Great, we're doomed now!

The instrument's pointer spun wildly, and no matter how he adjusted it, he couldn't stop it, just like a compass at an extreme point.

"What's going on? The coordinates are all messed up... No, they're not messed up, they haven't changed at all!"

He suddenly realized, and his face turned somewhat grim: "This is not reality, it's an alternate dimension that has been carved out independently!"

Realizing this, he calmed down a bit, at least he understood the root of the problem.

He cleared his throat and shouted loudly into the boundless darkness around him: "Hey! Owner of this place~ I know you're here. What kind of skill is it to trap me here? If you have the guts, come out and talk. I'm a businessman, there's no need to treat me like this."

In the darkness, only his own echo drifted by.

A few seconds later, a slightly ethereal voice, whose source was indistinguishable, rang directly in his mind, carrying a hint of mockery and a touch of mischief:

"You are not welcome here, visitor from the universe. Give up."

Obik did not show himself; he only dared to communicate with Chariga in this way.

After all, he was now a worldly monster who had seen the world, and having experienced the battles of Mount Sukumana and Brazil, he deeply understood his own place in the world:

Country monsters.

Born and raised in the deep mountains and forests, he was no match for those guys who were always associated with myths, ancient people, or alien invaders in terms of brute force.

Although Chariga didn't seem like a particularly powerful monster, Obik wasn't willing to gamble—who would he complain to if he got beaten up?

His magical pot is actually a spatial artifact. Its interior is connected to an ancient well in his hometown, together forming a tunnel that allows him to travel between different dimensions. He was able to instantly travel from Japan to Brazil using this.

His clone (the Shadow Mage) also resides in this alternate dimension, or rather, his existence is the alternate dimension itself.

In a sense, the darkness that Charika is in is actually inside Obik's body!

Now Obik has the upper hand and an absolute home-field advantage. As long as he is unwilling to release his men, even if Charika's magical skills are higher, it is unlikely that he can escape from here.

"Then don't blame me!"

Seeing this, Charika stretched out his walking stick and poked it repeatedly into the void, releasing blue light bullets that exploded in the darkness. Obik immediately let out a painful groan.

But the great demon was not to be outdone, spewing out bursts of scorching flames from the inky darkness, forcing Charika to retreat repeatedly, even burning half of his mustache.

"That damned guy!"

Charika was furious: "I don't understand, why are you arresting me? I haven't done anything to this planet yet, I'm just here to find the monster!"

"And then what happens after we find the monster?"

"Of course, give it freedom and let it wreak havoc!"

Charika spoke in a matter-of-fact tone, his righteous manner almost making Obik think he was talking about some righteous cause.

"We, Monster Merchants, are a loving and passionate non-profit organization that sends the most ferocious and powerful monsters in the universe to various planets so that they can live freely."

Our philosophy is to reintegrate monsters into society and make them part of the community.

Charika stretched out his walking stick: "You natives are too selfish! Monsters are so cute, how can you imprison them? You should learn to coexist with them!"

Obik: "Huh?"

The native Earth monsters simply couldn't comprehend the thought process of the cosmic demons, and were left utterly bewildered.

He racked his brains and vaguely remembered that Ye Shou had also said that if there was a chance, he should try to get some information out of him, so he tentatively asked, "You said you are a businessman... so who do you plan to sell the monster to?"

"Who will we sell to? Hmph, you underestimate us. We are volunteers providing unpaid services. We buy monsters, raise monsters, and release monsters without any compensation. As long as we can see the universe filled with monsters, we feel that all our efforts are worthwhile."

Charika stretched out her arms as if embracing something: "Imagine what a wonderful world that would be~"

Isn't that insane?

Obik was even more speechless.

After a moment, the great demon asked again, "You really don't ask for anything in return? You must be after something, right?"

"Hmm?" Charika stroked his chin. "If I had to say, it's true... in the end, we exist to please that person, and our purpose is to receive that person's praise."

"That sir?" Obik raised an eyebrow. "Who is it, acting so arrogantly?"

"Hmph! You don't understand, the plan to destroy the light was devised by [that person]!"

This universe will eventually be swallowed by eternal darkness, turning into a paradise of monsters and us, and the planet you live on will sooner or later become ruins.

"..."

"I don't see you as a warrior who believes in light; you're a creature of darkness by nature. Why are you getting in my way?"

"You're still trying to fool me!"

Obik was about to remove the wooden plank covering the well opening to spit in when he suddenly remembered that there was a pot across the way, which was too unhygienic for the noodle stall customers, so he reluctantly put it away again.

"I've already talked to that kid and he promises he won't damage nature, and he loves the Earth."

"I can talk, and I can love the Earth!"

"Who are you? He's the landlord here. Can you really get someone to restore the environment to its original state?"

"That's petty. I have a better idea: release Yanagaki and destroy all human civilization on this planet!"

Chariga countered, "Without humans, wouldn't it be easier for you, as a monster, to move around?"

Obik, who was standing outside the well, listened silently and looked up at the giant black umbrella that was covering him—a prop specially made for him.

Because he is afraid of light, he usually sleeps in dense forests and caves during the day and only wakes up at night to move around. Only this kind of prop can make him come out during the day.

Indeed, Obik dislikes the sun and anything that emits strong light; even camera flashes make him uncomfortable. Humans, on the other hand, love to create light wherever they are.

He would probably be better off without humans.

“You don’t need to waste your breath. I’m different from you.” Obik chuckled. “Humans have annoying sides, but they also have likable sides.”

Moreover, what if the monsters released like to bully him?

Compared to humans, whom he knew inside and out, Obik didn't believe this alien at all!

"How stubborn you are, sir!"

Charika's eyes darted around, and a comical yet sly smile returned to his face: "Hehe, I, Charika, won't give up so easily. Don't think this thing can really trap me."

As he spoke, he gently twirled the walking stick in his hand.

With a soft click, the tip of the walking stick snapped open, quickly deforming and extending into an old-fashioned black long-handled umbrella with a curved handle.

He held the umbrella above his head and opened it with a "whoosh".

"It seems the master is rather impolite and has no intention of doing business. I need to hurry and find Yanagaki, so I won't keep you company any longer!"

Charika shouted triumphantly into the darkness, his tone full of sarcasm: "Goodbye, you cowardly hideer! You're 20,000 years too early to try and trap me, Lord Charika, with such petty tricks!"

Before he finished speaking, his figure holding the umbrella began to blur and become transparent. The umbrella spun around and erased his figure from top to bottom, like ink dripping into water, slowly dissipating into the darkness.

In the end, only one umbrella fell down, and the alternate dimension returned to absolute silence and darkness, as if no one had ever entered.

Obik could naturally sense what was happening in the dark space, and indeed he couldn't find Charika's presence anymore, which made him feel a pang of anxiety.

But before going in to check carefully, Ye Shou's instructions flashed through his mind, so he patiently stayed where he was, thinking about how to explain the situation to Ye Shou.

This is troublesome. What if we let such a slippery guy run around outside and accidentally create a monster or two?

...Am I going to get beaten up again?

No, no, that won't do!

Helping out of kindness and loyalty is fine, but there's a limit. I admit that kid is a good person, but this...

Fortunately, Obik didn't need to think about that much, because soon the black umbrella began to stir restlessly—

boom!

A puff of white smoke dissipated, and Charika jumped out, shouting angrily at the void, "Damn it! Aren't you afraid I'll run away? Come on in and take a look!"

"Aha!"

Obik was immediately overjoyed, but upon hearing this, he showed a disdainful expression.

"You country bumpkin, you must have never read 'Journey to the West' before. I followed the serialization on Ming Dynasty merchants' website!"

Such petty tricks might fool only Gold and Silver, how could they possibly fool me, Obik!

"?"

A question mark appeared above Charika's head, but since things had come to this point, he had no intention of continuing to argue with Obik.

"You're something else... I didn't really want to use this."

The demon took off his hat, revealing his bald head. He reached his hand into the hat, and when it came out, there was a flip phone.

"Humph……"

"What...what are you doing?"

"Time travel in another dimension is extremely dangerous, because no one knows what kind of accident might happen, but you have left me with no other choice but to take the risk."

"Time travel? What did you say?"

"Sigh, boxes are still more convenient. Cell phones have too little power... They can't move to a point in time when it didn't exist... At most, forty or fifty years?"

As Charika calmly entered the number, she said, "The reason I can't leave now is because you've consciously sealed me away. But if I could travel to the past, before you even know who I am, could you still stop me?"

What is this guy saying? — Obik was dumbfounded.

But he wasn't stupid either. Whatever Charika wanted to do, he couldn't let him succeed!

call!call!call!

Pillars of fire blew in from the darkness, but the cosmic demon was prepared and opened his black umbrella to block all the flames!

—His magic and superpowers are stronger than Obik's. If he hadn't fallen into the trap, he wouldn't have ended up in such a passive position.

"Oh, and I should also thank you."

Charika pulled a colorful brochure from his pocket, which featured stills from Tsuburaya Productions' productions. It was an early souvenir he had taken from the exhibition hall.

"Although this is a trap, the Yanagaki on this flyer means that this person named Eiji Tsuburaya must have seen my cute little monster, otherwise it would not be so realistic."

"Then all I need to do is go back to the past!"

beep!

beep!

beep!