Tamed for Whom, Enraged for Whom

Late into the night, the coffee shop gradually filled with more customers.

Yet many patrons, men and women alike, kept stealing glances at the flawless woman seated at a corner table while sipping their coffee or milk tea, though none dared sit too close under her commanding presence.

Like a striking beacon, Diana rose from her chair first and bid farewell to Barbara across the table. "That's all I wanted to say. If there's nothing else, I'll head back. It's late—my child will worry at home."

"What... a child?!"

Cups clattered to the floor across the coffee shop.

The nearby tables, where men and women had been mustering courage to approach, instantly lost their feigned elegance upon catching Diana's words, their faces slack with dejection and despair.

Even Barbara was stunned by that particular title, confirming just how deeply Xi Nian was rooted in Diana's heart.

But really—who would have guessed?

A god truly becoming family with a human.

Barbara stared at Diana for a long moment before murmuring, "You can't hide it from him forever."

"Of course." Diana's flawless face carried a faint smile as she said softly, "When he turns eighteen and comes of age, I'll tell him everything he wants to know. Whatever life he chooses, it'll be his decision—I'll respect his wishes. But for now, I won't allow anyone to disturb that child's life."

A cold glint flashed in Diana's eyes as she finished, then she turned and strode out of the coffee shop in her boots.

"He's just an ordinary human boy, after all." Barbara shook her head in disbelief, then recalled Diana's earlier words and chuckled to herself. "Xi Nian Prince. How did you manage it? If I get the chance, I'd really like to meet you face to face."

A child adopted by a god—how had he tamed a deity?

Diana stepped out of the coffee shop and looked up at the light snow drifting from the night sky. A thought crossed her mind unbidden:

Was that child now hunched over his desk doing homework, or sitting on the couch watching TV, or already asleep in his bed?

Whichever it was.

Diana suddenly longed to see Xi Nian, to kiss that child's cheek, to carefully hold his body close—just as she had for the past sixteen ordinary years.

"So I'm afraid too."

Catching a snowflake in her palm, feeling its faint chill, Diana whispered to herself.

That morning, when she learned Barbara had shown Xi Nian her photograph from the World War I era, Diana had been just as frightened as Xi Nian's unease and panic.

Diana feared that if Xi Nian knew she was a descendant of gods, that she had lived for centuries without aging, he might see her as a monster and grow distant—that their life together might be shattered.

So Diana had hidden her true identity as Wonder Woman.

Buying a hamburger from the shop next door, Diana carried the takeout bag and started heading home. Spotting police cars on the road below and officers patrolling the area, a sudden sense of dread crept over her.

She hurried into the elevator and returned to her apartment door.

Taking a deep breath, Diana unlocked and pushed the door open. A gust of cold wind howled in through the shattered balcony sliding door, tousling her black hair as she stood at the entrance.

The dark living room was filled with heavily damaged furniture, and the floor bore clear cracks from trampling.

And in Diana's line of sight, the armor and weapons she had kept hidden on the living room ceiling—the Star-Spangled Tiara, the Guardian Silver Bracelets, the Sword of Hephaestus, the Aegis of Divine Power, the Lasso of Truth—were all gone without a trace.

"Something's happened." Diana clenched her fists, her beautiful eyes showing a calm devoid of any emotion.

It was her divinity, swelling without limit.

Meanwhile, elsewhere.

Pedestrians had fled the smoke-filled warzone of the city. Lying atop a church roof, Xi Nian's face was full of disbelief.

"How could it be her?"

Xi Nian stared at the battlefield below, at the lower half of the girl's face revealed when Spider-Woman pulled off her mask.

She looked far too much like his childhood friend—Gwen Stacy!

If not for the fact that she had just bound the mighty Abomination with spider silk and was sitting on a ten-meter-tall building wall beyond all common sense, Xi Nian would have already guessed Spider-Woman's true identity.

But her voice was clearly different.

"Could it just be a coincidence in looks?" Before Xi Nian could think further, the battle below took another turn.

A series of taut spider-silk strands snapped. Under Spider-Woman's startled gaze nearby, several threads suddenly gave way under pressure. Though more strands remained anchored to the building's exterior wall, they too faced total collapse in the next moment—the wall itself, where the silk was fixed, tore away along with the threads and crumbled!

Boom!

The ground shook like an earthquake, dust replacing the falling snow.

Even the building Spider-Woman was sitting on collapsed, sending her tumbling down. Midair, she tried to shoot new silk to swing away, but a massive green hand burst violently through the web and wall debris, its fingers clamping like iron pincers around her waist, pinning her arms as well!

In the dust, a pair of cold, terrifying green beast-eyes opened.

"Let me go!" Spider-Woman struggled and cried out, but no matter how hard she fought, that hand didn't budge an inch.

That inhuman strength reminded her of the crossdressing freak she'd met on the rooftop earlier.

The Abomination grinned hideously. Against its three-meter-tall monstrous frame, the petite Spider-Woman in its grip looked like an infant.

It didn't release its left hand holding her. Instead, it raised its other hand and wrapped its right fist over the clenched left.

As the Abomination's two hands pressed together, they squeezed inward inch by inch. Spider-Woman's struggles weakened, and blood trickled from her tightly pressed lips.

Clearly, the Abomination was going to crush her alive!

Spider-Woman Gwen's feet slowly drooped downward, her strength completely spent, her consciousness dimming and blurring.

"Is this where I die? Wait, I haven't even worn a white wedding dress yet..."

Gwen thought unwillingly, then darkness claimed her as she fainted.

But.

In that final moment before losing consciousness, as if in a flash of her life before her eyes, she heard the most familiar voice of a young boy.

"Let her go!"

A flash of silver arrived first, splitting the pitch-black night sky and crimson flames in two.

The Abomination had no guard against an ambush at this moment—even if it did, it wouldn't have cared. After all, even hot weapons like rocket launchers couldn't breach its defense, let alone mere cold steel. So it only let the sword tip grow larger in the reflection of its pupil.

This time, it was wrong!

Thud!

The Retro Longsword instantly tore through the closed, tough eyelid, the right eyeball within bursting apart as a section of the blade sank completely into the Abomination's eye socket!

How was this possible?

The Abomination froze, its remaining eye widening abruptly as it stared at the Silver-Haired Boy who had landed on its arms from above.

"I'm curious. Monster, do you know pain?"

Perhaps due to the divine nature of the power he'd inherited, Xi Nian's face was utterly calm, not a trace of emotion showing.

But precisely because of that, it revealed the seething rage within him at this moment!