At this moment, in Washington.
A white youth in his early twenties, carrying a backpack, stifled a yawn as he took out his keys, opened the door, and returned home.
He changed into his house slippers at the entrance.
"Oh, right." Barry Allen suddenly remembered something: last night, a friend had entrusted a Little Orange Cat to him to look after.
The Little Orange Cat had been sleeping from last night until this morning, and he wondered if it was awake now.
Thinking of this, Barry took a can of sardine from his backpack and walked towards his room.
He opened the door.
What greeted Barry's eyes was the pet carrier on the table with its zipper open; the Little Orange Cat, which had been curled inside, was nowhere to be seen.
"Where did it go?" Barry muttered, but he wasn't too worried. With his rich experience in pet care, and even planning to apply for a pet store clerk position soon, he had already closed the doors and windows before leaving home this morning, and unplugged the electrical cords.
Even if the Little Orange Cat ran around the house, there shouldn't be any danger.
"Huh?" Barry seemed to notice something, staring blankly at the front of his desk.
Wait, where was his chair?
Where did the chair go?!
Such a large chair, which had been in the room, had disappeared into thin air?
Just as Barry thought his house had been robbed, a soft meow came from behind him.
Barry turned around to see a seemingly harmless Little Orange Cat standing at the doorway, watching him with a wary and cautious expression.
"Little kitty, so you're here." Barry breathed a sigh of relief, shaking the can of sardine in his hand: "Look, I brought you something to eat."
Barry walked forward, about to approach the Little Orange Cat.
An unexpected event occurred—
The Little Orange Cat suddenly opened its terrifyingly wide, blood-red mouth, and several thick, horrifying tentacles shot out from it, rapidly coiling towards Barry in the room.
Barry's eyes widened in astonishment, and in the nick of time, a faint, flickering current appeared beside him!
The next instant.
The Little Orange Cat, the room, and even this world—everything fell into stillness!
No, it wasn't stillness!
It was that Barry was too fast, so fast that time paused for him!
Barry, in a certain ability state, looked around at the almost frozen Flerken before him, falling into a moment of silence.
He remembered.
That friend had apparently warned him that this Little Orange Cat was a bit special.
This is called special?
This isn't a cat!
...Paradise Island, above the training ground.
Clang!
For what seemed like the umpteenth time, Vincent's Greek sword was knocked out of his hand and impaled into the grass.
Vincent's palm was crimson, almost seeping blood.
Despite this, he showed no intention of giving up, and once again walked towards the longsword, his right hand gripping the Greek sword anew.
"Again!" Vincent panted heavily, firmly gripping the longsword, and once more faced Antiope, who showed no signs of fatigue.
Around the two of them, female warriors were packed tightly, and further out, many Amazon residents stood by the buildings, watching this battle with a vast disparity in strength.
"It's useless." Antiope was expressionless, taking a swift step to approach Vincent, and brought down a sword strike with both power and speed!
Vincent tried his best to block with his sword, but ended up being knocked back, man and sword, and fell heavily onto the grass.
The surrounding female warriors and residents shook their heads, but only Antiope on the field suddenly showed a subtle expression.
This time, Vincent held onto the sword; he didn't let his sword slip from his grasp again.
Of course, the cost was…
As Vincent propped himself up with the longsword, a drop of blood trickled down between his fingers, falling onto the hilt of the Greek sword.
Antiope looked at the stubbornly standing youth and said coldly, "It's useless, surrender early."
"Antiope, you're right." Vincent held the longsword and smiled: "To protect her in the future, I still need to become stronger!"
He said inexplicably, "You're sweating, aren't you?"
"It's just the sun; you're not enough to make me sweat." Antiope looked down at her body. To be honest, Vincent was indeed more resilient than she had imagined.
But that was all. She saw no hope in Vincent… This instead made Antiope feel a pang of disappointment, and the thought of questioning Your Highness's choice resurfaced.
Thump!
Just then, Vincent, as if dragging the longsword, charged towards Antiope!
Antiope raised an eyebrow, completely surprised that the opponent would choose to attack first.
"Useless." Antiope shook her head, preparing to raise her sword to parry, but found that when Vincent was halfway there, he first threw the longsword in his hand!
He actively abandoned his sword?
"Foolish!" Antiope snapped, and with a swing of her longsword, she immediately knocked the thrown longsword to the ground!
But at the same time, Vincent rushed close to Antiope's body. His hand, which had been holding the sword, clenched into a fist, and he struck with full force at Antiope's exposed shoulder!
Antiope's body remained motionless, like a formidable mountain, unmovable by the strength of a human youth.
"You lose." Antiope's right hand formed a hand-knife, slashing towards Vincent's neck, but before the hand-knife could fall, her wrist was suddenly firmly grasped by a hand!
It was Vincent's hand!
"Now!" A glint flashed in Vincent's eyes. He twisted his waist sharply, combining it with the powerful force in his hand, and lifted Antiope's entire body, swinging her violently into an open space nearby!
The sword in Antiope's hand fell, and Vincent snatched it up!
Thud!
Not only Antiope, who had been thrown ten meters away, but even the female warriors on the field were stunned, looking at Vincent, who was the only one standing.
It had clearly been a one-sided situation, yet it had been reversed in an instant?!
What happened in that moment?
"What is going on?" Antiope, lying on the ground, was still a bit dazed, unable to comprehend what was happening. The strength that had just come from Vincent's hand was comparable to her own—
No, it was even a bit stronger than hers!
She naturally didn't know.
The moment Vincent threw that punch, the blood on his hand had exchanged with the sweat on Antiope's body, fulfilling the prerequisite for activating the Lord of the Retinue!
Antiope's physical strength was superimposed onto Vincent, which caused the reversal!
"The General was repelled?"
"How is this possible…"
"So, so amazing!"
After the shocked and noisy discussions, applause echoed over the training ground.
The Amazon female warriors didn't care about much else; whether it was the youth's indomitable spirit and courage, or the spectacular reversal shown at the end, it was enough to earn their respect and make them feel ashamed of their previous rudeness.
Looking at Vincent, who had changed the perception of everyone on the field, wearing a crown and holding a longsword, Antiope also showed a 'I've been defeated by you' expression:
"Your Highness Diana, is this what you meant by—a miracle?"