Chapter 16: The Unpayable Debt of the Superhuman

“Where… is this place?”

In City Z, on the streets, neon lights flickered, and a clear female voice echoed through the thoroughfare.

A woman clad in classical white robes, sword in hand, suddenly appeared on the city street, her face filled with wariness as she scanned her surroundings.

The girl’s gaze held a curious uncertainty as she stared at the towering skyscrapers around her.

The furnishings, layout, and all the artifacts here were vastly different from her original world.

“I clearly remember dozing off in the Smoke Cloud Pavilion—when I came to my senses, I was here, and the sky was already bright. Is this spatial displacement the work of some Sect Lord playing a trick on a junior disciple?”

The woman’s clear voice echoed through the empty street, but long after, no one responded.

It was early morning; the woman swept her gaze across the surroundings, and in an instant, her body vanished from the spot without stirring even a ripple.

On the very spot where the woman had stood, modern society’s surveillance cameras had faithfully recorded everything.

…

In the morning, Fang Can let out a light yawn.

Due to the time difference between the two worlds, he had just been staying up late at night listening to stories, and now found himself in the early morning of this world—he would have to carry his backpack to school again in a few hours.

As for skipping school? That was out of the question!

The New State enforced strict laws on ordinary citizens; even truancy was illegal, and without legitimate reason for absence, police officers would show up at your door to question what you were up to.

And if you were one of those chronically absent students, congratulations—you’d be on the annual festival day roster.

For ordinary citizens, the New State truly treated them like screws—no deviation or overstepping was allowed.

Perhaps this was precisely why the festival day passed so swiftly—after all, that was the only thrill they got in daily life.

This nation, founded after the Great Collapse, combined Japan’s obsession, America’s arrogance, North Korea’s control, France’s backbone, Africa’s chaos, India’s labor laws, and India’s academic pressure—all the worst traits gathered together, and the description was entirely accurate.

Fang Can had heard that there were other countries in this world besides the New State.

But due to restrictions on the internet and official documents—even textbooks were forbidden to mention any specifics about other nations—Fang Can remained in a state of “not knowing of the Han, let alone the Wei and Jin,” unsure even of what those countries were called.

With heavy drowsiness weighing on him, Fang Can had neatly washed up and changed into his Zhongcheng High School uniform.

Feeling the freshness on his skin, he couldn’t help but sigh—bathing in the other world simply couldn’t compare to modern convenience; with his slight obsession with cleanliness, he always felt he hadn’t washed thoroughly enough.

Shouldering his backpack lightly, Fang Can stepped out and squeezed onto the subway, joining the office workers heading toward Zhongcheng High School.

In Class 3-1, as Fang Can walked in, he saw several classmates passionately discussing something.

Getting closer, he learned they were eagerly debating which city had been chosen this year for the festival day, and speculating on what kind of activity would be selected.

“I voted for Crime Trial—what about you?” said a student with freckles, thrilled.

A slightly overweight boy chuckled: “I still prefer unrestricted city-wide brawling—I only realized three years ago that true masters are among the common folk.”

“Rapid Pursuit would be good too—I’ve always known about the options, but never got it voted in.”

…

As the classmates chatted, they noticed Fang Can approaching and smiled: “Fang Can, what did you vote for?”

“I didn’t vote,” Fang Can shook his head, brushing them off: “But if I had to choose, Human Purge Plan sounds pretty fun.”

Upon hearing Fang Can’s answer, they all nodded in agreement with his taste.

As they chatted casually, the bell rang for class, and the group instantly stilled their expressions and returned to their seats.

Not long after, a middle-aged man carrying a lesson plan entered the classroom.

The first class today was Chinese.

“Class representative, collect last class’s homework. Now, everyone, open your books to page seventeen.”

At the Chinese teacher’s words, everyone flipped to the designated page in unison.

“Last class, we reviewed the classic pre-epoch text ‘Zou Ji Advises King Qi to Accept Counsel.’ Today, pay close attention—it’s key material for the upcoming exam.”

Following the teacher’s words, Fang Can saw the content on page seventeen:

“The Unpayable Debt of the Superhuman: The Satellite Shot Down from Earth’s Suborbital Path!”

The Chinese teacher adjusted his glasses: “Now, everyone, read aloud together these two pages.”

Under the teacher’s command, everyone—including Fang Can—read the textbook passage in unison.

【—Late at night, Superhuman F finished his duties but did not rest…

Facing his attendant’s advice, Superhuman F, despite his exhaustion, said: “With great power comes great responsibility. Though we superhumans possess strength beyond ordinary men, that does not mean we may slack off.”

As he spoke, Superhuman F gazed up at the dark night sky and sighed: “If only the entire world could be as peaceful as this night sky.”

With that, he bent down, picked up a pebble from the ground, and hurled it into the sky: “Damn enemies!”

The next instant, the sky blazed bright—a white streak slashed across the black heavens, illuminating the earth like a falling star.

Seeing his attendant’s puzzled look, Superhuman F explained: “That was a surveillance satellite from some evil nation—I just used my superpower to bring it down.”

What a wonderful Superhuman F! What a wonderful superpower!

The Unpayable Debt of the Superhuman, the Superhuman’s…】

Inside the classroom, Fang Can joined his classmates in preparing for the exam, diligently reviewing the knowledge they had already covered.

Meanwhile, on the other side, as the energy tide erupted, the New State had secretly entered emergency alert status.

In all hundreds of cities across the New State, those near the energy tide were under strict investigation.

With modern society’s information network fully deployed and data converging, within just a few hours of investigation, anomalies were detected.

Inside the Dragon Group—the New State’s entire superhuman unit—a middle-aged man with a scarred face studied the compiled reports.

His right hand lightly tapped the wooden desk, his eyes fixed on the video clip before him.

During this period, over a dozen humans—differing in attire, appearance, age, and gender, all dressed in ancient garb—had suddenly appeared within surveillance range at the moment the energy tide erupted.

Recalling a certain hypothesis, the man couldn’t help but twitch his lips: “Twin worlds? Could this really be true? Fascinating. Truly fascinating.”

Thinking of this, the man spoke: “Send Dragon Group to capture every one of these… humans in the video.”

(End of Chapter)