After breakfast, Luo Shang told Su Bingyao that he wouldn’t be home all day—he was heading out for some fun.
Su Bingyao knew he was off to entertain his friends from the Reincarnation Space. Though he hated to miss out on the TV dramas playing in Luo Shang’s mind and was a bit curious about those friends, he knew where to draw the line. Some things were better left unknown and untouched—best not even to lay eyes on them.
After a token reminder to stay safe—which was really just for show, since not even humanity’s most powerful weapon, the hydrogen bomb, could harm Luo Shang—Su Bingyao racked his brain but couldn’t think of anything in this world that could hurt him. He glanced at Luo Shang again and saw no intention of continuing the dramas over breakfast. With a sigh, Su Bingyao looked away, resigned to heading to work alone.
If Luo Shang had stayed home to keep watching, Su Bingyao might have called in sick just to join him. Work could wait for any day, but chances to watch TV dramas from another world? Those were few and far between.
Once Luo Shang returned to the Reincarnation Space, there’d be no way to catch up.
Last time, the story had left off with the elven protagonist, Kun Rolenroz, facing the Abyss Lord. To save his lover, he’d struck a pact with a great devil, selling his soul in exchange for the qualifications to become a sorcerer. From then on, he was cast out by the Elven Mother Tree and threw his lot in with the Abyss.
Meanwhile, countless factions from the Void eyed that plane bordering the Abyss, their ambitions stirring. The moderates of the Void Alliance dispatched a diplomatic delegation, scheming to seize political control by meddling in internal affairs.
The radicals from the Reincarnation Space sent in their High-Level Player Group. Jin’s Think Tank laid intricate plots, countering the Void Alliance move for move. Shang’s combat squad clashed with the abominations rising from the Abyss, while also supporting the Think Tank with frontal assaults and assassinations against the Void Alliance diplomats and the plane’s native political factions.
Back in the Reincarnation Space, Jin and Shang were a same-sex couple—though Jin wasn’t human, and his gender concepts might differ from humanity’s, his humanoid form was male. Su Bingyao figured that made him and the human male Shang a gay couple, more or less.
Would the Void Alliance or the native factions try to exploit that to fracture the Reincarnation Space’s player team?
Su Bingyao mulled over the drama’s plot, hoping Luo Shang would pick it up again that night—no, better make it tomorrow. Two nights of binge-watching in a row might wear him out…
Luo Shang gave a vague nod to Su Bingyao’s reminders, said his goodbyes, and headed out.
Once the door clicked shut behind him, Su Mingyao and Su Bingyao both let out a sigh.
It was hard to say if it was relief at finally relaxing without Luo Shang around, or regret at missing the mind dramas.
[They won’t open the door to peek at me, right?] Luo Shang asked the System.
At once, Su Mingyao and Su Bingyao straightened up in the Su Family Villa, fighting the urge to glance at the door. Su Mingyao forced his attention onto his Live-Streaming Phone.
Su Bingyao pretended to mull over which suit to wear to work.
[No,] the System replied promptly.
[Good. Then they won’t see me take off.]
Luo Shang nodded. With a light tap of his toe, he shot into the air, streaking toward the Moon.
Su Mingyao and Su Bingyao couldn’t help peeking out the window, dying to see how a human flew. But all they saw was a vast blue sky, brilliant sunshine, and not a single cloud or bird trail in sight.
It was definitely a fine day.
Once he was sure Luo Shang was far gone—off to the Moon—Su Bingyao finally spoke to Su Mingyao.
“With the Reincarnation Space and Void Alliance squeezing them from both sides, plus other species and Cross-Realm Companies watching like hawks, was Kun Rolenroz right to side with the Abyss? That’s a Devil Lord we’re talking about…”
Devils were the Abyss’s native species. The Abyss itself was a bizarre pocket of the Void, formed from the piled-up remnants of countless worlds after death. It brimmed with endless death, hatred, curses, and resentments—the embodiment of all things negative and foul.
Aging worlds would involuntarily draw close to it, becoming a part of it, and that was nothing much. But its most disgusting trait was that it would involuntarily attract living worlds as well, turning those that hadn’t naturally perished and were still in their prime into part of the Abyss. Afterward, the species living in the Abyss could “come ashore,” transforming those originally cute, ignorant, and fragile species into their own nutrients or slaves—assimilating non-Abyss species in the process.
Because different species had varying reproduction methods—some even asexual—the common curse words used across the Myriad Worlds weren’t things like “his mom’s,” but rather Abyss-related insults like “Abyss-raised!” or “Bottom-of-the-Abyss scum!”
Even among the Abyss species, which were infamous for their evil, the Devil Clan stood out as uniquely notorious. As one of the few intelligent species in the Abyss, they were cunning and greedy. High-level players in the Reincarnation Space often fell to corruption after being tempted by Devils, having once signed contracts with them.
Devils loved the souls of high-tier beings. They collected them as prized treasures or burned them to provide themselves with Aura that hadn’t yet been tainted by the Abyss.
The soul of a single high-tier player could burn steadily for three full centuries before extinguishing. It also made for an excellent lamp to decorate their domains, earning plenty of face in front of other Devils.
The TV series covered all this content too, so Su Bingyao felt deeply indignant on behalf of the Elf Clan’s male protagonist.
If he were in that situation himself, he would rather seek refuge with the Reincarnation Space than approach the Devils. Devils might sign contracts, but they had no credibility!
“Otherwise? He didn’t have any other choices, did he?” Su Mingyao said.
“The conditions the Devils offered were just too generous. From our perspective, he really shouldn’t have signed a contract with them, but Kun didn’t know any of that. He was just a backwater hick who’d never left his own world.”
Su Mingyao sighed.
“Actually, compared to the Devils, the Reincarnation Space is practically merciful… uh, at least Luo Shang came back in one piece…”
Luo Shang… Shang… same-sex couple, Jin… wait??
Su Bingyao suddenly spotted the inconsistency.
What was Luo Shang’s boyfriend from the Reincarnation Space side called again? It seemed to be Ke Yanjin!
So that Shang was actually Luo Shang, and Jin was his boyfriend??
The TV series Luo Shang was watching actually featured two characters modeled after him and his boyfriend?
Only now did Su Bingyao truly grasp what genuine Myriad Worlds-level influence meant.
“Too strong…” he sighed.
He knew Luo Shang was powerful, but all he’d personally witnessed were things like the man destroying worlds or setting up Thunder Clouds. He had no idea just how many tricks Luo Shang had up his sleeve.
The portrayals in the TV series were far more varied and flashy than anything Luo Shang had ever demonstrated in person.
In truth, Luo Shang’s influence extended much further than that. Just as certain immortals and gods could project their power into other worlds to become legends, Luo Shang’s shadow had been cast across other multiverses, giving rise to tales of his own.
In some legends, Luo Shang had eight arms and four eyes, a majestic war god who helped them repel invasions from beyond the heavens. In other stories, he was the great god of commerce, his established order safeguarding the growth of trade. And in yet more myths, Luo Shang served as the god of light and heat, driving away the darkness and cold to bring life back to the land…
That was why the TV series produced by Bifrost Cross-Realm Film Company was no big deal. At worst, they’d drawn inspiration without the subject’s permission and ended up getting sued to the Void Tribunal by the Reincarnation Space. They’d paid out compensation—including a share to Luo Shang—and that settled the matter.
“That Sword Cultivator from the Reincarnation Space is super strong too, and he’s on really good terms with Luo Shang. Do you think he might be a friend here to visit Luo Shang?”
Su Bingyao said. He’d loved sword immortal archetypes since he was a kid and had even fantasized back then about becoming one himself to slay demons and exorcise evil—until he grew up and realized it was impossible.
That was why, when he watched the TV series, the first character he’d liked was one of that type.
Even though he knew Luo Shang was incredibly powerful, Su Bingyao always felt a subtle mix of emotions toward him. He’d watched Luo Shang grow up from childhood, seen him do stupid things like dumping dirt on his own head, witnessed his slovenly side. He could revere Luo Shang, sure, but he just couldn’t bring himself to idolize the man.
After all, Luo Shang was nominally still his little brother.
It was different with that Sword Cultivator, though.
Su Mingyao quickly pieced together the underlying logic from Su Bingyao’s words and realized that his Big Bro had pegged the Shang character from the Reincarnation Space storyline as Luo Shang.
“That’s just a TV show—not necessarily real, Big Bro,” Su Mingyao said.
Although that actor did bear some resemblance to Luo Shang… hmm.
Fine, maybe the character really was modeled after him.
“True enough,” Su Bingyao said, his face clouding with regret.
Just then, the Labrador came bounding out of Luo Shang’s room with a leash clamped in its jaws. It fixed its dark, glossy, clear, and utterly dim-witted gaze on the two men deep in discussion about the plot.
“Woof!”
“Woof woof woof!”
Heeding Luo Shang’s orders, it was throwing itself wholeheartedly into the role of a dog—and dogs needed walks.
Ever loyal, it plopped down between the pair and dropped the leash—the one the butler had rushed out to buy yesterday the moment he spotted Luo Shang bringing the dog home—onto the floor, waiting patiently for Su Mingyao or Su Bingyao to take it.
Normally, Luo Shang would have commanded it to forget about any walks, but he was off entertaining his old teammate right now, leaving just two regular guys alone in the house.
Su Mingyao and Su Bingyao both went quiet at the same time. “…?”
Hold on—wasn’t this dog supposed to be a skeleton? Did it really need to be walked?
Su Bingyao’s suit-picking dilemma vanished in an instant. He grabbed an outfit without a second thought and started getting dressed.
“I’ve got work to do. You’re on your own, Mingyao.”
Su Mingyao shot Big Bro a look full of reproach.
