Although he has never been a leader in either his past or present life, Ryan understands a simple principle: rights and obligations correspond. Since he has enjoyed so many benefits from the Plants vs. Zombies world, it only makes sense for him to give back to it in some way.
Soon, the doctor emerged from the ward after completing the examination. Nora had merely been lying in bed for too long, which caused her movements to be slightly uncoordinated. However, her body had fully recovered.
Considering the terrifying wound in her neck, it was a miracle she had survived. If Ryan had not used life magic, Nora would have likely died long ago. Recovering from such a severe injury within a few months was already remarkable. According to the doctor, when they found her, she was in a strange frozen state. They had no choice but to place her in cold storage to preserve her life and attempt a safe thawing process. Fortunately, they had succeeded.
A few minutes later, Nora stepped out of the ward, now dressed in leather armor. This was the latest fashion in Luye City Base—not only stylish but also highly practical. Most importantly, in the Plants vs. Zombies world, only humans had turned into zombies, meaning that zombies rarely attacked non-human creatures. As a result, wild animals had flourished in the post-apocalypse era, making leather materials easy to obtain.
After watching Nora finish packing, the three of them proceeded to the large underground warehouse. Ryan then opened the space door and returned to the Tim Hortons grocery store with Nora.
"What is this place?" Nora asked curiously. The last time she had been here, she was unconscious and had not seen the store.
"You can think of this place as a transit point between worlds," Ryan explained, standing by the door as he searched for Nora's world. Soon, his search yielded results.
Nora's home world was a Level 5 world, just like Plants vs. Zombies. This meant there was a high probability of danger.
Considering this, Ryan handed Nora a pistol and a dagger, then fully armed himself. Finally, he paid 16 offset points to open the space door to her world.
Before Ryan could say anything, Nora rushed in first. Ryan had no choice but to follow, gripping his wand tightly.
As soon as he entered, Ryan felt uncomfortable. His affinity with life magic and nature allowed him to sense the world's condition more acutely. This was a dying world—both nature and life were on the verge of collapse. Even the Plants vs. Zombies world felt significantly better in comparison.
Ryan calmed himself and observed his surroundings. He found himself in a corridor lined with freezers on both sides. Nora was crying as she held a man dressed in blue who was lying on the ground.
Upon seeing the scene, Ryan immediately recognized where they were—this was the world of Fallout, and he was in Vault 111, the starting location of Fallout 4. The woman he had saved earlier was actually the wife of the protagonist, who, according to the original storyline, had been killed by a mercenary sent by the Institute.
No wonder so few offset points had been required to bring Nora to another world. According to the plot, she was already supposed to be dead, meaning her disappearance would not disrupt the storyline.
It was unfortunate that Ryan had been too focused on saving her and had not noticed the style of her clothing. Since she had changed clothes after arriving at the hospital, he had missed the clues. Otherwise, he would have recognized her origin much earlier. After all, he had spent a great deal of time clearing this game in his previous life.
After two hundred years of separation, the protagonists and her husband surely needed time to talk. Understanding this, Ryan greeted them briefly and then began to explore the shelter.
Since this vault was primarily used for cryogenic freezing, it was relatively small. The only threats were five or six radroaches. Ryan didn't even need magic—he simply used a baton he had picked up to dispatch them effortlessly.
In one of the former staff dormitories, he easily unlocked a cabinet with a spell, retrieving a cryolator. This was a powerful weapon he had never managed to acquire early in the game. With this valuable item in hand, he searched the exit area before returning to the cryogenic section.
By then, it seemed that Nora had explained everything to her husband. The man stood up weakly and extended his hand to Ryan.
"Thank you so much for saving my wife. My name is Nate. If you ever need my help in the future, I will do everything I can to assist you. For now, I have something urgent to do. Would you like to join me?"
"You're too kind. I just did what I was capable of doing," Ryan replied with a smile. He then handed Nate a Pip-Boy, some stimpaks, and a pistol. "Your wife entered my world in what was the year 2227 for you. Now, it's 2287. I don't know what your urgent task is, but considering that 60 years have passed, I think there's no need to rush."
"What? 60 years?!" Nate and Nora looked shocked. They were likely realizing that their child might be older than them now.
However, they quickly regained their composure. "Thanks for the reminder, but we still need to find the man who injured Nora and kidnapped our baby. Even if it's been 60 years, there's a chance our child is still alive."
"I think so too. You should know that I'm a wizard. I used divination earlier to help Nora, and I have a strong feeling that your child is still alive," Ryan assured them.
"Thank you! But we should leave this place now. It's been 200 years—I'm eager to see what's happened to the outside world," Nate said.
With that, Nate activated the vault door using the Pip-Boy, and the three of them ascended the elevator to the surface.
Upon reaching the surface, Ryan saw barren mountains, dead trees, and an unexpectedly clear blue sky. At the same time, he felt some harmful environmental elements attempting to seep into his body. Fortunately, thanks to his mastery of life and nature magic, he was able to block them with ease.
Apart from the pervasive radiation in the air, he also detected traces of the Forced Evolutionary Virus (FEV). Had he come here before strengthening his abilities, he might have been in serious trouble.
Afterward, the protagonists encountered Codsworth, their robotic butler. Following a brief conversation, they began searching the ruins for supplies. Ryan opened a space door leading to the Plants vs. Zombies world, preparing to summon a steam-powered robot. The first priority was to establish a base. After all, having a secure shelter would make gathering resources and carrying out other tasks much more convenient.
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