I'm Fucking Here

Fragments flew in all directions, and dust filled the air.

The column of smoke rising into the sky could be seen for a hundred meters around, like an orange-red mushroom cloud.

The awakening room's entire roof had been blown off, and broken bricks and rubble came clattering down across the ground. Even the crooked old tree in the courtyard trembled from the blast, sending a few withered leaves spiraling down.

Matron came scrambling in from outside, howling at the top of her lungs, "My Little Baozi! My orphanage! My awakening room-!"

From within the dust came Su Haitao's weak, trembling voice. "I... I finally..."

He lay sprawled on the ground, charred black from head to toe, yet his eyes shone like a pair of lamps as he stared at the little figure in the center of the formation, just as blackened but completely unharmed.

"I finally... awakened a child with Soul Power!"

"He made this much of a commotion without a Soul Ring. If he still doesn't have Soul Power, I'll-I'll eat every single Awakening Stone right here!"

"Haha! Hahahahaha! I did it! I did it!!!"

Su Haitao rolled around on the ground laughing, paying no mind to his charred body or the mess around him.

He laughed louder and louder, nearly bringing himself to tears, as though he meant to laugh away all the frustration he had suffered as the "Dream Crusher" over the years in one go.

Bao Liang rubbed his ears, still ringing from the blast, and looked down at the orange-red ball of light in his palm that had finally quieted down. Then he looked up at the awakening room, now reduced to ruins, and over at his Su Haitao, who was still grinning like an idiot with half his face blackened.

It suddenly occurred to him that his life this time around would probably be far more exciting than his last.

"All right, Brother Tao, stop laughing and get up." Bao Liang stepped forward to give him a hand.

As soon as he raised his hand, the orange-red light popped out of his palm again, floated between them, and swelled to the size of a fist in the blink of an eye.

Su Haitao's face turned white. "Put it away! Hurry and put it away!"

"I... I can't control it!"

"Then at least don't point it at my head!" Su Haitao sprang to his feet, scooped up Bao Liang, and scrambled out of the courtyard with him.

Another muffled bang came from behind them-half of the orphanage's long-neglected courtyard wall collapsed.

Matron stood at the edge of the ruins, staring blankly. Her lips trembled for a long while, but she couldn't force out a single curse.

Su Haitao crouched across the street with Bao Liang in his arms, panting. After a while, he looked down at the innocent-faced little brat he was holding. His eyes grew brighter and brighter, until he finally let out a chuckle.

"Brother Tao, what are you laughing at? I can't put my Martial Soul away or control it, so what are you laughing at?"

"It's good that you can't put it away!" Su Haitao slapped his thigh. "I've been an awakener for years, and I've seen all kinds of Martial Souls, but never one that could blow up a house the moment it awakened! Yours is definitely no ordinary Martial Soul. It's a treasure! A great big treasure!"

Bao Liang: "..."

He couldn't help feeling that Brother Tao's understanding of the word "treasure" was a little different from that of a normal person.

The thunderous explosion had long since alerted the neighbors.

People from most of the alley crowded around, craning their necks to watch the excitement as they pointed and whispered among themselves.

Someone recognized Su Haitao and laughed, slapping his thigh. "Brother Dreambreaker, what kind of great treasure did you awaken to blow up their awakening room?"

Su Haitao wasn't angry. He stood up with Bao Liang in his arms and straightened his back, so pleased with himself that his eyebrows nearly flew off his face.

Su Haitao was just about to give the crowd a proper response when Matron pushed her way through and rushed over. She seized his arm. "Su Haitao! What in the world happened? You little brat, did you bring a Soul Cannon shell to my orphanage?!"

"Huh? No! Matron, I've been wronged! I didn't do it!"

"If it wasn't you, could it have been Little Baozi? Does he have Soul Power? Huh?!"

Su Haitao froze.

Did he have Soul Power? He'd been so busy celebrating that he hadn't tested him yet!

After that explosion, he'd been so caught up in his joy that he had actually forgotten the most important part.

"Ahem, Matron, don't be hasty. Take another look." Su Haitao hurriedly composed himself and pulled a fist-sized crystal ball from his Soul Tool, placing it in front of Bao Liang. "Quick, brat, put your hand on it!"

"If you still don't have Soul Power, I'll eat the orphanage right here!"

Though he really wanted to see how Su Haitao would eat it, Bao Liang obediently pressed his little hand against the crystal ball.

The next second, the crystal ball lit up.

It wasn't a faint starlight, but a dazzling white light, so bright it was nearly overflowing, making the onlookers involuntarily narrow their eyes.

Su Haitao's pupils contracted sharply, and his mouth fell open in a perfect circle. After a long while, he let out a shrill cry. "I-Innate Full Soul Power?!"

The surroundings fell silent for an instant, then erupted in an uproar.

Innate Full Soul Power! Innate Full Soul Power, which might not appear even once in the entire Sun Moon Empire in several years! And he, Su Haitao, had awakened it?!

"Hahahahahaha!" Su Haitao laughed even more wildly than before, scooping Bao Liang up and spinning around three times on the spot. "I knew it! I knew it! I'm not a Dream Crusher! My life, Su Haitao's life, has been worth it!"

Startled by his frenzy, Matron took two steps back and looked at Bao Liang in shock and delight. Her lips trembled, and in the end she only managed to say, "Good... good child..."

Excited as he was, Su Haitao hadn't forgotten the important business at hand.

He carefully set Bao Liang down and took out a voice-transmission Soul Tool, his hands still trembling slightly. He reported everything in a rush to the person on the other end. "Hello? Is this the Empire Soul Master Guild? This is Su Haitao! Hope Orphanage! Yes! Just awakened! His Martial Soul is... Explosion, an elemental type! Innate Full Soul Power! Yes, yes, yes, I'm not crazy! Hurry and send someone to take a look!"

After putting down the voice-transmission Soul Tool, he looked at Bao Liang as though he were a walking gold mine.

Something as big as the awakening room being blown up couldn't be kept quiet.

Innate Full Soul Power was even harder to conceal.

That afternoon, a Soul Tool vehicle bearing the Sun Moon Empire's official emblem stopped at the orphanage entrance.

The door opened, and two guards stepped out first, followed by a middle-aged man in a dark blue uniform with a silver gear badge pinned to his chest.

He swept his gaze around without so much as glancing at the collapsed courtyard wall, then walked straight up to Bao Liang and crouched down.

"Little friend, was that your doing today?"

Bao Liang nodded honestly.

The man held out his hand. "Come on, let me see your Martial Soul."

Bao Liang opened his palm as asked, and the orange-red elemental ball popped out. This time it didn't swell, merely flickering quietly in his palm like an obedient little fireball.

The man stared at the ball for so long that Bao Liang almost thought he had fallen asleep. At last, he spoke slowly, a trace of barely contained excitement in his voice:

"Boy, this Martial Soul of yours... what's it called?"

"Explosion."

"Explosion? What type of Martial Soul is it?"

"It should... be an elemental type, I think?"

"Elemental type, with Soul Power catalysis of its own, controllable detonation..." the man murmured, his eyes growing brighter. "Good stuff. Really good stuff."

He stood up and tilted his chin at Bao Liang. "Pack your things and come with me."

"Where to?"

"The Hongchen residence." The man patted the silver gear badge on his chest. "The residence of Jing Hongchen, our master of Mingde Hall. With a Martial Soul like yours, you were born to make a living as a Soul Engineer."

"And when it comes to Soul Tools, our Hall Master Hongchen is the authority among authorities."

Bao Liang's heart gave a sudden leap.

The Hongchen residence.

The home of Jing Hongchen, master of Mingde Hall in Peerless Tang Sect, a place where Huo Yuhao later had to deal with its owner politely when he passed through while studying to polish his credentials.

Jing Hongchen was there, along with the most advanced Soul Tool Technology, and-a whole bunch of people waiting to be blown up.

And that certain person he had been thinking about for three whole years.

"Let's go!" Bao Liang answered without hesitation. He turned and waved at Matron. "Matron, I'm going! Once I've finished my studies, I'll come back and blow up-no, build you a big house!"

Matron angrily grabbed a broom. Frightened, Su Haitao hurriedly scooped Bao Liang up and shoved him into the man's arms. "Go, go! Don't let Matron catch you."

"I don't want to relive my childhood!"

As the Soul Tool vehicle started up, Bao Liang leaned against the window and watched the orphanage grow smaller and smaller until it became a black dot.

The vehicle left the alley and turned onto a wide avenue. The buildings along the road gradually grew grander, and Soul Tool streetlamps flashed past one after another.

He clenched his fist, and the little orange-red fireball in his palm obediently flickered.

Tang San, Huo Yuhao, Shrek, and that person...

Bao Liang grinned.

Douluo Continent, I, Bao Liang, am fucking here.