A Little Reassurance After Waking Up

After all, the Sea of Quantum was far too mysterious. Someone who had drifted within it was an excellent research subject.

However, after giving him a simple facial cleaning, Otto unexpectedly discovered that the boy's features seemed somewhat familiar.

Then, after noticing the silver necklace on him, opening its simple mechanism, and seeing the family photograph inside, Otto instantly understood everything—

Though the Sea of Quantum was mysterious and dangerous, according to the available information, it contained many World Bubbles that were both similar to and different from the Eigenworld.

Then it was not impossible that, in some World Bubble, there was an Otto Apocalypse who had walked the right path and ultimately married Kallen and had children with her, right?

After realizing the identity of the unconscious boy Bianca had accidentally brought back, Otto could not help feeling a complicated swirl of emotions.

As a tempest long absent from his heart surged once more, Otto's gaze toward him finally no longer held the amused interest with which he regarded an interesting lab rat. Instead, it carried a rare hint of concern.

Of course, to avoid making a fool of himself—and because he wanted to see what kind of future the version of himself who had taken the right path would have with Kallen—Otto still used the imitation Feather of Dust.

Yet to Otto's disappointment, perhaps because the child had suffered some sort of accident, his memories were muddled and fragmented.

Under those circumstances, Otto did not see much of his memories, yet he spent considerable effort stabilizing his mind.

Fortunately, in one fragment of memory, Otto saw his middle-aged self leading this frail child to pay respects before a small grave mound, carefully wiping a plain, unremarkable tombstone.

There were only a few simple words on the tombstone—

"Grave of my late wife, Kallen."

Yet although the subsequent conversation between father and son confirmed the answer Otto wanted, he could not feel the slightest bit happy about the information he had obtained—

Because of injuries sustained in her early years, Kallen had passed away not long after giving birth to the child.

How could Kallen's body have been so badly weakened, or even led to her death, merely by childbirth?

Clearly, the Otto of that world had done the same thing. He had simply made a different choice in the end.

After reaching that conclusion, Otto had been overwhelmed with turmoil, but he had already subconsciously placed this child, who had arrived in this world less than half an hour ago, on that special list—at the very top. Even his most beloved granddaughter, Theresa, paled in comparison.

Even though several days had passed, looking at this family photograph again still filled Otto with countless thoughts that were hard to settle.

Yet none of those countless thoughts affected Otto in the slightest. He merely stared fixedly at the family of three in the photograph, his gaze gradually drifting into the distance...

Click...

Suddenly, there came another sound of a mechanism turning. The pendant in Otto's hand sprang open again, and the layer holding the photograph lifted, revealing a third layer beneath it.

"?"

Having stopped after seeing the family photograph and no longer having any interest in examining the simple silver necklace, Otto blinked and instinctively looked at what had been revealed.

It was a very simple line of writing, crooked and uneven. It was obvious that the person who had written it had been in terrible condition.

Yet that crooked little line stirred Otto's heart once again—

"Child, grow up well. Mommy loves you."

There were no expectations for the future, nor any goals for the child. There was only the simplest concern of a mother who could not accompany her child as he grew up.

"Kallen..."

Looking at those small words, Otto seemed to see Kallen lying in bed, her face pale as gold paper, gazing lovingly at the swaddled infant. The nails of one hand had already dug deeply into his palm, yet the hand holding the necklace remained steady as a mountain, not causing the necklace the slightest damage.

Meanwhile, You Lan Dai Er and Rita, who had jogged all the way back, had returned to their dormitory.

"Lord You Lan Dai Er, please wait a moment. Rita will prepare lunch for you at once."

After glancing at the clock and realizing there was still time, Rita calmed her breathing as she prepared to head for the kitchen.

However, before Rita could take a step, You Lan Dai Er grabbed her—

"Rita, we already spent a lot of time at the medical department this afternoon.

If you start cooking now, you won't have time to rest.

There's still some of yesterday's dinner left. I'll heat it up a little. We'll fill our stomachs and hurry up to get some rest."

Pulling Rita by the hand and pressing her onto the sofa, You Lan Dai Er quickly headed toward the kitchen.

"Lord You Lan Dai Er..."

Rita habitually wanted to say something, but You Lan Dai Er cut her off directly—

"Rita, you already spent a lot of energy taking care of the injured person. Rest properly now, so you'll have the energy to study this afternoon.

If we do not train well enough, then once we get to the battlefield, we will not even be able to protect ourselves. How can we save people who need help, like him?

And one more thing... you are not allowed to call me 'my lady'!"

Before she had even finished speaking, You Lan Dai Er had already dashed into the kitchen and begun fussing over lunch.

"..."

Listening to the refrigerator opening and the microwave running in the kitchen, Rita, who was indeed somewhat tired, set aside her thoughts. She leaned back slightly against the sofa, taking advantage of this rare bit of free time to rest properly.

Though there was no possibility of changing how she addressed her, Rita agreed very much with the first half of You Lan Dai Er's words.

Gwen's pale, weak face flashed through her mind, and Rita could not help sighing softly.

Compared with the fiery You Lan Dai Er, the more attentive Rita had already vaguely guessed that doctor's identity. Because of that, she could not help worrying about Gwen's future.

That child had a very poor physical foundation. Hopefully Lord Bishop would show a little mercy...

A Small Sense of Relief After Waking Up

No one knew how long had passed before the sleeping consciousness slowly awakened. Scattered, illusory images quietly flashed by, like a string of dreamlike bubbles appearing beside a ghost slowly rising from the depths of a dark sea.

Yet although those dreamlike memories left faint marks upon Gwen's consciousness, to Gwen, it only felt as though he were shrouded in a heavy fog, his body burdened by an indescribable weight.

Those memories, fleeting as bursting bubbles, were quickly swallowed by the heavy fog.

Only when darkness gradually gave way to light, the vast whiteness becoming almost blinding, did Gwen instinctively close his eyes and try to raise a hand to shield them.

However...

He could not move his hand.

The restraint around his hand made the newly awakened Gwen feel extremely uncomfortable. He instinctively struggled, only to feel a piercing pain.

Stimulated by that cold pain, Gwen's consciousness quickly cleared.

Blinking hard, Gwen's eyes adapted to the room's harsh light as everything that had happened before he lost consciousness surfaced in his mind.

Before he could sort through the still-chaotic memories in his mind, he squinted through eyes that had yet to fully adjust to the light and examined the room he was in.

After glancing around and confirming that he was still in that private hospital room, Gwen closed his eyes and began searching for the two cheats that could help him escape danger.

Though they seemed to have been damaged when he crashed into them, that did not stop Gwen from treating them as his only support right now.

Even if he might possess the common transmigrator buff of having a powerful soul, Gwen, who still had some self-awareness, did not believe he could withstand that old bastard Otto's Feather of Dust treatment.

Very quickly, Gwen's concern that he would have to enter his mental space to see his cheats vanished—

The blue-and-gold interface of the Chat Group appeared in his field of vision at his command.

With a thought, he clicked on his own avatar. The upgrade system interface popped up, and seeing his exceptionally conspicuous EX-rank Spirit, Gwen breathed a sigh of relief.

For now, this was Gwen's only reliance for withstanding the Feather of Dust treatment.

Though it would be equally dangerous if Otto realized he had not been controlled by Feather of Dust, that was still better than having the other side strip him bare down to his underwear.

As for acting well enough to fool Otto, that five-hundred-year-old fox?

The self-awareness of Gwen, an ordinary college graduate, told him that he could not do it.

After confirming that he really had obtained two cheats and that it had not been an illusion, Gwen finally had the time to sort through the somewhat chaotic memories in his mind.

Getting his palm smacked for making mistakes on a math test?

That was his own memory.

Getting up after five in the morning for intensive running drills?

That was his own memory.

Accompanying an adult to sweep a grave in the snow?

After giving it some thought, Gwen was certain that he had never visited such a grave.

It should have belonged to the original owner of this body, right?

Or had Otto implanted false memories into this Experimental Subject?

While guessing at the origins of those memories, Gwen quickly sorted through and distinguished the newly acquired memories in his mind.

As for the worst possibility—that Otto had already given him a Feather of Dust treatment while he was unconscious...

Gwen could only sincerely hope he had not encountered such a terrible situation. He continued opening the Chat Group and searched for a way to invite people into it.

If he truly ended up being locked away as a lab rat, Gwen could only try to see whether he could hide in one of his group members' worlds.

However, before Gwen could find a way to invite someone, the ward door opened. Having mostly sorted out his memories, Gwen helplessly opened his eyes and greeted the visitor with his gaze—

By Gwen's estimation, he was most likely at Destiny Headquarters.

For an ordinary person to pretend to be asleep in front of doctors, nurses, or Valkyries... Gwen felt that was probably not a wise choice. It would only increase their suspicions.

What made Gwen relax slightly was that the person who appeared in his vision was not the blond young man he most wanted to avoid right now, but You Lan Dai Er and Rita, whom he had met when he first woke up.

"You're awake?!"

Seeing Gwen open his eyes again, joy immediately appeared on You Lan Dai Er's little face. She instinctively wanted to step forward, but then recalled that she seemed to have hurt Gwen last time. She forcefully stopped herself and merely stood beside the bed. She wanted to get closer to inspect him, yet worried that she would cause trouble again. The slight conflict on her face made Rita, who was still standing at the foot of the bed, narrow her eyes with a faint gleam.

Seeing the adorable expression on Dumb Goose's face, Gwen's complexion, which had recovered some color, showed a gentle smile as he spoke.

"Hello, You Lan Dai Er... that is your name, right?"

After sorting through his memories just now, Gwen's grasp of that unfamiliar foreign language had improved by leaps and bounds. Though he was still not as fluent as he was in Chinese, he could at least barely communicate with others.

"Yes! Yes! Yes!"

Hearing Gwen call her by name, an excited smile immediately appeared on the blond girl's face as she introduced herself—

"Hello, my name is Bianca You Lan Dai Er Atagina. You can call me You Lan Dai Er. Of course, Bianca is fine too. Whichever you prefer is fine."

"Hello, sir. My name is Rita Rotswisser, Lord You Lan Dai Er's adjutant. You may simply call me Rita."

Seeing You Lan Dai Er make such a somewhat rash introduction after so long, Rita's eyes flashed with amusement. Still, after You Lan Dai Er had introduced herself, she lifted her skirt in a curtsy and introduced herself as well.

"Bianca... Rita..."

After sorting through his memories and discovering that most of the new memories were vague and unclear, Gwen had no choice but to pretend to have amnesia. He slowly spoke their names in a language that was still somewhat unfamiliar to him, then smiled and nodded.

"Hello. My name is Gwen. I am very happy to meet you."

"We are also very happy to see you awake."

Seeing that Gwen was in rather good spirits this time and that his complexion had improved considerably, You Lan Dai Er felt delighted. Then, as though she had suddenly remembered something, she slapped her little hand against her forehead.

"Right, after a patient wakes up, we should call a doctor first!

Rita, I'm going to get a doctor. Please take care of Gwen!"

With that, You Lan Dai Er rushed out the door in her usual energetic fashion. In the blink of an eye, Gwen could only see a wisp of flying blond hair turn around the corner and disappear.

"Sorry, Mr. Gwen. Lord You Lan Dai Er was a little too excited. Please forgive her."

Rita could only offer an apologetic smile and apologize.

"It's alright. I can tell she is genuinely happy that I woke up."