Chapter 98: The will to fight for human freedom belongs uniquely to humans

"This is..."

The Deep Sea King's lips moved, but it could no longer make a sound. Its body, like a sculpture weathered for a thousand years, collapsed with a roar in the wind.

In an instant, the stagnant raindrops hung in mid-air, then transformed into crystalline water droplets and scattered. The dark clouds gradually dissipated, and sunlight pierced through the clouds, gently stroking this land.

After a brief silence, deafening cheers resounded through the heavens.

Ye Xuan withdrew his hand, his gaze crossing the seething crowd to land on the figure standing quietly in the distance. Zhong Lao stood in a spot among the crowd, nodding slightly at him, a gratified smile appearing on his face.

This unexpected dimensional invasion unfolded in such a dramatic way, yet reaped a result far exceeding expectations. Those challengers who followed one after another, that person who inherited the "Mumen Rider" template and displayed the same will—they all manifested the radiance that belongs uniquely to humanity.

This world needs heroes, this era needs heroes. Only gods, on the contrary, are existences that should not appear in this world.

When a being appeared among humans who possessed the will to protect and was stronger than him, his mission should come to an end.

No, perhaps it might need to be a bit longer.

Heroes possess pure will and can fight regardless of everything for the freedom and future of humanity, but those in high positions rarely have such pure convictions.

Power is like a chronic poison; even the purest hero's heart cannot withstand its corrosion. If those people are allowed to turn "heroes" into their tools in the name of "humanity," then this radiance of today will sooner or later be tarnished.

If he were no longer here, perhaps everything would return to its original state.

Da Xia before the spiritual energy recovery did not lack heroes either, but... forget it. Now is not the time to think about these annoying things.

The radiance of humanity is perhaps precious precisely because it is rare.

"One punch! Just one punch!"

"This is Ye Xuan! This is Stage Five! This is the strength of the number one on the Extraordinary Ranking!"

"Ye Xuan? No, Ye Shen!"

"This punch feels so much like Saitama-sensei. In One Punch Man, Saitama-sensei also saved Mumen Rider like this, then punched the Deep Sea King to pieces."

"It's the same rainy day, the same Mumen Rider, the same punch. The only difference is that the Rider's will gained the recognition of the Myriad Realms treasures, obtaining the power that allowed him to carry out his heart of protection; and the one who killed the Deep Sea King with one punch was not Saitama, but Ye Shen."

"Under one punch, the wind and rain ceased. It's truly hard to imagine just how strong Ye Shen is; and his specialty is the sword!"

In the live broadcast room, countless people discussed Ye Xuan's strength. Compared to the videos on the internet back then, this live broadcast and witnessing it with their own eyes made them feel the terror of Ye Xuan's strength even more.

He easily defeated all the ability users, including members of the Heavenly Pivot Bureau, making others unable to even raise the heart to challenge him. The Deep Sea King, who had defeated the "Mumen Rider" transformed into "Kamen Rider Gatack" under the rain's enhancement, couldn't even withstand one punch from Ye Xuan.

Although it was said that the biggest reason the Deep Sea King could defeat Kamen Rider Gatack was the threat to the safety of the surrounding civilians, they could see that even without these people, under the rain's enhancement, even if Kamen Rider Gatack could dodge all the Deep Sea King's attacks in an accelerated state, his damage was insufficient to kill the Deep Sea King itself.

And as the King of the Deep Sea, in the ocean, the Deep Sea King was in its true prime.

It was precisely because they knew this that they were so shocked when they saw the scene of Ye Xuan blowing up the Deep Sea King with one punch.

Stage Five and Stage Four, although only a one-stage difference, the gap between them is far from something that can be summarized simply.

They didn't know how much strength Ye Xuan used, but as the holder of the Wangquan Baye template, and someone who autonomously comprehended the Wangquan Sword Art within ten days of obtaining the template, Ye Xuan's specialty is the sword!

A week had passed since the Deep Sea King's curtain call. The damage it caused had long been restored in a short time, and the affected families had all received their respective compensation at the first opportunity.

With Zhong Lao there, no one dared to have any thoughts about this money, let alone delay it.

Moreover, Bibo City was incredibly happy about such a contribution.

After all, the person who obtained the "Mumen Rider" template and was recognized by the Gatack Zecter was from their Bibo City.

While the big cities like the Imperial Capital, Magic City, and Yangcheng hadn't yet given birth to Stage Three powerhouses, their Bibo City had welcomed its own Stage Four powerhouse!

Currently the second on the Extraordinary Ranking! The only Stage Four in Da Xia! The strongest below Zhong Lao and Ye Xuan!

People in every department of Bibo City were smiling in their dreams at night; how could they possibly cut corners in this regard?

They didn't even repair the square damaged in that battle, but instead kept it as a tourist attraction for visitors coming to Bibo City.

And don't say, this really contributed greatly to the development of their tourism industry. Many companies even started investing in Bibo City, and with that, the housing prices in Bibo City rose as well.

Anyone with a discerning eye could see that Da Xia would not be too peaceful in the future, so they naturally wanted to choose a place they considered relatively safe.

The Imperial Capital and Hangcheng, with Zhong Lao and Ye Xuan there, were theoretically the safest places.

But Zhong Lao would not intervene until the very end, did not care about small-scale sacrifices, and focused more on the tempering of humanity. Ye Xuan, that human who was like a god, likely didn't care too much about the lives of others either.

And most importantly, the housing prices in those two cities were already very high.

But Bibo City was different. Bibo City was just a third-tier city. While housing prices weren't high, it was where a Kamen Rider appeared, and it was the holder of the "Mumen Rider" template.

Who could deny "Mumen Rider's" heart of protection for humanity? Who could deny the Kamen Rider's will to fight for human freedom?

Other cities could certainly see the changes in Bibo City. Let alone third-tier cities like Bibo City, even big cities like the Imperial Capital and Magic City were incredibly envious and were trying every possible way to poach Bibo City's talent.

Could Bibo City tolerate this? Of course not. They even made preparations at the first opportunity.

That very night, they went directly to visit the family of "Jiang Xuan," the holder of the Mumen Rider template, and while cordially greeting them and awarding various honors, they also let them freely choose from vacant properties all over Bibo City, asking about their current jobs and whether they had any thoughts of working "inside" Bibo City.

Not meeting the requirements? Whose requirements?

We are all family; why talk about requirements? How distant that would be.

The contract was signed that day, and the people were transferred that day. One day later, people from cities like the Imperial Capital and Magic City would have been knocking on their door.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 99 =====