And even that might not be necessary.
Takumi wasn't about to let enemies get into his world.
That was the bottom line.
All battles would take place outside.
At worst, he'd evacuate.
Then, after he powered up again, he'd come back and wipe them out.
Assuming he couldn't beat them yet.
But if he could he'd slaughter them all.
Hearing all that, Bronya muttered internally.
Sorry, I'm just a weakling.
Reduced to clearing out trash mobs...
Life is hard even for beauties.
"This mission seems tailored for you guys, right?"
"Those with weaker power in the group can't even participate."
Bronya clicked her tongue.
What a shame.
Five million points! Even just leeching a bit would have been rewarding.
But this time, she might not even qualify to leech.
"You can still participate. Don't forget you're a Herrscher now~!"
"I said most of the group, not you."
Takumi spread his hands again.
Sure, most of the group were weaklings.
But Bronya? She was strong.
Did she forget how powerful she actually was?
Hearing that, Bronya grumbled.
"I almost forgot! Right, I am a Herrscher now!"
If Takumi hadn't reminded her, she really might've overlooked it.
She just hadn't gotten used to it yet.
She hadn't even really used her Herrscher powers much.
"When the battle starts, just use your abilities to control the weapons I set up."
"Still think you can't participate?"
"If necessary, I'll even give you another Herrscher core."
"Relax your husband has plenty of ways to get you involved."
Seeing she remembered, Takumi laid it all out.
Bronya nodded.
Yeah, having such an awesome husband made everything easier.
Takumi didn't overthink it.
After all, who knew when the enemy would arrive?
There wasn't even a timeframe on the group mission.
They'd deal with it when it happened.
No rush.
There was still time.
Maybe by then, Takumi's world would have fully evolved.
When it did, everyone would benefit greatly.
Takumi stayed at home.
More worlds would soon merge with his.
Most of them came from the Little Garden.
As for the remaining weapons systems, Prometheus would handle those.
She was basically another Takumi.
She had Takumi's End Authority.
Everything Takumi had already set up, she could duplicate.
So Takumi didn't have to worry much.
He had also installed detection systems outside the world.
If anything suspicious happened, he'd be alerted immediately.
Everything that needed preparing was ready.
Now, it was just a matter of waiting.
As for what Takumi should do just keep living as he had.
No need to worry unnecessarily.
Getting anxious wouldn't help.
It's not like he could go hunt them down.
They were probably hiding in some obscure corner, and Takumi wouldn't even know.
How could he possibly find them?
If he had a way to locate them, he wouldn't have waited this long.
From this mission, Takumi basically confirmed that the ones eyeing his world were the same ones who left traces behind.
They were enemies from the start.
Only now, Takumi had grown.
Truth be told, Takumi was quite eager to meet them.
He was very curious who were the ones breeding chaos across the worlds?
His entire universe bore their traces.
Even this very planet had suffered spiritual awakening and eventual destruction because of them.
Other worlds had signs of them too.
Chapter 603: Kito Who Am I? Why Am I Here?
Anyone who could stir up so much chaos across multiple worlds was definitely no pushover.
Breeding Gu on such a massive scale was probably a tactic for eventual harvesting.
This reminded Takumi of the tsutsuki clan they cultivated Gu across the universe, but the enemies Takumi faced were raising them across dimensional worlds.
Either way, the goal was the same: harvesting.
Raising worlds like crops, waiting for them to ripen, then cutting them down. Truly dimensional parasites.
Countless worlds were likely ravaged by them.
All the pain and effort spent building up a world only to become a gift-wrapped sacrifice for others pitiful just thinking about it.
Fortunately, that wasn't the case for his world. His world had already transformed completely.
When those things arrived, they'd be scared to death!
Takumi now had some downtime, but more and more worlds kept arriving.
Sometimes, over a hundred would come in a single day.
These were all former subordinate worlds of Little Garden.
Many of the communities from Little Garden came along with them.
But with so many worlds arriving, there was no way Takumi could construct teleportation gates for each one manually.
So he delegated the task to the mechanical species.
Whenever a new world arrived, the mechanical species would traverse dimensions and set up a teleport gate.
As more worlds joined, the number of teleport gates on Takumi's side multiplied.
Besides making sure every city had one, he also sent a bunch to Mars.
Dr. Mobius had started developing Mars long ago.
And now, it was finally being put to use.
Mars had been transformed into something nearly identical to Earth just larger.
After all, as Takumi's homeworld grew, so did the other planets in space.
Mars was now dedicated to housing the teleport gates of various worlds.
Cities built on Mars were constructed with those connected worlds in mind.
As the number of integrated worlds grew, the fusion of Takumi's internal Little Garden core and the Cocoon of End gradually accelerated.
By Takumi's estimation, within a month or two, the Cocoon of End would fully devour the Little Garden core.
At that point, Takumi's world would fully evolve into a realm just like Little Garden.
As the integration progressed, more functions became available.
Takumi could already start working with Gift Cards.
Feeling the changes, he popped into the group chat to discuss it.
Takumi: [My world can now support free exchange of Gift abilities.] [Should we wait until full evolution to launch it, or just go ahead now?] [@shiroyasha, what do you think?]
As soon as he sent the message, the ever-idle shiroyasha replied.
shiroyasha: [I'm watching from the sidelines!] [This is your call.] [If you do release them now, maybe you'll find some hidden gems!] [After all, some people have really potent abilities.]
An ability's worth depends on who wields it.
Put in the hands of someone weak, even a powerful Gift is wasted.
They might not even know how to use it properly.
Takumi's world was now brimming with treasure.
If he did release Gift Cards now, many might sell off their abilities.
Some abilities might seem useless to one person but be invaluable to another.
So shiroyasha wasn't going to intervene.
If Takumi released them, she'd go ability-hunting.
If not, she'd wait.
Once the world evolved, many Gift abilities would evolve too.
It was entirely Takumi's decision.
Takumi raised an eyebrow at her response.
Figures.
Go hunting for leftovers, huh?
Not a bad idea at all.
sakamaki Izayoi: [Do it, do it, do it!] [I've got money! I wanna buy powers!!]
Chika Fujiwara: [Umm... maybe release everything together later.] [Preferably when the Gift Games launch.] [That would be more fun.]
Sagiri: [If we go ahead, I'd like to collect abilities that would help me.] [I want enhancement skills, or something like Asuka's power that upgrades attacks!!]
Megumi Kato: [I want an instant-kill ability.]
Ruiko Saten: [Wow, Megumi, did King Hassan take you as his disciple or what? You're really walking the assassin path now!!]
Everyone in the group started chiming in.
In truth, they were all excited about power trading.
Turning abilities into Gifts, and then exchanging them freely.
The market would be flooded with bizarre new powers.
Reading their chatter, Takumi raised his brows and pondered.
Finally, he made a decision.
Takumi: [Never mind, let's hold off for now.] [But I'll have Prometheus explain the concept to everyone.] [Let's start warming people up to the idea.] [Consider this a heads-up.] [Anyway, the world's evolution is nearly done.]
He shelved the plan to release Gift Cards for now.
Some of the current ability users had conceptual-type powers.
Those were extremely valuable.
Once the world evolved, their powers would likely grow stronger too.
If he gave them divinity and made them into Conceptual Gods, they'd be even more terrifying.
Many members of the chat group also had incredible abilities.
Once the evolution was complete, those would probably level up as well.
Takumi was genuinely looking forward to it.
He closed the chat group and lounged at home.
He didn't plan to go out anytime soon.
After working nonstop, he deserved some rest.
Meanwhile, in deep space, Cosmos and the others had completed Takumi's final orders.
The last surviving civilization in the universe had been destroyed.
This one had been relatively strong.
If Takumi had been watching the universe, he would've noticed that entire star systems had vanished from view.
The cause? A massive war.
Cosmos hadn't played around.
They'd used supermassive space cannons to wipe out everything.
A massive cosmic void now replaced what was once a dazzling star cluster.
For hundreds of light-years, not a single planet could be seen.
All had been obliterated in the battle and devoured by dimensional turbulence.
With the last cleanup done, Cosmos began returning home.
Now, the universe had one rule: obey, or die.
Kito watched the speed of conquest with deep frustration.
What the hell was this really conquest?
Or just bullying cosmic kindergartners?
Only after the real fighting started did he realize just how terrifying the tech level of Takumi's world had become.
It was absurd, honestly.
If he had to face enemies like this, he'd probably just despair.
Chapter 604: Magia Baku-ne!
A one-sided massacre.
Previously, Cosmos and the others were just playing around. Now that they were serious, there wasn't a single opponent who could match them.
After carving a gaping void in space, they began their return journey.
Their next destination? A far more formidable battlefield.
At home, Takumi received the message that the fleet was beginning its return from space.
Upon hearing the news, he turned to Prometheus and said:
"Have them head straight outside the world. Upgrade their ships. There's no need to return to Earth directly. Just chart a patrol route outside the world. Let them return when they're ready."
Those ships were strong enough to function beyond dimensional space, so there was no need for detours. Prometheus only needed to open a portal for them.
"Understood."
Prometheus immediately relayed the command.
Receiving the directive, Esdeath and the others didn't question it. They followed Takumi's orders and headed straight beyond the world.
They prepped the fleet first, planning to return later. With Prometheus around, even patrolling duties were easily handled.
Takumi, knowing the job in space was done, felt at ease.
Now, there was only one voice in the universe.
If there weren't enough teleport gates, Takumi could extend his reach to other planets.
Once the world's evolution was complete, he would merge all habitable planets in the universe.
After all, distance was inconvenient.
"Lord Takumi," Prometheus interrupted his thoughts.
"Another invitation has arrived."
Takumi's eyes lit up.
"Who's it from this time?"
Someone had arrived again?
He had assumed no one else would show up for quite a while, yet here someone was.
"It's a dragon a white dragon."
Prometheus projected the image.
A pure white dragon with an elegant form. However, upon arrival, it immediately fell asleep.
Seeing the dragon, Takumi was full of question marks.
"White dragon?"
He stared at the horn on its head.
"Is that... Kanna?"
Recognizing the familiar shape of the horn, he was surprised.
This was that adorable little Kanna!
Realizing who it was, Takumi vanished from the spot.
Kanna probably didn't even know she had crossed into another world.
Still snoozing peacefully, Takumi silently appeared beside her.
Watching her sleep, he chuckled. Without waking her, he picked her up and took the invitation scroll from the ground.
Then, he brought the sleeping Kanna home and let her nap in the courtyard.
The noise woke up Ram and Rem, who came outside.
When they saw the white dragon Takumi brought back, they were momentarily stunned.
"Food ingredient?"
Rem tilted her head.
Was this some new exotic meat?
Since the dragon hadn't taken human form, in Takumi's world it could easily be mistaken for food.
And Kanna was an especially beautiful dragon.
In the culinary world, some delicacies were not only tasty but visually stunning.
Rem assumed Kanna was some rare ingredient.
Hearing that, Takumi sighed.
"She's not food. She's Kanna, a dragon from another world. Go prepare some food she's a little glutton."
If Kanna knew she'd been mistaken for food, she'd be devastated.
Ram and Rem understood.
Not a dish, huh. Got it.
Following his orders, they quickly went inside to prepare.
Takumi wasn't in a rush to wake her.
Once she smelled food, she'd probably wake up on her own.
Looking at the peacefully sleeping Kanna, Takumi snapped a few photos and shared them in the group chat.
Takumi: [Image] [Little Kanna~!]
Everyone who knew Kanna immediately perked up.
Chika Fujiwara: [What, what? Kanna's here?] [I'm heading to your place right now!!]
Sagiri: [Wait for me, I'm coming too!!]
No one could resist the adorableness of Kanna.
Takumi: [She's at my place. Come on over.]
He didn't mind them visiting.
Kanna wasn't going anywhere.
Soon, a bunch of people arrived.
Seeing the sleeping white dragon, they didn't disturb her.
Still, with so many around and the scent of food filling the air Kanna stirred.
You might not wake her by shouting, but food always worked.
"Mmm... Is it mealtime?"
Kanna slowly opened her eyes.
Then she saw a crowd surrounding her none of them familiar.
The scene froze.
Kanna blinked and went quiet.
Why are there so many people?
After a moment, she slowly got up, looming over the crowd.
