Everyone stared silently at the Anywhere Door standing not far away.
They all had bold ideas running through their heads, but no one dared step forward and try it. If this went wrong, the consequences would be disastrous.
Use this to go to Holy Terra? That was a dangerous thought.
"So," Horus asked anxiously after draining two cans of soy milk, "can somebody answer my question? Can it do it or not?"
If it could, then there would be no need to trouble Lion. She could go see Father herself, explain everything face-to-face, and make him accept her current appearance.
"Right…?" Bruce looked to Doraemon, not entirely confident either.
"No. No, no, no." Doraemon shook his head repeatedly.
"So it can?" Curze asked.
"Absolutely not!" Doraemon emphasized again.
"Then what part of it can't?!" Lion slammed a fist onto the table.
What was with all the riddles? If something was wrong, then say what was wrong. If the door could take them straight to Holy Terra, then Lion would not have to be separated from Bruce. That was a good thing.
"As far as I know," Doraemon said carefully, "the Emperor should be busy with the Webway Project right now. Without exact coordinates, if we recklessly use a spatial-type tool to reach Holy Terra, I'm afraid…"
The moment he imagined the result, he did not dare continue.
The Anywhere Door depended on coordinates. If they opened a door there blindly, then at best they would end up somewhere inside the Webway. At worst, they would punch straight through it.
Imagine if Magnus never blew up the Webway, and instead Bruce and Doraemon were the ones who did it. That would be a cosmic joke.
"And what exactly is the Webway Project?!" Horus looked at the others in confusion.
When she noticed Curze and Lion both wearing expressions that clearly said, Ah yes, what a mysterious thing we know absolutely nothing about, she understood immediately.
Damn it. Father had hidden something from her. But was she not the Warmaster? Why did those two know while she did not?
"I'll explain that later," Bruce said. "For now, just think of it as one of the main reasons the Emperor has stayed away from the Great Crusade."
Then he straightened his thoughts and asked Doraemon, "What limitations does the Anywhere Door have now?"
They needed to sort that out first. In theory, it could go anywhere, but Doraemon had already said a lot of his gadgets had been affected by strange restrictions.
Whether it could safely reach Holy Terra was still unproven. Under no circumstances did Bruce want to go down in history as the idiot who ruined the Emperor's grand plan.
"At the moment, there's only one real limitation…" Doraemon began.
"First, it has to be a place you've been before. Second, it can be somewhere you have a clear memory of. Third—and this is the most important part—you need a person to use as an anchor."
"Person, place, memory, right?" Bruce asked again to make sure.
"Exactly." Doraemon nodded. "Lady Curze has been to the Vengeful Spirit, she has a blood tie to you, and most importantly, you've already used the door there before, so it can lock on precisely."
"If those conditions aren't met, then there's only one problem: the destination may become very weird. Just landing somewhere random isn't the worst part. The real danger is that it might open into the Warp."
Hard to say. Really hard to say.
"If that's the case, then I should meet the requirements," Horus said at once. "I've been to Holy Terra. Father can serve as the anchor. And most importantly, I lived in the Imperial Palace for thirty years…"
So in that case, was she the ideal candidate?
"But you were marked by Chaos," Doraemon warned immediately. "If you use it recklessly, I'm afraid Chaos might seize the opportunity and then… boom."
"What about me? I should be able to do it too," Lion said, unwilling to lose. "I also went to Holy Terra to see Father. He personally handed the First Legion over to me."
"Not really," Doraemon said. "Your memory of Holy Terra isn't deep enough. You were born on Terra, yes, but you didn't live there for more than a few days."
Then Doraemon turned and looked straight at Bruce, as if to say: Brother, it's your turn. Get out there.
Bruce immediately refused the invitation with his expression alone.
"Why are you looking at me? I've never met the Emperor."
He had no intention of taking that bait.
If he accidentally blew up the Webway, he would become the greatest sinner in human history. That was not a responsibility he was willing to shoulder.
"Well, you're the only one here who was actually born and raised near Terra," Doraemon said. "And your familiarity with the Emperor isn't any lower than that of the Primarchs."
Unlike Horus, Bruce was a native-born Earthling. Before being pulled into this world, he had literally lived in the same nation where the Imperial Palace would one day stand. And most importantly, he could establish an actual connection with the Emperor.
"Then I have one question," Bruce said gravely. "If I accidentally blow up Holy Terra, who's taking responsibility?"
"We're just testing it. It should be fine, right?" Doraemon said. "The door doesn't involve psychic power, and besides, that Tzeen— uh, that blue bird probably hasn't noticed us."
"…You almost said it, didn't you?" Curze's mouth twitched.
That one slip was enough to kill the whole plan.
If Tzeentch was already paying attention, then nobody in their right mind was opening that door straight to the Emperor's doorstep.
"Well, I wasn't trying to…" Doraemon apologized weakly.
"But I still want to try," Lion said as she strode toward the door. "If it can take me directly to Holy Terra, I don't have to waste any time."
"From a rational perspective, I think—"
Click.
Before Bruce could stop her, Lion had already pressed down the handle and pulled the door open.
Beyond it stretched a vast grassy plain with no end in sight. Endless green ran all the way to the horizon. The sky above looked unreal, like a painting—white and blue and impossibly clear. A breeze swept through, carrying the scent of grass and dew so fresh that everyone instinctively breathed in deeper.
"Where is this?" Lion froze, then quickly shut the door again.
"No idea," Bruce and Doraemon said at the same time, pretending ignorance.
Lion fell silent, and broken fragments of memory surfaced in her mind.
It felt like… Avalon.
Still, whatever that place was, it definitely was not Holy Terra. If Holy Terra had ever looked like that, the Emperor would have been overjoyed. So Bruce and Doraemon silently agreed not to explain.
Avalon counted as Terra in a sense, after all. Just not Warhammer Terra.
"Then I'll try too," Curze said. Seeing that Lion had only opened the door to somewhere strange, she decided to test it herself.
"Dad, are you serious?" Bruce hurried to block her.
"This isn't that big a deal," Curze said, brushing past him. "I'm not tainted by Chaos. At worst I'll just end up somewhere weird."
She pressed down the handle.
This time, the other side was dark—so dark it was hard to see anything at first. But as their eyes adjusted, they saw towering wooden bookshelves stretching all the way up to a stone-vaulted ceiling. The dark walnut shelves were carved with intricate Gothic vines. Countless such shelves stretched deep into the distance, layered one behind another like mountain ranges. The aisles were narrow, but the place was neat beyond belief.
A library vast enough to bury nations.
"Hm?"
A woman in pale purple nightclothes, wearing a sleeping cap decorated with a moon ornament, approached with a lamp in her hand. She seemed to have sensed something. When she followed the light and found a door that had appeared from nowhere, she stared—then recognized the person standing there.
"Remilia? What are you doing here at this hour?"
Curze went stiff and slammed the door shut at once.
Some instinct told her that if she got caught, something very inconvenient would happen.
"Reasonable," Bruce and Doraemon said together, nodding.
Fantasy Japan was apparently also Terra.
"Who was that woman just now?" Curze asked, unsettled. "I've never met her, but somehow she felt familiar…"
"Maybe some magician named Patchouli," Bruce said, pretending he had no real idea.
Curze thought about it for a moment, then gave up and smacked Bruce on the rear.
"Your turn, rookie. Open it."
She was getting curious now. If the others had each opened the door to some version of Terra shaped by memory and identity, then what would Bruce's Holy Terra look like?
Bruce was sweating.
In his eyes, the Anywhere Door had become a revolver in a game of Russian roulette. The first two chambers had clicked harmlessly, sure. But what if his was the live round?
"Open it!" Lion urged. "You can do it, Bruce!"
"Mr. Bruce," Horus said, "let me see what Holy Terra looks like in your heart."
Bruce was trapped. Three Primarchs were standing behind him watching.
"Fine," he said. "But don't blame me for whatever comes out of this."
He took the handle and pulled the door open.
Beyond it was an endless urban landscape. Skyscrapers stood shoulder to shoulder on both sides, their LED billboards blazing with neon. A broad multi-lane avenue stretched out beneath them. Directly opposite was a stream of waiting cars at an intersection, backed by a huge red advertisement board with slogans written across it in brilliant gold.
A wave of heat rolled through the doorway, carrying the smell of asphalt, exhaust, and human life. At that exact moment, the traffic light flipped from red to green, and the entire line of cars surged forward, tires thundering over the pavement.
They did not slow down for Bruce in the least.
To them, he was no more than a speed bump.
"Holy—"
Bruce slammed the door shut so fast he nearly dislocated something.
He had almost been run over.
"So what was that?" Curze asked, staring at him. "Was that Holy Terra?"
"It… should be my hometown?" Bruce said weakly, looking to Doraemon for confirmation.
"Don't ask me," Doraemon said with a shrug. "The gadgets have all been weird lately. Maybe it was. Maybe it wasn't."
"Let me look again."
Bruce did not believe it. He pressed the handle once more.
He had been expecting to see his hometown again.
Instead, a warm mist rushed into his face, obscuring his vision, and somewhere beyond it a woman was humming softly to herself.
"…?"
Bruce froze.
It looked like a bathroom.
And inside the tub, a blue-haired woman was taking a bath.
The woman noticed the staring, turned her head, and froze too.
"WHAT THE HELL?!"
"Why is it you?!" Bruce and Tzeentch screamed at exactly the same time.
Bang.
Bruce slammed the door shut and pressed his back against it, terrified that Tzeentch might somehow burst through. This was one door she absolutely could not be allowed to use.
He stood there panting for a moment, then slowly relaxed when the door remained still.
Too terrifying.
He had just turned back to explain when he discovered the three Primarchs were already standing right in front of him.
All three had their arms folded over their chests.
All three were staring at him with deeply judgmental eyes.
"Bruce," Lion said in disappointment, "how could you peep on someone bathing?"
"Rookie," Curze said with open contempt, "your tastes are truly astonishing."
"Mr. Bruce…" Horus said helplessly. "Please show some self-restraint."
"I…"
Bruce looked desperately toward Doraemon for support.
Doraemon had vanished.
Not a trace of him remained.
So Bruce was left there, alone, to be thoroughly scolded.
No—seriously.
Wasn't this door broken?
How could it open straight into Tzeentch's bathroom?
Then Bruce suddenly understood what had happened.
Doraemon.
That useless teammate of his had absolutely been the one to bring up Tzeentch's name just moments ago, and that had probably let the coordinates be noticed.
It was only because Bruce had shut the door fast enough that disaster had been avoided. If Tzeentch had been ready and stepped through, the Vengeful Spirit would have been finished.
"You have to let me explain!" Bruce spread his arms and tried to look sincere.
No matter how this looked, he was the victim here.
The Anywhere Door was not "useful" in the slightest.
As he was about to continue, the three Primarchs stepped forward in unison and loomed over him, arms still folded, expressions grim.
"Bruce," Lion said, "so you can't resist peeking at women in the bath?"
"Rookie," Curze added, "you really are a creature of endless surprises."
"Mr. Bruce…" Horus sighed. "Please… conduct yourself properly."
Bruce nearly fainted.
There was no explaining this one away.
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 178)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 139)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League ( 126 )
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter110)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter171)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter100)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter184)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 65
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 77
From Junkman to Wasteland 66
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 46
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 168
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 156
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass 105
The Way the Umamusume Look at 68
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 185
Naruto: Weaving the Future, Be 65
Zenless Zone Zero, but Kamen R 76
Multiverse Crossover: The Perf 66
My Cyberpsycho Girlfriend 65
Uma Musume: The Dark Trainer 160
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 150
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player 76
The Violent Girl Group Is Beat 97
Uma Musume: The Horse Girl Who 66
Uma Musume: From Beginner 116
Becoming a Horse Girl, I Will 75
Uma Musume: I Want All 93
I Can Copy Unique Skills 79
Summoning an Evil God, but the 55
Supernatural Multiverse 75
My Harem Is Indescribable 68
Jujutsu Kaisen: Heroic Spirit 70
"I'm just a Valkyrie passing through." 66
Uma Musume: Today Is Another Romantic Battlefield 69
Still playing traditional Honk 49
The Most Filial Son Under Heav 53
What Should I Do After Switchi 42
Reincarnated as a Demon, Skill 50
Hell-Difficulty Dungeon? 38
Transmigrated as Sukuna 35
Checking In in Demon Slayer 40
The Reincarnating Trainer of Tracen Academy 55
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