The stage was a burning Tokyo. With flames rising all around, Taowu flattened everything in his path with overwhelming might.
Tanks lined the streets, growling weakly. But their shells couldn't even get close to touching the monster. "It's a kaiju. A real kaiju." The Japanese weren't strangers to the concept, but facing one in real life—this was completely different.
It was bad. Extremely bad.
With both tanks and jets proving useless, what else could they possibly do?
"Do we really have to activate the Oumu Project?" the commander of the Self-Defense Forces muttered. The so-called Oumu Project was Japan's very own superhero development plan.
Years ago, the government had selected a group of students for Oumu conditioning, hoping that someday Japan would have its own native-born superheroes. By now, those kids should be in high school. Were they really going to call them in?
Oumu conditioning was basically a genetic program modeled after the X-gene formula, needing time to mature. The original plan was to wait until after college when their powers would be more stable. But with this sudden crisis, they had no choice but to consider activating the Oumu Project ahead of schedule.
"What should we do?" The weapons prepared for the project had always been kept ready.
"Deploy Shinshin. Right now, only Shinshin can protect Tokyo."
"Let's wait a little more. Maybe Superman can win."
Superman was weaving around Taowu's space slashes, trying to get close. Being small made him hard to hit, which annoyed Taowu. It was like trying to swat a mosquito or a fly that just wouldn't hold still. Infuriating.
Taowu was getting agitated. The purple crystals on his body started flashing faster. Then, the massive horn-like crystal on his forehead glowed with a blinding purple light. It got brighter and brighter until it became an enormous sword stretching several kilometers long.
Heaven-Cleaving Sword!
Taowu bowed his head, and the sword came swinging down toward Superman. Superman wanted to dodge, but Tokyo was right beneath his feet. If he let that thing hit, who knows how many people would die?
So instead of retreating, Superman surged forward. He had to stop the sword from hitting the ground.
Boom—
The moment he clashed with the sword, Superman felt like countless blades were slicing him apart. Wounds instantly split open across his body. That massive purple blade was actually formed from thousands of spatial blades, and there was no way he could block it.
"Are we seriously just watching this?" Lin Long and Liu Nono were standing on a rooftop, watching everything unfold.
Liu Nono nodded. "What else can we do? I'm only eight. I'm not allowed to fight."
"…"
Fine. Watching it was, then. Lin Long had only asked out of habit. She didn't think she could do anything either. Even though she had learned the Longdan Technique, she wasn't anywhere near strong enough to take on a monster like that.
"Amazing," Liu Nono muttered as she watched Superman struggle in pain. She realized just how far beyond normal comprehension Taowu's strength was. She had seen the pagoda in Antarctica before but never imagined it held something this powerful. Every time she asked her parents about it, they avoided the question. Clearly, there were secrets they didn't want to share.
"Let's get closer," Lin Long said, eyes gleaming with interest. The thrill-seeker in her wanted a better view.
"Wait—" Liu Nono called out, but it was too late.
Lin Long had already leapt off the roof. Liu Nono was speechless. She was supposed to be the younger one—why did she feel like she had to babysit her big sister? Lin Long had always acted like a proper lady when she got older. So why was she such a wild child now?
Brave, reckless, whatever you called it, Lin Long was moving against the flow. While the crowd evacuated, she was getting closer to the monster.
"Lin Long-jie, don't go any closer! The space up ahead is unstable!"
"It's fine, it's fine. I just want a closer look." Lin Long just wanted to feel how massive Taowu really was. She'd grown much stronger after training in the Longdan Technique, and she didn't believe she'd be in danger. It's not like she was going to fight—she just wanted to watch.
Liu Nono was speechless.
Superman was taking the Heaven-Cleaving Sword head-on.
He couldn't hold out. Even though he wasn't torn apart, the Heaven-Cleaving Sword kept dropping closer to the ground. Countless spatial blades burst from the sword's surface like sword energy, tearing through the city.
Whoosh—
"Danger!" Liu Nono shouted, but Lin Long was already too far ahead, practically diving headfirst into the chaos of unstable space blades.
Bathed in that strange, violet glow, Lin Long was just about to be cut in half when Liu Nono activated her teleportation. She grabbed Lin Long's hand and warped them away in an instant.
Lin Long broke out in cold sweat. If Liu Nono hadn't saved her just then, she would've been dead for sure. "Thank you, Nono."
"No need…"
Thud—
Lin Long suddenly felt something heavy in her hand. When she turned to look, her eyes froze—everything below Liu Nono's chest was gone. The severed edge shimmered with multicolored light.
To save Lin Long, Liu Nono had lost her body. She was dying. Even though she was the daughter of a transmigrator, she was only eight years old.
"Nono?" Lin Long's breath hitched. She didn't know what to do. It was all her fault. For the first time, she felt the weight of her mistake. And this time, the price was too high.
Even though Liu Nono was younger, she had become Lin Long's close friend—part mentor, part companion. Lin Long had learned so much from her. She never imagined that her own recklessness would end up killing her.
"Lin Long-jie, don't be sad. I'm okay."
How could she be okay? Everything below her chest was gone. Lin Long's tears fell before she even realized it. She hadn't cried in years—these were tears of grief and regret.
"Lin Long-jie, from now on, study hard and be a good girl. Stop fighting all the time," Liu Nono whispered. Her voice was weak. She needed medical attention right away, but there was no advanced equipment like that in the modern world.
"Nono, don't die. Please, don't die!"
But how could wishing make that happen? Nono's breath was fading fast.
Her whole life—everything she'd learned—flashed through her mind like a slideshow. Liu Nono knew she was about to die. But she had no regrets. Dying to save someone wasn't a bad ending. From the countless souls she had inherited knowledge from, she had learned what it meant to be noble.
"Nono… Nono!" Lin Long was overwhelmed with guilt. Nono was the first real friend she had ever made. And now she was about to lose her.
Her chest felt tight. This was what heartbreak felt like. Raised in Liangshan, she had always been carefree and brash. But now she felt something break inside her—a deep, soul-wrenching sadness.
"Lin Long-jie… goodbye." What was left of Nono's body began to dissolve.
Lin Long could only hold the flickering motes of light, like fireflies in her hands, and watch helplessly as her friend faded away. It was all her fault.
Was Liu A'dou's daughter really going to die like this? Of course not.
In her final moment, Liu Nono felt a call from the mother body. So she made a choice—to abandon her shattered form and return to the womb for rebirth.
Liu A'dou saw a light beam shoot across the sky, heading straight for Ada. He reached out to stop it, but the light passed right through him and entered Ada's belly.
The instant it passed through him, Liu A'dou felt a wave of warmth. A memory suddenly surfaced in his mind. That light… was his daughter?
He was stunned. He had only seen her in pictures and knew she wasn't supposed to be born for a long time. Why had she shown up in this era—and gotten hurt?
He looked at Ada. She had clearly received the same memory. Her hand touched her belly as she whispered in wonder, "I can feel it… our daughter is inside me now. A new life… she feels so familiar."
Liu A'dou felt it too. That warm and gentle presence—so familiar, like Ada herself. It had to be his daughter, no doubt. But the chain of events leading to this left him completely confused.