This puppeteer is a bit... well...

Chapter 30 Infiltrating Loulan

These are two very serious problems.

First, Long Er's target is the dragon vein.

If I had seized the Dragon Vein first, there would have been no seal on the Fourth Hokage, no Naruto time travel, and no An Lushan.

This will cause chaos in this closed-loop spacetime.

What Ryuji needs to consider is the consequences of the spacetime chaos.

Is it an automatic correction of spacetime, or does it give rise to parallel worlds with different development trajectories?

Different preparations are needed depending on the different consequences.

And the second question...

This is an anime world, and it's also full of fatalism.

What Ryuji needs to consider is whether the reality he has transmigrated to will continue to follow the existing trajectory of fate.

Although Ryuji's experiences in this world never appeared in the original work, the events of Sasori assassinating the Third Kazekage and being attacked by surrounding villages did occur.

Although the specific process and outcome have changed, proving that the original fate can be changed, this is just a background story mentioned by a minor character, and it is too far removed from Naruto, the protagonist.

Only by confirming that Naruto, as the protagonist, or the fate of those around him can be changed can it be proven that the world develops according to the trajectory of each individual, rather than revolving around a particular person.

If this world really does revolve around Naruto as the protagonist, then Ryuuji would immediately go and curry favor with Konoha to achieve social harmony.

If not, then lead Sunagakure to conquer the world.

"It would be best if a parallel world could emerge after the spacetime distortion. If it's a correction, I'll likely have to face Naruto and the Fourth Hokage's team... Let's test the waters. At worst, I'll die once."

After considering all the possible scenarios, Long Er settled down to read his book, a reward he had received for checking in a week ago.

A comic book titled "Two Earths".

……

Time slowly passed, the sun set in the west and rose again on the horizon, and after three cycles, a magnificent city appeared at the end.

The tank came to a stop.

Long Er lifted the top cover and took out his binoculars to observe.

It was a city of towering buildings, each one incredibly tall, connected by various sky bridges, with enormous mecha golems patrolling the skies from time to time, making it seem like a city in the sky.

"Tsk, they actually installed chakra thrusters on every single puppet, how extravagant!" Ryuji put down his binoculars and said sourly.

Installing thrusters on puppets... Ryuji did that too; his exoskeleton armor had them.

but.

The propulsion system he was researching used chakra as fuel for combustion, rather than directly injecting chakra.

This consumes too much chakra.

Long Er simply couldn't afford it.

"It must be because Centipede is too stupid to design a fuel conversion device, which is why it's so wasteful."

Whether it's because they can't design it or because they have too much chakra, there's no need to rack their brains to design it; it's completely impossible to know.

Ryuji is just a lemon centipede with unlimited chakra to squander.

However, despite his sour feelings, Ryuji wasn't consumed by jealousy.

He pondered for a moment and made a decision: first, scout out the situation and see if Naruto and the Fourth Hokage were there.

With that in mind, he dispatched a massive army of scarab puppets.

Countless insects crawled through the ground toward the magnificent city.

"Next, we just have to wait."

This wait lasted a whole day.

That night, under the bright moonlight, a dense army of scarabs crawled out from the ground.

They returned with intelligence.

The terrain, architecture, population distribution, and situation of Loulan... all were recorded by the puppet insects, which possessed self-awareness and intelligence.

"Naruto isn't here, and I haven't found any Konoha ninjas. Sara is still the puppet princess, and the men in Loulan have all been captured and taken to an underground factory to be made into puppets... It seems the Lost Tower storyline hasn't arrived yet, so I'll strike first."

……

In a city filled with towering skyscrapers, countless people are celebrating.

Beautiful music, cheers, released balloons... Standing by the railing of the central tower, Sarah looked at all this with a gratified smile on her face.

Despite her mother's early death and the presence of only the cold and distant An Lushan by her side, she felt genuinely happy to see the people living a happy life.

At least, the mother's wish has been fulfilled.

"Seeing how happy you are, I can't bear to break this illusion."

Sarah was startled by the unfamiliar voice behind her.

She slowly turned her head, and there stood a boy of similar age with short reddish-brown hair, smiling.

If it weren't for the shattered puppet guards behind the boy, Sarah might have been happy to meet someone her own age.

But now, all she can think about is how to get help.

Although I was just distracted, I didn't even notice that such a large puppet had shattered all over the ground.

If this man wanted to kill me, he could have done so before I could even utter a sound.

Sarah covered her mouth, trying her best to suppress the urge to shout.

The unknown crisis still terrified her, and her petite body trembled uncontrollably.

"Don't worry, I won't hurt you. I just want you to do something." Ryuji tried to soften his tone to comfort the girl, but it was no use.

The girl seemed even more frightened.

"What...what do you want me to do?"

While dealing with the boy, he discreetly observed his surroundings, trying to find an escape route.

Unfortunately, from this balcony, there are hundreds of meters of sky behind you.

The only path was blocked by the boy.

"Dragon Vein!"

"What!?"

The boy's words caught the girl's attention. She stared at him warily, her gaze meeting his. "I won't help you."

"I don't need your help."

As the boy finished speaking, the girl felt something connect to her body, just like raindrops falling on her.

I felt this in my hands, feet, and head.

"I just want to borrow your body for a bit."

The boy continued speaking, and then her body moved uncontrollably, following him into the tower.

"Don't shout, I'll kill you before you make a sound, and then continue to use your body to break the seal."

"No, no, the seal has always been open!"

The girl's words made the boy stop in his tracks.

Long Er turned around and glared at her fiercely, as if to say: You're the one who talks too much.

Then, he continued to manipulate her to walk further inside.

"Then seal it away."

"what?"

Sarah was a little confused.

As a child, she witnessed firsthand the miracle of her mother using the dragon vein and the technology brought by An Lushan to instantly build a thousand towers. She was also told by her mother and An Lushan about the importance of the dragon vein.

They knew that if the power of the dragon vein were exposed, it would attract the covetous eyes of countless people.

But if the boy's goal was the dragon vein, why did he seal it when the seal was opened?

(End of this chapter)