The Influence of an Otherworlder

Faced with Lu Guan's question, the woman let out a wistful sigh.

"That question is~ a little complicated..."

"Let me tell you a story first-"

"Once upon a time, there was a small town isolated from the rest of the world."

"The townspeople produced and traded everything among themselves. Without any contact with the outside world, they could live and work in peace for their entire lives."

"Even when a crisis occasionally arose in the town, the clever townspeople would band together and weather it..."

"There were other similar towns scattered around it. They knew of one another's existence, but were afraid to make contact. Once their paths crossed, it might bring unimaginable uncertainties to the stability of their own towns..."

"Everything seemed wonderful, and everyone was carefully maintaining the lovely state of things. But after something happened, it all fell apart..."

"An evil dragon attacked one of the towns, and that crisis was far beyond what a single town could handle. In an instant, the town was utterly destroyed..."

"The evil dragon left, satisfied, but as it departed, it failed to notice that some of the flames on its body had fallen onto the edge of another town."

"Because news was hard to come by, no one knew that only dragons could extinguish dragon fire. The townspeople had never seen flames like those before, and their attempts to put them out only made them grow."

"With no other choice, the mayor personally cleared away the flammable materials around the flames to keep them from spreading toward the town..."

"But that was only a stopgap measure. When the wind grew stronger, the flames would very likely be carried toward the center of town, bringing utter catastrophe."

"To put out the fire, the mayor had no choice but to go out in search of a good dragon and ask it to extinguish the flames..."

"But where was there such a thing as a good dragon? Under the dragons' teachings of extreme self-interest and respect for the strong, there couldn't possibly be a good dragon willing to help weak humans."

"At the end of her rope, the mayor had no choice but to take a desperate risk. She secretly found an opportunity to steal an unhatched dragon egg and brought it back to the town. She waited for it to hatch so she could personally guide it as it grew..."

Lu Guan nodded as he listened, but just as the story reached a crucial point, the blonde woman refused to continue.

"That's it?"

"Mm~ that's where the story comes to a pause~" The woman nodded. "Or rather... shouldn't the rest of the story be decided by that newly hatched little dragon?"

"...I understand." Lu Guan nodded. "So... you chose me because you wanted something from me?"

"The effects an otherworlder brings can only be eliminated by an otherworlder."

The woman nodded. Although observing Lu Guan over the years had led her to develop feelings for him like those between a mother and son, she really had wanted something from him at the start. There was no need to hide that.

"Bringing you here from your original world without any warning... really was wrong of me. If you want any compensation, as long as it's within my power... I can give you anything."

"...That won't be necessary." Lu Guan shook his head. "In my original world, I was just an ordinary college student. Even after graduating, I could only have become a hard-working office worker."

"I would have married and had children along my predetermined path in life, letting the ideals of my youth slowly wear away against harsh reality... and lived out my life in mediocrity and monotony..."

"Being able to have an exciting new life in another world-on that point alone, I have no reason to resent you."

"I'm even a little grateful to you."

"In that case..." The blonde woman's eyes shifted, and she let out a lecherous giggle. "Hehe... can you call me Mom?"

"No!" Lu Guan protested. "I may not want any compensation... but don't push your luck, okay?"

"Boo-hoo-hoo... fine..." The blonde woman pouted.

"...Wait, I just realized something."

Lu Guan suddenly thought of something.

"Back when I was fighting Aleph-1 in the Void Matter space, why could I still use my authority over the planet Solaris?"

"According to what you said, I shouldn't have been able to use that authority after leaving Solaris..."

"The reason is simple..." the blonde woman explained. "First of all, your abilities were greatly enhanced in the 'Overclocking' state... and I was also supplying you with a constant stream of energy."

"Sigh, just maintaining those four swords of yours for that little while cost me quite a bit of energy~" The blonde woman held up the magnificent pair on her chest with a troubled look. "Even these have gotten a lot smaller..."

Lu Guan hurriedly covered his eyes. "See no evil, see no evil..."

Those melons scared me to death.

"But the results were significant enough... you actually managed to drive that big eyeball away." Seeing Lu Guan's reaction, the blonde woman stopped teasing him. "As for your little girlfriend..."

The blonde woman waved her staff, and Dania appeared before Lu Guan, curled up and fast asleep.

She had even thoughtfully placed a pillow beneath Dania's neck.

"How is she now?" Lu Guan hurried over to check on Dania. When he saw that her frequency was stable, he let out a long breath, and the worry weighing on his heart finally eased.

"Do you remember the World Origin Fragment among the rewards?" The woman walked over and smoothed the sleeping Dania's disheveled hair. "Originally, I planned for you to claim the reward and throw that fragment to Aleph-1 during your brief encounter with Him..."

"He wouldn't have been able to resist that temptation. He definitely would have swallowed it."

"Then that power would have guided His existence rapidly toward destruction, until He completely dissolved into nothingness and vanished. In the end, both Lahai-Roi and your little girlfriend could have been saved."

"But~ you fool, you just couldn't figure that out..." Frustrated by his failure to understand, the blonde woman lightly tapped Lu Guan on the head with her staff. "You actually charged straight at the Tacet Discord of Nihility with 'Overclocking' active..."

"If I hadn't reacted in time and opened an energy supply channel, that big eyeball would have beaten you into a folding screen long ago!"

"Is that how it was? I was wondering why the system gave me something so unclear in purpose." Lu Guan scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "So that's what it was for..."

Oh no! Now I've got to call her Mom whether I want to or not. Going that far is already mom-level.

"So..." The blonde woman's eyes shifted. "Hehe... kiddo, isn't it time you called me Mom?"

Lu Guan: ???

Where's your dignity? Where are your principles as the will of a planet?

Give me back the gratitude I just felt, hey!

Lu Guan screamed inwardly, but even with a conflicted look on his face, he still said it when faced with the blonde woman's expectant gaze...

"Mom... Mom..."

"Yes!" The blonde woman immediately beamed. Smiling, she stepped forward and gave Lu Guan another "facial cleanser."

"Mmph... I... I can't breathe!"

Having achieved her goal, the woman wasted no more time. She released Lu Guan, straightened his disheveled clothes, and gave him a heartfelt warning.

"Even though I saved you, try not to use 'Overclocking' again. It causes you permanent harm."

"Oh, right!" The blonde woman seemed to remember something and added, "To maintain your little girlfriend's existence, I used the ability in your body that shares the same origin as hers to create a resonance..."

"In other words, you're her Resonance Source now."

"Mm~ in a sense, you're her everything now, so treat her well~ don't neglect her just because you meet other girls later~ she's one of the daughters-in-law I've picked out!"

"G-got it." Lu Guan was a little embarrassed. "Then how do I get here the next time I want to see you?"

"I'll open a channel in the system interface. You can think of me as... a human customer service representative or something?" The blonde woman tilted her head. "But unless it's important, try not to bother me."

"That otherworlder's influence on the world is still growing, and most of my power is being used to seal the 'Desolation'..."

"'Desolation'..." Lu Guan turned the word over in his mind. "Is that the calamity brought by that evil dragon...?"

"So~ kiddo~" The blonde woman managed a smile. "You need to grow up quickly~ I can't hold on much longer..."

With that, her figure began to turn insubstantial.

"There isn't much time..."

"Don't tell anyone else... about me..."

"Next time we meet, if you don't want to call me Mom, call me 'Sora' instead..."

As Sora's figure completely vanished, Lu Guan and Dania left that space as well.

When Lu Guan opened his eyes again, an endless sea stretched out before him.

The sea shimmered in the light of the setting sun. A few pieces of floating ice near the shore and the bustling port not far away showed that this was the ice-free port above the ice field.

Looking around, he saw that Sora had even brought their suitcases over and placed them to one side.

"Why... does this feel like we've been kicked out of the house?"

The timing was even perfect. By the time Dania woke up in a daze, the ship bound for Huanglong was just about to begin checking tickets.

And so Lu Guan led Dania aboard, still bewildered after her thunderous sleep.