The End and the Return

Satellite imagery showed that, amid the ruins at the center of the nuclear blast, a massive crimson cocoon about three meters tall had appeared on the apocalyptic battlefield.

Its surface was crisscrossed with red veins, and it pulsed rhythmically like a heart.

"Thump, thump..."

The dull, steady beating came through the broadcast with a suffocating pressure. Everyone who heard it felt an oppression deep in their blood, like a gentle, harmless rabbit facing a tiger. It was hard to breathe.

Orochimaru spoke with difficulty:

"It's not dead. And from the looks of it, it may have evolved!"

Everyone's heart, Minato's included, sank to the bottom.

"Can you launch another long-range strike?" Minato asked the human officer at the camp.

The officer quickly reported to his superiors, then replied,

"Yes. The next wave will arrive soon!"

Not long after he spoke, dozens of long-range missiles rained down from the sky, all aimed at the crimson cocoon!

Suddenly, cracks appeared across its surface. They widened in an instant, and golden light burst from the cocoon, shooting straight into the sky!

Then a four-legged creature with wings sprouting from its back burst free and soared into the heavens.

Its body was entirely fiery red. It had the shape of a horse, the head of a camel, and a body covered in scales. It resembled a mutated Fire Kylin, except that it had a pair of wings on its back and flames followed its every movement.

"After death, it first transforms into a Hanba, then into a Hou," Orochimaru murmured to himself.

Before anyone present could ask about the Hou's origins, the situation changed again!

This evolved Hanba should now be called a Ferocious Beast, the Hou. Its wings stirred slightly, and it vanished from sight.

In the blink of an eye, it turned into a streak of red light, darting through the sky and striking the dozens of missiles overhead.

"BOOM!"

The Hou destroyed the missile volley with nothing but its physical strength, even though the missiles were powerful enough to wipe out half a city. Explosions filled the sky, a spectacular sight.

After that, the Hou beat its wings and soared high into the air, letting out a long howl toward the heavens.

Its cry boomed like thunder, with a hint of a dragon's roar and a tiger's growl.

It opened its mouth, and a fiery red breath surged out. A flaming lotus shot forth, sped into the distance, and disappeared from sight.

"What's it doing?"

As everyone wondered, the human officer at the camp spoke in disbelief.

"It's going to detonate the second wave of hy—hydrogen bombs early!"

The Flame Golden Lotus streaked north. Its target was none other than the second wave of hydrogen bombs launched from the Europa Military Base!

There were three bombs in the second wave. Their combined power was enough to destroy a small country and turn hundreds of kilometers around the blast site into a wasteland devoid of life!

That showed how determined humanity's leaders were to destroy the monster.

But with a spectacular burst of fireworks, all hope was lost...

The mushroom cloud that bloomed over the distant Mediterranean destroyed humanity's hopes!

What now?

When humanity's ultimate weapon was destroyed head-on, the blow was beyond imagination.

For decades, ever since humans had acquired nuclear weapons, they had believed they could wipe out any form of life. If one shell wasn't enough, then they simply hadn't used enough firepower!

In a way, humanity had indeed become far too arrogant. After all, arrogance was the root of failure!

And humanity had only been master of this planet for a few thousand years!

The only thing they had needed to worry about was keeping this weapon of mass destruction under control themselves.

Now, their last trump card—a nuclear weapon—had struck its enemy head-on, yet the enemy was unharmed. Worse, it had evolved again and could destroy nuclear weapons outright.

That meant human weapons were almost useless against this monster. They could only let it wreak havoc.

The fear and helplessness of being unable to control their own people's fate spread through every human leader who heard the news...

Having destroyed the threatening nuclear bombs, the Ferocious Beast Hou turned its head. Its hideous, terrifying face was evil yet carried a trace of majesty, and its gaze promised to devour anyone it saw.

The Reincarnators watching from far away felt an overwhelming terror bearing down on them the instant its gaze fell upon them!

"Damn, it looks like it's coming this way!"

The Reincarnators observing from the camp were suddenly struck by a sense of danger. Like cats with their fur standing on end, they all used their own methods to flee.

But a Flame Divine Dragon that blotted out the sky descended. Compared to the fire dragon Orochimaru and the others had sealed together earlier, its terrifying power was like heaven and earth apart.

The dragon coiled above them without doing anything, simply using its aura to suppress them.

Meanwhile, the fleeing Reincarnators were all struck by streaks of red light and sent flying back to where they had been, seriously injured.

After dealing with everyone, the Hou beat its wings and slowly landed on the dragon's head.

Minato was the Reincarnator in the best condition. He hadn't tried to flee.

Among the others, only Kizaru was too badly injured to run, and Red-Haired hadn't fled either.

The rest—including Orochimaru and the other four, Doflamingo, and the two captains from the Bleach World—had all been struck down by the Hou and lay injured on the ground.

"What does it want? Is it toying with us?" Minato furrowed his brow, unable to fathom what the Ferocious Beast was thinking.

Red-Haired, on the other side, spoke with a grave expression.

"This evolved Calamity Behemoth is probably on a whole different level from us. No wonder it was an A-rank mission!"

Red-Haired was right. The original Hanba had been a high-ranking third-tier creature, but its mastery of some of the rules of fire had made it absurdly powerful. The group had only been able to hold it off by working together.

After evolving into the Hou, however, its strength had firmly reached the fourth-tier Rule Realm!

Every movement of the Flame Divine Dragon it summoned embodied the pinnacle of fire in the world. Not a single person present could withstand the flames flickering over its body.

Just as even Red-Haired felt they were doomed, a huge white portal appeared in the sky, spanning the heavens.

A colossal hand made of energy reached through it, blotting out the sky. Its mere appearance seemed to send the heavens crashing down and a mountain pressing upon them, plunging the entire world into darkness.

The hand drifted down above the Flame Divine Dragon, looking as light as a feather. By comparison, the dragon seemed like a tiny insect in its palm. The hand merely extended its index finger and lightly tapped the Flame Divine Dragon.

The mighty, terrifying dragon then faded like ash, as if its soul had been pulled from its body!

The giant hand turned over once more. The Ferocious Beast Hou didn't even have time to flee before it fainted and flew straight toward the hand, lying in its center like a lamb waiting for slaughter.

The hand gently closed around the Hou, then flicked its finger. A gust of wind shot toward the Sahara Desert, which had turned into the Endless Fire Domain. In an instant, every flame there vanished without a trace.

The giant hand withdrew through the enormous portal and disappeared from the world.

Everyone who witnessed the scene remained stunned for a long time.

Only the mission-completion notice in their minds brought the surviving Reincarnators back to their senses.

[World Mission "Rescue" completed. Due to interference from other factors, the Reincarnator faction's completion rate for this mission is low. Contribution points awarded: 2000.

The final phase of the world mission has been completed. Reincarnators may remain for 1 hour. After that, they will automatically return to Main God Space.

Note:

1. If you kill a large number of local inhabitants during your stay, you will suffer a backlash of fortune and incur additional penalties. Reincarnators are forbidden from doing so!

2. Contribution points are being calculated. World mission rewards will be issued automatically after your return.]

It's finally over! Every Reincarnator let out a deep breath.

This world mission had been exceptionally terrifying! Especially that evolved Calamity Behemoth at the end. If not for the mysterious being stepping in to suppress it, almost no one present would have survived!

Nearly everyone who had survived was injured. Those with serious injuries, like Kizaru, chose to return immediately.

Minato looked around. Most of the Reincarnators had chosen to return. Unlike usual, they had only one hour to remain, which wasn't enough time to do much.

More importantly, during the stay period after a world mission ended, Main God Space's prohibition against malicious attacks on one another had been lifted!

Once that restriction was removed, all the Reincarnators who had been allies became strangers whose allegiances were unknown.

Among the lessons Reincarnators in Main God Space had learned through bloodshed was this:

Never trust a Reincarnator whose allegiance is unclear.

In many missions, even when Main God restricted malicious attacks between Reincarnators to prevent the powerful from bullying newcomers and causing infighting that wasted the space's resources, a malicious teammate could still deliberately hold back in battle or conceal important information. Such behavior could easily get other Reincarnators killed.

The Main God Space Zhu Shen had created wasn't as cruel as the one in stories from his previous life. It gave new Reincarnators a basic chance to survive.

But it didn't strictly prohibit schemes and calculations, nor was there any need to stamp them out. In the end, Zhu Shen needed useful tools, not people to babysit and raise. If Reincarnators couldn't even handle a little scheming, they would never be entrusted with important tasks.

Everyone who had been able to take part in the final mission at the camp was certainly no fool. Some left; others stayed because they had the strength and confidence to do so.

Minato and Shanks both stayed. Without a doubt, they belonged to the latter group.

"Let's make a deal, Shanks," Minato said, speaking with him privately.

"Oh? I was just about to suggest the same thing."

"I need the basic Haki training method. In exchange, I'll give you the Chakra extraction method."

"The basic Haki training method costs more than the Chakra extraction method in Main God Space."

Shanks didn't agree right away. He wanted to hear Minato's offer first.

Minato frowned. What Red-Haired said was true.

In Main God Space, exchanging for the basic Haki training method cost 1000 points, and it couldn't be taught to anyone else.

The moment you tried to teach it to someone, all the information would be blocked as soon as you spoke. Some Reincarnators had tried recording the secret methods they exchanged for, but no matter how they tried to preserve them, the result was always gibberish.

Most cultivation methods in Main God Space worked this way. It stopped people from exchanging for methods and reselling them to other Reincarnators, which would cut into Main God Space's profits.

The Chakra extraction method, by comparison, cost 500 points.

Don't think that was cheap!

An infinite-ammo Desert Eagle cost only 100 points. Most first-tier exchanges cost less than 1000 points, and also required a D-rank side-mission reward.

So a basic supernatural method that only one person could learn cost almost a thousand points. Even without requiring a side-mission reward, that was still far too expensive.

Besides, Minato didn't need a version he could only use himself!

After a moment's consideration, Minato said, "I can add three D-rank ninjutsu training scrolls. They can be taught to others."

That offer persuaded Shanks. The two quickly completed the exchange, then began chatting.

"About that mysterious hand that appeared at the end," Minato asked, "you entered Main God Space before I did. Do you know who it belonged to?"

Hearing Shanks's question, Minato could only smile wryly and shake his head.

"I have no idea either. But we can make a few guesses:

1. The mysterious being is a powerful figure from this world, such as a reclusive master or a deity;

2. A supernatural being from another world, with an unknown purpose;

3. Someone from Main God Space, like us. They had the strongest reason to suppress the Calamity Behemoth, and extinguishing the Fire Domain may have been part of a rescue mission.

The likelihood increases with each possibility."

To be honest, even after seeing Zhu Shen act, Minato's imagination had run wild—but he still hadn't thought the Main God behind them had personally intervened. Who would have imagined the Main God would come down in person?

That cold, mechanical voice had led the Reincarnators to believe that if the Main God ever truly manifested, it would be an existence that could destroy the universe with a thought, dominate the ages, and transcend the river of time.

The being behind that giant hand was unbelievably powerful too, but still within the bounds of their imagination, confined to a single world. It couldn't compare to the Main God they imagined.

Yet that was the strangest thing about the world.

People were always willing to believe what they wanted to believe, without caring what the truth was.

Who would really believe that the existence which had left all the Reincarnators feeling powerless was the Main God?

Shanks fell silent, but in his heart, he agreed with Minato's view. Everyone believed that Main God Space had to contain more than just Reincarnators like them.

Although hundreds, maybe even thousands, of Reincarnators had appeared for this world mission, there were certainly many more who hadn't been sent down.

Take the one who had stepped in. Their strength was at least fourth-tier, which was why the A-rank mission could be completed.

What about fifth-, sixth-, or even seventh-tier Reincarnators? Did they look down on low-level missions because they were too powerful? Or were the worlds restricted, unable to bear their arrival?

Such guesses crossed the minds of all the Reincarnators. Zhu Shen had no intention of explaining any of it.

Although Main God Space currently had no fifth-tier Reincarnators, and only he and the newly subdued Hou had reached the fourth tier, there would definitely be countless high-tier Reincarnators in the future.

When that time came, the Reincarnators would see all this and think, "Just as expected!" They would believe they had seen it coming all along.