Dan strolled through the small city that had finally been completed within the inner world, his gaze wandering thoughtfully in every direction. The paved streets and the buildings lining both sides bore the unmistakable mark of meticulous craftsmanship, revealing that whoever had overseen the construction had treated the task as far more than an ordinary assignment, devoting genuine effort to every detail.
He stopped in the center of the city's main square and slowly looked around, examining the architectural details of the surrounding buildings. He appeared genuinely impressed by the precision with which his eldest son, Sam, had brought to life the designs Dan had given him before the project began.
He then turned toward his eldest children, Sam and Sophia, who had been walking behind him ever since they entered the city, patiently awaiting his evaluation.
Smiling, he said,
"The two of you have done an excellent job, my children."
Sam and Sophia immediately responded with bright smiles that lit up both of their faces.
Then Sam said,
"All we did was help Father a little. We don't deserve thanks for that."
Before the atmosphere could remain peaceful for long, Sophia suddenly rushed over to Dan, happily wrapped both hands around his arm, and smiled with the carefree energy of a little girl rather than someone who had already lived for well over a century.
"You should praise me more, Father."
Dan gently placed a hand on her head and softly patted it.
"Very well, my little girl."
Her smile grew even brighter.
Sam let out a quiet chuckle before saying,
"Sister, you're already..."
Before he could finish, he noticed Sophia's expression suddenly become cold—a look he knew all too well and fully understood the consequences of. He immediately fell silent, not daring to finish his sentence or add another single word.
Sophia looked directly at him with that same icy expression.
"Big Brother... it seems we haven't had a training match in quite some time."
The instant Sam heard those words, he disappeared from where he stood and fled at astonishing speed. He knew Sophia better than anyone, and he also knew that mentioning her age was never a wise decision.
Dan smiled as he watched his children teasing each other like this. Moments such as these were rare amid the endless schedule of research, projects, and long-term planning that filled his days, and that rarity made them precious in their own way.
He then turned and continued walking toward the enormous palace located in the northern district of the city, where both his future residence and his new laboratory within this inner world would be established. From there, he would begin planning the family's great relocation from their base in the outside world to this newly created inner realm.
The architectural style he had chosen for the city itself was intentionally hybrid. It combined the soaring towers, pointed arches, and dramatic use of height and light found in Gothic architecture from his original world with the circular urban planning, inner courtyards, and centralized layout characteristic of ancient Baghdad. To this mixture he added elements inspired by the traditional Japanese architecture that surrounded him throughout the decades he had spent living in this world, a style that had inevitably influenced his own aesthetic tastes as well.
The result resembled none of those architectural traditions on its own, yet carried recognizable traces of each. The city felt both familiar and unique at the same time, as though it had naturally emerged from architectural traditions that had never shared a common history in the outside world. That was exactly what Dan had intended . a place belonging to no single world, but existing solely as the homeland of the Walt family.
In the future, the city would be expanded far beyond its current size as the Walt family continued to grow and its bloodline spread across future generations. The family was constantly increasing in number, and what was sufficient today would no longer be enough decades from now. For the present, however, with the family's current population, the city provided every member with more than enough living space.
Dan continued walking at a steady pace through the paved streets, hearing Sophia's footsteps following behind him after she had confirmed that Sam had successfully escaped and was unlikely to return anytime soon.
With every step, the enormous palace drew closer. Its towering spires rose far above the rest of the city's buildings, making it visible from virtually anywhere within the city. It had not been built on such a grand scale merely to display wealth or authority. It was vast because the laboratory alone required an immense amount of space. Every one of Dan's numerous simultaneous research projects demanded its own dedicated facilities, and gathering all of them beneath a single roof inevitably required a structure of extraordinary size.
He paused for a brief moment before the palace's main gate, silently admiring its beauty. Then he stepped inside.
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