As he spoke, a new object appeared in Brandon White's hand—a large panda figurine wearing a bamboo hat. In this world, there had never been a Kung Fu Panda movie.
At first, he hadn't even considered releasing such a thing online. If not for the sudden appearance of that mutant panda, he might not have thought of it for a very long time.
A gentle radiance spread from Brandon's hand, enveloping the figurine. The Kung Fu Panda statuette disintegrated into dust, vanishing into the air. In its place remained a perfectly clear, transparent pearl. Within the orb, a shadow identical to Ah Bao's figure curled peacefully.
A flash of black light flickered, and the pearl disappeared from Brandon's hand.
At the same time, inside a treatment ward, a pitch-black spatial rift quietly rippled open. From it, a clear pearl fell and landed softly atop the head of the sleeping Ah Bao. Faint golden light shimmered across the panda's battered frame. In an instant, every wound was healed, and his snores grew louder, almost contented.
In the chat group:
Holy Guardian Left Wing: "The war is about to begin."
Holy Guardian Left Wing: "I've led many battles in the past, but this time is different. This time I march not as a general, but as the heir. And the opponent… is none other than the king of the Scum Angels. The feeling is… strange."
Angel Yan's heart was complicated. For over seven thousand years, as the Holy Left Wing, she had fought in the name of Queen Keisha and for the sake of justice and order. She had led armies into countless wars.
But this was her first campaign as Crown Princess, a battle that would become her first step toward one day becoming the Angel Queen.
It felt entirely different.
Ordinary Group Leader: "So it's really time already?"
Ordinary Group Leader: "Time has flown by so quickly!"
Richest Man: "Quick? Not really. It hasn't even been two months."
Richest Man: "What's fast is Angel Yan's strength. For Queen Keisha to entrust her with command proves that she believes Yan is now powerful enough to carry out this mission."
Ordinary Group Leader: "Is that so? Somehow, I feel like with Keisha's personality, if Yan fails she'll just mock her instead."
Child of Nature: "That might have been true before, when Yan fought as a soldier. But this time she fights as the heir."
Child of Nature: "And more importantly—the enemy is Hua Ye."
Child of Nature: "Failure is something neither Yan herself, nor the Angel warriors under her, would ever accept."
Holy Guardian Left Wing: "Exactly."
Holy Guardian Left Wing: "Of all the wars I have fought, this one is the single battle I absolutely cannot afford to lose!"
Umaru-chan: "I get all that, but why Hua Ye? Shouldn't the first target be Morgana or Death God Karl? Especially Karl—just kill him, and wouldn't everything end right there?"
Umaru's question was genuine. In her eyes, Karl was the root of every disaster—the Gluttonous Civilization, Keisha's death, Hua Ye's arrogance. It all came from Karl. If he died, wouldn't everything end?
Richest Man: "…"
Uchiha Dance King: "…"
Child of Nature: "…"
Holy Guardian Left Wing: "…"
Ordinary Group Leader: "Why are all four of you just posting ellipses? Isn't that a perfectly reasonable point?"
Roxie Vale frowned. The more she thought about it, the more it made sense. But when she saw Tony Stark, Uchiha Madara, Brandon White, and even Angel Yan all replying with nothing but ellipses, her certainty began to waver.
Richest Man: "You can't be serious."
Child of Nature: "Have you considered the possibility… that it isn't about Yan not wanting Karl as her first target—she simply cannot kill him?"
Richest Man: "Exactly. Karl's phantasmal body isn't something technology can destroy. It's basically like Uchiha Obito's Kamui. Immune to physical attacks, immune even to most energy strikes. Worse still, unlike elemental intangibility, his form is permanent, not temporary."
Richest Man: "So tell me—how do you kill that?"
Richest Man: "You don't. You simply can't."
Child of Nature: "And there's more. Declaring war on Death God Karl means openly tearing the Angel Civilization and the Styx apart. Both are incredibly powerful civilizations. Their war would inevitably drag countless innocent star systems into the crossfire."
Child of Nature: "The Angels, bound by justice and order, will not risk that—unless there is no other choice."
Child of Nature: "Karl may not have shown combat power on par with a Heavenly Blade like No. 7, but I highly doubt the Styx Academy is just a simple library of research. There's more beneath the surface."
Child of Nature: "As for Morgana—she's always propped up by Karl. Killing her isn't easy. Slip once, and she'll flee. And don't forget, she's still Keisha's sister. Once the Angel Civilization's Apocalypse King. Even if she must die, it's fitting only that Queen Keisha herself end her life."
Child of Nature: "So, when you add it all up, the real choice is obvious."
Umaru-chan: "So you're saying Hua Ye is weak, easy to kill, and has no way to run?"
Richest Man: "That's about the size of it."
Holy Guardian Left Wing: "…Fine. Yes. That's the truth."
Brandon's analysis left Yan with no excuse to argue. Everything he said was correct.
Karl was impossible to kill. His phantasmal body, his lack of visible crimes Keisha could use as justification, and the collateral damage his war would bring to innocent civilizations made it untenable.
Morgana was slippery, protected by Karl, and her death carried political weight only Keisha could settle.
Which left Hua Ye—no Karl, no black hole engine, no fourth-generation God Body, still clinging to outdated male Angel genes.
If not him, then who?
Invincible East: "Three thousand years ago, Keisha defeated the male Angels but didn't annihilate them. Wasn't that just because of strength at the time?"
Invincible East: "But later, when the Angel Civilization grew vastly stronger, even the sheer numbers of those Scum Angels should have been irrelevant, right?"
Invincible East: "So why wasn't Hua Ye and his lot eradicated then?"
This was what baffled Dongfang Bai. In the Angel War three millennia ago, female Angels had won, but male Angels had not been completely broken. Killing Hua Ye outright would have provoked mutual destruction, leading to terrible losses that would hinder civilization's future.
As king, Keisha would never have taken such a risk.
But once Angel technology advanced, Hua Ye's followers should have posed no threat. Yet Keisha seemed to lose all interest in wiping them out, as if Hua Ye had been forgotten entirely.
Or perhaps… Queen Keisha had simply been faithfully upholding her own words?
(End of Chapter)
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