Chapter 4: Forced Cooperation
"So... this is what you meant by the conditions for me to use this body?"
The transmigrator was strapped to the instrument, while Stewie, dressed as a mad scientist complete with lab coat, was busy examining him.
He was checking the restraints that secured the body and inserting detection instruments, working with great enthusiasm!
"Of course! After all, this body belongs to my brother, Chris. As an outsider, if you want to use it, you naturally have to give me, his closest relative, a small payment!"
After confirming that the preparations were complete, Stewie hopped off the elevated stool and said with a grin.
Hearing Stewie's words, the transmigrator naturally had nothing more to say.
After all, the principle of "no free lunch" is universal across the multiverse.
And looking at the weapons pointed at him, the transmigrator decided it was wise to go with the flow and just consider it rent.
Seeing that the transmigrator remained silent, Stewie continued to ask, "So, do you have any more questions? If not, I'm going to start the experiment!"
"Uh..." The transmigrator actually had a lot more to say, but remembering Stewie's various schemes in the cartoons, he ultimately chose an irrelevant question: "Can those weapons actually be used? There isn't even a firing mechanism; it's completely unscientific!"
"Seriously!?"
Stewie looked at the transmigrator in surprise. He somewhat suspected that this guy had been infected by his moronic older brother's soul, asking such a question at such a critical moment!
But it didn't matter. For his experiment to proceed smoothly, it was better to satisfy this guy's curiosity.
After all, he still needed to leverage the transmigrator's spatiotemporal characteristics to study other multiverses!
He couldn't let such a trivial matter delay the experiment's progress.
"Pocket dimension technology, a scientific breakthrough modified from some kind of spatial compression theory, can open up independent storage spaces, which are perfect for storing weapons!"
"Got it!"
Having learned the answer, the transmigrator nodded with resignation, then allowed Stewie to do as he pleased with a faint sense of acceptance.
However, his demeanor displeased the usually confident Stewie. It seemed he was being underestimated by this guy!
"Hey! What exactly are you thinking? Do you think I'm some hack scientist who conducts experiments without any safety measures, casually performing destructive research on valuable test subjects, and then causing catastrophic disasters like some unhinged madman?"
Looking at Stewie, who had suddenly burst into a tirade, the transmigrator was at a loss for words.
He couldn't possibly say that in the cartoon, Stewie's track record was even worse than those garbage scientists he just mentioned, could he?
If he actually said that, he probably wouldn't die on the path of scientific exploration, but would be directly blasted into hamburger meat by those autocannons, right?
He truly hoped that he could recover just like Chris in the cartoon, by the next scene.
Stewie saw the transmigrator displaying the exact same spaced-out expression as his older brother, and knew that his words had fallen on deaf ears.
He huffed in annoyance but took no action, instead walking to his control panel.
He, Stewie Griffin, would prove with his actions that he never made empty boasts!
No matter who the Stewie in the transmigrator's memories was, in this world, he had never made a mistake!
"Come on! Let me see what other multiverses look like! And let me see what kind of lunatic my parallel universe self is, to have scared this guy so badly!"
As Stewie muttered to himself, energy from other dimensions was instantly extracted by him and then channeled into the spatiotemporal detector he had already constructed.
At some point in the past, the young Stewie one day suddenly became curious about the multiverse.
So he spent an afternoon building a multiverse detector.
Of course, since Stewie was too young at the time, his reasoning was incomplete, and his brain had not fully developed.
Therefore, his detector was only a half-finished prototype, only able to randomly and passively collect information transmitted from other multiverses, and unable to actively collect and transmit information.
Thus, not long after the detector was built, Stewie, upon discovering this limitation, threw the thing aside and went to spend time with Rupert.
It wasn't until now, with the arrival of the transmigrator, that Stewie's curiosity about other multiverses was reignited, prompting him to dig out the device again.
After being cleaned and upgraded, this multiverse detector became a spatiotemporal scanner.
Not only was its detection capability stronger than before, but many new designs were also specifically incorporated.
Among them was the function to investigate and open portals to other multiverses, leveraging the transmigrator's spatiotemporal characteristics.
It was precisely by relying on his existing research foundation that Stewie dared to guarantee that this seemingly rushed experiment would proceed safely.
Otherwise, even with his intelligence and ability, he wouldn't dare to guarantee saving a life during a first-time spatiotemporal experiment.
But now it was the second iteration, so it was naturally a different story. With the experience from the first prototype, he was confident.
As Stewie operated it, several energy dimensions he controlled and modified supplied a massive amount of energy, and then the spatiotemporal detector began to emit detection pulses. At the same time, the transmigrator's spatiotemporal characteristics were activated, serving as a spacetime anchor.
In just an instant, Stewie discovered that the detector had found over a hundred thousand multiverses.
These were all worlds different from their own multiverse, none of which contained his existence, and most didn't even have Earth or humans!
They were existences completely different from their universe.
Such a vast number made Stewie think of many things at once: adventuring, building a spatiotemporal weapon to destroy those worlds, and of course, quickly conquering Earth and leading humanity to develop civilization and establish diplomatic relations with so many universes.
In short, when so many different worlds and different civilizations appeared before Stewie, his thoughts raced, leading to many different potential scenarios.
After only a moment, Stewie turned off the spatiotemporal detector and also erased the cosmic records it had acquired.
"Tsk tsk, I'm still a baby who hasn't even been potty trained, not some ancient philosopher pondering the meaning of existence. My adventure hasn't even begun; at least wait until I graduate kindergarten!"
His short arms flailed wildly, dispelling the random thoughts in his mind.
Then he noticed the transmigrator, who looked like he'd been through a washing machine cycle.
Countless energies filled the spatiotemporal detector, and a small portion of the feedback connected to the transmigrator through the scanner. Thus, he, serving as the spatiotemporal anchor, was flooded with energy.
In just an instant, he blissfully passed out.
Fortunately, the transmigrator's soul had been tempered by the endless void, and Chris's body was clearly extraordinary, which prevented any serious complications.
After checking with the instruments, Stewie finally relaxed.
Otherwise, if something unexpected really happened, it would be way too embarrassing for him.
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