Ethereal Ascendance: A Journey of Transformation

"That's right!"

Suddenly, I realized something. Since we all came from parallel worlds - me, Adrian, and Reed - Cyra should logically have been part of the plan to return to the Alpha world. So why was she the only one who didn't arrive here through the portal?

"Could it be because of the slight differences between each parallel world?" Wayne Peng chimed in before Reed could speak. "Actually, I've also got a silly question!"

"Oh?" General Lee glanced at him curiously.

"Sorry! Your question was actually very good, General. Mine is the truly silly one," Wayne Peng quickly corrected himself, wiping his brow before continuing. "Let's say people from a parallel world accidentally come to our world. If they don't realize their mistake quickly, could that lead to more people from their side coming through the portal to our world?"

Reed paused for a moment before answering, seeming unsure. "Theoretically, that's possible. But we can't underestimate the effects of the dark element. I don't think that energy would just disappear, so the portal probably won't remain stable and passable for long. That's why I advised against sending people through the portal. As for whether more people from parallel worlds will come through, we'll have to wait and see."

"Alright. It's a bit embarrassing, but you might be our only expert on spatial research here. For now, we'll have to follow your advice. I hope you can find a solution to this problem soon," General Lee said, standing up to conclude the meeting. "If needed, you can question the three newcomers further to see if you can spot any inconsistencies. But don't forget our main task is to restore the portal's function. The base in the Alpha world has probably noticed the malfunction by now. According to Reed's theory, if they enter the portal now, they're unlikely to make it back to Earth successfully. To avoid unnecessary losses, I hope you all work together, keeping the bigger picture in mind. Use all available resources if necessary."

"I can't believe you accepted the reality of parallel worlds so easily. I've been nervous about it this whole time!" I said admiringly to Wayne Peng as we left the meeting room.

Honestly, I thought it would be difficult for these military types to accept the idea of parallel worlds. But surprisingly, General Lee and Wayne Peng were quite open-minded about it.

"It's not really a big deal," Wayne Peng said, gazing at the portal gate visible through the hallway window. "Compared to a space wormhole appearing out of nowhere in Shine Metropolitan and connecting to a magical world, the parallel world theory is actually quite acceptable!"

At that moment, I think I understood how he felt. For most ordinary people living in both worlds, they might never encounter such an extraordinary experience in their lifetime, let alone be deeply involved in it.

"Since General Lee has granted me permission to conduct research in the base, I shouldn't waste time. But before that, I think we need to add one more helper," Reed said expressionlessly as she approached us.

"Who do you need? As long as it helps fix the portal, I'll do whatever I can to make it happen!" Wayne Peng replied without hesitation.

"Could it be her?" Adrian anticipated Reed's intention and quickly asked for confirmation.

Reed nodded, confirming his guess. "Yes, but before that, I need to make sure these people genuinely want to help us, to avoid unnecessary trouble later."

Cyra, standing nearby, was completely confused about the situation, almost mistaking the target as Cyrae.

Of course, that wasn't the case. Although Cyrae inherited Elara's legacy and also came from another parallel world, she might not be particularly skilled in spatial research.

"I never expected you'd be the one questioning me," a familiar voice said as I entered the interrogation room.

It wasn't my first time in this place, but now my role was reversed. I was the one asking questions, and the person being questioned was myself from another world.

"Well, to be precise, I'm not here to interrogate you. I just want to conduct a more in-depth investigation," I said, feeling strange as I sat down across from a face so familiar yet different.

I placed a cup of tea on the table, feeling my head buzz slightly under Feliciana's watchful gaze.

"Gyokuro tea, huh? Looks like we share the same taste in tea. That's not too different," Feliciana said, her expression softening slightly as she glanced at the cup.

She took a small sip of tea, leaned back, and asked with a hint of annoyance, "So, what do you want to ask? I've already repeated many of the same things several times."

Repeating the same questions multiple times is a tactic to test if the interviewee is telling the truth. Having experienced this myself, I knew it wasn't pleasant, so I quickly asked my first question:

"Where is Cyra?"

"Cyra? You mean the Cyra from our world?" Feliciana was clearly taken aback, not expecting this to be my first question. After a moment, she answered, "Where else would she be? She's with Raydwin, of course. She decided to stay on Earth, so I didn't bring her back this time..."

Suddenly remembering that she had seen our world's Cyra when exiting the portal, she added with realization, "I get it! Your Cyra must have agreed to go back, so that's where the divergence happened."

"So that's how it is," I said, feeling enlightened. This explanation seemed plausible. Cyra hesitated for a long time before deciding to go back with me. Choices like this often come down to a single moment.

"In your world, were those two vampires caught?" I asked curiously, as this was another key point. It was because of these two vampires causing trouble that the portal malfunctioned. I wondered if the same thing had happened in the parallel world.

"Of course not. I've already answered this question," Feliciana said impatiently. Realizing I might not have read the latest interrogation report, she repeated herself. "Although I kindly warned Wayne Peng that there might be monsters mixed in with the group, when he went to check personally, those two discovered they were exposed. They escaped from the portal hall with extraordinary speed. This sudden change caused a huge commotion among the imperial diplomatic group. The imperial people rushed into the portal, trying to return to their own world. Adrian, Reed, and I just didn't bother to compete with them, so we stayed at the back to enter. We never expected to end up here!"

"No way, they were monsters. Didn't Wayne Peng ask you to check... personally?" Finding this turn of events hard to believe, I hesitated halfway through my sentence.

I realized I had overlooked an important factor: the subsequent reaction caused by Cyra's decision to stay.

Clearly, bringing Cyra back was my promise to the H-country military. If I failed to bring Cyra back to the base, I would inevitably lose the trust of the H-country military. This would make any subsequent cooperation impossible in the short term, and being sent back to the other world would essentially mean deportation.

Without this cooperative relationship, when the vampire riot occurred, Wayne Peng would have every reason to remain suspicious of us angels. He might have given up on asking for our help on the spot, and Earth people alone would certainly be unable to catch those vampires!

"So you caught those two vampires?" Feliciana instantly picked up on this information from my expression. She hadn't received any information about our world from the H-country personnels conducting the interrogation. This was probably the first time.

"Not exactly. We caught one, but the other died inside the portal. That's what caused the problem with the space portal, though we didn't expect it to connect to a parallel world," I decided to tell her the whole truth. "That's also why you ended up here."

The other me was stunned for several seconds after hearing this. She seemed to understand what I was thinking and tentatively asked, "I guess your next question is whether I'll help you resolve this incident? But you should also know that I'll probably answer: I can't really help much with spatial issues. You should ask Reed instead!"