Superman was pinned to the ground as the Heaven-Cleaving Sword ravaged the area. A hideous canal was carved through Tokyo, with Superman caught right in the middle of the devastating blow. By the time seawater flooded into the massive gash left by the sword, Superman had already been submerged.
Even in the ancient age of myths, the Heaven-Cleaving Sword was something cultivators feared. In this age of dwindling magic, it was even more terrifying. The landscape of Tokyo had been completely altered.
Everyone who witnessed it fell silent. If even Superman had been defeated, who else could stand against the monster?
After the Heaven-Cleaving Sword, everything changed.
"Ahhh!" Yukio collapsed to her knees in pain.
Logan caught her and asked with concern, "What's wrong?"
"I saw… countless deaths." Yukio's ability was amplified in the face of tragedy, and now her entire body was cloaked in death.
"Stay strong." Wolverine knew the recent strike must've caused catastrophic damage. Of course it did—Liu A'dou's daughter from the future had already died trying to save someone. What about the regular people?
Tokyo was beyond saving now. Taowu was still on the move, and every step triggered a quake.
Superman was gone. The Self-Defense Forces' jets and tanks were once again turned into target practice. The casualties were staggering. Tokyo had become a complete ruin. Those who had been evacuated could only watch from afar as tears streamed down their faces.
The colossal monster had turned Tokyo into its lair. Were humans now forever forbidden from stepping foot there?
No. The sun was still shining in the sky. The blue heavens hadn't fallen. There was still hope.
Boom——
Was that thunder? But Liu A'dou didn't see any lightning. Only the relentless, drum-like booming sound echoing from the sky.
'What's happening now?' Liu A'dou thought. He hadn't even decided to act yet. What was going on up there? Ada also looked up, puzzled, her hands still resting on her belly.
Everyone heard the sound and turned toward it.
At this moment of the monster's rampage, who was sounding the drums of war in the sky?
There it was—appearing in the sky, a dazzling golden presence. What was that?
"Gold Saints." Liu A'dou narrowed his eyes, seeing clearly. But neither Ada nor Elsa had made a move. And there shouldn't be this many Saints at all.
Looking closely, the Cloths were different from the ones of this timeline—more like the original versions. And all twelve Gold Saints were there. They were definitely not the ones Liu A'dou knew.
Then what were they? Twelve golden-armored figures?
Ada was stunned too. She was right there, but didn't know who had put on the Gold Cloths. "Who the hell are they?"
Liu A'dou murmured, "Maybe… Saints from the future."
That's right—they were Gold Saints from the future. All twelve had assembled. The sight was grand and awe-inspiring. Unprecedented magnificence.
On this day, Tokyo's people found new gods. They would begin worshipping the Twelve Gold Saints, and they would come to know their power.
The Gold Saints flew across the sky, forming four groups of three.
Liu A'dou immediately understood what they were going to do. They were about to unleash Athena's Sigh. And not just one—four at once. Were they planning to level the city?
"Ada-jie, we need to go." Liu A'dou wrapped an arm around Ada's waist and soared into the air, retreating to a safe distance to keep watching.
The full assembly of twelve Gold Saints—this was a once-in-a-lifetime event. Liu A'dou didn't understand why they were here, but it was obvious their target was the monster.
The twelve warriors shouted in unison, "Athena's Sigh!"
Woooo~~—
Shing!
In that moment, all other sounds in the world disappeared.
The purple crystals on Taowu's body pulsed violently. In the end, all of them lit up with intense purple light. Taowu unleashed its strongest ability—Ten Thousand Immortals Annihilate the Sect.
Athena's Sigh clashed head-on with Ten Thousand Immortals Annihilate the Sect.
"Tokyo's uninhabitable now," Liu A'dou muttered. With so many strange things popping up out of nowhere, he couldn't help but feel a bit sympathetic.
"I'm thinking the same thing."
Liu A'dou and Ada turned around at the same time. Somehow, someone had appeared behind them, and neither of them noticed it. But when they turned, they were even more shocked—it was like looking into a mirror. A man and woman identical to themselves stood right there.
It wasn't an illusion.
Two Liu A'dous. Two Adas.
"Uh… if I'm not wrong, you must be the future me," Liu A'dou said to his other self.
"No surprise there—still as sharp as ever," the future A'dou replied. Kind of like complimenting himself.
Future Ada, meanwhile, gazed softly at her past self and let out a sigh. "So it still happened. Our daughter has started over again."
So they had come because of their daughter.
Liu A'dou turned to his future self. "What exactly happened?"
Turns out, after their daughter turned eight, she kept leaving home for all kinds of reasons. And the future Liu A'dou was powerless to stop it. "Later, I realized it was due to a bug in Pandora. This world keeps trying to take our daughter from us. I stopped it a few times, but each time she came back, something else happened, and she left again. Our family never had peace." His expression darkened, mixed with helplessness. Fighting against the entire world as a transmigrator—his future self had it rough.
"That bad?" Liu A'dou thought, How can things get this messed up?
"That bad. Now our daughter—no, the daughter—is about to be reborn again. But I'm afraid she still can't escape the fate of leaving home."
"Isn't there a way to fix it? You're pretty capable in the future, aren't you?" Liu A'dou knew his future self had created all sorts of things.
The future A'dou smiled. "I am pretty capable. That's why I made this. I hope it can change our daughter's fate."
"...?"
He pulled out a small object. Under the sunlight, it gleamed.
"This is it."
Liu A'dou squinted. "What is that? Some future gadget?"
It looked like a transparent cylinder, about the size of lip balm, with a tiny Earth floating inside. Future A'dou explained, "It's a key to the multiverse. Quantum Earth. With this little thing, you can pinpoint every Earth across parallel universes."
"You're trying to move to another universe to avoid the bug?" Liu A'dou instantly caught on.
"Seeing how smart my past self is puts my mind at ease." Future A'dou smiled. "Now I can trust you to change the future."
"We'll leave our daughter to you, past me." Future Ada, eyes brimming with tears, held Ada's hand tightly. She had carried their daughter for ten months and now had to entrust her past self to rewrite history. They might never see their daughter again.
"Ada-jie, don't cry." Future A'dou hugged his wife and comforted her. "We can always have another daughter. I even thought of a name—how about Saori? And Nono is still our daughter too, right? Look, they're exactly like us."
Even though it hurt him too, for the sake of giving Nono a smoother path, this was the only way. Their daughter would still have parents. They'd bear the pain of losing her—if it meant she could be happier.
"We're counting on you." Future A'dou pressed the Quantum Earth into Liu A'dou's hand.
Then they turned toward Taowu.
Future A'dou said, "As thanks, I'll take care of Taowu for you."