Chapter 86: Stewie's Touch of Humanity
Since Stewie had explained it that way, Chris had no further doubts.
Anyway, as long as he killed the Wendigo, there was no question he could return home.
The only problem now was that Chris had absolutely no idea where the Wendigo was located, so naturally he couldn't hunt it down.
When Chris told Stewie about this predicament, the infant genius retrieved a map of the United States and said, "Tell me the locations of all the cannibals you've killed during this time."
"Are you trying to triangulate the Wendigo's whereabouts? Will that actually work?"
Although Chris felt skeptical about the approach, he still provided accurate information.
He and Ruby had traveled across most of America over the past six months, clearing out over a hundred cannibal nests.
Thousands of cannibals had died at Chris's hands, but without exception, only two-thirds of their life essence had been absorbed by him.
So even if that Wendigo hadn't been blocking Chris's return, Chris would still tear the entity to pieces on principle.
After all, thousands of gray essences—each missing one-third of their value—accumulated to a quantity that could make Chris more than twenty percent stronger.
In fact, the reason Chris and Ruby had returned to Texas was precisely because Chris had discovered that the farther they traveled from Texas, the rarer cannibals became.
He'd thus deduced that the Wendigo was somewhere in the Texas region.
However, he'd tried calculating its location using geographic analysis before, but after investigating those areas, he hadn't found any suspicious targets.
It was precisely because of this previous failure that Chris felt skeptical about Stewie trying to locate the Wendigo using similar methods.
However, considering the significant intelligence gap between them, Chris didn't voice his doubts directly. Instead, he carefully and accurately reported all the locations where he'd eliminated cannibals.
After Chris had covered the map with markers, he expected Stewie to begin complex calculations. Instead, the child began what looked like a ritualistic dance.
As Stewie stepped onto the map and began chanting while performing strange movements, Chris felt a cold, otherworldly energy emerge from nowhere.
Guided by this energy, Stewie gradually ceased dancing, then lifted his foot and stomped hard on a specific location before suddenly opening his eyes and declaring, "That bastard is right here!"
Chris looked closely and saw that the location Stewie was indicating was the border region between Texas and Arkansas.
Although the general location of the Wendigo had been determined, Chris was more curious about what method Stewie had actually employed.
"What the hell were you just doing? Was that some kind of shamanic ritual to communicate with nature spirits?"
Stewie wiped sweat from his oversized forehead, looked at Chris, and grinned, "Oh, no. I was just waiting for the computer to process the calculations. I got bored, so I did an impromptu dance routine. Pretty good, right?"
"But I definitely felt a sinister supernatural presence just now!" Chris insisted.
"Oh, you mean that." Stewie extended his wrist, tapped the bracelet twice, and then Chris felt that eerie energy signature reappear.
"This is an energy detector. It can emit detection waves with a radiation range covering hundreds of thousands of square miles. Thanks to this device, I was able to pinpoint the Wendigo's location."
Realizing the reality was completely different from what he'd imagined, Chris didn't know how to respond for a moment and could only stand there feeling somewhat foolish.
Fortunately, Ruby entered the room at that moment. She glanced at the awkward atmosphere as if she hadn't noticed anything unusual, and went directly to Stewie's side.
"Come try these on. I bought a few different sizes since I wasn't sure which would fit you best."
Stewie happily let Ruby dress him in the new clothes, chuckling, "Wow, you're really thoughtful!"
Because of Stewie's unexpected visit, Chris and Ruby had to call a truce for the night, and the two of them got a rare night of actual sleep.
Early the next morning, when Stewie woke up, he discovered the truck was already heading toward the Arkansas border region.
"Want some?"
Looking at the bottle cap of dragon blood serum Chris offered him, Stewie accepted it, took a sip, and immediately became energized.
"Are you really in such a hurry to get back home? How do you plan to deal with Ruby's situation? Are you just going to abandon her in this world?"
For this woman who'd taken special care of him, Stewie uncharacteristically felt sympathy and spoke up on her behalf.
Ruby, who overheard Stewie advocating for her, felt her eyes briefly water. She knew Chris wasn't originally from this world, and she understood that he would eventually return to his own reality.
So Ruby had deliberately avoided confronting this question, and she'd never seriously considered that she might be able to leave with Chris.
However, through yesterday's events with Stewie, Ruby had been forced to consider how she would live after Chris departed.
In truth, with Ruby's enhanced abilities and the knowledge Chris had taught her, even after Chris left, she could live quite comfortably.
With her superhuman physique, she could easily become a member of high society—perhaps as an athlete, bodyguard, or private security consultant.
However, material conditions could be easily satisfied, but emotional emptiness wouldn't be so simple to fill.
So at this moment, when Stewie brought up this topic, although Ruby was focused on driving, she still listened intently, wanting to hear Chris's thoughts.
"Weren't you the one rushing me to go back?" Chris looked at Stewie with surprise, not understanding this sudden reversal.
"Ah, oh! Was I?" Stewie thought back and realized it was indeed he who couldn't stand that frozen, silent world, which was why he'd been so urgent about finding Chris.
But admitting fault wasn't in Stewie's nature. He said stubbornly, "Don't deflect with all this nonsense. Just tell me how you plan to handle Ruby's situation. Are you seriously just going to leave her to fend for herself in this world?"
Chris looked at Stewie acting like a petulant child and knew he couldn't win this argument.
Then Chris glanced at Ruby, recognizing that she was also deeply concerned about this issue.
"You're so brilliant—can't you build some device to help bring Ruby back with us? Instead, you're putting me on the spot. What are you really trying to accomplish here?"
Chris had mixed feelings about Ruby. He'd originally taken her on as an assistant and follower, but after she'd consumed the dragon blood serum, her mutations had been reversed and she'd turned out quite attractive, so he'd escalated their relationship.
He'd originally planned to arrange a comfortable new identity for her before returning home, then simply depart.
But Stewie apparently felt some kinship with Ruby and had deliberately set this trap for Chris.
So Chris threw the problem back at Stewie to see how the kid wanted to handle it.
After all, Chris hadn't fully figured out his own transmigration mechanism. He didn't even understand how he traveled between universes, let alone how to bring others along.
Seeing Chris deflect the problem back to him, Stewie was momentarily speechless. After thinking for a moment, he admitted, "The technological level of this universe is too primitive. There aren't adequate instruments available for me to construct equipment capable of dimensional transport."
Hearing this, Ruby's eyes dimmed with disappointment. She forced herself to sound casual: "This is my home anyway. I don't really want to leave."
The two brothers heard Ruby's words but didn't respond immediately.
After all, the insincerity in her tone was overwhelming—there was no way they couldn't perceive it.
The problem had been created by him, so naturally he had to solve it. Stewie considered for a moment, then said, "Although I can't transport her between dimensions, I can lock this temporal node. When you return to this universe in the future, you can enter directly at the moment immediately after we depart.
This way, from Ruby's perspective and timeline, it will be as if you only left for a single instant. You won't miss any part of her life at all."
"That's actually brilliant!" Chris nodded approvingly of Stewie's solution.
And Ruby, hearing this proposal, felt her eyes fill with joy and relief. It felt wonderful knowing she wouldn't have to leave her boss after all.
[+500 Power Stones = +2 Extra Chapter]
[+10 Reviews = +1 Extra Chapter]
If you enjoyed this chapter, leave a Review!
P*atreon/Soulforger (40+ advanced chapters)
Buy me coffee - ko-fi*com/soulforger01