Chapter 249 – New York City

The portal created by Irene was connected to Battery Park in southern Manhattan.

Behind the park, the Manhattan skyscrapers were visible, and in front, the partially collapsed Statue of Liberty and the Atlantic Ocean could be seen.

“So it connected here as expected.”

When I looked at the girl with a puzzled expression,

Irene was looking around the overgrown park with a nostalgic face.

“I set our destination as the place that remained most vividly in my memory. That was the safest method. Since I had been living in New York all along, it couldn’t have been anywhere else.”

Judging from Irene’s expression, this seemed to be more than just a memorable place.

Perhaps it was somewhere she had visited with her family before the world became like this?

Such thoughts crossed my mind, but we didn’t ask her anything.

Instead, I picked up the satellite phone.

“We’ve arrived. I can see the ship where the President is in the distance.”

Several ships were floating in the waters off Manhattan, replacing the broken Statue of Liberty.

Multiple warships and even a massive aircraft carrier.

[Static… Um, what do you mean? You can see the ship?]

“Aren’t you on the aircraft carrier floating off the coast of New York?”

[Yes, but… you say you can see it now?]

“Yes. We’re currently at… this is Battery Park. We’re at Battery Park in New York.”

[But how…?]

“It’s a kind of gate. We performed spatial movement.”

[My goodness… I keep hearing incredible things. Anyway, I’ll send a boat right away.]

I could hear busy movements through the satellite phone.

I put the phone away and turned around.

The Manhattan high-rise buildings that blocked more than half my view came into sight.

Looking at the skyscrapers, I could understand why they hadn’t established a new government in New York but kept it on a ship.

Manhattan had changed since the last time I saw it.

It was different from before the zombies appeared, and different from when it was covered with the Divine Tree’s roots after the satellites fell.

“It seems to have become some kind of nature-friendly city.”

“It definitely looks like hundreds of years have passed since the world ended.”

Yelena nodded at Yerim’s words.

Irene couldn’t even speak, just staring at the forest of buildings with her mouth open.

She couldn’t help it.

Manhattan in New York, where she had lived, had transformed into a literal forest of buildings.

Trees covering the high-rise buildings.

Trees and vines with lush green foliage protruded abundantly from the high-rise buildings.

It felt completely different from the Divine Tree roots we had seen not long ago.

Unlike the eerie, contaminated Divine Tree roots, the trees and plants now covering Manhattan actually made people feel comfortable.

It was like looking at an ancient forest.

Zahina, who was looking at Manhattan with us, explained why we felt this strange sensation.

“These are trees from our world. Trees and plants from our dimension have crossed over.”

We all turned to Zahina in surprise.

“You’re saying those are ordinary trees and plants? They look like trees and vines that have grown for decades or centuries.”

Yerim’s question followed immediately.

Her question was everyone’s doubt.

“They’re trees and plants that grew in the land of the Divine Tree. Since more than half a year has passed, this much growth is certainly possible.”

It seemed that a god being a tree was more extraordinary than I had thought.

In any case, if those trees and plants were ordinary plants from the land of the Divine Tree as Zahina said, there wouldn’t be any problems.

“They must have crossed over during the dimensional fusion. I can understand why this city received things from the land of the Divine Tree rather than from Ea.”

The reason was obviously because of the gate that had been here.

Since this was a place where natural rifts to the land of the Divine Tree had formed, it wasn’t strange that things from the Divine Tree dimension had crossed over during the dimensional fusion.

But only we knew that.

The President and the US government, whom we met again, didn’t know.

The businessman-turned-President, who had been Vice President before inheriting power after the previous President’s death, greeted me warmly and then sighed as he looked at New York.

“We’re conducting careful reconnaissance. There haven’t been any major problems yet, but we’ve already suffered great damage from the monster tree.”

Even from the aircraft carrier, the skyscrapers merged with the forest were clearly visible.

Certainly, from their perspective, they had no choice but to be cautious.

Most of the undead and humans in Manhattan had been devoured by the contaminated Divine Tree roots.

It would be difficult to believe that the trees and plants visible now were harmless.

In such a situation, I thought it might be better to go elsewhere, but when I asked, the President shook his head.

“It’s difficult to go elsewhere. Most of the fleet can’t move anymore. Most of the ships are broken and out of fuel.

This aircraft carrier is nuclear-powered so it can move on its own without problems, but there’s no point in moving just this one ship.”

Well, there probably weren’t any functioning docks, so there would be nowhere to repair the ships.

In the end, it seemed this Atlantic fleet had become an immovable island here.

“That’s why we needed advice. We needed someone who knew what the situation was and what we should do in these circumstances.”

It seemed I was that person.

Well, from their perspective, I was probably the person who knew the situation best.

Of course, that was true.

“There’s no need to worry about the forest that has settled in Manhattan. They’re all ordinary trees and plants.”

“What? These are trees and plants we’ve never seen before…”

“They’re all ordinary trees and plants from the land of the Divine Tree. The daughter of the Divine Tree, the Saintess of the Divine Tree here, is the witness.”

When I pointed to Zahina, she created a small flower in her hand.

It was just a small magic that she possessed, not even using divine power, but the effect was tremendous.

The President and others who were watching readily believed my words.

As I looked at them with an incredulous expression, I could understand why they believed so easily.

Looking at these exhausted people, it seemed they had been waiting for someone trustworthy to tell them everything was okay.

“So you’re saying it’s fine to cut down the trees and plants?”

“Yes, it’s fine. However, they grow faster than you might expect, so it won’t be easy to clear them.”

“That’s alright. As long as there are no problems, it doesn’t matter.”

As soon as Zahina gave her confirmation, people ran in all directions without even waiting for the President’s orders.

And shouts could be heard from a distance.

“We can go ashore! Everyone get ready!”

“Is that true?”

“It’s true! The hero who defeated the Demon King confirmed it!”

“Wow! Finally! Let’s go! Hurry!”

People running around with joyful faces and cheers heard from all directions.

It wasn’t just the President and government officials here who were exhausted.

All the people who had been living on ships for over a year rejoiced at the news.

And shortly after, small boats departed from the numerous warships floating in the sea.

“It seems no separate instructions are needed.”

At my words, the President, who was on the boat with me, smiled faintly… “They’ve been waiting for months just looking at the land. They had already completed preparations for disembarking long ago.”

We and the President were among the people heading to land.

As we arrived at the Manhattan shore by boat, people disembarking from the ships kissed the ground in emotion.

The President was also looking around with a moved expression.

Seeing this, I suddenly thought of the people who had been here before.

The people from New York who had helped us and moved with us.

They weren’t visible.

“What happened to the people who were in New York before and Tom?”

Civilians would probably be on transport ships, but Tom and those who moved with him were government agents.

Yet they weren’t visible.

Could they all have died when the dimensions merged?

“Ah, Agent Thomas went out on reconnaissance with other agents. They’re the best for searching this area of New York and Manhattan.”

That was a relief. It seemed everyone was safe.

When I asked about Tom, the President called over a general who was sitting on the beach, brushing sand.

“Would you wait a moment? We’ll fire a flare and call them right away.”

It seemed they hadn’t given satellite phones to the search team.

Well, it was unlikely that intact satellite phones would be common until now.

At the President’s words, I waved my hand.

Now that I knew they weren’t dead, there was no need to call them separately.

“Aren’t you planning to pass through Manhattan? The city has changed a lot in the meantime. You’ll need Tom and the search team members to find your way.”

Before landing, we had informed the President of our reason for coming here.

That we planned to reactivate the gate in northern Manhattan and cross over to the land of the Divine Tree.

Now the US President was planning to attach search team members to us out of simple goodwill.

As the President said, the city seemed to have changed a lot with the forest being created, but that wasn’t even a minor inconvenience for us.

Moreover, there was a reason we needed to go by ourselves, though we couldn’t tell them.

“Don’t worry. We’ll go by ourselves.”

“Please make sure to stop by on your way back. We’re not in a position to offer rewards or anything, but I’d still prefer you not to leave just like that.”

“Understood.”

Certainly, the President and the US government weren’t in a position to give us anything right now.

If anything, it seemed like we should be giving something to them.

I nodded formally and set off with my party members.

Our destination was the gate in northern Manhattan.

However, there was a place to visit before that.

That place was Wall Street, not far from the beach.

A collapsed building there.

We had business at that building.

Previously, we had approached carefully and slowly, but now there was no need to worry, so we arrived quickly.

The building we had collapsed before had transformed into a small forest with trees and undergrowth growing over the ruins.

Fortunately, there were no signs that the ground had been dug up.

Well, with all of New York transformed like this, it would be difficult to think of coming here to dig up the ground.

As I looked at the ruin full of trees with a satisfied face, Yerim looked at me with a disgusted expression.

“Should I call this impressive? Even though you’re already the richest lord in Ea.”

“You’re probably the richest person on Earth too.”

Following Yerim’s words, Irene added another comment.

Despite claiming to be completely loyal to me, it seemed even Irene couldn’t resist saying something when it came to money.

Of course, I didn’t pay any attention to those words.

“Well, money, or rather gold, is better the more you have.”

“Really, at times like this, it’s hard to believe you were a hero.”

Yelena clicked her tongue at my words.

I snorted at her remark.

“I’m not even a hero anymore.”

But at my response, Yerim looked at Zahina with an awkward face.

“No, actually, it’s not that you’re not a hero.”

“?”

When I looked at her with a puzzled face, Yerim pointed to the sky with her finger.

“The god only hid the divine power because Sir Egger wanted it that way.”

“That’s right. The divine power that was taken away would be returned immediately if the lord wished.”

Zahina added to that.

At the words of the two Saintesses, my mouth fell open.

“So, you’re saying I’m still a hero?”

“Yes. Both on Earth and in the land of the Divine Tree, Lord Egger, you are still a hero.”

I was very surprised by these unexpected words, but I quickly regained my senses at the brilliant golden light appearing in my mind.

It wasn’t right to be distracted in front of the Federal Reserve Bank vault.

That would be disrespectful to the gold bullion remaining underground.

I drew my sword and extended my sword energy.

With the fully extended sword energy, I began cutting down trees and digging into the ground.