American comics: Praising the sun, starting from Gotham!

Gotham.

The back alley where Tech Dracula is located.

This back alley was bustling with activity, like a carnival.

Xiu En withdrew the Golden Crow Divine Fire from his body and hovered in mid-air.

He lowered his head, the four words "I am the sun" that he had prepared stuck in his throat, finally turning into a confused "Huh?"

The scene below resembled a bullying contest where the opposing forces were not evenly matched.

However, the bullied party is now desperately baring its fangs, trying to scare away even one of the attackers.

"Let me show you, you rats living in the sewers, what true light really is!"

Joestar was shirtless, and his already hard muscles now gleamed with a white light.

He simply kept swinging his fists and yelling "Ora!"

Each punch produced a low, whistling sound as it struck the face of the technologically advanced Dracula who was trying to defend himself with some kind of energy shield.

"This is it! To praise the sun! Euler!"

The fists rained down like pile drivers, and the vampire, who claimed to be invincible after absorbing particles from the collider, was powerless to resist.

"Ora ora ora ora! Ora!"

As Joestar roared, his church brothers behind him also swung their fists and carried out a brutal physical exorcism on the newly converted vampires.

In reality, that technological Dracula was not weak at all.

At that moment, his chest was actually flashing with a red light like a reactor; that kind of energy, in a one-on-one fight, would be enough to melt a police car into molten iron.

Unfortunately, he really did see a ghost today.

Whenever he tries to gather energy to fight back, a faint golden aura emanates from Joestar to defend him.

This seemingly thin layer of light actually produced a magical effect similar to mirror reflection in the face of attacks carrying curses or negative energy.

"My particle stream! I endured the nausea and forcibly converted so many vampires, how is this possible! This shouldn't be!"

The vampire screamed incessantly, not only because his nose was broken, but also because he discovered that the death ray he had just conjured had burned his own hand.

"Nothing is impossible! Because of my heart! My heart and my actions are as clear as a mirror! Everything I do is just!"

Joestar then delivered an uppercut, giving the vampire a taste of what it meant to physically ascend to heaven on this moonless night due to smog.

Looking at the vampire whose face had become somewhat inhumanly deformed after a brief moment of suspended animation, Xiu En felt that if he didn't make his appearance soon, he would really lose the chance to steal the show.

"cough."

Xiuen adjusted his posture in mid-air to make his backlight angle look more majestic, and then turned the brightness knob two turns to the right.

In an instant, the dark alleyway was as bright as day.

This light is a miracle in the dead of night for humans, but for the few vampire minions who are still barely holding on, it's like being thrown into the Sahara Desert at midday.

These vampires, already at their last gasp, turned into ashes scattered by the wind.

As long as the technologically advanced Dracula was covered in a layer of energy, he could barely hold on.

"sun!"

Joestar was the first to react.

Although his eyes were watering from the glare, he didn't close them. With an excited expression, he abandoned the half-dead vampire leader, knelt down, and made a gesture of praise towards Xiu En in the air.

"Great Lord! Your faithful cleaners are purifying your defilement!"

As the high priest knelt down, the dozens of burly men behind him, their brows slick with sweat, also knelt down in unison. The sound of their synchronized kneeling even caused a slight tremor in the ground.

The only surviving technological Dracula lay on the ground, and now, if he moved even slightly in the light, it was like being slowly tortured, and he could only let out a final groan.

"Are all religious activities in Gotham this radical?"

Shuen was too lazy to joke with vampires.

A brighter flash of light followed.

The once invincible vampire is now reduced to a lingering smell of burnt carbon in the air and a particle core on the ground that is still glowing red.

"Click".

Xiu bent down and picked up the core, which was still buzzing from the physical collision, with two fingers.

This thing feels a bit tingly to the touch and is a deadly source of radiation for ordinary people, but in Xiu En's hands, it's just a popping candy.

Xiu En casually tossed it aside and then stuffed it into his trench coat pocket.

The light in the alley gradually softened, no longer dazzling, but still enough to see every face clearly.

Listen up, big guys.

Xiu En's shoes sank into the ashes left by the vampire. He looked at the burly men kneeling on the ground, his tone tinged with a helpless sternness.

"While I really enjoyed the rhythm you used to fight the vampires, you're made of flesh, not steel. Next time you encounter a monster of this level, don't charge in without what I've given you. If all my followers die, who will praise the sun?"

"host!"

Joestar looked up.

"We don't want to die. But this is our home, and every apartment building here houses people we need to protect. Some are their fathers and mothers, some are their children."

Joestar pointed to the circle of people behind him.

"If we back down tonight, those monsters will climb through the windows. For our families, for this shadow that the sun has yet to reach, we must be the ones who hold up the torch."

Xiu En paused for a moment.

"Alright."

Shuen sighed and, just like Joestar, sat down on a piece of broken cement by the roadside.

"Given your current physical condition and beliefs, I cannot bestow a personal blessing upon each of you like Joestar did. But I can plant a seed within each of you."

Xiu En opened his palm, and a wisp of extremely fine but sharp Gengxin metal energy danced at his fingertips.

"This thing will ensure that you bunch of idiots won't get ripped through by a single claw the next time you encounter a monster, and it might even make your muscles a bit tougher."

Xiu En lowered his voice.

"But... it will hurt. It's not just the pain of a needle prick; it's the metal element that burns inside your lungs. With every breath you take, it will feel like you're inhaling extremely fine metal powder, especially on rainy days. That feeling of blades scraping inside your lungs will stay with you."

"It's a terrible experience, it might even be a form of slow suicide, believe me, it's painful."

Xiu En looked at them.

"I haven't found the perfect way to control it yet, so this isn't a blessing, it's more like a curse. Now, who would want it?"

No one hesitated.

"Praise the sun!"

"Give us strength, sir!"

These men, who usually work all day at the docks for a few dozen dollars, stretched out their calloused hands.

They didn't know what it meant for "golden energy to enter the body" or what side effects were. All they knew was that this thing could give them power, and with power, they wouldn't be afraid of those monsters.

"In the West End, pain is the cheapest thing."

A man in dirty overalls shouted that he had broken a front tooth.

"I'd give you my lungs if you could win!"

"What a bunch of lunatics."

Xiu En's lips twitched, then he couldn't help but burst out laughing.

"But I like it."

Golden light spread out in Xiu En's hand, turning into dozens of tiny streams of light that entered the chests of everyone kneeling on the ground.

Even though they were mentally prepared, the moment that sharp, metallic aura belonging to Shao Hao's killing intent entered their bodies, a suppressed growl and gasps still erupted from the crowd.

Several of the weaker young men were in so much pain that they convulsed and slammed their foreheads hard against the concrete floor. It was their physiological instinct to fight against the invasion of the foreign object, and every alveolus in their lungs was screaming.

But no one begged for mercy.

A few minutes later, Joestar helped up the first believer, who was pale and covered in cold sweat but had an unprecedentedly fierce look in his eyes.

This guard team, which didn't even have a name, has undergone a qualitative change.

Although their lungs ached, the tingling yet firm strength deep within their bones made them feel, for the first time in this dark city, just as tough as they were.

Xiu En stood at the alley entrance, watching the group of believers struggling to adapt to the golden energy, and muttered something under his breath.

"At least your metal energy won't grow as wildly as mine, so it shouldn't hurt too much."