Bai Cangshu Awakens, Fatalism Fragment (3K)

Moo!

The enormous wraith howled at the sky. In an instant, every human in the entire building stiffened, unable to move. Though they could not see the wraith, the bone-chilling sensation made them instinctively realize it.

Some invisible, terrifying thing was drawing near within this building.

The twisted wraith broke free of its cage, wantonly radiating its warped malice. Soaked in the Yellow Springs and forced to slaughter other wraiths like venomous insects in that hellish wraith pit for so long, its degree of distortion and power were anything but ordinary.

It would soon evolve into either a Grudge Spirit or a cursed spirit. If it wished, it could also remain in this building and become a powerful Bound Spirit.

The wraith suddenly pounced at the humans radiating fresh life, but the next moment, a powerful suction force descended. The massive black wraith sensed a familiar presence.

It let out a terrified shriek.

Wuu!

It did not want to go back.

The wraith’s limbs twisted into warped joints and wrapped around the building, but that force was stronger than it had ever been before. The next instant, its joints were torn apart, and its body passed through the building in an instant, turning into a black arrow beneath the sunlight as it shot into the distance.

Bang!

The wraith being drawn through the air crashed into another spirit body. It angrily formed claws and fangs again, preparing to devour the other party, only to meet a pair of scarlet Three Tomoe.

Uchiha Madara snorted coldly and smashed the weak creature that had collided with him out of the air with one hand. He watched as it merely changed its trajectory, yet continued flying uncontrollably toward the same destination as him.

He raised his head and looked at the streaks of black rising continuously from every corner of the world in the sky, converging toward the same place.

Clearly, his strange host had probably acquired some even stronger power and was now forcibly capturing all of them prisoners back.

"Hmph."

Even at a time like this, Uchiha Madara stood with his arms crossed. They had clearly reached an agreement, yet that man still used such crude methods. He could vaguely sense that not only had his host become more powerful, but his temper had probably become even more violent as well…

The flight speed of spirit bodies was fundamentally different from that of living creatures. They could directly bypass some spatial obstacles and enter the Spirit World.

Uchiha Madara only felt that he had spent a brief moment in a strange black-and-white space before once again plunging headfirst into the host whose appearance had become somewhat strange.

The next moment, Uchiha Madara’s expression darkened. He struggled to maintain his arms-crossed posture, but the crowded spirit bodies around him kept shoving him, forcing him to repeatedly change positions.

Satoru Gojo, standing in the air with the Limitless Cursed Technique, watched this scene and laughed so hard he clutched his stomach.

Boom!

In almost an instant, Uchiha Madara cleared out every spirit body around him. The destroyed spirits slowly regenerated from the equally crowded Yellow Springs the next moment, blankly continuing to shove against one another.

Within the vast white space, an enormous number of spirit bodies far exceeding the previous scale were now packed together here.

Satoru Gojo cleverly landed beside Uchiha Madara, who had instantly cleared out a patch of ground. In the distance, the Death God capable of devouring souls could be seen floating motionlessly in the air for once. It had probably eaten its fill like never before.

"What exactly is going on?"

Uchiha Madara asked coldly. Though he had accepted temporarily cooperating with this host, the space becoming so crowded truly put him in a poor mood.

Satoru Gojo rested both hands behind his neck and looked at the faint golden gleam emerging from the cracked white-jade Throne of the Heart in the sky, then frivolously whistled.

"Probably because that guy got some wonderful opportunity again and became a tiny bit stronger. Seriously…"

"That Strong Luck is so enviable it’s a little frightening."

Lilith watched the black sedan gradually drive away. A day had passed, and the rescue work here had temporarily come to an end. The corpse of Mercenary Tao, the Nameless Hero, remained where it was, surrounded by barricades. It was said that many researchers wanted to use this powerful hero’s remains for research.

The matter had now sparked fierce arguments. Fubuki had left to gather everyone from the former Hero Association and change the current situation.

She could not accept a "hero" ending up like this.

Hero, huh…

You are currently out of combat. Would you like to directly end this mission and return under Space Safety Regulations, Article 3 · Special Circumstance 1?

Yes/No

Scarlet text flashed continuously across the Space Panel before Lilith’s eyes. Clearly, the space was hinting that she should return immediately.

Lilith’s gaze dimmed. The difficulty of this world was no longer suitable for a weak person like her. Or rather, a reincarnator of her rank being sent into a world of this difficulty had been a disaster from the beginning.

Yet now that the disaster was over, she felt little joy.

Her familiar companions had died. Mercenary Tao, the great villain who had inexplicably saved her several times, had also died. Saitama, who had shown her goodwill, had suddenly begun hunting reincarnators.

Lilith looked at the mutilated corpse enclosed by layer upon layer of warning tape, sighed, and chose yes.

As streams of information descended, she suddenly smelled a bloody aura. Then she saw strands of flesh suddenly emerge and twitch upon the mutilated corpse inside the cordon.

"You…"

Lilith’s figure vanished completely. Soon after, an increasingly dense bloody aura emerged from the corpse. The flesh buds kept twitching as flesh and tissue began regenerating.

Bai Cangshu’s body had regained its vitality and began constantly trying to regenerate.

Beep, beep, beep…

Urgent alarms quickly sounded beside the cordon. These were alarms jointly installed by the various hero agencies to prevent anyone from secretly trying to claim this hero’s remains for themselves.

They would sound as soon as they detected the presence of a living creature.

Soon, several motorcycles appeared from the distant city. Because B City had suffered that terrifying impact, most of its population had already been relocated to nearby cities, but some hero agencies still had personnel stationed in the urban area.

Several fully armed men rode their motorcycles to the outside of the cordon, but saw no one else.

"What’s wrong with this alarm? Did some animal trigger it by accident?"

The men crouched to inspect the trigger, failing to notice that the mutilated corpse had grown several centimeters taller than before and that its flesh had begun to emit a bloody smell.

Clank, clank. Mechanical footsteps rang out. The men turned around and saw a pitch-black robot appear outside the block, walking toward them with heavy steps.

"Stop! Which agency are you from?"

The men immediately shouted a warning and drew their firearms. The black cannon barrels behind the robot slowly rotated, and fear appeared on their faces. Their strength had not yet reached the point where they could ignore modern weapons, especially weapons of such a large caliber.

"Wait, we…"

Bang!

Three headless corpses slowly fell. The robot stepped over them and crushed the alarm, then tore away the warning tape. Looking at the mutilated corpse sprouting flesh buds, its mechanical eyes emitted a red glow.

"So it was you who revived…"

The chest plating of the robot then opened, and a mechanical arm took out an emerald-green medicine from within and poured it over the mutilated corpse.

A great amount of active matter and intense life force immediately emerged from Bai Cangshu’s mutilated remains. The flesh buds almost turned into long snakes as they writhed together.

A moment later, a whole Bai Cangshu appeared in this world once more.

Unlike before, Bai Cangshu’s long black hair now fell behind his back, and his entire temperament had completely changed.

That cruel smile from before had vanished, replaced by eyes so black they seemed capable of swallowing hearts.

His expression appeared calm, yet merely standing near him made one feel involuntarily drawn toward him.

It was an absolute difference in presence, a difference in the very essence of their souls.

"Hello, Hero for Fun~ Mercenary Tao. I have observed your group for a long time…"

A mechanical voice emerged from the black robot. The robot stood over three meters tall, covered from head to toe in heavy armor. Three large-caliber cannons were mounted on its back, and it probably concealed many more weapons within its body.

"Metal Knight."

Bai Cangshu calmly looked at the robot. Before the other party could speak, he said directly,

"I accept your deal."

The electronic eyes of Metal Knight flickered several times. Before it could speak again, Bai Cangshu continued,

"You’ve been hiding behind the scenes because you observed the powerful strength of our group, as well as the even more terrifying strength of Saitama and the others, so you want to establish a balance. I can agree to that."

Your actions have earned Metal Knight's approval. Your reputation with Metal Knight has increased slightly. Current: Stranger (88/100)

The corner of Bai Cangshu’s mouth twitched slightly. He did not know whether there was something wrong with his "revival," or whether the effects of those three Golden Soul fragments were truly that powerful.

He had clearly not activated the Limit Break Spiral, yet he possessed thinking ability nearly as powerful as when it was active. He could almost instinctively simulate the other party’s thought process.

He vaguely sensed that this was probably a change he had gained after pushing the first revolution of the Limit Break Spiral to its limit, when his genes had nearly collapsed.

"Your performance means I need to reassess the threat posed by your group."

Metal Knight was not someone easy to get along with. Even though he had shown appreciation for Bai Cangshu’s "intelligence," his reputation remained at Stranger, which showed just how wary he was.

But Bai Cangshu himself did not care about such matters.

He moved his limbs and still felt that they lacked some flexibility.

"You probably want to study me as well. Arrange a place. I also want to know the current condition of my body."

Metal Knight fell silent once more. This fellow’s intelligence and willingness to cooperate had reached a level that made him uneasy. But when he thought of those terrifying people, he had to take precautions.

Whether it was this group of Ability Users that had suddenly appeared, or the mysterious Saitama and that Spirit World Creature…

Metal Knight has invited you to join his faction. Do you agree?

Yes.

Bai Cangshu sat on the shoulder of Metal Knight’s black robot as it flew into the desert. Suddenly, he jumped down from the robot’s shoulder.

He saw an object in the desert glowing with an incomparably dazzling golden light.

And Metal Knight had clearly failed to scan it.

Bai Cangshu landed in the desert. It was a dark golden fragment, resembling an infinity symbol broken in half at its center.

Its shape made it obvious that it was connected to the Infinite Dimensional Space.

He reached out and touched it, and a profound sensation arose.

You have obtained Authority Fragment · Fatalism