—Cole POV—
Admiring the children my wives and I had created, I felt overwhelming pride well up in my chest. Even without seeing some of their adult selves, there was never a doubt in my mind that they were going to be great people one day. Gently brushing my hand against their faces the children continued to sleep soundly with peaceful expressions.
'I will be the best father I can be to all of you, I promise. If it comes to it, I will move Heaven and Hell to protect you. There is no way I will let you suffer without a father again.', I thought before giving them each a kiss on the forehead.
Having left my family waiting for long enough, I went to rejoin them in the other room. Turning around, I saw my family trying to peek their heads into the room to see what I was doing. Those that had seen what I did smiled with delight as I walked towards them. Motioning for them to back up, all of them quickly moved so I could leave.
"I see you are still as nosey as ever.", I chuckled closing the door behind me, "Can't have a few minutes to myself without you coming to find me."
"I wonder why…maybe it's because the moment you don't have one of us with you, you always seem to get surrounded by women…", Sapphire reminded me.
"Be that as it may, I never once laid a finger on any of them.", I remarked, "I may have been popular, but I wasn't a cheat."
Changing the topic suddenly, Luna had a request for me.
"So since you are here…are you going to cook for us?", Luna asked.
Staring at her for a moment, I started laughing. After all this time away from her, it appeared she still always thought ahead with her stomach. Looking at the Goddess for permission, they apologized and said that they didn't have a kitchen for use. The God of Cooking had one, but they had to get his permission in advance.
"...can I at least get a Carrot Cake Mocha?", Luna pleaded.
"I think I can manage that much.", I replied pulling out a hot plate I made with magic runes.
Brewing some coffee, my wives got me up to date on what had been going on since I left. My disappearance had caused quite a lot of problems as now it was taking a while for news and supplies to be transported across the continents. They were still working on the road networks I had designed for each world, but it would take a few decades to complete them.
"So Goddesses, what can I do to help my children and wives?", I inquired with a serious look.
"Unfortunately there isn't a lot you can do currently. You can't leave your current world easily, and if you do the God of Reincarnation will know it.", the Goddess of Fertility said, "We are waiting on the Gods of Creation, Life, and Death to determine whether your family can join you on your world. They are aware of what is going on, and…the situation with the God of Reincarnation."
Asking them what they were talking about, they said that he was currently consolidating a large amount of Unranked and Lesser Angels for some reason. There wasn't concrete evidence that he was going to do something bad, but given the situation he was in, they knew he was up to no good. Based on the information I had at the moment, wiping out all six worlds was what he was intending to do.
"I have shed blood, sweat, and tears on all six worlds up to this point…I am not about to let it all go to hell. There are a lot of people in those six worlds that I want to protect, we have friends, family, and many colleagues I want to save. There has to be something I can do to help them?", I demanded, "I have a lot of power at my disposal, please tell me what I can do."
Looking at one another, the Goddess of Love suggested making room for refugees in my current world. Stating that it still had a lot of space to settle people, they said that if I was truly wanting to save them that was the first step. Agreeing with that, I said I could do that even if I had to terraform deserts with magic.
Turning to my children, I came to them with a difficult request. Since I couldn't go there myself to gather people, it was up to them to do so for me. Handing them markers that certain people would know belonged to me, I asked my children to do what I couldn't.
"Leave it to us Dad!", Rebecca said with a smile.
Reaching my right hand out, I placed it on her head. Patting her head, there was something I wanted everyone to hear from my mouth.
"I have been given five powerful titles and garnered many more throughout these past four hundred years…there are only three that I have desperately wanted.", I told them pulling her into a hug, "Those titles are Husband, Father, and Grandfather…they are the most precious and hallowed titles I possess."
Hugging me tightly, Rebecca told me that she had been waiting a long time to receive a hug from me. Motioning for her siblings, nieces, and nephews to come over as well I pulled them each into a hug. Telling how proud I was of their achievements and hard work, they started to cry and call me father and grandfather. Giving them some time to collect themselves, I suggested we spend some family time together now while I was here. Sitting at the table together, we reminisced about the past together and got to be a real family for the first time.
—Next Morning—
Returning to my body fully recharged, I sat up with a smile on my face. I had a new goal now, and I would start implementing it now. Getting Eri and Kota to school, I turned to Mandalay to ask her what the plan was today. Replying that we would be just patrolling today I asked if there was something else we could do. Sharing the information I had on the Master of Disguise couple, my suggestion was to do recon on them.
"How do you intend to do that?", she inquired.
"You have to crack a few eggs to make an omelet.", I replied with a grin, "How about we pay their residence a visit?"
Giving me a conflicted look, she wasn't too sure about breaking into such a well-regarded family's home. Looking at her comrades for their input, Tiger said we should follow my gut instinct. Saying that he had faith in what I was saying, I thanked him for trusting me.
"Before we go, I want to warn you that they may have some sick hobbies we don't know about. Uber wealthy people generally have some sort of sick fetish, bare that in mind.", I warned.
Saying they were with me all the way, they placed their hands on my shoulder so we could start moving. Zipping through the power lines, we made our way to their private residence in Tokyo. Depositing the team outside the home, I went in first to disable the security systems. Once it was severed, I brought the team into the empty residence.
"What the heck, where are the furniture pieces and artwork?!", Ragdoll gasped, "I watched a documentary on this place before, this place was decorated by a famous European designer…there is no sign of their work here."
"My attack on the Yakuza probably scared them off, this confirms my suspicion.", I stated using magic to see through the walls.
Since the God of Reincarnation was aware that I had all my abilities and powers, there was no point in hiding it now. Now that I had confirmation he was planning to wipe out six worlds, restraining my powers would only result in the deaths of many people.
Walking around the first floor, I found an elevator shaft hidden behind a bookshelf. Ripping it out of the wall, I thought Mandalay was going to have a heart attack. Asking her what was wrong, she told me that this home had historical value.
"Please be gentle with it…the last Japanese Emporer lived here before we did away with the Imperial Family.", she informed me.
"Ah…I am sorry.", I replied setting the bookshelf down gently.
Seeing the elevator shaft, Pixie-Bob poked her head in to see where it went. Pulling her back, she watched the elevator car, that had been above us, fly downwards inches from her face.
"The house's security is disabled, not whatever is below us.", I said, "How about letting me go first, and you follow behind?"
"Yeah…that works.", she gulped.
Jumping into the shaft, I dug my right arm into the opposite wall to slow my descent. Falling roughly three stories the crushed elevator car slowly came into view. Slamming into it, the car crumpled like a soda can. Disabling the security system by overloading the batteries and power circuits, I confirmed that everything was safe now. Calling up to the Pussycats that it was safe to come down now, I watched Ragdoll come flying down the shaft.
"AHH!!!", she shouted.
Jumping upwards, I caught her mid-descent and held her till we hit the ground. Landing on my feet, I asked her what she thought she was doing.
"I uh…I lost my handhold.", she said with an apologetic smile.
"You tried to mimic me, didn't you?", I asked.
"No, that's not it!", she refuted, "I tried to free climb down here, but lost my handhold."
Hearing the others descend via a rope, Pixie-Bob was cracking up as she dropped in. Telling me that Ragdoll tried to mimic me, using the elevator cables instead of the wall itself, Pixie-Bob said that the greased line ripped out of her hands when she started sliding down. Puffing her cheeks out, Ragdoll told Pixie-Bob to shut up and that she was going to do the same after her anyways.
"How about we be more careful moving forwards.", I chuckled, "The security system is disabled, but please still watch your step."
Setting Ragdoll down, the four of them flicked on their headlamps to see into the dark base. Seeing expensive art on the walls, Mandalay gasped and said that the paintings were priceless works of art that were stolen a decade ago from the Louvre. Looking around the room closer, there were even more priceless antiques to be found that I had initially overlooked. Art wasn't really my thing so I wasn't surprised that I overlooked them.
"There is over two hundred million dollars in stolen property here!", she gulped, "This is only the first room, and this is the largest collection of stolen property in the past five years."
Suggesting that we keep moving, we advanced into a large warehouse that was almost completely empty. Turning their lights onto the brightest setting, the sheer scale of the place came into view. Seeing a few boxes of documents left on the floor, either someone left them on purpose or they rushed out of here forgetting all about them. Opening up a few boxes, we found old money ledgers with detailed purchasing information from the Yakuza.
"Looks like Overhaul had some financial backers…", I remarked, "No wonder they left this, it's stuff we'd already have."
Sifting through the rest of the boxes, I came across a file on my family. Knowing that they'd regard me as a major threat, I assumed the file was on me. Opening it up to see what dirt they had…it quickly became apparent that it wasn't on me at all.
'These are finance documents for gambling debts and they have my father's signatures. Is my dad a gambling addict?', I thought for a moment, 'No that can't be right, I would have noticed that since I came to this world. Does that mean this information pre-dates my arrival?'
Deciding that I needed to investigate this further, I tucked the file into my Item Box before continuing. As we dug through more boxes, I heard some rattling nearby. Using the spell Detect Life to look around the warehouse, there were nearly a hundred life signs in a side room close by. Leaving the boxes, I walked over to investigate using my electricity to light my path. As I drew closer to the door, the rattling got louder till I was right at the door. Hearing someone trying to stop the noise, I grabbed the door and ripped it off its hinges.
Hit with the smell of decay as the air came rushing out, I walked inside to see what was going on. Finding a room full of animal cages, there were dozens of mutant-looking humans trapped like animals here. Seeing these people brought the horrors of my fourth life back to the front of my mind.