"Are you leaving?"
The girl was half-leaning on the stone door, with her arms folded in her arms. There was no sadness or joy in her golden eyes, and no emotion could be seen.
"Um."
Zhou Li folded the bedding and placed it on the bedside. Even though he had gained recognition from the world and became a noble warrior, he still retained the habit of tidying up the bedding. He stood up, picked up the package beside him, and said softly to the girl in front of him: "My partner is still waiting for me."
Futaba didn't feel sad about parting like Carrie. She didn't have any emotional fluctuations. She just nodded lightly and then said, "Come with me. In twenty minutes, the door to this world should be opened."
After hearing this, Zhou Li followed Shuangye and walked towards the outside of the castle. Unlike the royal palaces of other countries, Futaba's castle was not located in the center of the city or in a place that was easy to defend and difficult to attack. On the contrary, her castle was built next to the only passage to the outside world in the entire country. So soon, Zhou Li and the others came to a vast hollow.
Yes, that's what's called a "door."
A huge pit, like a pit crushed by a god.
Looking at the dark cave and the depressing dimension, Zhou Li shuddered, turned around, and asked hesitantly: "Are you sure, this is the door?"
"That's right."
Futaba nodded, and his tone without any emotion gave people an unquestionable feeling, "This is the door to reality."
"this···"
Zhou Li rubbed his chin and said with a strange expression: "Actually, I have always had a question, which is where the Hades Empire was established."
As soon as Zhou Li's question came out, he felt that he shouldn't ask it. After all, he also knew that for a country in a different world, its location was the "natural danger" of the Hades Empire in a sense. Through these ten days, Zhou Li realized how rich the Hades Empire was. Whether it was minerals, planting, magic or even magic technology, the territory of the Hades Empire was filled with treasure-like resources.
Once such a zone is discovered by other countries, the Hades Empire, which does not believe in the Twelve Hours and is not protected by the Twelve Hours, will definitely be coveted by other countries. In addition, Zhou Li rarely sees soldiers from the Hades Empire. , he believed that this country's military strength should not be too strong, so the alien space was the biggest barrier to the Hades Empire.
And asking this question yourself, in a sense, is like spying on the other person.
"Forget it, don't answer me."
Zhou Li shook his head and said with a hint of joy: "If you don't answer me, I can be vague with others and say that I can't remember where this place is. It will be much safer."
"The gap."
At this time, Shuangye looked at Zhou Li, the corners of his rosy mouth slightly raised, "In the gap between the two worlds, this is the location of the Hades Empire."
Zhou Li was stunned. He never thought that Shuangye would directly tell him where this place was, but he quickly realized why Shuangye was so calm.
"I see."
Zhou Li breathed a sigh of relief, and then said to Shuangye: "If you meet people from other worlds in the future, be sure not to tell them where this place is, don't say it, and don't let them visit here. Shuangye Ye, the people in your place are very simple, but..."
Sighing softly, Zhou Li shook his head helplessly. As the monarch of the underground world, Futaba's notice is far more noble and honest than those of the above-ground monarchs. Although she also has a huge castle, this castle is more of a fortress to resist foreign enemies than a luxury item that demonstrates imperial power. After all, once someone invades the Hades Empire, Futaba's palace will be the first to bear the brunt.
At the same time, after these few days of contact, Zhou Li discovered that the girl in front of him had a horribly low materialistic appetite. She had no requirements for food, clothing, housing, and transportation. If it weren't for the fact that the girl Carrie she originally picked up was a perfect maid, she might have been a member of the Hades Empire. The king doesn't even know how to wear his crown. Moreover, Futaba did not have any desire for money. The money she used to buy fish at that time was all asked from Carrie.
Of course, the most important thing is that Futaba's political awareness and clever political methods made Zhou Li suspect that the other party was also a time traveler. Different from Zhou Li's concept of earth where everyone is equal, Futaba advocates a relaxed and moderate mechanical society. In the Hades Empire, although everyone must stick to their posts, they have three opportunities to change their posts in their lives. Moreover, Futaba explicitly stipulates that you can have high respect for other noble or great professions, but you must not be prejudiced or disdainful of other professions.
She did not make everyone in the Hades Empire absolutely fair, but what surprised Zhou Li was that under the leadership of Futaba, the crime rate and happiness rate of the Hades Empire were astonishingly inversely proportional. In the Hades Empire, prisons are almost optional, but the happiness of the people is amazing. Compared with a country that lives in underground caves and never sees the light of day all year round, it is simply a paradise-like existence compared to a country that lives above ground.
Thinking of this, Zhou Li couldn't help but sigh again. If he hadn't been on a mission and needed to save the world, he would have really wanted to settle down in this country. Even if he was not an outsider, but just an ordinary resident of Hades, he would be happy to see this.
"Protect this country."
After a long time, Zhou Li looked at the girl in front of him and said quietly: "Protect...your people."
"Of course."
Futaba could hear Zhou Li's advice and understand why Zhou Li said this. But what she didn't tell Zhou Li was that she wouldn't have saved him if it weren't for him.
The Black Emperor will only be responsible for his own citizens. As for the subjects of other countries, they are just foreigners who were tortured and conquered.
"gone."
Zhou Li picked up the package and then seemed to remember something. He grinned and said to Shuangye with a silly smile: "I carved statues of you and Carrie and placed them under the bed in the room. I wanted to give you a surprise. Yes, but I was so preoccupied by Carrie yesterday that I forgot about it."
"She is coming."
Looking at the stupidly smiling young man in front of her, Futaba's tone involuntarily softened a little, "She's hiding behind the stone twenty meters behind me. She should be crying by now. Do you want me to call her?"
"Forget it, forget it."
Zhou Li smiled and shook his head, then he stretched out his hand and waved vigorously at the stone, shouting loudly: "Carrie, I will bring you honey and milk, don't worry!"
"I'm not a kid anymore!"
Carrie walked out from behind the stone angrily, wearing a pure white dress that was particularly conspicuous under the glowing moss. The girl bit her lip, suppressing the glinting in the corners of her eyes, and said with a choked voice: "But you have promised me, and you are not allowed to break the promise."
"rest assured."
Zhou Li smiled and nodded, and said seriously: "No matter what, I will come back to see you."
"good."
Carrie nodded. This girl who looked mature on the outside but was extremely soft on the inside walked up to Zhou Li, handed the jade necklace in her arms to him, and said softly: "Your Majesty asked me to give this to you. On the 15th of every month, activate the necklace with magic energy and you will find the door to the present world."
"Carrie made this necklace herself. She said she would give it to you personally."
Futaba on the side immediately made it clear that she would not take the blame and directly exposed the girl's little lie. Immediately, a blush appeared on the face of the brown-skinned girl. She directly put the necklace into Zhou Li's hand, then grabbed the other person's shirt and said fiercely: "If you lie to me, I will find you in this world, and then I will punish you." I’ll give you a good beating, do you understand?”
"Okay, okay."
Zhou Li touched the other party's smooth long hair with a faint smile, then looked at Shuangye aside and said softly: "Take care."
"treasure."
Futaba nodded and said calmly: "Have a safe journey."
"I'll lend you some good words~"
Zhou Li waved his hand, turned around, looked at the dark cave in front of him, took a deep breath, suppressed the fear in his heart, and jumped down.
Along with the violent fluctuations of space energy, Zhou Li's figure instantly disappeared into the cave. Feeling the empty atmosphere, Carrie pursed her lips and asked softly:
"Your Majesty, why should we let him go?"
Futaba didn't answer. She just stared blankly at the cave for a while, then turned around and said in a cold voice, "Because his mission is not over yet."
"That's all."
After returning to the castle, Shuangye subconsciously walked to Zhou Li's room. She quickly realized that this room was no longer occupied. She covered her chest after a brief silence, with a faint look of confusion on her face.
Why···
Stretching out his hand and pushing open the stone door, Futaba looked at the same empty room as ten days ago, with a trace of hesitation in his eyes. After a moment, she waved her hand, and the Black Mist Knight appeared behind her.
Under Futaba's instructions, two stone sculptures appeared in Futaba's hands. Zhou Li's carving is very good, and the Q-version girl on the stone carving is cute and full of details. The stone sculpture of Carrie shows her catching a crab and showing off to Zhou Li with a bright smile. Futaba, on the other hand, is a sculpture sitting on a stone, quietly looking at the front.
Um?
Looking at his own sculpture, for some reason, Futaba felt a faint strange emotion in his heart. On her sculpture, the all-too-familiar cheek has a smile. Futaba slowly stretched out his index finger and gently touched the raised corner of his mouth.
Buzz! ! !
At this moment, Futaba's heart suddenly experienced violent fluctuations. She didn't hesitate, the black mist immediately enveloped her, and after a gust of wind, her figure appeared in front of the [door].
"Kid, you did something wrong this time."
In front of the cave, a man wearing a silver-white robe and single-rimmed glasses stood quietly in front of the cave. He stared at the cave with countless silver-white ripples, and said to Futaba behind him in a calm voice: "His dimension has not yet stabilized. To Gaia, he is still an alien existence. Those who cross the dimension rashly The door will only make him fall into the complex network woven by the dimension, and then he will be trapped here forever."
"Who are you?!"
Futaba's tone was a little fierce. She looked at the man in front of her with his back to her and asked in a deep voice: "Why did you show up in front of the door?"
"Introduce yourself again."
The man turned around. The standard researcher uniform fit his figure very well, and his name was engraved on the nameplate made of strange material on his chest.
"You can call me Kanbar, or you can call me the God of Time. Of course, I prefer you to call me Dean, which is more cordial."
Kanbar smiled, looked at the stunned girl in front of him, and said calmly: "My child, it is wrong for you to let Zhou Li come into contact with this place in advance."
"He was dying."
Futaba calmed down. She knew that the power and laws of the god in front of her were very terrifying. "If I don't save him..."
"Of course someone will save him."
Kanbar interrupted with a smile, "You should understand that Twelve Hours will not watch Zhou Li die. His mission is not over yet, he must live."
"Where is he now?"
Gritting her teeth, the girl frowned and asked Kanbal: "Where is he now?"
"Um?"
Seeing the girl's anxious look, Kanbar was suddenly stunned and looked up and down at the girl in front of him as if he was surprised. After a moment, Kambal suddenly laughed.
"An overlapping dimension."
He looked at Futaba and said slowly: "The dimension where his hometown overlaps with everything he has experienced here, in short, is the dimension where he wants to live most."
"These dimensions are full of fatal temptations for him, because those dimensions are like a paradise to him. The people he loves are by his side, good friends can be seen at any time, there are no wars, no natural disasters, and no inexplicable disasters. God asked him to save the world.”
"Because it is too beautiful, he cannot escape from those dimensions by his own strength. Even if the dimension he enters is just a line, a one-dimensional line, he cannot escape from that dimension."
Looking at the girl in front of him who was gradually understanding something, Kanbar gently tapped his head with his fingers and said softly: "Because he didn't want to, that's all."
"I'm going."
Futaba looked at Kanbar and repeated, "I'm going to save him."
"save?"
Kanbar smiled weirdly, "You mean, you want to extract him from a beautiful world, and then send him back to a world full of malice towards him, and then tell him that you saved him." ,Is it right?"
"He hasn't returned to the present world yet."
Without answering Kanbar's almost unanswerable question, and without discussing the boundaries between truth and falsehood, the girl took a step forward and said word by word: "Therefore, he is still mine."
"The Black Emperor will never give up on any of his subjects!"
Looking at the girl's golden eyes that were like fire, Kanbar's smile became pure in a brief trance.
"very nice···"
He stared at the girl in front of him, then turned sideways and made a gesture of invitation.
"In that case, I will not delay His Majesty the Black Emperor."
"please."
Futaba didn't waste any words. She walked straight to the edge of the hollow and looked at the intertwined lines under her feet. She asked Kanbar, who was standing with a smile on her side, "How should I find him?"
"Let nature take its course and you will see him."
These were the last words Futaba heard.
When Futaba opened her eyes again, a whole new world came into view.
A forest made of reinforced concrete, a speeding iron box, and a busy crowd.
besides···
"Beautiful Earth starts with me"
A language I had never heard but understood.
