Chapter 193: Chapter 193: Japan Trip! Volcano Eruption?!
The next day.
When Lorien woke up, he saw only one person. Hmm, it was Wanda.
As for Gwen, she had probably gone out late last night with Silk to fight crime. Afterward, she must have come back and decided to stay downstairs with Silk for a couple of days. After all, she had just arrived. Leaving her alone in such a big, empty house would’ve been a bit cruel, wouldn’t it?
Lorien glanced at the clock.
9:31 AM.
Ah, what a satisfying, long sleep.
Meanwhile, Wanda was still sprawled out, sleeping in a rather ungraceful pose. Her legs dangled loosely, as if they weren’t even under her control. Completely abandoned to gravity.
"Time to get up."
Lorien stretched with a lazy yawn, then got up to wash. The Twins followed him, helping with his morning routine.
"Rrrgghhh~~~"
Lorien gargled.
Aria reported while Bella assisted.
"Master, an hour ago the Transformers civilization received another cosmic transmission. The three great empires have all been destroyed."
All three empires? Gone already?
Lorien spat out the mouthwash. While Bella wiped his face, he replied,
"That fast?"
"Yes." Aria nodded. "It seems multiple legions of the Annihilation Wave launched simultaneous strikes from several fronts."
"Most major civilizations have already gone into hiding. Some have moved underground, others are spending massive resources to cloak themselves, and fleets are no longer venturing out."
That much was clear. The rest of the universe had already been frightened into submission.
And that was only natural. If the three great empires were wiped out, who else could hope to resist the Annihilation Wave?
The Transformers? Nice thought. But they weren’t about to step up and fight the swarm head-on. Hiding was the smarter move.
Lorien nodded, asking casually,
"How have the Transformers been doing these last few days?"
Bella straightened his clothes while Aria continued,
"All resources have been shipped to the main planets. But to save time, the Transformers funneled seventy percent of their construction progress into the two primary worlds. Only thirty percent went to the outer ones."
Lorien nodded.
"Makes sense."
Ever played a tower defense game? Where do you start placing your turrets? Of course—from your core outward.
Build high walls. Stockpile supplies. Hold off declaring yourself king until the time is right!
The war between a mechanical civilization and the wave was simple. A clash between the steel torrent and massed bug armies.
Whichever side had the stronger torrent—bigger guns, heavier firepower—Or the larger swarm—greater numbers, tougher bodies, overwhelming hordes—That side would win.
Simple as that.
Lorien smirked.
"Just wait. If this war were turned into a movie, it’d be the most explosive spectacle ever made."
The Twins both nodded.
"Yes."
After that, Lorien went to order breakfast. Two servings. By the time it was ready, Wanda would probably be awake too.
He stepped into the kitchen.
"Nora, two steaks and fruit bowls."
"Waaah! Master! You’re finally here! I missed you so much my oil’s about to leak out!"
The moment Lorien appeared, Nora’s voice turned giddy with adoration.
Her other tentacles immediately started preparing the food. One of them stretched out toward Lorien, its electronic eye fixed right on him.
Hearing her voice, Lorien couldn’t help but feel a bit... complicated. She really was utterly loyal. And completely tied to him.
So he reached out, gave her mechanical tentacle a gentle squeeze, and said,
"Considering your recent exemplary performance, I’ll reduce your ’standing post’ time by one year. How much time do you have left now?"
"Really!? I love you so much, Master~!"
Upon hearing Lorien reduce her standing post time by a year, Nora was so excited she nearly convulsed. Her electronic screen displayed an image of a cyber girl rolling her eyes.
Lorien: ...
"Let me calculate... three years and nine months! The day I can serve you up close is getting closer!"
Lorien chuckled, slipping in a few manipulative lines before heading out.
"Well then, work hard. Who knows? If I’m in a good mood later, I might reduce your time again."
"Wonderful! I love you so much, Master..."
"But if you make me or anyone in the family angry, your time might increase."
"Yes..., Nora understands."
Hmm, that last line was so obedient. Seems the manipulation worked.
Lorien left the kitchen satisfied. Then he went to wake the sleeping Wanda.
...
When he returned to the bedroom, Wanda had changed her sleeping position. She was hugging her big pillow, sleeping half-prone.
Lorien walked over. He gently slapped her ample curves a few times.
"Smack! Smack!"
"Mmm..."
Wanda woke up. She opened her eyes and glanced at Lorien. Then she wrapped herself in the blanket and rolled to the other side.
Not getting up?
Lorien walked to the bedside. He noticed that even though she’d covered herself up, her little feet were still exposed. He picked up one of Wanda’s feet.
He had to admit. They were beautiful—slightly veined but not excessively so, overall fair and lovely.
But Lorien wasn’t here to admire them. He was here to tickle.
Tickle!
"Ah!"
Wanda’s body jerked as her soles were suddenly tickled. She immediately tried to pull her foot back. But Lorien held it firmly. How could she possibly pull it back?
"I’m awake, I’m awake, Lorien, I’m awake."
Just as expected. Not even three seconds had passed. Wanda was already begging for mercy.
It was too early in the morning for anything too intense, so Lorien let go of Wanda’s foot and chuckled.
"If you don’t get up now, it’ll be a beating you get."
"You’re so mean..."
Wanda quickly withdrew her foot and rubbed it. The tickling had made her twitch uncontrollably. Now she was fully awake.
Lorien clapped his hands.
"Good thing they don’t stink. Get up. Nora’s breakfast needs to be made."
"Of course they don’t!"
Hearing Lorien mention smelly feet, regardless of whether he meant hers, Wanda promptly lifted her little foot and offered it to him.
"Don’t believe me? Smell it yourself."
"I won’t smell it."
Facing the extended foot, Lorien immediately made a tickling gesture. Wanda instantly pulled her foot back.
...
Next, after Wanda got up, washed up, and finished breakfast with Lorien, the two headed to the Little Universe to rest.
Facing the Little Universe’s warm sun and gentle breeze, Wanda stretched lazily. Then she looked at Lorien, who was deep in thought, and asked,
"What are you thinking about?"
"I was wondering if I should skip opening the shop tomorrow to take Gwen to school with you."
Lorien still had three unused leave slips. He’d never found the chance to use them. Gwen’s university opening day only happened once—if he missed this chance to send her off, there’d be no other opportunity.
After pondering, Wanda replied,
"If there’s nothing else pressing, I think it’d be better to go send her off."
"Alright, then we’ll rest another day tomorrow!"
The thought of another day off tomorrow made Lorien feel like he suddenly had all the time in the world.
At the same time, Lorien’s phone buzzed with a message. He opened it—it was from Gwen. Gwen had sent a photo of her and Silk posing on top of a skyscraper. The caption read: "Off to work!"
Lorien glanced at it and showed it to Wanda.
"Well, they’re off to work bright and early."
Wanda swiped through her phone. Then she showed Lorien Gwen’s TikTok account.
"There’s more on the account."
The account contained Gwen and Silk’s joint introduction, plus a brief explanation of yesterday’s incident. Finally, some photos and such. That was all. Nothing else.
Lorien reluctantly put his phone away.
"So let’s hang out today. Where do you wanna go?"
"Let’s go..." Wanda thought for a moment, glancing at the bedroom. "Call Hela. We’ll go see Japan."
"Japan?"
Lorien froze upon hearing the word. Because it wasn’t English, nor was it gibberish. It was pronounced "Sakura." An informal English phonetic adaptation. But crucially, it meant cherry blossoms. Most people unfamiliar with the term wouldn’t know its meaning.
Lorien asked with interest,
"Where’d you hear that word?"
Wanda pulled out her phone: "TikTok~"
"Alright."
See? No wonder the US later wanted to shut down TikTok. Isn’t this pure cultural invasion? Take it down fast! Or else our centuries-old American history and culture will be invaded!
But speaking of which. In times of peace. What’s the most powerful weapon of cultural invasion? Entertainment.
Entertainment includes movies, TV shows, anime, comics, novels, games, music, performances, and more. Ironically, countries that overlook these cultural forms often end up the most deeply infiltrated by them. It’s just another kind of isolationism.
"Let’s go then."
Lorien stood up and clapped his hands.
"Don’t stay out too long today—be back by afternoon. Otherwise, Gwen will complain if she sees we spent all that time at Japan."
Wanda thought for a moment.
"Then why not have Gwen come back earlier? If she’s back by noon, we can bring Cindy along too. That way we can hang out until evening before heading home."
"Good idea! Oh, and have Hela invite Galacta as well. Haven’t seen her around lately—no clue what she’s been busy with."
And so it was decided. Lorien messaged Gwen about the plan.
Gwen agreed right away! An overseas trip on the very last day of school! If they didn’t go now, there’d be no time later!
As for Cindy, whether she liked it or not didn’t matter—Gwen was the boss, so she’d just drag Cindy along. Worst case, they could always fight crime in Japan.
Hela, excited as ever, quickly called Galacta.
When Galacta arrived, Lorien asked,
"So what have you been up to lately? Haven’t seen you hanging out with Hela."
Galacta looked worn out.
"I’ve been trying to figure out why I’m always starving. I keep eating and eating—there has to be a reason, right? I kept researching nonstop until I found a clue. It feels like something inside me is absorbing energy!"
Lorien instantly understood what she was investigating. It was the same parasite that existed in both her and Galactus.
No—calling it a worm was just the surface. It only looked like one. In truth, it was a fragment.
Once it absorbed enough energy, that fragment would evolve into a new Devourer of Worlds. That was the very reason Galacta had been born.
But she didn’t know that yet. Of course, Lorien didn’t tell her outright—he only gave her a little nudge.
"So, did you figure out what it is? The cause of your hunger could go either way—good or bad."
Galacta lowered her head, disappointed.
"Not yet. All I know is something’s absorbing energy. But it also feels like it’s part of me—otherwise, I wouldn’t be slowly getting stronger."
Lorien nodded.
"Makes sense."
But there was nothing to do for now. If she hadn’t found the answer yet, she hadn’t found it.
This trip would just be a chance for Galacta to relax. She could continue her research once she got back.
For now, with Gwen not yet home, she just joined Hela for some games.
By noon, Gwen returned with Silk. After everyone changed clothes, Lorien snapped his fingers, and they all appeared in Japan.
Come to think of it, this was technically illegal entry—tourists were supposed to have passports.
Lorien was now leading five women on this trip! Counting himself, that made six in total. A proper little tour group.
If more Spider-Woman joined later, wouldn’t they be in the double digits?
But that could wait—they were here to enjoy themselves.
It was Sunday, and they had the whole afternoon ahead of them.
Starting at noon, the six first went to Mount Fuji to take a look at the volcano.
Gwen, staring curiously at the jagged slopes, asked,
"What’s this? Why does the volcano have so many little horns?"
"Those aren’t horns." Lorien glanced at it and explained. "They’re small craters along the volcanic ridge. The one you’re looking at is just the largest among many."
"But energy also gets squeezed out from the sides. When it erupts, all of it will burst out together."
Oh~~~
Everyone understood.
Among the five girls, not a single one knew anything about geography, so they could only rely on Lorien’s explanation.
Hela tilted her head at the volcano.
"When will it erupt? I want to see it blow."
"..."
Lorien gave her a look.
"You really are a little troublemaker."
"Hehe~"
But Lorien still explained,
"That depends on luck. Once it’s built up enough energy, all it needs is a trigger point and it’ll erupt."
The group understood.
Whether or not they could see it erupt came down to chance.
So they moved on.
If it erupted later, they could always come back.
For now, it was better to visit other places.
But after hearing Lorien’s words, Hela walked behind him, moving her hands in front of her face while muttering something incomprehensible.
Once she finished her little ritual, Galacta asked curiously,
"What were you just doing?"
Hela opened her eyes.
"An Asgardian wish spell."
That only made Galacta more curious.
"What did you wish for?"
"Shhh~" Hela hushed her. "If I say it, it won’t come true."
Still, she couldn’t help but glance back at the distant volcano.
Galacta caught that look and oh~~~ understood.
The two of them then caught up with Lorien.
They spent their time around Mount Fuji until about two in the afternoon, when Lorien suggested changing spots.
"Let’s go. We’ll head to the coast."
"Mm." Everyone nodded.
Hela turned to look back at the mountain range and sighed.
What a pity, she hadn’t gotten to see it erupt.
But she turned away, and Lorien snapped his fingers.
"Snap~"
In the next instant, all six vanished.
Puff~~~
The moment they disappeared, smoke began rising from the crater.
It hissed and vented like a pressure cooker’s boiler, blasting a huge plume of volcanic ash into the sky.
...
Meanwhile, the six had already arrived at a scenic coastal area in Sakura.
The place was lively, full of people.
Walking along the shoreline, they didn’t notice anything particularly unusual at first.
But when they passed a certain spot, they found a signboard.
It showed illustrations of several strange, elongated fish, with long blocks of explanatory text beneath it.
Silk had been staring at it for a while, but she couldn’t make sense of the writing.
The others weren’t much better off.
Gwen looked at it curiously.
"What’s so special about these fish? What does it say down there?"
Wanda studied the sign. She didn’t know either, but she had magic.
"I can translate it with a spell."
Lorien gestured for her to go ahead, saving himself the trouble of explaining.
Wanda extended her hand and cast her magic. As she read, she translated aloud,
"Oarfish, scientifically known as Regalecus glesne, are sometimes called ’earthquake fish’ due to the belief that their sudden appearance near the surface can signal an impending major earthquake."
As soon as she finished, Hela was already leaning over the railing, peering down.
"Do they live here?"
Wanda nodded.
"Yes."