Free Web NovelChapter 789: Chapter 46: Long Time No See
Time is silent, it is such as it is.
In a trance, the girl thought she was in a dream. The figure on the throne was familiar yet strange, sitting there calmly, the eyes hidden behind the crown gazing down upon her.
Those eyes were bright and clear, the gaze distant and profound.
"..."
"..."
Opening her mouth, Fujimaru Ritsuka suddenly reacted, a look of disbelief vividly appearing on her face: "Gu, Gu Mo senpai? How could it be..."
She mustered the courage to step forward first, mainly feeling that she had to do something for Chaldea now since the situation there was dire. After the doctor, Da Vinci also met with mishap, and those who could once carry the banner left one after another.
So, she had to take some responsibility, to be an exemplar for others.
Yet she didn’t expect that after entering this magnificent hall, the emperor’s true face she saw, so familiar, was a person she recognized. Following closely, Tohsaka Rin and the others from Chaldea also stepped into the hall, following Fujimaru Ritsuka’s footsteps.
"So it’s you——!!"
The quiet literature-styled girl Akai Hinako instantly recognized the emperor’s appearance too, having always been full of curiosity and questions, her eyes widened in shock at this moment.
Her beautiful eyes behind her glasses revealed a look of astonishment.
The literature girl had very complex and special feelings about this person, not that it left a deep impression, but she could indeed describe it as gritting her teeth——
Because during the Seventh Anomaly, when Akai Hinako just woke up from unconsciousness, the first person she saw was this one.
Moreover, the person displayed amazing acting skills, just a few simple words misled her, making her mistakenly believe that there was a malfunction during her Spiritual Particle Transfer, causing herself injury and failing to complete the planned mission.
Why say the other had amazing acting skills?
Because until returning to Chaldea, once everything settled, Akai Hinako realized the truth wasn’t at all like that.
According to Chaldea, an accident occurred during her first Spiritual Particle Transfer, when she and other A group members were emergency frozen.
And this person knew of her existence all along, initially wanting to confirm something from Chaldea’s side, and when it couldn’t be confirmed, directly summoned her from the future world to that early dynasty period.
In other words...
The person knew everything and some situations were even caused by him personally.
Whenever recalling this matter, even with Akai Hinako’s aloof nature, she can’t help but feel shamed and angry, her pretentious behavior before him seemed laughably ridiculous... had he appeared, she’d seek an explanation for sure.
Because apart from frustration, there are many lingering questions——
Why did he know her? What was his connection with her?
According to Chaldea, the person initially knew her very well, displaying full confidence in recognizing her when she was still frozen; yet after pulling her over, acted entirely as if not knowing her.
"Naturally it’s me, who else do you think it would be..."
Gu Mo just exited the Information Space of the "Proof of Domination: Cronos Crown," his mind digesting the design and construction knowledge of the Titan Series Ship, glanced calmly and casually smiling at the people entering from outside the hall.
Simultaneously, he noticed the gaze from Akai Hinako, complex yet furious.
After a slight contemplation, he abandoned the explanation of turning into an Alter, though in this Dungeon World it’s very common, such as the worrying issue of Altria and Elizabeth’s proliferation is already a considerable concern.
Still he abandoned such explanation, but the other party became rather uncertain, actively linking it to this aspect.
"You... are you really Gu Mo senpai?" Fujimaru Ritsuka opened her mouth, still finding it unbelievable, her thinking seemed to halt, her thoughts turned sluggish and difficult, she stared directly at the figure on the throne, hesitatingly unsure:
"Wa, wait, could it be the Gu Mo senpai from the Anomaly Zone?"
She seemingly realized suddenly, staring spiritedly at the opposite. After all, she understood a bit, knowing Anomaly Zones and Pan-Human History are different trajectories, in different histories, even the same individual might follow different paths.
So... it’s the Gu Mo senpai from the Anomaly Zone, not the Gu Mo senpai from Pan-Human History?
And hearing Fujimaru Ritsuka’s doubt, Akai Hinako was slightly stunned, her gaze growing somewhat odd. It indeed seemed to be exactly this situation, but if so, how could she seek explanation? For this was Lu Xun, not Zhou Shuren, seemingly not the person she was supposed to catch.
Huh?
Gu Mo was a bit surprised. He hadn’t even spoken yet, but the other party had already filled in the blanks on what was going on? However, he didn’t intend to change his mind. He casually shook his head, propped up on the armrest of the throne, lightly yawned, and said with a seemingly casual tone:
"No, it’s me, the Gu Mo you know."
"..."
"..."
This answer was somewhat unexpected, leaving everyone in Chaldea stunned, except for Akai Hinako and Tohsaka Rin, whose expressions differed. The former showed that angry look again, while the latter looked completely baffled, being a newcomer and not knowing much.
Neither familiar with this King of the Strange Realm nor aware of their previous interactions.
Gu Mo didn’t mind, leaving time for the others to absorb and contemplate, while with a mere thought, the surrounding scene dramatically transformed.
This wouldn’t add more burden to his injuries, as it didn’t require using his own Power. The reason this place was called the Holographic Palace was due to the combination of Gravity Field Generators and exquisite holographic projections, along with the real-time simulation interaction brought by the pseudo-Spiritual Particle network, everything was at one’s disposal.
The Sea of the Moon was the technologically advanced Anomaly Domain.
Cutting-edge technology, though not as extraordinary as the Mechanical God Civilization-led Atlantic Anomaly Zone, still showcased the standards of an imagined future era of human beings. And overall, it was even more advanced than the Atlantic Anomaly Zone.
Productivity was extremely developed and spiritual enrichment was vast. Despite Autonomous Machinery becoming household items, Synthetic Golems and automated factories replacing almost all Physical Strength labor, people still developed comprehensively in morality, intelligence, physique, and aesthetics. In terms of spiritual enrichment, there was indeed a significant reliance on virtual reality technology.
With more comprehensive and realistic sensory stimulation, it almost touched the realm of a "brain in a vat," making it entirely possible to create convincingly realistic experiences.
No need for brain-machine interfaces to enter virtual reality; it could be achieved through projection technology and Force Field Generation, creating nearly realistic environment changes. Shocked, everyone watched as the surrounding scenery silently shifted, as if building blocks had collapsed, then recombined amidst a storm.
The surrounding had changed into a beautiful valley, no longer the majestic and grand palace.
Green hills and clear waters, secluded and serene, the sky vast and deep blue. The pavilion, stream, wooden house, and herbal garden in the valley were all so familiar, causing Fujimaru Ritsuka and Akai Hinako to be slightly moved, momentarily believing they had returned to the time of the Seventh Anomaly.
The black-haired youth in white was no longer sitting high above, aloof on the imperial seat, creating an unbridgeable distance from them in the temple below.
Instead, as he used to, he sat in the pavilion, skillfully pouring tea from the teapot into cups. The imperial crown with hanging tassels on his head was gone, and he casually said, "Let’s talk in a different environment. I think this way, you should be more at ease..."
Indeed, it’s more at ease.
Fujimaru Ritsuka glanced at the others. Regardless of how others felt, she herself definitely felt a sense of relief.
Even though very familiar, it’s inevitable to feel alienated due to different positions and identities, especially after witnessing this King of the Strange Realm’s Power, it added to the anxiety and fear before coming over, further reinforcing her own psychological suggestion, making the sense of alienation unavoidable.
Just earlier, recognizing who the emperor sitting high atop the hall was led to not only surprise and disbelief but also a slight sense of... unfamiliarity.
A slight fear.
It was a great sense of dissonance when someone familiar suddenly felt unfamiliar and bizarre, similar to the uncanny valley effect. Despite being that person, in reality, the core was a completely different and strange existence, this recognition being the main source of fear.
Only at this moment, seeing the newly transformed scenery and standing in a familiar valley, did Fujimaru Ritsuka truly relax a bit, inclined to believe that he indeed was the familiar senior Gu Mo, which was also a kind of affirmation.
However, with this comes a new issue.
"Please sit down, no need to be polite..."
Gu Mo poured tea for everyone, speaking with a somewhat sighing tone of emotion.
"Long time no see, Gudah. Since we last parted, unknowingly, it has been so many years already..."
This statement was not merely a pretentious lament but carried some genuine feelings, after all, how long had it been since they last parted? Roughly totaling, the time he spent in different Dungeon Worlds was already measured in thousands of years.
"I am not Gudah, Gu Mo-senpai..."
The girl instinctively corrected her name, feeling a bit helpless, while her cheeks slightly blushed. Was this a special nickname just for her? She discreetly glanced at the young man’s handsome face opposite her, continuing to mutter:
"And it hasn’t been that long, has it? It’s only been a few months..."
Beside her, Little Da Vinci also scrutinized Gu Mo and responded, "Is it because of asynchronous time? The history within the Anomaly Domain... might have been experienced continuously up to now?"
