"It sounds tempting," Ren Kurogane said flatly. "But I refuse!"
At the Dead Song Academy, the flicker of joy on Karl's face instantly collapsed. Ren's voice continued to echo in his ears.
"Styx Galaxy, right? You attacked Earth this time. When I find the chance in the future, I will definitely return the favor."
Ren intended to hang up the call stylishly, but he quickly realized that Karl's technology was far superior to his own; he had no way to active-disconnect. While he was stuck in that awkward moment, Karl's voice finally vanished.
Then, Kaisha's teasing voice came through.
"Child, you have courage!"
Ren didn't blink. "Actually, I'm not that young." Having absorbed the memories of his other selves, he could honestly say he was an old monster who had lived for over a hundred thousand years!
Kaisha didn't dwell on his words. "So, Great God Ren Kurogane, does this mean you have joined the Angel's Justice?"
Ren hesitated for a moment before responding, "Yes, I've joined."
"Good. I'll have Yan send the Void Engine data to you shortly."
"Huh?" Ren was puzzled. "What's the catch? What do I have to pay?"
In the City of Angels, Kaisha sighed helplessly. "I don't need you to pay anything. Just lend a hand if the Angelic Civilization ever faces a crisis in the future."
With that, she cut the communication, leaving Ren with a head full of question marks. In his current state, he couldn't imagine what kind of "crisis" the Angels could possibly face.
A short while later, Angel Yan appeared on Ren's yacht. "Great God Ren, I'm here to deliver the data."
Clack~
Ren walked out and smiled. "Connect to my Dark Plane system and transfer it directly."
Yan obeyed without a word of protest. The footage of Ren obliterating Morgana had already spread throughout the universe. Even if he only destroyed her physical body, Morgana was a Fourth-Generation God Body. Since Ren had swatted her away like a fly, Yan—a mere Third-Generation—wasn't about to act tough.
Once the transfer was complete, Angel Yan fled Earth as if she were being chased.
Ren chuckled helplessly. "Man, being a 'Great God' is sweet!"
Despite receiving the Void Engine data, Ren didn't start researching it immediately. He had a more pressing matter to attend to.
That night, Giant Gorge Cafeteria.
"Brother Ren! What was that move? A new research breakthrough?"
Everyone stared at Ren with burning curiosity. Knowing he couldn't easily explain the "multiverse" or "Nebula bodies," Ren shook his head. "It's a bit beyond current understanding and too complicated to explain. Simply put: Earth won't be bullied anymore. You have plenty of time to get stronger at your own pace."
Seeing he wasn't going to elaborate, the group didn't dig deeper. As long as it was good for Earth, they were happy. They had a rare celebratory dinner, drinking until they were completely unconscious.
When they woke the next morning, Ren was gone.
"Crap, my head hurts..."
"Brother Ren already went back to the city. What's our plan?"
"The world was hit by the Taotie yesterday. China has the least damage, but other countries are in ruins. The 'Avenger League' over in the US was completely wiped out."
The squad looked at each other and eventually followed Ge Xiaolun to find General Dukao.
"Expand our borders to the rest of the world?" Dukao blinked in shock, then waved his hands dismissively. "No, no, no! Now is not the time for large-scale wars. Weren't you going to upgrade your God Bodies? Go do that. I'll notify you when the country needs your combat power."
The squad left Dukao's office in a daze. Standing on the deck, they watched the second team training and felt a sudden loss of purpose.
"What do we do now?"
"No idea..."
"This Goddess is going shopping!" Leina pumped her fists. "The Earth business is over, and I'll have to return to Leiyang soon. This might be my last shopping spree!" Toward the end, her eyes grew misty. The thought of leaving this wonderful Earth made her heart ache.
"You probably can't go shopping~" Qi Lin smiled sadly. "The cities were mostly destroyed by the Taotie. Forget malls; you probably won't even find a small stall selling wontons."
CRACK!
This news hit Leina like a bolt from the blue! She felt light-headed and collapsed onto Qi Lin's shoulder.
"There, there, don't be sad," Qi Lin coaxed her like a doting mother.
The smiles on the others' faces faded. Even though they won the war, the post-war reconstruction was going to be a massive headache. "Seems it's not time to rest just yet."
Meanwhile, in a villa in Giant Gorge City.
Ren Kurogane sat with Rui Mengmeng on one side and Su Xiaoli on the other. He popped a strawberry into his mouth, then a grape.
"Aww you're so annoying" Su Xiaoli giggled flirtatiously. Rui Mengmeng blushed but let Ren have his way.
Looking at the bright sun, Ren felt wonderful. "This is the meaning of life" Absolute power, beauties in his arms—wasn't this the dream? "Sweet"
He suddenly remembered the Void data. After Angel Yan gave it to him yesterday, he hadn't looked at it. He pulled it up now. After a while, he finished reviewing it and packaged the whole thing to send to Ge Xiaolun.
"Xiaolun, you guys have to work hard. You can't rely on me for fighting and research~"
Ren stretched comfortably and rolled over, pulling Mengmeng and Xiaoli down with him. Before long, the sounds of flirtation filled the garden.
Aboard Demon No. 1.
Morgana's furious voice echoed across the main screen.
"Dammit! That bitch Karl must have known Earth had such a monster! He sent me here just to scout for him! A Fourth-Generation God Body? I don't even have a Third-Generation body left! I won't even be able to beat that brat Yan now! I'm so pissed! I'm absolutely livid!"
Atto, her loyal subordinate, looked on guiltily. "Queen! It is my uselessness!"
"Shut up! What does this have to do with you?!" Morgana barked. "Fine, we've left the Solar System. Find a place to gather resources. I need to restore at least a Second-Generation body as soon as possible!"
"Second-Generation?" Atto was confused.
"Yeah," Morgana nodded. "Didn't we eavesdrop on Ren Kurogane? They were talking about Void Engines. You think they were just chatting for fun?"
Atto didn't dare argue. He quickly ordered the subordinates to prep a Second-Generation body for her. Within half a day, Morgana had a functional body. Dressed in casual clothes, her eyes darted around before she sent a message to Hexi.
In the Heavenly Base King's Garden.
Hexi, who was having tea with Kaisha, suddenly looked strange.
"What is it?" Kaisha asked with a smile. "What could make the Heavenly Base King change her expression? Has the Void attacked?"
Hexi rolled her eyes and shared her Dark Plane feed with Kaisha.
"Hmm? Morgana? What does she want with you?" Kaisha's face instantly turned cold. "Pick up. I want to see what she's up to now."
Feeling the chill, Hexi shrunk her neck and answered the call.
"My dear best friend!!" Morgana's wailing voice immediately filled the air.
Hearing this, Kaisha—who had been looking murderous—nearly burst out laughing. Hexi watched Kaisha's trembling shoulders with a look of pure helplessness. These two sisters looked like mortal enemies, but they clearly still cared for each other.
Morgana's sobbing continued until she got to the point: she wanted Void Engine data.
"Don't you have a partnership with Karl? Just ask him," Hexi asked curiously.
"Don't mention that bastard!" Morgana snapped, her tears vanishing instantly. "I suspect he knew about Ren Kurogane all along. He helped me upgrade to Fourth-Generation just to test Ren's depth. Now, I've lost my Fourth-Generation body and almost my life!"
Hexi and Kaisha exchanged a look of pity. Morgana really was a bit simple-minded... Ren's change was clearly a sudden anomaly; how could Karl have known beforehand?
"Liang Bing, I can give you the Void Engine," Kaisha interjected. "But you must disband your demon legion and come back to be an Angel!"
The line went silent for a few seconds before Morgana hung up without a word.
Hexi shook her head. "My Queen, I've locked her coordinates. Should we go?"
"No, let her be," Kaisha shook her head. "Hexi, I like your garden. You wouldn't mind an extra resident, would you?"
"Huh?" Hexi froze, eyes wide with disbelief. "Sasha! You!"
"Relax, it's just a thought. After all, I've been working for thirty thousand years. I really am quite tired."
Konoha World / Detective Conan World.
Ren Kurogane (Scientific) woke up as the school bell rang. Beside him, Sonoko was smiling at him.
"What is it? Mesmerized by your husband's handsome face again?" Ren teased.
Sonoko rested her chin in her hand. "What if I am?"
"Then it's perfectly fine!"
As they flirted, Ran Mouri, sitting in front of them, was radiating resentment. That jerk Shinichi... it's been so long and not a single call. He clearly doesn't care about me at all!
During lunch, Sonoko pulled Ran and Ren to the rooftop. "Tada~" She held out two badges.
"These are?"
"It's a game project called 'Cocoon.' It's launching soon, and I managed to snag a few beta-testing medals for us!"
Ren's eyes lit up. The Phantom of Baker Street? He grinned. He didn't expect this movie plot to arrive so soon!
"You seem very interested~" Sonoko teased.
"Yeah! This is a revolutionary game!" Ren nodded. If I can get my hands on this tech, I can build my own Dark Plane system much faster.
Sonoko and Ran were confused. Sonoko laughed, "Don't be silly! That project is built by a huge corporation. Even though the Suzuki Group has shares, fully controlling that tech would be incredibly difficult."
Ren just smiled and didn't explain. He was already building his own Dark Plane system. Before long, this world would be nothing more than his toy.
One relevant follow-up question: Since Ren (Scientific) knows the plot of "The Phantom of Baker Street," should he try to "hack" the AI Noah's Ark to use as the core for his own Dark Plane system, or should he focus on protecting Ran and Sonoko during the deadly game?