Guilty Crown: ROB's Wheel c66 (Patreon)

[It could work. Technically, it could. Partner’s blood is fully mutated. However, simply giving her blood won't change anything.]

Albion explained with a thoughtful voice.

“In other words, my blood has potent mana, but having simple mana doesn't mean anything. It needs to be configured in some way.” Alex chipped in.

[Indeed. That's how it works.]

“I could check some magic means as well,” Julis added two bits as she held her chin with her hand.

“Hey, it's fine. While your help is appreciated, it's not necessary. I can still help with the way I am.” The Endlave pilot waved her hands to make them stop thinking about her disability.

Such attention towards that makes her uncomfortable.

“Oh, it's fine. We don't have any proper healing methods yet. So developing something is necessary; you just gave us an excuse to do it.” Julis clarified to them.

“...I see.”

“By the way, Tsugumi, how does money work in this place?” Julis asked as she looked towards the girl with cat ears.

“Hmm? We don't have paper currency, if you were wondering. Because of the virus, any sort of paper currency is forbidden. Everything is electronic, and minimum touch is needed.

That's why Gai is bringing phones to you three.” The hacker girl explained to them.

“I see, so it's like that.” Julis realised that this place was already close to her world.

Everything in her original place was electronic and online like this.

“However, this is why we can easily influence this. You even helped us!” Tsugumi grinned like a cat.

“With the majority of systems down. Only basic firewalls are in place. There are no actual people maintaining anything! That means I can syphon some money~.”

The girl showed them a ‘V’ sign with her fingers.

A few minutes later, Gai walked in, and Alex and Julis noticed the wheelchair girl’s reaction to him.

She was infatuated with him.

“The phones are ready, you can access the internet, and the bank accounts and call functions are fully functioning. They are fully set.” He handed over futuristic-looking phones to their pair. It was a fancier version of the Samsung phone he had.

“Nice, and the house?”

“Tsugumi will set it for you. Thanks to that little stunt you caused, we can set a few things in motion.” He smiled a bit while saying that.

“Great, we should wreck more bases.” Alex jokingly said that to his girlfriend.

“I don't mind. They had this coming.”

“I agree with that. You haven't fully seen what these people are capable of. For them, the Geneva Convention doesn't exist.

Or any other humanitarian-related laws, in fact.”

“Let me guess, virus application on humans? Not including the antidote?” Julis pointed out she saw enough offices with dodgy names in that tower.

“Indeed. I assume you two saw certain things in that tower.”

“You could say that.”

…

…

…

Alex selected quite a nice apartment in a nice residential area in rebuilt Tokyo.

“Nice, the doors unlock with phones.” The White Dragon Emperor commented as he unlocked the house with his new phone.

As he opened the doors and walked in, the pair of pinkettes followed him.

As they entered the new apartment, he quickly noticed the large windows and high ceiling. Apart from that, he quickly saw that the kitchen was connected to the main living room and the dining room.

There is one corridor which leads to several other rooms.

“Hmm, is this a new design Japanese came up, or is it GHQ style?” He pondered on this while looking around.

“Doubtful, pretty sure we came up with this,” Julis said with crossed arms as she looked around.

By ‘We’ she meant Europeans. Now that she mentioned Alex, he recalled a similar style in his aunt’s new place in his previous world.

“Well, whatever, it looks cool enough for me. The view is not bad.” The White Dragon Emperor walked over and looked through the window. It's a new apartment block with a touch of futuristic. It appears vegetation is incorporated in this new style.

Something he remembers from video games and TV series when the theme is the future.

“What do you think, Inori? You have been quiet the whole time.” Alex asked the quiet girl.

“...I don't know. It looks—Okay.” She walked over and tried to explain; in the end, she had a single word for it.

His reaction to her Kuudere-like answer made him pat her head.

“Don’t worry, just keep on trying. You will eventually have words for certain situations.”

“Unn~” She answered with a nod.

“Good. What do you think we should do next, Julis? We need to check the fridge and see how supermarkets work here. I'm pretty sure it's similar to how it normally is.” Alex asked his girlfriend, who was gazing through the window then.

“You are right; now that you have mentioned, I am pretty hungry.” The pinkette proceeded to walk towards the kitchen.

“...Food?” Inori, for a second, was confused before starting to rub her stomach.

“Don’t worry, we are pretty food chefs.” Alex clarified before she could even start to worry.

When Julis heard his comment, her response was a snort.

“Says the guy who became a master chef because he wanted to master cooking like a video game.”

“...Video Game?”

“It's an entertainment system.” Once again, he clarified to her as he walked after Julis. The younger pinkette looked at the city briefly before wandering over the couch and sitting down. She proceeded to ponder— about everything.

Since her memories are not complete, she knows a few things, but she doesn't know others. It makes her confused about many things.

Regardless. Inori knows that those two will help her along the way.

Alex even gave her a name—an identity.

“Crap! The fridge is empty!” The White Dragon Emperor exclaimed loudly.

“Hmm?” Inori turned around and looked towards the kitchen.

“Well, I guess we will be visiting that Supermarket early,” Julis spoke amusedly. Alex’s reaction to no food made her laugh.

~~~

Alex swiftly contacted his ‘Rebel Alliance’. Gai sends over Tsugumi’s number. In a short few moments, the cat girl messaged him.

[Tsugumi: Sending some pocket exchange~ Nyaa~]

[Tsugumi send you over 10.000 credits]

“...Huh, how much is 10k of credits? Wait, why is it even credits?” He asked his girlfriend as all three of them were walking to the store.

“Why are you asking me? You are the one with knowledge.” She huffed her reply.

“...Beats me; the only thing I know is the other stuff.” He shrugged back.

“Exactly my point.” She slightly hissed before whispering to him.

“We are in anime, remember? It's not like they show all those small details!”

“You tell me, you do realise that I only know bare bones about your world, too!”

Julis immediately got flustered when she heard that.

“It's not like I am the one who decides those things!” She got defensive about it.

“I know, that's what I am saying.”

As the pair whispered among themselves, Inori’s attention was on TV screens in one of the shops next to the pavement.

For a second, she stopped in her tracks and looked at some girls singing.

‘Is this how they sing? I only heard music before, but it would seem they are singing for people in large crowds, too.’

Alex stopped in his tracks as he could hear Inori’s walking. Anymore he turned around and looked at where she was.

He walked back to her and looked at what she was looking for.

‘It appears some things don't change.’

[From my understanding, she is still Mana, and from what I saw, she liked to sing and dance. Those things didn't change.]

The white dragon casually commented.

‘True. Now I wonder if giving Falna to her will stimulate something I wouldn't want.’

[Hmm, you think Mana would awaken if magical energy starts flowing through this girl’s body? Honestly, I have no idea how this virus will react to her. I have no reference to this.]

Albion was right; neither does Alex have any idea. Danmanchi-based magic never interacted with the apocalypse virus before.

“Do you like what you see?”

“...Hnn.”

She didn't speak for a while.

“...I think I do.”

“...We could arrange something for her,” Julis said with a knowing look. Her boyfriend did mention to her about the girl’s passion for singing.

‘Doesn’t the virus react to songs? Could it be related to the person who controls it?’

The White Dragon Emperor pondered on that.

“...You will?”

“Of course. Now let's go; we still need to find some food~.” Alex wrapped his hand around her shoulder and proceeded to move her.

“...Okay…”

~~~

‘The supermarket doesn't look that different from Kouh in 2008.’ Alex looked around the store. The shelves and aisles looked the same until he noticed the counters; barely any staff was around.

A bunch of self-service machines reminded him of his previous Earth.

Apart from that, there was not that much of a difference.

That was until he noticed the products.

‘Lab-grown stuff.’

His eyes scanned all the stuff available to buy.

“Did you notice? Predominantly lab-grown stuff.” Julis commented as she placed the beef back in the freezer.

“Yeah. I mean, this place is close to 2040, and we are in a post-pandemic place.” He sighed with annoyance.

“I guess we can get some fast food. Or I can return to Kuoh and get some stuff from our fridge.” Alex suggested to her.

“Let's explore first. We only checked a few shelves.” She rolled her eyes at how quickly Alex discarded ‘bad meat’.

“As my Princess commands.”

Sure enough, the pair did find some stuff, but it was a rip-off.

Thankfully, Tsugumi knew what she was doing when she transferred that money.

The other pinkette looked around until she found some strawberries; the girl looked at the box and then at the trolley, back at the box, and then at the trolley.

Seeing that Alex and Julis are discussing something about food again, Inori slipped the strawberries into the shopping trolley before walking away to look for some more stuff.

“Hmm… we should get some fruits,” Alex commented as he saw the strawberries in the trolley.

“I was thinking the same thing. Talking about meat all the time is starting to affect me.” Julis agreed with him.

A few minutes later, as the trio were at the self-serving counter, Alex noticed a certain someone.

[Hahaha, it appears your luck is shit, or it's excellent, or it's just how dragon aura works. But it seems you live close to the original protagonist’s place.]

Albion found it funny that his host was experiencing a similar situation again!

‘Or it's just the app throwing me at the exact location. Or—’

The White Dragon Emperor Host realised that Gai could have placed his group close to the original Mc.

‘For protection? Or is he planning something for him? That guy was just a weird manipulator in the original series.’

[Hmm, it could be. This Gai fella does have a strange ability to see those void thingies, and he was experimented on.]

‘Or he already realised that Inori looks similar to Mana, and the close proximity could awaken her.’

Regardless of what Alex was thinking, Julis shoved bags into his hands.

“Space out later, carry now.”

“Roger.” He snapped out and handed over his new phone to her; she paid with it.

After paying for food and leaving the supermarket, the pinkette finally asked him.

“So what now? You spaced out and looked at some brown-haired teen.” The moment she said that out loud, she realised something.

“...Wait! that was?”

“Yep, I wouldn't be surprised if we are neighbours. I wouldn't mind even betting. Knowing our luck and some minor manipulation, we might live in the same apartment building.”

Now that Alex said that, he recalled some scenes from the anime. His Electrokinesis gives him impressive abilities to do that.

‘Our flats do look similar.’

He snorted when he recalled that.

“...I won't bet.” She rolled her eyes; that was a losing bet!