svetikya Page 177
Page 177
"Bullshit!" Beerus slammed his tail against the table leg, his golden divine power sending the cake box soaring high into the air. "What the God of Destruction of Universe 7 saw first is mine!"
Lin Ye laughed as he caught the falling cake from the air and cut it in half with his God of Destruction power: "Why don't we just share it?" He pushed the piece with more strawberries to Beerus, "Next time, have Bulma make one as big as a planet, enough for the two of you to roll around in."
Beerus's ears twitched, and he casually licked the cream off his paws. "You're smart enough to know your place." He suddenly pointed his tail at Lin Ye's pocket. "Hey, human, is the destruction report for Universe 7 finished? That brat Zeno said he wants to check the destruction records for every universe. If you can't hand it in..."
"If you can't hand it over, I'll expose the time you stole the King's sweets." Champa gloated from the side, cake crumbs falling all over himself from his paws.
Just as Lin Ye was about to reply, the God of Destruction's registration card in his pocket suddenly became hot, and the Earth's coordinates on the card were flashing wildly, like a small sun. "Looks like I don't need to write a report." He sat up, and his divine power spread along the card, instantly piercing through several star systems. "A spacetime rift has appeared at Earth's South Pole, and the energy inside... is very strange."
Weiss gently tapped his staff into the air, and the Earth model formed by condensed tea mist immediately magnified. A thin crack appeared at the location of the South Pole, and pale red energy rippled like breathing. "The barrier between other dimensions is thinning." He pushed up his non-existent glasses. "It's a consequence of your last battle with Kronos. The collision between the Light of Creation and the Core of Chaos loosened the glue between dimensions."
"I knew we shouldn't have made a mortal a god of destruction!" Champa's claws pressed down on the scepter of the god of destruction, purple divine power condensing into a ball of light at the head of the scepter. "Now look what's happened, such a huge mess! I'll wipe this crack clean right now, so as not to pollute the air of the sixth universe!"
"Wait." Lin Ye's senses penetrated the rift, and he heard a familiar ship's horn and faint shouts coming from inside. He suddenly smiled, "There are life signals there, and... their power system is very interesting."
The words had barely left his mouth when the rift widened suddenly, and a rubber arm shot out like a nimble whip, snapping around Lin Ye's wrist. The Straw Hat Pirates' sail emerged from the rift, and Luffy's smiling face peeked out, his straw hat still damp with seawater and seaweed: "Hey! Do you have any meat here? Our ship was swept here by a strange storm, and the Sunny's meat reserves have been empty for ages!"
"Where did this wild monkey come from!" Beerus's destructive energy erupted instantly, the golden ball of light grazing Luffy's ear and blasting a crater in the distance. "Dare to trespass on God of Destruction's planet? You're asking for trouble!"
Lin Ye quickly pressed down on Beerus's claws: "Don't be impulsive, he is a 'vessel' from another world." His divine power traveled along the rubber arm and felt the domineering aura flowing inside. "Just like me, only the power system is different... They don't rely on ki, but on 'domineering aura' condensed from their beliefs."
Luffy's eyes suddenly lit up: "You know Haki?" He abruptly retracted his rubber arm, and the Sunny crashed into the ground of Planet Destruction with a "bang." Usopp, clinging to the mast, shouted, "Luffy! Don't grab strangers' legs like that!"
Zoro, carrying three swords, jumped ashore. After looking around, he suddenly drew his sword: "Where am I? Why are there two moons in the sky?" His three swords suddenly pointed at Beerus and Champa, "And these two cats, they look pretty tough."
"Who are you calling a cat?!" Beerus and Champa shouted in unison, their fur standing on end. The two divine powers collided, causing a corner of the Sunny's sail to fly off.
Sanji walked down, a cigarette dangling from his lips, and his eyes lit up when he saw the tea tray Whis was carrying. "This gentleman looks very elegant. Do you have any black tea?" There was cat hair stuck to his suit, he didn't know when it had gotten there. "Do you also have any snacks? Our chef... ah no, I mean me, I'm not bad at cooking, I can show off a bit."
Nami ran over with a nautical chart, the pointer on which was spinning wildly: "The magnetic field here is so strange!" Suddenly, she saw the star map projection sent by Bulma, her eyes widening in surprise, "What is this? It's even more powerful than my Log Pose!"
Bulma's holographic projection suddenly appeared beside them, holding Nami's Log Pose in her hand: "This is called the 'Dimensional Locator,' it can automatically calibrate the magnetic fields of different worlds." She shouted into the communicator, "Vegeta! Come quick, there's some green-haired guy here who wants to have a sword-fighting contest with you!"
Vegeta appeared instantly, and upon seeing the sword in Zoro's hand, he sneered, "Three swords? All that fancy stuff." He cracked his knuckles, a flash of silver-blue energy passing by. "This prince can beat you with just one finger."
"Oh?" Zoro slung his sword over his shoulder, black Haki swirling around the blade. "Want to give it a try?"
"Stop it, all of you!" Lin Ye suddenly shouted, his God of Destruction power forming a barrier in the middle. "If you're going to fight, you should at least eat something first, right? Didn't Luffy say he was hungry?"
Luffy immediately raised both hands in agreement: "Yes! Let's eat first! Sanji, hurry up and make the meat! It has to be as big as a whale!"
Sanji rolled his eyes: "There's not even a kitchen here, how am I supposed to do this?" He suddenly looked at Whis, "Sir, could I borrow the kitchen? I promise to clean it up after I use it."
Weiss smiled and nodded: "My kitchen is always open to anyone with good cooking skills." With a wave of his staff, a kitchen suddenly appeared beside him, its utensils gleaming. "It has all kinds of ingredients, including top-grade beef from the Seventh Universe."
"Really?!" Sanji immediately crawled inside, and the sizzling sound of the steak being cooked soon filled the air.
Looking at the chaotic scene, Lin Ye suddenly understood what the spacetime coordinates Alice had discovered meant. It wasn't an invasion, nor a threat, but a connection... Just as the Light of Creation needed the Chaos Core for balance, different dimensions were also searching for ways to coexist, filling each other's voids with their respective beliefs.
"Looks like the holiday is over." Lin Ye unfolded his God of Destruction Scepter, setting up a golden barrier around the rift. "Berus, could you please apply for interdimensional access? We can't let them remain illegal immigrants forever."
Beerus's tail swung impatiently, but he still pulled out the Omni-King's communicator: "What a nuisance. I shouldn't have made you a God of Destruction." He grinned at the communicator, "Hey, kid, a bunch of aliens from Universe 7 have arrived. Hurry up and grant them access! Otherwise, I'll hide your game console!"
The King's voice came through the communicator, accompanied by the crunching sound of potato chips: "Is that Lin Ye's side? Tell them to have fun, I want to go too!"
Luffy suddenly put his arm around Lin Ye's shoulder, his rubber arm pulling him to the barbecue grill. Sanji's freshly grilled steak was sizzling with oil, its aroma wafting far and wide. "Never mind that!" he said, handing Lin Ye a large piece of grilled meat. "Eat first! After we finish, we'll find our way back, and maybe we can even do a dare!"
Lin Ye took a big bite of grilled meat, the scalding juices bursting in his mouth, carrying Sanji's signature spice flavor. He watched Zoro and Vegeta cleave ten small mountains with their swords, still arguing about whose sword was faster; watched Nami and Bulma lying on the star map, studying how to modify the Log Pose into interdimensional navigation; watched Usopp and Chopper surrounding Beerus, curiously poking his tail; watched Champa sneak into the kitchen to ask Sanji how to make strawberry cake.
It turns out that the God of Destruction's most important task isn't to coldly enforce the rules, nor to think about destroying planets all day long. Instead, it's to occasionally put down his scepter, squeeze in with companions from different worlds, smell the aroma of barbecue, listen to noisy laughter, and enjoy this cross-dimensional atmosphere of everyday life.
Weiss approached with a freshly brewed cup of tea, the reflection in the cup transforming into countless interconnected worlds: "It seems you've found another meaning to the God of Destruction."
Lin Ye took the teacup, the steam blurring his glasses: "Yeah, it's much more interesting than writing a report." He looked at Luffy, who was video chatting with Zeno, who was showing off a piece of roasted meat to Zeno, which startled the two guards who quickly protected the control panel.
Perhaps the true meaning of the universe is never about isolated islands. It's like this: you bring your domineering aura, I bring my spirit, and he brings his magic, all sitting around the same table. Even if we don't speak the same language, we can become the strangest yet most tacit partners because of a piece of barbecue, a fight, or an adventure.
Beerus suddenly leaned over, his mouth still stuffed with cake: "Hey, human, next time let that green algae-headed guy fight Vegeta, and we'll bet a strawberry cake the size of a planet."
Lin Ye smiled and nodded, looking at the spatial rift in the distance, where new points of light were flickering. It seemed this holiday was going to turn into the most bustling "overtime" ever.
Chapter 395: The Secret of Devil Fruits
The Straw Hat Pirates' Thousand Sunny docked smoothly in the harbor of Multiverse City. The lion's head on the hull gleamed in the sunlight, immediately attracting a crowd of onlookers. A buzz of discussion filled the crowd; some pointed at the straw hat emblem on the sails and screamed, while vendors seized the opportunity to hawk snacks. The entire harbor was as chaotic as a bustling market.
Chopper, huddled by the ship's railing, his blue nose standing out conspicuously in the crowd, was applying the last bit of paint to the railing when he was suddenly bumped into by something furry and stumbled. He looked up and saw a pig that could only stand up and walk, with a camera hanging around its neck, the lens almost touching his face.
"Wow! A talking reindeer! It can even paint! It's even better than my transformation!" Wulong kept snapping photos with his camera, his hooves almost unable to hold the shutter. "Before, when I transformed into a tiger, all I could do was roar. Where did you learn this skill?"
Chopper's ears drooped as he was patted, and he shrank back, saying, "Stop patting me! I'm just a ship's doctor, nothing special..."
"Chopper! Let it take the picture!" Luffy suddenly jumped out of the cabin, stretched out his rubber arm and hooked Chopper's neck, pulling him to his side. "A talking reindeer is so cool! Let it take a picture of us together later!"
"Luffy-san! Don't pull my ear!" Chopper kicked his hooves in pain, trying to break free, when Lin Ye walked over with a smile, holding a round green bean in his hand and offering it to him.
"This is a Senzu Bean. No matter what kind of injury it is, it will heal immediately after you eat it. It has far fewer side effects than your Rumble Balls." Lin Ye touched Chopper's hoof with his fingertip. "Last time you used three Rumble Balls to turn into a long-legged deer and almost couldn't turn back. This one won't have that problem."
Chopper's eyes lit up instantly, and he brought his nose close to smell the Senzu Bean: "Really? Last time on Whole Cake Island, I was injured by Big Mom's henchmen, and I had to eat two Rumble Balls to barely fight. If only I had this earlier..." Just as his hoof touched the Senzu Bean, the entire Thousand Sunny suddenly shuddered violently, the ship rocking as if it were spinning in the waves, and the buckets on the deck overturned with a "clatter," spilling paint all over the floor.
"What's going on!" Nami grabbed the nautical chart and rushed to the side of the ship, pointing at the compass and screaming, "The needle is spinning wildly! It was pointing right at the city center a moment ago, but now it's suddenly pointing underground!"
Franky ran out carrying a wrench and tapped on the bottom of the ship. The metallic echo was completely silent: "The Sonny is fine! The vibrations are coming from the ground; there's definitely something moving down there!"
Robin's hand suddenly emerged from the wood grain of the deck, his five fingers gripping the swaying mast tightly, while his other hand held an open Poneglyph: "The anomalous energy source on the nautical chart has been found, it's underground in this city. And the Poneglyph in my hand just suddenly got hot."
As soon as she finished speaking, Alice's holographic projection suddenly unfolded in the center of the deck, its pale blue dome covering the Poneglyph in Robin's hand, and the 3D map in the projection instantly lit up. On the map, a dense layer of roots wove together beneath Multiverse City, and the patterns of the roots were exactly the same as those of the "Adam Tree" that Robin had seen before.
“Energy fluctuations identical to those of Devil Fruits have been detected, and the source is these roots. They belong to the ‘Cosmic Tree’.” Alice’s voice carried a hint of electricity. The roots in the projection suddenly flickered, and several glowing fruits emerged. “The Cosmic Tree is absorbing energy from different worlds. These fruits are products of energy fusion, essentially ‘fusion-type Devil Fruits’.”
"Cosmic Tree?" Luffy's eyes widened, and his rubber fist slammed towards the deck with a "bang," but Lin Ye grabbed his wrist just as he was about to strike.
"Don't be impulsive, this tree is dangerous." Lin Ye's divine power seeped into the deck through his palm, a faint golden light flashing in his eyes. "It took root on Earth after the Light of Creation and the Core of Chaos collided, so it's a new life." He paused, his gaze sinking downwards, as if he could see through the ground to the scene below. "I just saw it; the roots are covered with fruit, some like rubber, some wrapped in flames, and one fruit even has a Saiyan's tail on it. It's obviously absorbed the energy of the Dragon Ball world."
"A Saiyan's tail?" Goku had just come out of the cabin and, upon hearing this, immediately came over, touching his lower back. "Can eating that fruit turn you into a Super Saiyan? I want to try it!"
"Don't try anything reckless, this fruit isn't ripe yet." Just as Lin Ye finished speaking, they suddenly heard a crisp "crack." Everyone looked up and saw a shiny black fruit fall from its roots, crashing onto the deck like a shooting star. The fruit immediately split open upon hitting the ground, and countless dark purple vines sprouted from the crack, wrapping around Luffy's ankles as if they had come to life.
"Hey! What is that?!" Luffy tried to kick it away, but found that the vines had already wrapped around him tightly, and his rubber leg was slowly hardening, as if it were wrapped in stone. "Damn it! I can't move! It's so uncomfortable... These vines are draining my power!"
"Luffy!" Zoro instantly drew his Wado Ichimonji, the blade flashing as he was about to slash at the vines, but Robin stopped him.
"Don't cut!" Robin's arm suddenly stretched out from the deck next to Zoro, countless hands layered in front of the vines, forming a green barrier. "This is very similar to the 'Curse-Curse Fruit' recorded in the Poneglyphs. It can absorb the abilities of others. Cutting the vines will only cause its energy to explode faster!"
Nami raised her Clima-Tact, a small ball of lightning condensing at its tip: "What should we do? Luffy's body is starting to petrify! Can I strike him with lightning?"
“No, the lightning will stimulate the fruit’s energy.” Lin Ye’s destructive energy suddenly enveloped the vines, and the dark purple vines twisted violently upon contact with the golden energy. He frowned and suddenly released his grip: “It’s not a curse, it’s fear. This fruit has absorbed too much fear from the losers, which is why it attacks anyone who gets close.”
"Fear?" Luffy gritted his teeth, veins popping on his forehead, his arm suddenly swelling, golden Haki spreading along his arm. "I'm not afraid of any fear! Ace said that true strongmen are not controlled by power, nor are they frightened by fear!" His fist slammed into the vine with a "bang," and the moment the Haki collided with the fruit, a crack appeared on the surface of the fruit.
"That's it!" Lin Ye's eyes lit up. "Use your will to overcome its fear!"
Luffy's fist slammed down again, this time with even greater Haki than before. Golden light enveloped his rubber fist, forcefully cracking the fruit in several places. Golden sap seeped from the cracks, flowing like streams into Luffy's arm. Lin Ye's divine power seeped in as well, revealing the scene inside: the energy of the Gum-Gum Fruit and Luffy's Haki were swirling within him, eventually intertwining to form a new energy core.
"The core is neither the power of a Devil Fruit nor Haki, but a new power that combines the two," Lin Ye said with a smile. "That is the purpose of the Cosmic Tree. It is not replicating power, but creating new possibilities."
Luffy stretched his arms, his rubber arms glowing with a faint golden light. He punched the railing beside him, but instead of breaking, the railing was sent flying by the shockwave from his punch: "Wow! That power is amazing! Much stronger than the Gum-Gum Fruit!"
Just then, a buzzing sound suddenly came from underground, and the entire surface of Multiverse City lit up. Everyone looked up to see countless colorful fruits floating up from their roots. Some drifted into the crowd at the port, while others landed on the deck of the Thousand Sunny. A child in the crowd caught a red fruit, took a bite, and suddenly shouted, "I can breathe fire! And I just touched seawater, and I'm perfectly fine!"
"Really?" Chopper quickly picked up a fruit with angel wings that were still fluttering gently. He looked up at Lin Ye and asked, "Can this make me fly? I used a Rumble Ball to turn into wings before, but I could only fly for a short while and then I would get tired."
"You'll see once you try it; there are no side effects." As soon as Lin Ye finished speaking, Chopper took a bite of the fruit, and his wings suddenly grew larger, lifting his body into the air.
"Wow! I can fly! It's much more stable than the wings of a Rumble Ball!" Chopper excitedly flew around the Thousand Sunny once, and Luffy immediately jumped up to grab him: "Chopper! Take me with you! I want to try flying too!"
"Luffy-san, find yourself a Devil Fruit!" Chopper laughed and dodged. Just then, Android 18's mechanical arm suddenly pointed to the sky, and the previously cracked sky turned into a rainbow-colored bridge, on which the shadows of several large ships could be seen.
"Alice just sent a message saying that more ships are coming." Number 18's mechanical eyes flashed and announced the names of the ships, "The two leading ships, one flying the Whitebeard flag and the other flying the Red-Haired flag."
"Red-Haired Shanks!" Luffy stopped abruptly, his eyes shining like stars. "It's Shanks! He's here too! Great! I was just about to tell him I have a new power!"
Lin Ye twirled the God of Destruction Scepter in his hand, the Earth coordinates on the scepter flashing with a warm light: "Looks like I'm going to be busy again." He looked at Goku, who was punching Luffy, and added with a smile, "But it's not bad, the more the merrier."
Goku punched Luffy's fist, and their fists collided with a loud "bang": "Whitebeard and Shanks? Are they formidable opponents? I'll have a go with them!"
Just as everyone was laughing and discussing, Alice's projection suddenly flickered, the soft blue light shield turned red, and an alarm beeped: "Emergency Alert! Unknown dark energy detected, emanating from the roots of the Cosmic Tree! The energy intensity is very high, and it is rapidly spreading towards the ground!"
Lin Ye's smile vanished instantly, his divine power seeping into the ground once more. This time, a hint of seriousness crept into the gold in his eyes: "Dark energy? Could it be..."
Luffy stopped his playful antics and clenched his fists: "Is there trouble again? Whatever it is, I'm not afraid!"
Zoro drew his sword, the blade reflecting a red alarm light: "Whatever comes, if it dares to cause trouble, I'll cut it down!"
The atmosphere on the deck suddenly became tense, and everyone's eyes were fixed on the ground, waiting for the appearance of that dark energy... No one knew what kind of crisis this energy would bring.
Chapter 396: The Omni-King's Game
The new arcade in the Omni-King's Palace was blindingly bright... Colorful neon lights hung from the ceiling, and two arcade machines, taller than the palace pillars, stood side by side, their screens flashing incessantly, causing the floor to tremble. Lin Ye sat on a soft cloud-like sofa, his fingers flying across the crystal controller. On the screen, a warrior, enveloped in golden energy, unleashed a "Spinning Ki Slash" at the monster opposite him, sending light effects flying across the screen.
"That's not fair! You must have cheated by using the power of the God of Destruction!" The Omni-King sitting opposite him puffed out his cheeks in anger, slamming his small hand on the controller. On the screen, the character he was controlling was knocked down with a "thud." "I've lost five games in a row! You clearly agreed to play fairly with me!"
Lin Ye chuckled and pressed the pause button, tapping his finger on the controller. "You were the one who said, 'As long as I can win, I don't care what abilities I use,' I didn't force you." Just as he finished speaking, the screen suddenly flickered, and the monstrous opponent transformed into a phantom of Kronos, dark purple energy swirling around the screen, sending chills down one's spine. "What's going on? Wasn't that opponent an alien beast?"
The Omni-King suddenly pointed his small hand at the screen, a hint of cunning hidden in his golden pupils: "Whis said this is the 'Imaginary Enemy Training Mode,' which can simulate all the enemies you've defeated before and help you practice." He paused, lowering his voice as if he were talking about a little secret, "But I secretly added something. I had the system find your 'most important thing' as a 'special level.'"
As soon as he finished speaking, the phantom of Kronos on the screen suddenly moved. Dark purple energy, wrapped in pixelated particles, stepped directly out of the screen and stood on the arcade floor. The phantom raised its hand, and two photos floated in front of Lin Ye. The photos showed his parents, carrying luggage and walking down an unfamiliar street, their faces full of exhaustion. People around them flew by on somersault clouds, completely out of place with them.
"Hidden data detected for player Lin Ye: Guilt towards parents, value 98%." Kronos's illusory voice was cold, like a machine speaking. "According to system records, you resurrected your parents with the Super Dragon Balls, but forcibly kept them in the Dragon Ball world. However, they are not happy in this world, and even think about how to return to their original world every day."
Lin Ye's pupils contracted sharply, and the power of the God of Destruction erupted instantly, the golden shockwave blowing away the surrounding cloud-like sofas. But just as his divine power was about to touch the phantom, the phantom suddenly transformed into a beam of light, wrapping around his wrist and pulling him into the screen. Lin Ye only felt a blur before his eyes, and when he opened them again, he was already standing downstairs in the apartment building where he used to live.
The iron gate of the community was still that same blue iron gate with peeling paint, and the convenience store at the entrance still had a sign that read "Oden skewers for 5 yuan". But his parents were carrying suitcases and walking out of the gate. His mother had a few more gray hairs, and his father's back was a little more hunched than before.
"Xiao Ye, let's go back to our original world." Her mother's voice was a little hoarse as she reached out and touched Lin Ye's face. The warmth of her fingertips was exactly the same as in her memory. "Everyone here can fly. Even buying vegetables requires haggling with vendors who can use qigong. We just can't adapt. Yesterday, your father wanted to play chess with the neighbor, but they just used an energy wave to overturn the chessboard, saying that playing chess was too slow... We can't live like this."
"Dad, Mom, please wait a little longer, okay?" Lin Ye's voice choked with emotion. He reached out to grab his mother's hand, only to find that his fingers could pass right through her arm. "I'm already looking for ways to help you adapt. I've even talked to Bulma about building you a house just like the one in the original world..."
“Silly child, it’s not about the house.” The father sighed and put the suitcase down on the ground. “We’ve lived most of our lives, and all we want is to get up in the morning to buy fried dough sticks downstairs and go to the park to dance in the evening, not to stare blankly at people flying in the sky every day. You gave us immortality, but you took away our ‘life’.”
Kronos's phantom suddenly appeared behind his parents, dark purple energy wrapping around their shoulders: "See that? Lin Ye. Your wish was wishful thinking from the very beginning. You thought that resurrecting them and giving them eternal life was filial piety, but you never asked them what they wanted. What they needed was not to live for hundreds of years, but the familiar sounds of vendors in the market, the 'Little Apple' song playing in the square dance, and the ordinary life that you forcibly took away."
"Shut up!" Lin Ye swung his fist at the phantom, but when it landed, it slammed into his own face, making him gasp in pain. The sky in the game world suddenly darkened, and a light rain began to fall. The rainwater mixed with his parents' tears, dripping onto the back of Lin Ye's hand, chilling him to the bone.
“We know you’re doing this for our own good.” The mother wiped away her tears, rain streaming down her cheeks. “But this really isn’t home. The blood pressure medication you bought me last time, the doctor here said ‘immortals don’t need to take this,’ but I still secretly hid it. I’m afraid I’ll forget the days when I had to take the medication, forget that I’m still an ‘ordinary person.’”
The father nodded in agreement, then pulled an old cell phone from his pocket. The screen showed a group photo from our old neighborhood: "I stare at this phone every day, thinking about the days when I played chess with Old Zhang, and how I used to beat you when you were naughty as a child. Now you've become a destroyer, able to protect many people, but we still miss the little Ye who used to argue with us."
"No... how could I forget these things..." Lin Ye's Origin Realm energy suddenly erupted uncontrollably, golden light enveloping the entire neighborhood, but just as the energy was about to touch his parents, he suddenly stopped. He remembered when his parents were first resurrected, his mother secretly planted vegetables in the garden of the Dragon Ball Castle, only to have them trampled by Beerus's cat; he remembered his father holding the Dragon Ball Radar, saying, "This thing isn't as good as my old old phone"; he remembered that every time they video-chatted with him, they would only say "We're fine," but never mention who he was talking to or what he was doing.
Just then, a system notification suddenly sounded in his mind. It wasn't a cold, mechanical voice, but rather a parent's tone: "Xiao Ye, true filial piety isn't about forcing what you think is good onto us, it's about knowing when to let go. We want to go back to our original world, not because we don't love you, but because we want to live our own lives with your love."
Lin Ye's tears finally fell. He took a deep breath, and the power of the God of Destruction and the energy of the Origin Realm slowly merged, enveloping the entire game world in golden light. When the light dissipated, the neighborhood suddenly became lively. Steam rose from the fried dough stick stall downstairs, music from square dancing drifted from the park, the neighbor's dog barked and ran by, and even the convenience store owner was haggling with customers.
"This is what you wanted, right?" Lin Ye said with a smile, watching his parents' figures become clearer in the familiar surroundings. His mother smiled and greeted the aunties dancing in the square, while his father carried a shopping basket and walked towards the market. Before leaving, he turned back and waved to Lin Ye: "Xiao Ye, come home for dinner when you have time. I'll make you your favorite braised pork."