It was far larger than the in-game version.
Many figures moved aboutrobot NPCs controlled by AI.
"Since you're here, try the features," Takumi said.
"Same controls as the game."
"You can pull up your interface manually."
"Everyone gets a system panel based on their innate talent."
"All your abilities will develop from that talent."
"But you're free to study anything else too."
"The learning difficulty depends on your comprehension."
He demonstrated by swiping the air.
A panel appeared'Game Administrator' in big letters.
Kayaba's eyes sparkled.
He quickly tried it out.
"My talent is this my superpower?"
"It's based on that?"
He noticed immediately: his ability was defensive.
He'd acquired it after taking a superpower serum.
It was called "Flesh Defense."
"Exactly," Takumi confirmed.
"This is a training ground for practical combat."
"So everyone's development focuses on their superpower."
"Explore it at your pace."
"Too much to explain all at once."
"If you don't have a combat-type power, just find something your talent fits."
"Or learn magic or swordsmanship."
"No restrictions. Just depends on your aptitude."
Takumi gave Kayaba a quick orientation of the area.
Chapter 156: Invasion by Creatures from Another World? Good Grief!
After hearing Takumi's explanation, Kayaba Akihiko had generally understood the situation. That was already very good.
"This is amazing!!"
While the two of them were talking, others began arriving one after another. Among them was someone Takumi knewTendou Kisara.
As soon as Tendou Kisara arrived, she immediately noticed something: Her powers had been suppressed. All her physical strength was completely restrained. Now she was only slightly stronger than a regular person.
"Wah!!" "It feels like my powers are being restrained here." "What's going on?!"
Several little girls who arrived at the same time also realized this situation immediately. Then they started shouting.
Seeing this, Takumi gave it some thought and instructed Prometheus to prepare an instruction manual, A simple introduction explaining the current situation So everyone could receive the information as soon as they arrived.
Following Takumi's command, Soon enough, everyone who arrived received the data.
Once everyone had read through the information, They gradually understood what was happening.
With the situation clarified, excitement spread among the group. One by one, they went to collect their starter equipment and began heading outside the town.
Tendou Kisara greeted Takumi, then left to battle monsters outside. She wanted to see if she could reach the 100th floor. She needed combat experience.
Seeing this, Kayaba Akihiko said to Takumi:
"I'll head out and have a look too. I'll get a feel for it, then return to continue my work."
Kayaba Akihiko didn't linger. He was eager to see what the outside world looked like.
Takumi shrugged and said nothing. As long as he remembered to come back to work, that was fine.
After seeing Kayaba Akihiko off, Takumi also left. He didn't intend to play around here. After all, this entire place was Takumi's creation. He knew every detail. So there wasn't much fun in it for him.
Returning home and finding no one there, Takumi didn't mind. Most likely, Shima Mio had gone straight to Aincrad.
With nothing better to do, Takumi entered the group chat. He found that Nakiri Alice was currently ranting about something happening in her world.
Nakiri Alice: [Lately, strange new species have been appearing in our world.] [And they're terrifying.] [Have you ever seen a fully roasted wild boar?] [Image]
Takumi looked at the image Alice posted and was shocked. It was about 4 meters long, 3 meters tall, And its back was covered with smoking meat.
Fujiwara Chika: [!!!!] [Roast pig???]
Exactly, it was a whole roasted pig.
Good griefwhy was a whole roasted pig appearing in Nakiri Alice's world? Wasn't her world supposed to be normal?
Sure, they had strange "clothing burst" skills, But overall, it was still an ordinary world.
And now this?
Kato Megumi: [A creature from another world appeared in your world?] [Seems like it's from a world called "Toriko" (Gourmet Hunter)?]
Kato Megumi had watched the anime Toriko. She had been amazed by some of the creatures from that world.
If someone lived there, they'd never have to worry about starving!
Takumi: [An otherworldly species invasion?] [You guys are in big trouble!!]
Takumi was astonished. Creatures from the world of Toriko were appearing in the Food Wars! world? That meant her world was in real danger.
Nakiri Alice: [!!!!] [Please send me the materials!!]
Alice was panicking. She was begging!
Takumi: [But it's not a big issue!] [Go hunt jellyfish and see if you can extract gourmet cells.] [You get stronger just by eating!] [Gahaha, fun stuff.]
Gourmet cells were amazing things. A shortcut to becoming stronger. Eat, and grow strong.
Kato Megumi: [Uploading folder: "Toriko."]
After Takumi finished speaking, Kato Megumi uploaded her Toriko resources to the group.
Nakiri Alice: [@Kato Megumi, thanks.] [@Takumi, that may be so, but those species are ridiculously strong.] [Anyway, I'll check Megumi's files first.]
And then Alice disappeared from the chat.
Seeing that Alice stopped responding, Takumi didn't think much more of it.
But Zhongli suddenly spoke up.
Zhongli: [Have the two worlds merged?] [Then there should be a group quest soon, right?]
Honestly, Zhongli was just as shocked by the information But quickly remembered the group's quest board.
Would the upcoming missions be related to this?
The fusion of two worlds would surely bring great harm to one of them. A weaker world could even be destroyed outright.
Alice's world was in serious danger. Judging by the image she posted, Those creatures were clearly far stronger than anything from her world.
That wasn't good news.
Takumi nodded thoughtfully at Zhongli's comment.
Takumi: [Probably?] [But right now, there's no active quest in the group.]
No quests had been posted yet. So Takumi couldn't draw conclusions.
After chatting a while with the old man in the group, Takumi closed the chat. Then, he started checking the situation in Aincrad.
Using the control system in the backend, Takumi quickly got an overview of what was happening there.
Many people had already entered. Even ordinary folks were spending money just to visit.
After all, it was a floating city. Naturally, it attracted a lot of interest.
Not to mentionpeople could learn magic here.
Though Takumi had already made magic available, Many still didn't understand it. They hadn't been exposed to it before, So they had to ask people from Velier for guidance.
Many now possessed superpowers, And had more or less learned basic magic.
But they lacked real combat experience. Now they had a chance to gain it.
Though they had regular jobs, their current lifestyle was more relaxed. Improving their strength was the real priority.
Besides the little girls, some folks from Velier also showed up.
Takumi even spotted Kevin wandering through Aincrad.
Clearly, he was interested in what Takumi had built.
Seeing Kevin made Takumi chuckle. He vanished from where he was and headed over to take a look.
Was Kevin planning to start from scratch and conquer all of Aincrad?
Chapter 157: You're Really Good at Exploiting Loopholes!
As soon as Kevin entered Aincrad, he realized his powers had been completely suppressed. It was a comprehensive suppressionhis physical abilities had even reverted to those of a normal human.
It felt just like being back in high school. Feeling such a drastic change, Kevin was thoroughly shocked.
"It's been a while since I felt this weak."
Even when Su threw him into the Sea of Quanta, he hadn't felt this powerless.
Takumi's voice suddenly rang in Kevin's ear:
"Maybe re-leveling will do you some good." "Even though there may not be many enemies in my world, raising your strength a little can't hurt."
Hearing Takumi's voice, Kevin turned his head to look at him.
"You used the Herrscher Core of Binding here, didn't you? Otherwise, this wouldn't happen."
He noticed the moment he entered.
Takumi nodded.
"That's right. I did insert a Herrscher Core. This way, people can fully experience the feel of Floor 31."
Takumi grinned widely.
As long as someone wasn't stronger than him, they'd be suppressed here. Even if the Celestial Emperor came, the result would be the same.
"Not bad at all. You should have Pardo train here more."
Among the Thirteen Flame-Chasers, Pardo was the least combat-savvy. Well, Griseo too.
Takumi should bring Pardo over for some solid training.
"Let her do what she likes. No one really expects her to fight anyway."
Takumi clearly knew the kitty wasn't good at combat. If they had to rely on her in a real fight, things would be over already.
Kevin nodded and said nothing more.
Takumi casually chatted with him. Kevin was quite the dependable fighter.
Hmm... maybe he could seal Kevin into a teapot, and gift him via red envelope to people needing help? Then let him go fight battles for them?
Taking a few points in return wouldn't be unreasonable, right?
With that thought, Takumi felt like he'd come up with a great idea.
Combat specialists like Kevin should be deployed to other worlds to earn points!
Feeling quite pleased, Takumi made his decision.
After wandering around Aincrad for a while with Kevin, Takumi returned home.
Then, he began experimenting.
First, he fetched a spatial bracelet. Then, he stuffed a few harmless lifeforms into it.
After that, Takumi tagged Zhongli in the group chat.
Takumi: [Old man, time for an experiment.] [Zhongli's exclusive red packet.]
Zhongli, upon receiving Takumi's message, felt puzzled.
What was this about?
He accepted the red packet and looked at the spatial bracelet inside. He was a bit surprised.
Takumi: [See if the creatures inside are still alive.] [If they are, doesn't this mean we can use this method to transport people to other worlds?]
Takumi explained his idea to the old man.
Hearing this, Zhongli's eyes lit up.
Others in the group also realized the implication.
This might actually work!
Suoh Mikoto: [Sounds like a decent plan.] [If it works, nobody will buy those oversized teleportation charms anymore.]
Fujiwara Chika: [Good grief, trying every trick to exploit group privileges huh?]
Saten Ruiko: [!!!!] [You can actually do this?!] [Are we sure it's safe?]
Saten Ruiko, new to the group, was shocked by Takumi's tactics.
Was this even legal within the system?
Kato Megumi: [Takumi-kun is always good at finding bugs in the system.]
The group chat filled with lively discussion.
If this really worked, it could save tons of points when sending friends and family across worlds.
After reading Takumi's message, Zhongli's eyes lit up.
He checked immediately.
Opening the bracelet, he released several non-Teyvat creatures.
They were bouncing around energetically, showing no signs of discomfort.
After observing them for a while, Zhongli took a picture and posted it to the group.
Zhongli: [Image] [Seems like there's no problem.]
Takumi: [Looks like it worked!] [Let's try it on a person next?]
Takumi stroked his chin.
Those creatures were still lively. That meant there were no issues.
His plan had worked.
Zhongli: [I'll have Xiao try.]
Then Zhongli made the arrangements.
He also took this seriously.
If it worked, he could even send a few people ahead to start building Liyue Harbor over there.
Not a bad idea.
Thinking that, Zhongli acted right away.
He sent a telepathic message to Xiao.
At that moment, Xiao was watching a certain blonde girl at Guili Plains. He immediately vanished upon receiving the message.
Just in time to inform Zhongli about the Traveler's arrival.
With that thought, Xiao quickly appeared beside Zhongli.
"Lord Rex Lapis, the Traveler has arrived at Guili Plains."
As soon as he saw Zhongli, Xiao reported.
Hearing this, Zhongli nodded.
"I already know."
He'd been watching Liyue's development closely. He knew the moment Lumine and Paimon passed through the Stone Gate.
Xiao was momentarily surprised, then nodded.
Zhongli continued:
"Xiao." "Next, I want to conduct a test." "I will send you to Takumi's side." "Takumi already tested it with other beings." "But we don't know if it's safe for humans." "Are you willing to try?"
Though he planned to send Xiao, Zhongli made sure to explain.
Still, he was confident If danger truly existed, The chat group system would surely warn them.
He trusted that.
Hearing Zhongli's words, Xiao paused, then nodded solemnly.
"I will follow your command, Lord Rex Lapis."
He had no objections. He trusted Zhongli completely.
Seeing this, Zhongli didn't hesitate. He picked up the spatial bracelet and said:
"Do not resist."
Then, he actedsealing Xiao into the bracelet.
With that done, he sent the bracelet to Takumi.
No warning appeared when placing the item into the red packet.
That meant it was safe.
With that confirmation, Zhongli sent it.
Zhongli: [Takumi's exclusive red packet] [I put Xiao inside.] [Check if anything's wrong.]
Upon seeing Zhongli's message, Takumi quickly retrieved the bracelet.
Chapter 158: Should I Send a Team Over First?
After receiving the spatial bracelet, Takumi released Xiao from it.
Xiao looked surprised.
"We're already there? That was fast. I didn't feel anything at all."
As soon as he came out, he shared his experience. He had only been sealed inside the spatial bracelet by Zhongli. But not long after, he was released. He didn't even notice the spatial transition.
"You didn't feel anything? Perfect. That means traveling to other worlds just got a lot easier. Thanks for your help."
Takumi smiled at Xiao's words.
And with this, airdropping combat power was now possible.
Xiao nodded. He hadn't really done anything special.
"Well then, I'll send you back now."
Now that everything was confirmed safe, Takumi didn't hesitate. He first sent Xiao back.
This was meant to be an experiment. Now that it succeeded, it was time to return him.
Xiao had no objections. He came and went quickly. Takumi promptly sent him back.
Over on Zhongli's side, seeing Xiao return, he nodded in satisfaction.
