At the Superhero Administration lounge, two figures faced off over a chessboard.

"General, the base containing Agent Lu Xiu suffered a massive explosion. Personnel casualties are severe. Preliminary assessment indicates Lu Xiu's mental collapse triggered a Heroic Spirit rampage. Her remains turned to ash from power exhaustion. No relics were left."

Heroic symphonies echoed softly in the tranquil lounge. General Zhao was sparing with words. After a long pause, he waved the messenger away.

Losing an S-Class hero was a heavy blow. As head of the Superhero Administration, General Zhao knew the insatiable councilors would seize this chance to pressure him. But... he’d anticipated this long ago.

"What a pity, Lu Xiu. If your obsession wasn’t so deep, I wouldn’t have had to kick you while you were down." With a stern, righteous face, General Zhao offered a wry smile. He pushed a chess piece forward. Life was like this board—full of schemes, compromises, and brutal battles.

"Hee-hee~~ General Zhao, such composure. You can still smile after Lu Xiu’s death?" His opponent was a porcelain-doll-like figure, unnaturally smooth and glossy. It resembled a ceramic statue or a lifelike funeral paper effigy.

Any veteran superhero spotting this Porcelain King would break into a cold sweat. Capricious and cruel, he was a tyrant beyond good and evil. Enemies in his grasp died horribly, bodies cracking inch by inch like shattered porcelain. Few knew his power; those who experienced it rarely survived.

"Your praise is too kind, Porcelain King."

"Hee-hee! I’m not praising you. I’m mocking your shameless face~~ But I’ve no right to judge. After all, I’m a traitor living in nightmares. Do you have nightmares, General?" The Porcelain King giggled in a shrill child’s voice. His barbed words tested the powerful general.

As partners, the Porcelain King knew Zhao’s goal: to resurrect the one they betrayed and harness that god-like power again. But even this lawless tyrant shuddered at the thought of using the dead man’s relics.

"Honestly, Porcelain King, since I ended him four years ago, I’ve had nightmares nightly. But his ideals were naive. Even if I hadn’t betrayed him, others would have killed him." Recalling the ambush—the desperate youth, powerless yet breaking through armies to confront him—General Zhao’s fingers trembled slightly.

"Then why replay the nightmare, General?" The Porcelain King advanced his piece calmly. The peaceful game turned deadly. His moves threatened checkmate, aiming to corner General Zhao.

"We can’t wait any longer... Shadow London, the South Pole, the ends of the North Sea, the Netherworld battlefield—any full outbreak means world destruction. Four years passed. We still lack a second hero as strong as him. And days ago, the North Sea Leviathan revived!" The chess position was dire, but Zhao held on. He never regretted killing that naive strongest hero who threatened everyone’s interests.

"So, Ruosui Jing’s Valkyrie is the optimal solution now." Zhao avoided checkmate, breathing a sigh of relief.

The Porcelain King didn’t mind losing the game. His painted eyes remained eerily cold. "That little girl? Can she truly resurrect him? I tested her secretly. The Heroic Spirits with her are pathetically weak." Can his power be harnessed? Will he obey after resurrection? Won’t they, the betrayers, be his first targets? Unspoken questions hung between them.

"Weakness is good. It gives us leverage. If he’s as powerful as before, we’d have no bargaining chips. Besides, he’d likely protect his Valkyrie first." Zhao shifted to offense on the board.

"Hee-hee~~ Hee-hee-hee! Since you’ve planned it all, I won’t waste words." The Porcelain King overturned the board. He never won anyway. This petulance wasn’t new. He felt lonely since witnessing that Legend’s fall. The world was dangerous; true heroes were scarce. The Porcelain King had no grand wish to protect humanity or defeat the Dire Calamity. He simply enjoyed snuffing out lives like plucking flowers, satisfying his desires.

"By the way, Porcelain King, is Lu Xiu truly dead? An S-Class hero destroyed so easily by Saw—even with our help—seems too fragile." Zhao felt uneasy. Everything was too smooth. And Saw, that shadowy criminal, was unpredictable. A ghostly figure, practicing twisted justice, a useful cleaner, but his true purpose was unclear. Zhao couldn’t act against him. Worse, Saw’s hidden agenda...

"Lu Xiu... is she really dead, General? You know best... Perhaps she died four years ago..." With deep regret, the Porcelain King’s ceramic body faded away, leaving General Zhao alone in thought.