Thanks for the invitation. I'm in Type-Moon, inheriting the legacy of Zi-O.

"Hmph... They've finally arrived?" The brown-haired man toyed with the magenta driver in his hand, looked in one direction with interest, and then took the driver or camera with him. "Perfect, let's go meet them."

"I'm really looking forward to the power of the new knight—Nian Zhuo."

—Located outside the seven singularities, within the Grand Temple of Time—

The white-haired man sitting on the throne looked at the "Beast of Time" pacing back and forth on the other side.

"What's wrong?" After all, he was a partner who helped him burn down the human order, so the man still asked that question.

"Delicious food, but I reckon they should be arriving soon...?" Looking at the watch on his hand, "Beast" paced back and forth anxiously. "After all, this is my first time trying to bring people across worlds. Whether it succeeds or not is one thing, but I mainly want to see how it goes."

As soon as they finished speaking, the "Time Beasts" looked at each other and sensed something, and they both smiled ferociously.

“…Here it comes.” With a snap of his fingers, a massive black and white barrier shut out the world.

The two figures that emerged from behind the barrier were the same two figures that had flown past Nianzhuo.

"...How do you feel?" Nian Zhuo looked them up and down and nodded with satisfaction. "It seems that your strength has not been compressed or reduced."

"...After all, our world is no match for the 'Doctor'." Saying these strange words, the girl wearing a hat lowered the sword from her back.

"Hello, Doctor." The nun on the other side, with her hands crossed over her abdomen and a sickly flush on her face, said, "...It's been a long time."

"...As expected." The "Beast of Time" scratched its head in slight discouragement, looking unhappy. "It only managed to summon people from one of my possible worlds. It seems you already knew me."

"...A doctor is a doctor." They answered in unison, but then the two girls instantly pressed weapons against the "beast's" neck. "So...who are you? An evil being?"

"...I am who I am." A simple answer, but the next moment the two girls were sent flying by the black shock that suddenly erupted from the "beast". "--Forget it, there's no benefit in killing you."

"Let's make a deal, you two." Having come up with yet another wicked idea, the "Beast of Time" spread its arms towards the two girls. "Take one person's life in exchange for the life of your world's doctor, how about it?"

"...What do you mean?" Upon hearing this, the two figures gripped their greatswords and chainsaws with slightly less force. "How did you know...about the Doctor's death?"

"Because I created them myself~" The Time Beast watched with amusement as the two went berserk because of his words, and with a snap of its fingers, pitch-black chains appeared out of thin air and bound them tightly.

"Don't be angry, ladies." Step by step, he stepped down from the throne and came to the two of them. "Whether this deal is worthwhile or not, you know in your hearts."

"...!" The crimson light in the eyes of the two figures suddenly faded, their expressions a mixture of struggle and hope.

"Phew... We agree." Finally, the two exchanged a glance, both their feelings for the Doctor outweighing theirs. "However, aside from the life of the person you want, we will absolutely not kill innocent people indiscriminately!"

“Of course, of course, all I need is that person’s life.” The Beast of Time said, and black dots of light appeared on its fingers, which it placed on the foreheads of the two girls.

Memories flooded back, and both girls let out painful sobs.

The black and white barrier was reopened, and the beast sent them back to the Third Singularity.

"Well then, I'll leave it to you all, okay?" Returning to his throne, the beast couldn't help but reveal a cruel smile.

"Don't let me down, Skadi and Specter."

The gradually distorted present

Although some things were beyond Nian Zhuo's expectations, they still landed safely in the Third Singularity.

The Third Singularity: Sealing the End of the World - Oceanus

The navigator in the storm is officially setting sail!

——————————

However, when Nianzhuo opened his eyes again...

What they encountered was a strange scene of Ritsuka and Mashu staring at each other.

"..." Ritsuka silently looked at the decorations around her.

"..." Mashu was also unusually silent.

Feeling the stiffness of the wooden plank beneath him, Nianzhuo tapped his back and got up from the ground.

"Hmm, it seems you two are both alright. So, this time..." Then, as Nian Zhuo stood up, the endless sea appeared in his sight once again.

The sound of footsteps bouncing and the distinctive smell of wood filled the air.

—As luck would have it, Nianzhuo and the others landed on a ship.

"...I said, Mashu." At this moment, Ritsuka even felt an urge to punch someone; a large "well" shape appeared above her head. "I—"

"Yes, senior, I understand how you feel." Looking around, Mashu also seemed unreliable. "By the way, we weren't actually transferred to the sea..."

“But, Mashu…” Ritsuka fell into a deep silence, lost in thought as she recalled Dr. Roman’s words before he left.

“Yes, senpai.” Mashu nodded. “I understand what you want to say, senpai.” Pressing the communication device in her hand, Mashu asked the doctor on the other end in a relatively kind tone.

"...Dr. Roman, if you have anything to say in your defense, then say it now." As she spoke, Mashu gripped her shield even tighter.

"Hahaha." With an awkward laugh, Dr. Roman, far away in Chaldea, was even startled and broke out in a cold sweat. "No, uh... well, isn't there something called Murphy's Law? It says that if something can fail, it will inevitably fail. And think about it."

“If you were to drift to an island like Robinson Crusoe, it might take twenty-eight years before anyone comes to rescue you, right?” the doctor argued while scanning the surrounding map. “Having readily available means of transportation is actually an advantage, isn’t it?”

"Fou..." Even Fou looked listless and huddled inside Mash's shield storage space, refusing to come out.

"..." Mashu touched her forehead with an expression that said, "I thought of that long ago."

However, some people won't wait for you.

—For example, the pirates who surrounded them.

He wore a headscarf, tattered clothes, and a bent blade in his hand.

No matter how you look at it, it seems like a villain mass-produced in TV dramas, and now it has quietly surrounded the group without them realizing it.

It shouldn't be called secret, but Nencho's mind was focused on Ritsuka and Mashu's argument, and he automatically ignored the pirates' encirclement as if it were information that didn't need to be processed...

Okay, that does sound pretty hurtful.

"Although I don't understand what's going on," a man who seemed to be the leader pointed at Nian Zhuo and the others, "anyway, let's go!"

The pirates surrounded the three of them, their eyes gleaming with greedy malice.

"--I really should punish Dr. Roman properly!" Seeing that the enemy was about to arrive, Mashu had no choice but to grip her shield tightly and prepare for battle.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to!" Well, it seems this guy has no sincerity in asking for forgiveness at all, and this awkward tone also gave Nian Zhuo goosebumps.

"There's no other way, everyone! Prepare for battle!" Ritsuka, hiding behind Mashu's shield, gave the battle order. "But please be careful, these people are just ordinary humans, remember to go easy on them!"

"Please! Mr. Nianzhuo, and Mashu too!"

Looking at the enemy force that outnumbered them by several times, Nian Zhuo and Mashu both shook their heads helplessly.

With the driver on his waist, Nian Zhuo simply took out the Zi-O watch.

The bright silver aura of time pushed aside the first few pirates who arrived, and then Nian Zhuo, who was equipped with basic armor, blew on his fist.

"Who is surrounding whom?" Nianzhuo rushed forward, eager to ask this question.

—Phew, okay. Looks like we've got the upper hand.

"...That was close." Nian Zhuo patted his chest. "I almost got slashed by them." Looking at the pirates lying motionless on the ground around him, he finally gave up on the idea of ​​knocking them all out.

"It seems I'm a tiny bit stronger than them." Nian Zhuo smiled as he looked at the slight difference between his thumb and forefinger.

"I'm so sorry...!!!" The man who looked like the leader knelt down in front of the three men and shouted, admitting defeat very readily.

“…Phew, although neither Mr. Nianzhuo nor I are good at fighting, considering the situation, I chose to use force… no, to forcefully question them.” Wiping away imaginary sweat from her forehead, Mashu also felt very relieved. “…Especially imagining the pirates as doctors, it was even more comfortable to fight them.”

Then, looking around at the few remaining pirates who were still conscious, Mashu politely bent down and asked them in a friendly manner.

"Then, could someone tell us which sea area we are in, and what the current situation is?"

"Well, actually we have no clue either." The pirate captain very frankly confessed what they knew: "We drifted to this area without realizing it... and our compasses and maps are completely useless."

"Think about it, since we're completely clueless, we can only prioritize attacking the prey in front of us, right?" The pirate looked like he had no other choice. "After all, that's a pirate's habit."

"Huh... So you didn't have any ulterior motive?" Mashu was puzzled, her eyes widening slightly. "You attacked us impulsively when your own safety wasn't even guaranteed...?"

Hiss—Nian Zhuo inwardly gasped, having to admit that Mashu's seemingly harmless expression coupled with her sharp, knife-like words was indeed very lethal.

"Oh ho~ Hey ho~" Just look at the pirate captain who's already sweating to see the details. "Because~ this is~ a pirate~" He looks angry but dares not say anything.

"...What should we do, Mr. Nianzhuo? They've started performing a musical..." Somewhat troubled, he glanced at Nianzhuo for help.

"Sigh..." There's nothing I can do. Although I don't know what to do, I think a gentle approach might work.

With a smile hidden behind his mask, Nian Zhuo, eager to fight, walked up to the pirate leader.

"...Are you all idiots?"

With a flick of his finger, he smashed the wooden plank in front of him.

The truth that sank into the water

"Well, we really are idiots." Realizing they couldn't handle Nian Zhuo and his group, the leader laughed heartily. "But we do have a clue. Our colleagues told us there's a pirate island nearby. We're running low on food and water, so we're planning to go there first..."

"Pirate...island...?" Mashu tried hard to understand the meaning of the word literally. "Is there...that place...with lots of pirates?"

"Hey, it's a pirate island after all." The leader waved his hand, giving the impression that "this little girl has never seen the world."

“Hmm…” At this moment, the communication device on Mashu’s wrist rang again, but the voice that came out was Director Mary’s thinking voice: “...Since we don’t have any clues now, we can only head there.”

"By the way, I've sent Romani to rest. I'll take over your communications now."

“Hmm, I understand.” Nodding, Nian Zhuo looked at the leader in front of him with a half-smile. “Then, it’s time for us to exercise the rights of the victor!” Pointing to the sailor who was steering the ship, Nian Zhuo said in a commanding tone, “Turn to starboard and head towards the pirate island you mentioned.”

"Yes, sir!" The pirates readily agreed, as it didn't affect their goal anyway. They gave Nian Zhuo, Ritsuka, and Mashu a rather poorly executed salute before quickly running away.

“It should be (Yes, ma’am!)” Mash loudly corrected the mistake in his words as he ran off in the direction his leader had gone.

--The journey was uneventful; they didn't even see a trace of the enemy.

Stepping onto the beach and looking at the lush trees around them, Nianzhuo and the others were all quite curious.

"This seems to be the pirate island..." Mashu recalled the location given by the pirate leader and only felt slightly relieved after confirming that this was indeed the place.

Of course, the opportunity for them to test their ideas also came very quickly.

As soon as they stepped onto the beach, a large number of pirates inexplicably reappeared on the pirate island, all pointing their weapons at Nian Zhuo and his companions.

"Hey! A woman!" One of the men, who seemed to be the leader, saw Ritsuka and Mashu's troubled expressions and shouted gleefully, "Prey! Time to hunt! How exciting!"

Sure enough... there really are pirates on Pirate Island (so in Wife Cake... um~).

However, their aggressive approach was quite impressive.