He was selling gashapon toys in Marvel Studios, and at the beginning, Tony turned into Kuuga.

The moment the 72-hour countdown reached zero, a hole was burned through the ozone layer over New York.

It's not a meteorite, and it's not a beam of light.

It is a foot.

A giant foot covered in deep purple organic armor stepped straight down from above the clouds, landing on a deserted wasteland thirty kilometers north of Manhattan Island.

The seismic waves spread in all directions from the point of impact, and the glass curtain walls of the entire city of New York cracked collectively within two seconds.

On the rooftop of the Avengers headquarters, everyone looked up towards the north.

"...That's it?"

Star-Lord was the first to speak.

It wasn't that he was arrogant; he was genuinely confused.

According to the information provided by Sarah, Galactus is a physical manifestation of cosmic energy, so large that planets can lose sunlight in his shadow.

But who is this person in front of me?

One hundred meters.

It's at most a little over a hundred meters.

Standing on the New York skyline, it's shorter than the Empire State Building and about the same height as the Statue of Liberty.

His entire body was covered in deep purple organic armor, and the iconic horned crown on his head gleamed metallically in the sunlight. The energy core on his chest emitted a dim orange-red light.

dim.

The light was actually dim.

"He's not full." Sarah squatted on the edge of the rooftop, a kitchen knife lying across her knees, her amber pupils fixed on the purple figure in the north.

"What do you mean?" Tony turned his head.

"Galactus's size is directly proportional to the energy he consumes," Sarah said calmly.

"The last time he devoured a planet was eight hundred years ago, and he has been consuming its existing reserves for the past eight hundred years."

"So the current version of him is a scaled-down version."

"Fuck." Rocket poked half its body out from under Greymon's armor. "A scaled-down version? How big is the full-power version then?"

"You wouldn't want to know."

On the northern wasteland, Devourer of Stars took his second step, and the earth cracked with radiating ravines beneath his feet.

He stopped.

Then, a voice exploded.

[At this point, I hope readers will remember our domain name 12199.99]

It wasn't spoken, but rather poured directly into the consciousness of every intelligent life form.

**"Noreen."**

Those two words echoed in their minds, and everyone simultaneously clutched their temples.

Star-Lord nearly tumbled off the roof, and Rocket, the entire raccoon, shrank into the claws of the Tyrannosaurus Rex.

"What a lousy megaphone..." Pietro gasped for breath, leaning on the lightning rod, blood streaming down his nose.

"He's calling out the name of the Silver Surfer." Sarah stood up, gripping the kitchen knife even tighter.

**"Norline Rad. Come back."**

The second call was louder than the first.

The shockwave of consciousness spread out from the direction of Galactus, causing the satellite dish on the roof of the Avengers headquarters to vibrate and hum. Coulson's coffee cup slipped from his hand and shattered into seven pieces on the ground.

No one responded.

The face of Galactus, hidden behind the armored mask, remained expressionless. However, the orange-red light from his energy core flickered twice.

That was anger.

**"traitor."**

Third tone.

This time it wasn't a call to action, it was a verdict.

Devourer of Stars raised his right hand, palm down, aimed at the ground beneath his feet.

An unseen force poured down from his palm, and the moment it touched the ground, the soil, rocks, groundwater, and all matter began to decompose.

It wasn't destroyed, it was absorbed.

The ground within a two-kilometer radius caved in at a speed of thirty meters per second, and matter transformed into streams of visible golden particles, which were swallowed up by the gravitational field of the Devouring Star Palm.

He started eating.

"He's draining the atrium's energy!" Jane's bracelet alarmed frantically, the data on the holographic panel scrolling so fast it was impossible to read a single line.

"At the current absorption rate, the core of the Central Plains will be completely depleted in forty-six hours!"

"Forty-six hours?" Tony's jaw tightened.

"That's because he hasn't eaten enough. Once he draws enough initial energy from the Midgard to return to his normal size, this time will be shortened to..."

"Two hours," Sarah finished Jane's sentence.

The rooftop was silent for a second.

Then Tony laughed.

It wasn't a wry smile; it was the kind of smile a genius gives before revealing their hand at the gambling table.

"Good news, everyone."

He pulled something out from behind his back and held it up in front of everyone.

That was the core of the Kangzhi Chair—the multifaceted crystal that he had worked on for over sixty hours in the underground laboratory.

But it has changed.

The dark gray polyhedron, which was originally locked by 472 layers of high-dimensional encryption, now appears as a transparent amber gold. Inside, there are 24 perfectly symmetrical facets rotating, and each facet floats with intricate high-dimensional energy equations.

Twenty-four faceted crystal.

"You cracked it?" Doctor Strange put away his cloak and took two steps.

"At the forty-third minute and seven seconds of the sixty-eighth hour." Tony tossed the crystal up and caught it steadily.

"The coding logic of this thing is arranged in a high-dimensional reverse time sequence. Jarvis and I argued for a full thirty hours before we figured out its operation rules."

"And then?" Jane's voice trembled with anxiety.

"Then I discovered something very interesting."

Tony gripped the crystal, and dark gold armor spread from his arms throughout his body. The Amadam Spirit Stone pulsed at his waist, symbiotes writhed beneath the armor, and runes appeared on his shoulder armor.

Kamen Rider Stark Black Hole Heat Stream Form's full armor is donned in three seconds.

But this time, there was something extra in his right palm.

Twenty-four crystals were embedded in a miniature black hole generator in the palm of the hand, and amber-gold light spilled out from between the fingers.

"The reason Kang can roam freely across timelines isn't because he's that strong." Tony's voice, filtered through his mask, had a metallic quality.

"It's because he mastered the manipulation of higher-dimensional energy."

"Now, this thing is in my hands."

He raised his right hand, palm facing north towards the purple giant that was devouring the earth.

The amber-gold light gathered from the palm into an extremely thin beam, so thin that it was almost invisible, but wherever the light passed, all the dust in the air was evaporated.

That's not heat; it's the dimension itself collapsing around that ray of light.

"High-dimensional energy output test, output power five percent," Jarvis reported.

"Sir, we recommend conducting a full safety assessment before any actual operation..."

"Evaluate my ass." Tony closed Jarvis's suggestion pop-up.

He turned to look at Sarah.

Sarah stood on the edge of the rooftop, a kitchen knife in her right hand, dark red gourmet cell patterns spreading from her fingertips all the way to her collarbone.

The wind blew her short, gray-blue hair.

The amber vertical pupils reflected the enormous, deep purple figure in the north.

A trace of clear drool clung to the corner of her mouth.

"He wasn't full," Sarah repeated softly, her tone changing.

This is not a statement.

It's about gratitude.

"A chef who hasn't eaten enough happens to encounter ingredients who haven't eaten enough."

She licked her lips.

"A match made in heaven".

"Everyone, move out." Tony's visor snapped shut, and his red compound eyes lit up.

"Target: 40 kilometers to the north."

Operation codename: Mealtime.

Pietro's golden lightning exploded at his ankle, and Wanda's staff glowed with a dark red light. Vision floated into the air, and the four Infinity Stones lit up one after another. Hulk's skin glowed with golden light, and his magnificent robes unfurled behind him. Steve formed a hand seal, flames erupting from his fingertips. The black aura on Frank's right arm surged three times.

Doctor Strange spun the drive on his belt, and dark red knight armor rose from beneath his feet.

Darcy patted Greymon's head, and Greymon let out a low growl, the Speed ​​Force crystal at the tip of its tail vibrating.

Rocket jumped onto Tyrannomon's back, took out two rocket launchers from his backpack, and slung them over his shoulder.

Star-Lord took a deep breath, drew his iron sword, and the rusty blade gleamed with a hazy, reddish hue in the sunlight.

"Fuck."

He hoisted the sword onto his shoulder.

"I'm being used as a tool again."

Sarah was the last to move.

She twirled the Melker knife in her hand, the blade making a soft buzzing sound as it sliced ​​through the air.

Dark red gourmet cell patterns covered the entire blade.

"Dinner is ready."

---

Chapter 405: One knife penetrates the soul, swallows the star and sashimi

The planet Devourer is feeding.

His palm was aimed at the earth, and the ground within a five-kilometer radius had sunk into a giant funnel, with matter turning into a stream of golden particles that flowed continuously into his arm.

The dim energy core in his chest was 20% brighter than it had been five minutes ago.

He is recovering.

Then a gray afterimage cut in from his blind spot at a 90-degree angle.

Sarah.

Former Silver Surfer.

She did not revert to her silver shell, nor did she mobilize any cosmic energy.

She relied on the pure physical functions modified by the Gourmet Cells, plus the residual Speed ​​Force that Pietro had injected in advance, to accelerate to Mach 3 in 0.7 seconds from the bunker two kilometers away.

He raised the cleaver above his head.

The Star Devourer sensed it.

**"Norline?"**

He turned his head much faster than Sarah had anticipated. Even as a scaled-down version, the reaction speed of a cosmic being was still unmatched by any Midgard creature.

But he turned his head in the wrong direction.

He turned left.

Because Sarah's afterimage remained on the left side.

The real Sarah swooped up from the right blind spot, skimming past his calf armor, the blade of the cleaver slicing across the armor surface.

laugh--!

The dark red cut extended from the outside of Galactus' right calf to the back of his knee, less than a millimeter deep, but the organic armor surface around the cut was covered with a dense network of dark red spiderweb patterns.

The erosion of food cells.

**"you--!"**

The shockwave from Galactus's consciousness exploded, sending Sarah tumbling three times. However, she used a kitchen knife to slow herself down by stabbing it into the surface of her armor in mid-air, and then used the force to propel herself away.

The significance of that strike lies not in causing harm.

It's about letting him know—your employee is now working for someone else.

"Signal confirmed! Sarah's first strike has hit!" Jane's voice came through the communication channel.

"Everyone must comply!"

Tony was the first to rush out.

Kamen Rider Stark's dark gold armor gleamed metallically in the sunlight. The twenty-four crystals in his right palm spun faster, their amber-gold light surging.

He did not follow the training plan and had Vision attack the first three layers first.

Because he had an extra card in his hand.

"Jarvis, high-dimensional energy output, 30%."

"Sir, a 30% load will cause the crystal core temperature to exceed the critical range within six seconds..."

Six seconds is enough.

Tony raised his right hand.

What shot out from the palm was not a beam of light, but an almost transparent, twisted ripple. Wherever the ripple passed, the air was compressed into another dimension.

The ripple struck Galactus's chest.

The six layers of cosmic energy shield lit up simultaneously.

The first layer is broken.

It didn't crack slowly; it shattered instantly, the blue energy fragments turning into dust and dissipating.

The second layer—it shattered.

The third layer—it shattered.

The fourth layer of surface developed large cracks and then shattered within two seconds.

Four floors.

One strike, four layers.

In the training ground, everyone tried their best but could only break through four layers of defense in seventeen seconds before Tony blasted them through with a single palm strike.

"Fuck!" Rocket jumped off Tyrannosaurus's back. "You fucking made this thing in 68 hours?!"

"Genius needs no explanation." Tony's voice came from behind the visor, a metallic echo mixed with undisguised smugness.

But his right hand was shaking.

The temperature of the crystal in my palm had soared to a dangerous level, and the symbiote was hissing uneasily under the high temperature.

"Cooldown will take fifteen seconds," Jarvis's reminder was cold and indifferent.

A 15-second cooling interval.

And Galactus' shield self-repair program has already started.

The blue light on the first layer is re-condensing.

"Relay!" Tony yelled.

Vision's four Infinity Stones lit up simultaneously.

Four beams of energy—red, orange, blue, and purple—precisely struck the fifth layer of the shield.

This time, he doesn't need to tackle all the floors by himself; he only needs to focus his efforts on the last two floors.

The fifth layer withstood the full-power bombardment of the four gems for three seconds, with cracks spreading from the center to the edges.

Hulk's golden form rose from behind Vision. He clasped his hands together, and chanting resounded across the battlefield.

"Great Mighty Heavenly Dragon!"

The golden Buddha's palm and the energy beams of the four gems combined and slammed into the fifth layer of the shield.

boom!

Broken.

Five floors.

Galactus sensed a threat.

"Ants!"

He withdrew his right hand, which was drawing energy from the earth, and instead waved to the Avengers.

An invisible gravitational wave swept across the battlefield.

Steve formed hand seals, and a crimson wall of Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation blocked the way for everyone.

The flame was torn apart in the face of the gravitational waves in 0.4 seconds.

Frank's right arm grew three times its normal size, and the Blacklight virus transformed into a giant flesh shield, blocking everyone's path.

The gravitational wave struck the black light shield, and Frank's feet plowed two twenty-meter-long furrows into the ground, but he withstood it.

"Wanda! Pietro! Now!" Jane's voice boomed from the communication channel.

Wanda raised her bird-headed staff, and the dark red chaotic energy struck the surface of the sixth layer of the shield with pinpoint accuracy.

It's not an attack, it's interference.

The self-repair speed immediately decreased.

Pietro transformed into a golden lightning bolt and rushed to Sarah's side.

The Speed ​​Force membrane expanded outward from his body, enveloping Sarah entirely.

"superior!"

Sarah burst forth with the speed force, her short, grey-blue hair flying backward in the airflow.

The cleaver was held horizontally in front of his chest, the blade parallel to the surface of the sixth layer of the shield.

It's not a chop.

It's a cut.

The moment the blade touched the shield's surface, dark red gourmet cell patterns spread from the blade to the entire contact surface of the shield.

Hiss hiss hiss hiss hiss hiss!

The sound wasn't from metal rubbing together; it was the sound of organic matter being cut by molecular-level sharp edges.

Sarah's cleaver, enhanced by the Speed ​​Force, eroded the sixth layer of the shield at a speed of 45 millimeters per second.

"Repair program started!" Jane shouted.

The sixth layer of the shield began to repair itself, but Wanda's chaotic interference wave reduced the repair speed by 43%.

not enough.

The repair rate is still slightly higher than the erosion rate.

"Star-Lord!"

"I know! Don't rush me!"

Star-Lord raised the iron sword above his head and clenched his molars.

The Iron Sword of Causality. It can be caught bare-handed 100% of the time.

He swung his sword in the direction of Devouring Star.

The rusty blade sliced ​​through the air.

The core energy body of the star-devouring machine—the light core hidden deep within the six layers of protective shell—trembled violently.

It has no hands, no feet, and no limbs that can "catch the sword".

But the law of cause and effect is illogical.

The energy of the sixth layer of the shield was forcibly switched from self-repair mode to "defense switch response" mode.

The energy flow of the shield stopped for a moment.

one second.

A gap of a full second.

Sarah's vertical pupils contracted to the size of two needles.

Her right arm muscles bulged, and dark red lines of gourmet cells covered every inch of skin from her fingertips to her shoulder blade.

The angle of the cleaver was changed from a flat slice to a 45-degree angled cut.

He stabbed it in.

laugh--! ! !

The sixth layer of the shield was cut open from the side, with a 40-centimeter-long gash.

Dark red cuts spread across the bright white shield surface, and the erosion patterns of gourmet cells extended outwards from the cuts.

The shield began to tremble.

The self-repair process was running at full speed, but Wanda's interference and the dual erosion of the Gourmet Cells made the repair rate far behind the rate of damage.

The incision is widening.

Forty centimeters. Sixty centimeters. One meter.

"Tony! Is the cooling down complete?" Jane's voice was almost a roar.

"just."

Tony raised his right hand.

The twenty-four crystals in my palm regained their amber-gold glow.

"High-dimensional energy output, 50%."

"Sir, this load factor will—"

"Shut up."

Transparent, distorted ripples shot out from the palm, precisely hitting the cut Sarah had made on the sixth layer of the shield.

High-dimensional energy flowed in through the incision.

The sixth layer of shield began to crumble from the inside.

The surface of the bright white sphere was covered with dense, dark red cracks, which spread in all directions from the cut. The entire shield emitted a sharp screech like shattering glass.

Then--

Broken.

All six floors were destroyed.

For the first time, the energy core on the chest of the planet Devourer was exposed, its orange-red light running naked in the sunlight of the central courtyard.

Sarah's vertical pupils reflected the light core.

She saw it.

Those acupoints.

Every energy node recorded in the introduction to food is pulsating on the surface of that light core.

The culinary cell patterns on the cleaver gleamed brightly.

Sarah did not hesitate.

She rushed in.

---

Chapter 406 Why Run?! A New World Opens!

The moment Sarah's cleaver pierced the surface of Galactus's core, the entire battlefield changed color.

It's not a metaphor.

It is a spectral shift at the physical level.

The moment the Star Devourer's energy core came into contact with the Gourmet Cell, it let out a howl that shattered the clouds.

That howl wasn't from anger.

It hurts.

A being of cosmic scale felt pain.

Sarah's Food Point Technique precisely hit three key points on the surface of the light core.

Dark red gourmet cell patterns spread inward from these three nodes, beginning to "decompose" the planet-devouring energy cycle system at a fundamental level.

"She's cutting off his core meridians!" Jane stared at the data on her bracelet, her voice cracking.

"The energy cycle rate has dropped by 14%! No, 21%! It's still falling!"

Galactus has gone mad.

His massive body suddenly leaned back, and he slammed his right hand into his chest—he wanted to knock Sarah off his core.

"Stop him!" Tony's metallic voice boomed.

Vision reacted first. The Space Stone and the Power Stone were activated simultaneously, creating a purple-blue spatial barrier between Galactus's right hand and chest.

The giant's hand slammed into the barrier.

The barrier shattered.

But the barrier held for 0.3 seconds.

In that 0.3 seconds, Hulk's golden form rose from beneath Galactus's feet, his hands gripping Galactus's right wrist tightly.

"Great Mighty Heavenly Dragon!"

A burst of Buddhist light forced the Devourer of Stars' right hand against his own abdomen.

Frank opened the Eight Gates Formation to the View Gate, and the Blacklight Virus Giant Blade extended fifteen meters from his right arm, slashing at the left finger joint of Devouring Star.

A half-meter-deep crack appeared on the surface of the organic armor on the left hand of the Star Devourer, from which dark purple energy blood seeped out.

"Not deep enough!" Frank roared.

"Get out of the way!"

Tony's dark gold armor left an amber trail as he swooped down from Galactus's right shoulder, the twenty-four crystals in his palm operating at full power.

The high-dimensional distorted ripples struck Galactus's left wrist in a linear manner.

The organic armor crumbled like paper in the face of higher-dimensional energy, and Galactus's left hand was severed at the wrist.

The severed purple giant hand slammed into the ground, creating a crater the size of a football field.

**"insect--!!"**

The shockwave of Galactus's consciousness exploded outwards from his head, filling everyone's brains with a bucket of boiling molten lead.

Pietro carried Wanda and retreated three kilometers.

Star-Lord's vision went black and he collapsed to the ground, his iron sword flying far away from his hand.

Rocket fell directly off Tyrannosaurus's back and lay upside down in the pile of rubble.

Only Sarah was unaffected.

Because she is inside Galactus.

The cleaver continued to penetrate deeper into the core, and had already cut open the fourth energy node.

The energy cycle rate of Galactus plummeted to 47 percent.

He is getting weaker.

Moreover, the rate at which it weakens is accelerating.

"Sir." Jarvis's voice came from inside Tony's visor, his tone unusually tense.

"The target is moving northeast."

Tony wiped the blood from the inside of his visor and looked up.

Galactus is running.

A 100-meter-tall cosmic being, with one hand severed and a kitchen knife stuck in its chest, is moving northeast at a speed of two kilometers per second.

He wasn't flying; he was "gliding" using some kind of spatial folding technique, disappearing hundreds of meters with each step.

"He's trying to run! Stop him!"

Vision activated all four Infinity Stones, with the Space Stone attempting to pinpoint Galactus's coordinates.

But the moment the Space Stone's energy touched Galactus's body, it was bounced back by a force from a higher dimension.

"Spatial lock failed." Vision's ice-blue pupils flickered twice.

"The target's inherent spatial manipulation capabilities are one dimension higher than those of the Space Stone."

Galactus was running, and Sarah was still pinned to his chest.

The cleaver had already cut through the sixth node, and the energy cycle rate of the star-devouring entity had dropped below thirty percent.

But Sarah also reached her limit.

The food cells were frantically consuming her biological energy, turning her short, gray-blue hair gray-white, and her skin, which had been covered in dark red spots, became translucent, revealing the blood vessels and muscle fibers beneath her skin.

"Come out!" Sarah's voice came through the comms. "He needs the chair!"

Seats?

What kind of seat?

Tony's mind raced for half a second.

Then he remembered.

The Conqueror Kang possessed an unbreakable spherical chair of time.

Galactus also has it.

In the void, a golden rift tore open the space three hundred meters in front of the star-devourer.

Behind the crack was a giant purple-gold chair floating in the void.

The chair was the size of a three-story villa, and its surface was covered with cosmic inscriptions that were even older than runes. The energy fluctuations it emitted caused all the readings on Jane's bracelet to turn into "ERROR".

Galactus charged toward the chair.

Sarah pulled the cleaver from his chest and jumped down.

She couldn't do any more.

The energy reserves of the gourmet cells have been depleted by 92 percent. If she stays near that core for even one more second, her body will be eaten by her own cells.

Tony gave chase at full speed, and the twenty-four-sided crystal in his palm emitted a final high-dimensional twisting ripple.

It hit the armrest of the seat.

No effect.

The golden inscription flashed, and the high-dimensional energy was absorbed by the seat, leaving not even a scratch on the armrest.

"Fuck!"

New tissue was already growing at the severed wrist of Galactus's left hand. He pounced onto the chair, his massive body shrinking to a size that fit him perfectly.

The cosmic inscriptions on the seat lit up one by one, and a golden energy shield enveloped him.

The transfer has been initiated.

The golden cracks began to shrink.

Just as the rift was about to close, Galactus's consciousness shockwave poured into everyone's minds one last time.

But this time, it wasn't said to them.

**"Stardust."**

Two words.

Then, the golden crack closed.

Galactus disappeared.

All that remained on the battlefield was a giant crater, five kilometers in circumference, with orange-red residual energy steam still rising from its bottom.

Everyone was standing on the edge of the pit.

There was a three-second silence.

"He...ran away?"

Star-Lord was the first to speak, picking up his iron sword from the ground, his tone filled with uncertainty.

"We drove away a cosmic-level god?"

There was silence for another two seconds.

Then Rocket climbed out of the rubble and dusted himself off.

"etc."

A very subtle twitch appeared on Rocket's raccoon face.

"That big purple guy... and that thing he's sitting on..."

He turned to look at Star-Lord.

"Another unbreakable chair?"

Star-Lord's expression froze.

"Do you Midgardians have some kind of chair curse?" Rocket shouted as he climbed onto Tyrannomon's back.

"The last one sitting in the chair was Kang, and he couldn't be broken. The next one sitting in the chair is Devourer of Stars, and he still can't be broken."

"Will the next villain just bring a sofa? Will you all have to go to IKEA to buy equipment?"

No one responded.

It's not because what the Rockets said wasn't funny.

It's because he was absolutely right.

"celebrate."

Tony retracted the visor, revealing a face smeared with sweat and nosebleed.

He extended his right hand towards the crowd and gave a thumbs-up.

Kuuga - Like.

That signature move, born in the cave, was performed once again by a playboy in dark gold armor on the edge of the ruins left by the planet Devourer.

"The central courtyard has been saved."

"For now," Vision added.

Don't spoil the fun.

The entire room fell silent for a second.

Then Wanda was the first to laugh.

Then came Pietro, then Jane, then Darcy, then Coulson.

Star-Lord slung his iron sword over his shoulder and roared to the sky.

Hulk withdrew his Buddha-like aura, transformed back into Dr. Banner, and plopped down on the edge of the pit, not even bothering to straighten his crooked glasses.

Frank leaned against a broken rock, the dark lines on his right arm quieting down, and unusually, he didn't have a cold expression.

Rocket stood on the shoulder armor of Tyrannomon, his two little arms on his hips, and scanned the surrounding ruins.

"You people in the central courtyard are truly pitiful."

Everyone turned to look at him.

"In all my years in the galaxy, I've fought warlords, blown up space pirate flagships, and even clashed with madmen like Ronan."

Rocket's speech quickened, and his fluffy tail swished back and forth behind him.

"But at least I know that tomorrow is still tomorrow."

"And you?"

He gestured to the crowd, encompassing the five-kilometer-wide crater beneath his feet and the still-smoking New York skyline in the distance.

"Today it's Galactus, yesterday it was Kang the Conqueror, the day before yesterday it was Ultron, and the day before that it was the Chitauri."

"Is this what your Midgardian calendar looks like—Monday: Destruction Crisis, Tuesday: Cosmic Invasion, Wednesday: Outer Gods Descend, Thursday: Global Doomsday, Friday: Onward?"

"Tomorrow is too damn far away for you guys."

Groot peeked his head out from between the claws of the Tyrannomon.

"I am Groot."

"Yes, Groot also thinks it's outrageous." Rocket Translator.

Sarah squatted by the pit, placing the kitchen knife horizontally on her knees.

Her hair had turned mostly white, and the dark red lines from her food cells had faded from her skin, revealing her original pale complexion.

But she is alive.

Three hundred and seventy-two attempts to resist failed.

On the 373rd time, she won.

"The sashimi wasn't cut properly." Sarah's voice was hoarse.

"Next time... I'll definitely make the whole meal."

Then she just squatted there, quietly closing her eyes in the sunlight of the courtyard.

……

at the same time.

It is located in an unknown number of dimensions away from the central courtyard.

Li Ang sat under a crooked old locust tree, holding a bowl of spicy soup he had bought from a street stall.

Steaming hot.

The smell of Sichuan peppercorns made him sneeze.

"call……"

He slurped up a mouthful of soup and smacked his lips.

The air in this world is very interesting.

Dry, slightly cool, with an indescribable...heavy feeling.

It's not physical weight; it's something more fundamental.

That feeling is very familiar.

Li Ang put down his bowl, stood up, and dusted off non-existent dust from his Zhongshan suit.

He was outside a seemingly ordinary school, with a low wall and a half-closed iron gate. The school sign had faded characters, but he couldn't be bothered to look at it.

His attention was completely drawn to the commotion coming from the campus.

Om-!

A transparent blast of air surged out from the direction of the school playground, causing the iron gate to slam open with a clang.

Li Ang narrowed his eyes.

He stepped inside.

After walking along a path covered with fallen sycamore leaves and passing a dilapidated-looking school building, the playground came into view.

Two people.

To be precise, it was two young people standing at opposite ends of the playground.

A man wearing a gray hoodie, with the hood covering half his face, was thin and had a relaxed posture. He had his hands in his hoodie pockets and exuded an aura of "I'm bored, but you've messed with me."

Another person, dressed in a dark blue kung fu jacket, stood in a horse stance, pushing his palms forward with a visible transparent vortex in the center of his palms.

gas.

It's not chakra, not magic, not cosmic energy.

It is Qi.

The hoodie-wearing youth pulled his right hand out of his pocket, his index and middle fingers joined together, and a faint blue light shone from the tips of his fingers.

That wasn't an energy blast; it was pure essence condensed from some kind of internal martial arts technique honed over a thousand years.

"Wow——!"

The transparent vortex in the young man's palm shot out first, transforming into a spiral column of air that rushed towards the other side.

The hoodie-wearing youth made a move.

His right foot scraped the ground, and he dodged the column of air to the side, thrusting forward with his index and middle fingers.

A pale blue aura shot out from his fingertips, a wisp smaller than the palm of his hand, light and slow.

The two streams of energy collided in the very center of the playground.

boom!

Centered on the point of impact, the concrete surface of the playground cracked open, creating a spiderweb-like crater with a diameter of five meters.

The shockwave radiated outwards, shattering all the glass windows on the first floor of the teaching building.

Optical wave.

Li Ang, holding a bowl of spicy soup, stood at the corner of the teaching building, watching two young people exchanging barbs on the playground.

The wind blew up the corner of his Zhongshan suit.

He lowered his head and took a sip of soup, a long-lost, heartfelt smile appearing on his face.

"Qi..."

He rolled the word around on the tip of his tongue.

"interesting."

"The art style of this world..."

He pulled the bizarrely designed gashapon machine out of his pocket; its colorful body glittered in the sunlight.

On the playground, neither of the two young men who were playing basketball noticed a man in a Zhongshan suit carrying a bowl of spicy soup at the corner.

Li Ang placed the gashapon machine under the old locust tree, took out a folding sign from another pocket, and snapped it open.

The signboard bore eight large, crookedly written characters—

**"All gashapon toys are non-refundable and non-exchangeable."**