Chapter 1003: Deja Vu
"Let’s go check it out," Arthur said.
Stelan quickly turned and exited the office, and Arthur closed the door behind him as he stepped out, the two of them walking across the large lobby outside Arthur’s main office and passing through the door directly opposite it.
"A total of 18 new Gates leading to the 18 new planets you’ve added to your rule," Stelan said proudly.
His expression, however, contorted a second later as he added in a quiet voice, "That means 18 new planets I have to oversee, assign regents, deal with logistics...!"
Stelan gritted his teeth, grumbling under his breath. "More work because of a certain absent boss...!"
The man silently glared at Arthur from the corner of his eye as he said that, but Arthur only laughed and placed the lollipop in his mouth while inspecting the hall.
It was a massive circular chamber clearly designed as a central transit nexus, with spatial gates built into 19 enormous metal double doors positioned evenly around the entire perimeter.
Above each door was a label bearing the name of a world under Arthur’s rule, starting from Shoisan and extending all the way to the newest planet added to his growing dominion.
It was a design inspired by the Hall of Origin Arthur had once been to in the Origin Multiverse, and while it currently had only 19 doors, spatial expansion magic was woven into the construction materials so it could be expanded later.
"Let’s test the gates out," Arthur said, walking toward the first gate on his right.
He opened the door, revealing a swirling portal of multicoloured light, and without hesitation stepped through it, closing the door behind him as he stepped out, the two of them walking across the large lobby outside Arthur’s main office and passing through the door directly opposite it.
"A total of 18 new Gates leading to the 18 new planets you’ve added to your rule," Stelan said proudly.
His expression, however, contorted a second later as he added in a quiet voice, "That means 18 new planets I have to oversee, assign regents, deal with logistics...!"
Stelan gritted his teeth, grumbling under his breath. "More work because of a certain absent boss...!"
The man silently glared at Arthur from the corner of his eye as he said that, but Arthur only laughed and placed the lollipop in his mouth as he inspected the hall, its design inspired by the Hall of Origin that Arthur had been to in the Origin Multiverse.
Each door was labelled with the name of the world the gate beyond it led to, and while there were only 19 doors present for now, measures had been taken to allow spatial expansion when the number of worlds Arthur ruled increased.
"Let’s test the gates out," Arthur said, walking over to the first gate on his right.
He opened the door, revealing a swirling portal of multicoloured light, and without hesitation stepped into it, closing the door behind him as he stepped out, the two of them walking straight to—
"Huh?" Arthur suddenly said, blinking in confusion as he looked at the door behind him that he had just closed, then at the door to the Gate Hall directly across from him.
"What’s wrong?" Stelan asked, turning to look at him.
Arthur shook his head lightly, biting down on the lollipop in his mouth until it cracked, then waved it off.
"Don’t worry about it. What were you saying again?"
Stelan gave Arthur a strange look for a moment, but quickly returned his focus to the door before them.
"I didn’t say anything yet, but since you asked," Stelan replied, a proud smile forming as he opened the door to the Gate Chamber. "A total of 18 new Gates leading to the 18 new planets you’ve added to your rule."
His expression, however, contorted a second later—
"Didn’t you already tell me that?"
"What?" Stelan asked, blinking in confusion as Arthur’s sudden question interrupted his grumbling session before it could properly begin.
"That talk about 18 new Gates. You already told me about it," Arthur said.
Stelan shook his head silently and replied, "I only just said it now. Did you look into the future to see what I was gonna say or something?"
"Why would I do that?" Arthur asked with a scoff, turning his gaze to the nearest door.
"Anyway, let’s test the gates out," he said, walking over to the first gate on his right.
He opened the door, revealing a swirling portal of multicoloured light, and without hesitation, he stepped into it, closing the door behind him as he stepped out, the two of them walking straight to—
"Yeah, nope. Something is definitely wrong," Arthur said as he stopped in the centre of the lobby, pulling the lollipop out of his mouth and inspecting its surface.
"It’s not cracked."
"You just put it in your mouth just now, you know?" Stelan said, looking at him strangely.
Arthur placed the lollipop back in his mouth and met Stelan’s gaze in silence.
"What’s up?"
Arthur didn’t respond, turning back and heading to his office behind him. He opened the door and looked inside, seeing nothing out of place, then closed it again and headed to the Gate Chamber opposite it, opening it and seeing nothing wrong inside there either.
"At least let me do the honours of the reveal," Stelan said, entering the chamber behind him.
Gesturing to the round hall, he continued, "A total of 18 new Gates leading to the—"
"—18 new planets I’ve added to my rule," Arthur interrupted, completing Stelan’s words.
"Huh? How did you know what I was gonna say? Did you look into the future to see what I was gonna say again?" Stelan asked with narrowed eyes, and seeing the man’s reaction, Arthur immediately summoned a phone from his subspace.
He dialled a number and waited for the signal to connect, and when it did, he spoke.
"Hey, Kelly. Can you do me a favour and check how many Candidates you can sense in this universe?"
[Huh? Okay...?]
Kelly sounded confused by the sudden request, but she did as he asked anyway, while Stelan glanced at the phone, wondering who ’Kelly’ was.
The two stood in silence for several minutes, and Kelly’s voice finally came through the phone.
[Okay, the results are back, and there are...! 12!? And wait, there are two in your direction!!]
Her tone turned alarmed at the number of Candidate Sigils she detected, and hearing this, Arthur nodded, confirming the conjecture he’d just made.
"Raise Alexia’s security detail to the max."
He lowered the phone from his ear and looked at the closest portal door to his position, eyes narrowing as he concluded.
"Roseborn’s already here."
