"What do you mean he doesn't have a sin?" Kichu asked Fizz, completely mind-blown.
"I meant exactly what I said. The man doesn't have one."
"How? Without a sin how can he be that powerful?" Kichu asked.
"The universe doesn't revolve around sins, you know. There was a time in history when sins were so rare. It's so common now that one in every three people you meet has a sin. I think the mixing of races played a big part in that," Fizz said.
"I can't believe the strongest being in the universe doesn't have a sin," Kichu said.
"Yeah... The reason he is called the strongest being in the universe isn't just because of his physical strength. That man has the most tremendous soul energy in the entire universe. He mastered soul sensing and created many new techniques of his own. He defeated every man he fought, and he has an empire including 30 small kingdoms and an army of nearly 10 billion. So touching him means fighting those 10 billion people first. And if you somehow manage to defeat all 10 billion and reach him, he will kill you with just one punch. I guess you understand the circumstances," Fizz said.
Roco looked at Kichu with a smile.
"Is this the man you wanted to kill, Kichu?" Roco asked, trying to hold his laughter.
"Yeah... that was a thing. I was big-mouthing back then. I didn't know who he was. But now... I'm thrilled. I want to fight him really badly," Kichu said with a smirk.
Fizz stared at that smirk intensely.
"Yeah, yeah... I want to fight the bastard too. But first I'm finding my mom," Roco said.
"Sorry to disappoint you, Kichu, but with your current strength you can't even stand before him."
"I know. That's why you're training me, right?" Kichu asked.
"No... ah..." Fizz face-palmed.
"I need you two to listen carefully. As I said, I'll tell you everything I know. With that knowledge, you can escape from them. That's the first rule. Escape if you know you can't win. It's not fight or flight—there is only flight. Do not fight any of the devils."
"I'd rather die than cowardly escaping from a fight," Kichu replied.
"This is why I don't like brats like you. Did you ever consider the ones around you? The ones who love you? If you died, would they be happy?" Fizz asked.
"I don't have anyone like that..." Kichu said softly.
Roco remained silent.
"Did you ever lose anyone close to you? Did you lose them because they were stupid enough to fight even though they knew they would die?" Fizz asked.
"Kind of..." Saas came to Kichu's mind.
"Did you see them die in front of your eyes?"
"Yes."
"Why didn't you try to save that person?"
Kichu was silent.
"You knew you wouldn't be able to save them, right? So you ran away," Fizz said.
"I didn't run away. It was his choice!" Kichu shouted.
"And what did that choice give him? He is dead. And you are still alive because you ran away," Fizz shouted back.
"I..." Kichu was stuck on his words.
"I think he is happy that you chose the right choice. Always find an escape route before you land the first strike. As hitting is important, running away is important too."
The room went quiet.
After some practice they went to sleep.
The things Fizz said kept repeating in Kichu and Roco's heads.
But their reactions were different.
Kichu thought it was all bullshit.
Roco didn't.
Two days later they finally entered the atmosphere of Hedaxipotomous.
"Rururu... Entering atmosphere. Searching for landing location... Safe location found. Preparing to land," Texa announced.
Everyone came to the control room and looked at the planet with amazement.
The spaceship slowly landed.
"So what's the plan?" Kichu asked.
"We're going to meet a researcher who works on soul energy. We might have to stay here for two days. After that we'll go to the planet where Hinko's friend is," Fizz said.
"So what about them? We need to find a doctor for her," Kichu asked.
"Don't worry. I arranged that too," Fizz said and walked ahead.
"Okay..." Kichu replied, confused, and followed him.
The planet wasn't very developed. Marly pushed Mira's wheelchair while observing the surroundings. The city they landed in looked almost like a ghost town. Only a few collapsed buildings remained.
They walked through cracked roads and stopped before a gate.
"Hey! Is someone here?" Fizz knocked on the gate.
"Ah... isn't it young boy Fizz? I was waiting for your arrival," a voice came from inside.
"Open the gate."
The gate slowly opened.
"Welcome to my mad world."
Behind the gate stood a massive building that almost touched the sky.
Marly tried to look at the top but nearly hurt his neck.
"Um... I wish they have a lift," Kichu muttered as they entered.
"Hey... little Fizz, my boy..." A short man appeared before them.
"Hey, how are you, Sir Z?" Fizz asked.
"Good as always, boy. How's my friend Hinko doing?"
"He's good."
"Is he still continuing that research?"
"Yes. We're travelling regarding that mission."
"Oh! I'm sorry, I didn't greet you all. Hello everyone," he waved.
They waved back.
"So who's the mysterious one?" he asked.
"Can we sit somewhere? This might take a while," Fizz suggested.
"Oh, of course."
He tapped his wrist twice.
"Don't move."
Suddenly the floor they were standing on began to float upward.
After about a minute it stopped at an entrance.
They walked inside.
"Behold!" Sir Z announced.
Kichu looked ahead with curiosity.
Then his curiosity shattered.
The room was filled with random things—tables, broken metal parts, chairs, glasses, and scattered machines.
It barely looked like a lab.
"This is my workspace. You can call it Z's Kingdom," Sir Z said proudly.
"Um... nice, nice," Kichu said, pretending to be impressed.
"Come. We can start the tests immediately."
Sir Z jumped through the piles of junk.
"Umm... I didn't expect this," Kichu said while carefully stepping through the mess.
"Haha! You thought it would be a clean lab with monitors, test tubes, and machines, right? That's not always the case. This is a real researcher's lab—wild as my experiments."
"Yeah... I wouldn't be surprised if a snake crawled out of this trash," Roco said sarcastically.
"No shit... bro, I saw something moving in that corner," Kichu whispered.
"Oh, that would be my assistant."
"Assistant?"
A man suddenly jumped out from the piles.
"Hello! I'm Moy. Nice to meet you."
"Is anyone else buried there? Dead or alive?" Kichu asked.
"No alive ones under there. Dead? I don't know. Maybe a few," Moy said casually.
They walked into another room containing a huge machine.
"Okay. You strip and get inside," Sir Z said, pointing at Kichu.
"Woah woah hold on! Strip? What the fuck? Did you all hear that?" Kichu shouted.
He turned around and saw Fizz, Roco and Marly trying to hold their laughter while Mira blushed intensely.
"You... so you all just want to see me naked, huh? You bunch of gay bastards," Kichu said.
They burst out laughing.
"Is this necessary?" Kichu asked.
"Yes. Very much."
"Huh... fine."
Kichu removed his shirt and pants. When he tried removing his underwear, Z stopped him.
"Kid, that's enough. You can keep the underwear."
"Thank God."
Kichu stepped into the machine.
"Will the machine explode?" Roco asked jokingly.
"I don't know... but someone else already did," Fizz said, looking back at Mira who had fainted from embarrassment.
"Okay, let's start," Z said while pressing several buttons.
After a minute he asked Kichu to step out.
"Is it done?" Kichu asked.
"Yes. Now we wait for the results."
"Sir Z, didn't I say something about a girl?" Fizz asked.
"Ah... is it her?"
"Yes. Can you test her too?"
"Moy here is a good doctor. He'll look after her."
At that moment the machine beeped.
"Oh! Time to see the results."
Z walked toward the monitor.
A smile slowly appeared on his face.
Then he burst out laughing.
"What?! Why are you laughing? Am I dead or something?" Kichu asked nervously.
"I'm... I'm sorry... I haven't laughed this much in decades. What was your name again, boy?"
"It's Kichu. And tell me the result quickly before I die from panic."
Z wiped his tears.
"Alright then, Kichu. About your soul energy..."
"You have none."
"It's almost as if you are not alive."
Everyone stared at Kichu in absolute terror.
"Okay… that is something," Kichu said, looking at Z.
"I don't mean you're dead," Z replied. "But you have no soul energy that I can detect. This machine is the peak of technology. Even if you had the tiniest bit of soul energy, it would detect it. But you have none."
"But he can use the fundamentals of soul sensing. He can even enter the activation state. How can he do that without soul energy?" Fizz asked.
"You have no patience, Fizz boy. I'm not done yet." Z turned toward Kichu. "Can you enter activation mode again?"
"Yeah." Kichu nodded and closed his eyes.
A faint light began to appear around his body. He slowly opened his eyes while maintaining the state.
"Yeah… just as you said. Interesting." Z grabbed a soul-energy detecting globe and handed it to Kichu.
"I want you to focus all your energy into this globe."
Kichu nodded and concentrated.
The globe emitted a light blue glow that gradually turned pure white.
"What…?" Z's eyes widened. His body trembled in shock.
Fizz nearly choked on his own breath.
"Can someone explain what's happening?" Kichu asked.
"Kid… who exactly are you?" Z asked quietly.
"Ah, cut the mysterious crap and explain already," Kichu said impatiently.
"Alright then." Z took a deep breath.
"Red glow means low soul energy. Yellow means average. Blue means above average. Green means extremely high soul energy. A person needs at least green-level soul energy to wield a sacred sword."
He paused for a second.
"And then there are the final two stages. White… and pitch black."
Everyone went silent.
"They are the absolute peak of soul energy. Most soul-sensing masters only reach green. White glow is nearly impossible. Only a handful of people in the entire history of the universe have ever shown it."
"So… what now? Am I cooked?" Kichu asked.
"Not exactly," Z replied. "It seems you have almost no control over your soul energy. That's both good and bad."
"The good part is that nobody can detect your soul energy normally. You'll attract less attention."
"And the bad part?" Kichu asked.
Z looked at him seriously.
"Don't force it too much. If your soul energy goes out of control… you might destroy everything around you."
Kichu smirked.
"I wish. And what do you mean by 'less targeted'? Are white-glow users hunted or something?"
"Yes," Z answered immediately. "And trust me… you don't want to know what people would do to your body."
The room fell silent again.
"What about the black glow?" Roco asked.
"The black glow…" Z muttered. "It's not really a glow. Their soul energy appears as darkness itself. You can't properly sense it."
"They say people born with black glow are destined to bring destruction and chaos."
"And there's nobody in the universe with black glow right now except…"
He stopped speaking.
"Except who?" Roco asked curiously.
Z ignored the question.
"Black is the complete opposite of white. White glow is said to bring peace and kindness. Black brings ruin."
He stared directly at Kichu.
"So try not to stand out too much."
"Yeah, no shit," Kichu replied with a grin. "What now? Should I hide somewhere for the rest of my life? Nah. Let them come for my body. I'll show them I'm not some peaceful white-glow saint."
Fizz instantly facepalmed.
At that moment, Moy entered the room holding a stack of papers.
"The test results are ready."
"Oh? Did you figure out her disease?" Z asked.
"Yeah." Moy nodded. "It's contamination poisoning. She consumed some kind of toxic or unprocessable substance repeatedly during childhood."
"Her lower body is partially paralyzed, but the damage is reversible."
Marly froze.
"I can prepare an antibody that will slowly neutralize the poison," Moy continued. "But treatment will take years. I can't guarantee a perfect recovery… but…"
He smiled softly.
"She'll walk again."
Marly's body trembled violently.
Kichu gently patted his head.
"It's okay, kid. Sometimes you can let it all out."
Marly ran toward Mira and hugged her tightly, crying uncontrollably.
"You won, Marly," Mira whispered while holding him close. "You saved me. I'm proud of you."
"Now that the job's done, can we leave?" Kichu asked.
"Yeah," Fizz replied. "We need to move as soon as possible."
"What's the rush?" Z asked. "Stay a day. Give this old man some company."
"Can't do that. You know how important this is," Fizz replied.
"Yeah, yeah… go then." Z sighed dramatically. "At least visit me sometime. You're the only friend who still calls me. Even Hinko never contacts me anymore."
He crossed his arms.
"Next time you see him, tell him this: 'Call me sometime, you fake-ass friend.'"
Fizz laughed.
"I'll tell him exactly that. Not a word less."
"Are you leaving?" Marly asked Kichu quietly.
"Yup. Important mission. The universe depends on me," Kichu replied proudly.
"Huh… I bet you're just gonna travel around," Marly muttered.
"Haha… no, kid. It's serious. We might even fight a lot of bad guys."
"Really?" Marly's eyes widened.
"Yeah."
"When will you visit us again?" Mira asked softly.
"I don't know," Kichu admitted. "Maybe I won't come back at all. Who knows what'll happen?"
"No… don't say things like that." Tears formed in Mira's eyes. "You have to come back."
Kichu smiled gently.
"Alright then. When I return, you better be standing on your own feet while holding Marly's hand."
He pointed at her legs.
"And then kick me right in my smiling face. I wanna see how strong your legs really are."
Mira laughed through her tears.
"Let's go, Kichu," Fizz called out.
Kichu turned and began walking away.
"Wait!" Marly suddenly grabbed his pants.
"What? Don't tell me you're gonna cry and ask me to stay," Kichu laughed.
"No." Marly looked up at him seriously.
"I want to come with you."
Kichu blinked.
"…Nice joke. Now let go."
"I'm serious," Marly replied, gripping tighter. "I want to come with you."
"What are you saying, Marly?" Mira cried. "You're not going anywhere!"
"No. I want to go, sister." Marly's voice trembled, but his eyes stayed firm. "I want to travel. I want to see the universe."
"And more than that… I want to become stronger."
He looked at Kichu.
"I know he can make me stronger."
Kichu sighed.
"Kid… are you really willing to leave your sister behind? Traveling with us isn't safe. We don't even know what'll happen tomorrow."
"I don't care," Marly replied instantly. "Even if something happens, you three will protect me, right?"
Kichu stared into his eyes for a moment… then smiled.
"This is why I don't like kids."
Mira broke down crying.
"No… don't go, Marly. I'll be alone."
Marly walked toward her and gently wiped away her tears.
"I love you, sister. I'll come back quickly. And when I do…"
He smiled brightly.
"We'll live in a huge peaceful house. Bigger than the old one."
Mira slowly nodded through her tears.
Kichu and Marly walked toward the spaceship.
Mira raised her hand and waved at him one last time.
Marly couldn't wave back.
If he turned around, he knew he would cry.
The spaceship slowly lifted from the ground… then disappeared into the sky.
Mira looked upward and smiled softly.
"Come back soon… Marly."
She paused.
"And Kichu too."
- To Be Continued..