Chapter 147: Ryū and Ying Zheng!
"I should probably get ready. Though... what do I actually need to bring? Clothes? A few changes will do. Food? Ying Zheng is a head of state — he'll have that covered."
Ryū thought it through and arrived at the conclusion that he had essentially nothing to prepare.
No family in Konoha. No close friendships that required a proper send-off. He was about as unattached as a person could be.
Oh. Right.
He almost forgot.
He dug a wooden sign out of a cabinet and hung it on the outside door handle. Read it once, nodded.
[OUT AND ABOUT]
That was all it said.
Specifically hung to prevent Might Guy from kicking his front door in.
The man had mentioned, on a previous occasion, that the last time he'd found the house empty and unannounced, he'd nearly done exactly that — convinced something terrible had happened.
Hence the sign.
His front door was not built to shinobi standards. Especially not against a taijutsu specialist with no particular reason to hold back.
"That should do it. Nothing else to sort out."
Ryū muttered to himself, locked every door and window, and let his mind settle.
A dimensional gateway opened in front of him — roughly two meters tall, two meters wide, edges uneven and irregular. Ordinary door-sized. Undramatic.
He stepped through without hesitation.
The gateway sealed behind him.
The room returned to silence. Nothing to indicate anything had happened. Nobody to notice.
Not that anyone could have, even if they'd tried. His Observation Haki upgrades had not been for nothing.
In the Qin's Moon world —
An irregular white vortex materialized in the air several meters from where Ying Zheng was standing.
Ying Zheng blinked.
Then recognized it.
The Chat Group's dimensional gateway. A Group member is crossing over.
He was familiar with the phenomenon — he'd seen it during the One Punch Man group event. But he hadn't expected anyone this quickly. The Quest notification had gone out barely half an hour ago. He hadn't had time to arrange a banquet, or any kind of reception at all.
His guards, meanwhile, were not familiar with dimensional gateways.
The white vortex materialized, and every bodyguard in the vicinity went on instant high alert. A heavily built man threw himself in front of Ying Zheng and shouted:
"Your Majesty! Threat detected! Protect the Emperor! Assassin!!"
The words were still leaving his mouth as the entire escort formation closed around Ying Zheng in a solid ring. These were not ordinary soldiers — the imperial guard included martial artists of considerable standing. Against an army of ten thousand, they were confident no hair on the Emperor's head would be harmed.
Ying Zheng looked at them with visible exasperation.
Their reaction was correct, technically. He just happened to know that what had come through a Chat Group gateway was, by definition, not an enemy.
"Stand down," he said. His voice carried without volume — the kind of authority that didn't need to be loud. "All of you, move aside. This is not an enemy. This is a..." He paused for half a second. "A friend of Ours."
The guards stood still for a moment, collectively confused.
A friend of His Majesty?
That... white thing... is His Majesty's friend?
They had translated "the white vortex" and "His Majesty's friend" as the same entity. Which was why they were all wearing the expressions they were wearing.
Under any other circumstances, they would not have believed it.
But this was the Emperor of Great Qin speaking. Nobody in this formation had the standing — or the nerve — to contradict him. Trained and disciplined, they stepped back in practiced formation and cleared a path.
What happened next produced a new wave of collective bewilderment.
A figure walked out of the white vortex.
Strange clothing. Strange hairstyle. Everything about him unfamiliar and odd.
Ying Zheng himself was caught slightly off-guard — he hadn't expected the first one through to be the Chat Group's Admin.
Ryū's mildly unhurried gaze swept across the surroundings, then settled on Ying Zheng.
Hard to miss the man standing in the center of the formation.
Ying Zheng walked forward and offered a composed, if slightly archaic, bow — the kind a ruler might offer an equal he was genuinely glad to see. He straightened and said, with a note of genuine surprise: "We had not expected the Admin to be the first to arrive, and you came somewhat suddenly. We had intended to prepare a reception."
Ryū shook his head and smiled faintly. "Don't go to the trouble."
His gaze moved past Ying Zheng to the far background.
The spatial passage.
Exactly as it had appeared in the video — stable, large, oddly mundane-looking for something connecting two different worlds.
"That's the spatial passage to the JoJo fan world?" Ryū said. "Looks even more stable in person."
"Indeed." Ying Zheng nodded. "We have posted guards at both ends — within the passage and outside. No one passes in either direction without authorization. The primary concern is preventing entry from the other side." His tone carried a faint but unmistakable undercurrent of intent. "The Quest requires that no one from that world sets foot here. Anyone who attempts to cross uninvited will be dealt with accordingly."
Ying Zheng did not flinch at that implication.
He had ruled an empire. The number of people who had died by his direct or indirect decision was not a figure he could account for.
One more was not a moral difficulty.
☆☆☆
-> 20 Advanced chapters Now Available on Patreon!!
-> https://www.pat-reon.co-m/c/Hollowborn
(Just remove the hyphen (-) to access patreon normally)
If you like this novel please consider leaving a review that's help the story a lot Thank you