The sun dipped toward the horizon, painting the sky in shades of fiery red. The ripples on the ocean surface caught the light, turning the sea into a vast expanse of burning orange.
Ren Kurogane lay comfortably in a reclining chair, rocking slowly. His eyes held a trace of blankness, a hint of bewilderment. It had been a day since the "fist-bump" with Scientific Ren, and he still hadn't fully processed it. It wasn't that he couldn't accept his other-world selves, or the fact that he'd repeatedly missed the correct way to use his "Gold Finger."
His bewilderment was simple: he didn't know what to do next.
"I'm invincible. Now what?"
Everything he had done before was to get stronger. Now that he had achieved absolute power, he felt a strange vacuum of purpose.
Aboard the Giant Gorge, Morgana rested her chin in her hands, looking thoroughly depressed. Ever since she blocked Earth from joining the Angels yesterday, Qiangwei had blacklisted her entirely. Even when she came to visit, Qiangwei refused to see her.
"Sigh~ My Qiangwei, why can't you understand my painstaking efforts?"
"What efforts would those be?" Ren Kurogane's figure appeared beside Morgana out of nowhere. Hearing her mumble, he asked with genuine curiosity.
Morgana gave him a disdainful side-eye. "My efforts are not something a weakling who just stepped onto the path of a God Body could comprehend."
Having said that, Morgana prepared to leave, intending to head into the city to buy some of Qiangwei's favorite snacks to coax her.
"What?!" Morgana's expression shifted. She tried to communicate with her Dark Plane again, only to find she still couldn't crack the local space to open a wormhole.
Ren's voice drifted from behind her: "Now, now, don't be in such a hurry."
He leaned against the railing, ignoring Morgana's "I've seen a ghost" expression. Watching the sun vanish beneath the waves, he spoke as if to himself: "Say, why do all you 'gods' come to our Earth to stir up trouble? If you want to fight, you could easily go into deep space."
"You even blocked Earth from joining the Angel's Order of Justice. To be honest, even if we joined, it shouldn't be a big deal for a god of your level, right?"
"You're doing this solely to limit the growth of the Angels and the growth of Earth."
"Of course, in the universe, the strong eat the weak. That's normal. I chose the Angels because I was weak; I needed a powerhouse to shelter me and buy me time to grow."
Morgana gave up on leaving. She leaned back against the railing, mirroring his posture, and laughed. "You see things clearly. If I'm not mistaken, once you have the power, you'll definitely backstab the Angels, won't you?"
"I won't," Ren chuckled.
"Heh." Morgana's cold sneer was full of disbelief. She didn't believe him for a second. If Ren had the ability, he wasn't the type to stay subservient.
"Don't smile like that; it gives people the illusion that you actually understand me." Ren was smiling too, but his smile carried a sharp chill.
"So, you're standing before me today, making no effort to hide your killing intent... do you think you've 'made it'?" Morgana challenged. "If your trump card is this space-lock, then I can only say you've vastly underestimated a Fourth-Generation God Body."
"Space-lock?" Ren held up a finger. The space at his fingertip warped and shifted continuously. In his hands, space itself seemed like a mere toy.
Morgana's pupils dilated. Her mouth hung open slightly as a moment of sheer shock washed over her. She had spent her entire life researching space; her masterpiece was the Spacetime Gene. She thought she was ahead of everyone, but Ren's display right now was basically rubbing her face in the dirt.
"Kid! What the hell happened to you in the last twenty-four hours?"
"What happened? Nothing much." Ren withdrew his hand, looking Morgana in the eye. "Demon, you've been pestering Qiangwei lately, and we didn't say anything because you're actually good to her. You even gave her resources for an upgrade."
"But your stunt yesterday was too much. Threatening our Earth... I really didn't like that."
"Oh? And what do you intend to do about it?" Morgana sneered, though she was now on high alert.
"I intend to... destroy you!"
Murderous intent erupted from Ren's eyes. Swirls of primordial Xuanhuang energy surged from his body, shooting into the sky. In a flash, he was in front of Morgana, his energy-fist slamming directly into her abdomen!
A split second later, a dark blur swept past. Ren dodged back, creating distance. A massive demonic claw had appeared to shield Morgana.
Morgana looked pale. The spot where Ren had struck her was actually injured. She was a Fourth-Generation God Body! Even if she wasn't quite at Holy Kaisha's level, she was one of only three such beings in the known universe. How could she be hurt by a "nobody" like Ren who had just upgraded to a First-Generation body?!
"You look surprised." Ren's expression was calm, still wearing that faint smile. "Surprised that you can get hurt? Or surprised that I can hurt you?"
With a wave of her hand, Morgana sent her demonic claws lunging at Ren. He didn't move an inch, but the moment the claws were about to touch him, he appeared beside her, his arm draped casually over her shoulder.
Morgana's mind reeled. She hadn't detected any movement—it was as if he had simply been there.
"Micro-wormhole? No! No spatial fluctuations."
"Too fast? But the Dark Plane has no record!"
Ren said lazily, "Don't bother. You won't figure it out."
"Hmm?" Morgana turned her head; they were close enough to feel each other's breath. Ren reached out and tilted Morgana's chin up, looking at her intimately. "Why don't you try scanning me with your Dark Plane system?"
Morgana didn't hesitate. Her eyes turned white as she scanned Ren's data. After a frantic effort, her anger turned to pure shock.
"How is this possible?! I can't identify your genes!"
She was utterly floored. According to the scan, the Ren Kurogane standing before her was just a... normal human?
"That's impossible!" She screamed, immediately connecting to Demon No. 1, utilizing its full computing power to "define" Ren.
Half an hour later.
Ren yawned. "Auntie, how's the math coming along? When are we getting a result?"
"AUNTIE?!"
The previously focused Morgana instantly lost her cool. She pointed at Ren and screamed, "Who are you calling Auntie, you brat?! If you don't need your eyes, donate them! This Queen is only 30,000 years old! I'm in my prime!"
Ren blinked at her outburst. I guess age really is the ultimate trigger for women, even the immortal ones, he thought. He replied, "Alright, that's not the point. My legs are getting tired; I just want to know when you'll be done."
Morgana frowned, her eyes turning white again. "Quiet. The Queen is calculating."
Sigh. Ren shook his head. Even Morgana couldn't calculate his strength.
"Invincibility is so lonely."
"Martial God Nebula!"
Vast amounts of Xuanhuang energy erupted from Ren's body. Within seconds, a titan composed of this primordial energy manifested aboard the Giant Gorge. An Extra-Dimensional Energy level exceeding 5.0 Black Holes fully exploded, causing Morgana's brain to short-circuit for several seconds.
"This... this is impossible!" Morgana stared at Ren, her spirit shattered. "How can such a massive amount of energy exist within a carbon-based lifeform?"
"See? You're surprised again," Ren spread his hands helplessly.
He was currently in his Nebula Form, but unlike the Snow Queen, his physical body was integrated—he was the Nebula. In this state, he didn't have to worry about his physical body being sniped while fighting.
Ren looked down at the wide-eyed Morgana and smiled. "I wonder how many hits a Fourth-Generation God Body can take before it shatters?"
"What?"
BOOM!
Ren fired a burst of energy, blasting Morgana into the sky. Then, countless streaks of Xuanhuang energy followed, striking her body non-stop. Within moments, Morgana had been pounded all the way into outer space.
The Martial God Nebula appeared instantly beside her. The gathered Xuanhuang energy exploded outward!
"AAAAAHHHH!!!"
Morgana's screams echoed through the void. she felt a terrifying energy grinding away at her very existence. She tried to open a wormhole to escape, but the space here was so chaotic that even her supercomputer couldn't calculate a path.
Moments later, Morgana's body was riddled with holes, on the verge of being completely erased by Ren's Xuanhuang Spiral. She couldn't even squeeze out a word. For the first time in millennia, Morgana felt the true arrival of death.
His power only destroys my physical form in the material world... my Dark Plane data is still there. As long as I have resources, I can recover...
With that final thought, Morgana's body was completely annihilated.
Ren used Flying Raijin to return to the Giant Gorge. He dissipated his Nebula Form and ignored his stunned comrades, walking straight back to his room.
Aboard the deck:
Liu Chuang suddenly pinched Zhao Xin's thigh hard, making him yelp in pain. "I can feel the pain. It's not a dream," Liu Chuang muttered.
"Wait, what happened today? Brother Ren just went 'Super God' out of nowhere?" Ge Xiaolun shouted.
"More than 'Super God.' He just rubbed a God into the dirt," Qiangwei said with a faint smile, a strange light flickering in her eyes.
Qi lin turned to Su Xiaoli and Rui Mengmeng. "Ladies, what did you do with him last night?"
Rui Mengmeng shook her head. "Nothing... I was just preparing the data for the God Body upgrade. Sister Xiaoli was doing the same."
Su Xiaoli rubbed her chin and gave a clever grin. "Does it matter what happened?" Seeing their confused looks, she continued, "All we need to know is that our Earth now has a boss who can insta-kill a Fourth-Generation God. From now on, those aliens will have to think twice before bullying us!"
The group was struck by a wave of realization, followed by pure joy. "Yeah! With Brother Ren here, those cosmic 'Great Gods' can't just push us around!" Ge Xiaolun jumped up in excitement. The weight of two months of oppression had vanished.
"Brother Ren is the boss!"
"Brother Ren is the boss!"
Meanwhile, Ren lay on his bed, his consciousness in the Dark Plane, redesigning his Astral Weapon System. With a vast pool of Extra-Dimensional energy as his fuel, he didn't have to worry about costs.
He quickly finished constructing his Second-Generation God Body integrated with the energy system and upgraded his constitution immediately. Then, he moved on to the Third-Generation.
"In this universe, the real battle is over Dark Plane data and sub-biological information. To really tangle with the top-tier gods or kill that 'Fart God' Karl, I need the power of a Void Engine," Ren murmured. "But with Queen Kaisha suppressing the main dimension, researching Void tech openly isn't easy..."
Since Holy Kaisha was actually quite a decent person, Ren didn't want to go against her.
"My, I seem to have overheard something interesting!"
Kaisha's voice suddenly rang in Ren's ear. It was full of that "Big Sister" authority, with a hint of teasing. "To think that less than a day after we parted, you, this 'Martial God,' have already killed Morgana to prove your path. You've truly given me a massive surprise!"
Ren laughed. "It was just a stroke of good luck."
And how could it not be? He'd met his other self and gained a Nebula-level power that could crush a Fourth-Generation God.
"Well, whatever happened, your strength isn't a lie," Kaisha said. "So? Are you still willing to join my Order of Justice?"
"Of course!"
Just as Ren was about to agree, another voice sounded. "Don't be in such a hurry to join the Angels. My Styx Galaxy can give you everything you want—and more than the Angels ever could."
In the City of Angels.
Kaisha frowned, her expression cold. "Karl? You're finally ready to tear off the mask and face me?"
Styx Galaxy, Dead Song Academy.
The phantom Karl gave a faint smile. "How can you say 'tear off the mask'? I merely wish to recruit a powerful individual."
"Great God Ren Kurogane, as long as you are willing to cooperate with me, I will share all my research on Void Engines with you. Furthermore, I will provide every resource necessary for you to upgrade to a Fourth-Generation God Body!"