A New Group Member

"So this was the Tenseigan?" Ling Yuan reached out and gently touched the corner of his eye.

Countless ways to use the Tenseigan appeared in his mind.

He could even unleash devastating moves like Golden Wheel Reincarnation Explosion without needing a Truth-Seeking Orb.

On top of that, he had received All-Encompassing, a system reward for defeating Ruonan.

Now he truly had both offense and defense covered.

When he obtained the Tenseigan, the system seemed to have given him another technique as well: Tenchu Force.

Tenchu Force allowed its user to instantly swap places with a target object, provided it was within a certain range.

It gave him something akin to teleportation on top of his perfect defense.

He had more skills now, but...

"I still feel like I can't quite handle them." Ling Yuan rubbed his brow.

Both the Tenseigan and his own abilities needed practice.

After all, he was still a novice who had possessed his powers for less than a week.

He had only beaten Ruonan by relying on Ophis's power.

"All right! I'll go find him!"

When it came to a sparring partner, only one person really fit the bill.

"What the hell is that ability?! How did you swap places with me in an instant?"

Inside the Dimensional Battlefield, Laxus, in Dragon Force Mode, slammed his fist into the ground.

He turned toward Ling Yuan, who had landed nearby, and spoke through gritted teeth.

He couldn't land a hit at all!

"Sorry. I bet it'd really hurt if you hit me, and I'm a little afraid of pain." Ling Yuan scratched his neck sheepishly.

Maple: "I know! I know exactly how that feels!"

Now that was a subject she could get excited about.

Laxus fell silent for a moment, then said seriously, "Ling Yuan, your power is incredible, but your fighting technique is an absolute mess."

"From now on, no more of those weird abilities. Fight me using your own strength!"

"Mm, I'll try," Ling Yuan said.

You want me to stand there and let you beat me up? Dream on.

Over the days that followed,

Ling Yuan split his time between writing code and training in the Dimensional Battlefield: hand-to-hand combat with Laxus, swordsmanship with Ren Kouen, and shooting.

Not with a spear—with a handgun.

Among the dead controlled by Black Pupil's Imperial Arm, Yatsufusa, was Doya, a female assassin from the northern tribes who specialized in dual pistols. She was a perfect sparring partner for Ling Yuan's Blazing Key.

Black Pupil had a sharp tongue, but she was kind at heart.

Each time, she did her best to control Doya and help Ling Yuan train.

And so five days passed.

Ding! Today's check-in is available. Would you like to check in?

"Has another week gone by already?"

Ling Yuan had just woken up when the voice in his mind made him pause.

"Check in."

Ling Yuan answered without hesitation.

Ding! Congratulations, Master. You have received one invitation for a group member of your choice.

"You can get something like that too?"

Ding! Yes, Master. Before it was reintegrated, the check-in system was a system in its own right. It still has that authority.

"Then..." Ling Yuan thought for a moment, and his eyes lit up. "Can you invite Blue Fatty?"

"..."

Ding! Yes!

The system answered after a moment of silence.

Clearly, it hadn't expected Ling Yuan to choose that world.

Based on what it knew of him, it had thought he would invite Seele or Hu Tao.

Instead, he had chosen Blue Fatty—Doraemon.

The system's answer delighted Ling Yuan.

That world had no shortage of mysterious gadgets, and every one of them seemed to treat the rules of reality as optional.

If he could, he was tempted to copy the protagonist of a novel he had once read.

That protagonist also had a group chat. After inviting Nobita to join, he talked Nobita into taking him to the future in a time machine.

Then he looted the Secret Gadget Museum and kicked Nobita out of the chat.

Of course, Ling Yuan didn't think he could bring himself to be quite that shameless.

New Group Member

Ding! Blue Fatty has joined the group chat!

The notification stirred up the once-quiet group chat.

Maple: "Welcome, newcomer! Throws flowers"

Sanjat: "Welcome."

Katarina: "Blue Fatty? Is he a fat guy who's feeling blue, or a fat guy who's literally blue?"

Eighth Princess: "Hmm. Either way, he's fat."

Ling Yuan: "No need to guess. He's just a raccoon dog."

Ling Yuan jumped in and put a stop to the group's wild guesses.

That immediately drew Blue Fatty out of his silent observation.

Blue Fatty: "I'm not a raccoon dog! I'm a cat! A cat! Get that straight!"

Ling Yuan: "Yashiro Dora, reporting for duty!"

Blue Fatty: "???"

Akame: "Is there any need to get that worked up?"

Blue Fatty: "Of course there is! It's like someone telling you you're not human!"

First Prince: "Ummm."

Lightning Dragon Slayer: "Hongyan, you're such a dork."

First Prince: "Just trying out a different style."

Akame: "It doesn't suit you. Please don't."

Maple: "@Blue Fatty, aren't you curious about the group chat?"

Blue Fatty: "Oh, I got so worked up that I forgot."

Blue Fatty: "What is this place? A mental space? It switches freely between reality and illusion, but my scanner didn't find anything wrong with the chip in my brain."

Doraemon tapped his head in surprise.

Even with twenty-second-century technology... well, equipment he'd picked up secondhand, he couldn't figure it out.

Katarina: "Newcomer, tap the group icon. It has the answers you're looking for."

Blue Fatty: "? It isn't a virus, is it?"

Ling Yuan: "Do you think we'd poison a raccoon dog?"

Blue Fatty: "Stop calling me a raccoon dog!"

He grumbled in protest.

Then Doraemon lightly tapped the group chat icon.

In an instant, a torrent of information flooded his mind.

The receiver chip in his brain flashed.

A moment later, Doraemon had finished processing the vast amount of data.

"Parallel worlds?" he murmured, looking far from surprised.

"A group chat connecting multiple dimensions? Isn't that just like the Time Patrol?"

The guardians of space-time traveled between past and future, fighting temporal crimes to preserve or alter the course of history.

He had seen things like that before. Twenty-second-century Earth had established relations with many parallel worlds—the world of magic, the insect world, the world of cats and dogs, and more. The leaders of those civilizations had even formed a group of their own.

Its Group Owner's identity, however, remained a mystery.

Yet the leaders of every civilization seemed to hold that Group Owner in great respect.

Once he had sorted through the information, Blue Fatty entered the group chat.

Blue Fatty: "Hello, everyone. My name is Doraemon. I'm a childcare robot from the twenty-second century."

Eighth Princess: "A childcare... robot?"

Ling Yuan: "Don't let appearances fool you. He's the leader of gods."

Katarina: "!"

Katarina: "D-Doraemon?!"

Katarina was tending her vegetables when she saw the name, and she froze.

That name had been part of her entire childhood.

She had always dreamed of those endlessly inventive gadgets. She had never imagined she would meet him this way.

Blue Fatty: "Do you know me?"

Maple: "@Blue Fatty, I know you too."

Blue Fatty: "???"

Doraemon was puzzled. Was he really that famous in other worlds?

The twenty-second century.

Deep within the Time-Space Administration Bureau.

An elderly man with white hair at his temples was writing something at his desk.

"Director, an unknown entity has approached it." A voice suddenly sounded from the void.

The voice was deeply respectful toward the old man.

The old man, however, showed no surprise. His pen never stopped moving. "I already know. You may go."

He gently set down his pen and closed the book lying open on the desk.

"Now that the old chronicle has ended, has a new future appeared with the opening of the next chapter?"

"But if this is your choice..." As he spoke, the old man slowly raised his head.

There, an immense white sphere of light hung before him.

"What came next, if I recall correctly, was..."