Outer Sect City.
Before long, Little Mortal was back.
He changed into his white robe again and emerged from the backpack, wearing his headband and wristbands.
"Little Mirror, come out."
The space mirror flew out, vibrating, asking What is it?
"Do you remember that pirate dude we saw outside?"
The space mirror vibrates,
"Well, he is out of the picture now, and big sister told me if he won't go back with the 'goods', your former master is gonna give access to a one-time use free passage for whoever the buyer is."
"So? I already dealt with the delivery boy. When will be the time for her to send the buyer here directly?
Don't you remember? We all saw the buyer was the Thug."
"Day 10 after my arrival by our time or the Mainland's?"
"This is the fifth day I am here?"
"You sure nobody comes until day 10?"
"Can you detect the passage to notify me if your master tried to open one sooner than 10 days?"
"Alright then.
Little crystal, send the movie 'script' my big sister wrote to 'big guy'.
Big guy, give me a print of the content ."
A moment later, a couple of pages come out.
Little Mortal read the first page and then put it away.
"Okay, the script says the first scene is the main character's entrance to the capital!
So gather up, we are leaving."
Then he picked the guardian token and said,
"Your majesty, this is your big brother speaking. Are you at home?
Over."
...
Far away from the demoness sect, the Empire's capital.
In the Emperor's mansion, the couple was taking care of their business.
Scarlet was at the other side of the big hall, standing there in silence.
She had already delivered the candies and was waiting for what needed to be done next.
At this moment, the Emperor's guardian token jumped out, and while floating in front of him,
A child's voice sounded,
"Your majesty, this is your big brother speaking. Are you home?
Over."
The pen in 'his majesty's' hand broke just from hearing the voice.
In the corner of the hall, the magical staff with a purple orb at the top starts trembling.
The hall suddenly became deadly silent...
The Empress, who saw her husband was in a dilemma, and looking at her like he was saying,
'Can you answer in my place?!'
answered,
"Big brother? Is that you?"
The Emperor whispered,
"Say 'over' at the end!"
"... Over!"
"Yes, it's me, sister-in-law!
I need to come for a visit and record a couple of scenes for my guardian ceremony.
Are you guys home? Over."
The Empress looked at her husband, who nodded helplessly and responded,
"Yes, when are you going to be here? Over."
"I won't bother you for lunch.
So when you eat your delicious imperial food with the best desserts and all kinds of sweet drinks, I will be there after that, over."
The Empress, who got the real meaning of the message, said,
"Then we will await your arrival for a family lunch!
Don't be late, big brother! Over."
The little boy gasped from the other side,
"No, I said I would come after lunch! over!"
The Empress said,
"I can't hear you, big brother.
Come sooner before the food gets cold! Over!"
"Yes, yes, I'm coming! Over!"
And the call ended.
The couple looked at each other and knew what they should do.
The staff who were silent all the time after that day spoke nervously,
"E-Empress, can you hide me somewhere?
Don't take me to him with you..."
The Empress raised her eyebrows,
"Oh, now you can talk again?
Don't worry, I know how to deal with Big Brother!
He won't do anything to you!"
The staff didn't respond anymore.
These people were ignorant of what kind of creature they were dealing with ...
At noon, the Emperor walked out of his mansion in the garden to go and welcome his big brother personally at the city gate.
The other part wasn't stable at all, and he was worried that if someone else went, they might say something they shouldn't, and he would get mad.
Capital would be just a memory in that case.
At least he knew about him enough to keep him calm.
But after just two steps,
"Sup, your majesty."
The Emperor's heart skipped a bit!
'Alright, he is already here!
And without any fancy entrance it seems!'
He turned to his right, and saw the great warrior, now in a white robe that was somehow familiar to him, with a shaved face and no mustache, with one hand in his pocket, one hand spinning a chain around his finger, looking at him like he was here to ask for protection money or something...
The Emperor calmed himself down and said,
"Big brother, you changed a lot!"
"Your majesty, you don't believe what happened!
Let me tell you!
I went to the sword sect to train my followers!
Do you remember that?"
The Emperor nodded,
"Yes, I remember!
You planned to give them the ability to absorb solar energy."
The Empress's voice sounded from the inside,
"Eh, big brother is already here?"
Seeing them both here, Little Mortal became excited,
"Yes, yes!
Let me tell you, sister-in-law!
I went to the sword sect and gathered 10 thousand followers!
They are already able to absorb solar energy, but forget about that.
Guess what happened after?"
The Empress walked out, and although she didn't know why the solar power being absorbed by humans wasn't important, she asked,
"What?"
"It turns out I was in the demoness stronghold all the time, not the Sword sect!
Can you believe it!"
The couple looked at each other, and then the Emperor said,
"Don't tell me the Demoness sect is a stronghold in disguise?"
"Exactly, you are so smart!
So I suddenly found myself in enemy territory!
But no one knew about my real identity, and I already had 10,000 followers from their stronghold.
How could I leave them behind and flee?
So, guess what I did?"
The couple, who already knew about this to some extent from Scarlet, took a couple of steps back, looked him up and down, and started acting like they were thinking.
The Empress said,
"Big brother is so smart and brave that he won't leave his followers behind just like that!"
Hearing the praise, Little Mortal puffed his chest.
The Emperor nodded,
"And he is so talented and charismatic that he can just show some potential to be accepted in any place!"
Little Mortal raised his chin after hearing the second praise!
The Empress said,
"The white robe is so familiar...
It's like the robe of sect mas- I mean, the stronghold chief personal disciple!"
Little Mortal tidied his robe.
Then the two said together in shock what they had already heard from Scarlet,
"You became snow goddess's disciple, disguised yourself as the gang boss, and your followers as gang members?"
Little Mortal gasped,
"As expected of the imperial couple!
So smart!
That's exactly what I did!"
The Empress sighed,
"Big brother, it's hard on you..."
Little Mortal snorted arrogantly,
"Nothing can stop me on my path to becoming the guardian!"
And another child who said,
"Great uncle is unstoppable!"
And a little head peeked out of the hall door.
Little Mortal looked over and saw the familiar boy with silver hair, who was in the arms of his 'auntie' the last time he came to the capital.
Then he looked at the couple,
And the boy again.
Recognizing who he is, he turned his senior mood 'on' and said,
"Little nephew!
It's you! Look how big you've grown since I last saw you!
Come here, come here, let me see you up close!
I'm too old now, my eyesight isn't like the old days when I was younger..."
The little boy came close shyly,
"Oh, look at you, exactly like when your father was your age!"
Then he suddenly became excited,
"Wait a minute!
I was thinking who should play as his majesty when he was a child!
I choose you!
What do you think?
And for your payment, I give you a 0.1 to 89.9 package, what do you think?"
The little boy looked at his parents, who were speechless by this old uncle and his weak eyesight, and saw them nodding at him.
"I listen to great uncle's arrangement."
The couple didn't know what 0.1 to 89.9 was, but first, they couldn't say no to this little monster, and second, he wouldn't offer anything bad, right?
The Empress asked,
"Big brother, lunch is ready. How about we go in?"
"Yes, yes!
Imperial lunch awaits us!"
And ran inside first.
The little boy didn't understand whether his great uncle was a grown-up or a child like him...
Inside the hall, when Little Mortal saw the big table with all kinds of food, he said,
"Where are uncle and auntie?"
The Emperor, who was asked by his father not to call him over if possible, found out that there was no place to run for them now, so he could only say,
"They will be here soon."
And signaled a guard who left immediately.
Little Mortal then walked to a corner and looked up,
"What are you doing?"
The couple and the little boy followed his gaze and didn't see anything.
'Who is he talking to?'
Then a 'cough' sounded from the shadow at the corner, and scarlet appeared,
"Greetings, boss."
The three were speechless.
They wondered where she had gone.
So she was hiding there?
Little Mortal asked curiously,
"What are you doing at this corner?"
Scarlet answered while embarrassed,
"I-I was trying to see if I could hide from you, boss..."
The three raised their eyebrow.
She was indeed too overconfident for her own good.
Now it was Little Mortal's turn to be speechless.
He shook his head and said,
"Little Scarlet... You aren't good at hiding..."
Scarlet lowered her head in embarrassment.
She wanted to say,
'Actually, I am the best in the cultivation world...
I even sneaked inside the Demoness sect without Snow Goddess noticing.'
But his opponent, whom she tried to hide from, wasn't simple at all.
Little Mortal walked beside the table.
"Big guy, chair."
And a silver chair appeared for him to sit down and wait with anticipation.
Seeing the opportunity, the Emperor asked,
"So, big brother, you mentioned your experiment being successful.
How is it now?
Can it be used on everyone?"
"Oh, now that you mentioned it, I remembered something important.
Give me a second."
Then he went to his backpack and came back with a storage ring.
"Here, take this."
The Emperor took the ring and asked,
"What is this?"
"It's the formula and the ingredients for making the drug that you need to inject people and change their genes so they can absorb solar energy."
The Emperor looked inside in amazement,
"So it was really successful?
But why are you giving it to me now?
Didn't you say you need it for your guardian qualification?"
"The formula isn't important; what's important is what the ingredients are to make it."
Then he winked at him,
"You know what I mean, right?"
The Emperor looked at his wife and saw her looking at him with a knowing smile.
The two thought to themselves,
'Is he a child or not?'
Not long after, the door opened, and the old couple came in while looking vigilant.
Seeing them come in, Little Mortal ran to them.
The old couple's hearts started beating wildly in their chests,
'We are fine, right?
We didn't do anything that angers him this time, right?'
He stopped in front of them, bowed respectfully, and said,
"Uncle, Auntie!
It's been a while; how have you been?"
Then he held their hands like a polite junior who wants to show the way to his seniors.
The moment he held their hands, the old couple thought they might lose 'everything' like last time.
But fortunately, nothing happened.
While taking a breath of relief, they gathered their courage and greeted him the way the Emperor told them.
Like a family.
The old Emperor said,
"Oh, if it isn't our little warrior!
Look how tall and strong you've become!"
The old Empress, with a trembling hand that had nothing to do with her age, patted his head gently,
"It was like yesterday that you joined our family and brought new light with yourself...."
Little Mortal, hearing them praise him like that,
was shocked!
Either way, everything went normally like an authentic family dinner, with the participants kept getting dragged inside a nonexistent illusion and coming out again.
The little boss said his prayer, and stared at the old mepror, who started eating the food so the others could begin eating, until the lunch was over, with Little Mortal generating blue smoke the whole time.
"Alright, let's start the recording.
The first scene is my descent into this world.
I need the Emperor and the Empress to act as the old Emperor and the old Empress when they were young, alright?"
The couple nodded.
Then they followed him to the garden.
He climbed up his backpack and said,
"Part 1, Descent, take one, Action!"
And then jumped down from the backpack and landed on the ground on his butt.
The couple, taken aback by how quickly it started without knowing their lines, felt the ground tremble.
And so did the hearts of the old couple, farther away, and the people of the capital, even farther away!
Cold sweat appeared on their foreheads...
'It was only the first scene, and an earthquake was created?
And how heavy even is he? Where is all that weight coming from?'
Then they heard him saying,
"Ouch!"
And a moment later, he looked around in confusion,
"Where is this place?
Why don't I remember anything?
It should be amnesia..."
Then the Emperor lost control over his body, and while he understood why he didn't have any lines, he said as he walked forward,
"Who is this child?
How can he be fine dropping from the sky?
So strong at such a young age?"
The Empress lost control too and came forward,
stood beside the Emperor, and said,
"He should be the chosen one!"
The Emperor nodded,
"Then we should raise him."
The Empress approved and said while touching her belly like a pregnant woman, but with a flat stomach,
"Yeah, let's raise him like our own child who is on the way!"
And Little Mortal, who seems to have been clueless this whole time, said,
"Aaaaand cut.
Good job, let's go to the next scene."
The Empress, now back in control of her body, asked in puzzlement,
"Big brother, wasn't this scene too simple?
And why didn't you use your acting skills at all?"
He was indeed good at acting dramatic scenes,
So, where did all those acting skills go?
"Because I need my target audience to think I'm a silly brat playing around and underestimate me."
The Empress furrowed her brow and asked,
"Who is the 'target audience'?"
Little Mortal chuckled like a villain,
"That's a secret."
The couple gulped.
This kid's actions mostly looked random, but in reality, it was hard to tell if they were truly random or not, and the way he laughed, like a little devil with evil plans... It seemed some people were going to suffer!
"Don't worry, for any serious scene with His Majesty in it, it will be epic!
That's for the version you guys and the creatures in my future guardian territory see in my ceremony!
But the version for the target audience is just a silly kid at the start."
Then he called for the little boy who was watching them farther away with his grandparents,
"Little nephew, come over; it's your turn to be in your father's role."
The little boy ran to them.
And the next scene started right away,
"Part 2, the two brothers meet for the first time. Take 1, action."
Little Mortal looked at the mountains far away as if lost in thought and muttered,
"It's been 2 years after my descent, but I still don't remember anything..."
Then, with a sad tone continued,
"Who am I?
Why is my name the only thing I remember?"
At this moment, the Empress lost control over her body and walked forward,
"Little Mortal, my child has grown up enough;
It's time for the two of you to meet!"
Little Mortal turned around and ran to her excitedly,
"Auntie, it's you!
Where is the future Emperor?"
The old Empress, at the back, tapped the old man's shoulder beside her and said,
"Oh, that's me; look, I was so young back then!"
The old Emperor felt helpless...
He wanted to say 'it's all fake,' but he didn't dare to.
The little boy came forward, but this time he wasn't shy at all.
Looking at him, he was like an Emperor even now!
His eyes shone with the light of wisdom, and his aura was already that of a ruler.
One glance from him and you would kneel before him!
The real Emperor felt a hint of threat to his throne from his own little son at this moment!
Was it an illusion because he was under the control of this little monster?
Little Mortal gasped in shock at their first meeting!
"Auntie, what's his name?"
The Empress felt she was suddenly back in control again,
"H-his name is Fritz!"
She understood why she was back in control.
He didn't know the Emperor's name, so she was supposed to say it.
"Aaaaand cut."
The crowd felt speechless,
'That was it?
The Emperor didn't even talk!
But he was indeed imposing in this scene!'
After that, they repeated the scene from the beginning, but this time the version for the guardian ceremony, not the one for the 'target audience', for whom nobody knew who they were.
"Alright, next part is, Mortal and Fritz going on their journey.
Take 1, Action!"
Then the couple stood side by side, and while the Empress was crying like a river, the Emperor said,
"The next time I see you two, I want to see
the strongest warrior and the strongest ruler!
Do you... understand?"
The two little guys said "Yes" together, with voices full of confidence and determination, as if it was an inevitable future!
The Empress wiped her tears,
"Little Mortal, Little Fritz, remember to take care of each other!"
The two nodded and said "Yes," as if they would live and die together on their journey.
"Aaaaaand cut.
Alright, we are done here for now.
Little nephew, let's go.
Your 0.1 to 89.9 power-up and the scene of our '40 years journey' are going to be done simultaneously."
"I'm ready, great uncle!"
He didn't know what he was ready for, but something told him this was the best opportunity he had ever encountered in his life!
This message was coming from his blood, the blood of a future ruler!
Then, with a whistle, a motorcycle that none of the people here knew what it was appeared with a
'VROOOOOM' sound.
Little Mortal jumped on it and patted the back seat,
"Sit here, little nephew; we are leaving."
The little boy sat behind him, excitedly.
Then they saw them riding away while the big backpack hopped after them!
Only at this moment did they discover that it wasn't a scene being recorded this time, and they were really leaving!
The Empress shouted in panic,
"Where are you going with my child, big brother!"
Little Mortals just waved his hand,
"To record the scene of 40 40-year journey.
We will be back in 5 hours."
And they disappeared into the path that opened in front of them, only to close behind them the next moment...
The Empress looked at her husband helplessly,
"Why didn't you say anything?
Don't you care about our child?"
The Emperor shook his head,
"Maybe the most dangerous place in this world is around that little monster... but so is the safest."
Then he turned around and left like everything was under control!
The Empress ran after him,
"Are you trying to act tough in front of me now?
Just say you can't do anything about it!"
The Emperor didn't say anything.
He indeed couldn't do anything, but he could stay silent and not admit his weakness, couldn't he?
And so the couple, with mixed feelings of worry and anticipation for their son, went back to wait for their son's return.
In the next 5 hours, the Emperor sent orders everywhere.
He gave a list of different herbs and ingredients to different groups of people and asked them to see who had them in the capital, who was the biggest seller, and any information related to these things.
It was time to take them under control before the 'formula' became public and the price goes up, because at that time he couldn't have any control over them anymore!
In the end, wasn't this the whole reason for this little guy giving him the formula?
He was helping him to keep things under control before the 'big change'.
5 hours later, while the capital was in a small turmoil,
In the garden, the old and young imperial couple, with Scarlet standing in the shadows, gathered once more.
Little Mortal said they would be back in 5 hours.
At this moment, a path opened out of nowhere in the garden's wall.
With a 'VROOOM' sound, the vehicle from before appeared.
But this time, two completely different people were riding it...
Who are these people?
Messy hair, long beards, dirty clothes...
They were like two dirty middle-aged men around 40 years old.
Then the motorcycle disappeared, and they heard a familiar voice from one of the two.
The normal one.
Why normal?
Because the other guy was full of muscle!
His dirty clothes, which had once been expensive but had since deteriorated to their current state, were stuck to his body as if they were about to tear apart at any moment.
They didn't understand why they stood so far away, though... But they could clearly hear the normal guy, with a familiar voice, saying,
"Last take, imperial arc, farewell, take 1, action."
One sentence, and the nonexistent illusion shattered!
Now they knew this normal one was the little monster!
'How did he grow up so much in just 5 hours?
Is he as tall as the muscular man now?
And who is this new actor? Where is our little boy?'
Then, both men gave each other a handshake that was more like arm wrestling!
As if they were comparing their power at the same time as they said their farewell!
At this moment, the muscular guy's clothes couldn't bear it anymore and suddenly tore apart!
His right arm, full of muscle with veins bulging out, proudly showed itself to the world.
But Little Mortal, with just a normal arm, didn't show any weakness!
He even 'secretly' raised his right heel a little and then hit the ground!
Then, BOOM! The ground under their feet sank more than one meter deep and ten meters in diameter as the two stood there, unmoving, like mountains.
The crowd gasped!
Who was this muscular man, standing his ground against this monster?
But then again, they heard another familiar voice,
This time from the muscular guy!
"Big brother, I'm going to become the Emperor, the strongest Emperor..."
His voice was filled with confidence!
And Little Mortal responded,
"And I go find out who I am, and who the guardian is!
And the day I become the strongest, I will be back to accompany you to conquer the world!"
The muscular man with the familiar voice said,
"I await your arrival in the capital!"
"Then, our next meeting will be the day that the whole world unites!"
Then the two turned around and left.
One to the east and one to the west.
In front of both of them was a sun that made them like two heroes walking towards the sunset to continue their journey to greatness!
How was it possible to have two suns in the sky?
On that day, no one knew why, but there were two suns in the sky, as if the world would be embarrassed if one of the two didn't walk towards the sunset...
The End.