"It's nothing… only that someone doesn't want me interfering with others' fates anymore." Goku pointed toward the sky, his tone flat.
"The… Goddess?" The moment they saw his gesture, Xiao Li and the other women—sharp as ever—understood.
"That's right." Goku gently pinched Xiao Li's soft cheek. "I just noticed the Mohist Juzi is afflicted with a colorless, tasteless poison. He likely doesn't have long. I intended to save him, but that upset the Goddess… so I left in a hurry. If they asked me for help, it would have been awkward to refuse."
"The Mohist Juzi?" Xue Nu's eyes flickered; she glanced, almost imperceptibly, at Yue'er. "He's truly poisoned? Why won't the Goddess let you save him?"
"You already know what I am. Everyone has a destiny, and I've changed far too many of them." Goku shrugged lightly. "Just now she issued a direct warning. The Juzi's death affects the fate of the world to come, so she forbids me from intervening."
"Destiny?" Nongyu studied him, voice soft. "To beings like you, those so-called destinies must feel like a game."
"You're right. To me, it is like a game." Goku smiled without evasion. "But she doesn't see it that way… She's different. Ah—she's here."
A voice, ethereal and beautiful, drifted through the air. An otherworldly woman of peerless grace appeared soundlessly before them. Rainbow silks fluttered; immortal radiance flowed from her. As she arrived, buds burst from branch and vine, and a hundred flowers opened at once—like a celestial maiden walking the mortal dust.
Moonlight eyes widened—Yue Shen, Shao Siming, and the others could not hide their brief astonishment.
"Goku, didn't I tell you not to cause trouble?" the Goddess said gently, though tinged with reproach. "Look at my world now—thrown into chaos by you."
"Goddess." Xiao Li dipped a respectful curtsey.
"You're Goku's wife now," the Goddess answered with a warm smile. "I cannot accept such formality from you."
"Before, you refused every invitation to descend. What changed?" Goku asked, amused.
Behind him, Yue Shen, Shao Siming, and the others felt an impulse they could not control—a reverence that rose from the soul itself. But for Goku's presence shielding them, they might have fallen to their knees. Stranger still, they found no hostility toward this woman; instead, their hearts filled with respect and a faint attachment. The realization shocked them.
"Who is she? Besides Goku, could such a being truly exist?" Yue Shen and the others were shaken to their core.
"If I hadn't come down, who knows what else you would have done to my world," the Goddess said coolly. "I told you not to twist mortal destinies. Yet you've not only altered too many fates—you've even changed the course of my world."
"Fate… and the world itself…" The women exchanged uneasy looks. This was not how ordinary people spoke.
"Oh—you mean Shaoyu?" Goku smiled.
"Xiang Yu—the Hegemon-King—is one of the principal figures of my world," the Goddess replied. "He should have taken his own life at the Wu River. You've changed that, turning him into the sovereign who unifies the realm. By altering his destiny, you've altered history itself. That goes too far." Her voice held real displeasure; compassionate as she was, this she could not condone.
"What does it matter? Isn't it more interesting this way?" Goku remained unruffled.
"From now on, you may not interfere with mortal fate. Mortals have their own paths. We, as gods, should not meddle." Her tone hardened. "You have reached the limit of my world's rules. If not for our acquaintance, I would expel you from this realm."
"You're too rigid," Goku said, rolling his eyes. "You're the realm's Sovereign—do as you please. Why fuss over every little thing?"
Born a true Sovereign, the Goddess bore mission and duty—things the usurping Sovereign Goku had never cared to shoulder. She regarded the beings of her world as her people; he treated the beings of his world as strangers. In his words: "Let them live or die as they will."
Such was the gulf between a heaven-born Sovereign and one who seized divinity. Without that sense of responsibility, Goku could never truly grasp what she felt.
Their exchange left Yue Shen and the others stunned into silence. Gods—standing before them?
"You… are a god?" Da Siming asked at last, her gaze on Goku a mix of awe and turmoil.
Gods belonged to myth. Yet remembering that boundless, incomparable pressure he exuded, they could not dismiss it. Only a god could make the world itself bow.
Zhuan Po and Mie Hun, usually imperturbable, stared wide-eyed. They had sought to assassinate… a god? The thought beggared belief.
Even so, Yue Shen and the others kept a sliver of doubt; they were peerless experts with iron reason. But the miracles they had witnessed from Goku made disbelief difficult.
"Gods are nothing," Yue'er said impishly, hugging Goku's arm. "Big brother Goku could slap one flat."
Goku chuckled and ruffled her hair. "If it helps, think of me as a 'god.' But she—" he nodded toward the Goddess "—is the goddess of your world."
"She… truly is a goddess?" The women looked over again, breath catching. Her beauty was so complete that creation itself seemed dim beside her.
The Goddess inclined her head, then regarded Goku. "As a Sovereign greater than I, why are you interested in these mortals at all?"
"That's hard to explain." Goku's eyes glinted. "Why don't I let you experience it yourself?"
"Experience… it?" A flicker of puzzlement crossed the Goddess's face—pure as new-fallen snow despite her title. The goddess did not… fall in love.
Goku smiled, stepped forward, slipped an arm about her slender waist—and kissed her.
For an instant, her eyes flew wide; her mind went blank. Then she came back to herself and pushed him away.
"What are you doing?" A faint flush colored her perfect features; her heartbeat quickened, a touch flustered. The feeling was utterly new—unwelcome to pride, but not to the heart. Not unpleasant… and oddly hard to let go.
She understood love; in her world she had watched countless tales of sorrow and joy. She envied mortals—their capacity for love. Hers had always been compassion for all beings, not love for one. The suffering of the world pained her; its romances stirred her longing. To avoid sinking into it, she had sealed herself away in solitude.
Until he appeared. She was glad to learn she was not alone—that countless beings like her existed across infinite multiverse.
When her world was attacked and on the verge of collapse, he saved her. Only then did she realize she, too, could love.
"Well? Felt anything?" Goku slipped an arm about her shoulders again, grinning.
The Goddess steadied herself, composure returning. She shook her head—then, barely, nodded.
Goku let it rest. Let her stay by his side and learn in her own time.
Back in the Mechanical City, grief hung heavy.
Watching the Mohist Juzi's breath grow fainter, Ban Dashi and the others grew frantic. Xiao Gao asked urgently as Rong checked the Juzi's pulse, "How is it, Miss Rong? What poison is this?"
Duanmu Rong's expression dimmed. She shook her head. "I've never seen this toxin. It's colorless and tasteless yet lethally potent—bat venom, snake venom, and the venoms of a hundred beasts mixed together. It looks chaotic, but there's method in it."
"It must be a new compound from that poison master," she continued. "At first there are no symptoms. The moment he channels inner energy, the poison silently invades the organs. If you give me time, I may be able to prepare an antidote—but the Juzi doesn't have time."
"Damn it! Are we to watch him die in front of us?" Da Tiechui slammed his fist into the stone wall; shards flew.
"There's only one way to save him now," Duanmu Rong said solemnly.
"It's Brother Goku!" Dao Zhi's eyes lit up. "I'll bring him back right now!" He gathered his lightning step to depart—
"No… need." The Juzi's weak voice stopped him. "I know my own body… It's… too late."
"Juzi!"
"Damn him—of all times to leave, why now?" Da Tiechui cursed, smashing his fist into the wall again.
..
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