The Shadow could no longer hide herself. A pixelated figure stood there, swinging a rod-shaped object that splattered white milk everywhere. Though she knew it was just milk, her body instinctively flinched away from the droplets as a young woman.
“Who are you?” Xiao Zhan asked, eyeing the woman who’d dropped from the ceiling.
“Your killer.” The Shadow dropped her disguise and drew a laser dagger.
“Did Ouyang’s Guild send you? Or Evolution Corporation?” Xiao Zhan pressed.
“You don’t need to know.” The Shadow charged at the pixelated monstrosity. She’d had enough of this filthy thing poisoning her mind. All she wanted was to slash it apart.
As she lunged toward Xiao Zhan at blinding speed, milk splashed all over her. A pixelated black object flew straight at her face.
Staring at that censored item, her feminine instincts took over. She shrieked and leaped backward, dodging the unknown thing. She didn’t want to touch it—ever.
“Lucky I prepared for this,” Xiao Zhan said, flipping a switch on the wall. Instantly, the walls rotated. Behind each panel, hundreds of pixelated rod-shaped objects pointed directly at The Shadow.
From her view: walls bristled with pixelated rods aimed at her. In the room’s center, a human-shaped pixelated blob speckled with white crept closer. Its censored rod sprayed milky liquid everywhere.
The blob inched nearer, lewdly murmuring, “Miss, care for some milk first…?”
The scene was too vivid—use your imagination.
“Unbelievable… I can’t fight this disgusting thing!” The Shadow abandoned combat entirely. Rank and strength meant nothing here. Who could seriously battle something like a pile of crap?
She slashed the window glass with her dagger and jumped out of the skyscraper.
Landing far away on a rooftop, she paused. Thanks to Xiao Zhan’s influence, the Xiao Corporation building now looked suspiciously like…
Meanwhile, Lin Jie’s home was peaceful. Lin Jie binge-watched missed anime episodes in his room. Lin Wan bathed with the little girl.
In the bathroom, Lin Wan washed the girl’s hair while she played with bubbles.
“Stop playing. Let me rinse the suds off,” Lin Wan said.
“Look, Sister!” The girl held up a bubble shaped like a ponytailed girl.
“Hey—that’s me!” Lin Wan gasped. “How’d you do that?”
“I don’t know,” the girl replied after thinking.
“Is this why my brother said people want to study her?” Lin Wan wondered silently.
The bubble shifted into two armed men.
“Ah! That’s my bro and Xiao Zhan!” Lin Wan cheered.
It morphed into glasses next.
“Oh! That’s the bespectacled guy with them,” Lin Wan said. “You’re amazing.”
Laughter filled the tiny bathroom.
“Yep, my sister’s definitely the best with kids,” Lin Jie mused, hearing the giggles.
…
An hour later, Lin Jie walked past his sister’s room for water. He heard Lin Wan’s voice: “Later, Jia Baoyu…”
Curious, he pushed the door open. The little girl and Lin Wan lay in bed. Lin Wan held a thick copy of *Dream of the Red Chamber*, reading aloud. The girl stared wide-eyed at the ceiling—Lin Jie was sure she understood nothing.
“You’re reading *Dream of the Red Chamber* as a bedtime story?” Lin Jie said.
“Questioning my early education?” Lin Wan shot back. “I’m nurturing her mind. So she won’t get tricked like I did as a kid.”
“…No one reads *Dream of the Red Chamber* to toddlers,” Lin Jie argued.
“What’s wrong with it? It’s a classic! Do you know how much Cao Xueqin sacrificed to write it?” Lin Wan huffed. “People like you are why our cultural heritage is dying.”
“Pfft. I don’t know about Cao Xueqin, but I know his classmate’s story,” Lin Jie grinned.
“Keep bragging,” Lin Wan rolled her eyes.
“Little sister, wanna hear about Cao Xueqin’s classmate?” Lin Jie asked the wide-eyed girl.
“I want to, Brother Lin!” she chirped.
“Don’t trust him,” Lin Wan warned.
“But I really want to!” the girl pleaded.
“Alright,” Lin Jie cleared his throat. “Long ago, Cao Xueqin had a classmate. They were equally brilliant students. But one day, Cao Xueqin wrote *Dream of the Red Chamber* and became a famous author. His classmate read it and knew it’d be legendary. How could he accept being outshone? So he vowed to write a book surpassing it. For twenty years, he obsessed over his story’s plot and setting…”
“Did he write a better book?” the girl asked eagerly.
“No. After twenty years of thinking, he went bald but got stronger. He abandoned writing, took up arms, and became an invincible general.”
“Pfft. Liar,” Lin Wan glared at him.
“Brother Lin, what’s a classmate?” the girl asked.
“Someone who studies with you at school,” Lin Jie explained.
“What’s school?”
“A place where kids learn things.”
“Are there lots of kids like me?”
“Yep,” Lin Jie nodded.
“Can I go to school?” Her big watery eyes pleaded.
“Sure. Sleep well. Once we beat the bad guys, I’ll send you. Promise?” Lin Jie ruffled her hair.
“Really? You promise?”
“I promise,” he smiled.
…
Midnight. A towering man stood outside Lin Jie’s apartment.
“So this is it? Orders are just to retrieve the kid—alive or dead, I guess,” he muttered.
“What’re you mumbling about under my window?” Lin Jie appeared beside him.
“You’re Lin Jie?” the man asked. “Surprised you didn’t flee. Confident in your strength?”
“Oh? You know about me?” Lin Jie tilted his head.
“Know your enemy before fighting,” the man said. “You’re rated E Rank Hero, yet you’ve knocked out two B Rank body-enhancement Heroes in one hit. That means you’ve surpassed B Rank. But—”
A spike mace slammed down before he finished. The man blocked it with both arms, but the force drove him deep into the ground.
“Tch. Fight first, chat later,” Lin Jie yawned.
“But today, you met me.” The man clawed out of the crater, his body swelling to over five meters tall. “I also exceed B Rank strength…”
Lin Jie swung again, pinning the giant into the earth.
“I said—less talking.”
The man heaved himself up again.
“I admit your power. But did you think it’d be this easy?” Scales hardened over his skin. “Forcing my second form? You should be proud. Now witness—”
*Thud.* Lin Jie smashed him down a third time.
“Huh. Still getting up?” Lin Jie raised his spike mace again.
“Wait!!!” the giant bellowed.
“What?”
“This is dishonorable! Not manly! Attacking before I finish talking?!” The giant climbed out, furious.
“Fine. Talk.”
“Today, I’ll show you the gap in our strength!” Muscles bulged; scorching heat seeped under his scales.
“Done?” Lin Jie asked.
“Done—” *Crash.* He vanished into the dirt again.
“Impossible!! In my strongest form, I can’t even react!!” The buried giant roared. “I watched your every move! Who are you?! This power is A Rank level! Why are you stuck as an E Rank Hero?!”
