Sea Circle Calendar, Year 1503.
October 1st.
In the vastness of space, Borsalino had arrived at his first destination.
Jupiter!
A green planet with no oceans, only lakes of varying sizes.
The entire world was overrun by flowers, grass, and trees.
Even the so-called living creatures were, in truth, miraculous plants with instinctive awareness, preying upon one another.
Everywhere there were fresh fruits, edible plants—vegetation that, despite being plants in essence, had the appearance and taste of ham, ramen, candy, and countless other foods.
It was practically a planetary-scale Boin Archipelago!
Imu watched the images transmitted back by Borsalino.
It almost felt as though the man had stumbled into the world of Toriko.
Thankfully, he hadn't.
Still, Imu ordered Borsalino and Enel to return to Starfish.
They had to come back in order to collect Namikaze Minato's Flying Thunder God kunai, then set out again for those planets, planting the kunai in stable locations.
...
Three months remained until the New Year.
Neither the World Government nor Imu intended to stir up any major incidents during this time.
They would rest, recover, and let things pass smoothly.
Besides, there was still a mountain of affairs to handle in the Shinobi World.
It was worth mentioning—Akame truly had not disappointed.
Not long after she returned to the Empire in the Teigu World, she successfully became the wielder of The Complete Book Of The World: Rongo Rongo.
Now she had already traveled to the Shinobi World, working with officials from the Department of Mineral Resources to record a detailed map of the shinobi continent, while also searching for the Gelel Stone Veins.
In this way, with the Murasame already in her hands, Akame had become a "dual Teigu wielder."
Originally, it would have been extremely difficult for her to wield two Teigu at the same time.
Such a burden would place immense strain on both mind and body, and frequent use even risked total collapse.
But now, after having been injected with the "Perfect-Type Cellular Enhancement Serum" combined with the awakening and training of Haki—whether in stamina, spirit, or willpower, she had more than enough to support wielding both Murasame and Rongo Rongo.
...
Zero Magic World.
The Sahara Desert.
In the former capital of the Elven Kingdom, a tall tower stood on the shore of the azure lake, like a sharp longsword piercing straight into the sky.
It had once been the main council tower of the Elves, its top floor terrace serving as the council hall.
However, ever since the Elves migrated en masse to the Starfish, this place had become Shiki's command center, while the surrounding district served as the headquarters for his aerial corps.
As for the nearly 400,000-strong auxiliary army composed of units from various other worlds, they had pitched tents farther away, standing guard day and night over the so-called Elven Holy Land—the Gate of World.
Originally, the "Holy Land" was located deep within the great lake.
This would surely pose a serious obstacle to the World Government's next moves.
Thus, Shiki immediately used the power of the Float-Float Fruit to draw out all the water, suspending it high in the air for his men to use daily, while sealing the outlets beneath.
In this way, the lake became a valley.
Now, the auxiliary army had completely transformed this place into a fortress-covered military base. Bunkers lined the valley, cannons and tanks all aimed at the center, while fully armed soldiers carrying rifles could be seen everywhere.
It was just then that a group arrived before the great gate outside the valley.
This gate was made entirely of steel, with the word "Justice" painted in white across its face.
"Saito, do you think they're planning to invade your world?"
Louise looked around with a face full of worry as she spoke in a low voice.
"Probably." Saito shook his head helplessly. There was nothing he could do about it.
Walking beside the two were Tabitha, Kirche, Tiffania, Siesta, and the "female rhyme dragon" Illococoo in her human form. All of them wore equally heavy expressions.
Because they all knew exactly why the World Government had summoned Louise here.
The World Government was going to invade Saito's homeland.
"As I thought, I should just refuse. As long as I don't open the Gate, they can't do anything reckless!"
Louise leaned close to Saito's ear and whispered.
"This won't do!"
Saito's face changed, and he quickly stopped her. "If you do that, who knows what they'll do to you!"
In truth, he had been dreaming a lot lately.
Dreams of a story from a thousand years ago—about the "Founder of Magic," Brimir, and the first Gandálfr, a woman named Sasha.
In those vivid dreams, he had personally witnessed Brimir using magic to destroy mountains and wipe out most of the Elves.
In the end, it was Sasha, an Elf, who struck him down with the "Sword of Wisdom, Derflinger" at her back, stopping Brimir from utterly annihilating everything.
Saito wasn't stupid.
As a transmigrator, he still possessed the basic ability to reason logically.
At a time like this, to be having such dreams…
More than likely, some unseen existence was sending him a message.
But was that message telling him to imitate the first Gandálfr—to kill Louise with his own sword in order to stop her from opening the "World Gate" and allowing the World Government to invade the modern world on the other side?
The thought had plunged Saito into unbearable torment, a hellish struggle within himself.
On one side was his homeland, the fate of billions of people. On the other, the girl he loved most.
Through the journey until now, he had never been able to decide.
But when Louise told him she would refuse the World Government, his instinct had been to stop her immediately.
At that moment, Saito understood—deep down, he had already made his choice.
The one he loved most was Louise!
He could not bear for this girl to suffer any harm because of it.
As for everyone else back in his homeland—he could only admit his own helplessness.
"But…"
Just as Louise pressed her lips together to speak again, a strange, wild laugh suddenly came from behind them.
"Shihahaha!"
"So it finally begins? I've waited for this day—waited in bitter agony for far too long!"
Louise and Saito both turned to look.
There, striding toward them with a group at his back, was a man with golden hair that flowed down to the ground. His frame was towering and broad, his presence like that of a golden lion from myth. Draped in a billowing blue coat, he exuded a force that made the air itself seem heavy.
"General Golden Lion, the orders from Headquarters weren't for you to formally advance. It was just to open the Gate and send these shinobi from Umigakure inside to carry out the infiltration mission."
His adjutant, Budo, hurriedly reminded the great man.
"I know!"
"But at the very least, this proves the World Government is ready to move. And I might as well see for myself what difference there is between this 'World Gate' and the 'Dimensional Gate'!"
Shiki waved his hand carelessly and laughed.
At the side, Yamanaka Inoichi, Uchiha Tekka, and the twenty other jōnin and chūnin could only exchange wry smiles.
They were the first wave of shinobi. Once they secured a foothold on the other side, Umigakure would continue dispatching task forces, scattering them across the great nations of that world.
"General Golden Lion, this is the Void Mage capable of opening the 'World Gate'—Miss Louise!"
A black-clad official from the Other Worlds Strategic Committee stepped forward, raising his palm to point at the small girl within the crowd.
"Hmph. As long as she doesn't falter at the critical moment, that's fine."
Shiki merely cast a glance downward at the somewhat frightened Louise, then lost interest and lifted his gaze instead to the "Lesser Gate of Justice" before them, which was slowly opening to both sides.
To him, Louise was nothing more than a tool. As long as she worked, that was enough.
"By the way—how big of a 'Gate' can you open?"
Shiki suddenly thought to ask.
"It depends on my mana. The last time I used it, the Gate was a circular opening about 1 m wide and just over 2 m high. But since this is the 'Gate of World,' I really don't know what will happen here…"
Louise hesitated for a few seconds. Only after seeing Saito give her a faint nod did she dismiss the thought of refusing to answer, and instead honestly explained what she knew.
"Only that small?"
Shiki glared, visibly displeased.
Terrified, Louise hurried to hide behind Saito.
He, along with Tabitha, Kirche, Tiffania, and Siesta, immediately grew tense, even taking up defensive stances.
Shiki's mere release of pressure was so overwhelming that it struck real terror into their bodies, leaving them stiff and trembling.
"Ahem, General Golden Lion, this time we're infiltrating in secret. A smaller 'Gate' is exactly what we need," Yamanaka Inoichi quickly explained.
The official added at once, "When your full forces advance, we'll prepare sufficient mana sources. At that time, Miss Louise will surely be able to open a much larger Gate."
"So that's how it is? Good enough then. Move, move, move—let's head inside! Shihahaha!"
Shiki's anger instantly gave way to laughter.
Without sparing a glance at the pale-faced Saito, Louise, and the others, he strode ahead into the valley base.
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