"Wow—look! She's out! She's out! So cute!"
Shizuka's eyes shone as the tiny baby, cradled in a globe of light, slowly appeared before everyone.
The women clustered around Goku, gazes overflowing with affection for the baby in his arms.
The little girl looked like a carved jade doll—soft pink skin, dewy and luminous, with big black-gem eyes that rolled curiously from face to face. Her cuteness practically drop-kicked them all into submission.
She'd opened her eyes the instant she was born—clearly the result of Goku bathing her in his life law to refine her body.
"She's truly adorable! So pink and soft—and she's even glowing!"
"Let me hold her! Please let me!" Karin wriggled through everyone's legs, eyes sparkling at the baby.
"Me too, me too!" Alice and Zi Yan, the two little girls, popped out from the crowd and latched onto Goku's sleeve, refusing to let go.
"Line up. Wait your turn," Goku said, teasing the baby with obvious fondness.
"Yes!" the little ones answered in unison, actually forming a neat queue, faces full of eager expectation.
Goku chuckled, shaking his head. He handed the baby back to Ji Fei. "You're her mother. You should be the first to hold her."
Ji Fei took the baby, eyes brimming with tenderness as she studied that tiny, perfect face. "So precious… Thank you, Goku. It's because of you that Yue'er was born so healthy."
"No need for thanks between us," he said with a soft smile, tapping the baby's chubby cheek with his fingertip.
"Mm." A blush rose on Ji Fei's face and she nodded.
Just then, Yue'er's little nose twitched. Her tiny hands tugged up Ji Fei's bodice; two snow-white mounds bounced free. Ji Fei froze, cheeks flaming as Goku's eyes widened. Before Ji Fei could react, Yue'er leaned in and, to Goku's thinly veiled envy, latched on like a pro.
"This little one moves fast," Goku thought, amused. To spare Ji Fei embarrassment he drifted aside, while the women swarmed in, poking and cooing over Yue'er with unrestrained delight.
Life in their hidden, fairyland estate settled into a gentle rhythm. Goku split his time between keeping the women company and slipping into the Goddess's realm to train the supreme laws.
Days rolled by. Yue'er grew. Karin and the other little ones shed their baby fat and began to blossom.
But the world outside was anything but calm.
Ying Zheng, the first emperor in China's history, finally set his unmatched ambition into motion. The already war-torn lands crashed into even greater waves of conflict.
With the Gongshu clan's domineering mechanisms and siegecraft, Qin armed its soldiers to the teeth and began swallowing the six kingdoms with overwhelming force.
His goal was unprecedented: to forge this vast land into a single, unified realm. His will was iron. Every rival on his path fell. First to face the storm was Han.
Though Han, altered by Goku's earlier meddling, now effectively rested in the hands of Wei Zhuang and Zhang Liang, they were no match for Qin's terrifying war machines. City after city fell. Zhang Liang's stratagems and Wei Zhuang's valor repeatedly forced Qin into awkward positions, but whenever the Gongshu engines hit the field, all resistance turned to dust. War isn't decided by lone heroes; no matter how brilliant, they break before thousands of troops and superior arms. The gap was absolute.
Qin pressed closer. Han's fall became inevitable. In the end, Ying Zheng demanded that Han hand over Zhang Liang and Wei Zhuang in exchange for peace. The weak-willed Han king agreed—truly believing it. Enraged, Wei Zhuang executed him on the spot, and Han collapsed—Ying Zheng's first solid stride toward unification.
Even with Goku's butterfly-wing nudge, Han could not escape its fate.
Qin then rolled on—toppling Zhao, Yan, and Wei—until at last it slammed into the south's most stubborn foe: Chu.
In 222 BCE, Qin's greatest general Wang Jian and his deputy Meng Wu marched with 600,000 men to deliver the killing blow.
Chu rallied 400,000 under the fearsome Xiang clan—foremost among them, the great general Xiang Yan.
The sun blazed; slaughter raged. The air stank of blood. Corpses littered the ground—Qin and Chu alike.
A young general in the Seven-Seas Jiao-Dragon Armor, six spears strapped to his back, helm on his brow and lance in his grip, spurred his stallion straight into the enemy lines. He moved like a dragon taking to sea, sweeping all before him. One swing, and several Qin soldiers went flying. None could approach. A teenage hero, unstoppable.
Wherever he charged, another armored youth guarded his flank, his spearwork a gale that scythed down anyone who came near—no less impressive than the young general himself.
"Long Qie, with me! We'll cut through and take the enemy general's head! Hya!" the youth roared, wheeling his horse toward a Qin commander deep in the lines.
"Shaoyu! Be careful—don't be reckless!" Long Qie shouted, racing after him.
"Oh? Who's that boy? So young, yet already with a commander's air…" a Qin officer mused, watching the oncoming riders.
"General, that is the Xiang clan's young captain, Shaoyu. They say he was born with divine strength—sharp mind, bold heart. See that armor? The Seven-Seas Jiao-Dragon Armor—the most dreaded color on the battlefield."
"A youthful hero… I'd like to test him myself," the Qin general said calmly. "But this is war."
His gaze hardened. He slashed his hand down. War drums thundered across the field.
Dozens of trebuchets released, hurling boulders at Shaoyu's charging detachment.
Thunderous impacts. Blood sprayed. Screams tore the dusk. Those struck by the falling stones were smashed to paste. In moments the once-unstoppable wedge was shattered and scattered.
"Shaoyu! The trebuchets are too much—our men can't hold!" Long Qie galloped up, having to bellow to be heard over the chaos.
"Damn it—Gongshu engines!" Shaoyu's face tightened. "On open ground, this is suicide. Keep this up and we'll be wiped out!"
A retreat horn blared in the rear. The Xiang clan forces began to pull back.
"The main host is withdrawing—we have to go!"
"Damn! It's galling!" Shaoyu spared one last glance at the Qin general not far away, then wheeled his mount. "Move!"
They thundered across the churned earth, hooves drumming, a plume of dust trailing behind.
"Not good—Qin cavalry is gaining!" a Chu soldier shouted as a blaze of banners surged into view behind them.
Fan Zeng, white-haired and hawk-eyed, squinted at the pennants. "Meng family's Golden-Flame Cavalry," he said grimly.
"They're fast—too fast…"
Their commander—Meng Tian—drove them hard. The distance shrank. He raised his arm. "Loose!"
The golden riders raised composite bows and a rain of bolts ripped forward. In a heartbeat, the fleeing Chu remnant was cut to half.
"Damn!" Shaoyu whipped one of the spare iron spears from his back and hurled it—knocking a quarrel from the air before it struck Xiang Liang, then punching through the archer's helm and into his skull in a red mist.
He jerked his reins, to the horror of the others, and charged back toward the Qin line. Another spear flashed into his hand; he spun it in a bright flower and sent it screaming forward. Several Qin riders toppled; a warhorse took it through the belly. The spear buried itself in the earth, still humming.
"—Hmph!" Meng Tian braced as Shaoyu lunged at him, lance cleaving down. The force kicked up a cyclone of dust.
Clang!
Meng Tian got his own spear up just in time. The blow numbed his arms to the shoulder.
'This boy's strength is monstrous…'
___
🎉 Shoutout to Joe Thigpen and Gonza! 🎉
A huge thank you to Joe Thigpen and Gonza for joining my Patreon and supporting the journey! Your support means a lot and helps keep the chapters coming faster. Welcome to the VIP club! 🙌✨