!
Just what the hell did I drag you along for in the first place?!
But Namikaze Minato, looking at Anthony's violently quaking pupils, merely spread his hands open with an utterly innocent expression plastered across his face.
Anthony was almost left speechless.
On the spot, he yanked the chat group open, intending to call Minato out directly — only, the second he opened the group, Anthony's eyes went a bit blank.
[Do you wish to join the group livestream started by member · Yellow Flash of Konoha?]
Anthony: ?
[Lord of the Ivory Throne has joined the livestream]
[AAA City Female Ghost: Whoa, you finally showed up]
[Post-Himmel-Era Warrior Fern: I was just wondering when a certain main character was going to arrive]
[Lord of the Ivory Throne: ? Hold up. Just how many people are in here?!]
[AAA City Female Ghost: Pretty much everyone in the group should... all be here, right? Just now we were only missing you. Now that you've shown up too, we're complete]
[Terra Demon-Race Female Spy: Miss Carmen's right — everyone's here]
[Lord of the Ivory Throne: ???]
[Lord of the Ivory Throne: Wait — don't David and Kiritsugu have actual day jobs?]
[Ally of Justice: Justice is taking a smoke break, don't mind us. There aren't many magi left in the Fuyuki area making any moves now anyway — I'm already booking my plane tickets to the next location]
[Set Night City Ablaze: As you well know, Miss Angela's work efficiency is absurdly high...]
[Lord of the Ivory Throne: ...Since when has this livestream been going on?]
[AAA City Female Ghost: Probably since Minato delivered the package?]
[Lord of the Ivory Throne: @Grand Flame Wordsmith — Jie-jie! Do something! I'm at the very least Number Thirteen of the Sui Family, aren't you going to react to any of this?!]
[Grand Flame Wordsmith: Hm? Should I be reacting to something?]
Across the livestream's danmaku scroll, Jie's puzzled words flashed past:
[Grand Flame Wordsmith: This is a good thing — what's wrong with my little brothers and sisters making friends?]
The issue isn't about making friends!
Looking at Erlang Shen, who had already scooped his body up and was making a beeline for the door with him in tow, Anthony — for one moment — opened his mouth, then shut it.
In the end, he tried to phrase a danmaku as delicately as he could manage.
[Lord of the Ivory Throne: This doesn't really look like just making friends to me...]
[Grand Flame Wordsmith: Aiya, it's fine, don't overthink it]
[Grand Flame Wordsmith: If it's that other thing, I wouldn't need to mind either — wouldn't that actually be quite nice?]
[Grand Flame Wordsmith: The children of the household are all grown up. Second Brother and Eldest Brother would both feel very pleased to hear it]
No saving this one.
Watching the comments in the livestream from the rest of the gang, Anthony's throat caught — and at last, in despair, he tilted his head back to look up at the silver-haired girl's face.
In the end, after a long stretch of silence, Anthony turned his head away and spoke softly:
"Whatever the case — at least put me down first... it's not like I can't walk on my own..."
At the same time, he shot a ferocious glare at Namikaze Minato, who had tagged along after them.
Just spectate from a distance, would you?! Why are you still tailing along, and getting bolder by the second on top of it?!
If he'd known this would happen, he never would have dragged him along as backup in the first place. After all this trouble, in the end, he'd only come to watch Anthony embarrass himself.
And so, Anthony watched as Namikaze Minato pulled a face — eyebrows wiggling at him — but in the end, obediently retreated, leaving the scene, accompanied by a flood of disappointed-sigh danmaku from the livestream chat room.
Still — at least the one getting in the way and making trouble had cleared out.
Anthony felt his heart settle a fraction. Then he heard Erlang Shen's reply:
"Mm... that works too. Stick close to me."
The next moment, his feet landed back on the ground, and Anthony followed along behind Erlang Shen, watching that small silver-haired girl's slight figure with a faint shake of his head.
"True Lord, where are we going now?"
"To find a few people."
Erlang Shen spoke in a light tone: "Evil ghosts that need to be subjugated aren't easy to track down — better to just go straight to someone and ask for a couple, since the Underworld is fixed and they've got no reason to refuse."
"Once we've got the person and the evil ghosts, we'll head back to the Underworld, and I'll help you with the repair."
"It's just..."
Erlang Shen spoke, then turned her head back, narrowed her eyes, and gazed at Anthony with the faintest hint of a not-quite-smile at the corners of her eyes: "Since you've already agreed that you'd do whatever was asked, then once the Underworld's repaired, you can't refuse, you know?"
"...As long as you'll still let me go back home, do as you please."
Anthony raised both hands and spoke in helpless resignation. For an instant, a flicker of pleased glee seemed to flash across Erlang Shen's face, sending a shiver through Anthony.
Come to think of it... what on earth is Erlang Shen planning to do?
And so, following behind Erlang Shen, the two of them quickly came to a stop.
Or, more accurately — they stopped beneath the residential building right next to the one Erlang Shen lived in...
Anthony was left dumbfounded.
"True Lord, who are we here to see?"
"Another deity, obviously."
Erlang Shen waved a casual hand, speaking offhandedly. For an instant, Anthony lapsed into silence.
Hold on — do you deities really cluster together this densely? The building right next door?
Hell, you're even in the same housing complex!
Apparently sensing Anthony's confusion, Erlang Shen turned and explained mildly, "In this complex, there are at least twenty or thirty deities and spirit-beings living here — although a good number of them are minor immortals and wild mountain spirits in human form, they still count as deities and spirits."
Holy hell — this is straight-up Deity Town, then!
"So who's living in this building?"
"The Bodhisattva."
Erlang Shen slowly enunciated those two words, then strode into the building, stepped into the elevator, and pressed the button for the eighteenth floor.
The Bodhisattva...?
Anthony tried to flip through his mental Rolodex of deities matching that title, but for the life of him couldn't pin one down on the spot. He was just about to open his mouth and ask Erlang Shen — but before he could, the elevator had already arrived.
Erlang Shen stepped out, knocked twice on a particular apartment door, then called loudly through it:
"Bodhisattva! You in?"
The door didn't open. The silver-haired girl seemed to grow a touch impatient, sighed, and simply shoved her palm against the door.
Accompanied by a muffled thump, the door actually let out a pained yelp like some kind of wild beast — and then swung open on its own. Anthony was left staring in a daze.
The next moment, Anthony caught sight of the woman behind the door.
She wore a pristine white suit, with a single vermilion mole at the centre of her brow, and behind her back grew a large, halo-like disc resembling the sun. At that moment she had turned her head toward the unexpected visitors. Though there was surprise on her face, her features were nonetheless mature and composed, dignified and gracious.
In her hand she still held a watering can, in the middle of watering some... thing on the ground that you'd have a hard time calling either ivy or snake...
"Yang Jian? What brings you here? You didn't knock?"
The woman asked, slightly puzzled — then suddenly thought of something: "Was it the door not answering again?"
"Bodhisattva, I keep telling you — stop using random spirit-beings as your door. That thing keeps soundproofing the room so the people inside can't hear what's going on outside — do you realize that?"
Erlang Shen sighed as she spoke. The woman, for her part, didn't bother responding — instead turning her gaze to the Anthony at her side.
Anthony hurriedly gave a small bow: "This humble one is Anthony, the newly appointed Lord of the Underworld. It's a pleasure to meet—"
"Ah, so you're the Lord of the Underworld. This generation's Hades has finally awakened, then?"
The other party connected the dots instantly, gave Anthony a small nod, and spoke: "I am Guanyin. Just call me Bodhisattva."
"?"
Anthony lifted his head, looking somewhat bewildered at the Guanyin Bodhisattva standing in front of him. Glancing at her face, then thinking about the name, his heart was filled with a sudden sense of confusion.
Wait... hold on?
Why does this feel so off?
Isn't this supposed to be Guanyin Pusa?
Although, going by the official records — yes, technically Guanyin Bodhisattva is correct... but isn't that supposed to be the male version?
Erlang Shen turned her head, caught sight of Anthony's slightly stupefied eyes, sighed, stepped on the tip of Anthony's shoe, pinched the back of his hand with her fingers, and projected her voice to him telepathically:
"Don't overthink it... to the Bodhisattva, it's not particularly important."
Is this thing really not particularly important?!
The corner of Anthony's eye twitched, and then he caught sight of Erlang Shen's helpless gaze.
"The Bodhisattva has always been especially gifted at this sort of minor sorcery... Among the deities, she's also probably the one who uses this particular spell most often. And besides, this technique isn't even that hard."
"Even if you wanted to use it, with just a bit of study you'd pick it up — you could turn yourself into a woman just as easily... Oh! Speaking of which, do you have any interest in giving it a try?"
"I get the feeling that once you'd flipped genders, you'd have a real mature-onee-san or even motherly personality going on!"
Out of nowhere, Erlang Shen seemed to grow excited, an inexplicable gleam practically catching fire in her eyes as she looked at Anthony and projected those words.
Looking at Erlang Shen's eyes, a chill ran through Anthony.
That look — she might as well have written "I want to see what a gender-bent female Haku looks like" right across her face.
"Yeah, I'll pass on that one..."
"Speaking of which — I still haven't figured out what to ask for as that next request."
Erlang Shen projected the words with deliberate offhandedness.
"Please, I'm begging you — anything but that!"
Erlang Shen sent no further messages — only let a sly, self-satisfied smile rise to her face.
Now that she had completely cast aside her dignity, in a certain sense, her true rotten nature had been fully exposed...
"Alright, what did you come to me about?"
Guanyin Bodhisattva turned back around, set down her watering, and looked at Anthony and Erlang Shen as she asked.
"He wants to repair the Underworld."
Erlang Shen spoke without the slightest hesitation: "Bodhisattva, if I remember right, among the spirits and beasts you keep at home, you've got a few evil ghosts, don't you?"
In that instant, with those words said out loud, Guanyin's movements went a touch stiff.
"Oh, evil ghosts. Right, I remember there's still some out there somewhere..."
"Catching them is a pain too — and since keeping them around's just a future calamity anyway, why not just hand them over to fill out the Underworld's hells, hm?"
Erlang Shen waved her hand, her tone perfectly placid. At the same time, using mind-speech, she added in a low voice to Anthony:
"The Bodhisattva keeps all sorts of spirit-beasts at home, evil ghosts included... but a few of the ones in there can only be described as having absolutely awful temperaments, constantly making trouble for the locals and so on. Getting the Bodhisattva to fork over those few evil ghosts also counts as ridding the immortal realm of pests."
"And on top of that, this gal's taste is genuinely the worst — out of all the ones she keeps, her favourites are all cats and stuff. Dogs? Couldn't care less..."
Listening to Erlang Shen's utterly undisguised badmouthing, Anthony's expression took on a peculiar quality for a moment.
Crap — he'd nearly forgotten.
The one standing in front of him here, on top of being a 2D weeb, was also very possibly the most ancient dog enthusiast in existence...
At least Erlang Shen hadn't dragged Howling Sky out with her today when they met.
"Does it have to be from my place?"
The corner of the Bodhisattva's eye seemed to twitch, even as she forced a smile onto her face.
"Bodhisattva, you know as well as I do — every last one of those evil ghosts you're raising is a champion-class public nuisance—"
"Don't talk nonsense. They're usually quite well-behaved. I have faith there'll come a day they can be enlightened."
Guanyin replied like this, and for a moment, what looked like a dog-faction-versus-cat-faction feud seemed to be brewing...
Right up until — from inside the room — came a muffled thump.
Like a bell tolling, it carried out to the entryway. In that instant, Erlang Shen's and Guanyin's expressions both shifted at once. Only Anthony was still in the dark, unable to make sense of what had just happened.
Erlang Shen and Guanyin exchanged a glance, then immediately dashed into the room. And so, as the door to the room was thrown open, Anthony saw Erlang Shen's figure freeze, crouching down slightly as if struggling to hold back laughter — while Guanyin had gone stiff on the spot.
Curious, he stepped past the line of sight of the two of them and peered into the back — and there, he saw three children: two boys and a girl.
The one in front, evidently the ringleader, held a Golden Ring in his hand, a Red Sash wound about his back, and was patiently using the Golden Ring to pound on a ghost on the floor — one that had nearly been flattened into jelly already.
Off to one side, another boy bearing some yaksha-like features stood, watching the scene coldly. The little girl with chestnut-brown hair, meanwhile, looked on the verge of tears:
"Stop hitting it already, Nezha — when the Bodhisattva gets here..."
"Hang on, I heard that ghosts make great jelly—"
Nezha hadn't even finished his sentence when he felt something was off — and so he lifted his head, and met head-on with the Bodhisattva's strained smile, and that benevolent, kindly gaze.
As well as Auntie Erlang's expression off to the side, doing her damnedest to keep from laughing.
"...It hit me first."
The very next moment, Nezha dropped the Golden Ring, pointed at the ghost-jelly on the floor, and stated firmly.
"...Nezha!!"
The next instant, Guanyin's roar exploded through the entire room.
Only Anthony, looking slightly dazed, came up alongside Erlang Shen and cast her a hesitant glance.
Erlang Shen responded with a reassuring look, and continued via mind-voice:
"The one out front is Nezha. The one standing is Red Boy. The little one is Black Bear Spirit. They're all kept here at the Bodhisattva's place anyway..."
Unbelievable.
There's a whole kindergarten arc.
Anthony sighed again. He couldn't shake the feeling that his rose-tinted lens for deities was shattering more and more thoroughly by the minute.
Still...
"Bodhisattva, this ghost is in this state already — looks like it can't really be saved..."
Anthony, looking down at the ghost on the floorboards, hesitated for a moment, then opened his mouth to ask: "Why don't we, you know — recycle it?"
He could feel that this ghost in front of him had, in its original form, genuinely been a vengeful spirit — every Underworld requirement was met... Although staying around the Bodhisattva all this time had left it with the strong air of being just about ready for enlightenment, that didn't get in the way of it being scrap material useful for repairing the Underworld.
Guanyin, after a long stretch of silence, let out a sigh.
"Take it, take it."
She waved her hand, looking somewhat impatient. Then she crouched down and laid her palm gently on Nezha's shoulder.
Nezha kept his face perfectly blank — but Anthony got the distinct feeling that he had just given a small twitch.
Guanyin, meanwhile, wore a thunderous expression while smiling down at Nezha.
"...Stop watching. Grab your stuff and let's slip out of here."
Erlang Shen took one sweep of the situation, immediately realised things were headed somewhere bad, and quickly whispered to Anthony. And so Anthony, without hesitation, stepped up, grabbed that ghost, bowed to Guanyin, and beat a swift retreat to the back, hurrying out of the scene.
"Bodhisattva, until next time. Should you have business in the future, you're welcome to come find me in the Underworld. I'll be there awaiting your visit at any time."
Anthony bid his solemn farewell, then hurriedly fled the soon-to-be-warzone under Erlang Shen's lead.
Once they had left the Bodhisattva's place, Anthony finally heaved a long sigh of relief.
Like this, the thing they'd come for was in hand — they could head back to the Underworld and get on with the repairs.
"Oh, that's right, Anthony."
Out of nowhere, Erlang Shen asked airily, "Are you really not going to give that gender-bending technique a try?"
"...Thank you, but I really don't want to learn it."
The corner of Anthony's eye twitched as he answered Erlang Shen's question.
"But I really am curious what you'd look like gender-bent."
Erlang Shen's eyes sized Anthony up curiously as she spoke. Anthony tilted his face slightly away, the corner of his eye giving another little twitch.
Seeing Anthony's apparent reluctance, Erlang Shen simply dropped the subject for now.
Instead, she stood where she was, silently watching as Anthony's hands carved through the air, opening up the entrance to the Yellow Springs Road.
"Let's go, True Lord."
Anthony gave a small bow as he said this: "Time to head back to the Underworld."
At the far end of the Yellow Springs Road, the figures of the two of them materialised, returning once more to that ramshackle Underworld.
"It's been so many years since I last came — never thought it would have fallen this far into ruin... it really is impressive that that dead monkey still remembers to come mooching here every single day, given the state of this place."
The moment they set foot in the Underworld, Erlang Shen let out a sigh of feeling. Anthony, meanwhile, tossed the nearly-pounded-to-death soul into the outer ring of the Eighteen Levels of Hell, while turning his gaze away.
"Speaking of which, have you thought of what you want to ask for, True Lord?"
Out of the blue, Anthony asked the silver-haired girl this question, catching Erlang Shen somewhat by surprise:
"Planning to deliver on the deal already?"
"...Though I don't quite trust your sense of restraint, I do at least trust your character."
Anthony was silent for a moment, then continued: "And besides, I'm not particularly comfortable owing other people things."
"Mm... honestly, I haven't actually decided yet."
Erlang Shen mulled it over for a moment, then asked with a giggling grin: "How about — letting me live in the Underworld for a while?"
Hearing this request, Anthony was briefly silent. Then, with a sigh, he said:
"This can't really count as a request... if you want to live here, just suit yourself."
"If you want to bring Howling Sky Hound over too, I've got no objection to that either."
"I don't mind any of these things — so that request isn't anywhere near equal value to the help you've offered."
Faced with Anthony's concession, Erlang Shen actually looked surprised:
"Eh? You're not even going to take this golden opportunity to wipe that promised request off the books?"
"There has to be a line somewhere when it comes to how one conducts oneself, doesn't there?"
Anthony shot back coolly. At that, the corners of Erlang Shen's lips curled up in a small smile.
Now that I think about it... yes, that is more like this guy's style!
"Then I'm going to get a little greedy with my requests, hmm?"
Erlang Shen laughed, baring her clean white teeth.
Anthony nodded, with a very clear gesture of "please, go ahead."
"Mm... well first off, from now on, could you help me bring back more two-dimensional stuff? My re-stocking situation is going to be relying on you, alright?"
Erlang Shen thought for a moment, and led with this request: "And if at all possible, it'd be even better if you could bring me a few real-life ones back too!"
The two-dimensional fan is putting in the work.
Anthony let out a breath of relief on the inside.
It had to be said — this request was on the easy side.
At the very least, for people Anthony was acquainted with, taking them down to the Underworld for a sightseeing loop or two was no trouble at all, and introducing them to Erlang Shen also wasn't a bad idea. To them, this might well turn out to be a good thing too.
At least it was a whole lot more normal than that gender-bending request...
"That's no problem. Anyone I know is fair game."
Anthony nodded slightly, making this promise to Erlang Shen.
"Then — if this one's also okay... I really am bringing Howling Sky Hound over, right?"
"No problem, although I don't have any experience taking care of dogs."
"Oh? You're agreeing to this too? Then how about — if I want to enter those two-dimensional worlds later on, to do a little stamp-collecting trip?"
A flicker of excitement seemed to flash through Erlang Shen's eyes as she asked Anthony this.
"That one's fine too... I can manage that."
Anthony composed himself and nodded a little, saying this.
With the Stygian Vessel and the phase-transmission engine, Anthony really could pull off this kind of thing... he wasn't lying.
And besides, this was basically just a flick of the wrist for him.
He thought this to himself silently. But then he saw Erlang Shen's expression suddenly turn a bit more serious, the earlier liveliness slowly fading, as though she had fallen into thought.
"Mm... well then, if I'm going to be staying here, could you also cover all my meals?"
Out of nowhere, Erlang Shen asked, half as if in jest. That oddly-phrased request caught Anthony off-guard for a moment.
He turned his head to look at the silver-haired girl. But when she said this, she wasn't smiling at all, which struck Anthony as strange.
The expression on her face when she said it was, instead, very calm.
"...That's it?"
"Ah, of course not."
The silver-haired girl answered at once: "I've also been wanting to try out the complete shut-in NEET lifestyle... so for the time I'm living in the Underworld, all-inclusive meals — I'll have to trouble you. Can you do it?"
She turned her head and smiled at Anthony: "If at all possible, being treated like family would, of course, be the absolute best... so could you take care of me the way one might take care of a two-dimensional weeb shut-in?"
"It's a bit forward, I know — but that's my request."
Hearing this, Anthony was briefly stunned.
Erlang Shen lightly licked her lips, the excited gleam seeming to surface in her eyes once more: "And besides — don't you think being looked after by your favourite two-dimensional character would be hugely appealing to a weeb shut-in?!"
"...Probably, yeah."
Anthony let out a helpless sigh. Then, as if something had suddenly occurred to him, after weighing his words for a moment, he asked softly:
"Oh, that's right — pardon me for prying, but Lady Yunhua Xianzi, she..."
"Oh, asking about her, are you..."
Erlang Shen said calmly: "A very long time ago, she was burned to nothing by the ten suns..."
So that's the version we're in.
In that instant, Anthony sighed inwardly, and said in a low voice, "My apologies."
"It's fine. No need to take it too much to heart — it was a very long time ago. Back then, things weren't as easygoing for everyone as they are now. Anyway — do you agree?"
A small smile rose to Erlang Shen's face: "If you agree, then I'll head off to repair the Underworld now, alright?"
"...No problem. Although I don't have much experience taking care of someone, I'll do my best."
Anthony gave a small bow toward the silver-haired girl as he said this.
Like this, a lot of things actually made sense now.
He watched the receding figure of the girl, slowly setting aside the thoughts in his heart, and let out a long breath, not wanting to dwell on these matters any longer.
Meanwhile, Erlang Shen walked on ahead, heading toward the section of the Underworld she remembered housed the "Backup" facilities — letting her own thoughts drift freely as she did.
Speaking of which — why, out of all those characters, had she taken one look and picked out Haku?
She still remembered her own state of mind when she'd been playing through the story.
Ah, that's right. Even though the bonds of family among the entire cast were lovely, all of them — every last one Erlang Shen had liked... in the end, she really had been more interested in Haku as a person.
His looks suited her tastes a little more — sure, that was part of it. But there was more to it than that.
She remembered — Haku really didn't count as a member of the Sui Family.
But... he'd blended in so well.
That personality — the kind that would, for the sake of someone important to him, willingly become their family, and on top of that, do everything he possibly could to shoulder every burden he could shoulder for the sake of that family — that had drawn her in back then.
For someone he cared about enough, he wouldn't hesitate to become their family, right?
And for the "family" he had acknowledged as such, he would absolutely give his all.
Ah.
Wouldn't it be nice if he'd be my family too?
At the end of the day, what had drawn her in wasn't this same personality — the kind that treated others as family and would lay everything down for their sake?
She really did have a habit of projecting her feelings onto people like that...
Erlang Shen shook her head as if helpless, though even she couldn't say whether the helplessness was directed at her past self, or at something else entirely.
Still — at this point, she could now proudly throw her chest out and declare: this one's my oshi.
Who even knew what she was being so proud of.
Then Erlang Shen lifted her head, and only then did she realise that without noticing, she had already walked all the way to the corresponding place.
"We're here, then... well, let's get started. Little Underworld King, fetch the materials over."
Erlang Shen gave a small nod, then turned her head back and called out to Anthony.
"One moment — I'll have it ready right away."
Anthony slowly closed his eyes. In one instant, his soul spread itself across the entire Underworld. Then, like an extension of Anthony's own limbs, the Underworld began to move.
And so, all the materials were, almost naturally, prepared. Anthony glanced at Erlang Shen with an all-set expression.
"Good. Then leave the rest to me."
Erlang Shen reached out and patted Anthony's shoulder, looking out at the massive structures complex within the Underworld — then closed her eyes.
But at the centre of her brow, a golden eye opened.
The Third Eye!
And in that instant, what was practically an inexhaustible flood of power surged forth from that Third Eye. Right in front of Erlang Shen, the building complex almost immediately began to reorganise itself.
Through the course of the reassembly, a faintly mystical pattern emerged — to the point where Anthony could only stare, almost dazzled.
Untold numbers of evil souls and wandering ghosts came pouring out of the Eighteen Levels of Hell, summoned by the Underworld and the Third Eye, and were poured into this vast undertaking.
They were the consumables. Material to be expended in repairing the Underworld!
Reorganising, remaking, shifting... layer upon layer of processes — and the building complex in front of them finally clicked into alignment. The Third Eye at the centre of Erlang Shen's brow dissipated of its own accord. She opened her eyes and let out a few panted breaths.
But Anthony, standing behind her, looking at the building complex before him — felt an inexplicable sensation rising up inside him...
It was as if... he could still do something more?
Feeling that instinctive call from the Forgemaster, Anthony hesitated for just a beat, then lifted his hands up toward the sky and clapped softly.
Clap. Clap.
Two crisp sounds. The sky of the Underworld briefly seemed to split open along a crack. In a haze, Anthony seemed to see the water of the kaleidoscopic Primordial River pouring down from above... but the next moment, it all dissipated, as though it had never appeared at all.
And once he'd done all this, Anthony saw a panel pop up before his eyes.
[Underworld Facility Temporarily Repaired: Persistence of the World]
[Connection Established with the Primordial River]
[Persistence of the World]
[Effect: You may select a specified point in time within the current timeline and perform a single rollback. After the rollback, most things will return to their state at the chosen point. Memories will gradually fade. For beings with extraordinary status and sufficient strength, retaining memories will be possible.]
[Note: As this function's repair is not yet complete, only a single use is currently possible]
[Note: Since a connection to the Primordial River has been established, this function can be used in other worlds, provided that the Underworld is linked to the corresponding world]
Holy shit!
In that instant, Anthony's eyes practically went wide and round looking at the effect.
This is a huge windfall!
He let out a breath, then turned to look at Erlang Shen. The words of gratitude hadn't even left his mouth before he saw her waving a hand at him.
"Skip the formalities. I'm going to find a spot in the Underworld to rest for a bit. Anything comes up, come find me. From now on, this is where I'm living."
Erlang Shen said with a smile. Anthony was briefly taken aback — then smiled back in turn.
"As you wish."
And so, watching the silver-haired girl walk away, Anthony turned his head, looked at the vast Underworld around him, and slowly closed his eyes.
Progress has moved forward a bit more...
He let out a soft breath and opened the chat group.
[Lord of the Ivory Throne has entered the livestream room]
[Lord of the Ivory Throne: Excuse me, why is your livestream still going?]
[Yellow Flash of Konoha: Ah, originally I was going to end it, but I just heard what sounded like someone next door beating up a kid. Out of curiosity, I left the livestream room open for a bit longer...]
[Lord of the Ivory Throne: ...Alright, I know exactly who that is, you don't need to say anything more]
The corner of Anthony's eye twitched, and he sighed. Just as he was about to close the chat group — out of nowhere, an unusual message appeared.
[Suitable candidate detected. A new group member will be joining shortly]
A new member's coming?
In an instant, Anthony's interest perked up.
Who is it this time?
Looks like there's work to do — and if the world's a good match, maybe I can even bring back some local specialties...
And so, very quickly, Anthony saw the new member who had just joined.
[Welcome group member "We're All Little Monsters" to the chat]
Anthony went still.
This name... Erii?!
____
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