Chapter 15: Chapter 15: Twin Worlds
In the bright living room, Fang Can stared wide-eyed at his surroundings.
Everything was so familiar. It was the villa he had lived in for several years, and the furnishings hadn’t changed one bit.
’I’m... back again?’
In disbelief, Fang Can looked at the television in front of him. In the bottom-left corner of the news broadcast, the time was currently displayed.
[Tianqi Year 136, December 1, 03:45]
’December 1st.’ Fang Can subconsciously covered his face.
Because if this time was correct, it meant that while he spent seven days in the other world, this world had been essentially paused.
’What’s going on?’ Fang Can turned his head, his gaze falling on the floor-to-ceiling window beside him.
In its reflection, a handsome, black-haired young man in a black and red ancient-style costume stared back with wide eyes.
If his power hadn’t remained and his clothes hadn’t been the same, he would have thought the past seven days were just a dream.
’So, I really did transmigrate and then transmigrate back.’ As this thought crossed his mind, several more flooded in:
’Will I transmigrate again? If so, when? If I go back in a few days, how will I explain it to the Tiger Slaughter Sect? Or is the other world paused while I’m here?’
Fang Can’s mind was in chaos. The sudden return had thrown all his plans into disarray. He took a few steps back and sat on the sofa, his eyes drifting to the news on the television as he thought.
On the news, a host in a sharp suit was speaking seriously to the camera:
"With only a few weeks left until the Seventh National Carnival, the public is paying close attention to the event’s details. We hope that..."
’I almost forgot about that,’ Fang Can thought, lying on his side and propping his head up with his hand.
The so-called "Seventh Annual Evil Purge Plan" was a proposal made seven years ago.
In order to reduce the populace’s growing negative sentiment, the high-level superhumans conducted a national survey.
The topic of the survey was a proposal to hold a one-day "ultimate carnival" in a designated city each year.
The carnival’s events ranged from bloody public trials of criminals to the city-wide legalization of **. The entire city would be livestreamed, a perfect example of being entertained to death.
As for why such an absurd proposal was ever approved, Fang Can couldn’t understand it either. He could only chalk it up to the fact that in a country founded by superhumans, the powerful could do as they pleased.
In any case, the National Carnival had been held for seven years now. The day after, every chosen city was left in a state of utter chaos, taking years to recover.
This was because the participants weren’t just the city’s locals, but also lower-class individuals shipped in from other cities.
For example, students in the bottom 1% of national exam scores, criminals from various prisons, insolent commoners who had offended high-level superhumans, and chaos-seekers from all over the country who signed up voluntarily.
’I wonder which city will be chosen this year? It’s so hard to guess.’ Fang Can tilted his head, a little excited to see which unlucky city it would be.
After all, he was something of a chaos-seeker himself. He followed the annual event closely and had watched the rankings of the most outrageous moments at least twice.
But just as he was speculating, the superhuman overlords he was thinking about had their attention drawn to an anomaly within an experimental base.
In the Dragon Hideout Base, located underground in the suburbs of Akia, an eighteen-year-old youth walked into the modern experimental facility. He wore a tight, golden-yellow uniform with a red cape and a large "F" insignia on his chest.
Before him were research personnel in cleanroom suits. The urgency in their hurried footsteps was palpable.
Upon seeing the young man in the golden uniform, the researchers all stopped in their tracks, their faces tense.
They all recognized this superhuman teenager who often appeared on screen to give speeches.
His codename was Superman F, but his full title was [Fuck You Superman]. His publicly known abilities included super strength, super defense, super speed, super vision...
Looking at them, the youth’s expression was cold. "Get someone who can talk to me, now," he said flatly. "Don’t waste my time. Report."
At his insistence, several researchers exchanged glances before an old man stepped out from the crowd.
After composing his thoughts, the old man stated succinctly, "Sir, just a moment ago, all thirty-seven of our bases across the country simultaneously detected a massive burst of spatio-temporal energy."
"Is that a problem?"
Superman F frowned. "Doesn’t this kind of spatio-temporal energy burst happen every few days? Didn’t you guys speculate that every time it happens, the entire world is frozen in time for a period?"
Facing the youth’s question, the old man explained briefly, "This burst was completely different. Previous energy tides spread evenly across the entire planet, and even the universe."
"But this time, the energy tides were concentrated and scattered all over the country, as if hundreds of National-Level spatio-temporal ability users had activated their powers at the exact same moment."
"So?" the youth asked, raising an eyebrow.
"My hypothesis is that people from another world are invading," the old man said gravely, which made the youth burst out laughing.
"Don’t tell me you guys are still researching that twin world theory."
"Something about the time of two worlds being like interlocking gears, with the gear teeth being time and the present moment being the point of contact? And that other nonsense about one side pausing while the other flows? That’s even more ridiculous than the Multiverse theory in novels."
Completely ignoring the old man’s ugly expression, the youth laughed for a good while before waving his hand dismissively.
"Alright, you said there are hundreds of these spatio-temporal energy tide hotspots across the country, right? Are any of them in the wastelands outside the cities? I’ll go take a look around and see if anything’s there."
"Yes, Sir." The old man nodded, dejected. He then had one of his researchers report the location of one such energy tide.
As soon as the location was announced, a fierce gust of wind swept through, leaving only a large crater where the youth had been standing.
In his place, a two-meter-wide hole was blasted through the ceiling, leading straight to the surface.
Staring at the sunlight streaming down from the hole, the old man sighed softly. There was nothing he could do about the personalities of these high and mighty ability users.
New Country was a nation founded by superhumans after the Great Cataclysm. All power in the upper echelons was held by them.
As long as one revealed their identity as a superhuman, they were classified into one of six levels based on their ability: Township, County, Prefecture, City, State, and National.
Even the weakest Township-Level ability user, who could only conjure a small flame, completely crushed an ordinary multi-billionaire in terms of privilege.
In this country, or rather, in the entire world now, being a superhuman was a higher classification, separate from wealth, appearance, or skill.
And that Superman F from just now was a respected State-Level ability user, the kind who could annihilate an entire family with a single glare.
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