Chapter 143: A Brand New World
This was not what Ryū had expected.
He'd run through several theories before the video loaded. None of them had landed on this.
What kind of play is this. How does something like this even happen.
He watched the five-minute video start to finish without blinking. Then watched it again.
"If Ying Zheng's people hadn't stumbled onto these stowaways when they did, they'd have been quietly looting resources from the Qin's Moon world and reselling them on the other side. Running a black-market arbitrage operation between two worlds."
He stared at the spatial passage in the footage — concealed in a reasonably inconspicuous location, but at least ten meters across and roughly seven meters tall.
That was what had stopped him cold. The passage itself.
In the video, Ying Zheng walked through it surrounded by an escort of imperial guards, who were also herding along several bound prisoners. And those prisoners —
He had not misread what he was seeing. Their clothing. Their haircuts. The way they carried themselves.
Modern people.
And in Ying Zheng's hand, turning it over idly — if his eyes were working correctly — a smartphone.
When Ying Zheng and his armored guards emerged from the other side of the passage, they materialized in sparse, open wilderness. In the background, at some distance: a cell tower. No people visible, but unmistakable signs of modern infrastructure — and on the ground, plastic trash.
Ryū put the picture together.
A spatial passage had opened in the Qin's Moon world and connected it to a modern society. Two worlds linked by a stable dimensional gateway. As for whether pathogens from the modern side posed any risk to the ancient world — honestly, not his concern. Wolffy could solve that. His relationship with Ying Zheng was solid.
"This is genuinely unexpected," he murmured.
It reminded him of a few web novels he'd read back on Earth — protagonists who could move freely between a historical world and the modern day, building an empire on arbitrage and technology transfer. Except in those stories, the protagonist usually controlled the arrangement.
These particular people had been caught immediately upon arrival and were currently tied up in Ying Zheng's custody.
If one of them was a web novel protagonist — and that probability was not low — they were having an exceptionally bad day.
"Though strictly speaking, a passage like this isn't necessarily bad for the Qin's Moon side. Potentially the opposite."
He tabbed back to the Group chat, where everyone was already going.
Ying Zheng The Sovereign: So that is the situation as We understand it. We are uncertain whether these individuals qualify as transmigrators. If they came through the passage, does that make Us a transmigrator as well, given that We walked through it?
Ying Zheng The Sovereign: We genuinely cannot account for why this passage exists.
Kaguya-sama: Could it be two worlds merging?
Eternally Seventeen: Possibly, though looking at the footage — the passage is remarkably stable. It doesn't appear to be expanding. This isn't a merger.
Eternally Seventeen: More precisely: a collision of dimensional barriers. Ying Zheng's world and another world impacted each other — but without catastrophic consequences. Instead of shattering, they connected. Like two magnets finding each other. Neither side appears to be damaging the other.
Crazy Diamond: If there are no negative effects... does that just mean Ying Zheng suddenly has access to an entire extra world's worth of resources?
Terrible Tornado: Not necessarily. The other world might be thinking the same thing about Qin.
Terrible Tornado: Clashes between civilizations cause world wars. Clashes between actual worlds... that's a different category of conflict entirely.
Wandering Little Planet: Trembling...
If the Little Planet trembled on a daily basis, how many of its inhabitants would survive? Approximately zero. Anyone who did make it would have to be carrying protagonist energy.
Ryū let the thought pass and focused on what Yukari had actually said.
Two different worlds colliding. The barrier between them cracking open at the point of impact. That crack stabilizing into a passage — a gateway connecting both sides.
Simple enough to follow. Ryū appreciated explanations he could follow.
RawrSoFierce: Still no Quest trigger on my end. If there's no delay involved, it may genuinely not have activated.
RawrSoFierce: Ying Zheng — send a few trusted people through in modern clothes and have them scout the other side. Get a read on what kind of world it is.
RawrSoFierce: If anyone can supply recording equipment, now's the time.
Ying Zheng The Sovereign: Agreed. With no information on the other side, reconnaissance is the only reasonable first step.
Ying Zheng The Sovereign: If it proves to be a hostile world or a hostile state—
Ying Zheng The Sovereign: We will begin making preparations accordingly.
Edward Newgate: Gurararara! If weapons are needed, just say the word. This old man may not have much, but guns and cannons he has in abundance.
WolfKingOfQingQingGrasslands: I can provide fifty combat-model robots.
Admiral Kizaru: Can't let Whitebeard take all the credit now~ This one is a Marine Admiral after all — borrowing a little hardware from Headquarters is no trouble at all. And I happen to know people in the Marine Science Unit~
Admiral Kizaru: A war between two entire worlds... that really does sound frightening, doesn't it~
"..."
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