First Traversal

The gift was only a small interlude and soon passed.

When he entered the living room, Ryan could not help but let out a sound of admiration.

The room was decorated everywhere with ornaments full of Christmas cheer. In the center of the living room stood a handmade Christmas tree that looked quite old, wrapped in colorful lights that blinked beautifully.

"This Christmas tree was made by your father and me. In the blink of an eye, it has been nearly twenty years!"

Mocha looked at the tree with a hint of nostalgia in his eyes, while Ryan stood silently beside him.

After all, he was not the true owner of this body, so he could only remain silent.

"What are you all standing around for? Come eat. This year's Christmas feast includes my special corn porridge. Little Ryan, you have to eat plenty."

Rose, bustling about at the dining table, called out to them. Taking the opportunity, Ryan left that somewhat awkward spot and walked over to the table.

"What a feast. Just looking at it gives me an appetite!" Ryan praised as he looked at the spread of food.

Most of the dishes on the table were American food, filling the air with an enticing sweet fragrance.

"If you have an appetite, then eat more." Rose was delighted that the food she had made was so well received.

The dishes filled the entire table, though fortunately, none of the portions were too large. By the time everyone had finished eating, the table had basically been cleared clean.

Mocha glanced at Rose, who had begun cleaning up, and Annie, who was sitting on the sofa watching television. He called out to Ryan and headed into his study.

The study door closed, instantly cutting off all sounds from outside.

"You wanted to see me about..."

Before Ryan could finish asking, a document that was all too familiar to him was tossed over.

"Explain this."

"Uh, you found out..." Ryan looked at the document awkwardly.

It was a will, and the person who had made it was Ryan himself.

He had drawn up this will as a precaution, in case something happened to him while traveling between worlds. It was merely an insurance measure.

"If the lawyer you hired hadn't been my friend, you really would have kept this from me!" Mocha sneered, making Ryan shift uncomfortably.

"What rotten luck!" Ryan sighed inwardly and looked up.

"All right, I'll come clean!"

Actually, it was not necessarily a bad thing that this had been discovered. Even if Mocha had not found out, Ryan had planned to tell him something today.

His original plan had been to use an excuse about going out and have Annie stay at Mocha's house for two days. If he truly failed to return from the other world, Mocha would definitely find the letter he had left on the desk in his bedroom. This only saved him the trouble.

"There is something I have to do, but it may involve a certain amount of risk." Ryan shook the document in his hand, his expression unreadable.

"Something you have to do? What is it?" Mocha frowned.

"I'm sorry, but I can't talk about it." Ryan drew a deep breath and met Mocha's eyes.

No matter who it was, Ryan would never reveal anything about traveling between worlds or the system. It was not a matter of trust; there were simply too many ways to force someone to reveal secrets they wanted to keep hidden.

Seeing the determination in Ryan's eyes, Mocha's brow furrowed tightly. "Is it very dangerous?"

If Ryan answered yes, then even if it meant illegally imprisoning him, Mocha would tie him up at home. If anything happened to Ryan, he could hardly imagine how he would face the dear friend he had grown up with after he died.

"No!"

Ryan's answer was decisive. He did not know why the thing that could tentatively be called a system had bound itself to him, but since it had paid such a great price to bring him to the Marvel Universe, then even if it truly had some scheme, he should not encounter it until after he had grown stronger. No matter how he thought about it, the first world he traveled to should not be too dangerous.

Especially since he had made sufficient preparations. "All right."

Mocha stared at Ryan for a while, then, once he was certain Ryan was not lying, sighed. When he raised his head again, his gaze suddenly sharpened. "Promise me you won't take risks!"

"I wouldn't even if you didn't tell me to." Ryan smiled.

"Oh, right, there's one more thing."

Feeling that the atmosphere was a little awkward, Ryan patted his head and described in detail what had happened at the World Trade Center that day.

If you did not kill a snake, it would come back to bite you. Before leaving, he naturally would not leave behind any future trouble.

"That happened too?" Mocha was somewhat surprised after hearing this. He nodded and said, "I'll handle it. You don't need to worry about it anymore."

"If it's in Uncle Mocha's hands, then I'm naturally at ease." Ryan smiled.

Mocha was an old hand. Presumably, he could secure the harshest sentence for that lawyer named Kron.

"Honestly, you've changed a lot. So much that I barely recognize you."

Looking at Ryan's face, which still faintly resembled his old friend between the brows, Mocha was momentarily lost in a trance.

"Maybe I've grown up," Ryan said after thinking for a moment. Though he was deceiving this elder, he could not exactly say that he was no longer the original Ryan Garcia.

"Grown up?" Mocha murmured, then said nothing more.

Ryan walked to the study door and, with his back to Mocha, said, "If... I mean, if I really don't come back, then you and Aunt Rose should adopt Annie. Take good care of her for me."

The study remained silent for a long time before Mocha answered.

Hearing that, Ryan let out a breath, as if he had cast off his final burden. He pushed open the study door and walked out.

Early the next morning, Ryan said goodbye to everyone.

They had played too late the night before, so he had not gone home and had simply stayed the night at Mocha's house.

As it happened, Ryan had also decided that today would be the day of his first traversal. After asking Mocha and Rose to look after Annie for a while, he prepared to leave.

"You only promised the day before yesterday that you wouldn't stay out for long periods anymore!" Annie looked at Ryan with resentment in her little eyes.

"Ahahaha, one last time, one last time. And I might even be able to pick you up tonight. It won't take too long." Ryan explained guiltily.

"Hmph!" Little Annie gave a cold snort and could not be bothered to speak.

"Don't take risks!" Mocha reminded him again.

"Don't worry." Ryan flashed a broad smile and left the house.

Once out on the road, Ryan hailed a taxi and returned home. After locking all the doors and windows, he went to a bedroom on the second floor and began putting on the items he had bought one by one.

A stab-resistant vest, a protective suit, a gas mask, a parachute, an oxygen tank, a rifle loaded with bullets and four magazines, three grenades, a combat knife, an air detector, ten meters of nylon rope, and finally, a large pack containing enough water and food to survive for three days.

Once he was ready, Ryan stood before the mirror and looked at his bloated appearance. He took a deep breath, summoned the system panel, looked at the traversal button, and tapped it.