Deadline Is Raining in the Status Window - Chapter 255

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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“In any case, go. I can use my dragon heart as the power source.”
“What about when I return?”
“The Mother Goddess at that time will be formidable.”
True enough—back when Humanity was just being born, even DDoS attacks wouldn’t have fazed her. It was a rational approach. Rather than worry about leaving a message that might get distorted in transmission, it was better to meet face-to-face and communicate directly.
“But why specifically March 21st?”
“She said the temperature would be moderate during the spring equinox and the weather would be favorable.”
….
Now that I thought about it, that satellite’s original function was climate control. It probably had weather prediction capabilities too, but manipulating the weather would be child’s play for her.
“I should broadcast that we’re consulting with Gerth before moving the Tower. Are you going to meet the Mother Goddess?”
Since she was technically my child, I thought she might want to see her mother, so I asked. Iyongi paused for a moment, then made an odd expression.
“I… will not go.”
“Why not? Don’t you usually like your mother? Wouldn’t you want to see her all the time?”
“You don’t seem particularly attached to the concept of a mother either, do you?”
“That’s not true! I absolutely adore Eleanor’s mother! I want to see her all the time! On days when we have to part, I cling to her and sleep together, and I even knead her belly affectionately!”
My mother is the best, you know? You don’t have a mother like that, do you? My mother smells wonderful and her skin is so soft!
I teased the dragon, and she clenched her fist against the dirt ground. She probably wanted to hit me. But she wouldn’t be able to. I was far stronger than her right now.
“My human form has softer skin than that woman.”
“Dad, I’m heading out then. Good luck.”
I gave my father a warm embrace, then mocked Iyongi—who looked aggrieved—by making a pig nose with my middle finger, stuck my tongue out playfully, and turned to leave.
I could hear Iyongi tapping the ground furiously in frustration. Exhilarating. Perhaps I had been living for this very moment.
“You’re teasing Iyongi too much.”
The dead report card must have been buried deep in his heart. Gerth stopped walking at a subtle distance from me and drew close instead. Krhehe, excellent. Next month, I’d be able to do whatever I wanted with this man.
“I still have a long way to go to repay what I’ve received.”
“I understand that point.”
“I really like you, Gerth.”
“I like you too, Evan.”
With our hearts in sync, we embraced warmly for five seconds, then separated sharply. We both knew that holding each other any longer would lead to something irreversible.
“Time travel is a first for me. Since it could be dangerous, I’ll broadcast a warning.”
“Then I’ll go find Cha Cha.”
After parting ways to attend to our respective tasks, I went to find Cha Cha. I knocked twice and entered the room, where I found the childlike adult with pink hair, wearing a fluttering-sleeved doctor’s coat, lying face-down on the bed and crying miserably.
“Cha Cha. It’s me.”
“Who is this? Is it Evan, who abandoned me here and went to take exams at the Academy?”
“I didn’t abandon you.”
“I was abandoned. Abandoned by Mother, abandoned by Evan.”
She seemed quite sulky. I heard she hadn’t eaten since I went to the Academy. Was she alright? Humans usually don’t survive more than a month without food, do they?
I grabbed Cha Cha’s shoulders and lifted her up, sitting her on the bed. The tear stains on the pillowcase made me laugh. It was funny how swollen her eyes were from crying so much.
At least outwardly, she seemed fine. Her face still had soft baby fat.
“My words offered you no comfort, it seems.”
“What do you mean?”
“Didn’t Gerth tell you?”
“?”
Cha Cha tilted his head with a bewildered expression. Gerth must have forgotten. In that case, I had no choice but to tell him directly.
“I don’t know how much time you have left. But for whatever days remain, I will be there with you without fail.”
“Sniff sniff!”
Cha Cha’s eyes welled up like someone who’d just received a diamond wedding ring, and he told me to wait. Then he rushed outside, ransacked the Machine King’s room, and returned with a recorder, holding the microphone up to me.
“Evan. Say it one more time.”
“I don’t know how much time you have left. But for whatever days remain, I will be there with you without fail.”
Cha Cha clicked the stop button, then connected headphones and put them on. Click, click, click, click—the sound repeated. He seemed to be listening to my words over and over again.
“Evan, I’ve never heard such a magnificent confession in my 10,000 years of life!”
“It wasn’t really a confession.”
“It’s a truly wonderful love confession!”
“Hmm…”
If that’s how you’re taking it, then so be it. At least Cha Cha had regained his spirits, so I’d call that a win. I gently stroked Cha Cha, whose eyes now sparkled brightly, and moved on to the next matter.
“Due to various circumstances, I’ve arranged to meet the Mother Goddess. We’re going back 9,999 years from now.”
“Huh?”
He asked innocently if such a thing was even possible, so I explained that with the Serpent King’s Tower’s spacetime displacement ability and Iyongi’s dragon heart, we should be able to make a one-way trip.
The grown man bounced excitedly on the bed.
“Wow! We’re going to see Mom!”
“You’re that pleased?”
“Evan, Mom will like you too! She’s beautiful, kind, and fun—she has it all!”
Beautiful was reassuring to hear, but this “fun” part bothered me. It seemed like that very “fun” quality was why Iyongi had been refusing to meet her.
“The Serpent King’s Tower will now commence spacetime displacement. As this is our first attempt, we cannot guarantee the safety of passengers. Those who do not wish to proceed may disembark within the next ten minutes.”
Gerth’s voice echoed throughout the entire tower. Once the announcement ended, the residents of the Serpent King’s Tower evacuated in orderly lines as if they’d been drilled for it, and ten minutes later, countless demi-humans and beasts outside saw us off with tears streaming down their faces.
“Gerth! Please return safely!”
“Your Majesty the Serpent King! We will be waiting!”
“But is this really that dangerous?”
“When we restructured the tower before, some demi-humans died. Who knows what’ll happen with the displacement.”
Wait, I didn’t know anyone died when I remodeled the Serpent King’s Tower. Was moving the tower really that perilous?
I held Cha Cha’s hand and went to the top floor of the tower, where I found a door that had many copyright issues. Upon discovering a teal public telephone booth and bursting through the door, the interior unfolded with copyright problems, and a sound that would only generate copyright issues rang out.
Whirrrrr! Whirrrrr!
Stop! We’ll really get sued by the BBC!
“Evan, you’re here. Let’s begin.”
“Wait, let’s change the background! This wasn’t the original one! What changed your mind!”
“Evan, you seemed to find the heart shape creepy last time.”
“I like hearts! But right now my heart’s about to burst!”
“I see.”
As Gerth manipulated the sci-fi machinery, the surroundings transformed to resemble the interior of a living organism. The control panels were an unsettling shade of pink like internal organs. I felt considerably more at ease than before.
“I didn’t know Evan liked this kind of environment.”
“It’s better than that round, bulky machine room from earlier.”
“Is that so.”
For some reason, Gerth’s expression brightened. He seemed to have gained confidence. What on earth had given him such assurance?
“Ugh! What is this! It’s disgusting!”
However, Cha Cha, possessing ordinary aesthetic sensibilities, found it repulsive. Complaining sharply about why Gerth would own such a grotesque thing as property, Cha Cha hid behind me when Gerth narrowed his eyes and glared at him.
“Evan! Gerth’s looking at me scary! Tell Gerth he’s being mean! Tell him he’s being mean!”
“Gerth. The kid might find it creepy.”
“This Tower was given to me by the Mother Goddess. It troubles my heart to be insulted.”
“Still. The kid might feel that way.”
“That one is not a kid, Evan. He is older than me.”
“But he was a kid just a few days ago.”
“However…!”
Gerth was being adorable today. Perhaps that’s what happens when a five-hundred-year-old adult stands before a ten-thousand-year-old child. I patted Gerth’s back, cooing about how cute he was, and asked what I needed to do.
“I’ve set everything up. All that’s needed is for Evan, as co-owner, to consent.”
“Our first collaborative project.”
“Indeed.”
While Gerth didn’t understand the meaning of my words, I cried out “Love love collaboration!” and grabbed both his hands, dancing like a tango. As tentacle-like appendages wrapped around my hands, the Tower’s voice resonated in my mind.
– This Tower will relocate to March 21st, 9,999 Years Ago. The arrival location is random. Do you approve?
“Approved!”
I shouted approval caught up in the moment, but there was one part of what the Tower said that bothered me deeply. I didn’t set the location? Does that mean we could warp into the middle of the Sea?
Before I could voice my doubts, the Tower finished its calculations and initiated the temporal shift. Consuming the massive power source called Dragon Heart, the Tower’s device whirred and hummed to life, then crashed with a thunderous boom as it fell to the ground, plunging into darkness for a moment.

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Fortunately, we landed on solid ground rather than in the Sea, but the impact was severe as the Tower, which had been suspended in mid-air, struck the earth. The lobby level had completely collapsed, and since the Tower was tilted at an angle, it would take time for it to repair itself.
“Wow….”
I didn’t know which part of the world we were in, but we stood in the middle of an endless Grassland. Grass stretched in every direction—left, right, everywhere. With not a single tree in sight, only vast meadows, it felt unreal.
Did we really travel through time? Or were we all experiencing a collective hallucination? Even as such thoughts crossed my mind, a black speck in the distance moved rapidly toward us.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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