Zheng immediately froze in place. He was very sure that this ship was a very normal civilian fishing vessel. There were no humans stronger than ordinary people on board, so these people couldn’t be team East Sea either. Then… how did they know of the existence of God’s Realm teams?
“You’ve met team East Sea? Did they request something of you?” Zheng asked curiously, as he carefully prepared himself.
“What’s team East Sea?” The man was instead confused. However, he didn’t mind it, but took out a black box. “About a month back, a man appeared before me. He gave me a large sum of money, and the job he gave me was to give you this black box when you appeared. Come to think of it, you two look really similar. Apart from the difference in the position of the scar on your face, you two look practically the same.” [1]
Zheng was shocked in his heart. He already knew who this captain was talking about. In the whole realm, only one person fit this description. His clone! However, could his clone bypass God to enter someone else’s movie, and know in advance Zheng would meet this person before him? This wasn’t possible, unless… he had entered the fifth stage.
Forcibly suppressing the shock in his heart, Zheng still received that black box. It was burning hot inside the black box as his hand entered. Unprepared, he subconsciously flung the box away. The box exploded in the air, turning into black flames. The black flames then actually slowly coalesced into a human figure.
“We meet again. No, it’s not a meeting, but you listening to my voice, original me.”
The human figure the black flames formed was indistinct, but that voice was extremely familiar to Zheng. It was a voice he could never forget in this life. It was the voice of his clone, a voice very similar to his, but carrying incomparable bleakness.
“What do you want? To kill me before the final battle?” Zheng coldly laughed. He drew out Tiger’s Soul, and the four energies within his body began flowing. If he saw this figure initiate an attack, he would immediately jump off the boat to deal with it. No matter what, this boat couldn’t be lost!
That figure waved its hand. “Don’t be anxious. This is just a communication tool between you and me. Our true battle shall happen during the final battle. It’s still too early now. If I dispose of you too early, the final battle will be boring. I heard that you didn’t die after Resident Evil Apocalypse, but instead slowly became stronger. You’ve turned team China into the third strongest after team Devil and team Celestial. I learnt about you and team China’s existence from the other teams. Be proud. You have the qualifications to challenge me.”
“Challenge?” Zheng laughed coldly again. He lifted up Tiger’s Soul, pointing it at the figure. “What a joke. A challenge? No, I will defeat you! I shall not lose again! I will completely, utterly defeat you the next time we meet! Listen carefully! This isn’t a challenge, but the destined battle between us. Neither you nor I can run from this.”
“Yes. We can’t run from this.” The human figure seemed to laugh coldly as well. He waved his hand, saying, “If you still carry that incorrect mindset from Resident Evil Apocalypse, that cowardly hypocrisy, I don’t mind killing you right here and now. Since it’s the final battle, it needs a beautiful ending. Is your power and mentality prepared to face me?”
“Correct.”
Everything he had experienced flashed through Zheng’s mind abruptly. From the Resident Evil when he was still weak, till the great changes in Resident Evil Apocalypse. There was The Mummy world where he had resurrected many companions, and the turning point, A Nightmare on Elm Street, where he had become strong and died. And… the so many thing things he had experienced, the incredibly long time he had gone through, and all that he had done.
“Correct! I will definitely beat you. I need to beat you! Your thinking has been wrong from the start! Revenge definitely isn’t wrong. Tearing enemies into pieces is as it should be too. But, I will never abandon what we cherish, what we have approved, and those that fought shoulder to shoulder with us! So, I must beat you!”
The human figure went silent. After a long time, he extended a hand, saying, “A hero complex? Although you’re not mature yet, you still have the qualifications to face me. Fine. I’ll wait here for you, at the position of the apex. Zheng, make it to me alive, and I shall grant you the right to challenge me. Also… don’t face me alone if you haven’t unlocked the utmost possible of the fourth stage. Otherwise, the result will be as it was before.”
“I’m waiting for you, original me. Let me see it. How much power your childish mindset can unleash. If you can… never mind. I’ll be waiting for you at the final battle.”
When the figure finished its words, it dissipated in the rain, completely disappearing.
Zheng stood in the rain for very long, lost in thought. He was only startled awake from the booming of a thunderbolt across the sky. Zheng silently recalled his clone’s words. However, he didn’t know what he had been trying to express.
(Does he hope for me to beat him? What was he trying to express to me during that unfinished sentence at the end? Also, how can he come into the movie I’m in? Has he really reached the fifth stage?)
The shadow of his clone had always been weighing down on all the members of team China. His strength couldn’t be described in words, and now, Zheng had discovered he could enter other’s movies. This discovery was shocking, and also confirmed the validity of Honglu’s words,
“The utmost possible of the fourth stage, was it?”
As Zheng was facing the shadow of his clone, the rest of the far off team China were in a difficult position. A mere small airship basket wasn’t able to endure all this, and they had also encountered a school of sharks. The sharks had come too abruptly. Yingkong, who had been swimming in the sea, had suddenly been dragged underwater by a shark. Although she had quickly resurfaced, the shark, which had been torn into pieces, had whipped the surrounding sharks into an even greater frenzy. With no alternative left, those swimming in the sea could only go into the basket. However, that only made the basket slowly sink downwards, and the water began submerging everyone onboard.
“Aren’t shark’s noses very sensitive? They can smell the scent of blood from a distance. After killing this shark, I don’t know how many sharks will be attracted over.” Juntian was looking at the sharks swimming back and forth, and was so terrified that his body began trembling.
For some unknown reason, Yingkong’s face reddened slightly. However, she didn’t say a word, only turning her head to look at the sharks in the sea.
“Could it be…” Cheng Xiao was suddenly surprised. It was even a pleasant surprise, as he shouted out.
Just these three words made Yingkong’s expression incredibly agitated. She hurriedly turned to Cheng Xiao. “Shut up!”
However, Cheng Xiao had completed what he was saying a step earlier. “Could it be your ‘good friend’ is visiting? So the scent of blood lured the sharks over? Hahaha… AHHH!”
It was an extremely tragic ending. Cheng Xiao was viciously kicked over ten metres away. This was the sea, and with a splash, he fell into the water and created a spray that reached several metres tall. At the same time, the surrounding sharks rushed over as if they smelt meat. Cheng Xiao leapt in fright, and swam back to the basket with all his might.
(Her good friend is here… could it be true seeing how her agitated expression? Is that why she attracted a sharks when swimming in the sea?)
Everyone wasn’t sure whether to laugh or cry, but they didn’t dare utter a word seeing Cheng Xiao’s plight. Most likely, he would be killed by the girl even if he made it back to the basket. After all, the words he had spoken just now were indeed too obscene...
After a long time, Cheng Xiao finally clambered back onto the basket with great exhaustion. He had a number of bite wounds on his body. Although he had killed a few sharks, he no longer had any energy to move a muscle. Every was concentrating all their attention on the sea’s surface, afraid that a moment of carelessness would lead to a sneak attack. Such a large animal was able to tear a person in half with one bite. Those rookie’s face turned deathly pale, their body trembling incessantly as if they had contracted dysentery.
Juntian looked at the people around him, and suddenly saw the Tamer’s Medallion Honglu was wearing on his chest. He shouted. “Honglu, quickly bring out our black dragon! That’s right, can’t we fly up with the dragon? We’ll be safe then!”
Honglu immediately began to laugh coldly. The little boy wiped away the sweat on his face. “Don’t kid around. Do you think God will really give you the chance to play tricks? See the lighting in the sky? It’s definitely courting death if we fly to the sky now. Not just this, but God’s notification just now was full of traps. This is the so-called word games. The so-called flying equipment, does it refer to flight technology, or anything that helps you fly? If it’s the latter, how do you dare ascertain a ‘dragon’ isn’t counted as a tool? It’s not your innate ability, nor is it a naturally born creature. To be exact, its existence is a biological weapon of team China, a living prop we got from the movies. So, just wait for Zheng to bring that ship back.”
(While I say that, it would be pretty cool to fly in the sky riding a dragon. Why isn’t Zheng back? I need to maintain my dignity before the rookies. However, there are so many sharks below, and I’m not a melee combatant. Wouldn’t I be dead meat if I fell in? I’m so scared my whole body is turning to jelly. Hurry back!)
[1] In case you forgot, in Vol 11 Chapter 1-1, Zheng had a scar on his face after Resident Evil Apocalypse that he had God leave on his face to remind him of his loss.