At this moment, Washington.
A white young man in his early twenties, wearing a backpack, yawned sleepily as he pulled out his keys, unlocked the door, and returned home.
He changed into house slippers by the entrance.
"Right." Barry Allen suddenly remembered something. A friend had entrusted a kitten to his care last night.
The kitten had been sleeping from last night until this morning. He did not know whether she had woken up yet.
Thinking of this, Barry took a can of fish from his backpack and headed toward his room.
He opened the door.
What met Barry's eyes was a pet carrier with its zipper open on the desk. The Little Orange Cat that had originally been curled up inside was nowhere to be seen.
"Where did she run off to?" Barry muttered, though he was not too worried. With his extensive experience raising pets—and plans to apply for a job at a pet shop later on—he had already closed all the doors and windows before leaving that morning, and unplugged the electrical cords as well.
Even if the kitten ran around the house, she should not be in any danger.
"Huh?" Barry seemed to notice something and stared blankly at the space in front of his desk.
Wait, where was his chair?
Where had his chair gone?!
The huge chair that had been in the room had vanished into thin air?
Just as Barry thought his home had been burglarized, a soft cat's meow sounded behind him.
Barry turned around. A seemingly harmless Little Orange Cat stood in the doorway, watching him with wariness and vigilance in her eyes.
"Kitty, so you're here." Barry sighed in relief and shook the can of fish in his hand. "Look, I brought food back for you."
Barry stepped forward, about to approach the Little Orange Cat.
Then the unexpected happened—
The Little Orange Cat suddenly opened her maw in a savage grin. Several thick, terrifying tentacles shot out from her mouth and swept toward Barry in the room at incredible speed.
Barry's eyes widened in shock. At the critical moment, faint arcs of electricity flickered around him!
The next instant.
The Little Orange Cat, the room, even the entire world—everything fell still!
No, it was not stillness!
Barry was simply too fast, so fast that time itself paused to wait for him!
Having entered a certain state, Barry circled the nearly frozen Essence Devourer Beast before him, studying her in silence.
He remembered now.
That friend seemed to have warned him that this kitten was a little unusual.
This was unusual?
This was not a cat at all!
Themyscira, atop the training grounds.
Clang!
For who knew how many times, the Greek Sword in Xi Nian's hand was knocked from his grasp and sent flying, embedding itself in the grass.
Xi Nian's palm was bright red, nearly bleeding.
Even so, he showed no intention of conceding. He walked toward the sword once more and gripped the Greek Sword again with the five fingers of his right hand.
"Again!" Xi Nian panted heavily, gripping the sword tightly as he faced Antiope, who was not even breathing hard.
Female warriors had already gathered densely around the two of them. Beyond them, many Amazon residents stood beside the buildings, watching this battle with its vast disparity in strength.
"It's useless." Antiope's expression remained blank as she took a swift step toward Xi Nian, bringing down a sword strike that combined power and speed!
Xi Nian raised his sword with all his strength to block it, only to be sent stumbling backward with sword and body alike before crashing hard onto the grass.
The female warriors and residents around them all shook their heads. Only Antiope on the field suddenly revealed a subtle expression.
This time, Xi Nian had held onto his sword and did not let it fly from his hand again.
Of course, the price was—
As Xi Nian used the sword to prop himself back up, a drop of blood slid down between his fingers and fell onto the hilt of the Greek Sword.
Antiope looked at the stubbornly rising youth and said coldly, "It's useless. Admit defeat early."
"Antiope, you're right." Xi Nian held his sword and smiled. "If I want to protect her in the future, I need to become even stronger!"
Then he said cryptically, "You're sweating, aren't you?"
"It's only from the sun. You're not enough to make me sweat." Antiope lowered her gaze at her body. To be honest, Xi Nian was indeed more tenacious than she had expected.
But that was all. She could not see any hope in Xi Nian...
Instead, this left Antiope feeling disappointed, and once again she began to question Princess Diana's choice.
Step!
At that moment, Xi Nian seemed to drag his sword as he charged toward Antiope!
Antiope raised a brow. She had not expected him to choose to attack first.
"It's useless." Antiope shook her head and was about to raise her sword to meet him when she discovered that Xi Nian had thrown his sword first, halfway through his charge!
He had voluntarily abandoned his sword?
"Foolish!" Antiope barked. With a swing of her sword, she immediately knocked the thrown blade to the ground!
Yet at the same time, Xi Nian had rushed close to Antiope. The hand that had held his sword clenched into a fist and struck Antiope's exposed shoulder with all his strength!
Antiope's body did not budge, like a towering mountain that could not be shaken by the strength of a human youth.
"You've lost." Antiope formed her right hand into a blade and swung it toward Xi Nian's neck, but before it could land, her wrist was suddenly seized tightly by a hand!
It was Xi Nian's hand!
"Now!" A glint flashed through Xi Nian's eyes. He sharply twisted his waist and, with the tremendous force in his hand, lifted Antiope's entire body and hurled her viciously toward the open ground beside them!
Antiope's sword fell from her hand, and Xi Nian snatched it up in one motion!
Thud!
Not only was Antiope, who had been thrown more than ten meters away, stunned—the female warriors on the field were as well, all staring at Xi Nian, the only one still standing.
What had clearly been a one-sided battle had reversed in an instant?!
What had happened in that moment?
"What is going on?" Antiope lay on the ground, her mind still somewhat dazed. She could not understand what had just happened. A force comparable to her own had come from Xi Nian's hand just now—
No, it had been even stronger than hers!
Naturally, she did not know.
At the instant Xi Nian threw that punch, the blood on his hand exchanged places with the sweat on Antiope's body, fulfilling the prerequisite for activating the Lord of Kin!
Antiope's physical strength had been stacked onto Xi Nian, causing the reversal!
"The general was knocked back?"
"How is that possible..."
"So, so amazing!"
After the shocked, clamorous discussion, applause rang out above the training grounds.
The Amazon warriors did not care about any of that. Whether it was the youth's refusal to yield and his courage, or the brilliant reversal he had displayed at the end, both were enough to earn a trace of their respect and make them ashamed of their earlier rudeness.
Watching Xi Nian, wearing a crown and holding a sword, change the opinions of everyone on the field, Antiope also revealed an expression that said, You got me.
"Princess Diana, is this the—miracle you spoke of?"
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