Find a Troubled Girl after leaving the Guild

The mortal body was remade and reborn. Her initial spirituality lay dormant and ignorant, akin to that of a newborn. It wasn’t until she was five that she awakened her previous memories, and after a long slumber, fully integrated them, startling her into a cold sweat.

The Empire was supposed to invade when she was six! With only a year left, there was no way she could become strong in time; not to mention reaching peak power, even achieving the Excellence Realm was exceedingly difficult because controlling magic power was tied to the strength of spirituality, which in turn depended on the growth of the body.

Meimei put all her efforts into enhancing her strength, prepared for a desperate fight, but in her sixth year, the Empire did not come, nor in her seventh, nor her eighth.

While she lay dormant and cultivated, she also waited for the Empire, determined to be ready before its arrival. This time, she would protect everyone and not let any good person get hurt.

What Meimei said was very moving, but she didn’t notice the strange expressions on the faces of those looking at her.

"Have you ever thought about relocating your parents and the villagers?" Li Ang was the one who finally posed this question.

Meimei froze, then stood like a statue, motionless.

"It seems," Otto said, "the me from that world did not fulfill the responsibility for a comprehensive education."

"Not at all!" Meimei hurriedly responded. "I did think about it, but, but I didn’t know how to persuade them to leave. Everyone has lived there for so long."

This indeed was a problem.

But Otto wasn’t completely convinced; he still felt something was missing in Meimei.

"Moreover, Grandpa Otto, the Otto there was always very concerned about me. It’s just that after problems arose in the world, you—I mean, he—was always busy, often in meetings, and only some Sky Knight sisters accompanied me. They often left, and then soon the Holy City also..."

The white-haired girl suddenly became downcast, her shoulders sagging.

"The Holy City could be breached?" Li Ang, Farina, and Otto asked simultaneously.

"What exactly happened?"

Otto’s expression was solemn; this was crucial information.

"I was only ten years old then," Meimei said. "There were some adult matters I didn’t know about, but the Holy City wasn’t attacked by warships or the Annihilation Star Soul from the outside. It was an internal problem that suddenly emerged."

She pointed to the sky, asking, "Does this Holy City also have that Arcane Shield?"

"Yes." Li Ang nodded.

"At the time, the tallest tower in the city suddenly exploded and collapsed, and then the shield vanished. After that, a Magical Disaster appeared over the Holy City, and some Demon Dragons began to attack the city."

Meimei said, "I escaped from the Holy City under the protection of sister Lisya."

Lisya, the deputy head of the Order Investigation Corps. If the Otto there asked others to protect Meimei, it would make sense for her to be the one to take her away.

"So, you were no help at all," Zoe said.

Meimei bit her lip and deflated, saying nothing.

Li Ang exchanged glances with the two Excellence Realm powerhouses: "I have some ideas; we’ll talk later."

He then softened his expression towards Meimei: "You don’t need to apologize for anything else, just gradually share your experiences with everyone as compensation. Maybe we can analyze something from them."

Meimei nodded honestly.

Although this person seemed a bit unreliable, at the very least, even unreliably, there might be glimpses of future phantoms to be seen.

"Let’s leave it at that for now," Akuya said, turning to Meluna, "And what about you? You came over here too? Have you seen more worlds?"

Meluna completely disregarded the Water Dragon’s question, remaining silent while looking at Li Ang.

Li Ang looked a bit helpless and said to her, "Go ahead."

At his suggestion, the black-haired girl said, "I have seen more, and the results were all destruction."

"There must be some nuanced differences, right?" the Water Dragon pressed, "Like if the worlds exhibit differently, for example, having much water?"

Li Ang speculated that she wanted to see if anyone in other worlds had discovered a way to replenish Nebis’s abundant Water Element levels.

"I don’t know, I don’t care. Whatever can be slain, I don’t care about. I just want to see if there’s a scenario where slaying everything in the way leads to victory." Meluna said frankly.

Li Ang sighed softly, while Akuya was also at a loss for words.

Meluna’s blue eyes reflected Li Ang, with light rippling within as if stirred by some inner emotion.

But she ultimately stated simply, "I finally chose the newest world and came over."

Li Ang surmised that the so-called World Wedge was a window, allowing one to glimpse and intervene in the concept of "timelines" or "time streams" because different world lines manifest at a choice point appearing at different times.

The Creator God, through some sort of power, continuously restarts Nebis at a certain point in time. Perhaps that is around when Meimei was born, or even earlier.

Originally, in his current world line, there shouldn’t have been any "Meimei" born. The two Meimeis he encountered here were due to special reasons.

The current core savior should be Zoe. In some world lines, for instance, if her parents had eaten something different, the savior would have been the selectable male protagonist "Aidan" at the time.

Li Ang couldn’t help but ponder whether each account of different game players represented a different computation. How should this world achieve a victorious outcome?

Zoe... he observed the innocent-looking chestnut-haired young girl. Without his involvement, she would likely just have emerged from the Aomori Islands, even if she did start with advantages, carrying a destiny. She would probably have to undergo many battles to grow rapidly.

He shook his head to clear his thoughts, as Farina beside him said, "Miss Meluna, can you share your experiences with us?"

Meluna said, "If Li Ang wants to know, then of course."

"Previously you didn’t seem to want to know, you never talked about it, did you?" Li Ang couldn’t help but speak up.

He was a bit annoyed, and his reaction showed on his face.

In the past, Meluna wouldn’t have reacted to such emotions from him, but now she seemed somewhat startled.

"In the past, I felt I couldn’t explain..."

"Indeed," Li Ang sighed, convincing himself to calm down.

"About that," Otto spoke up, "I also bear some fault for keeping it from you earlier."

"Keeping what from me?" Li Ang raised an eyebrow.

"Before, while thinking about the connection between Meimei and the Holy City’s renowned Female Sword Hero, I considered whether she might have used Legendary Realm power to come from another world."

The Elder Sword Hero crossed his arms, his face reflecting memories: "During travels to various Sky Islands, I have heard many strange stories, and have encountered many mysterious powerful figures, discussing the time, age, and all sorts of possibilities.

"Achieving the Legendary Realm entails mastering a power that transcends the world itself, and perhaps the world view seen at the time would be entirely different."

Otto had long reached near-Legendary level, only searching and contemplating on which ’Law’ he truly wished to grasp.

So, he knew more about this aspect than Li Ang did.

"There’s nothing to apologize for about this," Li Ang shook his head, "Saying it to me, I might not have believed it, so not saying it is reasonable."

Though Li Ang, with his transmigrator’s perspective, might not have doubted, for the indigenous people of Nebis it wasn’t certain, and the handling by the Elder Sword Hero was without flaw; something too outrageous seemed more like an absurd joke than a serious discussion.

Otto, having speculated about the Legendary, regarded the second Meimei intently.

His words just now carried another implication—he wanted to ask about their experience reaching the Legendary Realm.

"As you said indeed."

Meluna did not show any reverence towards Otto but affirmed his statement.

"Upon reaching that realm, you often feel omnipotent..."

She looked at her hand, the long slender bones of her fingers visible as she opened her palm, albeit dirty with mud and unsightly for the moment, but it was clear that this hand must hold great power when wielding a sword.

"...In that moment, it feels like you could grasp the world in your hands."

Her hand slowly closed as if seizing something, while simultaneously looking up at Li Ang.

Li Ang was still composed, but Dorothy beside him shivered lightly, muttering in a mosquito-like voice, "I feel like she wants to hold Li Ang tight."

"And indeed, I did so, slaying everything I saw, but it was useless."

Meluna stated this expressionlessly, but the more devoid of emotional fluctuation she was, the more a subtle, peculiar sentiment arose among those present, perhaps one of melancholy?

The black-haired girl seemed to talk to herself in a whisper, "If victory is not the means to halt the world’s end, then what indeed is the method?"

"Take your time to ponder," Akuya shook her head, "We six Water Dragons have pondered for so long without arriving at an answer."

She stretched, a bottle on the table rolling to the end as everyone realized that she had drunk all the "offerings" on the table completely.

"Let’s conclude this for now, forthcoming matters, first, let these two inform you of future circumstances, second, they act as my deputies, third, Li Ang comes to see me later.

The Water Dragon clapped both palms, "That’s it, meeting adjourned."