At this point, all the secrets buried within this world had been revealed.
Why did these Beast-Eared Girls view gods as food? Because it was a divine command, a "tradition" ingrained in them since birth.
However, while they upheld this God-Eater tradition, it didn't mean these Beast-Eared Girls lacked reverence for their gods. On the contrary, they held them in utmost reverence and faithfully obeyed their divine commands, relentlessly hunting monsters generation after generation without pause.
After reading through the entire diary, Lingsha fell into silence. Though it was merely lines of text, she felt as if she had witnessed the entire life of the Chief Scientist.
The immense pressure she bore when the hope of all humanity rested on the Seventh Laboratory.
Under that pressure, she was swallowed by the overwhelming joy of a "false success," only to face the catastrophic deaths of everyone in the Seventh Laboratory.
On the verge of despair, the discovery of parallel worlds rekindled her hope.
A century of research yielded nothing but exhaustion.
Finally, at the cost of her own life, she forged this world, teetering on the brink of destruction, into an impregnable fortress.
The Chief Scientist's life had been a rollercoaster of ups and downs. Even just reading her diaries, Lingsha felt a complex mix of emotions. She couldn't begin to imagine what the Chief Scientist herself must have experienced.
From any perspective, the Chief Scientist deserved the title of "hero."
Ikezawa, who had watched the entire presentation alongside Lingsha, remarked with mixed feelings, "She was a truly admirable person."
Meanwhile, Li, the blonde-haired girl, had long since fallen asleep standing up. Hui, the black-haired girl, stared intently at the Chief Scientist on the screen and murmured, "Is the person in that metal box the Lord God from before?"
Turning to Lingsha, Hui pointed at the computer and asked, "Is there any way to get inside that metal box? I really want to talk to her..."
Hui hadn't understood any of the earlier experimental logs or diary entries, nor did she grasp the significance of the final video. She had nearly fallen asleep herself, but the moment the Chief Scientist appeared on screen, she had snapped awake.
Hui didn't know how the Lord God had died, nor did she understand the origins of her ancestors. All she could express was the simplest, most heartfelt desire in her heart:
"If only I could talk to Lord God," the child murmured.
Lingsha didn't know how to answer. She simply reached out and gently patted the head of the dark-haired Beast-Eared Girl, shaking her head slightly.
It then dawned on Lingsha that while humanity in this world had perished, the Chief Scientist might have created a new civilization in her final moments. Over time, these Beast-Eared Girls had gradually evolved. What would they feel when their intelligence finally allowed them to understand the contents of this diary?
After waking Li, the group left the laboratory. Having uncovered the secrets of this world, their next challenge was finding a way to escape.
Lingsha, of course, didn't mind. In fact, she had secretly left behind a locator device sent by Elysia through the Chat Group. Sakura Prefecture's Dimensional Rift technology was well-established; the difficulty lay in pinpointing the coordinates. But with accurate coordinates, building a stable, two-way portal was child's play.
In other words, even if Lingsha left this world now, she could simply order Elysia to procure any herbs from here in the future.
But Ikezawa didn't know this. To him, leaving meant truly leaving, with no possibility of return. The question that had been weighing on him the most was finally out in the open.
After a moment of hesitation, he looked at Li, whose eyes were still a little hazy, and asked, "Li, would you be willing to leave this world with me?"
Li yawned and tilted her head. "Leave? This world?"
Ikezawa could have easily tricked or coaxed her into agreeing; Li would undoubtedly have fallen for it. But he chose instead to explain slowly and honestly.
All Beast-Eared Girls had evolved from ordinary dogs. This explained Li's earlier behavior: her spinning like a top during baths, her "enjoying" incomprehensible videos with Lingsha and Ikezawa at the Third Laboratory, and her uncanny ability to sense others' emotions—sharing their joy and sadness.
Li's golden hair and pointed ears made it easy to guess that her ancestors were likely Golden Retrievers, a breed renowned for its gentle and cheerful temperament.
After roughly understanding that leaving this world meant never returning home, Li shook her head decisively, her voice tinged with sadness. "I'm about to come of age," she said. "I'll be joining the Hunting Team to hunt monsters. I can't leave."
Surprisingly, Li's primary concern wasn't the impossibility of returning home, but the fact that leaving with Ikezawa would prevent her from fulfilling her adult responsibilities.
Ikezawa countered, "But the Hunting Team has so many members. Surely one less person wouldn't make a difference, right?"
Li's strength was undoubtedly far inferior to that of the seasoned hunters. With so many more capable warriors leading the charge, her participation seemed inconsequential.
Yet Li tilted her head in genuine confusion, asking in the simplest tone, "What does the number of hunters have to do with my hunting monsters?"
Li had never given much thought to the size or strength of the Hunting Team. She was currently running around with Lingsha and Ikezawa partly because she liked them so much, and partly because she was naturally playful, like a mischievous puppy.
Yet she was also keenly aware of her duty. Once she came of age, she would join the Hunting Team's operations without hesitation.
Hearing this, Ikezawa fell silent. He felt as if his selfish desires were tainting a pure soul. After a moment, he seemed to have made up his mind. He turned to Lingsha and said, "Lingsha, you should leave through the Chat Group. I'm not going."
"The worlds where the Group Members live aren't my original world. While they're peaceful and comfortable, they're just as foreign to me as this one."
"I have no friends or family in the Group Members' worlds. If I went there, I'd probably just end up holed up at home, drifting through life. I'd rather stay here. At least, right now, there's something here I cherish."
"I know I can't become a hero like the Chief Scientist, but I don't want to do anything I'll regret in the future."
P.S.: Since the Chief Scientist only kept dogs, there are Doggirls but no Cat Girls.
(TL Note: (╥_╥))