Aolai City, Spirit Pagoda branch.
Lan Kai queued up with the other children from the orphanage, waiting to undergo their Martial Soul Awakening ceremony.
Unlike other transmigrators, however, Lan Kai had already learned what his Martial Soul was before its awakening.
Before a runaway hundred-ton truck had delivered him to the Douluo Continent, his consciousness had been seized by O50 Universe, the notorious crooked boss of the Ultraman series, which had forcibly saddled him with a mission.
As he learned more about that mission, Lan Kai's mood swung back and forth like a roller coaster.
"Crap, it's that notorious, unscrupulous boss, O50 Universe. Kurenai Gai and Juggler got put through the wringer by it back in the day, and apparently Ultraman Rosso and Blu were victims too. Just my luck.
"What? You want me to go to the Douluo Continent and solve a problem? Which era of the Douluo Continent are we talking about?
"Tang Hao and Ah Yin invaded the plane's consciousness, and the Abyssal Plane has already connected to the Douluo Plane? Looks like it's the Douluo Continent during Legend of the Dragon King...
"You're giving me the Light of Orb as my Martial Soul? Now that's a stroke of luck!
"What do you mean, the original Light of Orb is weak so it can protect the Douluo Plane, and I'll have to slowly hunt down other Ultraman cards, acting like a walking debt collector while restoring my power?
"Fine, having the Light of Orb is better than having nothing, and even Orb in his initial form should be incredibly powerful on the Douluo Continent...
"Wait, what do you mean the Dark Ring is in that world too, so O50 Universe has no choice but to send someone—and I'm the poor sap it picked?!
"FXXK!"
Whenever Lan Kai thought back to that memory, his expression darkened.
The Douluo Continent might be the bottom of the barrel in the fantasy genre, but of the three Douluo books, Douluo III was definitely the riskiest one to transmigrate into.
After all, although Tang San wasn't constantly lurking in the shadows in Douluo III, the infighting among the various great figures on the continent alone was enough to give anyone a headache.
On top of that, the Abyssal Plane had been lured there by the Sea God King's Ten-Thousand-Year Plan. One line summed it up:
Immortals filled the ranks, thick as hemp.
And now the Dark Ring had been added to the mix. Who knew what the Douluo World would become?
Even though he would most likely have the Light of Orb as his Martial Soul, Lan Kai still felt his scalp prickle.
No one should underestimate the power of the Dark Ring just because of Juggler's performance in Ultraman Orb or the villain's performance in that Ultraman Seven movie.
Juggler and Kurenai Gai already had a complicated relationship. It was lucky the "star-crossed lovers" trope hadn't spread widely back then, or they would surely have become another poster couple for tragic romance.
As for that old woman in the movie who wanted to hunt down precious stones everywhere... could she really be considered the most evil person in the entire universe?
That tokusatsu Medusa had a point. They should send that woman to a place called Chaldea, where there was a kind of gem called Saint Quartz, and then...
At least on the Douluo Continent during Legend of the Dragon King, every influential organization had someone more deserving of the Dark Ring than that old woman.
The Abyssal Plane, the Holy Spirit Cult, the Spirit Pagoda, the Tang Sect, Shrek Academy, even the Federation...
Every organization had its share of great figures, the kind who wouldn't seem out of place wielding the Dark Ring.
"Next, Lan Kai!"
Hearing the Spirit Transmitter call his name, Lan Kai immediately stopped his rather dejected thoughts, entered the Spirit Transmitter room, and stood in the middle of the room atop the Core Array.
The moment the Spirit Transmitter began activating the array, a resonance from deep within Lan Kai's soul filled him with power.
A beam of light emerged from Lan Kai's chest. At first, it tried to take the shape of a short sword, but then it became a ring with a thick, pitch-black handle.
"What a powerful energy fluctuation. He must have Innate Full Soul Power!"
The Spirit Transmitter thought excitedly. If he awakened a child with Innate Full Soul Power and reported it, he would receive a hefty bonus.
As for Lan Kai's Martial Soul being a ring, the Spirit Transmitter didn't really care.
So what if it was a Ring Martial Soul? Maybe it could wield some utterly inconceivable power.
The world of genius Soul Masters was beyond the easy comprehension of a Soul Master with mediocre talent like him.
Lan Kai, however, looked at the ring in his hand—or, more precisely, the Orb Ring—with a somewhat complicated expression.
"Just like that crooked boss said, it's obviously impossible for me to start with Orb Origin Form.
"But the Orb Ring does feel great in my hand, and I can use it to transform into Orb Origin Form without inserting a card.
"Ha, there's no need to be so gloomy now. With the Orb Ring and the Light of Orb, I've already got an unbeatable hand.
"Besides, there's only one Dark Ring. Whether they can even bring out its power is still an open question."
After confirming what the Orb Ring could do, Lan Kai finally let a faint smile touch his lips and put it away.
Then he completed the Innate Soul Power test with the Spirit Transmitter. As expected, he had Innate Full Soul Power.
However, when the Spirit Transmitter invited him to join the Spirit Pagoda, Lan Kai didn't accept right away.
If he agreed to join the Spirit Pagoda now, he could very well be forced to side with Qiangu Dongfeng's faction.
Lan Kai had no good impression of this Alien Babarue, who had colluded with the Holy Spirit Cult and even helped them.
Perhaps his helping the Holy Spirit Cult destroy Shrek Academy, which had plagued the continent for ten thousand years, was an act that made many viewers cheer.
But all things considered, his assistance to the Holy Spirit Cult, along with his peerless wisdom, made Lan Kai's opinion of him plummet. He belonged at the same table as those two jackasses from Shrek Academy.
Besides, Lan Kai had some ideas about his first Soul Spirit. If he joined the Spirit Pagoda now, the Soul Spirits available at its Aolai City branch would naturally be quite limited.
Even if Lan Kai intended to play hard to get, he still hoped to find a more suitable Soul Spirit—one with light, fire, wind, or dark attributes.
Of course, it would be best to save a dark-attribute Soul Spirit for last. Otherwise, he probably wouldn't be able to suppress the evil Zoffy's dark power.
Judging from Kurenai Gai's experiences, Soul Spirits with these attributes might make it easier for Lan Kai to obtain cards.
As Lan Kai left the Spirit Pagoda branch in Aolai City, his gaze fell on a boy with big eyes and long eyelashes.
Perhaps because he had awakened the Light of Orb, Lan Kai could already see things that would normally be invisible to him. Now he saw a golden glow inside the boy, its surface wrapped in a few sea-blue runes, like Blue Silver Grass.
"Golden Dragon King power with a Sea God seal? So that's Tang Wulin?"
Lan Kai committed Tang Wulin's appearance to memory, then hurried back to the orphanage.
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