Inside the clinic…

Bai Lan lay on the hospital bed, his complexion pale from blood loss. His wounds had been hastily stitched by Mori Ogai, and his abdomen and shoulder were wrapped in bandages, resembling the third bandaged monster in the clinic. Mori Ogai spoke gently to the injured man, “You haven’t injured any organs or bones. With your age, you’ll recover after a while of rest. Take it easy over the next few days and be careful not to strain your wounds.”

Bai Lan, despondent, replied, “Thank you, Mr. Mori. I will pay for the medical fees.”

“No need for medical fees,” Mori Ogai smiled at him and left with his medicine box, a devil himself within the devil’s lair.

Therefore, Bai Lan never intended to ask him for help in the first place, fearing to offend Dazai. If Mori Ogai casually intervened, Bai Lan would be in serious trouble.

Outside the ward, Dazai stopped Mori Ogai. “Mori, please do me a favor.”

Mori Ogai reluctantly responded, “I’ve already helped enough by not holding you accountable for your recklessness.”

Dazai placed Hyakki’s hand in Mori’s care and entered the ward himself.

“Please take care of him for me.”

Mori Ogai was speechless. Normally, he wouldn’t allow anyone near Hyakki, but now he was unexpectedly generous.

Hyakki glanced at his father-in-law and gave a nod before trying to follow Dororo. Mori Ogai dutifully pulled him back to conduct another round of examinations.

“Hyakki, let me check your spine and your newly grown right leg.”

“???”

Hyakki, looking bewildered, was gently maneuvered onto the equipment and obediently lay down to accept his father-in-law’s goodwill.

Seated before the equipment screen, Mori Ogai pulled out a notebook and pen to record Hyakki’s growth data. Alice approached with a dessert tray and glanced at the screen. “Rintaro, Hyakki is still growing taller.”

Mori Ogai remarked, “These are normal growth metrics. Dazai, on the other hand, is a bit shorter.”

Alice blinked her blue eyes. “I found milk in the clinic. Dazai must have requested it.”

Supporting his chin with a steel pen, Mori Ogai teased, “Indeed.”

After all, they were “daughter” and “son-in-law.”

”

Alice caught his drift immediately and retorted, “It’s son and daughter-in-law! As long as Dazai isn’t picky, Hyakki will definitely grow taller. I can’t imagine him not being able to handle Hyakki…”

Mori made a hushing sound.

Alice quietly checked on the ward and said, “When will he understand?”

Mori Ogai organized his papers. “I’ve shown him my discs and messed up the video tapes. He’s young, immature physically, and unawakened.”

Mori Ogai, whose mind was somewhat corrupt in certain aspects, glanced at Hyakki in the equipment.

Dazai, take care of your own puppet. You might regret it if others touch him.

Less than ten minutes later, Dazai left the ward.

He pulled Hyakki out of the machine, Mori Ogai, asked him, “So fast?”

Dazai was completely unconcerned: “That guy won’t hold out for long.”

Mori Ogai was surprised. “After all, he’s a member of the Italian mafia.”

Dazai, proficiently adjusting Hyakki’s clothes and bandages, replied, “It doesn’t matter if he’s Italian or not. He fears death, and to avoid it, he has to agree with me.”

Mori Ogai nodded. “What did he mean earlier about having a hundred or a thousand selves?”

He was told about the entire time when Bai Lan was being hunted

Dazai froze for a moment.

“Mori…”

“Do you believe in the existence of parallel dimensions?”

Beyond this world, there are countless parallel dimensions, with only a few lucky individuals able to glimpse the worlds around them. Bai Lan awakened the ability to interfere with parallel dimensions.

Dazai didn’t elaborate further with Mori Ogai, leaving him with a suspenseful thought.

Mori fell into deep thought.

Parallel dimensions? Is it an illusion brought by supernatural abilities, or can they really be observed?

If one could observe parallel dimensions… the power demonstrated by Bai Lan, who came from Italy, seemed vastly inadequate, completely mismatched with such incredibly potent abilities.

After reviewing the ward’s surveillance footage, Mori Ogai dispelled half of his suspicions about the pitiful Bai Lan.

“He’s so weak… doesn’t seem like someone who can observe parallel dimensions.”

Lost in thought, Mori Ogai’s attention was diverted by other images in the surveillance footage. Yes, Natsume would probably appreciate them. He hurriedly recorded them to prevent Dazai from finding an opportunity to delete them.

Inside the ward, the dramatic fifteen-year-old Bai Lan continued to play dead.

He wasn’t weak!

He just didn’t want to cause trouble. Not every marshmallow enthusiast harbors ambitions of world domination!

He pondered an idea: “How to lure my counterparts from other worlds over. “

Not every version of Bai Lan across different worlds awakened the power of parallel dimensions. Those who didn’t awaken became pawns for other awakened individuals, bodies freely used, memories easily occupied. Their worlds were among the first destroyed by the Bai Lan.

Eight trillion parallel timelines are constantly being born and destroyed, but the rate of birth cannot keep up with the destruction caused by the competition between Bai Lans. Now, only about one-tenth remains.

The luckiest thing for the Bairan youth in this world is that he awakened last year, timely preventing other Bairans from taking over.

He narrowly escaped becoming someone else’s plaything.

This incident left him with a deep psychological shadow, reducing his interest in mischief. He tends to be scared easily, especially since the Bai Lans from neighboring worlds are extremely brutal.

Turning himself into a ghost.

Killing himself and collecting the flame of death, observing what his body looks like.

Betraying himself…

Setting traps for himself…

Bai Lan feels that becoming like this is entirely their doing!

— Successfully shifting the blame √.

Neither Dazai nor Hyakki gave Bai Lan time to recuperate. After Mori left for work, they let Bai Lan push his own wheelchair out for a conversation.

In a safe zone where they wouldn’t be monitored, Bai Lan covered his stomach and said, “The wheelchair can’t be used.”

Dazai replied, “I’ve checked; there’s no listening device on it.”

Bai Lan shook his head and struggled to stand up.