On the outskirts of Tokyo, within the base, hundreds of men and women, young and old, dressed in all manner of clothing, stood in the wide-open square, their expressions varied as they took in the surrounding scene.
Just two days ago, this place had been nothing but barren grassland.
Yet in merely two days, a massive base like this had been constructed. Schicksal's so-called "Realizer" technology truly possessed a power bordering on the miraculous.
It was a shame Schicksal never disclosed the core technology behind the Realizers.
Even the units provided to various nations were only small-scale devices, capable of covering an area of about a hundred square meters with their Territory.
A hundred square meters—sounds pretty big and impressive, right?
But their output was pitifully low.
In Schicksal's hands, these were devices that could casually rewrite the laws of physics, yet the ones held by other nations would need a day or two of computation just to alter an object's mass.
Not to mention, the technology Schicksal had used to detect and even travel to another world was also thanks to the Realizers.
This almost mythical tech had driven every nation to rack their brains trying to obtain it.
They'd tried everything from threats to offers of cooperation, all to no avail.
Not only were all attacks futile against a Territory generated by a Realizer, but more importantly… the Schicksal Overseer, Theresa Apocalypse, who appeared to be a little girl, was no ordinary person.
Every Valkyrie possessed physical capabilities far beyond ordinary comprehension—their essence rooted in the likewise undisclosed Stigma technology.
And as the origin of this technology, Schicksal's Overseer, Theresa, possessed a monstrous physique that was the hardest for ordinary people to fathom.
While her limits were unknown, it was beyond doubt that until the Realizer technology was cracked, Schicksal was the most unshakable force in the world.
"Ms. Theresa, is everything ready?"
Seeing the white-haired girl step out from the control room, dressed in an azure, rather religious-style dress, U.S. Colonel Lainer stepped forward to inquire.
"Yes, everything is prepared. All we need to do now is wait here, and the 'Gate' will open. Don't worry, just follow behind me when the time comes."
Though the white-haired girl's face was youthful, the air of authority and seriousness about her more than made up for it.
Probably.
"Ms. Theresa… if I may be blunt, it seems unnecessary for you to take this risk with us."
Lainer's face showed clear disapproval.
"As the first exploration team, our lives have no guarantee. What might happen in the other world, what dangers we might encounter—it's completely unpredictable right now."
"What, are you looking down on me?"
Hearing this, Theresa's eyebrows immediately furrowed. With her arms crossed and the impossibly large cross looming behind her, she did look rather intimidating.
Lainer smiled wryly. "Of course not. There's an old saying from Shenzhou… 'Leaders do not go to the battlefield.' You know how significant Schicksal is and the delicacy of its current situation. If we die, it's just us. But if something happens to you, it could affect the entire world."
Seeing that this was his meaning, Theresa's expression softened somewhat, but she still said, "I know my position doesn't allow me to act recklessly. So my decision isn't a spur-of-the-moment whim. It's a calculated risk, taken after careful consideration."
"We don't need to take risks."
Risk-taking isn't necessarily bad. When there are no other choices, it might yield greater rewards than proceeding cautiously.
But Lainer didn't believe now was the time for taking risks.
"Let me say it again, Colonel. Right now, our understanding of the other world is that we understand nothing at all."
Theresa shook her head, not agreeing with him. "From our perspective, things may seem calm. But by the time any sign of abnormality appears, it might already be an unstoppable disaster."
When you see one cockroach, there's already a nest of them—everyone understands that principle.
Lainer sighed and said no more.
Before long, a colorful 'Gate' unfolded not far ahead of the crowd.
Thirty Valkyries, wearing field combat uniforms over their White Comet armor, gathered around Theresa, escorting her toward the Gate.
Behind them followed physicists, geologists, field experts, and teams from various nations.
After the strange sensation of pushing through a thin membrane with their bodies, everyone set foot on the soil of this other world.
"This is… the other world?"
Everyone surveyed their surroundings. They were on a highland, surrounded by lush greenery.
In the distance, they could see a small village consisting of what appeared to be medieval European-style wooden huts.
At the village center stood a building made of white bricks, clearly a church in style.
Judging by the architecture… the culture seemed similar to Earth's, but there was a significant difference in era.
That said, as the case of magical girls had shown, a world's military strength isn't determined solely by technology.
Before the magical mascots came to this world, who would have imagined something like magic?
Moreover, someone had been consistently concealing the existence of this other world, erasing its traces from Earth.
This proved that this world was no ordinary medieval setting. They couldn't even be sure this truly was a medieval era, since even back on Earth, there were villages that preserved primitive architecture.
After reaching a preliminary conclusion, everyone glanced down at their own attire.
"Let's use the cover of foreign merchants."
Theresa offered a suggestion. "Since there's a church, we can try to gather information about this world through it."
Lainer glanced back at the now-closed Gate behind them, instinctively touching the cylindrical object at his waist that resembled a deactivated lightsaber.
"Should we secure our retreat first?"
This was a portable Realizer device, issued to each person. It had only one function: to open a Gate back to Earth.
Theresa produced an extra one she had brought, then pressed the activation button. A Gate wide enough for two people to walk through side-by-side opened before her.
"No issues. But let me reiterate one final time: this 'Key' is bound to the thumbprint of your right hand. Above the activation button is a high-temperature patch, also triggered by fingerprint."
"Press it for two seconds, and it will rapidly release energy, generating intense heat to destroy the internal components along with the fingerprint."
"If you find yourself in the worst possible situation, please use this function. Do not let this danger be brought back to our world."
Theresa spoke with grave seriousness.
"Yes, ma'am!" came the chorus of replies.
After the final instructions and deciding on their direction, the group no longer hesitated. Together, they began moving toward the distant village.
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T/N: I have a Patreon! Webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.