"So... you really are my reflection? I don't believe it."
Wang Xiaoming raised his head and looked at the copy opposite him.
He took half a step forward, raised an eyebrow, swiveled his hips, and patted the Ride Booker on his waist. In an extraordinarily punchable tone, he added, "If you're my reflection, you must be really good at looking out for me. So why don't you hurry up and get in my bowl?"
Mirror Wang Xiaoming watched his antics, the expression on his face slowly turning cold.
He looked Wang Xiaoming up and down, the corner of his mouth twitching.
Finally, he squeezed out a single word. "...Idiot."
Wang Xiaoming's eyes lit up.
"Look at you, getting all worked up again. Would a reflection insult the original?
Wouldn't that be insulting yourself?
Psychology says a mirror is a perfect copy. It shouldn't have emotions of its own..."
"Shut up."
Mirror Wang Xiaoming cut him off in an icy voice and raised his hands to grip both sides of his driver.
"If you really think of me as nothing more than a mirror, heh, suit yourself. I have only one mission... and that's to replace you!"
Wang Xiaoming looked at the chill churning in those eyes, identical to his own, and the curve of his smile faded somewhat.
"Then come and try."
Both men pushed their drivers all the way in at the same time.
"Henshin!"
The two voices rang out as one.
The mechanical sounds of armor enveloping them echoed throughout the world inside the mirror at the same instant.
Two magenta figures shot forward like arrows loosed from fully drawn bows and collided in the middle of the room.
Fist met fist.
Two impact forces from the same source crashed together, ripples bursting outward from the point where their fists met.
The floor tiles beneath their feet split with spiderweb cracks.
But neither man retreated.
The force of their fists remained locked in a stalemate. The patterns on both suits of Decade armor glowed magenta as both men put more strength behind their blows, then the lights went out at the same time.
Wang Xiaoming rotated his elbow and smashed his left fist toward his reflection's ribs from the side. At that same instant, the reflection made exactly the same move.
Their left fists collided, sending another ring of air surging outward.
Wang Xiaoming took half a step back and swept his hand across.
The reflection dodged sideways while kicking at the back of his knee.
Wang Xiaoming raised his leg to block. Ankle struck ankle with a dull, thunderous bang.
Both used the force to leap backward. They landed in perfect synchronization, as though looking in a mirror; even the dust their feet kicked up rose to exactly the same height.
The reflection raised a hand and turned his palm over, and a Ride Booker Gun appeared in it.
Wang Xiaoming drew his own gun at the same instant.
Both raised their guns and pulled the triggers.
The light bullets collided, exploding into a curtain of searing white light between them.
Before the curtain of light had faded, the reflection charged through it, driving an elbow straight at his face. Wang Xiaoming ducked under it, spun with the motion, and whipped a kick at the reflection's waist.
The reflection blocked with his arm and slid back several steps with the force. Once he had steadied himself, he lunged back in.
Fists flew and legs lashed as the two maneuvered around the cramped room, fighting from the center to a corner and crashing back to the center again. The room was a complete mess.
Wang Xiaoming neutralized every move the reflection made, while the reflection blocked every one of Wang Xiaoming's counterattacks in the same way.
The same fighting logic, the same muscle memory, the same reaction speed.
Wang Xiaoming slammed a fist into the reflection's chest, sending him three steps back.
The reflection kicked him in the lower abdomen, and Wang Xiaoming likewise stumbled back three steps.
Exactly the same.
It was like fighting his own shadow.
Even when they used Charge Slash, the same force still sent them both flying apart.
After more than ten exchanges, they retreated from each other and dismissed their armor. Their chests heaved, and sweat beaded on both their foreheads.
"You can't beat me, and I can't beat you."
Some of the gloom had faded from Mirror Xiaoming's voice.
"What's the point of dragging this out?"
Wang Xiaoming leaned against the wall, resting his arms on his knees and smiling mockingly.
"What, are you willing to get in my bowl now?"
He knew himself well enough: there was no compromising on something like this, and his reflection was no different!
Mirror Xiaoming sneered and said, "I just look down on you. You hold the strongest power in the world, yet you're content to be a salted fish?
"All you do all day is follow a few little girls around. Honestly... I can hardly bear to watch. Did you come to the Tease-Lolis Continent or something?"
Wang Xiaoming: "..."
He actually couldn't refute that.
But he was only six right now! He was just making friends his own age. What the hell was this reflection yapping about!?
He shot back defiantly, "Then let me ask you: in this world, besides teasing Sanzi, beating up Gangzi, and flirting with girls, what else do you want to do?"
There was no need to mention becoming a god. They both understood that he didn't need to become one at all.
As long as he gathered all the lost Knights' powers, he could take on whoever he wanted.
"...A person has to find something to do. Otherwise, it would be far too boring."
Mirror Xiaoming narrowed his eyes at Wang Xiaoming. There was even a hint of grievance in his words, as though he were the ambition Wang Xiaoming had cast aside.
Looking at Mirror Xiaoming, who seemed to have a heart full of grand ambitions but nowhere to put them to use, Wang Xiaoming shrugged.
How did he know Wang Xiaoming didn't want to stir things up? Wasn't he already doing it?
Alas, a mirror could only reflect the surface; it didn't understand his heart at all.
He shook his head.
"Forget it. There's no point saying more. I'll come find you again next time... Honestly, I don't really want to finish you off. What if I have a use for you someday, right?
"Where else am I going to find someone as tough and strong as myself?
"I'm sleepy. I'm going back to bed. Good night."
Mirror Xiaoming: "..."
You bastard, you're treating me like a sparring partner?
But before he could retort, Wang Xiaoming had already left the Mirror World through the Dimensional Wall.
Mirror Xiaoming clicked his tongue and sat down on a rock behind him, displeased.
He had the Mirror World's unique power, and Wang Xiaoming likewise had something he couldn't copy. Heaven had been fair to both of them.
If it came down to it... he might not be able to beat that guy at all.
Still, to spur that salted fish on and pave the way for himself, he had to do something.
Suddenly, he caught sight of the Ride Booker at his waist out of the corner of his eye and thought of something. An idea immediately sprang to mind, and the corners of his mouth rose slightly.
That guy didn't seem to have noticed that there was something he wanted in the Mirror World.
As it happened, it was something Mirror Xiaoming needed too.
He turned and walked toward the center of the Mirror World.
Before long, Mirror Xiaoming found a group of statues in the ruined world.
Standing in the very center was none other than a statue of Decade.
This was also the source of Mirror Xiaoming's ambition.
What he wanted was for this statue to stand tall over the Douluo Continent, just as it did in the Mirror World!
He then walked over to the Ryuki statue, aimed at the belt, and struck it hard.
The stone shattered, revealing a simple black card deck underneath.
Mirror Xiaoming picked it up.
Unfortunately, it didn't react to him at all. Although he could use the cards, the power they granted couldn't be channeled back to him.
He knew that, which was why he hadn't come to touch it before.
But now, he had decided to use it to stir something up.
The blank Contract Card inside could first have its contract target selected, then be bound by Wang Xiaoming.
If there was some fool right now who was easy to manipulate and worth tricking into becoming a Contract Beast...
"Heh, I choose you."