The heavy silence of the blocky wasteland finally settled over the clearing, thick and unsettling. The monsters were gone, dissolved into shimmering motes of light that lingered like ghost-fire before vanishing into the air. Li Ke stood amidst the fading glow, the only sound the ragged hitch of his own breath. He sheathed his blade with a metallic click, his mind already churning with the implications of the energy he felt radiating from the two strangers. It wasn't just heat or light; it was a deep, rhythmic resonance that thrummed against his own senses, a tether to a world that shouldn't exist here.
The blonde girl in the tattered dress was the first to break the quiet. She took a trembling step forward, her fingers clutching the fine, ruined fabric of her skirt as she fought to maintain her royal composure. Even in this geometric nightmare, surrounded by creatures that defied logic, she tried to stand tall, though her knees threatened to buckle.
"Um... my name is Elsa," she began, her voice small but clear against the whistling wind. "I'm the Queen of Arendelle. Do either of you... do you know the way back there?"
She spoke tentatively, her eyes searching theirs with a frantic, hidden hope. To say her day had been a nightmare would be a gross understatement; she had gone from the quiet halls of her castle to falling through a collapsing sky, only to be hunted by things from a fever dream.
"Arendelle? Never heard of it," Toph replied with a blunt shake of her head, her voice devoid of the princess-like grace Elsa seemed to expect. Li Ke followed suit, his voice grounding and calm.
"I don't know it either. To be honest, I'm an outsider here myself. I don't know much more about this place than you do."
As he spoke, Li Ke's gaze lingered on her. The name Arendelle rang a faint, dusty bell in the back of his mind, unearthed from memories of a world long since left behind. He paused, taking in her platinum-blonde hair and that distinctive, swept-back braid. A sudden, jarring realization hit him like a physical blow.
Frozen?
To be fair, Li Ke hadn't kept up with Disney animations much since growing up—especially after the company started leaning into certain questionable directions, which had effectively killed any lingering goodwill he had for the brand. He hadn't expected to encounter their flagship royalty in a place like this.
Still, he couldn't help but be curious. Wait, her hair isn't just silver or gold?
Most of his exposure to Elsa had been through social media and... well, certain "less-than-wholesome" corners of the internet. In those fan-made works, her hair color was never consistent—pure white, shimmering silver, or pale yellow. Seeing her in person, he realized it was a true, lustrous platinum blonde—actually leaning a bit more toward a warm gold than the icy white he'd seen in drawings.
But more than her looks, he could feel the magic radiating off her in suffocating waves. Even just standing a few feet away, he could sense a reservoir of mana suppressed to the absolute breaking point, like a dam groaning under the weight of an entire ocean. It was impossibly massive, a raw force of nature barely contained within a human frame. Comparing his own mana to hers felt almost insulting. If there were even a remote chance of a favorable comparison, he would have tried to find it for his own ego's sake, but as it stood, they weren't even playing the same game. She wasn't just a mage; she was a walking catastrophe waiting to happen.
"I see..." Elsa's voice rose with urgency. "Then have you seen any signs of civilization? A town? Anything?"
She reflexively reached out to grab Li Ke's hands, but she froze the instant she realized her gloves had been lost in the chaos. She pulled back abruptly, her eyes searching his with desperate hope.
"I'm sorry, but no. I'll give it to you straight: this is definitely another world."
Li Ke shook his head. He had scanned the horizon on his way down the mountain; there wasn't a single chimney, road, or man-made structure in sight.
"Oh... I see..." Elsa's shoulders slumped as she stared at the ground in defeat.
Li Ke watched them, a thought crossing his mind. He knew he could technically send them back to their own worlds, but it would require a massive amount of energy—energy he simply didn't have at the moment. He glanced at the World Power he had just stored; while those 10 points were a fortune that could be converted into a staggering amount of energy, he hadn't processed them yet. For now, his "wallet" was functionally empty.
He looked at the two girls and sighed. Until he could stabilize his own situation and convert that power, his hands were tied.
He turned his attention inward, checking the energy cost required to jump to other worlds.
The moment the numbers appeared, he felt a wave of soul-crushing despair.
Seria Kirmin: 10,000,000 points.
Tsunade: 200,000 points.
Erina Nakiri: 30,000,000 points.
Nico Robin: 1,000 points.
Hermione Granger: 600 points.
D.Va (Song Hana): A staggering 300,000,000 points.
Rin Tohsaka: A "bargain" by comparison, but still a sky-high 37,000,000 points.
2B: Over 5,000,000.
Rias Gremory: A flat-out 1.26 billion—a total heavyweight.
Looking at these figures, a manual world-hop seemed damn near impossible. Especially for someone like Rias; even if he spent every waking second "grinding" for energy until he wore himself down to a nub, he'd never save up enough.
He had seen these costs before, and they never made sense. Back in the 7 Days to Die world, jumping was significantly cheaper. Crossing from Arad to Food Wars had been expensive, which he understood, but this current disparity was incomprehensible.
Arad especially, he thought. I was literally flying toward Arad before the blast. Did the shockwave knock me that far off course, or did I hit a wormhole? Why is the cost so high now?
Li Ke didn't understand it, but he was profoundly shaken. The only "realistic" options were Nico Robin or Hermione. But he barely knew the former, and the latter was tucked away in a magic school—even further out of his reach.
From an efficiency standpoint, the Harry Potter world didn't offer much in terms of "farming" energy. He'd already learned that ordinary people didn't provide much of a payout, and he wasn't about to go that route. In Nico Robin's world, however, there were plenty of powerful women he could target without feeling a shred of moral guilt.
"The collapse of the 7 Days to Die world really screwed me over," Li Ke muttered to himself. He was looking at a massive bill he couldn't pay. Unless he was willing to sacrifice the World Fragment itself, he was effectively stuck here.
Decision made, he spoke up, his voice firm and direct.
"Look, this is going to sound like I'm taking advantage of a bad situation, but I have an ability that can get us out of here. The catch is... it needs to be charged."
Elsa and Toph both snapped their attention to him. Li Ke didn't hesitate; he went straight to the point.
"The way it charges is through... intimate contact with me."
"Excuse me?" Elsa gasped. She instinctively pulled Toph behind her, shielding the younger girl while shooting Li Ke a look of deep suspicion.
"I know it sounds unbelievable, but that's the reality. I don't like beating around the bush. Whether it's your hands or your mouth, it works. Once I've gathered enough energy, I can send you back to your own worlds."
Li Ke paused for a heartbeat before adding, "That said, I'm stuck here too. Getting myself out would require a massive sacrifice I'm not ready to make yet."
Technically, he could leave, but he refused to let the World Fragment be consumed. Even if the odds were slim, he didn't want to watch an entire world simply cease to exist.
Or rather, he had been a direct catalyst in its destruction.
"This—this is…"
Elsa's voice caught in her throat. She was a Queen, but a sheltered and innocent one; despite the formal education she had received, her sensibilities as a young woman made this proposition nearly impossible to swallow.
Even if it was just her hands! Besides, her touch was cursed with magic—he would be frozen into a statue instantly!
"Relax. I fully respect your choices," Li Ke said calmly. "I'll provide you with food, water, necessary supplies, and a place to stay. I'm sure you've already noticed how bizarre this world is. If you need anything, you can find me nearby; I'll be staying in this area for a month."
Having said his piece, Li Ke turned toward a nearby cliffside. Now that the world had accepted him, he should be able to utilize its resources. He wondered if the healing items here would function on his body the same way they did in the 7 Days to Die world. If so, he could return to his grueling, high-speed cultivation immediately.
But just as he moved away, Toph suddenly spoke up.
"Just hands? That's all it takes?"
"Of course. I'm just not sure how much energy you'll actually provide. To be clear, the output is tied to your emotions and intent, not the specific... part of the body used."
Toph nodded thoughtfully at his explanation.
"Sounds reasonable enough. But how do I know you didn't orchestrate this whole mess just to set this up?" she asked, posing the question many had asked him before.
"I can't give you any proof," Li Ke answered with an easy shrug. "Whether you believe me or not is entirely up to you."
That was the simple truth. He had nothing more to say on the matter.
"I see…"
Toph rubbed her chin, then gave Li Ke an answer that genuinely caught him off guard.
"Fine. I'll take your word for it. Come on then—let's see just how much energy the Great Beifong's hands can give you."
With that, Toph stepped forward.
Li Ke: "??"
Elsa: "!!"