(A/N: Gene Lock is like Genetic Constraint from Terror Infinity.)
— — — — — — —
A few days later—
[Group Notification: Member 'Catwoman' sent a directed red envelope to 'Ordinary Person']
[Catwoman:@Ordinary Person, this is the last batch. Click to receive it. If I missed anything, I'll send it again later.]
[Ordinary Person: Got it. Thanks a lot, guys.]
Just as he was in the middle of helping Houraisan Kaguya with house renovations, Veyron saw the mention, replied in the chat, and casually tapped open the red envelope Selena sent.
Heading to the window—
Whoosh—
Several storage boxes stuffed with all kinds of modern 21st-century living supplies appeared neatly in the clearing outside.
"More stuff?"
Standing on her tiptoes and peering out, Kaguya raised an eyebrow.
"Last batch. Once we're done with the inside, I'll organize the stuff outside. Then we're officially done with this wave," Veyron said as he picked her up, giving her a better view of the stacked boxes outside.
"Thank goodness for your ability, or we'd need twice as much gear just for this round alone—not to mention the maintenance later on."
"Heh, you don't say~" Kaguya grinned proudly, chin up.
Her power was the ability to manipulate "Eternity" and "the moment."
"Eternity" meant she could freeze an object's time in a single moment forever.
"The moment" allowed her to slip between one moment and the next, essentially granting her endless time.
So after they struck a deal with Fubuki, Gwen, and Selena to source supplies from their own worlds, the very first thing Veyron did when the goods arrived was ask Kaguya to bless them with "Eternity."
Lights that would stay bright forever, even if unplugged. Diesel generators that ran endlessly without fuel. Sofas and carpets that never got dirty, always perfectly clean.
Time-based powers? Absolutely broken.
"Stop spacing out and let's finish up. I wanna try those entertainment setups you said are from over a thousand years in the future."
She patted Veyron's shoulder and hopped down from his arms. Barefoot, she padded over the new carpet—far more comfortable than the old bamboo mat—and smiled with satisfaction.
After a flurry of work, the bamboo house was once again restored to its "Eternal" state, with almost everything inside locked in that perfect moment.
As long as Kaguya didn't cancel her ability, even if the whole house got demolished, it would restore itself instantly.
That's the real meaning behind the name "Eientei" (House of Eternity).
"Whew~"
Exhaling deeply, Kaguya nodded toward the door. "Need help with the stuff outside?"
"Nah, I got it. Go have fun."
"Then I'll leave it to you, dear Daddy~"
Waving cheerfully, Kaguya dashed off to her room.
Veyron slipped on his shoes at the entryway and went outside to sort all the grains, fruits, veggies, seasonings, paper goods, and other supplies.
About half an hour later—
Storage goods are placed properly in the storeroom, perishables sent to the basement fridge. With the yard cleared, Veyron resumed his daily training.
"1... 2... 3... 50... 100..."
Each serious slash earned him a system notification: [Basic Swordsmanship (Lv.27) gained 1 EXP.]
Even though he pulled the Gene Lock during the group's guaranteed draw, it wasn't something you could activate at will. It needed intense focus and mental fortitude to unlock.
And to truly use the Gene Lock system to its fullest, you needed to integrate it with other systems—and reach the fourth stage, where it evolves into a true transformation.
So for now, sword practice was still his top priority.
"300... 350... 400..."
Hmm?
Someone pinged me?
Pulling up the group chat, Veyron saw he wasn't the only one tagged.
[Earth's Cancer:@Everyone I'm dropping a pic—spot the difference.]
[Earth's Cancer: (Image.jpg)]
[Snake Empress: Is that... Lady Avalon, Merlin?]
She was shocked at the beautiful white-haired, violet-eyed woman snuggled up next to Fujiwara Chika in the selfie.
[Snake Empress: How'd you get there? Did Merlin invent some cross-world summoning magic?!]
[Lady Avalon: No—even magic's not that busted.]
[Hellish Blizzard: Okay but seriously—how did you even get there? @Earth's Cancer]
[Catwoman: Yeah, spill it.]
[Ghost Spider: (Observing silently.jpg)]
[Earth's Cancer: Just check the group tasks, you'll get it~]
Curious, Veyron opened the group mission tab. Where it had once been blank, there was now a mission titled: [The Lost Teacup]
The description said Merlin once had a favorite teacup she lost somewhere. The mission was to help her find it and return it to her personally. The reward? A heartfelt thank-you.
He tapped "Accept."
Instantly, a prompt popped up:
[You and the mission target are not in the same world. Use the coordinates provided by the task issuer to begin transfer?]
[Ghost Spider: Hmm...]
[Ghost Spider: So we're bugging the system now?]
[Earth's Cancer: Nope! It's an official feature! (Seriously)]
[Earth's Cancer: Look, I'm already with Merlin and the system didn't warn or stop me. That means the group probably just forgot to mention the group tasks can do this.]
[Ghost Spider: ...]
[Catwoman: So you didn't call us here just to flex this, right?]
[Earth's Cancer: Well... I had an idea.]
[Earth's Cancer: Think about it. Before Veyron joined, the last person to enter the group was you. That was over five months ago, right?]
[Earth's Cancer: We couldn't do anything like this before. But now that we know tasks can be used for cross-world travel... why don't we plan a meetup?]
[Catwoman: I'm in. Ask the others.]
[Ghost Spider: YES! I've always wanted to explore other worlds!]
[Hellish Blizzard: Agree. Let's treat it like a vacation.]
[Snake Empress: +1]
[Earth's Cancer: Great. Veyron—what about you?]
[Ordinary Person: ...Me too?]
[Earth's Cancer: Of course! What kind of team outing leaves someone behind? That's textbook American bullying!]
[Catwoman: American bullying?]
[Ghost Spider: I got this one.]
[Ghost Spider: (We're throwing a super cool party, everyone who's anyone is coming... guess who's NOT invited? You~~~.GIF)]
[Catwoman: ...]
[Earth's Cancer: Don't worry about home. Based on my test run to Merlin's place, as long as your world doesn't have "interference"—like another group member present in that world—then when you leave, you can enable a "Space-Time Gap" setting.]
[Earth's Cancer: That way, no matter how long you're gone, when you return it'll be like you never left.]
Chika said that especially for Veryon.
Veyron had already mentioned having a 9-year-old girl at home after all.
.
.
.