Chapter 43

"Hey." Ye Fan chuckled, following Lu Mingfei's lead: "You weren't among the first to join the group—you wouldn't know."

"This guy's also a transmigrator."

At this, everyone paused mid-chopstick, staring at Su Lin in surprise—they had assumed Su Lin was a native of this world, but then again, how could a world with almost no transcendent power have such a massive floating mountain?

"Could it be… Su Lin's original world was a Cultivation World?" Lu Mingfei perked up: "Did you transmigrate with your body or just your soul?"

"Soul transmigration." Su Lin had no reason to hide this—he'd already said so long ago.

"So this isn't your original body, then?"

"It's still technically my own body," Su Lin explained. "I transmigrated into the version of myself from a Parallel World. Before transmigration, I was nearly thirty. Afterward, I returned to age twenty-three."

"Then isn't this just pure reincarnation?"

"No—it's transmigration."

Su Lin's memories before transmigration differed slightly from those after.

"In this world, I studied civil engineering in university, and after graduation, I quit my job after barely any time."

Lu Mingfei nodded. The experiences of everyone in this group were anything but ordinary.

"I heard you used a watch to take Luffy back two years—can I see it?" Especially Especially Especially Xiao Yan asked.

Su Lin pulled out the 【Zuo Kete's Linear Pocket Watch】 from his system inventory and handed it to Especially Especially Especially Xiao Yan; everyone examined the time-travel artifact with curiosity.

"It's just an ordinary watch," Especially Especially Especially Xiao Yan muttered, turning it over and over in his hands, unable to detect anything unusual, then passed it to others.

"A one-time-use item."

"This thing doesn't match your sect's aesthetic at all," Ye Fan remarked pointedly.

"Heh." Su Lin smiled and shook his head.

"Just treat these as my transmigration cheat—like Especially Especially Especially Xiao Yan's ring with an old grandpa, Han Li's little green vial, or Miss Kelaien's Origin Fortress."

"Isn't Lu Mingfei also got a wish-granting little brother?"

"Damn, your cheat's got some complicated components," Lu Mingfei muttered, suddenly finding his meat less tasty—he suddenly wanted to transmigrate himself; maybe he'd get a newbie bonus pack too.

"By the way, Lu Mingfei," Su Lin changed the subject to redirect attention—once new members upload works related to him, others will naturally find out.

For now, no rush.

"Have you decided yet? What are your plans for the future?"

For over a month, Lu Mingfei had spent every day either cultivating or pondering what to do next—he'd considered reaching the Nascent Soul realm before returning, then wandering through the various worlds of group members first.

But that idea was clearly unrealistic.

"After I go back, I'll confront my little bastard brother first—I feel he wouldn't harm me," Lu Mingfei ran his fingers through his hair. "Then… I'll figure out how to save Hui Liyi."

So much for having a plan.

"What is destined to be, once known, must be cherished—leave no regrets," Zhong Li said slowly, pinching a petal from the table. Many years ago, he and his comrades-in-arms had gathered just like this, drinking fine wine and sharing fine food.

"The Dao numbers fifty; Heaven's evolution yields forty-nine; one escapes. All things retain a glimmer of hope—no need to rush."

Weigong Shilang nodded, comforting Lu Mingfei: "With the chat group's help and knowledge of the future's general direction, there's no reason we'll fare worse than the stories in the books."

Weigong Shilang had long resolved to bring about an ending where everyone could be happy.

He couldn't save all the countless timelines of Type-Moon—but at least in this timeline he currently occupied…

"I will protect everything in this worldline!"

Dada Liya clapped beside him.

Ye Fan nodded in agreement, smiling confidently: "I will suppress all enemies under heaven—this time, there will be no dark chaos!"

"Well said!" Especially Especially Especially Xiao Yan strongly agreed. In his original timeline, he had become the Flame Emperor; now that he knew the future, his gaze should turn toward the distant Myriad Worlds.

"My every moment is spent preparing to resurrect my master and cleanse my sect—quell the Ping Hun Clan's rebellion, shatter the heavens!"

Ke Ke Ke Laien pondered—the logic made sense, but would his actions actually make the future worse? For instance, he might have become the Sequence 0 Fool, captured Amon, and collected the Uniqueness—but what if his meddling caused him one day to suddenly wear a monocle?

"Surviving the apocalypse counts as success."

"…"

"…"

"…"

"Cough."

The atmosphere fell suddenly quiet; Su Lin cleared his throat and took up the conversation.

"In short, Lu Mingfei, work hard—aim to reach Foundation Establishment as soon as possible."

Su Lin raised his drink and clinked it against Lu Mingfei's: "I'm looking forward to the live broadcast of the Tokyo Love Story."

"Don't tease me…" Lu Mingfei offered a smile worse than crying: "You know full well—that's all my little bastard brother's twisted sense of humor."

"Besides Herr Herzog, there are also guys like Mr. Macallan—too hard."

"If only we had a Doraemon in the group—I'd borrow his If Phone Booth," Lu Mingfei muttered, sipping his cola.

"Doraemon? If Phone Booth? What are those?" Zhong Li asked curiously.

"A childhood cartoon character from this era…" Most present knew.

Weigong Shilang didn't need explanation—he was from the country that built its industry on them.

Ye Fan, Especially Especially Especially Xiao Yan, Su Lin, Lu Mingfei, and Zhou Mingrui were all 80s and 90s kids who had watched this anime on TV.

"Hmm…" Han Li and Zhong Li, upon hearing this, felt humanity's imagination was truly powerful.

"But who can say the Myriad Worlds won't one day truly include a Doraemon? After all, to people from other worlds, aren't we just fictional beings?"

"Indeed," Han Li sighed. "To the universe, a planet is like a grain of sand in a river—perhaps countless worlds are the same." But now, he was merely a late-stage Jin Dan cultivator.

"Who wouldn't want a Doraemon?" Su Lin himself wanted one—he'd wished for one on his elementary school birthday.

"Munch munch, time machine," Luffy gnawed on chunks of meat—the sea king's skin, roasted by the Divine Flame, was charred outside and tender within, flavored with spices in a unique way.

"Come to think of it, isn't Su Lin himself a Doraemon?"

"He took me back to the past before."

Su Lin said helplessly, "Yeah, but it was a one-time thing."