Chapter 266: Chapter 266 Return Ticket Chapter 266: Chapter 266 Return Ticket “Did you get a temporary residence permit!?”
Miss fiercely shouted, causing a group of people to tremble and decisively fall flat on the ground.
This girl… is really troublesome…
With a wry smile, I pushed the troublemaker Lin Xue aside and, with a slightly surprised expression, said to Lilina, who seemed a bit confused, “You traveled here?”
“…Uh…” Lilina’s eyes were blank, and it was unclear if she understood, but she still nodded subconsciously. A few seconds later, she reacted with a conflicted face, “You too? That’s not fair… you all traveled… your circumstances too…”
“This is a bit different,” I grinned and chuckled, “You are an illegal immigrant, a civilian one, while we are on official business, part of an official delegation.”
“Time-Space Administration!?”
“It’s complicated to explain,” I continued, “Did you notice that most of us are not humans? Strictly speaking, the Time-Space Administration should be a governmental unit under our command, although it’s pretty much useless now…”
That was an unexpected development. Going on a business trip to Azeroth and encountering an illegal immigrant caught in a massive transmigration wave, and it seemed like she was a soul-transfer case. It wasn’t entirely unimaginable, considering how vast the Void is and how many worlds there are. Encountering one or two migrants struck by lightning or flooded through wasn’t unimaginable, but actually meeting one felt quite… theatrical…
Lilina blinked, trying hard to understand exactly what our identities were, but after trying for a long time, she finally gave up. After all, a team made up of humans, robots, angels, elves (Dingdang?), ghosts, and other bizarre creatures was too strange, so strange that it was beyond any conjecture, and ultimately, Lilina categorized us as some kind of surreal organization hidden in the dark side of the world, although still far from accurate, it was close enough.
Then, her concern naturally shifted to why we appeared in this world.
“To save the world or something…” I pondered briefly, then uncertainly added, “Although it sounds ridiculous, I think this explanation should be pretty solid… Uh, never mind about us, what about you? From what we understand, the barriers between worlds are mostly created by Heavenly Gods and seldom have bugs. How did you get here?”
“Suicide,” Lilina said nonchalantly, “A naive young girl in her twenties tricked by a scoundrel who stole her young love, then found out he had a family… So she killed herself, drank a whole bottle of poison, and jumped from the twentieth floor… but ended up hanging on a high-voltage line, and in a blur, I became a 120-something-year-old ‘Loli’…”
The young girl’s expression was very calm, but the sadness in her eyes was visible to each of us. Knowing it wasn’t a fond memory, I quickly looked for a new topic.
“How did you think to find us, using your knowledge of the ‘plot’ as a bargaining chip? That’s not a smart move; aren’t you afraid of being targeted by us as a security risk? Transmigrators are a suspicious bunch.”
Lilina revealed a sly smile, winked at me, and said, “I studied psychology. I can tell that you’re a pushover.”
Lin Xue: “Sharp one upstairs.”
“I’ve considered it,” Lilina then seriously explained her motives, “Firstly, you are major figures, and I am but an insignificant character, so there’s little chance of you specifically targeting me. Real superiors often tolerate trivial existences— not out of hypocrisy but disdain. Uh, no need for you to refute that. Additionally, I have indeed analyzed you, especially you, that weird uncle leading a bunch of Lolis. You might as well have the words ‘pushover’ written on your face. My intuition tells me you can’t reject any form of vulnerable pleas. This was confirmed when I bumped into you in Silver Moon City. Your gaze was too genuine. From this perspective, you genuinely seem like a good guy…”
“Just because of that, you would reveal your hand?” I didn’t refute Lilina’ words, although being analyzed by a psychologist like that felt rather odd.
“I hadn’t revealed my trump card yet, and who knew you were… Otherwise, could you have guessed I was a transmigrator? Forget about that, you know how dangerous this world is. Staying in Silver Moon City seems safe, but where in this world is truly safe? The only way to save my life is to find a sufficiently safe ‘big tree,’ like you who are called ‘Gods.’ At first, when I saw your spaceship, I thought you were some high-tech aliens who came to this backward planet and were mistaken for Gods. By that, maybe you would take an interest in what I have to say. Of course, I would choose my words carefully, enough to stimulate interest in a high-tech race and maybe gain a little favor toward me. That way, you might even help me incidentally, like sending me home… I figure, for a group powerful enough to be called ‘Gods,’ helping a little girl to go home should not be a difficult thing… Of course, I was also desperately clinging to any possibility, since the opportunity to go home was right before my eyes. If I didn’t seize it, I might miss it forever… Even if it put me in greater danger, I was prepared to take that risk. Especially since, from my observations, you all seem kind-hearted. Angel Sister did not ‘purify’ me like in the novels just because I was infected; she even counseled me for a long time, which gave me the confidence to make this attempt.”
Facing Lilina’s hopeful gaze, I did not give a direct answer but asked her an irrelevant question, “Do you regret the decision you made back then?”
“I’ve regretted it a long time ago…” Lilina’s face darkened, “Suicide is the stupidest thing humans can do. Since coming to this world… I still have my mom…”
“Congratulations, you bet on the right thing.” Seeing the little girl’s near-tears expression, although I knew part of it was her using her advantage to garner sympathy, I didn’t mind and spoke in a light tone.
I tapped on Bubbles, who was playfully comparing heights with his daughter (…Aren’t you afraid of stimulating Pandora nearby?) and said to him, “Prepare a room for this illegal immigrant, remember, set it up to ordinary human standards; I don’t want to see a bedroom with a mechanical repair bed used as a bed in the human section again.”
“Oh,” Bubbles rubbed his head and nodded, then blinked, “The room is ready, in Room No. 3 of Area A-32.”
It was only then that Lilina realized I had agreed to her request. With a baffled expression, she said, “You mean…”
“A one-way ticket back home, with an 85% discount, complete with full five-star suite service. If you have any questions, you can call the hotline in the room, though I won’t answer if I’m busy…”
As I kept talking, Lilina wasn’t listening at all, her emotions were overwhelming her, rendering her completely unable to calm down.
She could go home… Just like that, they agreed, and then… she could go home?
What she had dreamed of for years came true suddenly today, even though this was what Lilina had hoped for during this visit, but when everything really happened, she was still… disbelieving.
It felt like something that happened in a dream…
Anwina took Lilina to her new room, and we were momentarily at a loss for words.
“You guys guess, what is that kid doing now?” Sandora suddenly spoke up, who, despite adding up all the years she had lived before and after dying, probably already surpassed a hundred, but to Sandora, she was still a child.
“She’s probably crying her eyes out until she faints, then laughs like a fool in her room. Oh, and four hours later, have Anwina bring her some food. She’ll have forgotten how to open the door.”
Lin Xue was always the one to spoil the plot, her lips wearing a rare smile—not that Lin Xue seldom smiles, but such a genuinely joyful smile that was not about pranking others was indeed rare.
This showed what kind of impression a certain troublesome aggregation typically left in people’s minds.
“But that girl has been calculating from the beginning to the end,” Sandora said with slight irritation, “You humans call this… a psychologist? What a strange profession, they aren’t born calculators of human hearts, are they?”
“You can’t blame her for that,” Sister smiled lightly, covering for Lilina, who was unintentionally hit by a stray bullet, “A girl suddenly thrown into another world, learning to protect herself is only natural. By now she probably regards calculating everyone as a habit. And even if it involves calculating, Lilina indeed does have a likable charm. You can’t deny that.”
“Forget it, it’s not a big deal…” Sandora said magnanimously, “Let’s leave Lilina’s matter to rest for now. We’ve played the good Samaritans, but what we need to focus on now is the plan to conquer Silverpine Forest… As it gets closer to the end, the harder the nut to crack…”