The disk finally stopped, but [Senku] was still reeling from the dizziness.
He barely held himself upright with the restraints, his face still deathly pale. His earlier swagger and provocation had vanished entirely.
The white room was silent, all five pairs of eyes fixed on him.
"I'm not from your world."
[Senku]'s voice was low and hoarse. "To be precise, I'm your counterpart from a parallel world. I share exactly the same mind and starting memories as this world's Senku Ishigami."
Li Xiang frowned slightly. "Then how did you end up on our moon?"
At her question, [Senku] pressed his lips tightly together.
At last, he spoke.
"In my world, I successfully developed a time machine," he said slowly.
"But the machine suffered a severe malfunction midway through. Instead of taking me back to the past, it hurled me straight onto the moon in this universe. I was a scientist in my original world, too."
The room was utterly silent as everyone listened.
"After arriving here, I made contact with the Petrification Devices left on the moon. I've already reached an agreement with them. I provide the conditions they need, and in return, they can't interfere with your group's actions at will."
Hearing this, Li Xiang thought back to how it had all begun.
"So you were behind everything from the start?"
The transmission they had received during their first voyage flashed through Li Xiang's mind.
[Senku] made no attempt to evade the question. He nodded gently and admitted it outright. "I sent those signals."
Kohaku took half a step forward, her eyes full of confusion. "If you never intended to hurt us, why would you do that?"
[Senku]'s jaw tightened, his teeth clenched hard.
Li Xiang caught the sorrow in his eyes and softened her tone. "If you're comfortable