Chapter 31: Destined?
Hearing Franklin's words, Lin Muyang's eyes lit up. "Now that's a good request. I've been itching to act for a long time. I couldn't do anything before because of certain restrictions, but if the two rules are in conflict now, we might as well give it a try."
Before he could enjoy his excitement for long, Lin Qin flicked him sharply on the forehead. "Cut it out. Do you think she's stupid enough to leave a loophole like that?"
Then she turned back to Franklin with a gentle expression. "We understand your first request. We'll help you completely sever the causal connection between the Eye of True Sight and its master. He won't be able to trace you back through it no matter what.
But once you've grown to a certain level, you will come into contact with the Master of True Sight. At that time, if you use this ability, he'll immediately sense it. As for how you'll deal with that—well, that's up to you."
Franklin smiled slightly, a confident grin appearing on his face. "That's enough. By the time I reach that level, ordinary people won't even be my match."
Seeing that confident smile, Lin Qin also relaxed and smiled. "Confidence is good. Aside from this, is there anything else you want to know or resolve? Think carefully."
Franklin spread his hands helplessly. "Aside from that, what else could there be? You have so many restrictions that it's pointless to even ask. Like—what's your cultivation level? What kind of agreements did you make, and with whom? Why do those agreements exist?
Or do you know the origin of the Heavenly Tome? Where are you going after you leave when I turn ten? And what did you mean by 'destined' and 'pawns'? Can you explain those?"
Faced with Franklin's barrage of questions, the two remained silent, unsure how to respond.
After a long while, Lin Qin gave a bitter smile. "Sigh… we've really made things difficult for you. It's our fault for being so useless, unable to give you a stable cultivation environment. Even now, when we want to help you, there are so many restrictions. You've truly suffered."
Lin Muyang could deeply relate to Lin Qin's helplessness and pain. He patted her gently in comfort and picked up the conversation.
"Some things are simply beyond our control. Son, don't ask about matters involving us. We really can't answer those questions. Instead, think about whether you have other doubts.
Like how to break through the Core Formation stage, or how to reach the Nascent Soul stage. Or maybe a divine technique that could rapidly boost your strength, a powerful spell that lets you defeat enemies above your level, or a mental cultivation method to ease and eliminate the knots deep in your heart."
Franklin, however, didn't have any need for those things at his current stage. When necessary, he could sacrifice lifespan for dimensional summoning. After a moment's thought, his mind returned to the mission weighing most heavily on him:
[Mission Board: Assimilate into the World]
[Mission Difficulty: SS+]
[Assimilate into the World: Successfully integrate into the Treeborn World's Dragon Ball worldline (the worldline where the Talent Awakened currently resides) to ensure the Dragon Ball worldline proceeds smoothly. Number of tasks: unlimited.
Complete all tasks to receive the reward of Treeborn World origin, officially becoming a native of the Treeborn World. Failure will trigger an "erasure service" to spare the Talent Awakened from excessive pain.]
Since this mission involved the stability of a worldline, Franklin wasn't sure if everything he was doing now was actually stabilizing it. After all, his thoughts and actions were based entirely on the anime he'd seen in his previous life.
All of it was just his speculation. If what he was doing now was actually deviating from the true worldline, then he'd be going completely against the flow—and that would mean certain death.
"After all that, there's actually one thing I really want to confirm. You both know that there are two main worldlines in this world, right?"
As soon as he said that, Lin Qin and Lin Muyang shook off their earlier gloom and looked at him curiously. "You even know that? Did that Heavenly Tome tell you?"
Franklin sighed helplessly. "Yes, it's written in it. The reason I was able to return to the past this time was because of a mandatory mission issued by a tool called the Mission Board inside the Heavenly Tome.
You two perfectly integrated me into the To Love Ru worldline, but the other Dragon Ball worldline hasn't acknowledged my existence yet. This time, I returned because of the Mission Board's mandatory task.
It wants me to integrate into the other worldline. Otherwise, I might be rejected by the Treeborn World itself. And even if I'm not rejected, if I fail to integrate into the Dragon Ball worldline, I'll still be erased directly by the Mission Board."
"Erased?!" Both of them were shocked and confused by his words. "You mean if you fail a mission from the Mission Board, there's a risk of being erased?"
Franklin, on the other hand, was surprised by their reaction. "Isn't that normal? Rewards always come with risks. There's no such thing as a free lunch. As long as the Heavenly Tome as a whole isn't a threat to me, the danger of the missions doesn't really matter.
But that's not the point. What I want to know is how I can perfectly integrate into the Dragon Ball worldline. How did you manage to integrate me so perfectly into the To Love Ru worldline?"
Lin Qin and Lin Muyang were speechless at how casually Franklin spoke about it. After a moment, Lin Qin forced a smile and reminded him, "Son, did you forget? We're not allowed to help you with anything before you turn ten.
So the situation you described may have been one of the requests you made back then. That's why we were able to help you perfectly integrate into that To Love Ru worldline."
Upon hearing his mother's explanation, Franklin felt his entire mind go blank. So that's why he had been integrated so perfectly into the To Love Ru worldline.
As he thought about it and noticed that Ryōko Mikado wasn't around in the house, he felt his head about to explode. So all of this had been inevitable—his very arrival was inevitable.
With a grave expression, Franklin looked at his parents. After hesitating for a moment, he asked firmly, "Dad, Mom… do you know Ryōko Mikado? And how many children are you planning to have?"
Seeing the seriousness in his expression, both of their faces shifted slightly as they seemed to realize something. After exchanging a glance, Lin Qin took a deep breath and answered, "First of all, we don't know who Ryōko Mikado is. Secondly, we're only planning to have one child. Why? Isn't that how things turn out in the future?"
Hearing an answer that didn't match the future, Franklin let out a long breath and said solemnly, "I have a god-sister named Ryōko Mikado. She's a famous interstellar doctor in the Milky Way.
And I have a younger sister—though I'm not even sure if she's biological—named Lin Mikan. She's four years younger than me, and her birthday is November 3rd. As for how to make the future unfold naturally, I'll leave that problem to you."
Lin Muyang's expression turned heavy as he nodded slightly. A moment later, he couldn't hold it in any longer, his face twisting with frustration.
"Everything's part of someone's calculations. We're all just pawns in it. What the future holds… is truly shrouded in uncertainty."
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