Bai Xuan didn’t pay much attention to Huo Yu’s thoughts. Instead, he placed his hand on Doraemon’s head with anticipation, and a peculiar energy flowed from his palm into Doraemon’s body.
As the energy transformed, Doraemon’s previously dull eyes gradually became lively. He tilted his head and looked curiously at the two people before him.
“Who are you?”
“Doraemon is actually alive!”
Even though she had been mentally prepared, Huo Yu still found it hard to believe when it actually happened right in front of her. Manifesting objects from anime into reality — that was practically godlike.
“Nice to meet you, Doraemon.”
“Let me fill you in on the situation first.”
Seeing Doraemon come to life, Bai Xuan couldn’t help but smile as well.
“I see… so this is actually another world?”
“And I’m just a character from a manga.”
Doraemon sat on the sofa, watching the story of him and Nobita playing on the TV. He felt a strange sensation inside.
It wasn’t that he couldn’t accept it.
After all, he was originally a robot created by humans. Whether the creator was a scientist or a manga artist didn’t make that much of a difference to him.
As for his adventures with Nobita — he had no memories of them.
“But if I’m here now, what happens to the original world?”
Doraemon’s large eyes looked at Bai Xuan, a hint of nervousness in his voice.
“Strictly speaking, the you that’s here now is just a duplicate of the real Doraemon. Your appearance here won’t have any effect on the original world at all.”
Bai Xuan said seriously, though he hesitated a bit afterward.
“Doraemon, bringing you to life was just me fulfilling my own selfish desire — both as a child and now, I’ve always dreamed of having a Doraemon of my own.”
“To you, this isn’t really respectful.”
“If you’re unwilling, I can turn you back to how you were before.”
Doraemon shook his head after hearing Bai Xuan’s words.
“Like you said, Bai Xuan, I’m just a duplicate of the Doraemon from the story. In the original world, there’s still a Doraemon by Nobita’s side, growing up with him. Compared to Nobita, you need me more, don’t you?”
“Besides, since you’re the one who brought me to life, I feel a sense of closeness to you, Bai Xuan.”
“Is that so? That’s great then.”
Bai Xuan smiled again. Just then, the two Pikachu, sensing that their owner was done with his work, walked in from the yard. After glancing at Huo Yu, they curiously hopped onto Doraemon’s smooth, round head. One of them squinted and rubbed against it, seemingly enjoying the texture.
“Aaaaaah! Rats, rats, rats!!!”
Doraemon’s eyes suddenly turned into swirling spirals. He jumped up from the sofa and spun around frantically.
Then, he started pulling out all sorts of gadgets from the four-dimensional pocket on his belly.
“Damn rats! I’ll destroy you all!”
After tossing out a pile of unidentified props, he then pulled out something that clearly looked like a gun.
“Spear of Overlord!”
“Heat Ray Gun!”
“Earth Destruction Bomb…”
“Skip that one, skip that one!”
Huo Yu quickly scooped up the two Pikachu. She couldn’t quite remember the effects of the Spear of Overlord and the Heat Ray Gun, but she definitely heard the last one loud and clear — Earth Destruction Bomb!
Whether it could actually destroy the planet or not, she sure as hell wasn’t willing to gamble on it!
Besides, she would doubt anyone’s gadgets except Doraemon’s!
“Pika?”
“Pika-pi!”
The two Pikachu, now cradled in Huo Yu’s arms, looked at Doraemon curiously, not understanding why he was so terrified of them.
“It’s okay, Doraemon. These are Pikachu.”
“They’re also characters from anime, just like you. They’re not actually rats. If you look closely, you’ll see they’re actually quite cute.”
“And their real prototypes aren’t rats — they’re squirrels.”
“Squirrels. You’re not afraid of squirrels, are you?”
Bai Xuan comforted Doraemon in a gentle tone.
“Even squirrels are no good…”
But upon hearing that they were fellow anime characters, his trembling body forced his eyes open. He met the gazes of the two Pikachu.
“Pika-pi~”
“Pika!”
The two Pikachu waved their little arms at Doraemon in a friendly greeting. Sensing their goodwill, and noticing that their art style was indeed different from real rats — only somewhat similar — Doraemon’s fear gradually subsided.
“Hello there.”
Hesitantly, Doraemon reached out a hand to greet them back.
“Pika, pika.”
“Pika-pi!”
The two Pikachu suddenly broke free from Huo Yu’s arms and jumped onto Doraemon’s lap and head, nuzzling against him affectionately.
“That tickles! Hahaha, stop it…”
“You two are impossible.”
Doraemon was tickled so much that he fell onto the floor, laughing out loud. His last traces of fear toward Pikachu vanished completely.
What was he so scared of? They were nothing like rats at all.
Seeing Doraemon and the Pikachu getting along so well, Bai Xuan let out a relieved sigh.
He’d been so focused on manifesting Doraemon that he’d completely forgotten about Doraemon’s fear of rats.
To be fair, he’d never really thought of Pikachu as a rat, even though its scientific classification was indeed the electric mouse.
Huo Yu, on the other hand, stared warily at the two oversized gun-like gadgets on the floor.
The Spear of Overlord and the Heat Ray Gun.
“Um, Doraemon… your gadgets aren’t actually as powerful as they are in the anime, right?”
Some of Doraemon’s technology was genuinely terrifying.
Take the Devil’s Passport, for example — just by showing it, you could get away with absolutely anything.
Or the Curse Camera — take a photo of someone, and whatever you did to the doll would happen to that person. It was practically like a curse.
Then there was the Dictator Button, the Human Manufacturing Machine, the If-Phone Booth…
“Hmm?”
“The power of my gadgets?”
Doraemon blinked at Huo Yu’s question and scratched his head.
“They do seem a bit weaker, I think. But as long as we’re on this planet, it should be fine.”
“As long as we’re on Earth, it’s fine?”
Huo Yu’s eyes widened. That basically meant nothing at all!
What she wanted to know was about the real world — and for her, the real world was just the ground beneath their feet.
“What about the Devil’s Passport?”
“As long as we’re on Earth, it works.”
“The Time Pauser?”
“As long as we’re on Earth, it works.”
“The If-Phone Booth?”
“As long as we’re on Earth — huh? Wait, that one might not work.”
Doraemon seemed to sense something and suddenly stopped mid-sentence. A new piece of information appeared in his mind.
“The If-Phone Booth has limitations. It can be used, but it may cause unforeseen consequences.”
