Shin wasn't particularly keen on becoming a Gold Saint right now. After all, he didn't even have a Cosmo, so wearing a Gold Cloth would be purely comical.
When an ordinary Cloth is worn without awakening a Cosmo, it's no different from a hard, heavy suit of armor. Gold Cloths are slightly better, as they come with a Seventh Sense Cosmo—but a Seventh Sense Cosmo wouldn't give Shin any boost now.
In fact, the durability of a Gold Cloth wasn't even as good as Shin's own physical body. Aside from looking cooler, a Gold Cloth held no real meaning for Shin.
However, just as there were no benefits, there were naturally no drawbacks. Shin wasn't particularly opposed to becoming a Saint.
It was a childhood dream, after all, so he considered it fulfilling that dream.
He didn't think there was anything wrong with fighting for Goddess Athena for a short period—all for the sake of so-called love and justice~
As a child, he saw Athena as a goddess, but as he grew up, many conspiracy theories emerged. In reality, the characters in the manga hadn't changed much; it was simply that we, who were once innocent and naive, had become more complex.
In this real Saint Seiya world, regardless of whether Athena was a pure white lotus or a cunning schemer, one thing was undeniable: she at least stood on the side of humanity.
This Athena neither imposed tyrannical rule over humans nor demanded a single penny in protection fees. She fought tooth and nail to help humanity against Poseidon and Hades. Regardless of whether she had her own agenda or wanted to use humans to solidify her divine status, it didn't matter. For humans, she was the best goddess.
Without human help, Athena's standing among the gods might decline, but without this Athena, humanity could directly declare its extinction.
Whether it was Poseidon flooding the Earth or Hades' eternal night empire, Shin didn't believe those were environments where normal humans could survive. From this perspective, humanity owed Athena, and Athena owed humanity nothing.
"Alright then! I'll temporarily be the Sagittarius Gold Saint," Shin nodded. "But the Sagittarius Gold Cloth isn't with you, so am I supposed to just go steal it?"
Mu quickly shook his head. "Are you kidding? If a monster stronger than a Gold Saint like you were to directly rob the Galaxian Wars Tournament arena, then Athena's few Bronze Saints could just declare quits and give up."
Even cheats need to follow basic rules! At least they should progress gradually. If you go straight to the highest difficulty, even if the Bronze Five are the pioneers of the 'small but mighty' world, they'd still be instantly pulverized!
"Please wait, Mr. Shin. Gold Cloths are not so easily obtained. It's still too early for those Bronze Saints to gain the recognition of the Sagittarius Gold Cloth!" Mu stopped Shin and continued.
"The most important issue now should be for you, Shin, to cultivate your Cosmo. Otherwise, even if you obtain a Gold Cloth, you won't be able to unleash its power."
"Uh..." Shin scratched his head. "Our body structures are different, so I'm afraid I can't awaken a Cosmo, can I?"
Mu said with a chuckle, "Don't worry. All life in this world originated from the primordial Big Bang of the universe. Therefore, every living being contains the seed of a Cosmo within them! So, even if you, Shin, are not from this Earth, you can still awaken a Cosmo."
"However, I'm not from this universe," Shin directly shook his head. "Moreover... the world my bloodline comes from has nothing to do with the Big Bang."
Isn't that right? Theoretically, Shin's Superman bloodline comes from the DC world, and the DC world's universe was not born from the Big Bang, but rather forged by the World Forger with a single hammer blow.
Huh!? Mu was completely dumbfounded. For Mu, who hadn't had much exposure to cutting-edge external technology and wild ideas, aliens were already something from his imagination. Now, Shin was telling him that he was from another universe!?
Fortunately, although he knew little about technology, he knew a lot about Cosmo. Mu had indeed discovered many alternate dimensions using Cosmo.
However, the fact that other universes weren't formed by the Big Bang made Mu truly unable to imagine what that situation would be like.
After a moment of thought, Mu, who had calmed down, suddenly thought of a question. He stammered, "But... even my Cloth repair technique... requires a Cosmo!"
Uh...
Shin blinked. He had actually considered the possibility that Cloth repair techniques required a Cosmo, as this possibility was too great, and Shin had already thought of ways to deal with it.
"Although theoretically I can't awaken a Cosmo, there is a compromise. For example, if I borrow your Gold Cloth for a bit, I can use a Cosmo."
Hearing this, Mu was quite surprised. Theoretically, if one couldn't awaken a Cosmo, even wearing a Gold Cloth wouldn't grant recognition.
This wasn't a matter of strength; after all, Gold Cloths already possessed a faint self-awareness and wouldn't acknowledge someone who hadn't awakened a Cosmo as their master.
In fact, precisely because the Gold Cloths' self-awareness was faint, they were even less capable of being reasoned with like humans.
Moreover, the Aries Cloth on Mu had long since been attuned to him. For others to use it, it would be no exaggeration to say it was as difficult as ascending to the heavens. In Mu's eyes, unless Athena herself descended, or his master was resurrected, anyone else wanting to use his Cloth was simply dreaming!
Of course, considering Shin was an alien, Mu still somewhat skeptically took off his Aries Gold Cloth: "Can you really use it? You won't damage the Cloth, will you?"
If it were any other Saint, Mu wouldn't even consider such a thought. Damaging a Gold Cloth?! That would at least be something only gods like Thanatos and Hypnos could accomplish. Normal human Saints should just give up. Not everyone is like the Bronze Five, who can even awaken Divine Cloths.
However, after seeing Shin effortlessly shatter his fully-powered Crystal Wall with his laser eyes, he was also trembling with apprehension, fearing that this alien's method was to forcibly suppress the Gold Cloth with his power. Ordinary people couldn't destroy a Gold Cloth, but this alien's power was another matter entirely.
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Now available - Chapter 698: Finale (ENDING)