—Two Months Later, Cole POV—

Getting things sorted out with the US Government took a bit longer than expected. The people I saved wanted to maintain their independence while the US wanted them to become citizens and follow their laws. After a lot of back and forth negotiations, it was agreed upon that the lands would be designated as a Special Zone within the US. The inhabitants were allowed to maintain their independence in exchange for five-year exclusive purchasing rights to new products they put to market.

 

Once the agreement was finalized, I had to move the refugees into the Special Zone and get people situated. During this time, several groups attempted to cause problems for me thinking I would take pity on their situation. A few cracked skulls was all it took to remind them I wouldn’t tolerate troublemakers. Once things settled down in the Special Zone, I refocused my attention on my primary goal.

 

Calling a family meeting to discuss things, my wives were confused by what was going on.

 

“So…what’s with the family meeting?”, Leona asked out of curiosity.

 

“Now that the situation has stabilized in the Special Zone, it’s time to start tracking down the five deities. Today I intend to start my search, I brought everyone together because I assumed some of you might want to tag along with me.”, I stated.

 

Stating that they were interested, they also voiced their concerns about leaving the children behind. Agreeing with them, I said I wouldn’t take all of them with me every day as it would make moving around stealthily difficult.

 

“All of us don’t need to go at once, you can all take turns on a rotation.”, I suggested, “I think five or six of you at a time is more than enough.”

 

“That’s a good idea.”, Evelyn said with a smile, “Or we could bring the children with us too.”

 

“Let’s not do that till we scope out the worlds first. The last thing I want to do is take them to a world without breathable air or something else like that.”, I told her with a concerned look.

 

Understanding my concerns, she agreed with my decision.

 

“Well things have been slow lately, I am up for excitement!”, Rumi proclaimed.

 

“Yes!”, Evelyn and Luna agreed, “The three of us should be the ones to go with you!”

 

“Four of us should…”, Eve remarked with an angry smile.

 

“How about five?”, Isola giggled, “Four rabbits and a Snow Elf!”

 

Making sure everyone was comfortable with the arrangement, I told them to get ready to go. Squeezing into the gear they used to wear when they accompanied me on our travels, Eve, Evelyn, Isola, and Luna were ecstatic to be on the road again. Examining her armor, Rumi looked at their armor unsure why they were so armored up.

 

“This…this is what you wore?”, she inquired looking at their tight leather armor.

 

“Absolutely, there are a lot of creepy crawlies and dangerous monsters out there.”, Luna stated, “Your skin won’t do shit against poisonous snakes, monsters, and people.”

 

Looking at me, she asked if I had something she could use. Loaning Rumi a set from Luna’s collection, Rumi thanked us as she slipped into it. Once the armor was secure, she gave me a thumbs up and told me she was ready to go. Wishing us the best of luck, everyone told me to contact them if anything went wrong. Assuring them that I would, I opened a portal to the last world the God of Destruction had visited.

 

“Alright, be ready to fight immediately since we don’t know where we will appear.”, I instructed them.

 

“Hold it!”, Gearnia said, “I made some upgrades to your armor, those people from I-Island are good…but Dwarven craftsmanship is second to none!”

 

Presenting me with clothing made of Mythril, she had gone to great lengths to convert the metal to string and then weave it into clothing. Looking over at my wives, the Elven women looked at me with pride as well. Quickly changing into my Mythril clothing, I put my battery bank over top of it and gave them each a big hug.

 

“Thank you for the gift, I promise to do my best not to let it be destroyed.”, I assured them, “Already you five, you ready to go?”

 

Nodding their heads, the six of us stepped through the portal together.

 

—Unknown World, Cole POV—

Stepping out into a dark alleyway, I took a quick look around trying to get a bearing. Hearing the sounds of wagon wheels rolling down cobblestone roads, we followed the sound and wound up on a busy street. Seeing various stalls lining the roadway, Rumi was surprised by everything she was seeing.

 

“Are a lot of worlds like this?”, she asked examining the food and produce stalls, “It looks like a Farmer’s Market.”

 

“Yep, this is pretty standard for our worlds.”, Isola informed her, “What you call a Farmer’s Market is a normal market for us. Everyone does their shopping here…from the poor to the King, though they have servants do it for them. You can find a lot of neat things here, especially if the city is a Trade Hub!”

 

“I see.”, Rumi said remembering that convenience stores and gas stations didn’t exist here.

 

“So you are aware…we may run into slaves here. The past five worlds I have been on had slaves, I am certain this world likely does too.”, I told her.

 

Asking me why there were slaves, Luna told her that countries used them as replaceable laborers. For the most part, a person became a slave for not paying taxes, breaking the law, or being framed by someone else. Several of my wives were former slaves, and they knew just how terrible things were for an enslaved person. Having not been told that about them, Rumi panicked thinking she touched on a sore topic.

 

“I…I am sorry, I didn’t know.”, Rumi apologized.

 

“It’s okay, it’s not like we told you our complete history.”, Isola stated with a smile, “Cole was the one who bought us, nursed us back to health, and gave us a warm, loving home…it’s more than any of us thought we’d ever get to have.”

 

Giving her a kiss on the lips, I suggested we start moving before people started staring at us. Wanting to figure out if I knew the world we were on, standing in the market wasn’t going to get me anywhere. Walking down the street together, we avoided the dozens of wagons running up and down the roadway. Taking in the sights as we walked around, we ended up in a massive market square. Seeing people rushing around to grab their daily groceries, it felt like we were back home for a bit.

 

“All we are missing is the carnival foods…”, Evelyn giggled trying to stop herself from drooling.

 

“Seriously…all you ever think about is food. I have no idea how you were made a Warrior Rabbit Chief.”, Luna sighed.

 

“I wanted the best food, so I fought for it and kicked their ass.”, Evelyn stated with a smirk.

 

Shaking my head at her, I walked over to a nearby job board to review the postings for clues. Not seeing anything that could help me identify the world, an older man walked over to us. He was a short, plump man that was dressed in a purple tuxedo which was pretty odd given what everyone else was wearing.

 

“Ahem, I presume you are the owner of these fine women?”, he asked me.

 

“Haha…they are my family, thank you for asking.”, I said having heard this insult dozens of times prior.

 

“Ah, I see you are a man of culture and taste! Could I maybe take a moment of your time to show you the slaves I have for sale?”, he inquired, “Surely a man like you can afford it…not many people can afford such quality Dwarven Equipment.”

 

Deciding to take the opportunity to gather information, I said I had time to browse for a short while. Following along behind me, we walked into a massive tent on the corner of the square. Seeing hundreds of people in cages as we walked in, Rumi was visibly shaken by what she saw. There were men, women, and children of all ages and races chained up like animals waiting for a buyer.

 

“So what are you looking for today? If you are looking for more Elves or Rabbitwomen, I can certainly show you some-”, he started to say before I cut him off.

 

“Do you have any mounts for sale by chance? It would make our travels much easier if we had a mount or two for pulling a wagon.”, I said knowing most slavers also sold animals on the side.

 

“Of course, I just got a new box of Filolial eggs this morning! Two of them would be more than enough to pull a wagon for your party.”, he assured me with a toothy smile.

 

Instantly recognizing that word, I knew what world we were in now. Having a rough idea about the deities that oversaw this world, it was clear why those bastards would hide out here for a while.

 

“I agree with you there, not only that they also like pulling wagons too so that works out great.”, I chuckled, “We will take two of them.”

 

Letting me pick the eggs out, I randomly selected two of them from the box. Paying him for them with silver coins, he examined them closely when I sat them on the counter. Having never seen that style of a coin before, he made sure the coins were really silver before accepting them. Asking if he could recommend a good place to commission a wagon’s construction, he gave us directions to a craftsman that could help us out. Leaving his tent after that, I motioned for our group to step to the side for a minute.

 

“I know where we are now, those bastards really picked a doozy here. This world is the Shield Hero’s world…”, I informed them as I gave them what information I knew for certain.

 

Listening carefully to what I was telling them, they felt bad for the people of this world. They lived in constant fear of a Wave appearing, and most people couldn’t fight the monsters that spawned during the event. The military fared not much better either, it was up to the four Legendary Heroes and the Vassal Heroes to defend the people…and unfortunately, the only competent Legendary Hero was the Shield Hero.

 

When I finished telling them everything, Rumi asked why the Gods we met weren’t resolving the problems. Telling her I had no idea, I said it was likely because they didn’t know.

 

“Based on everything that has happened to you and our worlds…they are absolutely useless.”, Rumi stated.

 

“Completely agreed with you there.”, I admitted holding back my laughter, “Anyways, we now know what world we are in which is a big help. The first step we need to do is gather intelligence on this world, my knowledge is pretty limited outside of major events.”

 

Suggesting we check out the Church of the Three Heroes for clues, they told me to lead the way since I knew more than them. As we walked through the streets, Rumi popped a question that I knew was eventually going to come.

 

“So how do you know this world if you haven’t been here before?”, she inquired, “Does your Demigod status give you insight or something?”

 

“To be honest, I watched a television show about this world in my original world.”, I admitted as I didn’t want to lie to them, “It’s a pretty popular series that I know pretty well, let’s just hope things play out the same way it did in the series. If it doesn’t much of my information is useless to us.”

 

“Ah, I see.”, Rumi acknowledged, “You don’t talk about that world at all, did something happen there?”

 

“I…I don’t want to talk about that world, it’s a distant memory now.”, I said quickly changing the subject, “How about we grab some food?”

 

Grabbing some food at one of the stalls, we eventually arrived at the Church which was very extravagantly decorated for a religious building. Dropping a few coins in the offering bucket at the front door, they let us in though they stared daggers at my wives. Had they laid a finger on them, I would have painted the church red with their blood.

 

“What’s the deal with them?”, Isola stated feeling their gazes.

 

“The Church has a strong hatred towards nonhumans.”, I told her as we headed for the library, “Alright, we are looking for anything regarding a Dragon God.”

 

Nodding their heads, we split up and began browsing the large library for information.