Soul Synchronization

The Luo Star people ultimately failed.

Strictly speaking, Shane had even bought them more time.

Three months later, a Viltrumite two years older than Shane found the place.

But perhaps due to Shane's outstanding performance over the past decade and his steady growth in superhuman abilities,

the Viltrumite from the same class as Shane did not become suspicious of him.

"Hey, why are you keeping these tens of thousands of people alive—forget it, I'll clean this up."

He carelessly flew past Shane, exposing his back to him without reservation.

Then Shane ambushed him from behind and killed him before the remaining Luo Star people in Luo Star's final refuge.

About half a month later, a nonchalant Viltrumite flew in from the distant sky, occasionally calling Shane's name.

"Zhent? Don't tell me you've gone on another killing spree. We're gathering to head back!"

This one was stronger than the last and more vigilant, but after paying a minor price, Shane still managed to kill him.

The Luo Star people could not understand Shane's actions. As they hurried to complete the Spaceship, they watched Shane—silently hovering in the sky and staring into the distance—with hatred and wariness.

Because Shane had also massacred an army of several million defending their last stronghold right before their eyes.

One after another failed to return, finally arousing the suspicions of the Viltrumite group that had originally planned to gather and withdraw.

This time, a young man whose past performance was nearly equal to Shane's came together with that nightmare-like Instructor.

The Escape Spaceship was complete, but its energy had not yet fully charged.

Watching the Instructor and his classmate fly toward him at high speed while loudly questioning him, Shane closed his eyes and let out a long breath.

Then he charged forward without hesitation.

The aftershocks of the earth-shattering battle engulfed the last tens of thousands of Luo Star people, leaving almost all of them dead or wounded.

Having already exhausted his strength through two rounds of fighting, Shane was utterly no match for the combined attack of the two.

His body was flung through the sky like a burlap sack, blood scattering down like raindrops.

The Instructor furiously berated Shane for being unreasonable, but Shane merely climbed back to his feet in silence. Without even wiping away the blood pouring from the corners of his mouth and nostrils, he assumed a fighting stance once more.

The next second, Shane was sent flying by a punch from a sneering Viltrumite who had also participated in this coming-of-age trial.

"Zhent can't hold on much longer. Look at him—his eyes have already lost focus."

But as the Escape Spaceship's indicator lights gradually lit up, the two discovered in shock that Shane, who had been on the verge of exhaustion, had somehow endured the punch that should have ended the battle completely. Even under grievous wounds that left him unable to remain conscious, he unleashed a power even the Instructor could not withstand.

Half an hour later.

Shane, on the brink of death, tossed aside the Instructor, whose head he had forcibly ripped off with a look of utter shock still on his face, then staggered aboard the finally charged Spaceship.

He looked weakly at the dozen or so surviving Luo Star people. A smile actually appeared on his face—the first one he had shown in over a decade since arriving in Viltrum's world.

"Come with me. Stay away from those people. I can protect you. Luo Star's civilization still has a chance."

The Luo Star refugees, reduced by Genocide to barely more than ten people, looked at one another. Then a Luo Star man holding a gun stepped forward.

"Get off!"

The leading Luo Star person shouted at him with hatred.

"If you come with us, we'd rather blow up this Spaceship!"

Shane froze. His smile gradually faded, and he lowered his head, hiding every expression in the shadows.

Shane was too badly injured at that moment. Even with a Viltrumite's physique, he could die at any second.

Besides, he did not have even a moment to persuade them further.

Once the other Viltrumites participating in the coming-of-age trial arrived, even if not all of them came to investigate, the wish Shane had hidden in his heart for nearly ten years would instantly turn into shattered bubbles.

He raised his head, his gaze becoming hollow and dim once more.

"Then—I'm sorry."

This was the lingering note in Shane's soul, its complexity beyond even Raven's ability to discern.

Raven withdrew her fingers and stared blankly at Shane, her cheeks still bearing an unnatural flush like that of an addict who had just gotten their fix.

Shane, meanwhile, was entirely different.

The girl had not lied to him. This magic was not only not evil, but worked both ways.

He had also glimpsed part of Raven's past.

Oh, now he knew Raven's full name: Rachel Ross.

He also understood what kind of being Trigon was.

If Viltrum conquered different planets, then Trigon's target was all manner of planes and dimensions.

Worth mentioning was that part of Raven's experiences and emotional journey were practically identical to Shane's.

"No wonder you help the homeless. You just use the chance to give them food to smell the souls of elderly homeless people."

Who could have guessed such a strange habit? Neither Batman nor Nightwing could possibly have imagined it.

They probably only thought the girl was rather kind.

Although the souls of the elderly were aged, their lifetimes of experience made them as rich and mellow as vintage wine to Rachel.

Yet because of his rebirth, conflicts in his mental outlook, prolonged suffocating repression, and a jumble of other reasons, Shane's soul had reached an entirely new level of impact and appeal for Rachel.

The strange expression on Rachel's face gradually faded, and a brief, faint sense of satisfaction appeared on her usually blank face.

Then she returned to that indifferent, dead-fish-eyed state.

But when Rachel's detached gaze fell upon Shane, a trace of emotion unusually surfaced.

Her expectations had not been that high. She had merely wanted to taste the most intense fragments of Shane's soul.

But Shane had displayed his most conflicting experiences on Viltrum without holding anything back.

Because of this bizarre move that defied the girl's common sense, she accidentally became immersed while observing and savoring the latter half of Shane's soul and memories.

For an instant, her soul lowered its guard, allowing Shane to learn some of her past and the emotions she had likewise suppressed for many years.

Simply put, Rachel had briefly achieved Soul Synchronization with Shane when she failed to keep herself steady.

Shane silently avoided Rachel's puzzled gaze.

In truth, the period before his rebirth was the one containing many secrets he could not reveal.

As for those more than ten years on Viltrum—

"I've kept it bottled up for too long. I'm tired."

Even when Doctor Fate had viewed him with hostility a few days ago and Diana had confronted him face-to-face, Shane still had not dared to fully reveal his past on Viltrum.

Merely explaining the coming-of-age trial had already left Diana unable to accept it for a while. If he recounted all of those ten-plus years of experiences, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Seeing that Rachel did not press further, Shane took the initiative to return to their previous topic.

"Now, could you please help me solve my—problem?"

Shane was clearly still bothered by Rachel's earlier claim that there was something wrong with his soul.

Rachel's dead-fish eyes slanted toward Shane, then she lightly nodded.

"I don't know much. I'm only relatively familiar with Soul Magic and Teleportation Magic, but your problem happens to fall within my field."