The world fell quiet once again.
The Netherworld had lost an old master, but it was soon to welcome a new one.
Having mastered the process of harnessing the moon's gravity, opening the dark side of the moon, and executing the sealing ritual, Zoran was now thoroughly accustomed to it all. Calmly putting everything in order, he finally reappeared beside Shendu.
The purpose of this trip had been fulfilled, and it was time to leave.
Both Zoran and Shendu had gained a wealth of experience and benefits from this journey.
The most obvious of these was the enhancement of their power. This world was uninhibited to an absurd degree; if one wished to be accepted and integrated into it, its hetero-energy was given away without hesitation, attempting to assimilate the two demons into native components of this world.
Unfortunately, Zoran never had any intention of lingering in a single world for long. At least for now, he did not possess such a luxurious privilege.
He still had things to do. He always did.
With a soft sigh, he raised his eyes to sweep across the remaining people, all of whose gazes were currently fixed on him and Shendu.
This time, under his deliberate control, Zoran had not formed overly deep bonds with the local factions.
The sole exception was Thales. Having made use of Thales's Time Reversal, Zoran was not one to be stingy; he had indirectly given him a substantial boost in hetero-energy.
Beside Thales, Kino and Phoebe wore expressions of dazed uncertainty.
Phoebe, of course, knew who had taken her father away. But that person was Zoran, a being of the Nebula Body. There was nothing she could do. At the very least, she no longer had to struggle with choosing a side between Hades, Kino, and her other comrades.
Choice, a word that sounded so cruel. Since Hades was already gone, there was naturally no need to agonize over allegiances.
Standing in the rain, Kino patted the shoulder of the sorrowful Phoebe, attempting to comfort her. "Don't be too sad, Phoebe! Even though your dad is gone, he was still the biggest villain in the whole universe. Don't forget, you still have us!"
Kino certainly had his own unique way of comforting people.
The sorrow on Phoebe's face eased slightly, but her complexion darkened considerably.
"If you don't know how to speak, you can just keep quiet. Nobody is treating you like a mute." Phoebe let out a soft huff and turned her head away.
On the other side, Thales walked over to Zoran with his school bag on his back.
"Uncle, are you guys leaving?" He was clever and adept at reading the emotional atmosphere. The scene before him was unmistakably the prelude to a parting.
Zoran cast a faint glance at Thales and nodded. "That's right."
"Do you want me to see you off, Uncle?" A trace of melancholy hung on Thales's face.
He rather liked the feeling of staying close to Zoran; it gave him the comforting sense of leaning on an elder of his own family.
Now that Zoran and Shendu's identities were known to everyone, this so-called departure naturally could not be a simple act of traveling between parallel universes. It implied another world in some unknown location, most likely the place of origin for these two otherworldly visitors.
"I thought my Time Reversal might actually be of some help," Thales pouted helplessly.
The corners of Zoran's mouth lifted. Thales's Time Reversal was indeed a remarkably brazen ability, but how could Zoran ever need the help of a child? It would only invite mockery if word got out.
He raised his hand and waved it, and a shimmering, golden portal materialized out of thin air.
At the sight of this door, Master Wyatt seemed to recall some rather unpleasant memories, his gaze turning hazy. It was this very door, one that even the Primordial Void Annihilation could not trap, possessing the ability to forge connecting pathways.
"Let's go," Zoran called out lightly to Shendu.
His figure was the first to vanish into the brilliant golden portal, with Shendu following closely behind.
Coming and going with effortless ease.
Before the world itself could even react, these two hetero-energy "stowaways" had slipped away cleanly, making off with hetero-energy on the scale of the Nebula Body. Their movements were far too swift; in the time it took to open and step through a door, the world had lost two Nebula-class powerhouses. And the world itself hadn't even had time to stop them.
Meanwhile, in the Jackie Chan Adventures universe, back in the original world.
Zoran opened the portal once more right inside Shendu's super-mansion. This truly was a case of practice making perfect.
Having been through a round of combat, Shendu looked visibly refreshed, his entire face radiating expressions like "You simply must call me next time you organize an activity like this."
As Zoran and Shendu descended, a naturally overwhelming pressure imperceptibly diffused across the world. An overly powerful force had forged overly powerful demons.
The current state of Zoran and Shendu had far outpaced this world; even compared to their former selves, they had exceeded all expectations. Without a doubt, the most crucial gain from this trip had been the enhancement of their strength.
"You stay right here and don't wander off," Zoran instructed upon their return.
Shendu nodded with an air of seasoned calm and casually reclined.
A demon's lifespan was endlessly long. Without some ways to pass the time, it could become quite agonizing. Among Shendu's pastimes, combat was only one of them. Another was enjoying the service of his servants.
"Jackie, I'm back!" Shendu called out into his mansion.
The implication was clear: certain fellows needed to get back to work.
Zoran cast a helpless look at his "brother" and shook his head, a wisp of moon demon chi clutched in his palm. Through the connection of the moon demon chi, he could reach one of his two younger sisters, who was far away in another world.
Bai Tza, the Water Demon.
Before Zoran had set off for Ultra Beast Force, she had been recovering her strength in the One Piece world, which suited her constitution to an exceptional degree.
Now that quite some time had passed, it was time to fully execute Bai Tza's vengeance plan.
If that Immortal had received word of this in advance, she ought to be shivering in terror right about now.
"Bai Tza, my sister," Zoran spoke into the void toward the other world. "How is your recovery coming along?"
"My brother, I have been waiting for this for a long time!" Bai Tza's voice came from the other side, not quite as raspy, full of vigor.
The world she inhabited was indeed far too compatible with her; recovering her strength was only a matter of time. And Bai Tza herself had proven quite capable.
Zoran smiled with compressed lips, pointed a finger at the portal, and stepped ethereally through it.
Simultaneously, in the other world.
A flash of golden light broke across the deep blue sea as Zoran descended once more into the world below his feet.
He stood quietly, the boundless ocean appearing to be influenced by him as it churned restlessly under the pull of his gravitational field.
An overwhelming, peerless aura spread across the world, plunging downward toward the ocean floor.
Zoran's gaze pierced the surface of the water, locking directly onto the former Marineford.
By now, it had been transformed into a uniquely styled luxury palace, with many members of new races swimming leisurely through the waters below. Yet the arrival of Zoran caused them to panic, their fish tails whipping about in frantic terror.
This was a force and a sense of oppression welling up from deep within the body, derived from one of the strongest beings across the seven parallel universes, a power on the scale of the Nebula Body.
The water churned, and a pale-blue figure leaped out from the ocean depths, freezing momentarily upon sighting the demon standing on the water's surface.
"It's you? Brother?" Bai Tza was stunned, staring fixedly at Zoran. "Your aura... is so strong..."
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