Holding the stiffened people’s hands and entering the white world, I felt the branching paths once more.
To Trappist and Paradise, and even to Taiping and Jinxing where the Chinese were.
I had been to all of these stars, but there were still places among the paths that I had yet to visit.
There was also Mars, which Magreta had mentioned, as well as coordinates leading to other stars within the solar system.
They were stars I could not visit right away, but someday, I had to visit those stars as well.
If I wanted to find the mages who had escaped Trappist long ago, I had to visit all the ruins I could.
After several futile attempts, Sopeu no longer searched for them, but that did not mean he had forgotten them.
And I had not forgotten either. I planned to set out in search of them again once the urgent matters were concluded.
I turned my gaze away from the other paths and focused again on the sensation in my hands.
Right now, it was important not to lose the people connected to me.
Among those who had performed spatial movement with me, there were five ordinary people.
I was taking a small number of people for safety, but I could not be at ease.
Losing even one person would mean the end.
Fortunately, I did not lose anyone until we escaped the light again.
Fwoooosh!
The brilliant light faded, and ruins appeared around us.
It was the underground ruins of Trappist, the ones I saw every time.
“Huh? It’s not time yet?”
A voice came from beneath the altar.
It was the operative keeping watch.
I wished no one had been there, but after re-establishing the passage connected to the surface, the ruins could not be left unmanned.
I asked Sopeu, and he immediately cast a spell.
[Sopeu!]
[Sleep.]
“Huh? Why am I suddenly so sleepy….”
The man fell face-down on the floor.
Thud. Snore.
He planted his face on the floor and began to snore.
While the operative’s family members sat on the floor retching, Tom and Staff Sergeant Woo went down from the altar and laid him down properly.
I waited until everyone came to their senses.
The operatives who had performed spatial movement several times recovered just by shaking their heads a few times, but the operatives’ families took more time.
After my older brother and Staff Sergeant Woo’s wife regained their senses, Tom’s family and Staff Sergeant Woo’s mother rose to their feet.
I had been a little worried, but ordinary people had no problem performing spatial movement.
Seeing that everyone had come to their senses, I spoke to them.
“This is the underground ruins of Trappist.”
“Is this another star too?”
At my words, Tom’s eldest younger sister, Joy, asked back.
“Yes.”
I nodded in response to her question.
The families looked around in all directions.
However, this place was not very different from the Baekdu Mountain underground ruins.
If there was a difference, it was only the man lying on the floor.
“Why is that man sleeping on the floor?”
Another younger sister who spotted him, Chloe, asked me.
It seemed she hadn’t seen the man collapse from motion sickness.
From their surprised expressions, it seemed the other families hadn’t seen it either.
I told them the truth.
“For now, I cannot reveal that ordinary people can come to this star, so I put him to sleep.”
Before performing spatial movement, I had explained the situation to the families.
That originally only those with dark energy could come to Trappist, and that ordinary people could come here thanks to the power I possessed.
That it was not yet time to reveal that power, so the families had to stay in the underground city.
Had it been any other time, no one would have wanted to come to this star after hearing such a story.
But after the news of Earth’s destruction came out, none of the family members said such things.
Perhaps because of that, no one took issue with putting the operative to sleep.
Especially Tom’s younger sisters showed interest in something else.
“You put him to sleep with magic, right?”
Tom’s younger sisters’ eyes sparkled at me.
I was embarrassed by their excessive interest, but I told them the truth.
“Yes. With magic.”
“Can we use that magic too?”
Sure enough, the expected question came.
By the look in their eyes, they weren’t saying this simply because magic was amazing.
It was because they hoped they could do something too.
“Well. We’ll have to wait and see about that.”
Unfortunately, from what I had checked, Tom’s younger sisters would have difficulty becoming mages.
But there was no need to tell them they couldn’t right away.
In fact, there were others who seemed likely to be able to.
They were my older brother and Staff Sergeant Woo’s wife, who had shown reactions to the awakening drug.
After the spatial movement, my older brother kept checking his body as if something was off, but Staff Sergeant Woo’s wife didn’t seem to feel anything strange.
She was just standing there ordinarily, looking around.
However, she had definitely changed too.
When we crossed over to this star, the healing magic I had placed on her had disappeared.
That she was standing there like that even after the healing magic disappeared was because her body had changed.
Seeing that, I nodded to Staff Sergeant Woo, and he took his wife’s hand and bowed his head to me.
Seeing the people looking around, I took out items the expedition would use from the box and stacked them beside the altar.
Daily necessities, spices, and various foods brought from Earth.
After I poured out a considerable amount, the families who had been looking around watched the items pile up with curious expressions.
After taking out the items, I spoke to the people gathered around.
“Everyone, please climb onto the altar. We have to perform spatial movement one more time.”
“Ah, that’s right?”
“Ugh, I hate motion sickness….”
Perhaps recalling the dry heaving from earlier, the families all frowned.
But no one said they wouldn’t climb onto the altar.
We climbed onto the altar again and held each other’s hands.
Sopeu activated the altar, and a portal heading toward the Ice Planet opened.
Whooooom.
Watching the hologram that appeared in front of the altar, I once again channeled dark energy into the people.
It was a short distance, so ordinary people would likely be able to handle spatial movement on their own, but there was no need to create unnecessary risk.
After confirming that everyone was connected by dark energy, I stepped into the portal.
Fwoooosh!
The world was once again engulfed in light before returning to normal.
When the light faded, an ice plain was visible beyond the translucent wall.
We had arrived at the Ice Planet.
“Ugh! Still, I think it’s better than before….”
My older brother and Staff Sergeant Woo’s wife looked better than before, but again, the others sat down on the floor dry-heaving.
There was definitely a difference between candidate users and ordinary people.
My older brother and Staff Sergeant Woo’s wife, who regained their senses first, looked around with wide eyes.
“I never imagined it would be a place like this….”
“It’s truly beautiful.”
My older brother was amazed by the ice plain spread beyond the translucent wall, and Staff Sergeant Woo’s wife was moved by the beautiful scenery of the ice plain.
They weren’t the only ones surprised by the appearance of the Ice Planet.
The others, who had stopped dry-heaving, also looked around with their mouths agape.
However, the things that surprised them differed slightly.
Tom’s parents held hands tightly and stared blankly outside, while Staff Sergeant Woo’s mother looked around with a disgusted expression.
Tom’s younger sisters didn’t view the outside scenery as only beautiful either.
“I’m a little scared….”
“It’s probably because it looks desolate.”
“Is that so. It’s overwhelming, and it looks cold too.”
As the two were talking like that, another cut in.
“-It’s really cold outside. By Earth’s standards, it’s about eighty degrees below zero!”
Startled by the sudden voice from behind, the two turned around.
And they jumped in surprise.
“Kyah!”
“You startled me!”
As the two looked up and scrambled back, the one who had spoken put on an apologetic expression.
“-Ah, were you surprised?”
The two finally came to their senses.
“Who are you…? But you don’t seem human?”
At the words of the eldest, Joy, the spirit struck a pose in midair.
“Ahem. I am the spirit Shamilla.”
The two women made blank expressions at the sight of the spirit floating in midair with its arms on its waist and chest puffed out.
Seeing the spirit, Staff Sergeant Woo’s wife spoke.
“Ah, so the spirit protecting the city is….”
The spirit pointed at itself with its finger.
“That’s me.”
At the sight of the spirit ahem-ing and showing off again, Tom’s younger sisters shook their heads.
“It’s completely different from the spirit I imagined.”
“I thought it would be a small fairy like in Peter Pan.”
It seemed the translation relic had mistranslated my explanation.
At the two’s disappointed expressions, the spirit pouted.
Seeing that, the operatives and I shook our heads, and the spirit flew quickly to Hanna, complaining to her.
After that bout of commotion, we took the elevator down underground.
Tom’s younger sisters and the spirit bickered continuously even while descending underground.
But by the time we arrived at the underground city, they had become very close.
I couldn’t understand why that had happened, but it was better than them not getting along.
They had heard about it from me, but those who actually saw the underground city were extremely surprised by its scale.
The families were surprised by the city being larger than expected, and once again marveled at the huge farms and cultivated fields on the outskirts of the city.
While the families were marveling at the city and the underground cavern, the elevator reached the bottom.
At the central park where the elevator had stopped, people were waiting.
Sergeant Kim and Kim Huiwon.
The two of them welcomed the families as representatives.
Sergeant Kim, looking shy, and Kim Huiwon, who welcomed us with a bright face.
“Welcome. We welcome you to the underground city of Kwora Eretz.”
At Kim Huiwon’s greeting, the families hurriedly returned the greeting.
No matter how little time had passed since they came to this city, both Huiwon and Sergeant Kim had already become full-fledged workers.
We headed to the expedition building with the two of them, who were dressed in work clothes.
The building adjacent to the expedition where the blacksmith resided was still billowing smoke, and ice golems were dripping water as they carried iron ore into the building.
The families watched the sweating ice golems with curious eyes.
When we entered the expedition building, everyone was surprised again by the interior filled with home appliances.
“I’d heard about it, but a big TV and a refrigerator. I don’t know how many times I’ve been surprised.”
At my brother’s words, I asked him once more.
“Stop being surprised and take care of the people.”
“Got it. I’ll see what I can do about things here.”
I had brought my brother to the underground city because he was family, but beyond that, I had brought him to entrust this underground city to him.
I could leave the city’s operations to the spirit, but I could not leave the management of people to the spirit.
Catherine had to take charge of the dispatch team, and my operatives had to move with me.
There were operatives who had already come into this city, but I needed someone I could trust and entrust the city to.
That person was my brother.
Unlike me, my brother was an incredibly smart person.
My brother was good at programming and managing people as well.
Moreover, since my brother had become an energy user as well, I could sufficiently entrust him with the city’s affairs.
Of course, for now it was only to the extent of entrusting the operatives’ families to him, but later on, my brother would have to manage many people.
“The city is much bigger than I thought. Will we end up filling this city later?”
At my brother’s words, I shook my head.
“It might be more than just filling the city.”
In the end, many people would flock to Trappist.
Not only the people in Paradise, but also the people in Taiping and the people on Earth.
I didn’t know how many would come, but eventually, I would have to confront all those people.
My brother had to help with that task.
Hearing my words, my brother shook his head and went to the other family members.
Watching my brother talk with the operatives’ families like that, I left the building with Magreta.
Since I had brought the families to the city, now I had to do my part.
Gathering dark stones and facing the Demon King.
To do that, I had to pack the nuclear bomb again.
I left the items brought from Earth in the underground city and performed spatial movement with Magreta.
To the underground ruins where the nuclear bomb was located.
Since the path to the surface had been opened, it was now time to carry the nuclear bomb to the Sanctuary.
Nuclear Test (1)