Eriri watched Ariel with great interest, eager to hear what kind of answer she would give.
After hearing Eriri's words, Ariel immediately fell into deep thought, unable to decide right away.
It wasn't until quite a while later that she slowly spoke:
"As long as you provide us with the Magic Perpetual Motion Machine, Villiers will become your subordinate force. What do you think?"
Ariel looked at Eriri seriously. This was a decision made after careful consideration.
She was very clear about the value of the Magic Perpetual Motion Machine. To offer something of equal worth was nearly impossible.
The only compensation she could think of was Villiers itself.
Moreover, in her view, having Villiers depend on a powerful person like Eriri wasn't necessarily a bad thing. At the very least, it would give Villiers an extra layer of protection.
Unfortunately, what she thought was a win-win proposal was flatly rejected by Eriri.
"I don't think so. Villiers is of no use to me at all."
"This doesn't work either? But this is the only idea I could come up with."
Ariel spread her hands helplessly.
"In that case, I have no better ideas. I think it's better to leave the decision up to you. What kind of price do you think we should pay in exchange for this Magic Perpetual Motion Machine?"
"As long as it's within our power, we'll do our best to satisfy your request."
"Forget it. I doubt you can offer anything that would satisfy me. I'll just give you this Magic Perpetual Motion Machine directly. Consider it compensation for Lilia—after all, she was once the queen of your world~"
With that, Eriri manipulated the Magic Perpetual Motion Machine above her palm, sending it flying toward Ariel.
Looking at the cube floating before her, Ariel let out a long breath of relief, then grasped it tightly with overwhelming joy.
"Exchanging Lilia for this Magic Perpetual Motion Machine… this is such a huge gain!"
Ariel mercilessly sold Lilia. She had never thought of reclaiming Lilia from Eriri, so in her eyes, obtaining the Magic Perpetual Motion Machine was no different from getting it for free.
However, their exchange stirred Lilia's discontent.
"Um… can… can I object to this?" Lilia timidly raised her hand.
"What do you think?"
Three voices overlapped as Eriri, Ariel, and Chris all fixed their gazes on Lilia.
The oppressive force of their stares made Lilia instinctively step back a few paces. Her head dropped again, and an apology slipped out immediately.
"I-I'm sorry! I got carried away!"
After apologizing, Lilia couldn't resist stealing a glance at Eriri, only to quickly lower her head again.
A few seconds later, she peeked again, then lowered her head once more, repeating the little action several times.
Because Eriri had turned her head toward her, this was Lilia's first time truly seeing Eriri's real face.
When she saw that the girl who had captured her was so cute and beautiful, she realized, to her own surprise, that much of her resistance toward Eriri had melted away.
To Eriri, Lilia's little actions were unbearably adorable. She couldn't resist the urge to scoop her up and tease her again.
Regardless of Lilia's personality and character, at the very least Eriri found her quite likable. Otherwise, instead of keeping her alive, she might have simply killed her for Chris' sake.
Eriri was never one to suppress her desires. Once she wanted to do something, she always acted on it.
And so, she spread her arms. In the next instant, the several meters separating her and Lilia vanished, and Lilia appeared directly in her embrace, face-to-face, tightly held.
"You little thing, you're just too cute. If you want to look at me, then look openly—there's no need to sneak glances like that~"
Eriri lifted Lilia off the ground in her arms, so that they were face-to-face, their cheeks separated by less than ten centimeters.
Eriri's sudden action caught Lilia completely off guard. Before she could even cry out, she found herself face-to-face with Eriri's breathtakingly beautiful face, so close that her breath hitched instantly.
On top of that, Eriri's sweet breath brushed against her cheek as she spoke, and Lilia's little face flushed scarlet in an instant, her head spinning as if dazed.
Rubbing the tip of her nose lightly against Lilia's, making her even dizzier, Eriri then turned her gaze back to Ariel.
"I have another method that can solve your population crisis. Do you want to hear it?"
At Eriri's words, Ariel's eyes lit up again. She quickly nodded.
"I'm all ears."
"I previously opened up a new world. It's extremely suitable for human habitation. Compared to the world you live in now, it's practically a paradise."
"Currently, that world has only a few thousand residents. So, I can allow Villiers to immigrate there in large numbers."
Eriri directly mentioned the Martial Arts Tournament World. She had already planned to immigrate groups of girls from various worlds, and Villiers was the perfect opportunity to gather residents!
Although the livable area of that world wasn't very large for now—just a city spanning 100,000 square kilometers, surrounded by endless ocean—once the city's population grew, Eriri would naturally expand its size.
So even if billions immigrated at once, she had no concerns.
"Opened up a world?"
Ariel stared at Eriri in shock.
She didn't even focus on immigration—her attention was entirely on the phrase opened up a world. Chris was the same.
They both knew Eriri was powerful, but they had never imagined this powerful. Opening up a world was something utterly beyond their comprehension.
If they had that ability, there would be no need to worry about overpopulation or resources at all.
"Look at the two of you. Is it really that shocking? It's just opening up a world. Hardly a big deal. For me, it's no more difficult than eating or drinking."
Eriri spoke casually, dismissing the feat of world creation as though it were trivial, showing not a hint of modesty.
Her words left Ariel and Chris speechless.
They wanted to treat Eriri's claim as exaggeration, but seeing her utterly confident expression—and Kyoko and the others treating it as the most natural thing in the world—they had no choice but to believe she was telling the truth.
Only now did they realize that Eriri's true power was far, far beyond what they had imagined.
"Alright, enough of such minor things. Let's get back to the immigration issue."
At Eriri's words, Ariel finally shifted her focus back to population.
"If immigration is possible, that would be ideal. Even without the resource crisis, the continuously increasing population is still a problem."
Ariel agreed immediately. For Villiers, immigration was all benefit and no harm, so she naturally welcomed it.
"Good. As long as you agree."
Eriri nodded, but her expression soon grew more serious.
"There is one thing I need to make clear in advance."
"What should we pay attention to?"
"In the world I created, only women exist, and only female immigrants will be accepted. Anyone who wants to immigrate needs to be mentally prepared for that."
"And I won't accept just anyone. To qualify for immigration, several conditions must be met."
"First, they must be attractive enough."
"Second, their outward appearance must be under thirty years old. Actual age doesn't matter, since once they immigrate, they'll gain a long lifespan and eternal youth."
"Third, immigrants must not have male spouses. Coming with a female spouse, however, is perfectly fine."
"And finally, immigrants cannot be people of malicious intent. I absolutely don't want my world turning into a chaotic mess."
"These four conditions are all. As long as they're met, no matter how many people Villiers wants to send, I'll accept them all."
After hearing the list of conditions, Ariel's expression didn't change. It seemed all of them were within her acceptable range.
"Oh my, your requirements are rather strict."
Ariel smiled and continued:
"But it's not really a problem. In our world, we may lack many things, but people are not one of them. Just among teenagers, we have tens of billions. And since most Magiclad Girls are very cute, meeting these four conditions won't be difficult."
She paused briefly, then added:
"However, that fourth condition might be hard for us to judge. It's impossible to know everyone's true nature."
"You don't need to worry about that. I only listed the criteria for eligibility. Whether they can actually enter my world will depend on proof."
"What do you mean?"
"I'll create a massive World Gate between Villiers and the world I opened. Only those who meet the four conditions will be able to pass through the gate and enter my world."
"That World Gate will remain there permanently. All you'll need to do is announce the immigration plan, and those who wish to immigrate can try to pass through themselves."
"No one can escape the World Gate's judgment~"
Eriri looked at Ariel with full confidence. Just as she had once personally chosen which mermaids could immigrate in the One Piece world, she would grant the gate the same discerning ability.
"I see. That makes things much easier. I completely agree."
Ariel clapped her hands in delight, fully approving of Eriri's proposal.
Then she asked:
"By the way, if someone passes through the World Gate into your world, can they return to Villiers afterward?"
"Of course. The two worlds will remain connected. But if, after returning to Villiers, if they violate any of the four conditions, they'll lose their eligibility to immigrate."
"I understand. In that case, I have no further questions. We can implement the immigration plan anytime."
"In that case, let's begin right now."
"I have no objections."
Once everything was settled, Eriri decided not to delay. After telling Kyoko and the others, she released the still-dazed Lilia, then took Ariel's hand and returned with her to Villiers.
This time, she didn't bring Eu and the others along. After all, she was only going to establish a World Gate, which wouldn't take long.
She could have opened the gate between Villiers and the Martial Arts Tournament World directly from Earth. But for the sake of ceremony, she felt it necessary to go there in person.
Just like every time she created World Gates linking other worlds to the Saekano world, she always went herself and found a proper base first.
In truth, all of these steps could have been skipped.
...
Meanwhile, less than ten minutes had passed since Eriri and the others had left Villiers. The students and teachers of Martlez Academy were still gathered at the site of Chris and Ariel's battle, showing no signs of dispersing.
So when Eriri returned with Ariel, the commotion was enormous.
"Great Teacher, what just happened? Where did Her Majesty the Queen go?"
"Great Teacher, who was the person you just fought?"
"Great Teacher, I think I saw Kyoko just now. Where is she now?"
"Who is this? She's so beautiful!"
Countless students rushed up to Ariel and Eriri, firing off questions one after another.
Some asked about the previous battle, some about Lilia, some about Chris, some about Kyoko…
But most of all, their curiosity centered on Eriri. Her beauty left everyone present completely stunned.
The flood of questions made the scene overwhelmingly noisy.
"Everyone, quiet down!" Ariel raised her voice to address the crowd.
At her command, the students quickly fell silent, and the place grew calm.
But even in silence, every pair of eyes turned toward Eriri, full of astonishment.
Many students with yuri inclinations gazed at her with open infatuation.
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