Chapter 123: The Return of Demigod Xi Nian
Washington D.C., on the rooftop of a residential building.
A burly man strolled out to his balcony with a beer in hand, sipping as he gazed absentmindedly into the night sky.
"Sigh… it's been almost two months now. Why hasn't the Silver-Haired Goddess appeared again?" Instructor Rott muttered to himself.
Ever since that battle against Abomination, the superhero known as the Silver-Haired Goddess hadn't been seen in Washington—or anywhere in the world.
For Instructor Rott, her number one fan and the founder of several online fan clubs, this was a heavy blow.
Even the pay raise at his school this month hadn't lifted his spirits.
Glug, glug, glug.
Gripping the balcony rail, he tilted his head back and downed the rest of his beer.
Just then, a cool silver glow spilled from above.
The dark clouds in the distance parted, revealing a brilliant new moon high in the night sky.
Rott's gaze instinctively turned upward. At that moment, his pupils trembled violently as though an earthquake shook them.
He saw it.
A tall, slender figure streaking rapidly across the city skyline, soaring higher and higher toward the endless night and the silver moon above.
Though faint, the details were clear enough: a jacket, dark pants, ordinary black sneakers, a familiar-looking backpack slung over their shoulders. Most striking of all was the cap pulled low, unable to hide the long silver-white hair streaming behind, glowing faintly with divine light.
"The Silver-Haired Goddess! You're back!!" Rott choked and spat out his beer, shouting to the heavens with tears in his eyes:
"Go save the world! I'll always support you!!"
As if hearing his cry, the figure in the sky faltered for a moment before quickly regaining balance. With a sharp tug upward, they vanished swiftly into the high clouds.
…
At a thousand meters above ground, the city stretched brilliantly beneath.
Xi Nian, in his demigod state, surged forward through the night wind.
In his right hand he gripped the Lasso of Truth. The golden rope whipped and twined through the clouds above, anchoring him and propelling him like a dragon darting through the sky.
From the half-zipped backpack on his shoulders, a tiny orange head poked out—Xiao Huang. Inside the bag as well, sealed in a glass jar, floated Jarro the starfish.
Xiao Huang squinted stubbornly into the gale, her little eyes barely able to stay open, but her head refused to duck back inside.
"It's been so long since we've flown freely like this," Jarro's voice echoed in his mind.
"…I think someone spotted me just now." Xi Nian twitched at the corner of his mouth, but didn't dwell on it. He still wore a black mask beneath his cap, leaving only his bright eyes exposed.
…
Every night of kissi--practice was finally paying off.
Xi Nian now had far greater control over his demigod form than before. Though his hair still turned silver-white, he no longer lost control or accidentally destroyed things around him.
Of course, his command over divine power was still far from Diana's mastery. He couldn't yet transform appearances or turn invisible at will.
There was something else, too.
Since the battle with Darkseid's forces, Diana's weapon—the very Lasso of Truth in his hands—seemed to have awakened under his supercharged demigod state. It now pulsed with greater spirit and power than before.
That was why he brought it tonight.
The Lasso of Truth.
Not as destructive in combat as the Bracelets of Submission or the God Killer Sword, but in terms of versatility and utility, unmatched.
…
Less than ten minutes later.
Xi Nian arrived at a large car wash in Queens, New York—the exact address sent to his phone.
Noticing armed gang members patrolling inside and outside, some even arguing loudly, Xi Nian avoided the front entrance. Withdrawing the lasso, he descended silently onto the roof of an empty building within the lot.
"Jarro, help me locate someone," Xi Nian whispered.
"Description?" Jarro's thought brushed across his mind.
"Green hair. Young girl. Should stand out easily."
At once, psychic energy rippled outward from the backpack, spreading across the entire car wash complex.
Jarro was unbelievably useful. No wonder even Batman had shown rare reluctance parting with him days ago.
"Found her. Left side building, third floor, last room," Jarro reported quickly—then hesitated. "Wait… she noticed me. And her condition… it's not right."
Swish—
Even as Jarro spoke, Xi Nian shot across the rooftop like a silver-black flash. He flipped down to the third-floor window of the designated room without a sound. None of the gang members below noticed a thing.
The window was shut tight.
Breaking it would make noise. Instead, Xi Nian reached back into his bag and lifted Xiao Huang.
Understanding instantly, the little Flerken opened her mouth, several sharp-toothed tendrils whipping out to swallow the window frame whole. Only a faint click sounded as Xi Nian slipped inside without hindrance.
The entire maneuver was so smooth it looked rehearsed countless times.
Jarro thought to himself: this boy has real talent for this line of work.
The room was about thirty square meters, completely dark. On the bed lay a small-framed girl.
Sensing the intrusion, she didn't rise. Instead, with a faint twitch of her finger, a fruit knife flew up from beneath the bed, its blade stabbing straight toward Xi Nian's waist.
Xi Nian reacted instantly, clapping his hands together to catch the blade mid-air, breaking into a cold sweat. "Polaris! It's me!" he hissed.
"Why… not use the front door… idiot…" Lorna Dane scolded weakly from the bed.
Even from her words, her frailty was obvious. Each sentence came in broken gasps, as though speaking drained her completely.
Xi Nian had found something strange earlier—Lorna's message had ended with "stars" instead of her usual self-styled title "boss."
Now he understood why.
She was weak.
Far weaker than he had ever seen her before.
[Please give powerstones if you're enjoying the story.
500 stones = 1 extra chapter
patreon com/GuessMyName33 for advanced chapters]