《The Invincible Hero》


 The Invincible Hero

    The morning light slowly pierced the windows in an apartment in SuperTech City. A man peacefully lay in bed. The flapping curtails created a variegated light which traced its way onto the face of the sleeping man. A smile slowly appeared on his face. Suddenly his eyes opened and a smile vividly painted his face.


    "Morning!" The man jumped awake, flinging his covers off as he stood heroically fists planted on his hips. Dr. Lorne Longoak was a heroically handsome man in the classic Roman sense. Standing at six feet two inches, Lorne had a head of dark brown hair. His chiseled jaw and gleaming blue eyes could melt any woman''s heart. His broad shoulders and immaculate muscles looked strong enough to hold up the world. His large biceps and two massive columns for legs made Lorne look invincible, and he was.


    Immediately, Lorne changed his face to that of an average looking man shrinking his body to have an average build. This was his persona Dr. Lorne Longoak Director of the True History Museum.


    "Another day of adventure awaits!" He cried, again striking a hero stance.


    Slowly the man broke his hero pose and began the daily mundane chores of preparing for a new day. He began by making his bed, taking a shower, eating breakfast, and brushing his teeth. Going to his closet he pulled out two suits. The first suit is an elaborate costume with alternating blue and white colors. The cape is a light blue. The second suit is an ordinary business suit. He put on the costume first and the business suit after. The combination made him look bulkier than he was, but somehow it didn''t seem like he was wearing another pair of clothes underneath. Everything just looked bulkier. The shocking part was he could somehow fit his business shoes over his boots.


    After he finished getting dressed he grabbed his apartment keys and hat and headed off for his day. He didn¡¯t own a car. It was much faster to zip around using his powers. Cars were a hassle as far as he was concerned. He also enjoyed taking the public transportation. It allowed him to intermingle with the mortal citizens of his adopted planet Earth.


    Eventually, he arrived at a very large museum in the downtown area of SuperTech City. A Museum in such a hi-tech city was an anachronism, but it served his purposes well. It allowed him to leave when he wanted and to travel to the four corners of the planet if needed. As he entered various personnel began to greet him.


    "Good Morning Dr. Longoak."


    "Good Morning Dr. Longoak!"


    "Good Morning Longoak."


    Finally, he saw his favorite person in the entire museum, a pretty grad student who just started working as a Museum intern. She was as passionate about history as he. Mary Hubbs was beautiful, smart, and fierce. Everything he liked in a woman. He sighed as he looked at her from afar. There she was solemnly concentrating on something. She wasn''t aware of his presence at first, but eventually, she sensed someone looking at her. Turning around, she saw Dr. Longoak looking at her gently.


    "Lorne! Good morning! Look at this new piece we just got in!" She cried out happily.


    Dr. Lorne Longoak definitely had a bit of a crush on this girl, but he couldn''t figure out what she thought of him. She always seemed enthusiastic when she saw him. She shared his passions about history, but what about the present? What did she think about now? He had no idea, and this made her mysterious to him. Getting to know this girl had been a problem his super strength and speed couldn''t help solve at all. It wasn''t any use for the Invincible Hero to make a move; she had no interest in super people. Only Dr. Lorne Longoak had a chance with this girl. He liked that point very much.


    In some ways, Dr. Lorne Longoak was a facade allowing him to play around with the normal humans, but in other ways, it was the real him. Because of this, Lorne decided the girl he would marry would be someone who fell in love with the unassuming and very average Dr. Longoak.This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.


    Most women only had stars in their eyes for the various heroes. His alter ego, the Invincible Hero, was the most dazzling of all the heroes in the city, nay, the world. Take that silly girl Marcia Mathews. She was the daughter of the city''s most successful technology oligarch Howard Mathews.


    If there was one thing everyone knew about Marcia it was she only had eyes for the Invincible Hero; no one else could enter her thoughts. He met Marcia on several occasions, as Dr. Longoak of course. She and her father became major donors to the museum after an attempt by a super villain to rob the museum of a mysterious artifact with hidden powers. Of course, the Invincible Hero stepped in and stopped the robbery.


    When Marcia learned about the museum being saved by the Invincible Hero she rushed over and devoured every bit of information about what had happened from the staff. When she learned that Dr. Longoak had briefly spoken with the hero; suddenly Lorne found himself a new best friend. From this new friend he suddenly found a great financial resource at his disposal. However, it took more than money to move him. He knew this relationship was probably short term. Once the girl''s crush wore off she would probably wonder why she cared about this antiquated museum.


    Marcia was a flighty fanatical fan of the Invincible Hero. Because of this, Lorne would never have an interest in dating her. What commonalities did they share? She was a nice girl, but she couldn''t measure up to Mary.


    Lorne dated many women over the years. Some of the women were normal and others were superwomen. The truth was no one really suited his taste. These days, super or not, women seemed very interested in creating a career for themselves. It used to be men who found commitment difficult. These days it was the women who didn''t find the idea of having a family "convenient." This was especially the case when it came to babies. It was such a shame what society had done to the maternal instincts of women in general.


    As amazing as Lorne was most of his fans might be surprised to discover he was actually a very simple person. The thing he wanted most in his life right now was to find a good woman and have a family. None of the girls he had met so far seemed like someone with whom he would want to settle down. Now, however, he found Mary a simple straightforward girl who reminded him a little of his mother. His mother was a simple country girl on their planet Zimwer.


    After marrying his father, the new couple decided to move away from the conquest obsessive world of Zimwer. They secretly left the planet and found their way to Earth. On Earth, their alien biology was more amazing than on their home planet. The abilities they had back home were many times multiplied on earth according to his parents.


    The people from his planet had unbelievable abilities; it''s what made them so good at conquering planets. Thankfully, Earth was a little place in an out of the way Galaxy unlikely to be discovered anytime soon. Still, his parents warned him to never go beyond the solar system of their adoptive planet. The fewer beings in the Galaxy who knew about this hero from the war world of Zimwer the better!


    Of course, things weren''t so simple. Even though Earth was out of the way it was a resource-rich world drawing the attention of many nearby alien civilizations. The Earth was invaded and plotted against many times and usually,it was Lorne and his allies leading the defense of their planet.


    Lorne returned his thoughts to the girl before him. He finally decided to make things clear between himself and Mary. If she was interested in him, great! If she wasn''t interested in him then it was better to just make that clear. Lorne wasn''t one to sit around thinking about things forlornly. He was an action guy.


    "Mary, I wonder if you would like to have dinner with me tonight," Lorne said.


    "Do you want to talk about the new piece?" Mary asked innocently.


    "No...I mean yes..." Taking a breath, Lorne clarified his meaning. "Of course, I always enjoy our discussions of history and archeology. What I meant is I would like to ask you out on a date. Would such a thing interest you?" Lorne asked.


    "You want to go on a date with me?" Mary asked in surprise.


    "Either you or the new piece behind you," Lorne laughed lightly.


    Mary was also amused, and her face flushed. She couldn''t believe Lorne was interested in her. She thought of him a few times but always ignored her feelings thinking Lorne was interested in that Marcia who always came around.


    After waiting for a while and seeing Mary didn''t respond but was blushing slightly with a pleasantly surprised face; Lorne decided Mary was probably lost in her own thoughts.


    "Uhm, Mary would you like to go on a date tonight?¡± Lorne asked again.


    "Oh, yes, yes, I would love it!" Mary responded after waking up.


    "Great, how about I pick you up at 7 PM?" Lorne asked.


    "Yes...uh, you mean in a car? Do you have a car, Lorne?" Mary asked.


    Lorne was caught off guard for a moment but then laughed at himself. He didn''t think about not having a car. After considering the problem for a moment, he responded.


    "Don''t worry. I''ll take care of the transportation,¡± Lorne said sheepishly.


    Mary was amused. Everyone knew for some reason Dr. Longoak didn''t own a car. He seemed content to ride buses and walk everywhere. In SuperTech City, someone like him was an oddball. Mary, however, found his strangeness endearing.


    Mary wondered what he meant by taking care of transportation.


    "Great, I''ll see you tonight," Mary responded.


    "Uh, yeah see you tonight." Lorne awkwardly turned around and walked away.


    "Didn''t she want me to look at the new piece...I''m going to see her all day...we work together, but now I feel like I should sit in my office until tonight." Lorne thought.


    Mary seemed to realize something was off. "Oh, Lorne did you want to look at the new piece?" Mary called after him.


    "This girl," Lorne thought.


    Turning back around Lorne put on his best smile. "How could I forget?" Returning to Mary the two began an in-depth discussion of the new piece and how best to showcase it.

 Earth Protection Division

    Later that day, Lorne was sitting at his desk reading over some papers when he heard a high-frequency message from Colonel Porter of the Earth Protection Division (E.P.D.) "Invincible Hero, we''ve discovered a potential threat to Earth. Please come to the Arctic Headquarters of E.P.D."


    Sigh...it was such a nice day. Now it looked like he would be fighting aliens or something. Hopefully, it wouldn''t interfere with his date with Mary. Lorne immediately left making a vague comment about authenticating some piece. Once no one was looking, Lorne went around the corner of the building and dumped his work clothes into a hidden spot in the wall of the building. Immediately after he flew off to the Arctic headquarters of EPD.


    The Arctic Headquarters of the EPD might as well have been next door as it took less than a second for Lorne to get there. He never bothered with checking in he just flew directly to the meeting room. There were two guards outside the doors who were surprised when Lorne seemed to appear out of nowhere. He seemed to appear out of nowhere, but he just traveled so fast no one was capable of seeing him move. When he stopped, he was suddenly in front of the door as if hiding in plain sight. Many people had the misconception that one of the Invincible Heroes many powers was invisibility.


    Lorne pushed open the meeting room door. Other superheroes were already there. Entering the meeting room, Lorne''s eyes immediately rested on Brighton Meadows a.k.a. Cosmic Monkey. This guy, every time Lorne saw him he could only roll his eyes and shake his head.


    Brighton Meadows had amazing superpowers but never used them openly for years. The reason? He couldn''t decide on an alter ego he liked. Eventually, Brighton became the main CGI actor on a movie about outer space monkeys coming to our world to conquer it. These monkeys were called "The Cosmic Monkeys." Brighton loved the part so much and he begged the studio to sell the rights to use the alter ego "The Cosmic Monkey." After Brighton bribed them with more money than they could make in ten years they agreed. This guy was so weird, too weird.


    Lorne just couldn''t take him seriously at times and often wondered if he was crazy. He probably was crazy. He found most people in the movie business were so self-absorbed it twisted their view of reality. It was best to have as little to do with them as possible. The one thing that Lorne could say, though, is that Brighton was really good in a fight for some strange reason.


    Off in the corner, Lorne saw his good friend "Big Time." Big Time was about Lorne''s age. As his name suggested he was a very big man. Lorne met Big Time during the Invincible Hero''s debut adventure against the alien race known as the Sanchez. The Sanchez had almost killed Big Time when Lorne suddenly showed up to stop them.


    The Sanchez was an alien race who chose their space-name based on their understanding of earth languages. They understood San meant ¡®without¡¯ and thought Chez was shorthand for ¡®cheese.¡¯ This was a perfect description of their planet which was a planet with no cows and therefore no domestic cheeses.


    This was the main reason they wanted to conquer Earth. They needed their own cheese source for their planet as the Sanchez were big fans of cheese. They planned to change their space-name from Sanchez to Conchez after they took over the planet. Mainly because they once again misunderstood Earth language. They believed Con meant ¡®with¡¯ and Chez meant ¡®cheese.¡¯ It seemed to make sense to them. Thus, once they conquered Earth''s milk and cheese production they would now be "with cheese."


    Invincible Hero learned the only reason they wanted to take over the planet was they wanted cows. The Invincible Hero helped negotiate a deal between the Sanchez and Earth''s government to provide dairy cows and farmers to train them in how to care for the cows and get the milk in exchange for advanced technology. The Sanchez was excited and immediately changed their name to the Conchez. No one bothered to correct their misunderstanding of Earth language or point out that they were a bunch of silly aliens.


    This was also when Lorne got his alter ego name. Lorne had always been pretty care-free. Once he decided to go adventuring as a superhero he made a suit but never bothered to choose a name for himself. He figured things would progress naturally, and that''s exactly what happened. When Lorne showed up Big Time was almost dead from all of the deadly attacks launched at him. Lorne stepped in front of all of the attacks and took them head-on without much effort. The papers the next day read, "Who is this Invincible Hero?" The name stuck.


    Sitting at the big table in the center of the room he noticed "The Pretty Pugilist." Darwina Wright. Darwina was a natural fighter. She had the ability to copy, analyze, and improve fighting abilities. She could even imitate superpowers to a certain extent. It was an amazing ability. Lorne went on a few dates with her in the past, but he enjoyed history and she enjoyed punching things. They could never find anything they both liked. They parted on good terms and were still friends. Darwina waved at Lorne who made his way over to sit next to her. Big Time came over and sat on Lorne''s other side.The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    Here they were what the press dubbed "The Three Amigos." It was an odd name for their group as none of them were Hispanic or even spoke Spanish. The name stuck and whenever the three of them appeared together in public they were called the Three Amigos. There was even a licensed cartoon based on their adventures and went by this name.


    At the head of the table sat a grizzled old man named General Brady. General Brady was the main liaison with the Earth''s heroes. Some pressmen tried to make "The Brady Bunch" stick, but those reporters soon after found themselves without jobs and no one was brave enough to suggest the nickname again.


    General Brady looked over at Lorne and gave him a friendly smile. He looked over at Cosmic Monkey and sighed as he rubbed his temples. Cosmic Monkey was practicing his "emotional faces" in a mirror. It looked really awkward sometimes as the makeup and prosthetics didn''t always work the way he wanted. Most of the time it looked like he smelled something foul. Typically, Cosmic Monkey''s makeup and prosthetics would get messed up within the first five minutes of the fight. This really irritated him. His goal in the fights had become "End the fight ASAP and protect the wardrobe." "Hollywood people," the general thought.


    "We''ll wait a few more minutes for the remaining main strike force members to arrive. I''ll handle the grunts later." General Brady said.


    Everyone looked over to the general. Cosmic Monkey stopped messing with his face. Just then a young girl appeared out of nowhere. "Phantom Cat" Dorothy Starles, was only around seventeen. She was the youngest member of the Supreme Heroes League. Dorothy was not to be underestimated. Although she was young she could even give the Invincible Hero a headache. Her abilities included invisibility, phasing, heightened reflexes, speed, and what she called a tiger punch which packed as much a wallop as a uranium hardened drop missile.


    Two more people walked through the door after Phantom Cat. They were Mechaton and his friend and comrade Major Muscle. Mechaton was the cybernetic genius capable of creating, enhancing, and syncing technologies. Usually, he used his abilities to create new mech bodies that he drove into battle. Being a cybernetic being he constantly updated his cyber organic body by incorporating new and enhanced technologies. Major Muscle was as his name suggests very strong, quick, invulnerable and was a Green Beret before he retired from the military.


    "Everyone, take your seats, please. Cosmic Monkey, I''ve prepared some banana gems for you to munch on," said General Brady.


    Long ago, General Brady accepted the fact in the mind of the Cosmic Monkey all the world was a stage and the Cosmic Monkey was obviously a method actor. General Brady created things Cosmic Monkeys, according to the movies, enjoyed making dealing with the temperamental actor easier. One of these were banana gems, which were crystalized banana essence, sugar crystals, food coloring, and some unknown substance that made you feel wiggly inside. He also created a mobile chair branch which was a chair in the shape of a tree for Cosmic Monkey to sit on.


    The group of elite heroes gathered around the table and took their places.


    "Gentlemen, we detected an extra-system group of objects maintaining a steady course towards earth. The objects are approximately two light years away." General Brady began.


    "Two light years away, isn''t it a little soon to call us up?" asked Cosmic Monkey.


    "Their speed suggests they''ll be here in a little over a year; if they don''t stop again," said General Brady.


    "Again?" Major Muscle asked.


    "Yes, we don''t know why but it seems they are making stops along the way," said General Brady. He quickly continued to prevent another interruption. "The objects were verified to be warships with ill intentions. We received confirmation video this morning from Mr. Gates who teleported himself to observe the hostiles."


    A video of several large spaceships began playing on the screen.


    "Why do you think they are hostile..." Mechaton began to ask when a man flew out of one of the ships. A laser beam shot the man and the camera went dead.


    "On analysis, the focused beam was directed at Mr. Gates¡¯ location. Mr. Gates had the video on auto-streaming otherwise we wouldn¡¯t have received this before he was vaporized," said General Brady.


    "Poor Mr. Gates," Big Time said.


    "It gets worse. After reading the light beam frequency, heat index, and heat force output, it was determined the beam which disintegrated Mr. Gates is ninety percent similar to The Invincible Hero''s laser vision. In all likelihood, the beings aboard those warships share an origin with the Invincible Hero." General Brady concluded.


    All eyes turned to the Invincible Hero. Looking into the eyes of his friends, he understood why they showed terror. To date, no one on the planet was as powerful as the Invincible Hero. In fact, if he ever wanted to, he could take out every hero on the planet by himself. Now, it looked like large warships were filled with such beings. Lorne thought for a few moments before speaking.


    "I''ve never said, but I''m sure everyone has more or less guessed I''m not from around here," said Lorne while looking around the room at those gathered. No one seemed surprised Lorne was an alien.


    "Those warships belong to my people. As to why they''re coming to Earth, I have no idea. However, in all likelihood, it probably has something to do with me. I''ll need to talk with my parents to tell you more," said Lorne.


    "Your parents live on this planet as well. Are they as powerful as you?" asked General Brady.


    "My parents should be significantly stronger than me. I have no idea by how much as they won''t tell me." Lorne responded.


    "Why haven''t they ever made an appearance?" asked General Brady.


    "They say they''re on holiday and can''t be bothered with such insignificant matters. Besides, they seem to think I''m more than enough to handle Earth''s problems even though I''m so weak," said Lorne.


    "You''re weak?" Major Muscle said in disbelief.


    "According to Dad, I''m a runt who hasn''t discovered a millionth of my power," Lorne responded.


    "Oh, my," said Phantom Cat before fainting.


    Everyone sucked in a breath of cold air. The Earth''s mightiest hero, according to his parents was a weakling. And according to the video they just watched, several warships full of strong people from his race were hostile and heading to Earth.


    "Do you think I could get a copy of the video to show my parents? I''ll report back to you as soon as I hear their thoughts on this." Lorne asked awkwardly.


    General Brady signaled an officer behind him who came forward with a thumb drive which he gave to Lorne. Sensing the mood in the room and knowing everyone needed to talk without him being present about the bomb he just dropped on them, Lorne quietly left the room to fly to his parents'' home.

 Last Date?

    The Longoaks currently lived in the small town of Fort Stockton, Texas. They moved there not long after Lorne left home for college. Truthfully, they had homes all over the world, the moon, Mars, and a satellite in orbit around Jupiter. Lorne phoned ahead to make sure they were on Earth and flew to their Fort Stockton home.


    Walking into the living room, the Longoaks knew something grim was on Lorne''s mind. Although he changed into regular clothes, he had traveled there by flying. Lorne didn''t waste any time. After greeting his parents, he opened his tablet and loaded the memory onto the tablet to queue up the player.


    "Please share your thoughts after you see this," Lorne said.


    Lorne''s parents watched the video and immediately took in a breath of cold air when they saw the warships from their homeworld. After the video finished the pair sat holding each other''s hands solemnly looking at the screen.


    Finally, Lorne''s father spoke. ¡°They found us. I didn''t think they''d track us to such a small world, but they are here. It will probably take them another two years to reach the outer solar system at their current speed. It''s strange they''re moving so slow."


    "They probably want to torment us. They know they have us and want to make us feel hopeless!" Lorne''s mother cried.


    "Who are they?" Lorne asked.


    "The Usurpers," his father responded.


    "The Usurpers?" asked Lorne.


    "Yes, we haven''t told you this, but the truth is on our planet we were members of the royal family. Before you were born our family was overthrown. We were forced to flee from our home. Those in our family who didn''t leave were murdered. If we are found they''ll kill us too!" said Lorne''s Father.


    "What happens if we left Earth? Would they pursue us?" asked Lorne.


    "Yes, after they destroyed the Earth," said Lorne''s mother.


    "If you want to save Earth then we''ll have to confront them. If we fight and we lose, they will leave the Earth alone. However, if we leave then they will destroy the Earth as punishment. They will continue destroying worlds that we go to until every planet we''ve ever crossed paths with is destroyed," said Lorne''s father.


    "Then we can only stand and fight." Lorne thought quietly for some time. After realizing there was no other choice, Lorne smiled broadly to his parents and said, "At least we have two years." After talking with his parents, Lorne called General Brady to tell him Earth would be safe so long as he and his parents faced the incoming force. Lorne promised to stay and fight.


    Lorne thought for a while and realized he needed to spend the next two years tying up the loose ends in his life. He and his parents probably wouldn''t survive the upcoming battle. Therefore, he needed to settle all the matters in his life. The first thing to settle was Mary. He just found her and now he would never know love. For the first time in his life, he truly felt the burden of a hero. A leader must sacrifice his own good for the good of others.


    ***


    Lorne walked up to Mary''s house with a single rose in hand. He knocked on the door and it was immediately opened. Mary came out of the house with a big smile on her face. Lorne presented the rose to Mary who ran inside and put it in a vase. Coming out once more she was ready to go.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    "Lorne, I don''t see a car...are we walking?" asked Mary.


    "Yes, but not far," said Lorne.


    Lorne lead Mary around the front gate of her house. Mary saw a two-seater bicycle proudly standing on the sidewalk.


    "Our transportation." Lorne smiled, clearly pleased with himself.


    Mary involuntarily let out a surprised snort and giggled at the novel transportation


    "Now, don''t underestimate my Centennial Eagle. I''ve put a lot of work into her and made some special modifications. She''ll make any romantic restaurant in a ten-block radius within a parsec." Lorne joked.


    "Oh, Star Wars jokes. I had no idea the esteemed Dr. Longoaks was a fan." Mary joked back.


    "I was a fan...the new movies...don''t get me started." Lorne moaned.


    Mary laughed again, and the couple got on the bicycle riding away into the night.


    They arrived at "The Blue Box," a themed restaurant. Here, the waiters dressed as characters from life and fiction. At one table, Sherlock Holmes took orders while joking with the Mad Hatter as he walked by. Supergirl was bringing a tray of food with the help of Little Red Riding Hood. The Cat in the Hat was the door greeter tonight.


    The pair was led to a cozy table for two located in the interior of a large plastic tree stump. Ironically, their waiter tonight was the Cosmic Monkey. Lorne couldn''t help but laugh at the young man portraying his quirky friend. He noticed his own alter ego, The Invincible Hero, was portrayed by the middle-aged portly manager. This made him laugh even more. What a humbling experience he thought. Mary was similarly entertained by the environment.


    "What a wonderful place!" Mary exclaimed enjoying the colorful atmosphere.


    "I used to come here as a child with my family. I always hoped to bring my own family here one day. You''re the first date I''ve ever brought here," said Lorne as he smiled sweetly at his date.


    Mary was touched by the comment turning slightly red and becoming a little bashful. Finally, she spoke. "Well, it''s a wonderful place for you to bring me to. I wasn''t sure what you had in mind when you asked me out. I half expected you might take me to an upscale Italian restaurant. I think this place is a much better choice. I like being surprised."


    "The Italian restaurant is reserved for when our relationship is strong enough you can stand seeing noodles stuck in my teeth, marinara sauce on my face, and hearing intense slurping sounds as I eat the noodles," said Lorne.


    Mary was extremely amused by Lorne''s casualness and how comfortable he was joking with her.


    "This is a really different side I''m seeing tonight. It''s unexpected," said Mary.


    "Disappointed?" Lorne asked.


    "Not at all, I just thought of you as the impassioned archaeologist and historian.  You''ve always been someone whose intense interest in the ancient past matched my own. Frankly, I never thought there was any more to you than that. I''m starting to find you as mysterious as a newly discovered artifact from an ancient hidden kingdom," said Mary.


    "I am a man of mystery, internationally renowned as such. Get used to it, you may never know all my secrets." Lorne said in an overly dramatic way.


    Mary laughed delightedly at Lorne''s hijinks. The pair continued to chat and enjoy themselves. After dinner, the pair took the bicycle and wandered aimlessly until they found themselves at a walking park. Lorne chained up his bicycle and the pair walked down a path around the lake.


    "It might sound strange, Mary, but in many ways, I feel a very natural connection with you. I felt it from the first time we met. It just took me a while to finally ask you out. I really feel like I''ve found someone special."


    Mary smiled at Lorne, clearly pleased.


    "I felt you were someone special from our first meeting as well. Everyone at the Museum thought of you as eccentric, but I always felt I got you somehow," said Mary.


    "Mary, I don''t know what your real feelings are, and this may be sudden, but I have something I wish to talk to you about. I hope you won''t find it too sudden. I also hope you won''t feel like I am burdening you." Lorne said with worry on his face.


    Mary was a little unsure based on Lorne''s sudden change in demeanor. What could make him so serious, she wondered.


    "Mary, I need to take a chance, I wanted to take things very slow with you, but I no longer have that kind of time. I need to know, will you suspend your disbelief, and can you listen to me as I explain some unbelievable things? Will you come with me on the crazy train?"


    As he was finishing his comments, Lorne extended his hand to Mary beckoning her to take it.

 First Date / Last Date

    Mary gave her hand to Lorne and felt a gentle breeze rise up beneath her. Looking at Lorne''s smiling face Mary realized there was nothing beneath her feet! Looking down she saw the ground quickly disappearing. Mary was frightened and surprised, her knuckles turned white from her tightened grip of Lorne¡¯s hand  Her breathing quickened and her eyes were wide with alarm as she looked to Lorne for answers. As they continued to ascend, Lorne''s face and body began to change. His clothes fell away towards the Earth revealing the most well-known superhero suit in the world. Very soon, Dr. Lorne Longoak was the Invincible Hero!


    Shock was written all over her face. Mary was holding hands and flying through the sky with the Invincible Hero, but what about Lorne? What happened to Lorne?


    "Where''s Lorne?" Mary timidly asked. She had already forgotten she was flying through the sky. Right now, the missing Lorne and the present hero were more surprising to her than her intense phobia of heights.


    "I''m right here Mary." Lorne smiled warmly.


    "I am Dr. Lorne Longoak and the Invincible Hero," Lorne explained gently.


    "I don''t understand." Mary persisted.


    Lorne sighed to himself, ''Such a smart girl but I guess the shock is just too much for her. I thought she would find this an exciting surprise. Still, it makes me happy she is so concerned for me.''


    "Mary, you should know most superheroes have alternate identities. Lorne is my alternate identity," said Lorne.


    Mary realized she was stubbornly foolish. It was obvious what the Invincible Hero...no, Lorne was telling her was true. She was just too shocked. Mary calmed her mind and after a few breaths she looked back at Lorne with a smile and said, "I suppose you want to talk about this, and I would feel more at ease discussing this on the ground. To be honest, I''m about to freak out. I''m scared of heights and I don''t see anything below me." Mary tried to talk as calmly as possible, however, intense terror overtook her as tears began to form.


    "Oh, I had no idea. I¡¯ll land right away!" said Lorne.


    The pair landed in a forest clearing. Mary started to calm down once her feet touched the ground. Lorne smiled apologetically at her. It never occurred to him she might be scared of heights.


    Using his laser vision, Lorne cut down a tree and quickly used its wood to create table and chairs for the pair. He also built a fire.


    "Lorne," said Mary.


    "Yes?" Lorne responded.


    "I''m not used to this Hero face of yours. Could you change back to the Lorne I know?" Mary asked.


    "Oh...of course!" Lorne immediately changed his body shape and facial features to look like Dr. Longoak once more. However, he still remained in his super suit.


    "You wouldn''t happen to have regular clothes, would you? " asked  Mary.


    Lorne realized he hadn''t thought this through. Before Mary''s eyes, Lorne blurred slightly and was now in his regular clothing. Lorne flew back home, changed clothes and returned. He also picked up some snacks for them to enjoy as they talked.


    "Better?" Lorne asked.


    "Much," said Mary with a slight smile.


    Things were awkward between the two for a few minutes. The pair simply quietly sat in their chairs looking up at the stars. Eventually, the two got lost looking into the sky above.


    "I come from up there." Lorne finally said.


    "The sky?" Mary asked.


    "Yes, I''m not from this world. Before I was born my parents left our planet Zimwer and moved to Earth. They always told me they wanted the quiet life. They were on vacation and Earth seemed like a nice place to spend some time," said Lorne.The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.


    "Really? Your parents sound very carefree," said Mary.


    "That''s what I used to think as well," said Lorne.


    "Used to?" Mary asked.


    "Hmm. I recently found out they were on the run. It turns out we were royalty on our planet of Zimwer. There were a coup and my family fled for their lives to Earth,¡± said Lorne.


    "That''s terrible! You just discovered this?" Mary asked.


    Yes, I found out today just a few hours before our date." Lorne let out a loud sigh.


    "Mary, I told you this morning I felt you were special from the very beginning. I was excited when you agreed to the date. I imagined many things. I thought we could slowly draw closer together. My thoughts were to wait until we dated a while, maybe until we were engaged before I shared my secret with you. However, I found out a few hours ago I don''t have such a luxury. I''ll never get to know you, we''ll never get married. We''ll never have a family. I had such high hopes." Lorne said.


    Mary was overwhelmed but finally was able to ask, "Why not? Why aren''t those dreams possible now?"


    "The people who chased us from Zimwer found us. They''ll be here in two years. They will destroy the Earth If we leave it. As powerful as I am, the truth is I am considered very weak by my people''s standards. There''s almost no hope my parents and I will survive," said Lorne.


    Mary was startled and felt as if her heart were breaking. She never knew how much she hoped things would go well with Lorne. It was at this moment when she found out Lorne likely had just two years to live she began to panic.


    "Lorne, it might sound crazy, but I don''t want to be without you. I think I love you," said Mary.


    Lorne was surprised and happy, but grim determination soon took over. "Mary, there''s no future being with me as I''ll probably be dead in two years. I can¡¯t ask you to bear this burden.


    "I''m willing to bare it,  Lorne. Don''t throw me away, don''t try to protect me from your fate. Isn''t there two years? Can''t we be together during the time you have left?"


    "Mary, what are you saying?" asked Lorne.


    "I think...I think I''m asking you to marry me." As Mary said the words she couldn''t help but let out a giggle.


    Although surprised, Lorne suddenly realized this was something he wanted. He wanted it more than anything. In fact, this was the first thing he had ever wanted anything.


    "Then let''s do it, let''s get married!" Lorne said. The new couple looked at each other and started laughing. Sweet tears gently flowed from Mary''s eyes. Without expecting it, they suddenly found the person for whom they were looking. Even though their time together would be limited they knew they would treasure it. At this moment, all they could think about was the other person before them.


    They married a week after Mary and Lorne talked in the woods. Since Lorne and his parents didn''t believe they would survive the upcoming storm, Lorne decided to dispense with the alter ego. The wedding was attended by all the great leaders and heroes of Earth. Even regular humans like the staff at the Museum, their supporters and Marcia Matthews attended. She was so upset the man she loved, The Invincible Hero had disguised himself so well. How many times had she talked with the unassuming, geeky Dr. Longoak?


    Marcia was upset, but mainly she was deeply sad. Not only did she lose out on the man of her dreams, she learned through the back channels Lorne was probably going to die in about two years. If she couldn''t have this man, at least she wished he would have a happy life. Lorne''s impending death broke her heart even more.


    On a happier note, Mary''s family attended the wedding and caused an even greater stir than all of the attending celebrities and heroes. Mary''s humble human origins painted her as a Cinderella type protagonist. A common girl married into royalty. Unexpectedly Mary''s Cinderella story caused a fanatical sensation about Mary and her family across the world.


    The obsessive interest in all things Hubbs prompted the release of a Hubbs line of toys. Mary Hubbs was dubbed Maid Marion and came up with an action smash archeological hammer. Her father Arnie Hubbs'' action figure was dressed up as a circus performer and dubbed Arnie the Karnie. Mary''s mother Phylis was called Momma Luv and she came with funky 70''s wear...for some reason. Finally, Mary''s brother Harvey Hubbs was called Harvey the RV. The Harvey toy came with his own RV which transformed into battle armor. The craziness over the Hubbs was dubbed the Hubbs Hysteria.


    The Japanese created an anime series called Sens¨¥shonaruna Habusu wa Subete o Seifuku Suru No Ga Daisuki, or in English: "The Sensational Hubbs: Love conquers all." All of the Hubbs appeared in their toy version selves in the anime. There was also a small cute squishy character Mary would often hold in her arms.


    In the anime, instead of living in America, the family lived in a small apartment in Japan. The Invincible Hero would drop by from time to time to show off his award-winning smile. The intro to the show had Mary walking alone looking longingly into the sky as a sudden flash of the Invincible Hero would show up through the intro from time to time as if saying: "Yes, I''m saving the world, but my heart is always with you." As it turned out those were some of the lyrics of the anime song. The anime and its song were an international hit.


    No one could explain the Hubbs Hysteria and it was eventually agreed that no one should.


    A year after Lorne and Mary were married they welcomed twins into the world. The twins were a boy and a girl. The boy was named Peter Allen Longoak and the little girl was named Georgiana Alaina Longoak. Everyone was so proud about the birth of the twins. It was decided the birth of the twins would be kept a secret. After all, they were also survivors of the royal family and the children had to be hidden.


    The Longoaks and Hubbs retreated from public life. There was only another year until the Usurpers arrived. Lorne was slowly preparing himself.

 Warbox

    One evening, Lorne''s parents called Lorne to meet with them at their Jupiter home. Lorne arrived and saw his parents looking very proud.


    "Lorne, I have something for you," said Lorne''s father.


    "He built it himself!" Lorne''s mother cried excitedly.


    "Follow me to the lab," said Lorne''s father.


    Lorne followed his parents to his father''s lab. What could his father have made for him? Lorne was extremely curious. It was rare for Lorne''s father to share his inventions with him. Now, his father had created something just for him.


    The Longoaks walked into the lab and noticed in the center of the main lab a table with an object mysteriously enshrouded by an oversized sheet. Lorne tried to peak using his Ridarn vision but found his vision blocked. Wow, his vision was blocked! This was the first time anything was able to block his vision. Lorne''s curiosity and excitement grew.


    "Did you try to look through the sheet?" Lorne''s father asked with a smile.


    "You caught me, Dad." Lorne smiled back.


    "I told you he would try to peek! HaHa, I may be getting old, but I know all about you and your shenanigans boy." Lorne''s father said, clearly pleased with himself.


    "Lorne, in just under a year we are likely to face a crisis so immense it will probably end our family which ruled for millions of years," said Lorne''s father.


    "Millions of years!" Lorne cried out.


    "Yes, yes, yes, try not to get distracted by small matters. Don''t interrupt me again, I''m building up to the big reveal." Lorne''s father commanded.


    ¡®Millions of years was a small matter?¡¯ Lorne understood he couldn''t judge the affairs of his home planet Zimwer as he would Earth affairs. However, to think things operated on such an exaggerated scale! Lorne couldn''t believe it. ¡®How long was the longest ruling human Empire? The Roman Empire lasted for a thousand years and that was including Rome''s mass conversion to the Church. ¡®


    Thinking of a kingdom ruling for a million years was startling enough, but to realize the kingdom was ruled by the same family line? The whole thing sounded absurd. The only way Lorne could imagine it working is if the rulers were somehow able to extend their lives far beyond human norms. For example, if each ruler lived to be one hundred thousand years old then a million-year dynasty would only have ten rulers. This seemed more realistic as the older the family became the larger and more political the family became. But his fathers had said ¡®millions¡¯ not million which made it even more fantastic.


    Lorne¡¯s fields of expertise were history and archaeology. He knew how fragile politics could make even an aristocratic family line. This information was completely unbelievable. Perhaps living on Earth skewed his notion of what was and wasn''t possible. As the Chinese might say, he was a frog at the bottom of a well seeing only a small part of the sky.


    Noticing his son lost in thought, his father stood next to the table looking perturbed as he held onto the sheet. This was a big moment, it was "THE BIG REVEAL," but his son was lost thinking about silly little things like the length of their rule.


    Lorne finally sensed his father staring at him, getting more and more annoyed.


    "Sorry Dad," Lorne apologized immediately, giving his full attention to his father and pushing all other matters aside.


    "As I was saying, there''s a big crisis just over the horizon. It''s coming for us and we can''t run. We have to fight. There''s one problem with us fighting. Do you know what it is?" asked Lorne''s father.


    A number of possible difficulties ran through Lorne''s mind. There was the number of soldiers on those massive warships and the warships¡¯ weapons. They were facing a lot of problems, but how was he supposed to know which problem his father was the most concerned about?


    Lorne''s mother helped move things back to his father. "Your father is referring to how weak you are," his mother whispered.


    "I''m weak?" asked Lorne.


    "Yes, exactly. You''re weak. The soldiers on those ships could destroy you with a sneeze!" Lorne''s father excitedly yelled. "That''s why we are here today. I have created something for you that can give you a fighting chance. I present to you BS42!!!"


    Lorne''s father suddenly threw away the sheet to reveal a silver tubed object tapered at both sides. The cylindrical object was about a meter long and silent as the grave. Lorne''s eyes grew wide when he beheld it. His Ridarn vision was blocked by the object. All he could tell about it was what he could see. ¡®Is it a missile?¡¯ He wondered.


    "Dad...what is it?" Lorne asked breathlessly.


    "I told you...it''s BS42." Lorne''s father said.


    "I get that, but what is BS42? What does it do?" Lorne asked again.


    "What does it do? My boy this is the finest Warbox I ever designed!" Lorne''s father was extremely excited. It was clear he was proud of his invention.


    "How does it work?" Lorne asked.


    "Just put a finger or thumb on the micro-node. I''ve already programmed it with your unique genetic signature."


    Lorne did as instructed. The Warbox which moments before sat there was now changing. The bottom opened and four quarter cylinders extended out. Each quarter cylinder angled itself at forty-five degrees. The middle third of the Warbox had two sections extending out, and from the second section, cylinders formed arms. Finally, the head came out of the top. At the top of the head, seven pistons pushed out what seemed to be a crown. The eyes on the head began to glow softly with a gentle blue color.


    "Greetings young lord," BS42 said to Lorne as it made a slight bow of its head.


    "It''s a robot?!" Lorne asked.The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.


    Lorne''s father was completely annoyed. "It''s not a robot it''s a Warbox!" Lorne''s'' father insisted.


    "What''s a Warbox?" Lorne asked his father. He knew once his father had gone stubborn; talking to him was extremely difficult.


    "A Warbox is a training machine. It contains fighting skills and techniques, options for sparring, the ability to analyze, advise, and guide a person''s training regimen. It can also analyze the strengths and weaknesses of the enemy. If there is a path to victory, the Warbox can find that path. The Warbox also has a dimensional storage capacity allowing you to store anything you would like.


    This particular Warbox is even better than the ones on our home world. It has an ultra-advanced AI system, power synthesis system, and a temporal gate function. This last function will allow you to enter a gate into the Lost Time Zone to face warriors of different planets and time periods. Even warriors from our world can be found there. This Warbox can train a kitten into a King." Lorne''s father finished his overview of the Warbox.


    "It has several other abilities such as camouflage. Over time you''ll learn all of its uses." Lorne''s mother added.


    "The problem is time. This Warbox can help you increase your strength. However, I don''t know if the time we have left until the Usurpers get here is enough," said Lorne''s father.


    "Why didn''t you give this to me sooner, I could have trained with it for several years!" Lorne complained.


    Lorne''s father''s eyes narrowed. He was extremely angry.


    "I didn''t know the Usurpers would find us. There were no threats to us on this planet. Even if I finished it sooner I doubt you would have used the Warbox since you prefer digging in the dirt to improving your strength!" Lorne''s father responded.


    "I''m sorry Dad, but I had no idea my strength could be improved. You never said anything about it. You never told me we were on the run for our lives. You always said you were on holiday!" Lorne finally lets out some of the resentment in his heart. His parents knew this scenario could have occurred, but they never said anything. To them, there was nothing to worry about.


    Now, right when he found some meaning in his life a deadly disaster appears catching his parents unawares! Lorne was so upset with them he didn''t know what to do. He loved his parents and didn''t want to hurt them, but it was like they intentionally doomed themselves and Lorne!


    Lorne''s mother stepped forward to be the peacemaker. "Lorne, honey it really was a surprise the Usurpers found us in such an obscure place."


    "I''m sorry Mom, Dad. I don''t mean to attack you. I know it''s not your fault. It''s just, I finally have everything I want, a family. I have two beautiful children and a loving wife and two loving parents. Now I may lose it all," said Lorne.


    Lorne''s father gave him a conflicted look, "We do love you son no matter what happens, we truly love you too."


    Lorne never heard his father express love for him. He felt much better and gave his parents a hug.


    "Now back to this Warbox. Can it fight or is it just for training?" asked Lorne.


    "It can fight if necessary. It''s main purpose though is to train you. However, if you ever find yourself in deadly peril it will automatically enter guardian mode." Lorne''s father said as he looked at the silver Warbox robot now floating near him.


    "BS42 is an odd name, why did you name it this?" Lorne asked.


    "My son, you have many questions. I''m sure those questions stretch to infinity. What''s the purpose of life, the universe...everything? The answer is 42, but 42 is a BS answer because you only know how to ask BS questions. If you truly wish to go far in life you must learn to ask good and relevant questions.


    I''ve read every paper you''ve ever written that includes those books you wrote. All I can say is "Thank God your Grandfather hasn''t read them. You''re such an academic. You ask and tackle boring and uninteresting questions in your writings about history and archaeology and then you give BS answers to your BS questions. All those "enemies" you defeated. It was really just your brute strength that defeated them. If you had been on equal footing with them, you would have been crushed to death long ago. You''re like a blind bull in a china closet. Even worse, you pat yourself on the back for your ¡®accomplishments.¡¯


    Have you ever really asked the right questions? This lazy thinking habit of yours is going to cause you to fall one day soon. You''ll suddenly fall and never know what happened until it''s too late. You''ll never see it coming. I can only hope this Warbox I''ve built for you can help guide you so you''re not so surprised by life in the future.


    Oh well, it doesn''t matter, all I really ask of you is to work hard. We have less than a year left. I hope we aren''t vaporized." Lorne''s father concluded. After finishing his statement, Lorne''s father turned around and walked off to another part of his Jupiter home. Lorne''s mother quickly followed leaving Lorne, by himself with the floating Warbox BS42.


    "Ouch, that''s a bit harsh." BS42 suddenly spoke.


    "Oh, that sounded so human!" Lorne said.


    "Never mind, your father''s right, you are an idiot." BS42 quickly floated away towards another empty area in the lab.


    Lorne was stunned for a moment and quickly followed the Warbox. What a strange robot. What kind of crazy AI does this thing have? It almost seems human. The Warbox came to a stop next to a circle with a one-meter diameter.


    "Stand in the circle please, young lord," BS42 commanded.


    Lorne did as he was instructed and stood in the circle. The circle flashed briefly and BS42 went extremely quiet. BS42''s eyes brightened slightly.


    "You are a level 3 Zimwarn Royal," BS42 said.


    "Is that good?" Lorne asked.


    "Sure, if you''re a four-year-old Zimwarn commoner child." BS42 chided.


    "What?!" Lorne was totally shocked. The strength he was so proud of ranked him with four-year-old children on his planet?


    "A raw commoner Zimwarn fresh recruit ranks at level 20. A sergeant is level 25. It goes up from there. The last Supreme General ranked at level 127. Of course, he was only the Supreme General of the commoners'' Army. You are so weak. I''m sorry to say this, as amazing as you are to the humans, you are more or less doomed in the coming confrontation," said BS42 said.


    "Are you saying, there''s no hope for us?" Lorne asked in a panic.


    "No hope," BS42 replied.


    "None?" Lorne could feel his heart breaking.


    "Maybe you have one way to win," BS42 said thoughtfully.


    "What ¡­ what is the way? Please tell me!" Lorne begged. No one wanted to die. Especially someone who was living his ideal life. He wanted to grow old with his wife, see his children grow up. He even hoped for the day when his own children came to have children of their own. Saving the world? That was his hobby. He never knew what else to do with his power. Clearly living on the extremely weak little planet Earth had stunted his growth.


    "If you want hope then you must become strong enough to create that hope for yourself. You must listen to everything I say and do it. You must, for the first time in your life, try really hard to accomplish something," said BS42.


    Lorne began to wonder if he was really so useless. Why would his parents and now this robot treat him with such disdain for his weakness? Weren''t they the ones who never told him he could do better? Weren''t they the ones who chose this world? Why did they blame him for being weak? He always thought he was strong. It didn''t make any sense.


    Lorne was going half mad contemplating his situation, but then he thought about his wife and children. They did their best to keep the birth of his children hidden, but there was no guarantee this secret could be kept. Weren''t his parents confident they could never be found on Earth? If he wanted his children to survive, all he could do was give everything he had to get stronger. Lorne discarded his panic and fear. A solemn and resolute demeanor took over Lorne''s presence.


    "Whatever I have to do, I''ll do it. BS42 please guide me." For some reason, Lorne bowed at BS42. This shocked the Warbox.


    "Of course, of course, young lord, isn''t that why I''m here? I''m here to help you. I''ll do everything I can to prepare you. Just please stop bowing to me! I would hate for your father to see such an action," said BS42.


    "Why would my father care," Lorne asked.


    BS42 floated there silently for a moment before responding. "It''s not that he cares, it''s just I was created to be as humble and gentle as possible," BS42 responded finally.


    "Young lord, let''s get to work. We need every second to prepare you for the upcoming battle. Please stop worrying about things over which you lack the power to do anything about. Instead, gather to yourself the will you need to become truly invincible. Only then will you be able to save your family," said BS42.

 Two Years

    For the remaining months prior to the Usurpers coming to Earth, Lorne spent all of his time drilling. BS42 taught Lorne a special training technique which could quickly raise his power. In the months since he began training, he raised his strength from level 3 Zimwarn Royal all the way to level 30 Zimwarn Royal. To compare rankings, a level 30 Zimwarn Royal was roughly equivalent to a level 57 Zimwarn Commoner. This power surge may seem absurd, but his body was severely repressed as he grew up on Earth.


    He never went through training, but the explosion in strength was expected with the combination of his own repressed strength, his exceptional royal bloodline, and the Zimwarn force released by the power strengthening technique.


    Finishing the series of tests BS42 put him through, Lorne quickly landed next to BS42. Sweat dripped from Lorne''s brows. Lorne''s father had created a special training environment which increased the effect of gravity by a million times. Weapons, robotic opponents and more were ready for his use. At first the training seemed impossible, but eventually, it became easier and easier. Lorne was filled with confidence now.


    "What do you think BS42?" asked Lorne.


    "Do I think you will win in the upcoming battle? Is that what you are asking me? I don''t know. If you are facing anyone from the Usurpers elites then you have no chance at all. If you are facing members of the commoner army then you have a chance of winning," replied BS42.


    "If I defeat this army, won''t they send another?" Lorne asked.


    "Yes, they''ll never let you go, but they will no longer bother Earth. What you will be winning is a chance for life on Earth. They will never let you go, but if you win you will be given time. Time to grow and become strong enough to protect yourself and your family. If you become strong enough, they''ll stop seeking you out," BS42 said.


    "Perhaps I could become strong enough to win back the throne! Then we would never have to worry about Zimwer again." Lorne hoped.


    BS42 gave the typical electronic stare he made whenever Lorne said something stupid or naive. Lorne hated getting that look from the Warbox. A normal human would probably think the Warbox was just silent. What they couldn''t perceive was this silent stare was actually the Warbox''s look of disdain.


    "You are such a child. Do you really think you can reach a level of power where you could suppress your entire planet? Do you know how powerful you would have to be to do that? Just focus on trying to survive the battle. Leave the dreaming for when you''re asleep." BS42 turned away from Lorne. This was a sign Lorne was dismissed from BS42''s presence.


    "For a robot, this guy sure is full of himself." Lorne thought.


    "Lorne." BS42 suddenly said.


    "Yes, BS42," Lorne responded.This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work.


    "The training''s done. You''re either ready to win or you''ll be paste. There''s not much point in your training anymore. Take the last week before the battle and see your kids. When''s the last time you saw them?" asked the Warbox.


    "The last time I was with them was almost a year ago. Mom and Dad never let me leave their Jupiter home," Lorne commented.


    "I didn''t ask you for your life''s story kid. Just asked a rhetorical question to let you know you could leave. You''re as thick as ever. Go see your family. Your parents and I will see you in a week," BS42 said.


    The Warbox was full of himself but it seemed like he cared. What a strange robot. Did it really care or was it programmed to appear to care? Just how advanced were the technologies of his home planet of Zimwer?


    Lorne flew back home and quickly changed his appearance back to Dr. Longoak. It had been nearly a year since he took on this form. Lorne was looking forward to surprising his wife. Until this time, they had only been able to talk virtually.


    Walking through the door of the kitchen, Lorne silently watched his unsuspecting wife feed their children. The twins turned one year old while he was training. He hated missing their first birthday, but his parents refused to let him go. "Survival is more important than parties," they said.


    Zimwer was truly a conquest centered planet. Not only the Royals, but even the commoners saw their first duty as being prepared for war. At least that''s what BS42 told him. Everyone trained. If you weren''t training, you were wasting your time. That was the Zimwarn''s Warrior philosophy.


    Honestly, Lorne disliked the culture of his homeworld. Zimwer sounded like a miserable place. These Usurpers worried Lorne might come to take over the throne someday. The reality was Lorne was perfectly content living his life as a human on the little rock called Earth. It may have seemed backward to those of Zimwer, but to him, it held a special charm.


    "It looks like we''ve moved on from mashed peas and carrots." Lorne joked as he announced his presence to his wife.


    Mary was surprised. She quickly turned around to see her husband standing there smiling at her.


    "Lorne, oh darling, finally you''re here!" Mary ran and flung her arms around him. The crackers and boiled squash on the fork were flung from her hands. Mary cried as she nestled her head on her husband''s chest.


    "I was so worried I would never see you again. I thought you would just march off to war. Oh, Lorne, I''ve been so worried!" Mary continued to cry. Lorne held onto her and let her cry all she wanted. The two children looked at their father confused.


    "I''m here sweetheart, I''m here. We have a whole week together. Isn''t that nice?." Lorne asked in a soothing way.


    "Just a week?" Mary cried.


    "It''s the best I can do sweetheart. I''m sorry. I wanted to give you so much more." Lorne gently replied.


    "No, of course, a week, I''ll take it. Thank you for coming back to us! I don''t mean to be selfish. I just didn''t expect two years to go by so soon," said Mary.


    "Time flies whether you''re having fun or not." Lorne joked.


    Mary wiped her eyes and pulled Lorne to his children. The last time Lorne saw his children, they were still in their swaddling clothes. Now, look at them. They learned to walk while he was gone. Peter and Georgiana both had a mouth full of teeth. Not all of their teeth had come in, but most had.


    Seeing his children, Lorne smiled but couldn''t help thinking about how much he missed and how much he was going to miss. They would grow up never knowing their father. He would never know them. He could save the world, but he couldn''t be a father to his little ones. A sigh escaped Lorne''s mouth.


    Realizing the sympathetic look he was getting from Mary, Lorne shook his head and took a deep breath. Suck it up, man! Lorne thought to himself as he grabbed another fork and some squash to feed his kids. Lorne smiled in a silly way at his kids as he began to feed them. "At least I have a week with them." Lorne consoled himself.

 War Counsel

    The night before the day of Battle, Lorne spent his final evening with his children. Lorne was hesitant to put his children to bed, but he did. He gently kissed them and spent the rest of the evening with his wife.


    The next morning, before the sun rose in the sky, Lorne ate breakfast with his wife Mary. She had gotten up early to make breakfast for him. It was their last chance to be together unless Lorne somehow won the battle. Mary decided no matter what she would only show a happy and pleasant face. She knew how much pressure her husband was under. What he really needed now was to know how much he was loved.


    Lorne dressed in his best suit of clothes. As usual, he wore his costume under his clothes. It seemed strange but if he didn''t, the suit wouldn''t look right. Mary came over to him and gently fixed his tie.


    "I need to go." Lorne finally said.


    "I know," Mary responded.


    Lorne had a pained look in his eyes.


    "I want to leave before the children wake up. I don''t know if I could leave if I see them again," said Lorne.


    Mary realized keeping Lorne there longer was actually cruel to him. Taking a deep breath, she gave her husband what might be his last hug. She wanted her last hug to contain all of her feelings and emotions. Finally, she looked into the eyes of her husband and gave him her most passionate farewell kiss.


    "I love you," she said.


    "I know," Lorne responded cooly but seeing the pained look in his wife''s eyes he quickly added, "I love you too." After those last words, he passed through the back door in the kitchen and flew away.


    "He tried to leave me with a Han Solo goodbye. Still trying to act cool." Mary laughed but eventually started crying as she sat down at the kitchen table feeling the loss of her husband. She felt so alone.


    ***


    Lorne quickly flew beyond Earth''s atmosphere and headed towards his parents'' Jupiter home. Along the way, he discarded his civilian suit and morphed into the form of the Invincible Hero. Lorne and his parents agreed to meet at their home on the day of the battle. The entire trip, from Earth to Jupiter, took less than thirty minutes.


    Many thoughts ran through Lorne''s head as he traveled to his parents'' home. He mostly reflected on his life with Mary and his kids. He thought about his time on Earth. As he neared the satellite home orbit around Jupiter, Lorne realized he no longer had the time to think his sentimental thoughts. If he wanted to have a chance to reunite with his family, he had to fight for it! Now it was time to fight! Lorne squeezed his knuckles until they made a cracking sound.


    Flying into the satellite home, Lorne made his way to the game room now turned into the war room. As he entered he saw his parents sitting away from a massive group of humans. The humans seemed to take over the room. Lorne was a little astonished by the presence of all these people. He only expected to find his parents and BS42 in the Jupiter home base. The last time he conferred with General Brady they agreed Earth''s forces would remain on Earth.


    Those present included his friends from the Earth Protection Division. Ever since Earth learned of the impending crisis, the EPD was absorbed into the newly minted Allied Army of Earth (AAOE).  Leading the army as the Supreme General was General Brady. It was universally agreed General Brady was the natural choice as the Supreme General of Earth¡¯s Allied Army since his EPD service was exemplary and he had already forged so many strong relationships with Earth''s heroes.


    He wasn''t the only military leader present. In fact, the room was filled with many such people.


    The strongest heroes of Earth were there. His friends Big Time and the Pretty Pugilist stood with shining smiles. Major Muscle, Mechaton, Phantom Cat, and finally, off to the side making faces into a mirror, the Cosmic Monkey were here. They were the people he knew the best.


    Lorne looked at the Cosmic Monkey and thought, "I won''t miss this weirdo at least." As if sensing someone was watching him, the Cosmic Monkey looked over and gave a big monkey smile to Lorne. Lorne awkwardly nodded and then turned his attention to the remaining forces in the room.


    As Lorne looked around, he was surprised to see quite a number of Super-Villains. What were they doing here and why weren''t they constrained in any way? What a dangerous mess this could turn into. Of course, as he thought about it he realized at his current level of power he could take out everyone here in less than a second. When he thought about it like that he realized Earth still lacked a clear understanding of the crisis they faced.


    Lorne found General Brady, sitting at a big table. He loved those big tables. General Brady beckoned Lorne to come over. Just as Lorne was about to head over he noticed his father giving him a look indicating he should come to him first. Seeing this, Lorne gave General Brady the ¡®one-moment¡¯ finger and headed to his father.


    His father quietly sat in his chair far removed from everyone else in the room. He wasn''t happy about turning his home into a command base for Earth. "What did the humans expect to do against a Zimwarn fleet of ships?" Lorne''s father wondered. Lorne came to his father as requested.


    "Lorne, these humans seem to think their presence here is going to help things. You need to explain to them they''re only bringing more harm to Earth by behaving like this. I do appreciate the loyalty they are showing you, but someone needs to explain to them what''s going on," said Lorne''s father.


    "Did you try to explain it to them, Dad?" Lorne asked.


    "If I try to explain it to them I might hurt them. I know how attached you are to these humans," Lorne''s father said.


    Lorne was stunned for a moment. His father sounded more than aloof, he sounded cold.  Lorne thought for a while and realized it made sense. Here they were, his family, forced to give up their lives for these humans. His father was backed into a corner but wasn''t a coward. He wouldn''t sacrifice others for his own survival. Maybe his father was being cold because he was so prideful?Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.


    Lorne looked at his mother and for the first time in his life saw a cold expression also coming from her. His mother had always been someone above mundane affairs, but she was a sweet and thoughtful woman. She was always kind to others and even though she held herself apart from the world she still greeted the world with kindness and concern. This coldness was strange. It wasn''t just any kind of coldness, it was like a coldness born from pride. ¡®Was this the look of a courageous woman facing her destiny with grace and boldness?¡¯ Lorne wondered.


    "I''ll help them understand Dad, thanks for caring." Lorne turned and walked to General Brady. Lorne''s father made a strange look after his son''s comment. He looked at his wife who simply shrugged her shoulders. She didn''t know why Lorne thought his father cared about the humans either.


    General Brady looked somber, but at the same time, confident. "What do you think of the little army we''ve put together? I think this will give us a shot. What do you think Lorne?" asked General Brady.


    "Never hit someone who''s smiling at you," Lorne remembered this saying from somewhere. Unfortunately, Lorne was about to give the good intentioned General Brady and his friends a huge blow. If he didn''t, they wouldn''t even know how they died today, and they might implicate Earth in all the Zimwarn political drama. The last place Earth needed to be was in the middle of a conflict between titans. As the old human saying went ¡®never get in a land war in Asia.¡¯


    "General Brady, I appreciate your good intentions. I''m truly touched, but you can''t help me today. If you try to help, not only will you sacrifice your life and everyone else''s lives, you may bring destruction to Earth. The Zimwarn Empire isn''t something that can be stopped by us winning a little skirmish outside of our solar system. Earth doesn''t even have ships to parry the Zimwarn Warships. What chance do you think this little army of yours has? The only people who have a chance in this fight are my parents and me. You need to let us deal with this," Lorne said bluntly.


    General Brady''s body and face changed. The steely determination of an old soldier burst forth from him. "Now listen here, Lorne, these people are coming to our home. They think they can just take one of our own and do as they please. A human may be petty and weak, but we''re not cowards. We still know what''s important! Don''t think we''re just going to let them kill you and your family! Think about your wife and kids, don''t you want to see them again? Let us help you, son. Let Earth give something back to you. You''ve always stood with us, as far as I''m concerned you are one of us! Today we stand together, or we fall together." General Brady insisted. His voice had gotten louder the more his passions grew. As he finished, those present started clapping and shouting their support of the General''s fighting words. Even some of the super-villains applauded.


    Lorne was really touched by all of this. He closed his eyes and took in all the warmth and good intentions. Finally, he said in a quiet voice, "I understand."


    Hearing Lorne says he understood, General Brady puffed out his chest in pride. Lorne''s parents were surprised by the strong support they received from those gathered. Even they were a little touched by the humans'' support of their son. ¡®If you want to know who your real friends are, just wait until you''re in trouble. Then you''ll know who are and aren¡¯t your friends. This General Brady seemed like a true friend.¡¯ His father thought.


    "Listen up everyone, I have something to say." Lorne began to speak and suddenly his image blurred slightly.


    "I appreciate your good intentions, but do you really think you can help me? Aren''t you just asking to die if you go with us? Lorne asked.


    As he finished his comment, they suddenly realized every person in the room had been caught and constrained. No one, no matter if they were a weak human or a mighty hero, could move.


    "Look at the situation you are in right now. I was just talking with you. How many of you realized what I was doing? If I had used my laser vision all I would need to finish the job is to get a broom." Lorne continued. Terror was written over the faces of his friends.


    Lorne never demonstrated this kind of power before. When Lorne revealed he hadn''t mastered even a millionth of his strength two years ago, they thought he was exaggerating. Now they knew he was telling them the truth. Saying is one thing but seeing is believing.


    "You are my friends and you are all heroes, even those super-villains in the room. You''ve really restored my faith in humanity seeing your willingness to protect your home. The fact even my enemies were willing to risk their lives to support my family and I in this confrontation really blew me away. You can''t know how grateful and humble I feel right now.


    That''s why I can''t let you help. If just one Zimwarn person can defeat you in an instant, imagine what an army of them can do. Don''t think I''m the most powerful of my race. I''m still extremely weak. Our only hope today is the Usurpers sent people even weaker than me to tie up their loose ends. This scenario is unlikely.


    Please, everyone, go home. Whether my parents and I live or die, I promise you Earth will be safe. If you help, all that will happen is you''ll die, and Earth will become the enemies of the Usurpers Empire! Becoming enemies of the empire means Earth will be dead before the day is over." Lorne finished his exhortations. With another blur, everyone was free. It was as if they were never restrained.


    Lorne turned to walk back to his parents. Suddenly, he heard the grizzled old voice of General Brady.


    "He''s right! This attempt to stand against the massive Zimwarn Empire was a mistake. Everyone should go home," said the General.


    "As for me, I resign as Supreme General of the Allied Army of Earth. Listen to me kid, I don''t care if you have to tell them I''m your maid just tell those guys I''m with you and not with Earth. Maybe you''re going out to die, but an old man like me has no business living when a young guy like you is about to give his life for his planet," the old General roared.


    "You''re not getting rid of me either Lorne." This time it was Big Time speaking. "The first time we met you saved my life. Ever since that day, I''ve always wanted to put my life on the line for you, but you never needed me. Maybe I won''t be of any help to you, but I''m going to try my best. Even if I can buy you half a second that''s what I¡¯ll do!" Big Time was just as determined as the old General.


    "Don''t forget me!" Now it was the Pretty Pugilist. "You and I never hit it off romantically, but we''ve been fighting together as friends for years. You think I''m going to miss this last chance to fight with you? Forget it. I don''t give up without a fight!" Darwina roared like General Brady.


    "Ya'' hear that kid? The Three Amigos fight together! And just like always I''ll be standin'' there with you givin'' all of my support!" The General said passionately.


    "As for the rest of you!" The General turned to look at the remaining leaders and heroes. "Vice-Supreme General Gu Kong will take my place and lead our forces back to Earth.¡± General Brady yelled. ¡°Vice General Gu!"


    Vice-Supreme General Gu stepped forward. "Yes, sir!" he shouted as he saluted.


    "Take our forces back to Earth and reinforce Earth''s defenses in case the invaders choose to ignore their pride as members of the Zimwarn Empire and attack Earth despite the sacrifices the Longoak family and ourselves may be forced to make. You will not make an aggressive move. You will only attack if you are attacked first. Is that clear General?!" General Brady barked out his orders.


    "Yes, sir! I have received your orders. We will depart immediately!" Vice-Supreme General Gu turned and right away started organizing the retreat.


    Lorne was surprised when he felt his father place his hand on his shoulder. He turned to look at his father who had a grin on his face.


    "This General Brady is quite a man. Very loyal. Your friends too!" After his brief comments, Lorne''s father returned to his mother. Lorne''s mother was also smiling in a friendly way.


    Lorne knew now chances were slim. His father actually complemented some of the humans. To his recollection, his father had never shown any real interest in humans. He mostly kept his distance and lived like a hermit with Lorne''s mother in one of their homes.


    "Ah, Mechaton!" General Brady suddenly cried out.


    "Yes General Brady," Mechaton turned to face the General.


    "Give me your meanest nastiest Mech and get these kids some of those space armors you created," said General Brady.


    "Yes, sir," said Mechaton and then turned to carry out the General''s orders.

 The Invincible Hero Versus the Invincible Army

    A few hours later, after Earth''s Allied Army left the Jupiter home of the Longoaks, the Zimwarn Warships fleet finally arrived at the edge of the solar system. The Longoaks and their human allies quietly waited, floating in space. Lorne¡¯s father''s hovered between him and his mother. They were dressed in what his father claimed was the Royal Battle Armor. BS42 hovered quietly to Lorne''s right. Behind the Longoaks floated General Brady in a ferocious looking black mech with a large gun, and Big Time and the Pretty Pugilist each in white outer space armor.


    Even though the six warriors and the Warbox were infinitesimally small against the backdrop of space, the Zimwarn Warships saw them and came to a sudden halt. Several figures flew out from the lead ship. They arrived in an instant before Lorne and his parents.


    The figures all wore compact red and grey warrior armor. Each carried four visible weapons: a large gun, a sword, a knife, and a pistol. Some warriors carried a spear or saber instead of a sword. Some warriors carried a large cannon-type gun, others carried an advanced version of a machine gun or a bizarre gun with a large cylinder attached. The leader of the group wore compact red and black warrior armor with a red cape so dark it almost looked black. He had large blood-red gauntlets with gold trim on his arms. He carried a humongous hammer and a large machete-like knife.


    "Old Man Longoak, get your bag of bones over here! I''m here to take your head, you miserable old man. I bet you never saw this day coming?  I see you have your dried up old lady here and this brat next to you must be your son! How dare you create another member of your branch. Do you have any idea how much effort it takes finding all of you Royals and killing you? Oh, what''s that behind you? Are those puny creatures behind you from that planet you''ve been living on? What are they, pawns or pets?" The commander taunted Lorne''s father as he spoke.


    Lorne would have been surprised the man was speaking in space if it weren''t that his father taught him a special technique developed by the Royal house to speak in space. The technique was tricky at first. Not only did the technique allow a person to be heard in space, it could be used to transmit secret information to others, or project their voice several hundred miles from their location to someone else.


    "These are humans from Earth. They are my personal warriors," said Lorne.


    The commander looked at Lorne and sneered. Who did this little pup think he was, talking to him?


    "Did I ask you anything, you miserable little punk? I''ll step on you later. Keep your mouth shut before I beat you to death," said the commander.


    As the group was speaking, there was a sudden detonation from one of the ships! Everyone was shocked to see a Warship break apart and explode. They noticed a little dot being chased by other dots. Lorne zoomed his vision in to see what it was. To his surprise, he saw something he would never have expected to see. The dot being chased was actually someone Lorne knew very well. It was the Cosmic Monkey, the weirdo! What was he doing here? Did he blow up that Zimwarn Warship?


    The dots, which turned out to be Zimwarn warriors, were flying in their direction, finally one of the warriors got close enough to the Cosmic Monkey he could attack. The Zimwarn warrior punched him in the back and knocked him towards Lorne. Lorne quickly flew and caught the Cosmic Monkey and brought him back to his group. At the same time, Lorne blasted the pursuers with his laser vision. His attack actually killed two of the pursuers while the remaining three were knocked back by the concussive force of the blast.


    Lorne looked at the Cosmic Monkey and was speechless. When did this weirdo appear? How did he sneak into the Zimwarn fleet and blow up one of their ships? Looking at the Cosmic Monkey with his Ridarn vision, Lorne could tell the injuries Cosmic Monkey received weren''t light. He had several broken ribs, and where he was punched in the back the bones shattered, severing his spinal column. The Cosmic Monkey was alive, but after this battle, he would be a paraplegic.


    "Cosmic Monkey, why didn''t you go back to Earth? We told you this would be too dangerous!" Lorne cried out emotionally. Lorne always found this Cosmic Monkey to be a weirdo, but he never faltered in a fight. He was always there to help his teammates in battle. This tinsel town hero managed to destroy a Zimwarn Warship by himself. Amazing. Lorne looked back at his parents and saw even they were impressed.


    "Such an amazing Monkey." Lorne''s father said. "I''ll send him back to our base and have the medical facility treat his injuries." As Lorne''s father said this he tossed a disc onto the Cosmic Monkey whose body immediately vanished from sight.


    The commander of the Zimwarn forces watched all of this happening, he was also stunned by the Cosmic Monkey''s accomplishment. ¡®Had this puny aboriginal actually destroyed one of his Warships?¡¯ he wondered.


    Zimwarn Warships were made from a special metallic alloy called Kemedian composed of a unique metal called Fener. Fener was actually a grown metal. It was omnivorous consuming anything it could during its growth cycle. There were certain materials Fener couldn''t or wouldn''t consume. One such substance was lifeless dirt. Compact lifeless dirt, typically harvested from dead moons, was used to line the interior of molds used in forging objects. These molds were fashioned into many shapes. Depending if there was a need for screws, bolts, metallic beams or shielding; molds could be created for whatever was needed.


    The process for creating Kemedian from Fener was pretty simple. Fener seeds were placed in a predetermined "paste" made up of a combination of organic material, minerals, metals, and even gases. The Fener could imitate the qualities of the different substances it was fed. The base organic material which was a majority of the paste used to feed the Fener were the liquified remains of an animal species called Burings, enormous herbivores native to Zimwer. They had an incredibly dense molecular structure. Their muscle, skins, and bones were nearly indestructible on the universal scale. On ancient Zemwar, during its primitive days, Burings were a food staple. Now, these ancient animals were being reared as material for war construction.This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.


    The Kemedian alloy being produced was extremely durable. Few civilizations had produced technology at a high enough level to penetrate the special Kemedian alloy made from the Fener-Buring paste to increase toughness. The fact Cosmic Monkey managed to blow up a Zimwarn Warship was amazing.


    "He must have found a way to detonate the core," Lorne''s father said. "Clever Monkey," he added.


    "Enjoy this minor victory you old bag of bones! It will be your last victory of the day!" The commander roared viciously.


    Even though the commander roared, the Cosmic Monkey''s victory of destroying the Zimwarn Warship had lit the fire of hope in the hearts of everyone, especially Lorne. If the weird Monkey could do it, then he could too!


    Lorne immediately looked at the lead ship behind the commander and gathered all of his strength firing his most powerful and destructive Laser vision blast. Everyone was surprised by the sudden attack. The beam struck the mighty Warship creating a brilliant flash forcing everyone to turn away for a moment. When they turned back to see the damage caused by Lorne''s attack they saw...nothing. No damage at all. Not even a scratch was on the warship. Lorne was stunned. He was so sure it would work!


    "Hahahaha, this little prince thinks it''s easy to destroy one of my Warships! HAHAHAHA, but he''s even dumber than a monkey. It''s a good thing the royal family was overthrown. Look at what it has become. Even if the Royals won today, after a few years of administration by this clown, the Empire would implode! HAHAHAHA!!!" The Commander laughed unconstrained.


    Lorne was extremely upset. He had really embarrassed himself. Lorne''s father, however, looked over at the Warship. He seemed to be squinting at the area Lorne just shot at.


    "Impressive." Lorne''s father said. Immediately after making his comment, Lorne''s father shot his own laser vision blast at the ship. Immediately after he did so, the ship blew up just like the ship the Cosmic Monkey attacked. Lorne''s father had noticed a microscopic hole in the hull of the ship caused by Lorne''s attack. He used that hole finding the core of the ship with his Ridarn vision. Once he found the core he exerted the same energy level as Lorne to finish off the ship.


    Sensing the incoming shockwaves from the exploding ship, everyone quickly moved much further away. Lorne''s father seemed to invisibly grab everyone in their group somehow and flew them away instantly. The exploding ship''s debris and shockwaves spread out in every direction. The other Warships in the area were caught in the explosion. There was complete chaos as a result.


    Lorne''s Father laughed derisively at the Commander of the Usurpers. "It seems my son isn''t as useless as you thought Commander! If you paid attention you would have noticed he managed to pierce through the shielding of the ship. That opening allowed me to easily finish it off. Still looking down on us?" Lorne''s father mocked.


    Lorne was shocked, over the course of his life, his parents took every opportunity to point out how weak he was but never offered to help him fix that flaw. This was the first time his father ever complimented him on the use of his powers. Lorne had a big smile on his face as he looked to his father. Lorne''s father winked at him. Whoa, battle brings bonding between father and son!


    The Commander of the Usurpers was visibly building up to a volcanic explosion. At any moment his anger and hatred would explode. The commander gave a strained smile that wasn''t a smile. It looked like he was forcibly bearing some pain he could barely withstand.


    "Kill them, all of you attack!" Cried the commander who was no longer content to talk but was eager for slaughter. He had been humiliated beyond his limits. Even though he lost two warships, the Commander only lost about a dozen soldiers. As powerful as the warships were, Zimwarn physiology was even more powerful. Their bodies could contain and control unfathomable energy. How could a mere energy core explosion do any real damage to Zimwarn warriors? Only those closest to the explosion were truly in danger and that''s because out of all of the warriors brought to fight in today''s battle these ship engineers were the weakest. Even so, most of them survived the blast.


    All of the Zimwarn crews who previously occupied the two warships were now converging on their commander''s position. These soldiers were mad, none of them expected any kind of real resistance. Wasn''t the Royal family already on its last leg? A dying dog dared to bite back?! Outrageous!


    Lorne saw the killing madness in their eyes. He knew it was time for him to take action. He trained for two years for this day. The first year he trained on his own. The second year, BS42 trained him. Lorne had engaged in numerous battles in the temporal gate''s lost Time Zone. In those battles, Lorne fought numerous Zimwarn warriors. He began to learn how to fight using his powers effectively. He came to understand brute strength battle tactics weren''t strategies. He gained a lot from those battles. One of the greatest gains from his training was his speed capability shot through the roof. If there was one thing he could be proud of it was how fast he became.


    Lorne flashed away from his position and immediately engaged with a group of Zimwarn warriors. He used his laser vision to kill three warriors instantly by firing concentrated laser beams through their soft eyeballs. He utilized a holding grip on one warrior to use as a meat shield as he continued to kill warrior after warrior. Lorne discovered his best combination was using his speed with his laser vision. He called this combo his Fast Blast. It seemed like nothing could stop Lorne as he fought his way through the Zimwarn warriors.


    Lorne was shocked at how effective a fighter he had become. He thought this battle would be hard fought. The way BS42 and his parents talked it seemed there was no hope. However, wasn''t he using his strength to create hope? Lorne was suddenly aware of what it meant to turn his strength into hope. That''s exactly what he was doing. Maybe there was hope. Perhaps he could return home to see his wife and children. Didn''t he and his father use their power to destroy a warship? Lorne was beyond ecstatic as he thought of all of this. Now, for the first time, Lorne felt extremely confident. He could do this, he could win!


    The Commander of the Usurper forces watched Lorne killing all of his soldiers but he hadn''t done anything. His anger was still boiling, it looked like his head would pop off of his shoulders at any moment. Finally, the Commander screamed at Lorne in such a way it could cause even the most courageous warrior to faint from fright.


    "WOULD YOU STOP KILLING ALL OF MY KITCHEN STAFF YOU STUPID LITTLE PUNK!" The commander roared. Lorne froze, ¡®he was killing kitchen staff and not the fierce Zimwarn warriors?!¡¯ Lorne panicked.


    Suddenly, the Commander made a clawing motion with his hand and pulled Lorne away from his kitchen staff. The Commander flung Lorne to his original position.


    "YOU LIKE KILLING MY PEOPLE WITH LASER VISION?! WHY DON''T YOUR TRY A TASTE OF MY LASER VISION NOW!!!


    With this mad scream from the Commander, he shot a laser blast right at a stunned Lorne still off balance from being man-handled by the Commander. The laser hit Lorne and he could feel his body disintegrating. BS42 flew over and opened up, forming a shield. Then BS42''s body somehow managed to produce even more metal from his body which surrounded Lorne until BS42 became a ball. Even still, this didn''t help as instantly BS42 and Lorne were disintegrated on the spot. Nothing was left of the two.


    Everything was deadly silent. Then Lorne''s mother cried out, "NO!!!" Lorne''s father''s eyes went red, and all of Lorne''s friends looked at where Lorne was at just a moment ago. Lorne was gone. He had died. The Invincible Hero was dead!

 The Samsara Pod

    A sub-atomic sphere broke through the barriers between the multiverses hurtling through space and time. The sphere glowed, and strings of light attached to the sphere. These strings of light pulled on the sphere in different directions.


    Not all strings were the same, in fact, as the sphere continued to move, multiple strings combined together while other strings broke off of the pod. As the sphere continued its journey the strings turned into cords which became thicker and thicker. Occasionally new thin strings attached to the sphere. These strands and cords often twisted around each other.


    Within the sphere was an enormous space with several rooms and levels to the sphere. In one room was a large area with five tubes next to a depression in the floor. One tube contained a large quantity of blood. Another tube had something shimmering and bright.


    A figure moved to the tubes. This figure was a robotic scholar with features which were very human. In fact, if not for its metallic exterior it could pass as a human. The metal of the body had small wrinkles on the hands and eyes. Small forearm hair sprouted from the skin. The hairs on its head and arms also had a metallic sheen. Even though the robot had many organic-looking features, in reality, everything had a metallic sheen. It was a robot. It wore blue and yellow robes and clasped its hands behind its back as if waiting for something.


    Standing near the tubes, the robot watched as the tube with the shimmering and bright substance opened. Out stepped a nearly translucent figure. It was a ghostly version of Dr. Lorne Longoak, the Invincible Hero.


    The Robot''s eyes shone. "Greetings young lord." the robot said.


    The ghostly figure examined his nearly translucent body. It was clearly confused and kept looking at its form. "Am I dead?" it wondered. This thought caused it to look around. Immediately it noticed the robot. Perceiving it to be a metallic being of some sort he concluded it probably wasn''t an angel. It could be a robot angel he thought. Was he in robot heaven? Was Lorne really a robot previously? Lorne realized he was a little confused, so he pushed those random thoughts out of his mind.Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!


    Looking around the environment he realized he was in some kind of a lab. Lorne turned around and examined the metallic tube he came from and noticed the blood tube next to it. Adjacent to the blood tube were three other ones filled with different colored liquids. Finally, he spotted a deep half sphere depression on the floor. It seemed four of the five tubes fed directly into the depression. It was some kind of pool for these liquids. The spectral Lorne observed other connections to the pool, but what those connections provided he wasn''t sure.


    "It''s called the gene pool." The robot answered the question in Lorne''s mind. The robot''s speaking woke Lorne up from his thoughts. Lorne turned to examine the robot.


    "Who are you?" he asked.


    "Who do you think I am?" the robot responded.


    "BS42?" Lorne said immediately.


    "Yes, this is my true form," the Warbox responded.


    Lorne merely nodded his head in acceptance of the robot''s answer. It was more or less what he expected. What other intelligent robot called him young lord?


    "Where are we?" Lorne asked.


    "We are in the Samsara pod," the Warbox replied.


    "Why is my body translucent?" Lorne asked.


    "Your body was nearly destroyed by that Zimwarn Commander. One of the jobs of the rebirth prep-room, where we are now, is to prepare the re-birther for their next body. The first thing to be done was the separation of your soul from your body. Next, it was necessary to help your soul take its soul form as this isn''t instinctive for most people. Next, we take the remainder of your physical body and turn it into a pure genetic material. Blood is the best," BS42 said.


    "What are these other tubes for?" Lorne continued asking questions.


    "The two tubes next to the blood tube are meant to receive the genetic materials of your future parents. The third tube contains a solution to help integrate all four liquids together to form the embryo for your new body." BS42 answered.


    "These other connections to the gene pool?" asked Lorne.


    "Those are special energy nodes to help your soul integrate with the new body." the Warbox answered.


    Lorne fell into deep thought. ¡®Samsara pod, I guess this is really about reincarnation. Who knew there was such a scientific way to do this.¡¯ Lorne thought.


    "What do I do until I''m reincarnated, wait in here?" Lorne asked.


    "No, I''d like to take you on a tour of the ship," BS42 said.


    "Ship? I thought this was a Samsara pod," said Lorne.


    "It is, but the process of Samsara isn''t so simple, not if you want to arrive at the best place possible. Come with me, I''m sure you''ll understand after a quick look around the ship," said The Warbox.


    Lorne simply nodded in acceptance of the Warbox''s suggestion. What else did he have to do? Besides he was very curious about this whole place.

 The Usurpers

    Back at the outer edge of Earth''s solar system, everyone stared out where Lorne had been just moments ago. The Usurper''s Commander laughed maliciously.


    "Hahahaha, I knew the boy was weak but one little blast from me and there aren''t even atoms left! I even disintegrated his Samsara pod! HAHAHA." The Commander kept laughing. All of the anger and hate he had was finally released. He felt much better. The death of this kid was a shock for all these Royals and their pets. Taking care of this group of Royals and the pet humans were just made much easier.


    "What do you know about anything?!" Lorne''s father sneered. Only he and Lorne''s mother knew right now Lorne was being sent through the multiverse to finally be reborn. Lorne''s father looked at the Commander, giving him a deadly glare. Then, he did something no one expected; he snapped his fingers.


    From the darkness of space appeared massive warships more intimidating than the ones Lorne''s group faced earlier. These ships had set a perimeter around the Usurper''s ships. Out of the ships flew countless elite soldiers wearing a totally different kind of armor. The majority of the soldiers were wearing bright silver armor over a tunic. A special neck scarf came out from cuirass. They wore armored short boots over leggings tucked into the short boots. A baltea hung over the groin area. The soldiers were each equipped with a tall shield, spear, sword, and powerful blasters. These armors looked far more vicious and imposing than the Usurpers¡¯ armor.


    Some of the soldiers wore a golden version of the armor. One soldier wore a black and red version of the armor with some differences. He had a much smaller shield and instead of a spear, he carried a halberd. Instead of a sword, he held a Warhammer. Two cannons rested on his shoulders. Next to him flew a woman similarly outfitted only she clutched a thin short sword and daggers instead of the halberd and Warhammer. Her shoulder cannons were more slender and graceful looking.


    The male and female warriors flew next to Lorne''s father and mother. Both bowed to Lorne''s parents.


    "We, Zug Crisos and Zug Impendia, greet Lord Emperor," the pair said together. Although the couple shared the word ''Zug'' in their name it didn''t mean they were siblings or married. ''Zug'' was actually a title, referring to the male and female First Warriors.


    Crisos was the King''s, First Warrior. While Impendia was the Queen''s, First Warrior. This pair represented the absolute best warriors of the Empire aside from the Emperor and Empress. Every King under the Empire had their own Zug but they were either Lesser Zug or Greater Zug. Only the Emperor''s Zug had no addition to their title.


    The Zug were the direct representatives of the Emperor and Empress. What they said was the direct word for word command of their master. No one ever contradicted the Zug.


    "Wait a moment, I will talk with this Commander and then I will give you orders," said The Emperor.


    "Yes, my Lord," Crisos said as he bowed.


    "I shall attend to the Empress." Impendia also bowed to the Emperor. Zug Impendia was under the direct command of the Empress. The Emperor had no right to command her. If he wanted her to do something he had to ask his wife to command her.


    Lorne''s Father, the Emperor, now turned his attention back to the Commander trembling with absolute fear. He didn''t say a word. He didn''t know how or why it happened, he only knew it was happening. He was surrounded by the Emperor''s forces. He was told the coup was accomplished. All that was left was to clean up the Royals, and he as the top commander of the Usurper Forces had the honor of forming the plan to accomplish this goal. He was also ordered to personally kill, without mercy, the Emperor and his family.


    The Commander remembered the joy and honor he felt when he was entrusted with this assignment. He gathered all the forces under his command and laid out a plan to finish off all the Royals at the same time. The Usurper forces were sent to every Royal world to kill the world leaders and replace them. Based on his intelligence this had all happened. They were utterly victorious!


    Now, however, he realized either thing had not gone the way he expected, or all of the remaining Royal power had gathered here. It didn''t really matter which answer was correct as either way it only meant he and his men were dead.


    "What did you say to me earlier? Get your old bones over here? Something about a beheading, I think." The Emperor gave the Commander a deadly cold stare.


    "Your name is Hei Ark from the Pellax family if I remember," The Emperor said.


    "Yes, your majesty." Commander Hei Ark bowed subserviently. His only hope was a painless death, it was all he hoped for now.


    "Did I give you permission to speak you lowly worm?!" The Emperor roared. Commander Hei Ark trembled even more. He immediately fell to his knees and bowed to the king with his face touching the dirt.


    "Your High Ancestor Kel Pellax is one of my most loyal and oldest servants, a true friend even. His merits are beyond measure. Before your betrayal, you had earned many merits as well. Then you murdered my son! You deserve death but that would be a waste of resources. Instead, I will take your immortal body for a worthy servant, and your soul will be used as a Warbox AI core. If you build up enough merits again you might gain your freedom one day and could be allowed to cultivate once again. However, no matter what, your soul shall be forever sealed. You will never pose a danger to my family or this Empire again!" said The Emperor.


    "Crisos, have Hei Ark taken back to the Imperial prison. Separate his soul from his body and scrub the body of all memories, including cultivation memories. Copy a set of Kel Pellax''s cultivation memories into the body. Hold the body in reserve, I''ll be sending a more deserving recipient of the body soon. We''ll have Pellax take in the new warrior to train him to return the honor that Hei Ark stole from his family." The Emperor commanded.Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.


    "Yes, my lord." Crisos immediately signaled a subordinate over and gave him orders. The subordinate bound ex-Commander Hei Ark and took him away.


    "My Lord, what about the remaining Usurper forces?" asked Zug Crisos.


    "Oh them, I didn''t see anyone else worthy of a second chance. Deactivate their Samsara pods and activate a Nihil field," The Emperor said.


    Zug Crisos''s eyes widened in shock. The Emperor was not in a forgiving mood. Deactivating the Samsara pod meant after these soldiers were executed they had no chance of remembering their past lives and their souls could reincarnate anywhere in the multiverse. This was already a severe punishment because it meant these former soldiers might never rejoin their race again!


    The Emperor, however, ordered a Nihil field to be set up. This meant their souls would be marked with a rejection sigil. They were forever banned from joining the ranks of members of the Empire. Even with entirely new cultivations and memories they would always be suppressed and rejected from any territory controlled by the Empire. These former brothers and sisters would become eternal outcasts. The shock was only momentary. Zug Crisos quickly carried out his orders.


    "My Lord, the Nihil field is active." Zug Crisos informed the Emperor.


    "Very good," The Emperor said.


    "Listen, all members of the Usurper Army. You betrayed your Emperor and Empress. You murdered a Royal son. Traitors will not be tolerated. You have no place in my Empire. A Nihil Field has been activated and from this day forth your souls will be outcasts to my Empire. You will never join our people again. In your next lives, should your souls survive Samsara, you will forever be forbidden entry into the territories of the Empire. You will be eternal outcasts!" The Emperor coldly said.


    The horror and despair the Usurper soldiers felt quickly spread. They thought they were doing the right thing for their Empire by ridding it of the petty Emperor and his ice-hearted Empress. They never expected their end would be outcasts.


    Suddenly a person cried out. "Good, I Qanton Fledge do not want anything to do with this evil Empire any longer. I will happily severe my ties with you and join the Outcast Empire! We will end the oppressive rule you forced upon us!" the man shouted.


    The Emperor signaled with his eyes to Zug Crisos, and the man was immediately removed from the group.


    "I shall never grant you the opportunity to do as you like," The Emperor said.


    "Your orders your majesty?" Zug Crisos asked.


    "Soul implosion for 1,000 years. Followed with soul disintegration for a period of 500 years," The Emperor commanded.


    "If anyone else would like to say anything please feel free. However, before you do, why not see what''s in store for you," The Emperor taunted.


    Zug Crisos nodded and brought the Usurper before the others. The outspoken man of a minute ago was stricken with terror and begged and pleaded with the Emperor not to do it. He regretted every word he said. He knew Soul implosion was the most painful experience a person could experience next to a prolonged soul disintegration.


    The Emperor ignored it all while typing on a pad provided to him. The Emperor even ignored the process of soul implosion. It seemed like it wasn''t even that important to him. The Emperor was truly making an example of this person.


    A device was brought out and attached to Qanton Fledge''s chest. Once activated, a sphere split apart and moved hundreds of meters away from him. Qanton''s body served as the center of the enlarged sphere.


    The first step of the soul implosion process was the body almost completely separated from the soul. However, the soul was attached enough it could feel the disintegration of the body. Every nerve fired pain signals, and those pain signals hurled into the soul. This was only a minor torture.


    Next, a special force field activated around the soul. This forcefield didn''t protect the soul, instead, it turned the soul into a supergravitational phenomenon only affecting other souls. Since the sphere cut off all external access to soul energy, the soul began to attract itself. This attraction eventually caused the creation of a spectral singularity. The soul felt all of this and was in absolute agony. Finally, the expanded sphere came back together encasing the spectral singularity within it. The sphere returned to its original size.


    A side effect was the screaming of the soul was heard by every soul near it. The sphere was collected and would be sent to the Imperial Prison where it would be stored in the soul prison located in the center of the Imperial Prison. This was so all other criminals felt the screaming soul the entire time they were in the prison. Some prisoners went insane, but most endured vowing never to do anything earning this kind of punishment from the Empire. Often, they vowed to never act against the Empire again.


    Every remaining member of the Usurper Army was relieved they were only having their bodies disintegrated and their souls marked to prevent them from returning to their people. To them, their execution seemed more like a divine mercy and less like a punishment.


    "As a final act of favor, I will recognize the previous years of service you provided your Empire. I shall execute you all myself. A heavy burden for an Emperor. No true Emperor wants to bring harm to his people. However, no true Emperor would ever hold back from doing what needs to be done," The Emperor said.


    With those words, the Emperor activated his laser vision. First, he destroyed the Warships, then he turned those inborn death rays on the last members of the Usurper Army. Everyone was disintegrated. If one could see their souls, they would see as the souls flew out to rejoin the universe they first passed through an energy field which branded the souls. The execution was finally over. With the destruction of this army, the Usurper War was finally over. The Empire was secure.


    The Empress flew to the side of her husband and ask through voice transmission. "Tell me, the Warbox you sent with our son; whose soul did you use for the AI core?"


    "Whose do you think?" The Emperor responded.


    "Even your own brother! How could you do that to him?" The Empress asked.


    "What else could I do? He gave me no choice. I know he was used, but he raised his hand against me. The only way I could offer him any hope was to place him in the Warbox. At least he might return to us one day," The Emperor sadly said.


    "Did he know? Did he know he was used?" The Empress asked.


    "At the end he did. I shared with him all of my secrets. I showed him everything. He cried and begged for my forgiveness. It took everything I had not to break down in front of him," The Emperor said.


    "Were you able to learn who was behind your brother?" The Empress asked again.


    "No, even Heken didn''t know,¡± said The Emperor.


    The Empress was silent for a time before asking: "Do you think our son will be successful?"


    "I hope so, he''s our last child. The firstborn and youngest always have a special place in a parent''s heart," The Emperor said.


    "I pray he survives, I hope his ending isn''t like poor Markon," The Empress said as her eyes teared up.


    "I do too." The Emperor said finally.

 Rebirth

    BS42 took Lorne on a tour of the ship. Lorne had never seen such an amazing ship before.


    "This is the best Samsara pod ever created by the Lord Master," BS42 said.


    "I don''t know, my experience of advanced technology is limited. However, it is certainly the most impressive thing I have ever seen," Lorne said.


    "Let''s head to the navigational bridge," BS42 said. Lorne merely nodded.


    Once they reached the navigational bridge, Lorne''s eyes sparkled. Although Lorne loved archaeology he had another love and that was science fiction. Perhaps he just found the imaginative writings and adventures exciting. Lorne never felt imperiled before in his life until the Zimwer incident. For him, the notion of peril was a novel concept. Usually, he enjoyed the fantasies of risking it all and coming out on top. It was much more interesting than easily accomplishing anything he wanted in his previous life. Things were just too easy and made life boring. Lorne realized finding out he was an alien when he was a child also impacted his interest in science fiction.


    Lorne laughed when the thought occurred to him the reason he became a superhero probably had to do with finding out he was an alien with immense power. The story reminded him of other such beings recorded from the comics he read as a child.


    Staring at the bridge, he realized this bridge represented everything he ever dreamed of before. The large ¡®Captain''s¡¯ chair in front of him cried out ¡®Nostalgia!¡¯ Lorne immediately ran over to the chair and sat in it. He swiveled in it a few times and clicked a couple of switches and pushed buttons gleefully.


    BS42 made a robotic sounding cough. "Excuse me young lord, but that is my seat," BS42 said. Lorne reluctantly got up from the seat. BS42 sat down in the chair and explained the navigation controls to Lorne who was deeply interested.


    "May I try to fly it?" Loren asked.


    "No, you''re much too weak to fly this ship. Besides, the ship isn''t capable of flying right now. We''re currently experiencing Karmic entanglement," said BS42.


    "Karmic entanglement?" Lorne asked.


    "The universe is composed of matter and energy as you may know. What you may not know if there are other energies making up the universe, spiritual energies, for example. Just as there are forces working on physical objects, such as gravity, there are spiritual forces working on spiritual objects, such as Karma. We call spiritual objects souls.


    Karma is the tie binding various existences together. It is also an invisible arbiter of justice. It creates unexpected opportunities for the worthy. Right now, we are searching for the best opportunity for your soul. Given your selfless defense of Earth in the face of absolute destruction, you should have great opportunities available. In fact, you do, I know this because the ship informed me of the sizable Karmic cords grasping onto the ship. There are both Karmic strings and cords attaching to the ship.


    Karma is trying to grasp your soul and bring it to its next destination. To a certain extent, we can control which path you choose. We may not be able to choose the exact destination but we can choose between greater and lesser opportunities. However, as we began our journey the ship was immediately entangled by countless numbers of Karmic strings. As we''ve moved through the multiverse some of the Karma threads broke while others combined and strengthened. The strings that combine are called Karmic cords. We''re looking for the thickest cord. When we find it, we''ll allow it to control the ship and bring you to your new opportunity, your next life," BS42 explained.


    "Will I forget my past once I reincarnate?" Lorne asked.


    "No, that''s another benefit of the Samsara pod.


    However, prior to birth, you will feel a special kind of spiritual enlightenment informing you of your mission in this life. Since you can remember your last life your mission from the previous life will be added to the mission for the current life. If you can accomplish these missions, then the Karmic threads for your next life will become even more numerous and amazing. The Samsara pod will record whatever you say, but it cannot record anything if you do not speak during the enlightenment period. You have to speak, if you don''t speak out the mission, then the mission will have to be sought out blindly through life. It''s much harder this way but not impossible. The Enlightenment process is unique. Our technology is incapable of directly controlling or recording the information from this event." BS42 said.


    "Amazing, will this happen soon?" Lorne asked.


    "We haven''t even arrived at our destination and you haven''t gone through the gestation period yet. Depending on what body you are reincarnated into you might have a lot of time on your hands," BS42 said.


    "What determines the gestation period?" Lorne asked.


    "Two things, the species of creature you incarnate into and the level of cultivation your parents have. The stronger the parents the longer the gestation period." BS42 informed him.


    "This reincarnating, does this mean I''ll never be able to see my family again?" This was the question Lorne wanted to ask all along. He missed his wife and children. He wanted to see his children grow up. Now, he was forced to live in a new world with a new body. It seemed it was unlikely he would ever see his family.


    "I don''t know. It depends on several factors," said BS42.


    Lorne was completely surprised by BS42''s response. He thought for sure BS42 would tell him there was no hope. Instead, he was being told, ''maybe.'' That meant hope to Lorne. He might see his family.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.


    "What are some of the factors?" Lorne asked.


    BS42 thought for a few moments before replying.


    "The best-case scenario is we find ourselves in a universe with a timeline significantly different from our own," BS42 said.


    "What do you mean?" Lorne asked.


    "Not all universes are created equal or at the same time. We want a universe that moves forward at a significantly slower speed or one way behind our own timeline. Don''t get too happy about this possibility. There are lots of problems and questions that would need to be overcome such as the quality of the universe we arrive in. There is also the problem of relativistic multi-universal time disfasia. Different Universes develop and grow at different speeds as seen from our own universe. In our universe, a year could pass but in another year one-million years could have passed and vice versa." BS42 explained.


    "How would that work?" Lorne asked.


    "This is tricky, if we enter at a universe with time disfasia and then returned to our universe, we could be faced with the situation where we arrive in the old universe before we left for the new universe. It''s extremely complex. In fact, your father''s master was actually a warrior born many many years after your father became the Emperor. Your father trained his master, but then his master found himself in a universe with time disfasia. When his master returned to our Zimwarn universe, it was nearly twelve million years before your father became the Emperor," said BS42.


    "The reverse could happen then. I could come back to the original universe we left from and I could appear twelve million years or more after I left," Lorne said.


    "Lorne, to be honest, it is going to be very difficult to get back home. Your chances of returning home to see your family not long after you left are extremely unlikely. To begin with, we don''t even know where we''re going to appear. Will we appear in a universe close to the one we came from? Will we find ourselves in a new, unexplored universe? If so, then finding our way back to the original universe becomes even more problematic. The truth is you should prepare yourself for the likelihood the farewell you had with your wife and children was your final farewell.


    Even if there''s a chance we can make it back, what will you do in the meantime? You have to live your life, you can''t put your love life or family life on hold for an indeterminate amount of time. Humans can''t live that way. You don''t know the future. Your family is very important to you, but you''ve only lived a little over thirty years. How will you feel when you''ve lived one hundred years, a thousand years, or even longer? There''s no way you could know. People change over time. The more time the more change," said BS42.


    "It''s a lot to take in BS42. I don''t know what to think. Please don''t ask me to make any decisions right now," said Lorne.


    BS42 smiled faintly at Lorne, "I''m not asking you to make any decisions, I''m just trying to prepare you for an ugly possibility you might be ignoring. I don''t want to rob you of your hope, but I don''t want you to suffer a crueler fate than that of letting go." BS42 said.


    "What could be worse than the pain of letting go?" Lorne asked with red eyes.


    "The pain of pointless obsession," BS42 said.


    Lorne was quiet for some time. "No point speculating on what will be. Perhaps we can save this conversation for when we arrive." Lorne said with a faint smile.


    "Fair enough," BS42 said. "Shall we continue our tour?"


    BS42 took Lorne to the library next. This was a place of great interest to Lorne.


    "Welcome to the library. There is enough reading material here to last you an immortal''s lifetime," said BS42.


    "Until pre-birth you''re free to come here any time you would like to read. There is every subject you could ever desire to learn," BS42 said.


    After BS42 finished the Samsara pod tour, Lorne spent many months living in the pod. He found his favorite time-passing activity was reading in the library. He couldn''t eat or drink, so there was nothing for him to do but read. Reading was a great pleasure for Lorne, even when he was on Earth. He read every book in the world by the time he was eighteen. Having super speed and super comprehension helped. Not having a physical body, there was no such thing as super speed for Lorne.


    On the other hand, as a spectral entity, Lorne found reading was much easier. Lorne had to be careful when reading at super speed back on Earth. If he read too fast he could accidentally set the books on fire. His father eventually built a device allowing him to read as fast as he wanted. Unfortunately, within a week of getting the device, he finished reading all the books on Earth. After that, he periodically reread all the books on Earth. He had probably read the entire collection of Earth''s books, in every human language, hundreds of times. For an academically minded person like Lorne, this was a great tool.


    One day, Lorne was reading in the Library using a technique he discovered called spirit reading. This allowed him to spread out his spirit and read multiple books at once. As soon as his spirit touched a book he instantly read and remembered the book. He had even learned eighteen new languages over the last few months they hurtled through the multiverse.


    BS42''s voice resonated in his soul. "Meet me in the gene pool, we''re about to arrive."


    "At last, we''re arriving. It will be nice to be somewhere other than this pod." Lorne thought.


    When Lorne arrived at the gene pool he found BS42 was already there. Next to BS42 was a nearly translucent object in the shape of a pill.


    "Step inside." As BS42 said this a door on the side of the pill opened.


    Lorne entered, and the door shut. Immediately after shutting, the ''pill'' condensed around Lorne''s soul. It integrated into his soul. Lorne felt slightly uncomfortable during the process.


    "What''s this?" asked Lorne.


    This is a soul suit, it has several functions but the most important function for right now is it will allow you to sit in the gene pool during the initial embryonic formation. Once that''s done, you can step out of the embryo and wait out the gestation period on the pod until right before birth. You''ll be much less bored this way. Another important function is this suit allows you to store the Samsara pod in your soul. It will be absolutely hidden and once you''re born you''ll have access to the Samsara pod,¡± said BS42.


    Lorne was really impressed. His father''s Empire should be named the Miraculous Technology Empire. Forget their sci-fi technology like Warships, battle armor, and what not; their spiritual technology was simply unbelievable. It defied reason he thought.


    BS42 finished the preparations and the embryo was formed intaking the new genetic information provided by Lorne''s future parents and combining it with his original Zimwarn genetics. All four tubes filled the tube. Lorne was already laying at the bottom of the gene pool when the liquid filled the pond and surrounded Lorne''s soul. The genetic information was optimized. Finally, a fetus was formed.  Lorne stepped out of the embryo but noticed nearly imperceptible energy strands connected him to the embryo.


    "Those are your spirit tethers. They keep you attached to the embryo at all times. The embryo dies without its soul, but with the tether; you can leave the embryo and still sustain it with your spiritual energy." BS42 said.


    "Amazing" Lorne marveled once again at this spiritual technology.


    "Uh-oh," BS42 said, his eyes scanned panels and readouts around the room, but Lorne couldn''t tell what he was specifically examining.


    "Hurry, get back into the embryo, I think you''re about to be born," BS42 said hurriedly.


    "What, but didn''t you say...." Lorne began.


    "FORGET what I said, get into the embryo RIGHT NOW!" BS42 yelled.


    Lorne immediately did as he told. As soon as he was back in the embryo he suddenly disappeared.


    "How bizarre," Lorne said.

 Do You Want To Be Immortal?

    BS42 watched Lorne''s embryo disappeared. The last thing he heard Lorne say was, "how bizarre." BS42 couldn''t help but agree with him. It was bizarre. To his knowledge, nothing like this had ever happened before. Lorne should have had at least eight or nine months more time until he was reborn. ¡®What species births immediately at conception?¡¯ BS42 wondered.


    "I should check the genetic material and see what''s going on." BS42 realized. Earlier, BS42 wasn''t in a hurry to check the parents¡¯ genetic material. He wasn''t curious at all. He had been a part of this process so many times himself, as a rebirther. Everything was so routine he thought he would do a genetics check after Lorne was squared away. Then, everything went weird.


    BS42 went to the Gene Pool''s terminal to check the genetic information. He ran the genetic scan and compared it to all of the genetic profiles for native species of the Empire in the database. Surprisingly, there were zero matches.


    "Interesting," BS42 thought. It would seem either the Prince found a species within the Empire''s Multiverse borders that was as yet undiscovered, or he was in a new universe. Either possibility was exciting. New things often brought big benefits.


    ¡®Let me check the size of the Karmic Chord that brought us here.¡¯ BS42 thought as he called up new data on the computer. The data completely shocked him. "12.37kcs!"


    "I''ve never heard of a kcs that high. The most I''ve ever heard of was one at 3.8 kcs and that was a monster who accrued good karma for three hundred million years. There''s no way Lorne has a kcs this high just from protecting the earth. I wonder if I would get anything if I tried the karmic tracker." BS42 decided to try the Emperor''s latest invention. This technology was still a work in progress and the problem was a lack of data. It''s like having the tracking technology for fingerprints but a database containing zero fingerprints. The technology works, but it lacks input.


    As BS42 expected, nothing came back. ¡®What were his nephew''s previous incarnations like to accrue such a strong kcs reading?¡¯ This needed to be reported. However, if they were in a new universe he wouldn''t be able to report to the Emperor until they found their way into a universe in the Empire''s territory.


    Now, BS42 was really curious about Lorne''s new mother and father¡¯s genetic identity. BS42 went to the computer bank to do another workup to help identify the genetic material. This time he ran both samples through a database of known species from other universes the Empire previously encountered. There was an immediate hit on the father. However, nothing came up on the mother. "This means, the mother is a totally new species the Empire has never encountered before!" BS42 was extremely excited. Lorne''s father was renowned not only for his strength but also for his brilliance at inventing new technologies. BS42 was a renowned scientist in his past life. His specialty was genetics and new species integration. If anyone understood the importance of the discovery of a new species it was BS42.


    After reaching this conclusion, BS42 turned his attention to the father''s species information. As BS42 read the information his face went from shocked, scared, excited, scared, and finally to puzzled.


    "I don''t know if this is a good thing or a calamity," said BS42.


    *   *   *


    Once matters with the Usurpers were dealt with, the Emperor and Empress immediately left the Earth system on their Imperial Warship. Lorne''s human companions were never looked at by the Imperial couple. They just left. The three people weren''t sure what to do. They also remembered Cosmic Monkey was somewhere. Honestly, all three people were numb. Nothing went as they expected. From the near instant death of Lorne to the horrible deaths of the Usurper Army executed by none other than Lorne''s father. A person who turned out to be very much still in charge of his Empire and in no danger for his life. Was this whole thing just some plot hatched by Lorne''s father the Emperor?


    They weren''t just shocked but terrified as well. This Empire was not only capable of wide-scale destruction through their physical powers, but the Emperor demonstrated an ability to trap and torture souls. The Emperor told them from the beginning there was nothing they could do before the power of the Empire. He wasn''t joking. If there was one thing they learned today it was ¡®Do not mess with the Empire.¡¯ All three humans looked at each other and nodded their heads. The collective knew, from instinct, they were at the mercy of the Empire. Whatever it commanded would be done.


    After a little over an hour, the Zug warriors flew up to the humans.


    "If you don''t mind, I think we should talk. Let''s head back to the Emperor''s Satellite home. He informed me we could use it as needed. He and the Empress left for Zimwer and have no plans to return to Earth." Zug Crisos said as he smiled. The three humans vaguely smiled back and nodded. Zug Crisos grabbed General Brady and Big Time, while Zug Impendia grabbed the Pretty Pugilist. The group of five people returned to the Jupiter home base nearly instantly.Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.


    The three humans were escorted to the War Room and sat at the table. The Zug pair gave the humans a stoic look. Suddenly, Zug Impendia smiled as she looked to the Pretty Pugilist.


    "Hello, my dear, the Empress asked me to have a chat with you about an opportunity in which you might be interested. Could I bother you for a private chat in another room?" asked Zug Impendia.


    The Pretty Pugilist looked at her two companions and both of them shrugged their shoulders. Darwina didn''t know what to do either. "Ok." She said simply.


    With that said the Pretty Pugilist and Zug Impendia went to another place in the house. Meanwhile, Zug Crisos continued to look unflinchingly at General Brady and Big Time. Big Time was uncomfortable. He realized these members of Lorne''s race were capable of destroying him with a harsh breath. He was nervous. In spite of this, he did his best to sit where he was with as confident a presence as he could manage.


    "You gonna kill us? If you are could you get it over with? I just hope you don''t put us in one of those soul balls," the General suddenly said.


    Zug Crisos was surprised but laughed lightly, smiling at the General.


    "You''re pretty bold for a baby," Zug Krisos said.


    "Listen, son, I''m nearly seventy years old. I should have retired a long time ago, but the government keeps bringin'' me back to deal with all these fancy pants. I don''t know how old you are but I''m pretty sure the baby here is this one next to me, little kid Big Time." The General said pointing at Big Time.


    "11,357,583," said Zug Cristos.


    "What''s that your phone number? Listen, son, I''m flattered but I''m an old man, but if I were a young man I would only be interested in getting phone numbers from women," said the General. It wasn''t clear if he was trying to annoy this Zug or if he was just being himself.


    "It''s not my phone number. It''s my age, you asked me how old I am. I am eleven million three hundred and fifty-seven thousand and five hundred and eighty-three years old. From my perspective, you can see how I consider a seventy-year-old man like you a baby.


    "Did you just say you''re more than eleven million years old?!" The General gasped as he asked.


    "Let me ask you a question, General Brady. Would you like to be immortal?"


    ***


    In the home theatre room, the Pretty Pugilist and Zug Impendia were having their own conversation.


    "What is your name dear?" Zug Impendia asked.


    "The Pretty Pugilist," Darwina responded.


    "Really, that''s your name? When the Empress told me your name I was baffled but I guess that''s really your name. Do your friends call you Pretty or Pugilist?" Zug Impendia asked.


    "My friends call me Darwina." the Pretty Pugilist said.


    "Why would they do that if it isn''t even your name?" Zug Impendia said a little confused.


    "It is my name, they''re both my name," Darwina said.


    "I don''t get it, sweety," Zug Impendia said.


    "On Earth, there are people called superheroes. We have two names, the name we were born with and the name we use as superheroes." Darwina explained.


    "It is your warrior name." Zug Impendia seemed to understand.


    Darwina was about to disagree with her but realized the way she put it made sense and made explaining things much easier. "That''s correct, it''s my warrior name. Lorne''s warrior name was the Invincible Hero," Darwina said sadly.


    "Was the kid so full of himself to give himself such a bold name when he was so weak?" asked Zug Impendia.


    "He didn''t give himself that name we, the humans, did. To us, he was invincible,¡± Darwina said as tears formed in her eyes.


    "Hey, why are you so sad sweety?" Zug Impendia asked.


    "Why am I sad? Why aren''t any of you sad? Why didn''t his parents cry for him when he died? Are they so heartless the death of their son doesn''t mean anything to them?" Darwina asked.


    Suddenly, Darwina sensed a movement coming at her, she dodged something and then grabbed on. It was an arm. Zug Impendia attacked her. When she looked at Zug Impendia, her face went from furious to shocked. "How did you block me?" she asked.


    "It''s my power. I have a combat ability allowing me to learn fighting skills and adapt them to my use. I can even imitate superpowers. Now, why did you suddenly attack me?"


    "It is only natural I give you a slap for saying such things about the Emperor and Empress. You even wrongly accused them of not loving their son," responded Zug Impendia.


    "What''s wrong with what I said? He died, and they didn''t even shed a tear for him." Darwina barked out tears flowing from her eyes.


    Finally, Zug Impendia understood something. These humans didn''t know Lorne was still alive.


    "He''s not dead," Zug Impendia said.


    "What? Who''s not dead?" Darwina asked.


    "The Prince, Lorne, he''s still alive. He''s just training," said Zug Impendia.


    "That man disintegrated him. I saw him do it," Darwina said.


    "Hold that thought," Zug Impendia said as she held up her finger. She seemed to look back to the place from where she and Darwina came. After a few moments, she turned her attention back to Darwina.


    "That was a trick. Even the Prince didn''t realize he wasn''t going to die. He knows it by now, but at the time he didn''t understand his parents had prepared for his departure," Zug Impendia said.


    "His departure, to where?" Darwina asked.


    "His next life, he should be in the process of reincarnating now," said Zug Impendia.


    "How is that not being dead. You can only reincarnate if you are dead!" Darwina screamed at Zug Impendia.


    Zug Impendia wasn''t upset this time. "Little sister you must control your temper. Maybe to you, reincarnation is dying but to our people, it''s just part of a process of growing stronger. The best part is the Prince will be back soon," Zug Impendia said.


    Darwina was really excited. "Soon, how soon until he returns?!"


    "I don''t know maybe a million years or so," said Zug Impendia.


    "WHAT? A million years! Are you out of your mind! I''ll be long dead and buried in the ground by then.¡± Darwina yelled.


    "Not if you''re immortal. If you are immortal a million years will seem like nothing," Zug Impendia said.


    "That doesn''t help anything, maybe Lorne is immortal, but I''m not," Darwina said.


    "Would you like to be immortal?" asked Zug Impendia.

 Decisions

    "Would I like to be immortal?" General Brady asked as if he hadn''t heard correctly.


    "Yes, how would you feel about living for millions of years and yet still being powerful, more powerful than these little warriors you''ve been babysitting for years. Powerful, like my people," Zug Crisos said.


    "Who wouldn''t want that? What I wouldn''t want is to sell my soul to the devil," the General said.


    "Your world is insignificant in the great scheme of things. The Emperor thought about taking the place over, conquering it and adding it to the collection. Make it a vacation spot or something. Suddenly he changed his mind," Zug Crisos said.


    General Brady''s eyes narrowed. This is what he feared. Earth was merely a backdrop to a war which meant nothing to humans. However, these aliens weren''t so good natured. The victor, no matter which side, would still come to Earth. Earth didn''t have the power to stop these forces, they were just too powerful. General Brady wasn''t a man coming from a place of strength, but he was the man standing between Earth and these aliens.


    "Why''d he change his mind?" General Brady asked.


    "You humans surprised him. You displayed absolute loyalty to the Emperor''s youngest son. I''m sure it can be argued this was all because of you. I saw the videos and your stirring speeches. There is no doubt you strengthened those human warriors, but if the humans didn''t support you, heh! You and I have both served in militaries. We''ve seen things. World''s don''t get behind anyone. They betray even their most sacred beliefs in the face of the unknown. Fear eats away at them until they treat the hero of their hearts like an epidemic.


    Humans didn''t abandon the prince. Instead, they chose to support the Prince in an unwinnable situation. You were warned by supporting the prince you risked your world. Your people General, they are an honorable people. You are the leader at the front waving the sword. You led the charge, but the humans, your masters, they put you on that battlefield to wave your sword.


    You don''t enslave or conquer loyal subjects. You lift them up and make them an example for others to see. We want to lift up Earth as an example to the rest of the Empire. We want to lift you up to show the humans of Earth how we reward fierce loyalty," Zug Crisos said.


    "Everything you just said sounds really good to me. I like hearing the Emperor of the most powerful military power I''ve ever heard of took a liking to my home. I''m humbled he was so impressed with us. There''s only one problem," General Brady said.


    Just as Zug Crisos was about to ask what the problem was, he received a voice transmission from Zug Impendia. Zug Crisos was surprised and realized what General Brady, a very loyal man was about to say. If Zug Crisos let him say it, Earth would lose its chance to become something magnificent.


    "He''s alive," Zug Crisos said.


    "What?" General Brady was startled by the sudden change of the conversation.


    "The Prince, Dr. Lorne Longoak is still alive. I know it looked like he was disintegrated. However, he wasn''t. The Prince was heavily injured, but he''s being taken care of and is about to begin his training," said Zug Crisos.


    "I don''t understand," said General Brady.


    "I''m sure you''ve seen by now we are adept at using technology to do various things with the soul," Zug Crisos said.


    "Yes, it''s a very shocking technology," General Brady replied.


    "The young Prince was set up at the battle by his majesty the Emperor to be tested. He had to see if the Prince was worth grooming or not. If the Prince didn''t stand out to protect Earth in the face of certain doom, then the Prince wouldn''t be worthy. A true ruler gives everything for the sake of protecting what is precious to him. But of course, you already know that. This is why we''re having this talk," Zug Crisos said.


    "When will the Prince return to us? When will he complete his training?" General Brady asked.


    "I don''t know. He''ll return when he''s done. It could be one minute from now, one thousand years, or he could finish his training ten million years ago." Zug Crisos said.


    "What?!" exclaimed General Brady.Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.


    "General Brady, your concept of time needs to loosen up if you are going to step into this broader world. I won''t give you an explanation of how all of this works for now. If you are interested in my proposal, then you will be sent to do training of your own. If you survive the training, you will become an immortal." Zug Crisos said.


    "Why me?" General Brady asked.


    "Didn''t I already tell you? It is because the Emperor has recognized your loyalty. If the Prince survives his training, he''ll undoubtedly return to Earth. In that scenario, the Prince will be crowned King. Earth would most likely become his Throneworld.  A Throneworld is the central power of the King''s domain," Zug Crisos said.


    "You want to turn Earth into a central power of Lorne''s Kingdom?" General Brady asked.


    "Yes," Zug Crisos said.


    "How big would his kingdom be?" General Brady asked.


    "Kingdoms under the Empire always span the breadth of at least one universe. A Kingdom that controls between one and nine universes is called a lesser kingdom; while a kingdom with territories of ten universes or more is called the Greater Kingdom," said Zug Crisos.


    General Brady knew this was not the time to be shocked by everything. There were too many astonishing things being said. If he was amazed by every little thing this fellow said, then all he could do was sit here stupidly with his mouth open. He needed to focus. He was dealing with an Empire spanning an unknown number of universes and they were going to conquer this one. Earth could either serve as the Throneworld for their Invincible Hero if he survived his training, or they would wind up another conquered world of no consequence.


    The Emperor seemed to value General Brady a great deal and he had become the decision maker for Earth. However, General Brady wouldn''t let the temptation of riches blind him. He knew all of these promises required he and the Earth remain loyal to this Empire. Earth wasn''t loyal to this Empire; they were loyal to Lorne. However, General Brady was troubled by what place Lorne had in all of this. Did he know he was being groomed as a King? Did he know Earth might be his someday? If so, then Lorne''s protection of Earth was no longer selfless it was a matter of protecting what was his. General Brady had to bravely move forward and understand how things were.


    "Zug Crisos, please forgive me for talking roughly. I''m not a trained diplomat, I''m just an old dog, so if I say anything rude or improper please forgive my crudeness. It isn''t intentional," General Brady said.


    "Fine, we''ll take it as two old soldiers talking. I won''t take offense this time to what you say as long as you don''t go too far overboard. However, in the future, you will be taught how to speak properly. You have stepped into a much bigger world and your country bumpkin excuses won''t hold any sway when you say the wrong thing in the future," said Zug Crisos.


    General Brady gulped audibly and nodded his head in acceptance. Taking a deep breath, he began his questions.


    "I wonder if you are aware the loyalty Earth expressed was towards the  Prince only and not towards his father''s Empire. What I mean is we never knew anything about the Emperor''s Empire only he suffered from a coup. If you are expecting us to be loyal to the Empire I don''t know if that''s a realistic expectation.


    The Prince served Earth for many years, selflessly. We all knew he was strong enough to conquer the planet by himself if he wanted, but instead, he took on the role of the humble protector. That''s what touched our hearts," said General Brady.


    "The Emperor only expects Earth to continue to be loyal to Lorne for the time being. He understands what the human loyalty is built," Zug Crisos responded.


    "Did the Prince know he was being groomed to be king and Earth was his intended Throneworld?" General Brady asked.


    "Haha, no. You''ve misunderstood something General Brady. The only reason Earth has been designated as the Throneworld is Earth sincerely expressed their loyalty to the young Prince. If not for that, there are a limitless number of worlds in this universe many folds better as a Throneworld. The Emperor desires loyalty beyond any utilitarian value. It also helps that the Prince seems to really like the Earth. He views it as his home," Zug Crisos said.


    "What becomes of us and Earth when we move forward?" asked General Brady. He was sure to say "when" we move forward and not ''if'' since there was no ¡®if.¡¯ He understood an Empire didn''t care if others wanted to be ruled. They would be ruled. Earth needed to proactively become the Throneworld.


    "There is certain necessary personnel every King needs. He needs a trusty general, a guard for himself and his Queen and he requires other types of followers who can help him with the day to day affairs of a kingdom. You have been chosen as his military advisor, for now, whether you can retain that post depends on your abilities. The Prince will also need his Zug. Big Time and Pretty Pugilist will be trained as Zugs. Big Time will be the direct Lesser Zug of the King; while the Pretty Pugilist will be the direct Lesser Zug of the Empress. They will be known as Lesser Zugs since they serve the Lesser Kingdom." said Zug Crisos.


    Big Time quietly listened the whole time and suddenly perked up when he heard the big plans they had for him. He was excited. He always wanted to serve Lorne in some fashion whether a sidekick or guardian it didn''t matter to him. Big Time immediately stood up and bowed.


    "It would be my honor to serve the Prince in this manner, sir. I owe my life to the Prince and I am willing to use my life to pay that debt," Big Time said.


    "Well, you have to survive the training first. I''ll be training you personally," Zug Crisos said. He didn''t mind this little fellow so much.


    "Sir, Earth would be honored to serve the Prince, or is it King? I will do my best to advise him and make Earth''s transition into a Throneworld as smooth as possible," said General Brady. He knew he needed to shelve his questions for now and demonstrate a resolute stance in support of Lorne given Big Time''s sudden emotional outburst. This was a deal that only benefitted Earth.

 10,000 Years In An Egg

    "What do you think, are you interested in serving as a Zug? I would train you personally," said Zug Impendia.


    "Who would I serve, the Prince or the Princess?" Darwina asked.


    "You would serve a princess, I''m not sure which one," said Zug Impendia.


    "Which one? I thought Lorne only had one wife, Mary," Darwina asked.


    "Darwina, Mary will always be Lorne''s wife, but she will not be Queen," Zug Impendia said.


    "Why not?" Darwina asked.


    "She''s not Queen material. Quite frankly she has the disposition of a commoner. That''s fine for her as one of the princesses but a Queen needs more gravitas and ability," said Zug Impendia.


    "If not Mary, then who would be the new Queen?" Darwina asked.


    "If it''s a human then perhaps Marcia Mathers according to the Empress," Zug Impendia said.


    "Marcia Mathews? I don''t think the Prince even likes her. He likes her as a friend I guess but that''s about it," said Darwina.


    "Darwina, you sweet little thing, marriage for Kings and Queens rarely has anything to do with like or dislike, or even love. Marriage for a King is used as a political tool; a means for bringing greater benefit to his kingdom," Zug Impendia said.


    "If that''s the case, then maybe I''ll marry him too!" Darwina said.


    Zug Impendia couldn''t help but laugh.


    "YOU?!" Zug Impendia couldn''t help but laugh at this little girl. She had lived for millions of years so it was rare she found anything amusing enough to laugh at.


    "Why not me?" Darwina asked seeming offended.


    "You''re not suited to be a princess. You could never stand the boredom of all the things you would have to do, the parties, lectures, learning proper etiquette. You would hate it. Besides, you also lack the demeanor of a Queen," Zug Impendia said.


    "I don''t want to be the Queen. Besides, didn''t you just say marriage for a King was about bringing benefit to the Kingdom? What could benefit the King more than having a wife trained as a Zug?" asked Darwina.


    "At most you could only be a concubine." Said Zug Impendia.


    "Okay, concubine then," Darwina said.


    "You don''t want to be a Zug then?" Zug Impendia asked.


    "I can be both," Darwina said.


    "You can''t be the Queen''s Zug and married to the King," Zug Impendia said.


    "So, I''ll be the King''s Zug," Darwina said.


    "The King''s Zug is always a man," Zug Impendia said.


    "Is that written into the rules or something?" Darwina asked.


    "No, it''s just how it''s always been," Zug Impendia said.


    "I thought the Zug were the most powerful warriors under the King and Queen," Darwina said.


    "They are," Zug Impendia responded.


    "Certainly, you don''t believe the female Zug is weaker than the male Zug do you?" Darwina asked.


    "Of course not, I would beat Cristos to a pulp if he ever challenged me," Zug Impendia said incensed.


    "That''s why I thought if I''m the strongest warrior and I want to serve the King then why can''t I?" Darwina asked.


    "Little sister you are right. I like your mindset. Let''s conquer the throne. I''ll make you into the strongest Zug in the entire Empire. One day you might even be stronger than me!" Zug Impendia had accidentally gotten swept into Darwina''s fighting spirit.


    "Fight to be the best!" Darwina cried.


    "Fight to be the best!" Zug Impendia cried.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    "Fight for the throne!¡± Darwina shouted.


    "Fight for the throne!¡± Zug IMpendia shouted


    "Fight for the Empire!¡± Darwina yelled.


    "Fight for the Empire!¡± Zug Impendia yelled


    "Fight to get a man!" Darwina exclaimed.


    "Fight to get a man!" Zug Impendia exclaimed.


    "Wait, what?" Zug Impendia was suddenly confused.


    The pair looked at each other for a few moments before both suddenly started laughing.


    "Good little sister, we will be warrior sisters from now on. Call me, big sister!" Zug Impendia commanded.


    "Big sister! Call me, little sister!" Darwina commanded.


    "Little Sister!" Zug Impendia yelled.


    The two women started laughing once more. Truly, it was great finding a kindred spirit. Their yells and laughter were so loud the men in the War Room could hear them. General Brady shrugged his shoulders and reclined in the chair.


    "Women," Zug Cristos shrugged his shoulders as well and laughed. The other two men laughed.


    Unfortunately, poor Big Time didn''t realize his position as the Zug to the King was being plotted against by his close friend Darwina Wright.


    ***


    "It''s time to wake up, young prince." A voice echoed in Lorne''s mind.


    "Who?" Lorne asked sleepily. He felt like he could barely wake up. It was like a person waking up from anesthesia. Lorne had never encountered this feeling before, so this new experience was very off-putting to him.


    "It''s me," The voice said.


    "BS42?" Lorne asked.


    "Indeed, young lord, you''ve slept for a long time. It''s time for you to finish being borne," BS42 said.


    "How long was I gestating?" Lorne asked sleepily.


    "10,000 years," BS42 said bluntly.


    "10,000 years!" Lorne was shocked awake.


    "Yes, you received the parentage of a unique couple," BS42 said.


    Lorne cast his mind into his Samsara pod. He appeared before BS42 in his spectral form.


    "Special parentage. Don''t beat around the bush what''s going on?!" Lorne asked.


    "When you were forced to quickly join with the embryo I was confused. Typically, the collective experience has been that while gestating in the womb of the mother for at least eight or nine months. However, your situation was different. You are the first Zimwarn ever born into an amniote embryo," BS42 said.


    "A what?" Lorne asked.


    "You were born into an egg." BS42 laughed.


    "What, am I a chicken?" Lorne asked annoyed and confused. He never said anything about being born in an egg.


    BS42 kept laughing at Lorne''s unusual predicament.


    "No,  sauropsids also include those from the reptile family," BS42 said.


    "So, am I a snake or a gecko or something?" Lorne asked. BS42 was clearly playing with him.


    "Or something," BS42 laughed.


    "Out with it, what am I?" Lorne asked.


    "You''re a dragon baby." BS42 roared with laughter.


    "The reason it took you so long to be borne is it typically takes about three thousand years or so for a dragon to develop. However, you are a very special dragon baby and it took you ten thousand years," BS42 said.


    "What? A special dragon baby? What makes me special?" Lorne asked.


    "Why not punch through the egg and find out. I''m sure your parents will explain it to you," BS42 said.


    "I don''t speak dragon," Lorne said.


    "Of course, you do. Dragons are a species which transmits a lot of information through their genes. Language, cultivation techniques, and magic spells. These are part of the dragon''s inheritance. There is more to learn, but you start off with a lot of gifts by virtue of just being a dragon. Dragons are born so strong, so having children is difficult for them. Therefore, dragons are extremely protective of their young. If you come out speaking your parents won''t be surprised at all. Go ahead and give it a try," said BS42.


    Lorne removed his spectral form from the Samsara pod and returned to his new dragon body. Opening his eyes, he saw a discolored ceiling above him. He knew eggs were a little tough to break through, so he decided to give it all he had. Lorne squatted in the egg and shot up and through!


    ***


    A male and a female were intently looking at the baby-sized egg sitting on the table in a simple home. It was about time for their baby to be born. They couldn''t wait. Both parents looked more or less human. Except, the male had bright blue eyes with two mighty silver horns curving around his head. This was the crown of a true dragon. He was a four-clawed silver dragon.


    His wife, however, did not have any horns. She wasn''t a dragon. She wasn''t a human either. Her eyes were a deep amber color. She was extremely beautiful with an undefinable mystical quality about her.


    The male thought he saw some movement in the egg and peered closely to watch his child break free from the egg.


    "Brother Tian, you are hovering too close to the egg I can''t see anything," the female said.


    "I''m the father and I need to see how strong this little one is. I can only hope it is mighty like its father and smart like its mother," Ying Tian said.


    Suddenly, the shell burst apart, and a baby came flying out of the egg with its fist clenched as if it were trying to destroy some great evil. The baby made instant contact with Ying Tian''s jaw punching him.


    Ying Tian unprepared for the sudden attack was knocked senseless through the air crashing into the furniture in the living room. The baby was startled, as he saw the large human-like figure fly across the room. The baby spoke. "I''m sorry I guess I used a little too much strength breaking out of the egg."


    The baby looked down at itself to see a perfectly normal looking baby body.


    "Hey, I thought I was a dragon," The baby said.


    The startled couple was taken completely by surprise. The husband who was knocked across the room jumped up and laughed.


    "Hahahaha, my son you truly are a dragon! That punch alone proves it." The man said. When he made his way back to the table he noticed his wife was frozen in surprise. As he came around her he looked at the baby. He too was frozen in shock.


    On the head of the baby were two little golden horn buds. The child''s eyes were an intense gold color surrounded by a dark amber layer around the irises.


    The baby looked at the pair for a moment. ¡®Did he look weird or something?¡¯ Suddenly Lorne felt something itchy on his chest.


    "Oh, why does my chest itch?" Lorne asked. Something broke out from his chest.


    "What''s this?" Lorne asked as another arm came forward from the center of his chest. He looked at his third arm with curiosity.


    Lorne''s mother nearly fainted and his father gasped.


    "A five-clawed golden dragon!" he shouted.

 It Ain鈥檛 Easy Being a Dragon Baby

    Lorne was stunned by this third arm. He was curious his new father called him a five-clawed golden dragon. Doing the math he realized if you counted his two feet and three hands, that added up to five. However, looking at his hands and feet he didn''t see any claws.


    All he saw were chubby baby feet and hands. The third hand was also cute, but it was bizarre. Unlike his other hands, he had three fingers and two thumbs. There was no top of the hand. The hand was flexible, and the fingers could make a fist in either direction.


    The arm was unlimited in the directions it could bend. It went up, down, left, right, diagonal, it could even twist in a three-hundred and sixty degrees circle. Lorne thought this arm was more like a tentacle with fingers than an arm. It didn''t even have an elbow!


    Lorne discovered He could suck the arm back into his chest until only the hand was exposed, but the hand followed the contours of the chest. If he had a tight t-shirt on no one would be able to tell he had an extra hand. Convenient!


    At that moment, Lorne wondered what he looked like. He saw a mirror to the right of his father, so he flew over and hovered in front of the mirror. Lorne was a little surprised by what he saw.


    "I''m a Chinese Dragon Baby!" He exclaimed.


    "I''m also naked!" Lorne said as he suddenly covered his nether regions. "Can I have some pants?"


    Lorne''s New father grabbed a onesie sitting on the table and put it on, Lorne. Lorne looked back at the mirror and noticed he was now dressed in a cutesy dragon sleeper. The opening for his face was in the middle of the open mouth of the dragon.


    "A little on the nose isn''t it father?" asked Lorne.


    For the first time, smiles appeared on the faces of Lorne''s new father and mother. The pair was ecstatic! The baby was a little strange, but he recognized his parents, or at least his father.


    "Call me mother!" Lorne''s new mother pleaded.


    "Mother," Lorne said with a smile.


    The pair danced around the room because they were so happy. Soon, Lorne was swept up in the celebration. Lorne was a considerate person. Any lesser person would have asked them to calm down and stop touching him. Mentally, Lorne was an adult. However, physically, he was a newborn.


    Lorne recognized this pair expected a baby, not an adult. Their affection was real and so was their happiness. Never hit someone smiling at you. This is the second time Lorne had thought of this saying.


    He owed gratitude towards this couple just as he owed his original parents gratitude. He had every obligation to behave like their child. He would do his best. Looking back at himself in the mirror he knew his role as a dragon baby wasn''t going to be easy.


    "Xiong''er, what did you mean by Chinese Dragon baby?" Lorne''s mother eventually asked.


    Lorne suddenly realized she might be talking to him. He looked back at her and pointed at himself.


    "I''m Xiong''er?" Lorne asked.


    "Yes," his mother said nodding her head.


    Xiong''er is an interesting name Lorne thought. "What''s my family name?" he asked.


    "Ying," his father proudly said.


    "So, I''m Xiong''er Ying," Lorne said.


    "Ying Xiong," his father corrected.


    "Oh yes, we''re Chinese and our names are backward. Hey, didn''t you just say my name is Xiong''er...?" Lorne asked.


    "Xiong''er is an affectionate form of your name," said his mother.


    "Oh, it''s a silly name for kids. Got it," said Lorne, trying to wrap his mind around everything.


    "Xiong''er, you once again called yourself Chinese. What''s that?" Lorne''s mother asked again.Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    Lorne realized his mistake. He was using his thinking from his last world to understand this one. He was confusing the language, race, and culture in this world with his old one. ¡®Was there even race in this place? Maybe everyone was Chinese here...or was race identifiable as dragons? Complicated.¡¯


    Lorne noticed his parents looking at him expectantly. Lorne figured he might as well be honest and explain things. These were his parents, and perhaps they would understand he was a traveler from another world. He hoped it wouldn''t be too much of a blow.


    If they took it weird he could always pretend it was silly baby talk he thought.


    "Mother, Father, the truth is I am not from this world. I have already led a life before this one. In my world, I was an adult of 32 years old when I died. I hope you can understand if I don''t seem too babyish but overly mature," said Lorne.


    Unexpectedly, Lorne''s new parents didn''t appear shocked or disappointed. Instead, they started laughing. Both kept saying, "how cute," and his Father did an imitation of a little guy. "Hims a big thirty-two-year-old boy. Look at me I''m all grown up, I''m thirty-two!"


    Lorne''s mother laughed even more at the antics of his father. She held her sides and snorted a couple of times. Hearing his wife''s laughter, Lorne''s father ramped up his play acting.


    Hiking up his pants he said lots of typical kid things like ¡®he was a big boy,¡¯ ¡®he was hungry,¡¯ and ¡®he didn''t want to take a nap.¡¯ Lorne just sighed as he listened to the couple. Finally, the two stopped laughing and looked at the unimpressed Lorne.


    "I don''t get it," Lorne said.


    "Xiong''er, son, thirty-two is really young for a dragon. You won''t even hit puberty until you''re around thirteen thousand years old," Lorne''s father said.


    Lorne was surprised by the ridiculously huge number. ¡°Well, how long do I have to be a baby?" he asked.


    "Just three or four thousand years," Lorne''s mother said to her exasperated son.


    "Three or four thousand years! You don''t expect me to run around in onesies for four thousand years, do you?" Lorne asked.


    "No, just a few hundred years," his father said seriously.


    Lorne completely blanked at this. The Invincible Hero, doomed to several hundred years in a onesie. If all those humans who idolized him so much in the past could see him now. Lorne was really depressed. First, he spent ten thousand years in an egg, and now he would be treated as a baby for three or four thousand years.


    A thought suddenly occurred to Lorne. "You two don''t seem too upset I''m reincarnated, or is it because you don''t believe me?" Lorne asked.


    "We believe you, it''s just not very surprising," said Lorne''s mother.


    "It''s not surprising, why''s that?" Lorne asked.


    "It happens a lot among children born into my clan,"  said his mother trying to be patient.


    "What clan is that?" Lorne asked.


    "The Wu Di Clan," his mother said.


    His mother''s answer wasn''t nearly as helpful as Lorne had hoped. Lorne''s father, the Emperor, was right. He needed to learn how to ask better questions.


    "Mother, you aren''t a Dragon. Could you tell me what species our Wu Di clan is?" asked Lorne.


    "Why would you say I''m not a Dragon?" his mother asked.


    Oops, Lorne had too much information even for someone who reincarnated. He thought for a moment before responding. "I just noticed both father and I have horns and metallic colored eyes whereas you don''t," Lorne said.


    "What a clever baby, smart like your mother," Lorne''s father said.


    "You''re right, I''m not a dragon. Not a dragon, like your father at least. My Wu Di clan is very special. We are a clan of Chamono Dragons.¡±


    "Chamono Dragons?" Lorne repeated.


    "Yes, it''s a little difficult to explain. We are a hidden race," Lorne''s mother revealed.


    "Xiong''er, it''s good you brought this up. We need to discuss the Hydra in the room," Lorne''s father said.


    "What''s wrong father?" Lorne could see every time he called his father or his mother by their proper title, they were happy. He kept using the terms to bring them closer. Maybe they would be more willing to answer his questions.


    "Xiong''er there are two things no one can know until you get strong enough to protect yourself or at least until you''re strong enough to run away," Lorne''s father said.


    Lorne looked at his mother who had a worried look in her eyes. Lorne knew it was serious from the way his parents behaved. "Okay, what are those two things?" Lorne asked.


    "The first thing is no one can know your mother comes from the Wu Di clan. They have been hunted for millions of years and are practically extinct. If anyone found out your mother was from Wu Di, they would do their best to capture her and then torture her to find the location of the rest of the clan. Do not ever reveal your mother''s origins. As far as everyone is concerned, your mother is a half-dragon," Lorne''s father said.


    "Of course, I''ll never say anything," Lorne said.


    "The second thing is you''re a Five-Clawed golden dragon. If word reached the Dragon Empire, they would take you away from us and we would never see you again. They would immediately launch an investigation into our family and would naturally discover the identity of your mother. Five-Clawed Golden Dragons are as mythical and unique as humans. They are almost impossible to find. The Dragon Clan would raise you like a little Emperor, but they would never let us near you, especially when they find out who your mother is. The main problem is I just don''t know how to conceal your identity," admitted Lorne''s father.


    Lorne thought about it for a few moments before finally answering. "How about I do this," Lorne said.


    Immediately Lorne''s horns and irises turned silver. Lorne pulled down the onesie, so they could see his chest change as the little third hand vanished before their eyes. Lorne pulled the onesie back up as he looked at his parents. "How''s that?" Lorne asked innocently.


    Lorne''s new parents were completely floored by this nonchalant action of their son.


    "Holy Dragon Turd!" Lorne''s father suddenly cried out.

 Making Friends Is Easy

    Ten thousand years ago inside the Samsara pod. Several weeks passed since Lorne entered his gestation period in the Dragon egg. BS42 hadn''t sat idle during this time. He was making preparations.


    In a lab the size of four football fields, BS42 poured over data on his computer screen. Thousands upon thousands of Gene Pools could be seen in this warehouse. However, the Gene Pools varied in size. Some were very tiny while some were very big. There was one Gene Pool taking up the space of one entire football field.


    It wasn''t just this lab took up a lot of areas, the lab was actually multi-level. Some levels contained specialized Gene Pools whereas others contained materials of every kind. The list of materials ranged from mineral to organic and it seemed there was an unlimited variety of them. Another level was filled with nothing but container units for souls!


    ¡®At last, a newly undiscovered world for me to explore! New species to catalog! This is an opportunity that doesn''t come often. I remember the days when I was the head of the New Universe Recording and Species Research Institute (NURSRI). I was constantly busy in the beginning days of the Empire. Eventually, though, the frequency of new universes and new species dwindled. The Empire couldn''t afford its continuous expansion. We encountered formidable enemies requiring us to protect what we already had. At last, there''s something for me to do in my beloved area of expertise!¡¯ BS42 thought to himself.


    If Lorne could see BS42 now, behaving like an excited kid he would be unconvinced this was actually BS42.


    "First, I''ll send the surveyors out all over this world. We''ll concentrate on taking species samples and cartography."


    BS42 was hard at work at a computer terminal. As he worked he activated thousands of the tiny Gene Pools. Genetic material was supplied to each of the Gene Pools. Thousands of fairy bodies formed from countless embryos. Finally, the souls that had been on standby were synchronized with the embryos.


    The embryos were "birthed," and then moved to special incubation chambers. The fairy bodies grew older until they were at an adult age.  The largest fairy was a male about the size of a hummingbird. The female fairies were much smaller.


    Once all of the fairies finished the accelerated growth process, the incubation chambers'' doors opened. Each fairy flew to waiting lockers and dressed in the provided outfits. The fairies dutifully lined up into countless rows waiting for their orders.


    "Welcome back to life!" BS42 said loudly to the fairies.


    "My name is BS42, and today you were awakened to make restitution for the crimes you committed against my Empire. I have a simple mission for you to complete," BS42 said.


    "We are in a new universe and there are new species as yet unknown to our empire. Your job is to catalog these new species and to map the world. Each of you has the necessary tools in your storage rings. All data you collect will be automatically sent to me here.


    If you are successful in your surveying work, this will count towards time served of your sentence. If you accrue enough merits, you will be allowed to reincarnate to your next life. Those whose crimes against the Empire were minor may even have the opportunity to be guided to reincarnate into a citizen in the Empire.¡±


    "Success!" BS42 shouted at the end.


    "Success!" the thousands of fairies replied in a military shout.


    BS42 chose fairies as the bodies for his surveyors for two reasons. First, they were really fast and hard to catch when they flew. They could even go under water. Second, experience showed fairies were common through the multiverse and most planets wouldn''t find it odd to discover a fairy flying around.


    The orders with sectors to survey and map were sent to the mapping teams. The genetic sample-gathering teams were similarly sent to specific sectors to perform their work. Once BS42 had enough genetic material of the local species he could begin to create additional spies, scouts, and warriors to move on to the next phase of his plan.


    Once the fairies received their orders they moved to the transportation gate and were sent from the Samsara pod into the new world.


    ***


    Three thousand years later, BS42 was working in a specialized Gene Pools lab. He stood before two Gene Pools about the size of the one Lorne had used. The fairy mapping teams finished recording the world not long ago and were re-tasked to aid in gathering more genetic materials.Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    Enough materials were gathered after fifteen hundred years for BS42 to create two very important warriors. The birthing process was completed. Two naked warriors stepped out of the Gene Pool and walked to a bench holding clothes, weapons, and storage rings. The pair of warriors walked to BS42 waiting for his orders.


    The first warrior was a Four-Clawed Copper Dragon. His Horns and eyes had a copper color. His hair was a deep reddish brown and he was a very large man standing about two and a half meters in height. He wore a simple tunic, pants, boots, and belt with a greenish-brown cloak. His weapons included a High-Grade Mace, High-Grade Axe, and a High-Grade Longbow with ten thousand arrows. All weapons and clothing were in the style of this world.


    According to the survey teams, no one on this planet used high technology. This was a "High-Magic" world. Meaning, magic power was relied on here as much as the technology was depended on by other planets. A person with enormous power could stand against magic beasts and casters. Overall, however, magic was king on this world.


    Even though this dragon man was only a Four-Clawed Copper Dragon, he couldn''t be ignored. His body was designed similar to Lorne''s. It was a blended version of Lorne''s parents with the Zimwarn genetics. According to projections, his physical strength should exceed triple the typical strength of either a Zimwarn warrior or Dragon warrior of his level. The Dragon Warrior''s strength was at the Void Emperor realm level.


    According to the survey teams, the highest level of cultivation on the planet was rumored to be the Void King realm. This was one full realm difference to the Four-Clawed Copper Dragon''s level. Lorne''s father Ying Tian was only at the Small Origin Core Realm. Of course, he was a young dragon himself. He was less than twenty thousand years old. He would certainly become much more powerful in the future.


    BS42 could make the realm higher for these two warriors, but that would have taken more time to grow the warrior and many more resources. It was better to let the warrior cultivate himself if necessary. BS42 chose a Four-Clawed Copper Dragon instead of the Four-Clawed Silver Dragon or the Four-Clawed Golden Dragon because it would take too long to grow these Dragon bodies.


    Even though BS42 could accelerate the aging gestation process of the pair of warriors, there came a point where the more powerful the organism the closer to regular gestation period it would become.  At most, he could only shave a couple of thousand years off of Four-Clawed Silver Dragon at the Void Emperor realm, and only five hundred years for the Four-Clawed Gold Dragon at the Void Emperor realm. Instead of three thousand years, it would have taken five thousand years for the silver dragon and seventy-five hundred years for the golden dragon.


    He needed these two warriors now to begin the second part of his plan. He already had two Golden dragons gestating. These were pure dragons, not a mixed-race dragon and each of these would be at the much lower Great Origin Core realm. They would hatch about a thousand years before Lorne, however, their job would be to infiltrate the Dragon Empire and get cultivation techniques for Lorne.


    It was too dangerous to have Lorne enter a Dragon Empire academy to train. Not only was there the issue of his mother, there was also the issue of the Samsara pod being easily discovered if someone were at a high enough rank. Within the Dragon Academies, there were plenty of Dragon Lords strong enough to discover Lorne''s Samsara pod. Who knew what would happen if they discovered Lorne with such a thing. They might destroy him, soul and all, in which case he would be dead for sure!


    The other warrior was similarly dressed as the Dragon Warrior, but his species was totally different. He was a mutt if there ever was one. BS42 decided to create a warrior who didn''t easily fit into any species.


    This warrior would explore other planets and would be given his own Samsara pod to help with the exploration. BS42 chose to blend multiple species together to give him a well-rounded capability, unlimited potential for later development, and a mysterious history.


    What kind of person would result from so many species blended together? To create such a warrior, his ancestors must have been mutts themselves. At least, that''s what people would think.


    The main ingredients of this tossed salad of genes were genes from the Wu Di clan, Tigermen, Tyrant Stingraymen, Space Otter, and Fighting Monkey. There were several other species thrown into the mix, but their ratios were nearly negligible. BS42 decided to name this species "The Fighting Texan," or in the parlance of this world: "Y¨³ d¨¦ k¨¨ s¨¤ s¨© Zh¨¤nd¨°u." Naturally, BS42 named this species referencing Lorne''s past home on Earth.


    BS42 looked to the Dragon Warrior first. ¡°Your name will be Ti¨§ l¨®ng. Your first mission is to receive a disciple. Go into the mystic forest and find a disciple amongst the young warriors. There is a Tiger cub who looks promising. In your ring of holding you''ll find a scroll with your mission details. The mission scroll can also be used to send in reports and receive new missions with their details," BS42 said.


    Ti¨§ l¨®ng nodded his head and stepped back.


    Next, BS42 looked towards the Fighting Texan Warrior. "Your name shall be Kal N''Dar named for the records of the passage of time among the Sussani peoples. Your mission is to survey among the stars. You''ll need to gather star maps, cultivation techniques, and much more. I purchased an interstellar vehicle for you and it is in your storage ring. You can always move onto something bigger later, once you get the money. Your cover is as a smuggler, gambler, and merc for hire. Not a hard roll for you to pull off I suspect"


    Kal N''Dar stepped back and nodded similarly to Ti¨§ l¨®ng.


    "I have provided an assistant for each of you." BS42 signaled and two creatures flew forth. The first was a flying snake with wings. It went to Ti¨§ l¨®ng and coiled itself around him. The next creature was a flying spider-turtle-monkey. About the size of a large cat. It flew towards Kal N''Dar and landed on his shoulder.


    "You are dismissed. Glory to the Empire!" BS42 said.


    "Glory to the Empire!" the duo responded simultaneously. After finishing their response, the pair left the Samsara pod through a transportation gate to begin their missions.

 Finding Forest Friends

    Lorne walked through the nearby forest. He reached thirty-two years yesterday and as part of his birthday present, he was allowed to venture into the forest to find friends. Lorne was glad to be out after spending the last thirty-two years with his parents.


    Ever since he shocked them with his shape-shifting ability, they made him display all of the powers he had from his previous world. At first, Lorne was going to pretend that was it, but his parents were too clever and told him they knew he had more. The punch he gave his father was enough to guess that.


    Lorne finally relented and displayed what he thought would be his best ability and that was his laser vision. Unfortunately, he could only muster up enough energy to burn a hole in the wall. He thought he would shoot through the wall and cut down a few trees in the forest. He even found the common materials in this world prevented him from using his Ridarn vision. He felt really weak.


    After lamenting about how weak he was, his kind mother encouraged him by telling him he wasn''t really that weak it was just he was a baby and it could be that his previous abilities weren''t as strong in his new life as they were in his old life. After all, he had a completely new body, who knows how everything worked? It was amazing he managed to retain any of his abilities from his old body. Lorne accepted their good intentions and moved on.


    Life was pleasant with his parents. He learned his mother''s name was Shenmi Yun, and his father was Ying Tian. Lorne was happy his mother taught him about the powers from her side of the gene pool and even gave him some cultivation techniques. His father similarly gave him cultivation techniques, but he was of a poorer quality as he left the Dragon Academy early in his student career.


    It turned out it was the nature of the inborn powers the Wu Di clan possessed that lead to them being hunted. His mother''s clan was known as the invincible clan mainly because of two powers. The first was their ability to consume pretty much any energy. This included magic, soul energy, and so forth.


    When attacked by these energies directly they could just consume the energy. This was problematic for creatures like Dragons whose main strength, other than their enormous physical strength, came from their magic power. The Wu Di clan were the antithesis of the Dragon Clan.


    The second power was their ability to intuitively perfect almost any energy-based techniques whether it was spells, fighting techniques, runes, and formations or even pill recipes. Any field could be perfected. This was dangerous for other Clans. It was a threat to the Dragon clan in particular as it threatened to throw them out from the hierarchy.


    These weren''t the limits to the Wu Di clan¡¯s abilities, but with just these two abilities alone they were marked for extinction.


    Lorne found it odd his new parents met and fell in love. Wouldn''t his mother see his father as a threat to her and her people? Lorne''s mother confessed at first, that''s exactly how she felt. However, Lorne''s father proved himself over and over again to her. Eventually, she couldn''t help but fall in love with him.


    Lorne''s parents almost didn''t let him have his birthday wish to roam in the forest. They were worried about if he could take care of himself. Lorne demonstrated his superspeed to his parents. In the past, he was pretty quick but over the course of the last thirty years, he focused on developing his new and old powers.


    Dragons could be really fast, but with Lorne''s speed from his previous life, he was a little hard to catch even for his father! Maybe he couldn''t beat up everyone in the forest, but at the very least he could probably escape with his life.This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    At the beginning of the morning, Lorne was very excited about the prospects of making new friends and meeting almost anyone. His parents were great, but they were the only people he''d spent any significant time with over the last thirty years.


    He did receive the occasional visit from members of the Wu Di clan from time to time. His mother''s parents were especially excited about Lorne. They didn''t know about his variety of powers from his old world. However, they marveled at his ability to fully utilize both parents¡¯ abilities. His grandparents often brought consumable treats like candied magic balls, and other Wu Di childhood delicacies. Lorne found energy could be really delicious.


    He even started discovering his ability to occasionally improve a cultivation technique he had. His mother told him he would get better at it over time. However, she stressed he should always leave some flaws in anything he improved, or it would lead to a disaster. His mother had a library full of improved techniques, she showed them to Lorne who was absolutely dazzled.


    As Lorne reflected on the happenings of the last thirty years he noticed even though he walked for a long time; he still hadn''t found any kids his age.


    "Where''s everyone?" Lorne wondered out loud to himself.


    "You have silly parents Lorne," BS42 suddenly said.


    "Why do you say that?" Lorne asked.


    "Because they never told you as a dragon you have a natural presence that makes all other surrounding creatures tremble in fear when they are near you. In this world, you are a super predator. Only someone insane would seek you out the way you''re releasing your oppressive aura," said BS42.


    "Really? I had no idea!" Lorne said.


    "Of course, you had no idea. You''re the super predator. You think a tiger ever notices it''s really scary?" BS42 mocked in response.


    "Can you help me repress this aura?" Lorne asked.


    "Sure, but just doing that won''t be enough to make friends. You''ll probably need to find someone who isn''t intimidated by a baby Dragon. That''ll take someone really strong," BS42 said.


    "It''s one thing after another with being a baby dragon. I''ll tell you right now, it ain''t easy being a baby dragon," Lorne said.


    For some reason, BS42 found this comment a little amusing and let out a soft chuckle. Immediately after this, BS42 taught Lorne how to repress his aura. Right after doing this he started noticing more and more creatures in the distance. No one approached him, but at least he started seeing more and more people.


    "Most of these people look really animal-like." Lorne thought. That one looks like a fox person, another person seems more like a duck man, and was that a snail man? That''s pretty weird looking. Lorne had a grand time identifying the different species of animal people.


    Suddenly, Lorne heard a roar from the Jungle. "Where''s that little dragon baby? Who does he think he is coming into my forest causing trouble?!" Lorne was startled by the roaring and shouting. This person certainly had a presence.


    Over a hill, a large figure popped out. It was about three times Lorne''s height. He could tell the person was still an adolescent. He looked a little bearish.


    The bear boy continued to make his way towards Lorne. Ever since he saw Lorne, the bear boy locked his eyes onto the baby dragon. The ground shook with each step the boy took. Lorne could feel the other creatures in the forest staring at him wondering what would happen. Sure, he was a dragon baby, but he wasn''t the most terrifying existence in the forest. Not right now at least.


    There were two tribes in the forest who always competed for number one. The Hu tribe and the Xiong tribe. To all the animals in the forest, these two tribes represented the top of the food chain. Neither tribe was petty or vicious, but their strength was scary.


    The Hu tribe was made up of all the tigers in the forest. There were all types of tigers from the orange white and black types, the black and white types, to the white and black tigers.  The current leader of the Hu tribe was F¨¥ix¨ªng b¨¢ih¨³. Legend said the ancestor of the F¨¥ix¨ªng tiger family had wings and was unmatched in his generation.


    The other tribe was the H¨¥ixi¨®ng tribe.  The H¨¥ixi¨®ng tribe was made up of H¨¥i family, the M¨¡o family, T¨¤iy¨¢ng family, B¨§ij¨ª family, L¨£n family and the Y¨£nj¨¬ng family. The current leader of the H¨¥ixi¨®ng tribe is a member of the Y¨£nj¨¬ng family named B¨©ngsh¨¡n. The adolescent bear boy walking up to Lorne seemed to be of the Y¨£nj¨¬ng family.


    Finally coming directly before Lorne, the large bear adolescent looked down fiercely at Lorne. "It''s the one causing all the problems. Hey baby dragon, why don''t you tell me your name." The bear adolescent said imperiously.


    "Ying Xiong," said Lorne.

 Distress Call

    "Xiong?!" The adolescent bear exclaimed.


    "Who would name their dragon baby, Xiong?" asked the adolescent bear.


    "On my hatching day, I punched out of my shell so hard I knocked my father across the room. He said I punched like a bear!" Lorne said with a smile.


    "Hahaha, your Dad is a smart guy to see the strength of us bears. My name is also Xiong by the way!" the adolescent bear said proudly.


    "My father said another reason he named me Xiong was in honor of a great brother of his. His name was H¨¥i S¨¥nl¨ªn and was also a bear. He even saved my father''s life!" said Lorne.


    "Hahaha, your father was good brothers with a bear! We should also be good brothers. From now on, you call be Big Bear and I''ll call you Little Bear. What do you think?" asked Big Bear.


    "Ok, Big Bear!" Lorne said. He had finally made a friend. BS42 was right. He needed to find someone strong to be his friend.


    "Alright, all you cowering little creatures. Come out and pay your respects to my little brother, Little Bear!" Big Bear yelled.


    Slowly more and more creatures emerged from their hiding places to see the Big Bear¡¯s new brother. Big Bear was typically pretty surly but right now he seemed really happy.


    "Hey Little Bear, come with me. I want to introduce you to my village and Grandpa. He''s the chief of our tribe!" said Big Bear.


    "Okay, let''s go!" Lorne said.


    A pair of glowing yellow eyes watched them from a shadowy overgrowth in the dense part of the woods. After Big Bear and Little Bear left, a figure stood up. It was an older tiger boy named F¨¥ix¨ªng Zh¨£o. A small tiger cub walked up to F¨¥ix¨ªng Zh¨£o.


    "Big Brother, what do you think of that dragon baby?" F¨¥ix¨ªng Ch¨¬b¨£ng asked his older brother.


    "Follow them. Get close and find out for yourself. After you finish playing come back to the tribe and share your experience with me," said F¨¥ix¨ªng Zh¨£o.


    "G...Go to the H¨¥ixi¨®ng tribe by myself?" F¨¥ix¨ªng Ch¨¬b¨£ng asked.


    "Don''t be a scaredy-cat. The bears and the cats are allies and won''t do anything but give you a warm welcome," F¨¥ix¨ªng Zh¨£o chided his little brother.


    "Go on, or I''ll toss you in the lake again," F¨¥ix¨ªng Zh¨£o threatened.


    F¨¥ix¨ªng Ch¨¬b¨£ng acted as if his rear was on fire as he dashed to join up with the other forest kids.


    F¨¥ix¨ªng Zh¨£o immediately left for the Hu tribe.


    ***


    A transmission hailed available ships. "Come in, come in! This is Astral Palace. We are under attack by Raiders. Need assistance. We have precious cargo on board. Come in, please, this is the Astral Palace. Repeat, to any Imperial ships, we have precious cargo on board. We are under attack by raiders and need assistance."  A man with a bloodied forehead in a wrecked bridge continued to ask for assistance.  Bodies laid all around him. The ship only had emergency lights available.


    Suddenly, a transmission came in. "Astral Palace this is Captain Qar Harso of the Imperial fighter squad Black Wing. We received your emergency communication," said a man said through the transmission node.


    "Captain Harso, this is Kal N''Dar aboard the Astral Palace we are in need of assistance. We are under attack by Raiders. Please assist! We have precious cargo for the Dragon Clan."


    "Astral Palace, what is the nature of your cargo?" Captain Harso asked.


    "We have two dragon eggs!" said Kal N''Dar.


    "Dragon eggs are rare, but we are on an important mission. It''s not possible to break off the mission to save a couple of dragon eggs," Captain Harso said.


    "Captain Harso, these aren''t just any dragon eggs. These eggs have been incubating for nearly six thousand years and are twin eggs!" Kal N''Dar said.


    "Kal N''Dar, we are rerouting to your position. Please hold tight," Captain Harso said.


    Everyone in the Dragon Empire knew the longer a dragon egg took to gestate the stronger the dragon. A gestation period of six thousand years meant the babies were at least Four-Clawed Silver Dragons. What was even rarer was these eggs were twins. Twin dragon eggs were rarer than human twins. One thing few people knew was dragon twins often developed special abilities making them almost as valuable as Five-Clawed Golden Dragons.


    Captain Harso knew if he didn''t save this ship and its cargo he would lose his head. Captain Harso immediately requested backup to sweep the Raiders and secure the Astral Palace. He was already on his way. He would either save the cargo or die trying! This was a risk versus reward situation. Save the eggs and there would be great rewards. Die, well he''d be dead. It was risky but worth it.


    It might seem strange that spaceships, warships, and fighters might be used in a universe filled with cultivators. In reality, these vehicles and war materials were very important. High-level cultivators were rare, and it was cheaper to build ships than fund a High-level cultivator who could survive in space.Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.


    The Empire''s war materials and space fleet operated to govern the majority of their territories anyway, and for that task, they were extremely effective. The few High-Level Cultivators could destroy armies. However, they could also be overwhelmed by armies. If Kal N''Dar chose to take on these fighters based on his own cultivation he would have been instantly destroyed. The ship was like a flying array. It could both guard and attack the fighters.


    An hour later, the Astral Palace was docked on an Imperial Carrier. Kal N''Dar helped a male and female dragon from the ship. The male was a Four-Clawed Silver Dragon, while the female was a Four-Clawed Golden Dragon. The pair had clearly been through a harrowing experience. Most of the Astral Palace crew died during their fight against the Raiders. A portable incubation chamber with two dragon eggs was unloaded from the ship and surrounded by a heavy guard.


    Although developing High-level Cultivators could be extremely expensive, dragons were a different matter. Dragons naturally rose to the highest levels of cultivation given enough time. Every extra Dragon represented an additional military force. This was especially true of High-level Dragons.


    Medical teams secured the dragon eggs and took them to a special medical facility newly fashioned for the important cargo. The mother and father of the eggs were similarly escorted to another medical facility.


    Kal N''Dar watched as the two were escorted away. A man in a flight suit trailed by several other officers quickly walked up to him.


    "Kal N''Dar? I''m Captain Harso." A large Four-Clawed Silver Dragon extended his hand towards Kal N''Dar. Kal N''Dar took his hand and shook it.


    "Captain, thank you for your assistance. Without your aide, we wouldn''t have made it," Kal N''Dar said with a grateful smile.


    A man stepped forward. He was a Four-Clawed Bronze Dragon with the rank of Colonel. He took Kal N''Dar''s hand and shook it emotionally as well.


    Mr. N''Dar, I wonder if you can walk us through what happened?" the man asked.


    "Sir, perhaps we could talk somewhere more private?" Kal N''Dar hinted.


    "Of course, by the way, my name is Colonel Gelt. If you will follow us," Colonel Gelt said. The Colonel wasn''t a dragon and to him, dragon eggs weren''t meaningful. If he could have gotten away with not getting involved in this mess he would have gladly ignored the distress call of this man.


    ¡°Lieutenant Fley, notify command we secured the cargo and I and Commander Harso are interviewing Mr. N''Dar," Colonel Gelt commanded.


    "Yes sir, " Lieutenant Fley said and quickly left to carry out his orders.


    The group of three, under soldier escort, found their way to a meeting room. Colonel Gelt invited Kal N''Dar and Captain Harso to have a seat. Colonel Gelt who was at Mystic King realm scanned Kal N''Dar. If Kal N''Dar still carried his Samsara pod the Colonel would have detected it immediately. Over the last five thousand years, Kal N''Dar''s cultivation increased from the Void Emperor realm to the Saint realm.


    This was really good progress considering Kal N''Dar had to find a cultivation system for himself based on materials he could find in his wanderings. His initial cultivation was done through the birthing process guided by computers.


    This was called hollow cultivation and wasn''t as strong as someone who cultivated on their own from the beginning. Cultivating through hollow cultivation was fine at whatever stage you ''began'' with, however, as you advanced through your refinement path moving up in rank became harder and harder. It was the policy of the Zimwarn Empire that those who had hollow cultivation were forbidden from ranking up until their cultivation foundation was solidified.


    Once Kal N''Dar began his travels he began to collect, modify, and streamline a set of cultivation techniques suited to his new biology. He was eventually able to solidify his foundation through these efforts.


    Kal N''Dar was no rookie with cultivation. In his previous life, he found his own cultivation path through his own hard work and genius. He actually had a more solid foundation this time then when he originally cultivated.


    "Mr. N''Dar..." Colonel Gelt began.


    "Please, call me Kal," he said.


    "Kal, thank you, you may call me Colonel Gelt," the Colonel said.


    "I see from your files you''ve got a bit of a reputation for smuggling, gambling, and some impressive mercenary work. How did you wind up transporting such precious cargo? You weren''t trying to sell the eggs to the Raiders, were you? Things went wrong and found yourself in a tight spot?" Colonel Gelt said with an aggressive smile.


    Kal laughed. "I have to tell you Gelt, or is it Urmene? This is the first time I''ve had the interviewer do the interview for me. Since you''re doing my part maybe I should do your part?" Kal responded.


    "Look here you little merce..." Colonel Gelt began.


    Kal cut him off and could tell it hit close to the bone. "Where were your ships? We were promised safe passage to the Dragon Clan. According to my flight instructions we were to be escorted through the sector of space where we were ambushed. I lost most of my crew, my friends and their children nearly died. Why weren''t you where you were supposed to be? Can you afford to get on the wrong side of this Urmene?" Kal smiled aggressively.


    Captain Harso smirked. They were supposed to be doing a sweep of that area but Colonel Gelt decided to change their schedule because he didn''t think it was worth his time to come all the way out here to babysit one little ship.


    He was applying the heat to Kal in the hopes of finding a scapegoat. Things weren''t looking good for the Colonel. If a smuggler could pinpoint the problem certainly the higher-ups in the Imperial Command could too.


    "Is this going to be an issue Colonel? The eggs are safe, the parents are safe, I''m safe. We can end this here. You can try going against me..." As Kal spoke he pulled out a jade communication crystal and deftly placed it on the table. "...or you can spend your energy thinking of an excuse that might save your career," he said in a deadpan manner.


    Colonel Gelt''s eyes landed on the jade communication crystal. He knew whose communication crystal that was, it belonged to the great General Gang Long! A man who possessed the personal communication crystal of General Gang Long was not to be messed with.


    Colonel Gelt collected himself and smiled. "I think there''s a misunderstanding my friend. My questions weren''t meant to accuse. It''s merely standard procedure when ascertaining what happened in a complex situation. Your identity was obscured to me," said Colonel Gelt. Sweat beaded on his forehead.


    "I''m sure my identity is clear now?" Kal asked.


    "Yes....crystal clear. Please do not mind the trivial things. I''ll have a suitable suite prepared with you, sir." With that said, Colonel Gelt stiffly rose from his chair and left the room.


    After the Colonel left, Kal turned his eyes to Captain Harso. "Captain, how''s my ship?" he asked.


    "Totaled," Captain Harso responded.


    "I thought so. Too bad. I''ve really grown attached to it. I suppose I''ll be riding with you for rest of the journey to the Dragon Clan," said Kal.


    "That won''t be a problem, sir," Captain Harso said.


    Just like Colonel Gelt, Captain Harso also understood the identity of this man. The Empire would often place trusted men into shady careers such as smugglers. This was done to create non-traditional sources of Intel as well as learning about opportunities that might otherwise be missed.


    Kal was under the personal command of General Gang Long. That meant Kal probably had a higher rank than their Colonel. No one could admit it, but if Colonel Gelt were to force the situation he wouldn''t know how he died.


    Kal was the only one who knew his orders to infiltrate didn''t only come from General Gang Long. He was also under orders from BS42 to infiltrate the Dragon Empire. He did so and even achieved a high status in the military forces. BS42 was very satisfied with this agent.

 Ill Have the Eggs

    It took a few more weeks of travel to finally reach the Dragon Clan''s home territory. When Kal and his wards arrived with their dragon eggs, they were greeted by the most prestigious leaders of the Clan. Only the Dragon Ancestors did not come. The Elders, Grand Elders, and Clan chief waited for the arrival of the eggs.


    Once they disembarked, Kal N''Dar was treated like a hero! He bravely protected the precious cargo in the face of death. Dragons were extremely defensive of their young anyway. However, for twin eggs such as these, the Dragons were nearly insane with protectiveness.


    Before the transport arrived Colonel Gelt was arrested and lost his military ranking. He was sent to a prison planet somewhere. No one knew where. Captain Harso was promoted to Major for his decisive actions leading to saving the precious dragon eggs.


    The Elders took the Dragon Eggs to the hatchery. There, they were able to determine the exact hatching day of the eggs. It was decided hatching day would be a big celebration in the Dragon Clan. Kal was invited to stay to enjoy the festivities.


    While waiting for hatching day, Kal received a communication from General Long. General Long thanked Kal for a job well done and promised a replacement for his Astral Palace was on the way. Two weeks after receiving the message, Kal¡¯s magnificent new ship arrived. Kal named the ship immediately calling it ''Lady Grace.'' He examined the ship and was very impressed. It was far more advanced than his Astral Palace.


    The ship had a meditation chamber, training room, library, and large kitchen. The library was filled with cultivation techniques, array, and pill refining techniques. The meditation chamber was next to a separate storage room containing a wide variety of cultivation resources. This ship also had a spirit chamber for refining one''s soul through essence arts.


    The ship even had its own forge and armament assembly room, crew and captain''s quarters, and general bunks. There was a common room with a stage. A shuttle room contained the ship¡¯s three shuttles. The ship was far bigger than Kal''s previous ship, but with so much room Kal thought about taking on more crew members and possibly some specialists.


    Kal didn''t fail to notice the subtle tracking formations and spyware throughout the ship. ¡®I guess the old General still has his doubts. Not many in this Empire would trust a mutt like me. Probably wise since I''m a double agent.¡¯ Kal thought with a smirk.


    The formations were not hard for Kal to handle. He could either choose to feed false information into the arrays or deactivate them if he wanted. The Dragon Empire''s array technology used to be superior to the Zimwarn Empire''s. However, the Zimwarn''s Samsara technology and their genius Emperor drove the technological abilities of the Zimwar Empire to make shocking progress.


    Kal had a few items from BS42 he wanted to install in the ship. He also had his own Warbox which was disguised as a puppet. On Earth, such a thing might be called a robot. Although puppets and especially Warboxes were far more advanced than robots, the three were similar except a puppet was artificial and a Warbox had a real soul. A puppet had a limited AI whereas the Warbox was a living soul. Puppets were still more advanced than robots because they could utilize things like spirit energy.


    Kal''s Warbox would maintain the ship and guard it in his absence. It would also record and catalog all the materials and techniques on the ship, and start making ship alterations. The soul core of the AI of Kal''s Warbox was a Master of runes, arrays and pill refining. Once the dragons were hatched he would receive new orders from BS42. The Young Lord''s dragon egg would hatch in the next thousand years and there was still a lot of work needing to be completed.This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.


    Hatching day finally arrived and the Dragon Clan held their big celebration. The Clan was open to everyone and the most distinguished guests of their Empire and other Allied Empires made an appearance. People were anxious to learn the kind of dragons being born.


    The people here would be astonished if they learned how these two precious children were ''born.'' BS42 began the embryo creation and gestation period seventy-five hundred years ago.


    A male silver Dragon and a female Golden Dragon were adventuring on the Beast planet that BS42 and Lorne were on. BS42 saw the two were a couple of young Dragon kids out for kicks. BS42 sampled their genetics to create his twin dragon eggs. He also marked both of the kids. The two seemed like childhood sweethearts and the well-experienced BS42 believed they would probably wind up together later.


    The first mission BS42 sent Kal N''Dar on was to find the dragon couple and place the eggs in the mother so that she could give birth to the baby dragons resulting from his sample fifteen hundred years before. The eggs were placed in Kal''s Samsara pod as he looked for this couple among the stars.


    Kal found the parents on the run. The Silver Dragon and Gold Dragon fell in love, but the parents of the Gold Dragon had already chosen another Gold Dragon for her to marry. Instead of being separated, the pair chose to flee. When Kal found them, they were about to be captured and sent back to their families. The Silver Dragon would be severely punished, and the Gold Dragon would be forced to marry the prearranged partner.


    It was a good thing Kal was a smuggler. He hid the pair on the Astral Palace and the three escaped. Kal found a small planet and deposited the family in a mountainous beast forest where no one ever visited. Not long after arriving, the Golden Dragon gave birth to the two eggs. For the last six thousand years, the Golden Dragon was incubating her young. The eggs were actually ''born'' seventy-five hundred years ago, but the parents never suspected anything when the mother gave birth.


    Kal kept track of the couple and made routine stops to see how the pair was doing. Mother dragons have a pretty good sense of when their young are about to hatch. Sensing her children were near hatching and it would only be a few months until the big day, she contacted Kal and informed him she wanted to return to her family to have the babies.


    Both of the parents felt the babies were special enough they would be forgiven and taken back in their families. Kal agreed with them and set to work with his contacts to set up the family''s reabsorption into the Dragon Clan.


    Kal contacted General Long who gave his orders to aid the couple to arrive safely. Eventually, they made it back and today the entire Dragon Clan happily awaited the hatching.


    Even General Long was able to attend the hatching. He was thrilled! He received a special commendation from The Dragon Emperor himself! At this moment Kal was his favorite sentient being. He promised himself he would make something out of Kal as thanks for all he had done. Just imagine if he hadn''t found the pair and saved them from their families? In the General eyes, Kal was his lucky charm.


    The twins were finally hatched. The audience waited anxiously and the first thing they saw were two little golden horn buds! The children finally came out of the eggs. They were Four-Clawed Golden Dragon babies! The last time twins appeared they were Copper Dragons, but their power greatly exceeded even the power of Gold Dragons. That pair of twins served as elders in the Imperial Dragon Academy.


    The souls chosen for the dragon babies were twins in their previous life. The pair were elite Zimwarn warriors who were plotted against and wound up going against the Empire. The Emperor realized the pair was wronged and didn''t intentionally go against the Empire. Therefore, their sentence was pretty light. Once their mission in the Dragon Empire was complete, they could return to the Zimwarn Empire and even request customized bodies for their next life. If they wanted to go on a training pilgrimage through the multiverse, that would also be fine as well and they could create customized bodies later.


    The new dragon babies looked around the hatching arena and finally spotted their new parents. The pair flew to their parents and hugged them. It was a very touching event and everyone felt deeply touched.


    After the celebration, Kal departed the Dragon Clan readying for the day when the young Lord Lorne would also hatch.

 A Hole Lot of Something

    Lorne came home later that evening to find his parents impatiently waiting. His mother looked really mad. Lorne walked in sheepishly and greeted his parents.


    "Where exactly did you go today young dragon?" Lorne''s mother asked angrily.


    "Mother, I went to the Bear Tribe," Lorne said.


    "The Bear Tribe! Don''t you have any sense?! How could you go there alone?" Lorne''s Mother asked.


    "Mother, how could they do anything to me when you were there watching me?" asked Lorne.


    "How...How did you know I was there?" Lorne''s mother asked, shocked at her son being able to detect her. How easy was it to detect a Wu Di? It wasn''t easy at all.


    "I didn''t know, you just told me." Inside Lorne was pumping his fists. Finally, it worked. How many years had he wanted to use the clever spy technique to expose someone? It felt so good.


    "Wha...You little..." Lorne''s mother didn''t know how to react. His father on the other hand did.


    "Hahahahaha, there you go son! Hahaha, he really got you there mother Yun!" Lorne''s father was really amused. She was so clever, he never got one over on her. Yet their little baby just got her. The expression on her face alone was one of the funniest things he had seen in a long time. This kid getting one over on his wife, for some reason, it felt so good.


    Lorne''s mother finally processed what happened. Even she was amused by the whole thing. All of her anger from earlier completely vanished.


    "Oh haha, you two are very funny. What a smart little guy. I guess since he''s so smart there''s no need to go out anymore right? You''re so smart I''m sure there''s nothing out there that could truly be of interest to someone such as you," Yun said.


    Lorne realized his freedom was in jeopardy. "I''m sorry mother, I''ll be good." As Lorne said this he made the best puppy dog face he could muster.


    "It''s fine," Lorne''s mother said. She always fell for the puppy dog face. He was just too cute.


    "Okay, if you two are done, I''d like to hear what happened at the Bear Clan today," Lorne''s father said.


    ¡°I went with Big Bear, He and I became brothers. I told him about you and your brother bear and since we are both named Xiong, he said, "I''ll be Big Bear, and you''ll be Little Bear." I thought that was pretty great.


    ¡°After that, we went to the Bear Tribe and all these other animal kids followed us. We went into the tribe and I was surprised to see all the different species living and working in the tribe. I thought since it''s called the Bear Tribe only bears would live there, but it wasn''t the case.


    ¡°We went to the lodge of elders where I got to meet Big Bear''s Grandpa. He''s the Tribal leader right now. He asked me some questions about how long ago I hatched and asked if you two would ever like to pay a visit to the Tribe. If so, he said you were both very welcome.¡¯


    ¡°We all chatted for a little while and then we noticed these glowing eyes. Grandpa Bear said, "You cats sure like to lurk, why don''t you come in and join us." It turned out that the Cat he as talking to, wasn''t any old cat. It was the Tiger Ancestor!


    ¡°The Tiger ancestor said, "I heard the baby dragon was finally born, and I wanted to take a look at him." He took a look at me and said, "I like dragons, my master was a dragon." I was like "really?", and he said: "yes really." I asked him where his master was, but he said he didn''t know.


    ¡°His master appears from time to time to give his teachings. Grandpa Bear said the Dragon Master always offered help to the beasts in the forest. He would offer guidance and what not. It was pretty interesting hearing about an old Dragon who lives around here. Mother, Father, have either of you ever heard of this old Dragon teacher?" Lorne asked.


    "I''ve heard the legends about an old dragon ancestor who teaches the creatures of the forest. However, he''s never met with either of us," Lorne''s father said.


    "Hmm, well the forest kids asked if I could come tomorrow to play some more. Can I go?" Lorne asked.


    "It''s fine Xiong''er, but I don''t know if you should get too close to those forest kids," Lorne''s mother said.


    "Why''s that?" Lorne asked.


    "Xiong''er when baby dragons are born they need lots of sleep. You''ve been awake for over thirty years. In a decade or so you''re going to fall asleep for about one hundred years. When you wake up, all of your forest friends will be grown up warriors with families of their own. Some of them might even be dead. It''s very hard to go to sleep having friends and then to wake up alone. It''s better to be friends with dragons," Lorne''s mother explained.Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.


    "But I can''t be friends with other dragons because we don''t live near other dragons. I don''t want to worry about what I don''t have. I understand that I''ll be saying goodbye to these friends of mine soon. Even though it will be hard I still want to be friends with them. Maybe I''ll be friends with their kids!" Lorne said.


    "Okay, if that''s how you feel then we''ll let you have fun with your friends while you''re awake." Lorne''s father said.


    Over the next few months, Lorne went to the forest every day to play with his friends. Sometimes Lorne felt a little weird playing with his friends like a kid. He was an adult after all. However, he noticed the kids were getting older really fast. Big Bear already looked like an adult bear. He would start his warrior training soon and he wouldn''t have the time to play with his friends anymore. The last days of childhood were quickly ending and in six months Big Bear would head off to the Forest Warrior Academy.


    One day, Lorne was playing a game of soccer with a litter of rabbit kids. Lorne recently taught this game to the forest kids and they loved it. The rabbit kids especially loved the game. All the bigger animal kids preferred the game ''football'' Lorne introduced to them.


    Lorne was one of the few creatures able to play soccer against the rabbit kids who had really strong legs. It was like the game was invented just for them. Lorne jumped up to intercept the ball catching it in his chest. Lorne fell towards the ground, but when his feet touched the earth the ground broke and he kept falling! Lorne had fallen into a hole.


    "Little Bear, are you okay, are you okay? The rabbit kids came to the hole to check on Lorne.


    "I''m fine," Lorne yelled at them.


    Just as Lorne looked around this hole he noticed an interesting smell. He used his Ridarn vision to see what he could see. Over the years his Ridarn vision had gotten stronger and stronger. Even still, he could only make out splotchy scenes here and there throughout the hole. One thing Lorne realized was he hadn''t just fallen into a hole. He fell into a hole connected to a tunnel. Lorne kept smelling the air and looking around. Finally, he noticed something and wondered if this tunnel was an entrance to an inheritance.


    He heard that sometimes someone might find a hidden inheritance. These inheritances could pave a new cultivation road for the chosen or lucky! Lorne grew really excited. He flew up and when he was out of the hole, looked at the rabbit litter. "Little Tiao," Lorne cried out.


    A little rabbit hopped out from his brothers and sisters. He and the Little Bear were pretty good friends. He was always happy to do things for him.


    "Get Big Bear as fast as you can!" Lorne said


    "Right, Little Bear!" Tiao turned to go but was stopped by Lorne.


    "You should tell him to bring some brother bears with him, but no adults," Lorne said.


    "Right, Little Bear!" Tiao turned to go but was stopped again.


    "Tell him to bring some rope, shovels, and lights," Lorne said.


    "Right, Little Bear!" Tiao turned to go but paused to make sure there weren''t further instructions.


    "Well, what are you waiting for hurry up!" Lorne said.


    Tiao couldn''t help doing a double take before finally rushing to get Big Bear.


    Lorne watched as Tiao rushed off. Inside he was laughing saying, ¡®Yes, yes, yes, I finally did it! The Han Solo C-3PO maneuver. Hahaha.¡¯ Lorne laughed in a satisfying way.


    Soon, Big Bear came to the hole with six other bear brothers. Lorne motioned Big Bear forward and threw a barrier up so no one could hear them talk.


    "Big Bear, big news!" Lorne began.


    "What is it? Why all the secrecy? What''s so important?" Big Bear asked.


    "I have a gift for you before you go to the Warrior Academy," Lorne said.


    "Really, what''s that?" Big Bear asked.


    "I found an inheritance for you. it''s down that hole," Lorne said.


    Big Bear was touched by the actions of his thoughtful little brother. "If you found an inheritance you should keep it," Big Bear said.


    "What am I going to do with a bear inheritance? If there are any weapons down there, they''ll probably be bigger than my whole body. It would be such a waste to hold onto such items until I get old enough to use them. That''ll be thousands of years. You need these things. Shouldn''t us brothers look out for each other?" Lorne asked.


    Big Bear''s eyes were starting to tear up. There were a few things people knew about bears. They were tough in battle, a little dumb, and very emotional.


    "How do you know it''s a bear inheritance?" Big Bear finally asked.


    "Come with me, and tell your bear brothers to guard the hole," Lorne said. He immediately removed the field that made it impossible for others to hear them.


    "Hey, you other bears, guard this hole and don''t let anyone enter. If anyone enters I''ll tear the fur from your hindquarters and make a fur hat for old Baldy Bear!" Big Bear bellowed. All of the bears of the younger generation were scared of big bear. The only person Big Bear ever spoke to like a real friend was Little Bear.


    The pair entered the hole and stood before the tunnel.


    "Take a big whiff and tell me what you smell," Lorne said.


    Big Bear smelled the air and his eyes lit up. "I smell bears!" Big Bear said.


    Big Bear started forward but was stopped by Little Bear. "Don''t be impatient, we''ll do this scientifically. We''ll collect the data as we go and uncover the traps too," Lorne said.


    "Traps?" Big Bear asked.


    Lorne threw a rock and several giant knives suddenly shot out of the wall and sliced the rock to pieces.


    "Your ancestor didn''t want just any dumb bear getting his treasures. This is going to take a while. Go tell your brothers. I''ll get started on the traps and data collecting."


    "How long is a while?" Big Bear asked.


    "Four hours at most," Lorne said.


    "That''s not long," Big Bear said.


    "It is for me. It''s hard being as fast as I am yet having to move so slow. It takes real determination and focus!" Lorne said.


    Big Bear didn''t get it but nodded his head anyway and left to tell his brothers.


    Lorne was excited. When was the last time he was on a dig? Lorne pulled out a recording crystal and set to work. As he dismantled all the traps he realized the traps were also made from treasures. He assumed the Bear tribe would want these treasures. He didn''t need them, and they were left to the bears by an ancestor anyway. He also knew Big Bear had hopes of being the Bear Tribe chief one day. It wouldn''t hurt to get some merits right now.


    Just as Lorne promised four hours later, he finished his excavation. All that was left was to walk into the main chamber. Lorne motioned for Big Bear to go in. Whether there were trials or enemies to face, Big Bear had to do it himself. Lorne just prayed he would be successful. Big Bear entered the main chamber and the door closed behind him.


    "WHO DARES TO DISTURB THE SLEEP OF THE FEARSOME BEAR KING!!!

 The Bear King

    "BWAHAHAHAHA!!!" The voice laughed as Big Bear trembled. Lorne was outside the chamber and couldn''t hear what was happening.


    The whole chamber was blocked, and his tremendous sensing powers couldn''t penetrate the isolation of the chamber. Big Bear was truly on his own.


    "I''M JUST KIDDING, IF YOU''RE HEARING THIS I''M ALREADY DEAD! HAHAHAHA!!!" said The Bear King. "I GUESS THERE''S STILL THIS LITTLE SLIVER OF CONSCIOUSNESS I LEFT HERE."


    Behind a wall stood two men watched Big Bear facing the Bear King''s consciousness. The wall provided one-way viewing. They could see out, but no one could see in.


    "At last, this ''inheritance'' chamber you had me set up seven thousand years ago is being used," Tie Long said.


    The man he was speaking to, was a ghostly holo-projection of BS42. BS42 had the ability to send out a holo-pod to create a holographic version of himself so he could interact with the world. He could only talk with those on the outside and enjoyed getting out of the pod occasionally even if all he could do was pretend to be a ghost.


    "How did you know the young Lord would make friends with the bear kid seven thousand years ago?" Tie Long asked.


    "I didn''t know anything. Remember, I had you set up several different inheritances throughout the forest. The young lord is bored playing kid games. This gives him something to do, and since he tends towards being selfless I knew he would pass these inheritances to his new friends. This will build a lot of goodwill in the forest and will be important later on," said BS42.


    "Do you think the young lord will buy all of these coincidences?" Tie Long asked.


    "He should, the young lord is very intelligent but not a deep thinker yet. This is a clear weakness for a King who should always be able to perceive the hidden agendas and manipulations of others.


    ¡°Of course, the young lord is still a kid so his shallow thinking is to be expected. My real hope is he can see through this plot. Until that happens we at least have an entertaining show to watch!" BS42 said with a smile.


    "HEY, THERE LITTLE BEAR CUB! WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING FOR HERE?" the Bear King asked.


    "Ancestor, I want to become strong sir. I want to go beyond the limits of this world. I have a little dragon brother who I know will need my strength one day. I also know without something special I''ll never be of help to him," Big Bear said.


    "OH, THIS DRAGON KID SOUNDS PRETTY INTERESTING BY GETTING ONE OF MY BEAR CUBS  TO WANT TO BE HIS STRENGTH. WHAT MAKES HIM WORTHY, HMMM?" the Bear King asked.


    "Ancestor, my instincts tell me this brother of mine is special. I also know he''s a true friend. He could have kept the discovery of this place to himself and we bears never would have known. Instead, he immediately sent for me to give me a chance at acquiring this inheritance.


    ¡°Grandpa Bear once told me if I wanted to have a successful life I should find someone with a greater destiny and hold onto that person. I think that person with the greater destiny is my little dragon bro," Big Bear finished.


    "IT SOUND INTERESTING. WHO KNOWS WHAT WILL HAPPEN IN THE FUTURE, BUT IF THIS IS THE PATH YOU CHOOSE YOU MUST NEVER TURN FROM IT. I WILL PROVIDE YOU WITH THE INHERITANCE I LEFT HERE AND GUIDE YOU IN A PATH OF STRENGTH. THIS WILL TAKE SOME TIME. ARE YOU READY?" the Bear King asked.


    "Yes, Bear Ancestor!" Big Bear said.


    "THIS IS GOING TO HURT A LITTLE, JUST BEAR WITH IT!!! BWAHAHAHAHA!!!!!" The Bear King laughed. A light descended from the ceiling and began to remold Big Bear''s body. Simultaneously, cultivation and fighting techniques were taught to Big Bear.


    In the adjacent room, BS42 and Tie Long continued their discussion.


    "Is this Bear King someone real?" Tie Long asked.


    "No, but it is based on a real person. A few million years ago an enormous beast cultivator invaded our Empire. At the time the Empire was still pretty small. He ran amuck and tore through everything while he laughed. He called himself: ''Xi¨£och¨¯u Xi¨®ng: The Clown Bear.'' He loved to laugh as he fought through our Empire. Eventually, it took the Emperor himself to catch this laughing bear and kill him. We raided his materials. We could never figure out which universe he was from.


    ¡°However, now I''m about eighty percent sure he came from this Universe.  All the treasures in the chamber are replicas of Xi¨£och¨¯u Xi¨®ng''s treasures he had on him when he was killed. I''ve tweaked some of the items and cultivation systems to make them easier to utilize and increase their power," BS42 said.


    "How did you do that?" Tie Long asked.


    "You know the young lord''s mother is a member of the Wu Di clan. I made a few pureblood Wu Di members. I''m having them go through all of our cultivation techniques right now to help perfect them," BS42 said.


    "It''s unbelievable, having people who can perfect any cultivation technique. Just imagine what would happen with a truly powerful technique," Tie Long said.If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    "There are limitations. I''ve taken to heart all of the warnings the young lord''s mother gave. One of those exhortations was to never completely perfect any cultivation techniques, arrays, or pill formulas. According to her it would be a complete disaster for whoever practice or used such items," said BS42.


    "I wonder why that is?" Tie Long asked.


    "I don''t know but my policy is safety first. If an expert tells you not to do something, don''t do it unless you become a higher-level expert," BS42 said.


    "Hmm, makes sense," Tie Long said.


    Anyway, this legacy and its treasures have greater potential than the originals we took from that old bear. I wasn''t going to give this bear cub such powerful techniques, but if he truly wants to be the young lord''s strength then we should help him. The young lord will need as many strong helpers as he can get both now and later," BS42 concluded.


    "Indeed," Tie Long said.


    After several days Big Bear finally finished his transformation. When he stood up he felt the power coursing through his body. Somehow, he entered the Ascended realm. Just a few days ago he was a consolidated realm warrior cub. With his current strength, he could be added to the veteran hunting teams!


    "NOT BAD LITTLE CUB! YOUR STRENGTH HAS GREATLY IMPROVED. YOUR BODY WAS MODIFIED BY ME SO THE BOTTLENECKS YOU''LL FACE IN THE FUTURE WILL BE GREATLY REDUCED. YOU ALSO REQUIRE FEWER MATERIALS TO LEVEL UP IN THE BODY STRENGTHENING ARTS I''VE TAUGHT YOU. NOW YOU NEED WEAPONS!" the Bear King said.


    A wall opened opposite Big Bear and he found many different kinds of weapons. The weapon that caught his eye was a large Khanda sword. The sword looked like someone took a human-sized door made out of metal and attached a sword hilt to it. This sword was perfect for Big Bear. This wasn''t a weak stabbing sword. It was a sword that crushed its enemies.


    Big Bear grabbed the hilt of the sword and held it for the first time. He could feel his energy being drawn into the sword, and it connected the two as if by destiny!


    "GOOD CHOICE LITTLE CUB. I USED THAT MOUNTAIN SPLITTER WHEN I WAS YOUNG LIKE YOU," the Bear King said.


    "What about the rest of the weapons?" Big Bear asked.


    "YOU WANT THEM FOR YOURSELF? SEEMS A LITTLE GREEDY," The Bear King said.


    "No, for my tribe." Big Bear said.


    "TAKE THEM ALL, I DON''T NEED THEM, I''M DEAD! HAHAHA!!!" The Bear King roared with laughter.


    "DON''T FORGET TO FIND ARMOR AND STORAGE RINGS AND OTHER SUNDRIES AS WELL. BY THE WAY, WHEN YOU GIVE THESE GIFTS TO YOUR BEAR TRIBE YOU MUST TELL THEM THESE WEAPONS CAN ONLY BE USED BY THOSE WILLING TO SUPPORT YOU IN YOUR DESIRE TO BE THE STRENGTH OF THE LITTLE DRAGON YOU MENTIONED. IT WAS YOUR DESIRE TO BE HIS STRENGTH THAT INSPIRED ME TO BE SO GENEROUS AFTER ALL!" the Bear King said.


    "Do they need to go with me?" Big Bear asked.


    "NO, THEY CAN STAY IN THE TRIBE OR GO ADVENTURING. IT''S JUST WHEN YOU CALL THEY MUST ANSWER OR I WILL TAKE THOSE TOYS BACK!" the Bear King said.


    "Toys?" Big Bear asked.


    "THOSE ITEMS ARE FROM WHEN I WAS AN ADVENTURING CUB. I DON''T THINK THE BEARS HERE CAN HANDLE MY STRONGER TREASURES," the Bear King said.


    As he finished speaking, a light came from a gem in the ceiling and flew into Big Bear''s Mountain Splitter.


    "IF YOU EVER GET STRONG ENOUGH, A MAP WILL BE UNLOCKED FROM THE MOUNTAIN SPLITTER. YOU CAN USE THE MAP TO FIND MY TREASURES FOR THE BIG KIDS. WELL, IF NO ONE ELSE HAS LOOTED THEM YET! HAHAHAHA!!!


    "YOU''VE TAKEN ALL MY THINGS, IT''S TIME TO BE ON YOUR WAY LITTLE CUB," the Bear King said. The chamber went silent.


    Big Bear solemnly bowed towards the direction of the sound.


    "Don''t worry ancestor bear, I''ll use these treasures well!" Big Bear vowed.


    Big Bear finally stepped out of the chamber and Lorne was shocked. Big Bear looked like an ancient hero decked out in amazing armor and bearing formidable weapons. His presence even seemed different.


    "Big Bear, you look so heroic!" Lorne commented.


    Big Bear looked down at Little Bear.


    "HAHAHAHA. It''s all thanks to you little brother!" Big Bear said.


    "I''m glad you were successful. I need to get home. Mom told me I had to come home as soon as you got out. I''ll talk to you later!" Lorne said.


    With that Lorne blurred away. Lorne''s speed was getting faster and faster. It was closer to his speed on Earth. None of the animal kids could keep up with him when he let loose.


    "I''ll talk to you later as well, Little Bear!" Big Bear whispered.


    Big Bear jumped up through the hole in the ground and landed like thunder. Everyone was startled. The six bear brothers were still there but astounded seeing the results of the inheritance on Big Bear.


    "Come, little brothers, we''ve earned great merit for the tribe. We''ll all be hailed as heroes. But don''t anyone of you forget this merit is only because Little Bear is such a faithful brother!" Big Bear bellowed.


    "Big Bear, what did you get? You were gone for six days!" the six bears said clamoring around Big Bear.


    "I''ll show you when we meet with Grandpa and the Elders," Big Bear said.


    The band of bear brothers bolted for the bear tribe. Soon the entire tribe was thrown off balance by the incredible treasures Big Bear brought to the tribe. Even more, they were overwhelmed with gratitude by the great selflessness Little Bear showed their tribe.


    BS42 and Tie Long quietly left the chamber in BS42''s holo-pod. Inside the pod, the pair sat as they conversed.


    "BS42, who did the sliver of will belong to for the Bear King if the whole thing was made up?" Tie Long asked.


    "It was a formation. It imitated a sliver of will. If a more powerful cultivator had been there he would see through this trick, but for a bunch of kids, it was easy enough," BS42 said.


    "Wow, our Empire''s means continue to become exceptional. Sometimes I wonder who will be able to stand against us in the future," Tie Long said.


    "Whenever I have those thoughts I remember all the terrifying existences and the Empires behind them, and then I wonder ''How are we still here?''" BS42 said.


    Silence took over the pod as the pair thought about the truly ancient Empires that made their relatively young Empire seem like a bunch of ants.  The Zimwarn Empire had only existed a few million years while some of the other Empires endured for billions of years. They still had a long way to go until they could feel even slightly secure.


    The pressure and fear of these other Empires were partly responsible for BS42 getting used by being. He thought his brother was rushing their Empire to ruin. He desperately feared those other Empires.


    That''s why they needed to increase the strength of every Zimwarn from the top down. Finding this new universe with such diverse and new biological lifeforms made him hopeful for the future.


    BS42 was amazed at how big a power boost mixing dragon DNA with Zimwarn DNA provided. The gift of the Wu Di DNA was another huge boost to the strength of their race.


    Lorne thought his people were invincible, but he knew better. Lorne only knew his people were powerful in comparison to himself. In comparison to many other older Empires, they were nothing.


    "We still have a long way to go." A sigh escaped from BS42.


    "True." Tie Long said.


    "Alright, enough of this, we have things to do," BS42 said.


    "Thanks for the diversion it was quite entertaining," Tie Long said.

 Dont Let a Rift Come Between Us

    Five hundred years ago Kal N''Dar received a communication from General Long. It was late at night. Kal N''Dar was sleeping. He had a fun time last night and hadn''t recovered. Now, General Long needed something. It must be important. The General was on the emergency wave.


    "General," Kal N''Dar said bleary-eyed.


    "Kal, I really need your help buddy," the General said in a strained voice.


    "What can I do for you General?" Kal asked.


    "The twins disappeared!" the General said.


    As soon as the words came out of his mouth Kal had a bad feeling he knew what this was about.


    "Give me the details so I can find those little troublemakers!" Kal said in an angry voice. He knew he made a mistake a few months ago. The twins were dissatisfied with being baby dragons. They didn''t see how much use they would be to the young lord. How could they get cultivation techniques when they were too young to get into the Imperial Academy?


    Kal made an off-hand remark all they needed to find was access to a universe with time disfasia and they could grow up quicker. Kal said it because so far, he hadn''t found such a thing. However, Kal had a feeling these uber twins found it somehow. Maybe this was part of their special gift? He wasn''t sure as they never told him what little extra they got as a result of being dragon twins.


    "The twins were going site seeing with their guardians. They made a trip near the Puskan rift. Three days into the tour they disappeared," The General said.


    "What did the guardians say?" Kal asked.


    "They said they had no idea what happened," General long responded.


    "See, General, I hate to say I told you so, but this is why you''ve got to stop putting amateurs with those little troublemakers!" Kal said.


    The General merely looked down and didn''t say anything. He knew Kal was right. However, he was pressured by the Clan. This was the last time this would happen with these two kids. From now on Kal would be the only person he¡¯d trust when it came to those two.


    "How long have they been missing?" Kal asked.


    "Over a month." General Long said. As soon as he finished speaking he winced. He knew what was coming.


    "Over a month! What the shig Long! How can you wait over a month to contact me?!" Kal shouted. It was situations like this where the General wondered who worked for whom.


    "Listen Kal, I''m as upset as you are. I just found out myself. Five minutes before I called you I was informed by the Clan. Now, they''re trying to blame me for this mess when they strong-armed me into agreeing to use these two guardians," the General said.


    "Well don''t let them strong arm you! You''re the General a man who dines with the Emperor himself! How dare they presume to tell you what to do!" Kal yelled again. The irony Kal was telling the General what to do and even reprimanding him wasn''t lost on General Long. Kal was someone, though, who could yell at him.


    The man came through for them too many times. He was almost infallibly right. Even the Emperor took notice of this Imperial owned smuggler. The General wanted to bring him into the military officially but Kal claimed his effectiveness was due to his freedom. Besides he could never take orders from others.


    "The Guardians are dragons I suppose," Kal said.


    "Yes, they''re both Four-Clawed Gold Dragons," The General said.


    "They''re idiots, " Kal said. The General didn''t bother responding, what would be the point?


    "Send me all the data you have. I''ll start investigating. Hopefully, the trail isn¡¯t cold yet," Kal said to the General as he turned off the communication apparatus.


    For the last five hundred years, Kal kept his Samsara pod in his soul. After some research, BS42 found a material native to this universe that could block soul and Qi scans. Kal had his Warbox, Benton, forge armor with the scan blocking materials. Kal no longer feared to carry his Samsara pod with him.


    Kal sent his soul spectral image into the Samsara pod. He found Benton and they set up a secure link with BS42 through the ship''s QS-Com.


    "Kal, usually when you contact me it''s either to tell me you finished a mission or to ask for help. I don''t have you on a mission presently, so it must be you need help," BS42 said.


    "The Dragon Clan let the twins go on an adventure with a couple of stupid dragons and now the twins are missing," Kal said.Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators!


    "Why don''t they just have you stay with those two?" BS42 asked.


    "I''ve asked them several times. I bet if they get the twins back after this, they''ll probably be my permanent charges," Kal said in an exasperated voice.


    "Ok, send me the details you have about their last known location and I''ll activate the trackers to see if we can pinpoint their location," BS42 said.


    Kal did as instructed and waited to hear back from BS42. Kal would never yell at BS42 or show him impatience like he did with General Long. BS42 aside from having his finger near Kal''s soul destruct button was also Prince Heken, brother of the Emperor. If he ever wanted his freedom back, he had to make BS42 happy.


    While he was waiting for BS42, Kal looked through the data as thoroughly as possible. He even made some interesting discoveries.


    After several hours of waiting, BS42 finally contacted Kal with the tracking results.


    "Kal, the results aren''t good." BS42 began.


    "Not good, how?" Kal asked.


    "Their track ends near the Qwyvar rift," BS42 said.


    "The Qwyvar rift?! They were supposedly last seen near the Peskan rift," Kal said.


    "It seems they were trying to throw everyone off the trail," BS42 said.


    "Those little twitches, when I get my hands on them they won''t have any skin left on their backsides!" Kal said.


    "You know what this means Kal?" BS42 asked.


    "Yes, sir. I''ll bring them back. If I survive..." Kal began but didn''t finish his thoughts.


    "Trying to make conditions, Kal?" BS42 asked coldly.


    "N..No, sir! I just hoped if I survived I could send a letter home," Kal said.


    "Not possible while you''re a prisoner. However, if you are successful, I''ll open the prison for you after the dragon mission is over," BS42 said.


    "Really?!" Kal was extremely excited and happy.


    "However, I''ll need the Samsara pod back and if you die afterward where your soul goes is none of our concern," BS42 told him.


    "Of course, sir, thank you," Kal said from the bottom of his heart. BS42 was tough but he was fair. He knew Kal was risking everything in trying to get those kids back. Big rewards come with big risks.


    After he discontinued his communication with BS42, Kal returned to his body and contacted General Long.


    "General, I found their last location," Kal said.


    "That''s great, where are they?" The General asked expectantly.


    "Their trail goes cold at the Qwyvar rift," Kal said.


    "The Qwyvar rift?! The Qwyvar rift?! Why the kos would they go there?


    "They''re looking for an access point to a time disfasia universe. I''ll send you the supporting data for that," Kal said.


    "But, but, but, why would they want to go to a universe with time disfasia?" the General asked.


    "It''s not hard to figure out, what''s the one thing all children want more than anything?" Kal asked.


    "To grow up," The General said as all color left his face.


    "My suspicion is the reason they started at the Peskan rift was to throw us off their trail. However, I''m sure they convinced their guardians the Peskan rift led to a universe with time disfasia and they were just "curious" about it," Kal said.


    "What''s your point Kal? Just say it." The General asked.


    "I think those two guardians were convinced the twins were right and took them there in the hope of getting credit for finding a new universe. They got played by the twins because of their greed," Kal said.


    "Why do you say that?" The General was clearly seething. He was already sure Kal was right.


    "Why else would they wait a month to tell you? They think the twins snuck away and went into the riff. They were hoping they could find the safe opening to the riff so they could go in and save the twins. Then their rewards would double. Found a new universe and saved the Golden twins. Once again, the culprit is their greed. You might want to have a chat with them. I''m sure you could persuade them to admit their faults," Kal said.


    "Don''t you worry, I''ll talk to them," The General said.


    "While they''re being cooperative you should also ask which of the elders signed off on this little adventure. I doubt those kids would have been let out if there wasn''t an equally greedy Dragon Clan Elder making their exit from the clan possible." Kal said.


    "You''re right! I''m going to scarn them so bad their closest relatives won''t recognize them. I''m going to make an example of these people to let everyone else know the price of their greed!" General Long swore. The General was beyond mad. He was feeling murderous.


    Dragons were typically long-suffering, patient, and caring creatures, but once you ticked one off good luck with not getting burned to ash.


    "What do you plan to do Kal?" General Long asked.


    "What can I do, I''m going into the Qwyver rift to try and save those kids if they''re still alive," Kal said.


    "Kal, you''ll probably die if you go in there!" General Long said.


    "What do you want me to do? Let you tell the Emperor the two most precious dragon babies born in the last several thousand years are lost to the Dragon Clan because you wouldn''t send your man in to find them?" Kal asked bemusedly.


    "No, but...look, Kal, if you survive this..." The General began.


    "You''ll owe me big time. Don''t worry I already have my prize picked out," Kal smirked.


    "Really?" The General said curiously. "What''s that?" he asked.


    "Your daughter," Kal said.


    "Xi¨¡nn¨·?" General Long asked.


    "No, the other one. The one who''s always quietly sitting off to the side. I can''t get her out of my head." Kal said.


    "Zh¨¬hu¨¬?" General Long asked.


    "Yes, her!" Kal said.


    "Why would you want to marry her? She never talks," the general said.


    "That''s because everyone around her isn''t worth speaking with," Kal smirked.


    "And you are?" The General asked.


    "Absolutely, she''s just lacking a little excitement. She''ll make a great first wife. I''ll make her into the universe''s Smuggler Queen!" Kal said.


    "You''ll what?! She would never do that." The General said.


    "Oh yea, ask her, I''ll even make a bet with you," Kal said.


    "What kind of bet," The General asked.


    "If I''m right you''ll send me two of those XG-Fighters. One for me and the other will be my wedding present to your daughter. If I''m wrong, I''ll give you the location of the Thelian mine I found" Kal said.


    "Deal. But you have to come back alive!" The General said. What a fine son-in-law this Kal would make. Sure, he wasn''t a dragon, but no one was perfect.


    "Deal. See you soon," Kal cut communications immediately.


    The entire time he was talking to the general he was heading towards the Qwyvar rift. Kal took in a deep breath before plunging into the rift where he thought the twins probably entered.


    "Here we go," Kal said nervously.


    The ship dipped into the rift and immediately disappeared.

 Don鈥檛 Go Extinct On My Account

    On another world in the Dragon Clan Throneverse. Two men of great power were in a life and death battle. Both men were at the Half-Immortal Ascended realm. Very few beings were stronger than them. The Dragon Emperor was at the Immortal Ascended realm. It was the highest realm cultivators both the Dragon Empire and the Zimwarn Empire were aware of. Everyone believed there must be higher realms, but they couldn''t prove it. No one in a higher realm had ever appeared.


    One of the fighting men was a Giganotosaurus Man named J¨´r¨¦n and the other was a Spinosaurus Man named J¨«zh¨´. The men traded vicious blows with their fists. Gashes were all over their bodies. Three worlds were destroyed as a result of their battle and they were working on their fourth.


    "Jizhu! You think you can take my prey? Now you''ve become my prey! After I''m done eating you I''ll eat your whole clan!" Juren yelled.


    "You think you''re going to survive this battle? I''ll tear out your heart and eat your head!" Jizhu screamed back.


    Dragons were the reigning clan in the Dragon Empire, but there were many powerful clans. The Dinosaur Clans were physically equal to the Dragons, but they lacked the magical affinity of the Dragons. They produced some of the strongest body refiners in the Dragon Empire.


    The problem was they were way too vicious. When they were hungry they would eat just about anyone weaker than them. The only ones they wouldn''t eat would be members of their Clans. This wasn''t because they didn''t want to; it was because even they realized if they kept eating other members of their Clans they wouldn''t survive for long.


    In the Dragon Empire, almost all of the strongest Clans were lizard species. The mammal and bird clans were considerably weaker. However, the mammal and bird clans found cultivating much easier and were able to reach some of the highest realms through their intellects. Even though many considered bears to be dumb they were far smarter than members of the Dinosaur Clan.


    It''s just that the members of the Dinosaur clan didn''t have to do much. Eventually, they would arrive at the highest realms through their natural body cultivation. All they had to do was eat and fight and they would continue to rise up to the upper realms. The two fighting each hoped if they could eat the other this would raise their cultivation.


    If one looked at the ground, they saw it littered with countless limbs. The Dinosaur men were fighting so viciously they ripped each other''s limbs off many times. However, Dinosaur men had such limitless vitality they would instantly regrow the missing limbs. Nearly a hundred Dinosaur men could be created from the parts laying everywhere.Stolen novel; please report.


    The two Dinosaur men backed off from one another to catch their breath. Neither of them had an edge over the other. This battle could go on for a long time. After looking at each other for a while both started walking through their battlefield picking up the severed limbs and eating them. It didn''t matter if the limb belonged to them or their opponent, they still ate it. In part, this was to restore their lost vitality. The other part was to mock their opponent.


    "Hey, Juren here''s one of your heads! I like the face you''re making here. I almost don''t want to eat it. I might take it home with me and put it on my wall, you know, mount it." Jizhu laughed viciously.


    "Hey Jizhu, I just found one of your heads, you look rather surprised here. Oh, I remember this face! It''s from when I tore your spine fin off your back and used it to cut off your head. HAHAHA," Juren said.


    The two continued to harass one another as they ate. Unexpectedly, a purplish vortex opened up in the sky above them. A man stepped through the vortex which immediately closed. The man was extremely tall, at least six meters tall. He wore purple pants, a yellow shirt, and a long dark blue leather long coat. Looking down he saw the two Dinosaur men looking at him. Both of them looked at him viciously but neither attacked him.


    "Oh, it looks like two little lizards. Did I disrupt your fight?" The man laughed as if these two vicious fighters meant nothing to him. The man landed near their battleground. He looked around at all of the severed limbs. Juren was still eating one of Jizhu''s arms.


    "Aren''t you going to cook those before you eat them?" The man asked.


    Juren spat out his food. "I like my food raw.¡±


    "You''re probably too dumb to know how to start a fire," the man observed.


    The Dinosaur men were still quiet. They knew this man was stronger than them. He could probably kill them if he wanted. Most cultivators would be groveling right now, but it wasn''t in the nature of Dinosaur men to grovel. If you were going to kill, then kill. What''s the point in talking? Still, they were smart enough not to provoke this man.


    The man noticed neither of them would provoke him, but he also noticed they weren''t cowering in fear.


    "Neither of you are scared of me?" The man asked.


    "You can probably kill us, but what can we do? If you want to kill us I doubt we could change your mind," Jizhu said.


    "Maybe if you cowered a little bit I might be willing to spare you," The man said.


    "It''s not in the nature of Dinosaur men to cower. We might run and fight back but we don''t cower," Juren said.


    "You don''t cower? My, that''s very interesting. Maybe that''s what I''ll do first. Maybe I''ll see if I can make Dinosaur men cower in fear," the man sneered.


    "Whatever," the pair said.


    "You''re right, it does seem like a waste of time. I have better things to do," the man said.


    After saying so the man waved his hand and Juren immediately turned into a mist of blood.


    Jizhu was surprised. "Powerful," he said. "Before you kill me, can I ask, are you at the Immortal Ascended realm?"


    "Immortal Ascended? That''s for weaklings," the man mocked as he turned Jizhu into a blood mist.


    "It looks like I came to a universe filled with lizards. First, I''ll go on holiday and take in the sites, and then I''ll kill every sentient species in this Empire. What''s it called? Ah, the Dragon Empire. Back home those dragons are pets. Maybe I''ll save a few for my niece." Immediately after he thought this he disappeared into the void of space.

 Somethings Lost, Somethings Found

    Over the last six months, Lorne conducted a systematic search for other legacies. He requested the other tribes give him access to their records so he could piece together any existing clues and possibly lead to the discovery of another legacy. This was the work Lorne loved to do most in his past life.


    After hearing about Lorne''s success in discovering the Bear ancestor; most of the tribes were willing to help Lorne in the hopes he helped them locate tribal treasures. Lorne unconditionally promised anything he found would go to the tribe it should belong to. The Bear tribe encouraged the other tribes telling of their own successes. They related how the generous hero selflessly brought blessings to their tribe.


    As Lorne researched and saw a pattern. All the records noted mighty heroes of the forest appeared about seven thousand years before. This was the strongest age of the forest. Unfortunately, so much time passed, the tribes in the forest forgot the era. However, there was one person who didn''t forget, because he was the only still living member of the generation of the Calamity Heroes. It was the Tiger ancestor.


    In the era of the Calamity Heroes, he was a young warrior. He met the dragon ancestor when he was young and was taught how to cultivate and grew strong. Among the many records, Lorne found were the remains of a dragon ancestor prophecy about the dragon egg that had yet to hatch and would open the path to a new age of heroes.


    It was obvious the prophecy referred to him. He wondered why the dragon ancestor never visited his family.


    The clues Lorne gathered and the hard work of himself and some of his forest friends helped him recover two new legacies. One legacy belonged to the Lu Tribe. These were Deer Men, who was quick, alert, and majestic warriors. The legacy was passed to a young a young deer warrior named Kuaisu, a friend of Lorne''s. The next legacy belonged to the Songshu Tribe. Their young warrior Weifeng was also a playmate of Lorne''s.


    Lorne went to the forest every day for about a year. All of the forest kids with whom he used to play had grown up. One after another, they took on roles of responsibility within their tribes. Many became their tribe''s new generation of warriors and were sent to the Forest Warrior Academy.


    Among those leaving today was Big Bear. Over the last six months, Big Bear rarely came to the forest to play. Instead, he focused on increasing his strength. The legacy Bear¡¯s ancestor, Bear King, left for the bear tribe was extremely powerful. Big Bear had already broken through to the True Warrior realm. The six bear brothers who went with him were also given cultivation techniques as well as armor and weapons from the legacy treasures. The six bear brothers became known as Li¨´ Xi¨­ngd¨¬. These six typically followed Big Bear everywhere he went.


    It was Lorne''s last day to see Big Bear before he left.


    "Big Bear, my parents said they''ll take me to see you at the Forest academy next year. They even told me if I become strong enough they''ll let me attend the academy until my naptime," Lorne said.


    "Little Bear, you must come. I''ll take care of you once you get there. Us bear brothers will be reunited! We''ll become the strongest on the campus!" Big Bear said.


    The two brothers spent the day talking about all their adventures together. Lorne mentioned the two new legacies he found and how he believed it wouldn''t be long until he found a fourth. He believed the next legacy he uncovered would likely belong to the Ch¨°u Y¨°u tribe. Lorne laughed and said he wasn''t sure he really wanted to find this legacy. Big Bear laughed at this.Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    The day drew to an end. The next morning Big Bear would leave the forest. Lorne decided to say his goodbyes tonight. He hated getting emotional around others. Big Bear, on the other hand, didn''t care where he got emotional. Bears were emotional creatures. Big Bear started blubbering to Lorne and told him what a good little brother he was.


    Lorne reluctantly parted with Big Bear and headed home a little sad. He knew this wasn''t the last time he would see Big Bear, but it was the last time they would be peers. The next time he saw Big Bear the difference between them would grow. Lorne would still be a dragon baby, whereas Big Bear would be a young warrior bear, something like a college student.


    Lorne sighed but continued home.


    When he got home his parents saw how sad Lorne was.


    "Don''t worry Xiong''er, you''ll get to see that bear brother of yours in a year." Lorne''s mother promised.


    Lorne simply smiled at her before heading to his room and laying on his bed.


    ***


    Kal N''Dar frantically navigated through the rift fighting against the turbulence and trying to find safe passage through. The rifts were like cracks in the crust of the Earth''s tectonic plates. Usually, the rifts led to the densest areas of energy in the universe. Sometimes, these rifts would split straight through from one universe to another. The dragon twins believed the Qwyvar rift led to a new universe, one with time disfasia which could allow them to grow up relatively quickly.


    Even if they were right, one problem they faced was the amount of time disfasia or the rate of difference. The twins were already gone for a month. How much time had passed here? A day, a  year, a million years or could it be minus a million years? You could never tell about a universe with time disfasia until you personally went in to take a look.


    BS42 passed Kal the soul tracking codes for the dragon twins and gave Kal a tracker. The tracker could be carried by hand, but it could also connect to the ship and work with the cosmic cartography machine.


    It was at this time Kal activated the tracker hoping now that he was in the rift he would be led to the twins. Thankfully the tracker immediately picked up their trail. Kal followed the tracker noticing the flight path the golden twins chose was much smoother for travel. He was sure they received some kind of special gift. There''s no way they would have found the safe passage by luck, and he knew no one even knew this was an access point to a new universe. They made their navigational decisions on the go.


    After several weeks of flying, Kal finally made it out of the rift into a new universe and a new set of stars. Kal had Benton, his Warbox, on standby to study the new universe environment and to make changes and upgrades to his weapons. He also made sure everything was recorded. Universe probes were immediately dispatched from Kal''s Samsara pod.


    "It looks like the twins headed in that direction." Kal thought as he plotted a course. It took a couple of months, but he eventually found his way to a large planet. The planet was a life planet with lush vegetation and many varieties of animals.


    Kal matched the twins landing zone, landed the ship, took the tracker and headed to the armory to meet Benton. Benton patiently waited for Kal. Laid out before Kal was a new set of armor and weapons.


    The under armor was dark brown leather-like pants and a dark navy-blue shirt. The over armor was a thin body-formed upper armor and a thin loose-leg armor. A half helmet, shield, sword, arm cannons and condensed photon rifle stood ready. There was also a storage ring with various supplies. Benton would stay with the ship to guard it and have it ready in case they needed to leave in a hurry.


    The first thing Kal noticed when he got off the ship was the T1 Long flyer remains. This was the ship the twins stole on their little outing. It laid in a mess. It looked like someone burned it from inside out. The kids were stranded on this planet and he didn''t know how long they had been here. Based on the vegetation growth and state of the destroyed ship it had been a while. He just didn''t know how long.


    Pulling out the tracker, Kal left to follow the crumbs and find the kids. "When he finds those twins, they are going to be in trouble!" Kal promised himself.

 Deliverance

    "We''re in trouble sis!" A golden horned dragon youth cried.


    "I can''t find an opening to this cave. We''ll have to hide!" Yelled a beautiful golden horned dragon girl.


    This brother and sister pair were the twins Kal searched for. The pair came to this universe in the hopes of finding a way to speed up their growth. Dragons took thousands of years to grow up. They were supposed to help their young lord make his way in the universe, but how could they do that when they were just a couple of dragon babies?


    They found the world not long after they arrived in this universe. At first, they came exploring and thought it was a nice place to cultivate. Pianzi, her brother, managed to get high-tier Gold-Dragon cultivation techniques. If they had been able to get the high-tier Five-Clawed Gold Dragon cultivation techniques, they wouldn''t have needed to come to this universe. They just didn''t have the access to those highly protected techniques.


    It was fine for the first few thousand years they were here. They were even able to go into their long baby dragon sleep cycles without a problem. They brought several puppets to guard them while they slept. Since they didn''t have Samsara pods they had to find hidden caves to sleep in.


    About three thousand years ago, someone spotted them on one of their scouting trips. The person recognized them for what they were, dragons. In this universe, dragons were now non-existent although they used to live here long ago. The dragons mysteriously disappeared. Many dragon inheritances were left behind but only dragons could use them, so they were pretty useless to everyone else.


    The one thing discovered in an old ruin before the twins arrived was a technique for transferring the natural dragon talents from a dragon to a non-dragon. This would boost a person''s cultivation through the roof. Bottlenecks became almost non-existent. Of course, the dragon would be consumed in the process, but who would care about that if it made them strong.


    Until the twins were discovered no dragons were ever found so even though it was a powerful technique it held little value. It became a curiosity. Some tried adapting the technique for other powerful species, but the results were hit or miss.


    Then these two dragon youths appeared and quickly became the hunted. The wily twins did a pretty good job of evading capture so far, but a few hundred years ago they were forced back to this planet and barely escaped before the ship was destroyed. They''d had little rest since then.


    Today, they were discovered while looking for food and fresh water. Just as they got near a river and were about to start fishing and getting water, other cultivators showed up. Both sides were surprised when they ran into each other. Congming, the female dragon, managed to kill one of the cultivators, but the other one ran off and raised the alarm.


    The twins immediately ran away and tried to get to one of their hidden lairs. Unfortunately, they couldn''t lose the cultivators who were tight on their heels. The pair were finally forced into this cave. They were safe, for now. The cave only had one entrance and it was easy to control. However, pretty soon the cultivators would find a way to force them out. When that happened, it would all be over for the dragon babies.


    The only thing going for them right now is the cultivators were at an impasse as to who would get the dragons. The air outside was extremely tense. It was a powder keg waiting for a spark.


    Kal N''Dar showed up around this time. Sensing so many cultivators converging at the spot where the tracker indicated the dragon twins should be; he immediately deduced these cultivators were after the dragons.


    It was clear the first thing he needed to do was find out what was happening. Kal blended in with the other cultivators. Kal looked as if he was just walking around, but what he was really doing was observing and listening. He discovered everyone wanted the dragons to use a technique that could transfer the dragons'' strength into them.


    The problem everyone was facing was who would get the dragons? There were only two of them. Kal sensed the tension. Soon, there might be a fight amongst the cultivators. This would be the time for him to save the dragon twins. He needed to light the match on this explosive situation before cooler heads prevailed. Stirring up trouble was something at which Kal excelled.


    Preparations were quickly made and Kal began his rescue plan. Time to stir up some trouble. The easiest way to turn this into a free for all was to increase the pressure. Right now, there was a fine balance between all of the forces. This helped prevent things from going out of control. Everyone still felt they had time to act and there was no need to hurry. All Kal had to do was give everyone a reason to hurry.


    One of Kal''s lesser-known talents was ventriloquism. It was something even mortals can use, but no one ever bothered to learn it except for performers. Kal always liked this skill. It didn''t use any qi or other energy, so it couldn''t be traced to him. The only trick was cultivators'' senses were extremely sharp, but Kal had taken his ventriloquism to the next level. He could throw his voice so well he could make people think it came from wherever he wanted it to. This was a no-cost trick that helped him strategically start a lot of very beneficial trouble.


    "Did you hear that the Lion''s Roar Syndicate was on the way?" Someone whispered.


    "The Lion''s Roar Syndicate is on the way?" Someone suddenly yelled in surprise and fear. All of the cultivators panicked. If the Syndicate got here, and they were still at a standoff then no one could get a piece of the action. Everything would go to the Syndicate because no one would mess with the Syndicate. Whatever the Syndicate wanted, none of them would be stupid enough to stand in their way. If anyone wanted those twins it was time to make their move. Almost all at once several people rushed towards the cave. Immediately, others rushed to stop them. Soon a massive fight broke out!


    "It was just that easy," Kal smirked as he patted his own back.


    Inside the cave, Benton''s holo-pod arrived. The twins were informed Kal was here to save them. The two were immediately relieved. They thought he would have arrived a long time ago. Little did they know they underestimated how big of an effect greed had on the Dragon Clan. Everyone''s greed kept the search for the dragon twins delayed for over a month.


    "What''s the plan, Benton?" Pianzi asked.


    "We''re going to try and sneak out," Benton said.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.


    "Can''t we just enter your holo-pod?" Congming asked.


    "This is not BS42''s holo-pod. Kal''s Samsara pod is topnotch, but it''s much more limited than BS42''s," Benton said.


    "How are we going to sneak out then?" Pianzi asked.


    "Just wait a couple of minutes. You think you''re a trickster. Wait and see what Kal does," Benton said.


    "Oh yeah, hide those horns." Benton suddenly remembered.


    Outside the cave, chaos reigned. Several cultivators had already died.


    "It''s time for someone to break through," Kal thought to himself.


    Kal spent his time looking for something while on the battlefield. He finally found what he needed. Sneakily moving through the battlefield Kal got behind a male and female cultivator and suddenly punched both of them in the back towards the cave. The punch instantly killed the two. However, to everyone else, it looked like the pair was rushing to the cave.


    "Ah, someone''s makin'' a break for it!" A voice suddenly shouted.


    Before anyone could move the pair of cultivators flew into the cave. Almost immediately the two flew back out and into the field. The pair crumpled on the battlefield with their cloaks covering their figures. Someone went and checked them.


    "They''re just knocked out he yelled." Everyone started laughing.


    "What a couple of dumb skogs!" someone else yelled. The fighting intensified afterward.


    After a couple of more hours of fighting more than half of the cultivators were dead or fled. A booming could be heard coming from the sky. Everyone stopped fighting and looked up! Three Destroyer puppets in the markings of the Lion Roar Syndicate came through the clouds. The cultivators stopped fighting.


    "This is the Lion''s Roar Syndicate. We have come for the dragons, everyone else, SCRAM!!!" yelled an imperious voice. The crowd knew it was time to leave and so everyone fled as quickly as possible. Since the Syndicate was here they had no chance of getting the dragons. The area in front of the cave was cleared of all living people. Only the dead remained on the battlefield.


    Out of the clouds descended Lion''s Roar Syndicate ships. Three spaceships escorted by a dozen fighters. Out of the ships descended several Syndicate members with armed guards. The Syndicate members made their way to the cave and the guards cleared the entrance before a few of the members entered.


    A loud boom sounded from the cave! The explosion blew out bodies from inside. The Syndicate forces were in disarray. The remaining members and guards quickly rushed towards the cave. Those who went into the cave were actually high-ranked members of the Syndicate. If any of them could be saved, then the rescuers would be rewarded heavily.


    No one noticed someone slip aboard one of the ships. After a few minutes, the figure slipped out once more and headed west.


    After excavating the site and determining everyone was dead, the remaining Syndicate members boarded their ships. The command was given, hunt down and immobilize all ships until the dragon twins were found! The three Syndicate landing craft rose through the air. Unexpectedly, the landing craft opened fire on their fighter escort. The fighters were taken completely unaware and destroyed almost instantly. After all of the fighters were wiped out, the three landing craft self-destructed.


    In space, a Syndicate Carrier and frigate watched what happened on the planet. Command was shocked! It wasn''t that no one ever attacked the Syndicate before, it''s just, the Syndicate never attacked itself. What was going on?!


    In a cave, west of the battlefield, Kal entered. There he found the two dragon twins waiting fearfully. Kal walked in with a big smile on his face.


    "Look at this, all grown up. Made a mess of the Dragon Clan, got General Long in trouble with the Dragon Emperor, and got me in trouble with BS42!" Kal said angrily.


    "Not only have you not repeatedly followed orders; you nearly got yourselves killed!" Kal shouted.


    "But Kal, we thought you would get here a lot sooner!" Congming whined.


    "Oh, so this is my fault now?" Kal sneered.


    "That''s not what Congming meant, we just figured you would follow the clues we left and get here faster..." Pianzi started.


    "So now I''m stupid," Kal said as he radiated anger.


    "Let me tell you two amateurs something! The reason I didn''t get here sooner is your trick caused those guardians of yours and an unknown number of elders in the Dragon Clan to delay telling General Long for over a month. The reason is they wanted to claim credit for finding a new universe. I had to get BS42 to help me find you and then I had to blindly fly into the rift! On top of this, the two of you had no way of knowing the nature of the time disfasia, if there was any, so how could you know when to expect me? Come, come, share some of your brilliant insights with me now!" Kal roared.


    The twins knew the best thing to do was keep quiet.


    A few hours passed before Pianzi finally summoned the courage to ask Kal some questions.


    "Uhm, Kal, why didn''t we sneak away to your ship earlier when we had the chance?" Pianzi asked.


    Kal gave Pianzi an angry look and ignored him. Kal spent most of his rage on the kids but he was still upset with them. These two were crucial to the success of their mission. They acted recklessly for no good reason, just like a couple of hot-headed kids.


    These two kids weren''t kids at all. They cultivated thousands of years before their disembodiment. If they thought Kal yelling at them was enough to make things go back to normal, they were crazy.


    "We just want to understand your plan," Congming said with a friendly smile.


    "Now the two of you want to understand my plan...You never tried to understand my plan before!" Kal shot back at Congming.


    You two...I don''t even know what to say right now. Do you know what? I''m going to explain my thinking to you in the hopes the next time you get a hairbrained idea you might actually know how to think so you can successfully execute your hairbrained idea!" Kal said.


    "First, there is a blockade in space. The Syndicate was informed of your location the moment you were spotted. One of those cultivators out there figured they were more likely to get paid by the Syndicate than have any luck capturing the pair of you. The Syndicate was waiting in the upper atmosphere until the cultivators thinned themselves out.


    Second, most people rabbit as soon as they get the chance when they''re being chased. The Syndicate was probably looking for this and tracking every ship in this world.


    Third, those smart enough not to run immediately will usually hide in their ships. like I said before, the Syndicate is probably tracking the ships so right now they¡¯re going ship to ship looking for you two. Our ship is already in space sending me updates on movements made by the Syndicate. When the Syndicate leaves, we''ll leave," Kal said.


    "I don''t understand one thing," Pianzi said. "If they were watching every ship then how did your ship get off the planet without being noticed?"


    "Simple, my ship was only on the planet long enough to drop me off. I had Benton take the ship out to look for some info on what''s transpired in the region. It just so happened not long after Benton left, the Lion''s Roar Syndicate showed up," Kal said.


    "How come we were able to leave the battlefield? Why didn''t anyone stop us, and how come the Syndicate hasn''t found us in this cave. Don''t they have precision sensing equipment to find us?" Congming asked.


    "There was too much chaos, you two laid there for half an hour pretending to be knocked out. After half an hour it wasn''t unreasonable both of you woke up. There were also a lot of cultivators leaving the battlefield when you woke up. No one cared about you. You were one less person they had to fight.


    "The reason the Syndicate can''t find us is the glyphs in your bodies allow me to track you while at the same time hiding you from others when your heart rate is elevated," Kal said.


    Kal was clever, he was a great on-site strategist. He really understood human psychology and how to take advantage of it. Whoever came up with that glyph was a genius too. Heart rate hides them.


    "Kal, does that mean if our heart rate isn''t elevated they can track us?" Pianzi suddenly panicked.


    Kal was waiting for this question. Not so dumb after all. "Here, put these on." Kal took a set of armor for each of them from his storage ring and tossed them to the twins. He also threw out weapons for them.


    "Those are stealth armors. Exactly what a couple of scared little rabbits need right now," Kal said as he smiled.


    The twins quickly changed into their new armor. Congming sat down and looked at Kal.


    "Now what?" Congming asked.


    "Now we''ll wait until everyone leaves, and then we go," Kal said.


    The pair simply nodded their head and started cultivating.

 It鈥檚 Not Over 鈥楾il The Fat Lady Sings

    It was an interesting experience watching everyone around you growing up. The Forest kids he played with just a year ago were now responsible adults. Many of them had families of their own. Little Tao, the rabbit kid, already started raising his first litter of rabbits. His wife, Keai, met him thanks to the soccer games.


    It occurred to Lorne even though he was a dragon baby he couldn''t just play around for the rest of his life. He only had about ten years until his big nap. Right now, Lorne was much stronger than he was in his previous life, but around here, in the forest, he wasn''t so strong. What was Lorne hoping to accomplish? He had a new life. What did he want to do with it?


    He was an archaeologist in his last life, but he was also the protector of his world. It didn''t mean much to him to be Earth''s protector at first. To him, it just seemed like a good way to use his powers. It was fun. However, that last battle against the Usurpers was the first time in his life he actually felt he was doing something worthwhile. Standing up for Earth cost him his life, but he would do it again. He felt responsible, but he also felt honored he was given such great strength.


    Unfortunately, he wasn''t strong enough in the past. He knew a lot more about strength since he came to this world. However, he never fully committed himself to it. Lorne thought about all of his friends and how they were working hard to take responsibility. They chose their path in life and were doing the best they could to make it happen. Lorne like being a protector and he wanted to continue in that vein.


    Lorne couldn''t protect this little bit of paradise where he now lived; just like how he couldn''t protect his last planet. Lorne was blessed with strength. Yet, it wasn''t enough. He needed more. With this thought in mind, Lorne decided to earnestly begin training himself. He learned about cultivation and had even dabbled in it. However, now, he wanted to excel in it. If he did get better faster, he might be able to see his brother, Big Bear. Even more than that, he didn''t want to be in a situation where he was so outmatched he had no choice but to let himself be killed.Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.


    It wasn''t because he was afraid of death. It was because if he was dead who would defend other people? It seemed he was brought into this world to be a protector. To be a protector you need strength, yet Lorne knew just how weak he was.


    In about a year, Lorne would go see Big Bear. He wanted to show Big Bear how strong he had become. He wanted to knock his socks off. Lorne wanted to be a hero again, but this time he understood the responsibility he was agreeing to take on.


    This world didn''t have superheroes, but did that mean it couldn''t have superheroes? Lorne would inaugurate an era of superheroes, just like on Earth. To do that he had to become much stronger. He needed to be strong enough to weather any storm and push forward when there was no hope.


    "So long as you''re alive, there''s hope!" Lorne thought.


    "How does someone become stronger?" Lorne wondered to himself. This world possessed something called cultivation. He would use it to grow stronger. However, before immersing himself in the cultivation world he knew he had to maximize the abilities he already had. How could he do this he wondered?


    Ever since Lorne came to this world he gained powers he didn''t previously have. The one he was most fascinated with currently was the energy perception he gained through his Wu Di bloodline. I have energy powers. My Laser vision is certainly energy based. I wonder if I could use my energy perception to help me improve my abilities.


    Lorne began to use his energy perception to examine his body. The more he used this ability the more improvements he saw he could make. The improvements could increase his abilities.


    Finally, Lorne realized all of his abilities were energy based in some way. Just as he made this discovery, Lorne''s senses picked up a conversation between his parents. His mother was crying, and his father was trying to console her. Lorne moved to the living room where his parents were.


    "Mother, what''s wrong?" Lorne asked.


    His mother immediately tried to deny anything was a problem. Lorne persisted until his mother finally told him the truth. Somehow, the Dragon Clan discovered the hidden Wu Di Clan. The Clan was currently being surrounded. Even the daughter of the Dragon Emperor had come to deal with the Wu Di. There was little chance for members of the clan. Lorne''s mother had lost hope.


    "Where there''s life, there''s hope, Mother," Lorne said


    Lorne turned to walk away, and his mother suddenly asked him:"Xiong''er, where are you going?"


    "I''m going to save our Wu Di Clan of course."

 Let鈥檚 Call It A Day

    Kal and the twins spent seven months hiding in the caves. During this time, Kal reviewed the progress of the twin¡¯s cultivation. In total, from their perspective, they had been in the new universe for around twelve thousand years. The golden dragon babies were now golden dragon teens.


    At the very least, their plot to get older worked. The only problem now was getting out of this new universe. Kal wondered if he should report this new universe to the General. He decided to let BS42 make that call.


    Kal wanted to create a few warriors to explore the planet for them and infiltrate the Syndicate, but Benton was in space and Kal wasn''t very skilled at using a rebirth chamber. The best he could manage was creating a few fairies to do some exploring. After seven months of scouting, the fairies provided a comprehensive map and report on the world. The world had excellent prospects for hosting a variety of life in the seas and on land, but only simple animals existed on this planet.


    The only sentient beings in this world were the three of them and the occasional hunting parties sent by the Syndicate. The Syndicate cleared all of the previous cultivators and let them go. They never found the twins, so they must still be on the planet. However, no matter how hard they looked they could never find them.


    Kal was getting impatient but there was little he could do. Benton was still unable to bring the ship down because the Syndicate maintained a tight blockade. Kal started sending the fairies out to hunt game and bring fresh supplies to the cave. He and the twins dug out the cave and made it into a home with separate rooms for everyone.


    The ability to cultivate was limited. The quickest way to be spotted by the Syndicate was to start manipulating spirit energy. Kal worked with the twins on possible strategies in case things went bad, or if they somehow were able to rendezvous with Benton.


    After several months of waiting, Kal realized the Syndicate forces weren''t going anywhere until they found their happy little group. They needed to plan an escape and get off of this world. Once in space, they would have a number of options.


    Kal wasn''t the only schemer in the universe. On the Syndicate Capital ship Vengence, Captain Tirskey was meeting with one of the Syndicate''s most elite cultivators. Master Ba Rel was known for tracking Syndicate enemies and capturing them. No one could hide from him when he was ready to take action.


    Right now, the two of them discussed the odd appearance of fairies on the planet. Captain Tirskey was holding a dead fairy body.


    "Master Rel, my men keep finding these creatures all over the planet. Although it isn''t unusual to find fairies on most inhabited worlds, it is odd for this planet," Captain Tirskey said.


    "What''s peculiar about this planet?" Master Ba Rel asked.


    "This planet is well known for its simplicity. Only simple life forms live on this planet, nothing sentient," Tirskey revealed.Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.


    "That means someone brought them to the planet?" Master Ba Rel asked.


    "Yes, but not until we cleared the planet. The fairies weren''t here when we got here, and no one has been able to get past our blockade. Suddenly these fairies start popping up all over the planet," Captain Tirskey said.


    "Someone down there released a bunch of fairies?" asked Master Ba Rel.


    "We don''t know. This brings me to the next odd point," Captain Tirskey began.


    "What''s that?" Master Ba Rel asked.


    "We''ve captured several of these fairies and tried interrogating them. We''ve tried torture a thousand different ways but none of them will talk. That''s unheard of!" Captain Tirskey exclaimed.


    "Indeed." Master Ba Rel contemplated for a little while.


    "We have noticed some odd things though. The fairies are always doing one of three things. They are either studying local life forms, mapping the planet, or collecting resources like food, water, and minerals," said Captain Tirskey.


    "Ah, they''re servants. They''re doing these things for their masters," said Master Ba Rel.


    "We''ve tried tracking them to see if they would lead us back to their master. However, every time we attempt to track one of them they die," Captain Tirskey said.


    "Hmm, very interesting, what a powerful espionage tool this is. If the Syndicate could get its hands on this secret, what are a couple of dragons worth?" Master Ba Rel said.


    "I agree, sir," Captain Tirskey said.


    Master Ba Rel considered for a few minutes before giving his orders.


    "I will take some of my cultivators to the surface and we''ll create a dragnet using our spiritual senses. We''ll cover the world and make it impossible for the fairies not to be tracked. If they all die that will still tell us something. If there are any movements of two or more people, this will help us find them. Even if they are blocking our direct sensing of themselves, they will still leave some indirect evidence of their positions," Master Ba Rel said.


    Master Ba Rel rose from his chair and gave a slight nod to Captain Tirskey who returned a full bow.


    "Thank you, Captain, you''ve done extremely well," Master Ba Rel said as he disappeared from the meeting cabin.


    In the cave, Kal received some interesting news himself.


    "We''ve discovered what appears to be a gateway of some kind. We aren''t sure how to operate it, but it seems to be active. It may be possible to escape through there," a fairy said to Kal.


    "It''s worth looking into. I''ll take the golden twins over there and we''ll have a look. Anything else?" Kal asked.


    "The Syndicate continues to capture fairies. I think they know we''re assisting you,¡± the fairy said.


    "You''re probably right," Kal agreed.


    "We''ll engage operation "Fairy Dust" in one hour. Go and make preparations," Kal said.


    "Yes, sir," the fairy said as it flew off to fulfill its orders.


    "Pianzi, Congming, get over here!" Kal yelled.


    The pair of dragons ran to Kal as soon as they could. Over the last few months, Kal treated the pair as soldiers in boot camp. He wasn''t allowing them to run amuck anymore. This is the last time he would risk his life for some wild whim they had. He was instilling discipline into them. The training was really effective.


    One of the things that made the duo so hard to control was BS42 wasn''t able to seal their souls in any way. High-level cultivators would be able to see this if he did. The twin dragons were unconstrained by seals.


    BS42 was partly willing to do this because even though the twins made a mistake in their past life it wasn''t a traitorous mistake. Not really. However, Kal had enough of their unruly behavior and was knocking them into shape. He was turning them into soldiers.


    The two stood before Kal waiting for his orders.


    "There''s a possible transfer gate. The fairies just discovered it and we''re going to take a look. If it¡¯s something we can use, we are immediately leaving this place. Get your things and be ready to move in forty minutes," Kal said. "It''s go time."

 Now Available in Laser Vision

    Lorne was considered a member of the Wu Di tribe even though he looked like a dragon. He, of course, knew where the hidden Clan''s lands were. He arrived near the entrance of the Clan. He hid behind a rock and used his Ridarn vision to spy out the situation. He could hear the conversation thanks to his amazing senses.


    Until recently his Ridarn vision hadn''t been very useful. Most things on this planet blocked his vision ability. However, thanks to his recent discovery of using his Wu Di energy sensing ability to correct the flaws of his body and how he used energy; he was able to improve his Ridarn vision and make it much more powerful. Now, he could use his Ridarn vision as easily here as he did on Earth. Lorne was extremely excited.


    Lorne thought when he arrived there would be a bloodbath, instead, he found the dragons standing back while a Gold-horn Dragon girl was bowing to the Wu Di Clan leader. Based on what he knew about dragons, she should be around seventeen or eighteen thousand years old. There was certainly a tenseness to the air. The dragons were as much on edge as the members of the Wu Di Clan. However, they held their position. It must be the doing of that Dragon girl.


    "Curious." Lorne thought.


    "Princess of the Dragon Clan, if you mean our Clan no harm then leave. We don''t wish to fight you, and we certainly have no intention of forgiving you. Your Clan nearly wiped our Clan out! A simple apology is insufficient to the barbarous acts of the Dragon Clan!" the Clan Chief yelled angrily.


    "Leave or fight, we aren''t so easy to push around anymore," the Clan Chief said.


    "Sir, you are right to be angry with my Dragon Clan, but I assure you my father truly wishes to make amends. The suffering of your Clan happened under the reign of my great-grandfather. Ever since my father came to power he has done everything possible to repair the wrongs done to your Clan. Our Empire is willing to make restitution. We can even restore your ancestral lands to you!" the Princess said.


    Lorne was surprised. The girl seemed sincere, but the Wu Di loathed the Dragon Clan; they feared them with every fiber of their being. He would never know how his father convinced his mother to marry him. Even more, how did he convince the Wu Di to let them be together? His father wasn''t the strongest Dragon cultivator around. He was pretty average. Lorne was aware of the strength of the Wu Di clan. If they wanted to kill his father, it would have been pretty simple.


    "Clan Chief, we would like to prove our sincerity. My father has known of this location for more than three hundred thousand years, but he never intruded upon you!" the Princess pleaded with the Clan chief.


    The Princess''s revelation shocked and frightened the members of the Clan. If that was true, then the Dragon Emperor could have wiped them out at any time. They were shaken to their core. The Clan Chief, however, just got angrier.


    "Listen here, little girl. If your Dragon Emperor was as magnanimous as you claim, then he would continue to leave us alone. Or, he would demonstrate his sincerity by coming here personally," the Clan Chief said.


    The Dragon girl seemed surprised. "It''s true the Emperor intended to let the Wu Di people be for a while longer. However, things changed. There is a great threat to our Dragon Empire and all of its citizens," the Dragon girl said.


    "As I thought. The Dragon Emperor was willing to ignore us until he needed us. Now he needs us. First, he''ll try the carrot and if that doesn''t work, then he''ll use a stick," the Clan Chief sneered.


    "Sire, Clan Chief, it''s really not like that. There''s a threat to all life in the Dragon Empire," the girl said.


    After hearing their chief, a look of enlightenment appeared on the face of the other members of the Wu Di clan. Following the clan''s enlightenment was anger. The anger and hatred of the Wu Di clan towards the Dragon clan came boiling to the top.


    Lorne watched everything very carefully. Suddenly, he spotted something dangerous and flashed from his hiding place. Lorne reappeared in between and blocked two attacks. One attack, from the Dragon Warriors aimed at the Clan Chief, and another attack, coming from the Wu Di side aimed at the Princess.Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.


    Lorne stood there between the two camps, not as Ying Xiong, but as a young Gold Dragon boy dressed in a blue and white costume reminiscent of the one he wore on Earth. Lorne never appeared in his true form since arriving on this planet except right after his birth.


    When Lorne''s parents told him the dangers of appearing as a Five Clawed Gold Dragon in public; Lorne immediately changed himself to appear to be a Four-Clawed Silver Dragon. From that day forth he never revealed his true strength. He did his best to appear to be nothing more than an average Four-Clawed Silver Horn Dragon baby.


    Lorne even made his Silver Dragon baby look like a blend of Dr. Longoak from his past life and his parents in this life. The current, true face of Lorne only had a passing resemblance to his parents. All of this was done by Lorne to conceal who he really was, and today he revealed his true self to everyone.


    Lorne stood between the two forces looking heroic and mighty.


    "Excuse me, I don''t wish to intrude but I believe life is more important than political disagreements," Lorne heroicly said. Moral certitude was a prerequisite for a hero. He had to believe in what he did, and he had to believe it was right. Otherwise, what would drive him to act?


    If a person didn''t have a higher moral code that he held himself accountable to then he was only serving himself. People who serve themselves were called villains where he came from.


    Everyone suddenly snapped back to reality. Who was this Gold Dragon? The Dragons didn''t take immediate action because they just met a Gold Dragon they had never heard of before.


    "Another dragon, just butting in." One of the elders from the Wu Di clan said. The elder suddenly fired a Void King realm energy blast at Lorne, but it harmlessly bounces off his chest. Lorne sighed as he looked at the elder. This man was usually so peace-loving. He was really angry right now. Lorne had never seen the usually gentle and peace-loving man like this.


    "Elder Wo, please stand down," Lorne said.


    Elder Wo was surprised the Dragon boy knew his name.


    "Who are you?" the Princess finally asked.


    "Wudi Long," the Dragon boy said.


    "Wudi Long?!" sneered Major Fennu, who stood next to the Princess.


    "What an arrogant boy," the Major said.


    "Perhaps," Lorne said with a smile.


    "Aren''t you a bit young to be mixed in with adult matters," the princess asked.


    "Satchel Page said: Age is a case of mind over matter. If you don''t mind, it doesn''t matter," Lorne said.


    "Witty." The princess smiled. "I wonder where this Gold Dragon boy came from." The Princess thought.


    "Princess, if you really wish to converse with the Wu Di Clan Chief then your sincerity might be better expressed without weapons. Perhaps you should retreat for now?" Lorne asked.


    "We''re not retreating! These Wu Di demons are being offered a chance at life from the Emperor and yet all they''ve done so far is spit on the Emperor''s good intentions," the Major roared.


    "Men, remove this silly little dragon and capture the Wu Di Clan Chief," the Major ordered his troops.


    "Stand down Major! My father put me in charge of this mission, not you!" the Princess commanded.


    "Princess, we all know the Emperor was only humoring you. You had a chance your way, and now we''ll do it my way. You should go back to the ship or I''ll put you in time out, for your own protection of course." The Major smiled aggressively.


    "Presumptuous!" she yelled.


    Just as the Major made a grab for the Princess, Lorne blurred in front of him, floating at eye level, and grabbed his arm.


    "You better let go of me, boy, before I get rough," the Major said.


    "Major, I think this situation calls for cooler heads, not cowardly hotheads," Lorne said. Before the Major could react, Lorne pushed the commander back by touching his palm to the Major''s chest. The commander flew backward, mowing down some of his men. The whole lot wound up crashing into a mountain seventy-three miles away. The Major and his men were all unconscious.


    Lorne turned around and looked at the Dragon Princess.


    "Pardon me miss, but if I may be so bold, you should make sure your men are under control before coming to talk about important things with the Clan Chief. They already have no reason to trust you and bringing hotheads like that Major only makes things worse," Lorne said.


    "I didn''t have a choice. My father assigned him to me," The princess said.


    "Then you shouldn''t have come. You should reflect on your mistakes and find a more sincere way to approach the Wu Di Clan in the future," Lorne said.


    "Perhaps you can help with that?" the Princess asked.


    Lorne blurred into the sky and turned back to say, "I''m not a politician mam, be safe." With that, Lorne turned towards the heavens and flew away. While everyone looked at the sky in the direction Lorne flew in, he quickly circled around and arrived back at the boulder where he hid earlier. He changed back into his normal appearance as a Silver Horn dragon.


    The parties in the conflict today were all puzzled. "Who was that Dragon boy?"


    "I don''t know who that boy was, but he was right. Your Dragon Clan isn''t being sincere." After saying his piece, the Wu Di clan chief and the clan members turned around and entered their hidden clan, disappearing from before everyone.

 Brier and Foxx

    The Princess stood there exasperated. She looked at the mess of soldiers she had.


    "Lieutenant Brier, take the Major into custody and lock him up," the Princess said.


    The Lieutenant froze as he slowly turned to look at the Princess. "Your Majesty, whaaa..."


    "Or, you can lock yourself up and I''ll have someone else do it," the Princess said.


    The Lieutenant jumped to salute and carried out his orders. "I need to speak with father," she thought.


    Just as she was turning around to leave she saw a small form running towards the Wu Di Clan''s entrance. It was a Silver Horn Dragon baby! Where did it come from? Even more startling, the baby made a hand sign and went into the Clan without a problem.


    Lieutenant Brier!" the Princess cried.


    Lieutenant Brier was arresting the Major as the Princess ordered when he heard her crying out for him. The Lieutenant immediately rushed to her side.


    "Yes, Princess!" Lieutenant Brier said as he saluted.


    "Why would a Silver Horn Dragon baby go into the Wu Di Clan?" the Princess asked.


    Lieutenant Brier thought the princess was telling him a joke. He relaxed and smiled.


    "I think I''ve heard this one before Princess, but I don''t remember the punchline. Why would a Silver Horn Dragon baby go into the Wu Di Clan?" The Lieutenant repeated her question expecting a punchline.


    "I''m serious Lieutenant," she said.


    "I''m serious Lieutenant Who?" He asked while still smiling.


    The princess looked at this person like he was an idiot. After a moment of not hearing a punchline, the Lieutenant looked at the Princess and saw the annoyed look she gave him.


    "Oh, you''re asking me. I don''t know Princess," the Lieutenant responded.


    "Find out why a Silver Horn Dragon baby is allowed into the Wu Di Clan but I''m not. I also want you to find out where he comes from," the Princess said.


    "Yes ma''am," The Lieutenant said.


    After the Princess left, Lieutenant Brier searched for his best friend Lieutenant Foxx. He was the smartest person he knew. He might be able to help him solve the mystery of the Dragon baby. They could share the credit for this if he finds out what the Princess needed to know. Foxx and Brier had an odd relationship. Brier would always get himself into strange situations, Foxx would think of a way to get him out, and they would both usually benefit from these adventures.


    Lieutenant Brier found Lieutenant Foxx and told him what happened. Foxx was in the ship during the encounter and wasn''t aware of the standoff. Everything happened too fast. The people on the ship only found out what was going on when the Major was dragged in and thrown into a prison cell. He was still unconscious.


    After hearing Brier''s dilemma, Foxx moved quickly to ask around. He soon returned with the needed information. Foxx and Brier went to deliver the report to the Princess.


    "Princess, we have the information you requested." Lieutenant Brier quietly said. The princess was startled and looked at Lieutenant Brier.


    ¡®That was fast, I was considering who else I could send to find this information. I thought this guy was an idiot.¡¯ The princess thought.


    "That was quick Lieutenant. Who¡¯s your friend?" asked the Princess.


    "Princess, this is why I was able to find the information for you so fast. This is my friend Lieutenant Foxx. He''s the smartest person I know. If I have a question he can find the answer. If I have a problem, he can find a solution," Lieutenant Brier said with a smile.


    The man was an idiot, but he wasn''t a lost cause. He at least knew if he couldn''t solve the problem by himself, he found someone who could. This was good leadership and management.


    "Let''s hear it then," the Princess said.


    "Yes, ma''am. There are a Dragon and a half-Dragon couple who live at the edge of a large Beast forest. For some reason, the family is close to the Wu Di Clan. The Dragon baby is actually famous in the area. He found three inheritance treasures and passed them to the Clans they belonged to. He just seems to enjoy finding the treasures, but he isn''t interested in them," Lieutenant Foxx said.


    "What kind of Dragons are they?" the Princess asked.


    "The male is a Four-Clawed Silver Horn. It isn''t clear what kind of Dragon the half-Dragon woman is." Lieutenant Foxx said.


    "Do you find any of this odd Lieutenant?" the Princess asked.


    "Yes." Lieutenant Foxx said.


    "What in particular?" the Princess asked.


    "I think the mother is suspicious. The Dragon DNA is very aggressive. It tends to dominate any bloodline it is a part of unless it is extremely diluted. I don''t think she''s a half-Dragon. I also find it odd they have a relationship with the Wu Di Clan. The Clan might tolerate the family, but would they give them open access to the Clan? Even if the Dragon baby is sweet and trustworthy his relationship is hard to explain. This leads me to believe the Dragon baby is the half-Dragon and this mother is a member of the Wu Di Clan," Lieutenant Foxx concluded.


    The Princess was surprised inside but kept her emotions hidden. She was really impressed by this Lieutenant Foxx.Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    "Good work Lieutenant. I don''t have the power to directly promote you to major, but I will suggest the promotion to my father. For the time being, you are in charge of the soldiers now and Lieutenant Brier is your right-hand man. Arrange a meeting with the couple near the woods for tomorrow. Congratulations Lieutenant. You may go," the Princess said.


    Foxx and Brier left the Princess to carry out her orders.


    "Congratulations buddy!" Lieutenant Brier said.


    "I couldn''t have done it without you. It''s like you''re my lucky charm," Foxx smiled.


    The Princess went to her room and compiled all the data she was given and the information she gathered herself. After reflecting on everything and making sure the details were clear in her mind she called her father, the Dragon Emperor.


    An image of a large man appeared in her communication screen. The man looked fierce. Glowing gold eyes with two magnificent horns. Each horn had several small branches connected to it almost forming a majestic helmet. His hair pulled through the horns in the back. He was dressed regally in a fiery red dragon robe.


    "Father," the princess said.


    "Yu''er, how is your progress?" The Dragon Emperor asked.


    "Father, everything is a mess," the Princess said.


    "A mess, what happened?" the Emperor asked.


    Princess Yu told her father everything that happened today including the appearance of the heroic dragon boy and the Ying family. The princess even bitterly complained about Major Fennu. After hearing everything the Emperor laughed.


    "Father you find this funny?!" Princess Yu asked indignantly.


    "I do," The Emperor responded.


    "What do you find funny about all of this?" she asked.


    "I think the whole things is pretty funny and the Dragon boy is interesting. The Wu Di Clan Chief was right to be mad at you. You didn''t convey my sincerity. If you will remember I didn''t want to assign this mission to you originally. Do you know why?" the Emperor asked.


    "No, why?" the Princess asked.


    "I didn''t want to assign it to you earlier because I was almost certain you would screw the whole thing up like you have," the Emperor said as he chuckled.


    The princess was flustered and turned red.


    "I know I failed on this important mission father, but I wish you wouldn''t make fun of me,¡± the Princess said feeling very sad.


    "Who said you failed the mission?" the Emperor asked.


    "You just told me I made a mess of everything," the Princess said.


    "That doesn''t mean you failed. Do want to know how you will know you failed your Ambassadorial mission?" the Emperor asked.


    "How?" the Princess asked.


    "You''ll know you failed when I recall you home and send someone in your place," the Emperor said.


    "I don''t understand," the princess responded.


    "Messing up is expected. It didn¡¯t matter who I sent, this mess with the Wu Di wouldn''t have gone smoothly. It was destined to be a big mess. However, the reason I sent you was you were able to convince me you could succeed with the goal of the mission. I still think you have a shot. I think you''ve found two possible allies. The Wudi Long boy, and the Dragon family," the Emperor said.


    The Princess nodded her head. "Yes, I still think I can salvage this," the Princess said.


    "Good, you just need to find a replacement for Fennu. Let him know he''s been demoted to Sergeant. If you have any more problems with him just execute him as an example," the Emperor said.


    "I have a replacement in mind for Major Fennu. Two replacements you might say. I''m sending you their data. I want to promote  1st Lieutenant Foxx to Major and I would like to promote 1st Lieutenant Brier to Captain. Both of them performed well in this situation, especially Lieutenant Foxx. He has a knack for gathering intel and deciphering clues. He also has a solid command of psychology. I''ve sent you their files. The two have worked as a team for years and produced some amazing results," the Princess said.


    The Emperor read over the files sent over and seemed amused and impressed.


    "These are the kind of men I like in our Dragon Forces. I''ll pass down the promotions myself. You''ve found some good men, but good men must be controlled and used properly. Don''t let them get a big head," the Emperor advised his daughter.


    "Yes, sir, father," the Princess said.


    "Oh, father, any news about those dragon twins?" the Princess asked with concern.


    "None, but General Long has his best man on it, so I''m expecting good news soon."


    *      *      *


    Kal led the twins to the coordinates the fairies indicated. It was a half a day''s travel from their cave. As Kal and the twins set out, Master Ba Rel and his forces landed on the planet. Kal expected this. The fairies were equipped with high-level weapons and sent to mess up the spiritual energy flow of the world. This involved blowing up hills and mountains and making discreet attacks on the search teams. While they created all of this mischief, Kal and the twins moved at full speed to the gate.


    "Master Ba Rel, we''re getting reports of attacks by fairies," a soldier reported to Master Rel.


    "What are they attacking?" Master Rel asked.


    "Everything and everyone. They don¡¯t appear to have a specific target," the soldier said.


    "Let me see the orbital scans," Master Rel said.


    Master Rel received the Active Scan Map (ASM) and looked at several key points around the world.


    "We''re dealing with a wily one," Master Rel said.


    "Sir?" the soldier asked.


    "He''s on the move and trying to mask his tracks. He doesn''t want us to know where he''s headed so he''s using the fairies to create disturbances in the planet ¡¯s spiritual energy flow and harassing our troops while he heads in leisure to his destination," Master Rel said.


    Master Rel''s eyes sparkled as he considered the actions of his new prey. When was the last time he had such a difficult hunt? The more difficult the hunt the better. Not only would this push him to increase the depth of his understanding of his Dao, the Dao of the Hunt, but when he successfully captured his enemies his rewards would be unbelievably high.


    Of course, he couldn''t just claim this person is a challenge; he needed to demonstrate this to the Syndicate. Master Rel prepared a report and let them know it was a much tougher task.


    As Master Rel expected, the Syndicate upped the bonus for the capture of the twins and also expanded the mission to include the fairy technology. If they could use fairies like his opponents, they would be unmatched in the universe.


    Master Rel, however, wasn''t satisfied. He would allow the pressure to build up before he finally struck against his prey. He really wanted the Syndicate to demonstrate their sincerity.


    The fairies had orders to give Kal and the twins half a day and then they were to flee to the sea to hide until he was able to rescue them. If he couldn''t save them they could find their own way back home or die and reincarnate. The fairies were given a one-time use Samsara pods as compensation for the mission.


    Three hours after touching down, Master Rel had already lost a third of his men in the indiscriminate attacks. Instead of being angry, Master Rel was actually quite happy. The Syndicate was tracking the situation and realized just how difficult the mission had become.


    The Syndicate stopped slowly increasing the bounty but directly asked Master Rel what he needed and what he wanted to complete the mission. After a couple of hours of arguing both sides came to an agreement. Master Rel walked over to his cultivators and told them it was thumbs up. Then Master Rel commanded the soldiers to prepare to break camp and move out.


    Even though Master Rel spent several hours milking the benefits he wasn''t just sitting around idle. Master Rel reviewed several hours-worth of orbital scans and noticed just about an hour before the fairy onslaught there was a lot of activity in one area. Master Rel believed that''s where his prey was headed.


    Master Rel and his men rode their combat spirit bikes followed by the soldiers in their land attack vehicles. The orders were to mow down any fairies in the way and pursue an aggressive capture strategy. The aggressive capture strategy had already been explained to the soldiers. In the very fast attack vehicles, they only needed an hour to arrive at the location Kal and the twins were headed for.


    "I''m coming for you little dragons," Master Rel laughed viciously.

 Ignore the Man Behind the Curtain

    The trek to the gate location was swift. After nearly half a day of travel Kal and the twins were almost there. Unfortunately, as they closed on their destination, Kal received a report of Syndicate forces nearing the gate location.


    "Shig!" Kal yelled.


    The twins were worried. Kal only used that kind of language when he was really upset.


    "What is it Kal?" Congming asked.


    "The Syndicate is on to us. Somehow, they know where we''re headed. They''re trying to beat us there." Kal said.


    "What will we do?" Pianzi asked.


    "Do? The best option is to beat them there. They might know the general area we''re headed to, but they probably don''t know exactly where we''re headed."


    With that said, Kal pushed himself to his maximum speed. Kal was reluctant to do this beforehand because he was worried about being discovered. Now, it didn''t matter. At this point, they were all in. Calculating things in his head Kal decided to take a gamble.


    "Pianzi, Congming, you two head to the gate at your current speed and see if it''s something we can use. Take this. If what the fairies found is actually a teleportation gate; then this will help you activate it," Kal said.


    "What are you going to do?" Congming asked.


    "Run interference," Kal said with his typical smirk.


    After giving his orders, Kal peeled off and headed directly to the incoming Syndicate forces.


    "This isn''t going to be easy. I hope I survive this one," Kal thought to himself.


    "Master Rel," a soldier drew near to Master Ba Rel casually riding his spirit bike.


    "Report," Master Rel said as he threw an energy screen up to block the wind.


    "We''re detecting an object heading in our direction, sir. It''s probably an individual," the soldier said.


    "One of ours?" Master Rel asked.


    "Unknown," the soldier said.


    "Send a couple of fighters to intercept. If it isn''t one of ours bring the person to me," Master Rel said.


    "Yes, sir." The soldier left Master Rel to carry out his orders.


    Kal sensed the fast attack fighter coming. It had been a while since Kal took on a ship with just his power. He preferred fighting from his ship, but what choice did he have now? Kal took a shield and a heavy canon out of his storage ring. Kal suddenly had a stroke of inspiration.


    He selected several spheres. Kal dropped three spheres at different points as he continued to approach. Two more spheres he threw out and they began to circle him. The last four spheres shot up into the air.


    Kal stopped in his tracks and waited for the ship to arrive. Within a couple of minutes, the fast attack ship came before Kal and stopped. Seeing Kal standing there, the fast attack ship landed to send someone out to get Kal. Just as the person came out an energy beam came from behind Kal who lept out of the way. Kal looked back with a shocked look on his face.


    No one on the ship had the time to move the ship. The ship and all on board were destroyed. The only survivor was the soldier walking toward Kal. He ran to the soldier, scooped him up while using his shield to deflect another incoming beam. Kal dashed away from the scene heading to the convoy of Syndicate operatives.


    While in flight, the soldier reported the situation letting Command know they were coming in hot. He barely had enough time to explain what was happening when beams from the sky came down and nearly took off his head. The two spheres next to Kal opened up into two powerful looking cannons. The cannons worked independently and shot back in the direction where the energy beams were coming from.


    As they approached the convoy, he was exchanging shots with whatever was behind him. Once he was in with the convoy an invisible energy shield was activated protecting the convoy from the energy beams. After a few more shots whatever was shooting stopped.


    Master Ba Rel ordered the soldiers to stop and set up a defensive perimeter. He wanted to talk with this mystery person and it wasn''t convenient to do that on a Spirit Bike. He wasn''t worried about whatever was shooting as he didn''t feel it could threaten him.This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.


    Kal was brought before Master Rel. His floating cannons changed back into floating spheres.


    "Who are you?" Master Rel asked.


    "Maq Do, sir," Kal said. Maq Do was one of Kal''s many aliases. This particular alias was one he used as a scummy mercenary.


    "What are you doing here?" Master Rel asked suspiciously.


    "Escaping from the twin Dragons kids everyone''s looking for," Kal responded.


    "Escaping from them?" Master Rel asked.


    "Yes, sir, I was working for them but when I realized they were going to get me killed I tried to leave. I tried to sneak away but they caught me going before I got too far. As soon as I saw them I took off as fast as I could," Kal said.


    "Why would you run from a couple of Dragon kids?" Master Rel asked.


    "I wasn''t running from the kids, I was running from the Elder who is with them," Kal said.


    "There''s a Dragon Elder with them?" Master Rel was suddenly excited.


    "Yes, sir, he''s their guardian. He was dispatched by General Long himself," Kal said.


    "Who is General Long?" Master Rel asked him.


    "Not to seem ungrateful but shouldn''t we take care of some business before I give away all of my precious information for free?" Kal asked.


    "What are you?" asked Master Rel.


    "A man who just left a well-paying job and his home," Kal said. Kal was a fox. He knew he could buy more time for the twins through his mouth than with his fists. He had a feeling the person before him was also a fox. Kal had to be in his top form or he''d wind up dead. He could tell this person was much stronger than him.


    "What do you want?" Master Rel asked. He wasn''t surprised the man asked for money. Clearly, he was some kind of mercenary who put himself before others. Master Rel could understand such a person because he was such a person. He learned to survive with his wits and his fists. One day Master Rel realized not only could he survive but he could thrive by relying on his talents.


    Master Rel started as just another heavy for the Syndicate, but thanks to his cultivation talent he quickly raised his status in the Syndicate. The higher-ups noticed this little thug of theirs was a little too good at what he did. They tested him and discovered his ability. He was brought into the sect and eventually raised himself to a high status within the Academy. Once his training was over, he returned to the Syndicate as an upper boss. Today, he served as an Elder and had a lot of power. The fellow in front of him reminded him of himself.


    "Money," Kal said.


    "Ok," Master Rel said.


    "You didn''t ask me how much I wanted," Kal said.


    "Don''t worry, I''ll pay you twice the value of the information," Master Rel said.


    Kal looked at this Master Rel and realized he was being told we''ll pay you and you will be happy that we don''t kill you. Kal took a deep breath. "Ok," he said.


    "Tell me, where do you come from?" Master Rel asked.


    "We come from the Dragon Empire. We were escaping pursuers and flew into a rift. We were trapped in the rift for what seemed like forever until we somehow found our way out and wound up here," Kal said.


    "There''s an Empire of Dragons?" Master Rel asked?


    "Yeah, and those Gold Dragons are pretty valuable to them because Gold Dragons are rare. They wouldn''t have let them out of the Clan if not for the conniving of the boy Dragon," Kal said.


    "Are the Dragons chasing you?" Master Rel asked.


    "I doubt it, the thing shooting at me was probably a couple of puppets," Kal said.


    "Why didn''t the Elder Dragon kill you if he''s so strong?" Master Rel asked.


    "I think he was taking apart his lab which is more important to him than me," Kal said.


    "What kind of lab is it?" Master Rel asked.


    "It''s the lab he uses to make the fairies," Kal said.


    "He makes the fairies? He doesn''t just release them?" Master Rel asked surprised.


    "No, regular fairies are too hard to control, they''re whimsical. The Dragon Empire is really skilled at creating bodies and manipulating souls. They simply make fairy bodies and put souls of their choosing into the bodies. Pretty nifty, hmm?¡± Kal said.


    Master Rel was shocked. How powerful would an Empire be if they could make bodies and control souls? But there was something that didn''t make sense."


    "If they''re so good with this technology then why don''t they just make more Gold Dragons?" Master Rel asked.


    "I don''t know, this technology is really secretive. It could be they have made an army of Gold Dragons, or maybe making Gold Dragons is too expensive. It could be any number of things. It could also be the technology the Dragon Empire has can only be used to make fairies. Fairies are much smaller and simpler bodies than dragons," Kal said.


    "True, true." Master Rel thought.


    "Where''s the base of the dragons?" Master Rel asked.


    "It''s about half a day''s journey in that direction. They''re hiding in a cave. I can show you if you''d like." Kal turned around and pointed in the direction he came from.


    "I would rather be where they are going. Do you know where they were going?" Master Rel asked.


    "The elder said the fairies found something a day''s journey in that direction." Kal pointed in the direction the twins were headed.


    "Did they trust you, Mr. Do?" Master Rel asked suspiciously.


    "They did, but I think they became suspicious of me. Otherwise, how could they have caught me leaving so easily? To be honest I was surprised they caught me. I''m pretty stealthy. The only thing I can think of is that they were on to me," Kal said.


    Master Rel reflected on this Mr. Do''s information. What he said made sense. He was put on guard when he realized although the direction was the same, the area Mr. Do claimed the Dragons were headed to overshot the area they believed they were going to.


    It could be they fed bad information to this mercenary. It didn''t matter, they would continue forward and beat those kids there. If what this person said is correct; it sounded like the Dragons hadn''t left their base yet. That gave them plenty of time to set up an ambush.


    What Master Rel didn''t realize was by now the twins were probably already at their destination. If things went well, by the time this Syndicate military convoy arrived the twins would be long gone. If that happened, then Kal could take his time and eventually escape on his own. Kal felt more relieved.

 What鈥檚 A Little Murder Between Friends

    The day after the incident between the Princess of the Dragon Clan and the Wu Di, Lorne found himself sitting in his home with the Clan Chief, his parents, his grandfather and the Princess of the Dragon Clan. The Princess also brought two unarmed officers with her.


    It seemed Lorne hadn''t thought through his sudden appearance at the Wu Di Clan. His parents'' identity had been more or less figured out by the Princess. The Clan Chief was present to protect the Ying family just in case this Dragon Princess tried anything.


    Ironically, the whole reason the Princess wanted to meet with the Ying family was she hoped they could arrange a meeting with the Clan Chief for her. Funnily enough, arranging a meeting with the Ying family automatically gave her a meeting with the Wu Di Clan Chief.


    The Ying family sat awkwardly in their living room with their ''retinue'' standing behind them; while the Princess sat in front of the Yings with her retinue behind her.


    Lorne could tell this meeting was going nowhere fast. Why did they send this princess? She''s not very good at being an ambassador. Lorne figured he could help out the situation by playing the role of a child.


    "So, you''re the daughter of the Dragon Emperor," Lorne suddenly said.


    Lorne''s comment seemed to wake the Princess who look at him and smiled.


    "Yes, I am, and you''re Ying Xiong. That''s a curious name for a dragon," the Princess said in a genuinely friendly way.


    "Why''s that curious?" Lorne asked.


    "Doesn''t Xiong mean bear? But you''re a Dragon, not a bear. You should have been named Long, right?" The princess asked.


    "I have a bear brother named Xiong. I always thought to call a Bear, ''bear'' was a bit strange. Calling a Dragon a bear or a bear a Dragon isn''t strange because it means there''s something you admire about the other person. If I''m called ''bear,'' then perhaps it''s because my parents liked something about bears," Lorne said. He then turned to look at his parents.


    "Father, is there something you like about bears that made you call me, Xiong?" Lorne asked.


    Lorne''s father laughed and nodded his head.


    "Indeed, I wanted you to be like a brother I had who was a bear. He had the best qualities of bears. He was loyal, strong, and not afraid to love others. He was like most of the bears I''ve met. I wanted you to share those qualities, so I called you Xiong. Plus, when you came, flying out of your egg and punched me across the room it was like a powerful bear waking up from his nap with a mighty roar!" Lorne''s father said with a laugh.


    Hearing this, everyone in the room laughed. Everyone except for the Wu Di Clan Chief. He just observed the Princess. The Princess was aware of the Clan Chief scrutinizing her but decided to ignore it for now.


    "May I know how the two of you met?" the Princess asked Lorne''s parents.


    "He saved my life," Lorne''s mom said.


    "I was exploring outside of the Clan grounds as part of my coming of age ceremony. I ran into a True Lord realm Fire Snake. It suddenly attacked me and broke a couple of my life preserving treasures. Just when I thought it would kill me, this crazy Dragon guy rushes out and punches it in the jaw. It had absolutely zero effect other than to make the Fire Snake angry." Lorne''s Mom looked at her husband tenderly with a smiling gaze and continued.


    "He brought up a shield the Fire Snake immediately melted after it rammed my husband. It knocked him several hundred feet away. It knocked him into a hollow tree. He fell unconscious. That gave me a chance to escape. The snake rushed after him but couldn''t find him.Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.


    Then Dad showed up." She pointed to the man on her other side, "...and killed the snake. He even made a pair of shoes from it and gave them to my husband." Lorne''s Mom laughed.


    "Of course, we couldn''t just leave him there unconscious in that tree after he saved my life. My father built a little house. This little house and we nursed him back to health. We fell in love, much to my father''s dismay!" Lorne''s mother laughed again as did everyone else except for the Clan Chief.


    "How romantic!" the Princess exclaimed.


    "I hope to meet my future husband like that," the Princess said with a twinkle in her eye. For the first time, the Clan Chief had a small smile at the corner of his mouth.


    "Princess, perhaps you can tell us what you hoped to accomplish here," the Clan Chief said.


    "I already accomplished that." She laughed. "I wanted to ask the Yings to help me meet with you. I didn''t expect you would show up at our meeting. You must really care about them!" the Princess said.


    The Clan Chief was surprised for a moment but decided it made sense. Who knew she got what she wanted just because he didn''t trust her with the Yings.


    "Since you have me here, what did you want to say?" the Chief asked.


    "I''ll be blunt. What would it take for us to come together like the Yings? How can we restore ourselves in the eyes of the Wu Di Clan so we, the Dragon Empire, can become friends or at least allies with your Clan?¡±


    "I don''t know. Nothing. We don''t trust you!" the Clan chief said.


    "You don''t have to trust us. We hope to earn your trust over time. Perhaps we could work together though?" the Princess asked.


    "Princess, why did your Dragon Empire try to wipe out my Wu Di Clan?" the Chief asked.


    The Princess was hesitant to answer because she knew the answer and it wasn''t good. However, she couldn''t avoid the truth, not if she wanted to demonstrate their sincerity to the Wu Di clan.


    "The Dragon Clan felt threatened by the Wu Di Clan. The Dragon Clan and the Wu Di clan used to be rivals. We fought a war against each other to see who the supreme Clan would be, and the Wu Di Clan lost. My great-grandfather was worried the Wu Di clan would grow strong again and try to extinguish our Dragon Clan, so he decided to pull your Clan up by the roots," the Princess said.


    "How do you expect us to work with someone who tried to pull us up by the roots? Your Dragon Clan ran rampant over the universe and subjugated this universe before moving on to others! You set up a vile Empire that brings misery and death to all who cross you. Your clan wants power, and it will always see our clan as opposition to their bid for power. How can the Dragon Clan ever let us go?" the Clan Chief asked.


    "I think you''re being unfair Clan Chief. Someone had to take control of this universe. Before my great-grandfather took over, this universe was mad with chaos! Someone had to take responsibility. My great-grandfather didn''t want to start an Empire, but when he looked at all of the sufferings what could he do? The Wu Di Clan never tried to aid others. They only cared about themselves!


    ¡°Look at this world you live on. How many years have you lived here? A half-a-million years, or longer? How many times has the Wu Di Clan ever reached out to help their neighbors overcome the tribulations they faced. The Beast Forest Elders repeatedly defended this world from the Divine Kill Sect, that sect of bandits who only sought to kill to fill their pockets. The Dragon Clan itself can''t solve every crisis. We need worlds to stand up for themselves as best they can.


    ¡°The Weak Beast Clan stood against that evil sect and won. Not just for themselves but for everyone on this planet. How many times did the Wu Di Clan help? Never! You''re right, my Dragon Empire are certainly guilty of going too far, but when has the Wu Di Clan ever gone beyond doing nothing? The Wu Di Clan only cares about itself. Isn''t that true?" the Princess yelled. The Princess was no longer going to play the regretful lamb. She was truly angry.


    The Clan Chief looked sullen, contemplating the words of the Dragon Emperor''s daughter. She was right, all they ever did was hide from the world in their hidden holy land. When had they shown they deserved to be in this world?


    "Now, you''re not being fair to the Wu Di Clan, Princess," Lorne said.


    "The Wu Di Clan was afraid for its survival. The Dragon Clan was hunting them and if word got back to the Dragon Clan the Wu Di Clan was found on a planet, by your own words, you admit the Dragon Clan would have killed them. Pulled up the roots, as you said. How can the Wu Di Clan save others when they can''t save themselves?" Lorne asked.


    "On my old world of Earth, there are flying machines called planes. People took them all over the world, but sometimes these planes would fail and crash. At the beginning of every flight, the crew taught people how to help themselves survive emergencies.


    One part of helping themselves survive is at times they may not be able to breathe so special masks came from the ceiling. If they put the masks on they could breathe. Mothers were told before they put a mask on their child, they must put one on themselves. Why? Because you can''t save someone else until you can save yourself.


    Now you''re trying to tell the Wu Di Clan they should be ashamed because they never tried to save their neighbors? How could they save their neighbors when a sword was at their throat?" Lorne asked.

 Support Your Local Dragon Army

    The Princess was stunned into silence. She let old prejudices surface and became angry at how stubborn these Wu Di people were. The Clan Chief, on the other hand, looked up at the boy and felt his pride return. That''s right, they wanted to help the Beast Forest but if they did, it would mean death to their Clan.


    The princess calmed down and looked at the little Dragon baby. "You are wise Xiong, I hadn''t thought of that. You were right to rebuke me," the Princess said sincerely.


    "You seem to have a good heart; we all suffer from our own prejudices. It''s hard to guard against prejudice against others. What''s most important is to put aside your prejudice to consider the current situation. If the Wu Di Clan had completely listened to its prejudices I never would have been born!" Lorne said with a wink to the princess.


    The Princess was surprised by Lorne''s action. This baby Dragon seemed more like an Elder than a baby.


    "You seem much older than you are,¡± the Princess said." Right after she said it, one of her men, Major Foxx, whispered something in her ear. Her eyes opened wide.


    "Did you say something about your last world?" the Princess asked.


    "Yes, I mentioned in passing the last life I remember leading. I''ve reincarnated into this world from another place. In my old world, I was an adult, I even had a wife and children. It makes being a baby tough," Lorne admitted.


    Not everyone present knew Lorne had reincarnated. Only his parents and his grandfather knew this family secret. The Clan Chief quickly recovered from the surprising revelation.


    "It''s not unusual for members of our tribe to remember their past lives," the Clan Chief said.


    "Xiong''er, you had children in your old world? You never told me!" his mother said.


    "I would have, but when I mentioned I was an adult of 32 years of age, you laughed and made infantile jokes. Who would be in the mood to share anything after that?" Lorne said.


    Lorne''s mother was embarrassed and felt bad. It was just they were so happy at the time they thought everything he did and said was cute. He was trying to have an adult conversation with them and they just made fun of him. They were acting more like children than he was. Suddenly, she felt really bad and started tearing up.


    "I''m sorry Xiong''er, I was wrong to make fun of you. It''s just we were so excited, you were in that egg for ten thousand years..." his mother began.


    "Ten Thousand years!!!" The Princess yelled. What did a ten-thousand-year incubation process mean for a dragon? It meant it was powerful. The longer it incubated, the stronger it was. A ten-thousand-year-old Dragon baby that was only a Silver Horn Dragon. Impossible!


    "Are you sure you''re just a Four-Clawed Silver Horn Dragon, Xiong?" the Princess asked.


    Lorne''s mother realized she had accidentally spilled the beans. Now, she was in a panic. Lorne looked at his mother and smiled. He patted her hand.


    "I can be a ten-thousand-year-old dragon hatchling and still be a Silver Horn Dragon," Lorne said.


    "There''s no way," the Princess refused to believe Lorne.


    "Sure, you''re thinking of me as a full-blooded Dragon, but don''t forget that I''m half Wu Di. Don''t you think that would drag out my birth? I mean, I''m as powerful a member of the Wu Di clan as I am the Dragon Clan. You might say I''m overpowered, right? Doesn''t this explain things?" Lorne asked.This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    What Lorne said made sense. When had there ever been a half-Dragon-half-Wu Di baby? Never that she could remember. This baby was unique!


    "Can you prove it?" the Princess asked.


    "Can you provide a cultivation method?" Lorne asked.


    "Make it something for a Silver Horn Dragon, something my father and I can use," Lorne said with a smile.


    The Princess fished out a cultivation method from her storage ring and handed it to Lorne. The Princess carried around cultivation methods for all sorts of cultivators, especially Dragons, as rewards. When a warrior did outstandingly well she liked to reward them with cultivation methods.


    Lorne examined the cultivation crystal the size of his thumbnail and plugged it into a crystal reader he had. Using his Wu Di energy sensing ability, Lorne started making changes to the cultivation. After he finished making the changes he grabbed two blank crystals the size of a thumbnail. He made copies of the cultivation method and handed one to his father, kept one for himself, and returned the original cultivation crystal to the Princess.


    The Princess examined the crystal with shock! This method increased the power output by at least seventy-three percent, increased Qi efficiency by eighty-two percent, and increased the flow of Qi by forty-nine percent! This previously mid-tier cultivation technique could just barely qualify as a heavenly technique!


    "Xiong, would you like to come to the Dragon Clan capital and learn in the Imperial Academy?" the Princess asked excitedly.


    Lorne looked at his parents. This is what they feared would happen when someone discovered Lorne''s abilities.


    "Princess, my parents would prefer I live here with them, and frankly so would I. Childhood, even for dragons, goes by so fast. It would break my parent''s heart. Plus, my Grandfather is here, and the Elders of the Wu Di clan always taught me. I would feel wrong abandoning them," Lorne said.


    The Wu Di Clan people were happy and proud of Lorne''s answer. This boy truly was a part of their Wu Di Clan! Lorne''s parents were overjoyed. Hearing their son preferred to stay with them, what parent wouldn''t be happy?


    "But..." the Princess began.


    "Princess," Lorne said in a whisper as he leaned forward to her. "I think this is a good opportunity to demonstrate sincerity," Lorne said.


    This Dragon baby was too sharp. He was right. She could insist he come with them. However, this would reinforce the image of the Dragon Empire as an unfeeling tyrant. Or she could listen to his wishes and show the Dragon Clan truly wanted to change and become friends with the Wu Di Clan. To succeed in her mission, she knew which choice she had to make.


    The Princess nodded her head in agreement. "You''re right Xiong. Would you mind if I sent a teacher here to teach you how to cultivate as a Dragon?" the Princess asked.


    "Don''t I have my father?" Lorne asked with a smile.


    This kid was tricky! She knew she couldn''t win against him. Once again, she gave in to his wishes. On the upside, the Clan Chief began to see the Dragon Princess in a positive light. He didn''t know about the rest of the Dragon Empire. After all, he still saw the hate and fear in the eyes of that Major yesterday. Lorne was right. He should judge each person individually. One person doesn''t make the Dragon Empire good, but it also doesn''t make it evil. He needed more time to understand the current Dragon Empire.


    The Dragon Princess eventually took her to leave after they finished their chat. It was a much better meeting than she could hope for, especially after yesterday''s disaster! The Princess made her way back to her ship and contacted her father. The Princess told her father about the meeting and about the amazing Dragon baby hidden away near the Beast Forest.


    The Dragon Emperor was amazed to learn there was such a powerful Dragon-Wu-Di hybrid. Even still, he felt his daughter was right to not insist the Dragon baby come with her. As important as such an addition would make to the Dragon Clan, it still paled in comparison to the benefits of becoming allies with the Wu Di Clan. Besides, it was still just a baby, who knew what would happen in the future.


    The Emperor never revealed just how much the Dragon Empire needed the Wu Di clan. The Princess knew this deal would affect the living beings in the Dragon Empire, but she mainly thought it meant the Dragon Clan could be overthrown.


    The Dragon Emperor knew better. He knew it was just a matter of time before that terrible being decided to finally strike at the heart of the Dragon Empire. He knew if this being was successful it wasn''t just the Dragon Empire that would suffer. Not only would the Dragon Empire disappear. All sentient life would disappear. The being they were facing was a member of the Desolate Demon Empire who was renowned for their vicious policy of wiping out all sentient life in the universes they conquered and replacing them with members of their race.


    The Dragon Empire and its allies would soon enter a genocidal war!