Responsibility

[Day 2]

Following the usual twenty-four-hour adjustment period, Vahn was in his office, awaiting clients, contemplating the Abyssal Maw's Third Trial, and reflecting on how busy he had been.

Though he enjoyed virtually every moment he shared with his harem, his adoptive kids, and the many beauties of the Maid Battalion, Vahn couldn't help feeling that he was flying through the years while those he cherished were living at a comparably relaxed pace. In the fourteen days leading up to his brief stint in One Piece, 321 had passed for him. If nothing changed, he would be as much as twenty-one years older by the expected delivery date of his children...

kacha

Interrupting Vahn's introspection, though he knew of their arrival well in advance, a young man with messy, layered, ash-grey hair and peculiar green, steel blue, and orange-hued eyes entered his office, guided there by Tonami, aka Sister #10732. His outfit, consisting of a stylish blue jacket with orange accents, multiple zippers, pockets, and straps over a black t-shirt, streamlined black pants, and grey, orange-laced tennis shoes, made it apparent he originated from a fairly modern setting, but Vahn only knew it as Zenless Zone Zero or ZZZ-0724.

"Wise Varne...to what do I owe the pleasure...?" asked Vahn, causing the grey-haired youth to adopt a poised smile as he replied, "First, I'd like to apologize in advance if I say or do anything that offends. This will be my first time interacting with a God."

"Be at ease," expressed Vahn, reciprocating with a smile of his own as he appended, "I'm not overly fond of formalities, so feel free to sit, drink, eat some snacks, and speak freely."

"The hospitality is appreciated," affirmed Wise, approaching Vahn's desk and taking a seat in one of the four available seats. There was tea, coffee, and various snacks arranged before him, but he disregarded them and got straight to the point, revealing, "I wanted to discuss the state of my world and the feasibility of a mass exodus."

"Mass exodus...?" Vahn repeated, his right brow rising slightly as, based on Wise's appearance, complexion, and the state of his clothes, it didn't appear that the situation in his world was particularly dire.

Nodding, Wise revealed, "The world I originate from can be regarded as a post-apocalyptic setting as there is only one central metropolis remaining. The rest of our world has been subsumed and made largely uninhabitable by a phenomenon known as Hollowfication. Of our original eighteen billion people inhabitants, fewer than twenty million remain."

"I'm sorry to hear that..." sighed Vahn, his smile waning and becoming tinged with melancholy as, even if the events had transpired in Wise's world, he had made them a reality through his power.

"Oh, it's not like I had to experience all of that," stated Wise, his smile broadening as he explained, "The events that led to the fall of our world predate my birth by more than a hundred years. And until ten years ago, things had largely stabilized, including our population."

"What happened ten years ago...?" asked Vahn, his curiosity piqued.

"That's something my sister and I have been attempting to figure out..." responded Wise, exhaling from his nose before explaining, "To summarize, the former capital, Eridu, was swallowed up by a massive Hollow. Since then, smaller Companion Hollows have emerged in the districts encircling central singularity, dubbed Hollow Zero. Things are under control for now, but there is understandably a lot of unease surrounding the emergence of these new Hollows."

"I can imagine..." muttered Vahn, feeling a sudden urge to look into Wise's world to grasp the situation and possible solutions. Instead, he stayed on topic, confirming, "As for relocating the population of your world, it's most definitely possible. The issue is that you're not really in a position to make such a decision."

Shaking his head, Vahn preempted Wise's response by explaining, "Unless they know their death is imminent, the majority of people wouldn't want to abandon their homes or careers to settle elsewhere. We could honor your request if you were something along the lines of the President or Savior of your world, but as it stands, the best we could do is arrange to have those who would have died relocated elsewhere."

"We will consider that as a last resort..." affirmed Wise, offering a curt nod before asking, "On a related note, what would it cost to have the Dragon's Pavilion or other Ascendees assist with mine and my sister's investigation and the general suppression of Hollows? We have our fair share of reliable allies, but I would estimate even the strongest beings in our world to be C to B-Rank here in the Tower."

"Suggesting you're looking for someone A-Rank or higher to assist you..." concluded Vahn, various candidates appearing in his mind, chief among them being Jack-O. Those who didn't know her wouldn't be able to tell at a glance, but she was extraordinarily adept with technology, being able to interface with computers and analyze systems on par with even the most advanced supercomputers. In terms of investigative and analytical ability, she was likely second only to Sis within the Dragon's Pavilion.

"I would need to confer with the person in question, but I could arrange to have an S-Rank act as a kind of Advisor for you," stated Vahn, causing Wise's brows to rise. The most powerful Ascendee he had seen in action was A-Rank, and they were already at a level that was difficult to wrap his head around. S-Rank might as well be God-tier.

"What do you mean by Advisor?" asked Wise, keying in on the word as it suggested the person Vahn was referring to wouldn't assist them directly.

"The type of people who reach S-Rank aren't easily controlled or ordered around by others," explained Vahn. "More pertinently, it isn't the place of the Dragon's Pavilion to solve your or any other world's problems. You've already been vested with the opportunity to change fate by becoming an Ascendee, so while we can certainly work with you, your priorities should be improving your strength and the capabilities of your allies. That's why I would appoint you an advisor to watch over and provide helpful advice on improving your position—because your world would benefit infinitely more from you and your allies gaining the power to protect it than depending on others, particularly outsiders, to protect it for you."

"Makes sense," conceded Wise, offering an understanding nod.

"That said, we can still make arrangements to relocate the people of your world if the worst happens," reassured Vahn, revealing, "Even within your universe, there are functionally infinite habitable worlds. If you and those backing you would like to set up a settlement or a garrison far beyond the influence of the Hollowfication phenomenon, that's an option we can look into. Though, as you could expect, planets aren't cheap. The contract can be prepared now, but you would need at least nine others willing to serve as principal guarantors with room for many more."

"Could you explain that in greater detail?" asked Wise, believing it would be prudent to prepare a backup world and begin developing a settlement sooner rather than later.

"Of course," responded Vahn, offering an affirming nod before proceeding to explain how the ten principal guarantors would effectively serve as the Gods or caretakers of their new world, aided by the power, resources, and longevity conferred to them by the Tower. After all, even the smallest and, accordingly, cheapest habitable world had a value of five quintillion Tower Points. Even if they permitted everyone from Wise's current world to enter the Tower, each person would need to accumulate 250,000 TP. Instead, it would fall on him and up to 109 others to shoulder the burden. By the time the debt was settled, hundreds of years would have passed, but that was a comparably small price to pay for an unspoiled planet that could sustain them for hundreds, potentially even thousands of generations...

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[Day 14]

Though he was still accepting clients, Vahn was convinced to open the Abyssal Maw on the fifth day of the current Tower cycle. It wasn't that great a draw to Ascendees from Invirtua, but after determining that the miscellaneous Drop Items acquired within could be freely removed from Termina, Ascendees from outside were willing to part with a considerable sum of Tower Points to gain access to designated farming locations. Vahn received Origin Points by simply being on the floor as others farmed, so as long as everyone stayed within their designated areas, he felt it was a win-win-win situation as they also had counters set up to purchase items and materials convertible to OP for five to seven times the amount in TP.

Making the situation a win-win-win-win, at least for him, Vahn had spent the better part of that day basking in the sun atop a seventy-meter-long yacht, sporting sunglasses and enjoying the cool breeze from a spacious sun deck. His chest and abdomen were a little sweaty, but that had less to do with him than the brown-skinned girl reclined atop him with her four three-clawed hands resting on her belly and her squishy, crimson, gem-like hooves poking the tops of his thighs. Her eyes were large and amber-gold in hue, and much of her body, sans her face, chest, belly, and upper arms, were covered in slightly off-white fur. Exceedingly large and droopy ears adorned both sides of her head, three crimson gems adorned her bangs like horns, and she had five fox-like tails that trailed or fanned out behind her, similar to the tail feathers of a bird.

"Aren't the two of you hot..." asked Riko, approaching Vahn and the dark-skinned girl in a beige brown and white tube top with short-like swimsuit bottoms, her expression notably surly and a large plate of seared meat in her hands.

"It's a comfortable heat, sosu..." responded the girl or, more accurately, the Narehate Princess, Faputa, eyes closed and hands rubbing her belly to make it slick with her sweat. When she first arrived in the Corridor, she was completely naked, but after Vahn explained to her that it wasn't very appropriate for a young girl, much less a Princess, to walk around with her very modest breasts on display, she acquiesced to wearing a dudou-like chest covering that matched the color of her fur.

"Oh? Is Riko being jealous again~?" asked a notably fluffy girl with pale white and feathery mint-green fur, red eyes, and a coiled tail. This was Prushka after being exposed to the Abyss's Curse and having Vahn treat her, granting her the form of a Narehate, so while Riko pouted, she had no reservations about cozying up to and nuzzling the right side of his face as he stated, "It's time for you to get up, Princess."

"Gnuuuuu...if I must..." responded Faputa, clearly reluctant as, much like other Narehate, she found Vahn's presence very comforting. Then, even though she preferred to walk or crawl around like an animal, she did her best to appear dignified and ladylike as she walked with surprising grace over to the nearby grill station to receive her own sizeable portion of food, courtesy of a diminutive Chef named Komatsu, hailing from the anime and video game world of Toriko.

Seeing Vahn's lap vacant, an opportunistic gleam flashed across Riko's green eyes, but the food she was carrying prevented her from pouncing immediately. Instead, it was Prushka who unhesitantly plopped down on his lap before he had a chance to do more than sit up, her carmine eyes glistening as she placed her mint green, gem-like fingers on his chest and exclaimed, "Don't get up! Prushka will feed you...!" with a slightly flushed, clearly excited expression.

"Maybe some other time," responded Vahn, reaching up with both hands and sinking his fingers into the thick and warm fluff of Prushka's hair and ears, causing her to close her eyes and groan in a mix of satisfaction and frustration. She had been smitten with him even before he dropped in to treat her, but while she was surprisingly sixteen, Vahn felt she was much too physically, mentally, and emotionally underdeveloped for him to even consider reciprocating her feelings. Thus, after squishing her cheeks with his thumbs, he picked her up and set her down next to him before ruffling Riko's hair and grabbing some barbecue for himself...

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