[One Rider a day: Kuuga, so scared he stepped back ()]
"What did you say your name was?"
Zhou Yang's brows twitched as he sought confirmation.
Could it really be such a coincidence?
"Tang Wulin."
Tang Wulin blinked, looking at Zhou Yang with a natural clarity and innocence that made it utterly impossible to associate her with a certain God King's child.
When he received confirmation, Zhou Yang felt goosebumps rise all over his body.
Why Tang Wulin had become a girl was no longer the point.
Your Uncle Zhou Yang only took 0.1 seconds to accept that Tang Wulin was a girl.
Perhaps it was a deviation in spacetime, or a difference between worlds, or perhaps some great hand was at work. None of that mattered.
Compared to those trivial matters, he was more worried about something else.
God King Tang hasn't set his sights on me, has he?
In a single instant, countless conspiracy theories surged through his mind, and all the glorious accomplishments of the pure-as-ice-and-jade God King Tang flashed through his head.
Then he considered his own timeline: God King Tang had been swept away by spacetime turbulence. The only presences on Douluo worth watching were the Qiangu family's forces, the Demon Emperor, the Silver Dragon King, the Abyssal Plane, the Holy Spirit Cult, Tang Hao and his wife, and God King Tang, who would only return ten thousand years later.
Oh, right. There was also the divine sense that was invariably planted on the God King's children.
The disaster-ridden Douluo Continent really was one thoroughly exhilarating peak-ranked shit-eating match.
As befitted a king, it was top-tier even when it came to making people lose their composure.
Even Zhou Yang, whose saintly ability to keep a straight face had been forged by the absurd internet of his previous life, could not hold it together before this peak experience he was about to undergo personally.
I'm truly sorry I couldn't make Lord Losing-It use his full strength.
Zhou Yang surrendered his first composure break in this world.
However, it was not the kind of composure break that came from giving up on the difficulties ahead. Rather, he was having trouble suppressing the smile on his face.
Before I awakened my Martial Soul, if you targeted me and called me a mortal, I really would have been helpless.
But now that I've awakened my Martial Soul, what should you call me?
Although he did not know whether this was simply a coincidence that had made him paranoid or the Tang family beginning its classic great-hand routine, Zhou Yang was prepared to stay alert and plan for the worst.
His gaze fell on the somewhat uneasy girl before him, and the feelings that had risen in him suddenly eased considerably, leaving him momentarily at a loss.
The Tang Wulin before him was ultimately just a child. What could she know about all those schemes?
Just like Wang Dong'er back then-how could she have known she would be taken away and stitched into Tang Wutong?
Could he really target a child who knew nothing?
Society was a great dye vat that would stain every blank sheet of paper.
Why shouldn't he try pulling her back?
Admittedly, as Tang San's child, she did have certain annoying aspects in the plot.
But when she was still a normal person in the early part of the Douluo series, Tang Wulin had always been a good child. Everything had only changed after her parents were taken away by the God King's great hand and she was sent to Shrek.
All he could say was that Tang Ziran and his wife had done their best to raise her.
Unfortunately, a certain God King with his great hand sent them away, and when they appeared again, they were killed off after barely exchanging a few words.
Then that God King even claimed he had sent the couple to the God Realm.
Zhou Yang could not help wondering: weren't they inside a black hole at the time? Where had he gotten the ability to send anyone into the God Realm?
The God Realm of rolling logs?
If I educate Tang Wulin now and turn her against him, wouldn't that be a good thing?
Imagining Tang Wulin raising the Signal Axe at God King Tang and delivering those famous lines, Zhou Yang could barely keep a straight face.
At that thought, the world-shaking wisdom in Zhou Yang's head lit up once more, and he had an idea.
"Your Martial Soul is Blue Silver Grass?"
Zhou Yang leaned over the desk and took the initiative to bring up Martial Souls.
At his words, Tang Wulin nodded, her little face immediately falling.
"Yes. My Innate Soul Power is rank three. Isn't that terrible?"
"Even though Mom and Dad, and even I myself, keep trying to find comfort, Blue Silver Grass is still just Blue Silver Grass."
As she spoke, a flash of light in her palm revealed a strand of Blue Silver Grass with faint golden markings. Her eyes lowered, her expression downcast.
There were some things she could not deceive herself about. Even if she stayed strong and encouraged herself, the facts were right there.
"Not at all."
Zhou Yang's words greatly surprised Tang Wulin. His unexpected answer made her ask a question.
"You don't think Blue Silver Grass is terrible?"
Zhou Yang shook his head, leaning lazily over the desk, yet the gaze he directed at Tang Wulin held certainty.
"How can you give up on a story that hasn't ended yet? If you resign yourself to fate because of this, that's when you've truly lost."
"When you feel sad about having poor talent, you should examine yourself rather than blame heaven and everyone else. Once you've truly taken a good look, you'll discover that you're even more talented than you imagined (meaning the Blue Silver Emperor Bloodline, Reward Good and Punish Evil, and the Blessing of the Goddess of Life)." Zhou Yang raised a hand and pointed at her, meeting her eyes with a convincing presence. "It's not as though you have nothing. What you need is to cherish what you have and think about what you can use it to bring yourself and the people important to you."
Spouting chuuni lines about family and yasashii, Zhou Yang felt no embarrassment whatsoever. Even outside of anime, the inspirational chicken soup and empty promises he had swallowed in his youth were enough for him to run a class. A little scene like this was naturally something he could handle with ease.
As she listened to Zhou Yang's words and was taken in by his spiel, Tang Wulin's eyes gradually regained their sparkle.
"You're right, Big Brother Zhou Yang."
"I still have Mom and Dad, and everyone who supports me. I have to use this talent of mine to do something more meaningful. When I grow up, I'm going to protect Mom and Dad."
Tang Wulin had now turned into a hot-blooded girl. Flames of firm resolve burned in her big Carslan eyes, her long, lovely lashes fluttering as excitement showed on her face.
Clearly, under Zhou Yang's persuasion, little Wulin, who had been somewhat self-conscious, had gradually grown confident.
After school, at Tang Wulin's invitation, Zhou Yang went to Tang Ziran's home as a guest.
The moment he saw Tang Ziran, Zhou Yang put on a perfectly measured, polite smile.
Rank Eight Derivation Gu, activate!
His perfectly measured manner and polite greeting won this parent's goodwill, especially after Tang Ziran heard from Tang Wulin about what had happened at school.
Tang Wulin's home was in a residential neighborhood not far from the school. It could be called a decent lower-end "school-district property."
It was a small but cozy courtyard home, planted with a cluster of unnamed flowers and plants. A breeze blew past, carrying the fragrance of flowers mixed with the aroma of food.
Lang Yue had clearly long since heard that Tang Wulin was inviting a classmate over, and had hurriedly prepared a great spread of delicious food.
When she saw Tang Wulin return, she walked over with a smile and began affectionately squishing and rubbing her. Mother and daughter were close; though they were not truly mother and daughter, they were closer than most.
"You must be Wulin's classmate?"
"Come, sit down. Auntie made lots of food."
Then she looked up at Zhou Yang and warmly took him over to sit.
The family's hospitality was extremely attentive, fully embodying warmth and friendliness, to the point that Zhou Yang found it a little hard to handle.
Their warmth was utterly pure, without anything else mixed in. Neither of them mentioned talent, nor did they deliberately try to get closer to him.
Since he had come together with Tang Wulin, he naturally knew she had never mentioned his talent.
They were simply a gentle pair of parents warmly entertaining their child's friend.
Partway through their conversation, the topic turned to Zhou Yang's family.
"By the way, Zhou Yang, what about your family?"
Tang Ziran remembered that Zhou Yang did not seem to have contacted his family at all along the way and worried that he had forgotten.
"I haven't seen your family contact you either. Have they forgotten about you?"
Lang Yue, however, began teasing him with a smile.
Her inability to have children due to an issue with an experiment had left having a child of her own as an enduring regret, so she was particularly fond of children.
"Your family really is careless. It's clearly your first day of school, yet they didn't even remember to pick you up."
"Little Zhou Yang is so adorable. Why don't you become Auntie's child? Then Auntie would have both a son and a daughter~"
The answer they received was somewhat beyond everyone's expectations.
"Ever since Grandma passed away, I've been the only one left in my family."
Zhou Yang merely fell silent for a moment before slowly speaking.
His tone was calm, and he offered little explanation. Yet in the couple's eyes, that lack of explanation was the best explanation of all.
Silence fell over the dining table, the previously lively atmosphere cooling in an instant.
Tang Ziran, Lang Yue: I really deserve to die!
After a stretch of silence, Tang Ziran and his wife slowly spoke, apologetic. "Sorry, Zhou Yang. We didn't mean to bring up something painful."
"It's fine. I'm used to it."
Hearing Zhou Yang's words only made the couple's hearts ache more.
To show that he truly did not mind too much, Zhou Yang slowly began telling them the story of Grandma Zhou and himself.
It was a simple story of a fallen soldier's surviving family member taking him in, yet it left Tang Ziran silent, Lang Yue's eyes red, and little Wulin shedding bean-sized tears.
After seriously considering it, the couple actually proposed adopting Zhou Yang.
Even Zhou Yang was somewhat surprised that this couple could be kind to such a degree.
However, Zhou Yang politely declined.
Feeling the goodwill of the ordinary couple before him, Zhou Yang felt all the more regretful and moved.
Such a wonderful family. How did they end up gone later?
Thinking of the great hand a certain Huo had suffered, he suddenly understood.
So this sort of thing would still happen.
With an indescribable feeling, he looked toward the window and happened to see a red beetle drift past.
Wasn't this sort of existence precisely what those called Kamen Riders wanted to protect?
Why did those Kamen Riders keep charging forward, one after another, to do such thankless things? In this moment, Zhou Yang seemed to understand as well.
They truly were worthy of his fondness, though what he liked more was merely showing off before others and looking cool.
He was not a good person. He could not be as upright and selfless as a Rider, much less someone worthy of others' trust and approval. Everything he did was for himself.
Zhou Yang's exceptionally clear self-awareness told him this. It was the result of accepting his own truest, ugliest side.
Even with this power now, he did not believe he possessed any Rider spirit.
This was his truest self.
However-
Now that he had this power, there was nothing wrong with doing a few things he liked.
Although he could not use much of the Power of Ohma, it should presumably be enough to protect this warmth that put him in a good mood.
For a terrible person like me to use power to seek things that make me happy is perfectly reasonable, right?
After all, possessing the Power of Ohma, commanding the power of time and space, and able to destroy and create with ease, he was destined to become a king.
His goal was not to become a wise king, but a demon king.
This, too, could be considered a demon king's little selfish desire.