The feeling of crossing over was nothing like teleportation.
Teleporting felt like drowning, but crossing worlds was more like being turned into a lump of dough and stretched into thin dragon-beard noodles.
Thankfully, their Microcosmos protected them well, though there were side effects. As the protective shield formed by their Microcosmos burst through the portal, it violently expanded outward.
Sand and stones flew wildly, kicking up a whirlwind of chaos, like special effects trailing them through the crossing.
"Ahh!" Zhang Yan screamed as debris pelted toward her.
Zhan Jun quickly shielded her, turning his back to the portal.
Hearing the commotion, Liu A'dou and Ada slowly withdrew their Microcosmos. Liu A'dou looked over at Ada to make sure she was okay, then smiled. "Ada-jie, we crossed over again."
Ada gently held her belly and smiled too.
As the wind settled, the two onlookers stared in shock at the man and woman stepping out of the portal. They were carrying strange, possibly valuable things and dressed in oddly heavy winter clothing—even though it was nearly summer vacation.
Zhang Yan trembled in fear. The scrapes on her body stung sharply. Zhan Jun, however, was already trying to assess what just happened. Were they Martians?
Liu A'dou turned and spotted the two kids. He instantly recognized the school uniform style. The writing on their chests was also familiar. 'This world's Earth isn't much different from our own,' Liu A'dou thought.
"Classmates, could you tell me where we are?" Liu A'dou asked in Mandarin.
Zhan Jun understood him. The guy actually spoke Chinese? And he was asking where they were… Was he really a Martian? Zhan Jun felt nervous, but as a man, he knew he had to protect Zhang Yan—just like he would protect his sisters at home. "Who are you?"
"Apologies," Liu A'dou said as he helped Ada step closer—close enough for Zhan Jun to feel safe. "My name is Liu A'dou. This is my wife, Wang Ada. Could you tell us—are we on Earth?"
So they were Martians after all? Zhan Jun concluded, and answered, "Yes. This is Earth."
"China?"
Zhan Jun nodded.
Liu A'dou finally smiled in relief. "Thank you so much. I wonder if you could do us a favor. As you can see, my wife and I just arrived here. She's pregnant, and I can't leave her side. Could you help us find a car to take us to the nearest hospital?"
As he spoke, Liu A'dou pulled a gold bar from his coat. "Please accept this small token of thanks."
The gold bar traced a graceful arc through the air and landed in Zhan Jun's hand, solid and heavy. Zhan Jun had never seen a gold bar before, but he had seen gold rings. 'Is this really a gold bar? Who just casually hands out a gold bar? Or maybe it's just gold-plated metal?'
"Zhan Jun, that really is a gold bar," Zhang Yan whispered, still clutching his sleeve for comfort.
"How do you know?"
"My dad runs a jewelry business. He taught me how to tell real gold."
So it was real. Zhan Jun casually pocketed it. Seeing this, Zhang Yan scolded him, "We don't even know who they are, and you just take their stuff? What if they're Martian spies?"
"You seriously think a pregnant woman would be a spy? If she is, I'd gladly be tricked."
"But look at the guy. He's so young. Doesn't even look old enough to be married. What if the pregnancy is fake too?" Zhang Yan was sharp.
Liu A'dou didn't catch most of what they were saying, but one word stuck—Martian spies? So, Earth in this universe was at war with Mars? War times… not great.
"Don't worry, we're not Martian spies. Honestly, I don't even know if anyone lives on Mars. Are you guys at war with roaches or Martian hunters?"
'What the hell is he talking about?' Zhan Jun turned to Zhang Yan. "Relax. I believe they're not Martians. If Martians knew we were here, they would've killed us already."
Zhang Yan thought about it—yeah, no way a Martian would be this polite and hand out gold. But still, she nervously asked, "You're really not Martians?"
"Of course not. My wife and I are real, bona fide Earthlings."
That convinced her. Martians always looked down on Earthlings. There's no way they'd ever admit to being one. Even though Martians were originally Earth colonists, after decades of preaching racial superiority, they'd all turned into full-on supremacists. They hated Earthlings, scorned them, and were ashamed to associate with them.
"Zhang Yan, stay here with them. I'll go find a car."
"I want to go with you."
"Stay here. Don't worry, they're not bad people."
Still, Zhang Yan was scared. Once Zhan Jun left, she kept a good 10-meter distance between her and the Liu couple.
Liu A'dou gave a helpless smile. This girl was way too cautious. "Classmate, are you guys at war with Martians?"
No response. A'dou glanced at Ada, signaling her to try asking instead. Ada took off her heavy coat—no use wearing it in this heat anyway. "Miss, we're really not bad people. Can you tell us what's going on with the Martians? Let me tell you a secret. We're not from this world. Please don't tell anyone."
"…"
Liu A'dou didn't mind her being so honest. They weren't planning to stay here long anyway.
"Not from this world? What do you mean?" Zhang Yan wasn't confused—she just couldn't quite accept it.
"I mean, we're from a different universe. Another Earth. The Earth we came from is totally different from this one. So we really don't know much about your world. That's why we're asking."
Ada was sincere. Plus, she was pregnant. Eventually, Zhang Yan let her guard down and began to talk.
She explained the Martian Empire "Vers", the Martian ruins, Aldnoah tech, and the Heaven's Fall disaster. A solid summary of history. Thankfully, she was a good student who paid attention in class.
"So this is that world," Liu A'dou murmured. He vaguely remembered something about a world where Mars was full of corrupt nobles—even the queen of the Vers Empire had a terrible reputation, caring little about her own people.
From Earth's point of view, the queen was a hero—she stopped the war. But from the Martian perspective? Probably not so much. They lacked essentials like water and air. Coming to Earth was all about survival—plundering resources. The princess basically sold them all out. Even so, as a royal with the key to activate Aldnoah tech, she was still respected on Mars. Earth's upper ranks, wanting her tech, treated her nicely. But the more radical factions on Earth likely still hated her.
After all, Earth had been wrecked because of the Martians. Countless people had died. That kind of hatred doesn't disappear easily.
Liu A'dou thought to himself, 'So I ended up in the world where the moon looks like half a cookie…' As an Earthling, maybe he should help Earth and wipe out Mars. Of course, that was just a thought. As long as Martians didn't mess with him, he'd rather just stay by his wife's side. Right now, his wife and daughter were the most important things in his life.