Chapter 169: A Glimpse into the Absurd
The shocking revelation about Parasite still hummed in the back of Kai's mind like a dissonant chord. The peace of the night terrace was shattered, the cool beer in his hand now forgotten. A storm was brewing on a galactic scale, and he needed to see it, to comprehend the new reality they were all facing. He pushed himself up from his beanbag, the scraping softly against the concrete floor, and moved with a determined pace back inside their safehouse.
The transition from the open, night-cool air to the enclosed, dimly lit hall was abrupt. His voice, laced with a mixture of urgency and morbid curiosity, cut through the quiet living space.
"Moon! Moon!" he called out, his eyes scanning the room.
His gaze quickly landed on his brother . Moon was seated on their worn-out sofa, his posture relaxed, but his attention was completely absorbed by the large screen of his personal data-slate. He didn't flinch, didn't even acknowledge Kai's entrance. It was as if Kai's words had been absorbed by the very atmosphere of the room.
Frowning, Kai took a few steps closer. "Hey! Are you even listening? I said, put the tournament live feed on the main screen! This is big!"
Again, there was no response. Moon simply continued to stare intently at his device, his expression one of unnerving focus, as if he were deciphering a complex tactical map or a piece of profound ancient text.
A flicker of irritation, mixed with confusion, passed over Kai's face. What could possibly be more important than the re-emergence of a cosmic-level threat they were personally connected to?
"What in the world are you watching that's so captivating?" Kai asked, his tone a blend of exasperation and genuine curiosity.
Finally, Moon broke his concentration. He slowly turned his head, his eyes meeting Kai's. There was no alarm, no excitement about galactic news in his gaze. Instead, his face was a perfect mask of deadpan seriousness. He delivered his answer in a flat, matter-of-fact tone, as if stating the most obvious thing in the universe.
"I am watching a retired sunflower reacting to photosynthesis."
Kai's brain came to a screeching halt. For a solid three seconds, he simply stood there, his mouth slightly agape, processing the string of words that had just left Moon's mouth. The grand, terrifying image of Gluttony's demonic form was instantly, violently replaced by the mental picture of a… sunflower. A retired one.
"...What?" was the only syllable Kai could manage, the word laden with utter disbelief.
Without another word, as if compelled by a force beyond reason, Kai strode over to the main holoscreen. He grabbed the remote control and with a sharp click, switched the input from Moon's data-slate to the public broadcast network. But the channel wasn't tuned to the news or the tournament. It was on some obscure online streaming platform.
What filled the screen next was a sight that threatened to short-circuit Kai's understanding of reality. There, in high definition, was a large, vibrant sunflower. Someone had, with painstaking and utterly pointless effort, used digital editing software to superimpose a crudely drawn, cartoonish face onto the flower's center. The face wore a comically serious expression. The video playing was a simple, educational animation depicting the process of photosynthesis, with little cartoon sunbeams and water droplets moving across the screen.
A voice, presumably the streamer's, was narrating with the gravity of a seasoned film critic analyzing a classic. The voiceover came through the speakers:
"…and you see right there, the efficient transfer of light energy? Yeah, that's what I would do. As I said earlier in the stream, that's the technique. Textbook. Beautiful form."
Kai stood frozen, the remote still pointed at the screen. A wave of profound, cosmic bewilderment washed over him. He had just learned that a legendary, vampiric parasite from a cursed race was tearing apart the most powerful warriors in the universe. And his brother was, and he himself was now, watching a sentient flower offer critique on its own biological processes.
He slowly lowered the remote, his eyes wide. He turned his head back towards Moon, who had returned to watching his data-slate with the same intense focus. Words failed Kai. There were no words in any language he knew that could adequately frame the sheer, unadulterated absurdity of the moment.
Finally, he found his voice, though it was strained and thick with incredulity. "What… in the absolute heck of brainrot content… are you watching?"
After forcibly wrenching the holoscreen away from the surreal spectacle of the photosynthetic sunflower, Kai quickly navigated to the official tournament live stream. The screen flickered and then resolved, showing the very arena where chaos had just transpired.
There, standing amidst the settling cosmic dust, was the Parasite known as Gluttony. The two royal Celestials were gone, not just defeated, but utterly erased from the arena by the automated safety teleporters—a system designed to save lives, but in this case, it only underscored the totality of their humiliation. A moment of silence hung over the coliseum, thick and heavy with disbelief.
Then, a voice, laced with a profound and weary disappointment, cut through the silence. It was Gluttony, muttering to himself, his words picked up by the arena's sensitive microphones and broadcast across the stars.
"What, they just died? Aww, man... So he was right," the Parasite sighed, the sound dripping with genuine, almost childish disillusionment. "Not every Celestial is as powerful as him. I should not have gotten my hopes so high." He shook his head, a gesture of supreme boredom. "It seems only that Human and that Celestial can give me a tough battle now."
With that final, crushing review of the multiverse's most elite warriors, he too was enveloped in a soft light and teleported from the arena, leaving behind a void of shattered expectations and burgeoning terror.
Ruby and Minji, whose own match in Phase 3 was scheduled for a few days later, watched the broadcast with their hearts in their throats. They were not coming into this blind. Kai and Moon had already briefed them about their terrifying encounter with the Parasite. Yet, hearing a story and witnessing the reality were two entirely different things. The sheer, casual ease with which he had dismantled two royal Celestials, followed by his blasé commentary, sent a chill down their spines that had nothing to do with the room's temperature. Their shock was as profound as any being who had believed the Parasite Race to be extinct, but it was laced with a personal, chilling dread.
Across the civilized multiverse, the reaction was not just one of shock, but of frantic, high-level mobilization. The revelation acted like a supernova, triggering emergency meetings in the gleaming spires of the Celestial Imperium, the shadowy war rooms of the Dragons, and the crystalline data-hives of the Mecha. The upper echelons and high-ranking officials of every major race were in a state of controlled panic, scrambling to analyze the threat, recalibrate power rankings, and devise contingency plans. The name "Gluttony" was being etched onto threat assessments at the highest possible level.
The Declaration That Broke the Internet
But just as these emergency councils were beginning to convene, mere hours after Parasite's reveal, a second, even more seismic announcement rocked the foundations of galactic politics.
The Yakshas—the revered, universal peacekeeping and police force known for their absolute neutrality and formidable power—issued a joint statement with the Celestial Race themselves. It was not a declaration of war, nor a bounty. It was a notice of protection.
The communiqué was brief, unambiguous, and carried the full, terrifying weight of its signatories:
"Let it be known to all denizens of the multiverse: The entity known as 'Gluttony' or 'Parasite' in the tournament simulation is, in the real world, under our joint protection. Any individual, organization, or government that attempts to touch, apprehend, or even lay a finger upon him outside the simulated arenas will be considered a direct enemy of the Yaksha Order and the Celestial Imperium. The response will be immediate and absolute."
This announcement didn't just add fuel to the fire; it detonated a bomb in the middle of the conversation. The collective confusion of the masses reached a fever pitch. Why? Why would the very races that supposedly led the campaign to eradicate the Parasites now offer one their most powerful shield?
The information networks exploded. Conspiracy theories and wild speculations went viral in minutes:
· The "Secret Weapon" Theory: "He's not a threat; he's an asset! The higher-ups made a deal with him to use against a greater, unknown enemy!"
· The "Cursed Bloodline" Theory: "He holds a secret about the Celestials' own origins—a shameful truth they can't let him reveal. This is blackmail on a cosmic scale!"
· The "Controlled Experiment" Theory: "They never wiped them out. They've been keeping one alive, studying it, and the tournament is just the latest phase of their research. We're all lab rats!"
· The "False Flag" Theory: "This is all a staged event by the Celestials and Yakshas to create a common enemy and tighten their control over the multiverse!"
Kai, watching the news feeds spiral into chaos, could only sink back into his chair, the forgotten beer warming in his hand. The world had gone mad. A vampiric parasite was now a protected celebrity, his brother was analyzing plant-based content, and the entire universe was drowning in a sea of theories. The game had changed, and the rules had been thrown out of the airlock.
The city of Nova Lumina
The air hummed with the energy of millions of lives intersecting, a constant, vibrant thrum that was the city's heartbeat.
Through the heart of this bustling crowd, a figure moved with an unhurried, almost deliberate pace. It was Zambandari. He was on foot, a solitary island of calm purpose amidst the river of hurried citizens. His presence, however, seemed to create an invisible buffer around him, the crowd instinctively parting just enough to grant him passage without ever knowing why.
His eyes, sharp and observant, scanned the environment, but they kept being drawn upwards. On every major billboard and public news feed, the same story dominated the visual landscape. The stark, official communiqué from the Yakshas and Celestials cycled repeatedly, the words "UNDER OUR PROTECTION" blazing in authoritative fonts next to the menacingly elegant visage of Gluttony.
A slow, knowing smirk curled onto Zambandari's lips. It wasn't a smile of joy or amusement, but one of cold, calculated satisfaction. The pieces were moving exactly as he had anticipated. He gave a barely perceptible nod to himself and continued on his path, his destination clear only to him.
He was not alone. A second figure moved in his wake, a shadow that had detached itself from the crowd to follow a few paces behind. This person was similarly anonymized, their features hidden by the deep hood of a cloak or a subtle light-bending field, making them a blur in the periphery.
After a few more blocks, the shadow quickened its pace slightly until it was walking beside Zambandari, its voice a low, respectful murmur meant only for his ears.
"Ah, Boss, you're here. Had you informed me of your arrival, I would have made the necessary arrangements for you. Your comfort is my priority."
The figure paused, then continued, reporting in a efficient, business-like tone. "As per your previous order, I have provided significant assistance to Moon and Kai. The channels you requested were opened, the obstacles... cleared. According to my latest reports, the two of them have now left Nova Lumina. I am sorry, but beyond their departure, I have no further data on their current location or destination."
Zambandari didn't break his stride. His eyes remained fixed ahead, though he acknowledged the report with a slight tilt of his head.
"Your work is appreciated," Zambandari said, his voice calm and devoid of any warmth. It was a statement of fact, not a compliment. "The account is settled. Now, leave me. I have business to attend to that requires no audience."
The dismissal was absolute. The cloaked figure understood immediately, offering a slight, almost invisible bow before melting back into the vibrant, uncaring crowd, leaving Zambandari to continue his solitary walk through the neon-drenched night .
To be continued…