Heroes Return

Therefore, the miracle needed to change Lin Jie's fate must be large enough to affect the entire world.

At that time, Xiaoqian didn't possess such a massive miracle. In fact, she had used the bottle before, but she had only managed to capture a tiny miracle wandering somewhere in the world—something like the one Glasses Guy had encountered. Therefore, Xiaoqian chose a different way to change Lin Jie's fate. Since the side effects of the True 500 Battles couldn't be eliminated, she simply wouldn't. She would choose someone of Zero's level at the time, someone willing to use the miracle to die in Zero's place.

Without a doubt, in that world, the only person willing to die in place of Zero, and with enough power, was Akane herself.

In fact, as the True Five Hundred Battles were about to erupt, although Lin Jie grew stronger and the enemies he killed became increasingly powerful, Xiao Qian was also absorbing a vast amount of souls. Moreover, these were all extremely powerful souls, and it was precisely because of this that Xiao Qian's power at that time had already surpassed Solomon's own.

As for weapons like Guixu, Lin Jie only fully mastered them during the five years he spent at home after giving up his dream of becoming a hero. At that time, Lin Jie had only scratched the surface.

Because, in order to revive Xiaoqian, Lin Jie needs a miracle large enough to change the world. And the miracle that Nicholas Doudou scattered all over the world during the last struggle, which could end the cataclysmic end of the Dharma, naturally meets Lin Jie's needs.

However, if Lin Jie were to actually do this, the cataclysmic end of Dharma would once again descend upon the world. The world would naturally revert to its original state, instead of its current condition. The gods who awakened during the last hundred years, coinciding with the end of the cataclysmic end of Dharma, would all vanish with this new cataclysm. Naturally, the mysterious power would also disappear. Those who rose to power through this mysterious power during the last hundred years would also lose their power due to the cataclysmic end of Dharma, though they wouldn't necessarily die. More likely, they would become ordinary people.

Of course, the Four Swords of Zhuxian in Lin Jie's hands will be reduced to scrap metal. Many things considered miraculous will revert to their original state. He himself will become an ordinary person, and as for the resurrected Xiao Qian, she can only be an ordinary person as well.

For example, some people miraculously survive laboratory experiments and gain superpowers. Undoubtedly, they will also die. Cause and effect will be rewritten, and the world will change. Although not many people will necessarily die, the impact on the world will be enormous. As for whether this change is good or bad? Since it involves the loss of miracles, it can't possibly be a good change, after all, miracles themselves are among the beautiful things for humanity.

Lin Jie knew that actually not many people would die; only a very small number would disappear because of it. However, Lin Jie still chose to insist that everyone would die, agreeing with Solomon's alarmist claim. Because Lin Jie knew that only in this way would the whole world relentlessly try to defeat him.

Although Lin Jie himself deeply desired to fulfill his wish, he still left people with the opportunity to challenge him. If even he couldn't be defeated, if the world still had to depend on him, then reverting to a state of cataclysmic decline might not be such a bad thing. He no longer wanted to experience this feeling of being depended upon.

"You should know the answer by now. Also, remember to keep it a secret! Otherwise, those people won't challenge me with all their might." Lin Jie said to Zhu Xian'er with a smile, "It seems that we will be enemies from now on. Speaking of which, I haven't personally experienced the real Zhu Xian Sword Formation yet."

“No, it’s them,” Lu Xian’er suddenly said. “I’m on your side.”

"But you might end up as scrap metal!"

"I am your sword, your decision is my decision." Zhu Xian'er's attitude was unexpectedly firm.

"Sigh! You're still the same as always! Oh well, whatever!" Hearing Lu Xian'er's words, Lin Jie sighed helplessly, "I'm actually quite looking forward to what methods they'll use to deal with me next. It should be quite interesting..."

Volume Twenty-Nine: Humans, Gods, and Demons – Enemies of the Three Realms!

Chapter One

In the desert, outside an oasis, a soldier in desert camouflage silently observes someone within the oasis through binoculars. After all, to those before him, the person in the oasis was an absolute legend. The strongest and greatest hero in human history—Zero!

As an elite soldier in the military, his mission was to keep an eye on the legendary hero before him.

To be honest, although he felt this mission was extremely dangerous, he was surprisingly excited, after all, he could observe everything about that superhero up close. Perhaps he could find the reason for his strength from his habits. After all, the other party was going to stay in this oasis for half a month.

However, judging from the battles Zero had witnessed against the gods, he estimated that Zero could stand there for at least half a month. But what reassured this observer warrior was that Zero didn't seem to intend to just stand there.

As for what Zero is doing now?

"Hmm... cooking instant noodles with desert spring water? What's the point? Does Zero even need to eat? This is quite an unexpected discovery; I never thought Zero needed to eat. Wait! Zero seems to be putting something into the instant noodles? Could this be the reason for Zero's strength? Damn it! I really want to get closer, but Zero's vigilance is probably extremely high." Thinking this, the scout began adjusting his binoculars. Under the binoculars, he finally saw what Zero was putting in: "Holy crap! Putting two packets of spicy strips into the instant noodles at once? Is this Zero's diet? I must record this; perhaps the military can start by studying the spicy strips to find a way to defeat Zero."

And so, the observer began to observe Zero's habits, watching him place the instant noodles into the black mist under his cloak. Before long, the noodles were gone!

"Wait! Such a powerful being only eats one pack of instant noodles for a meal? That's no way he can cope with the energy expenditure of a normal battle, right? Sure enough, it's related to him eating two packs of spicy strips at the same time, right? That must be it! Damn it! I have to record all of this in detail!!!" Looking at the scene before him, the observer began to study it carefully.

I watched as Ling finished his instant noodles and then stretched.

"No! That stretching must be an illusion! Zero is still in the comfortable oasis, how could he stretch like an ordinary person? There must be something he's up to! I know! It's to deliberately lower our guard, the hidden observers. As expected of Zero! As expected of the greatest hero, always so vigilant." Nodding admiringly, the observer continued watching.

After stretching, Zero pulled out a handheld game console and started playing.

"Huh? This!!!! Zero is playing a video game! There's definitely something wrong with this!!!" Seeing this, the man frantically activated the recording function: "This game is a recent release! Come to think of it, I've played this game before! Wait! I know! This must be Zero's training method, using games to hone his awareness or something!! And, there are four different chapter modes on the market right now, why did Zero choose this particular brand of game console? There must be a reason! I know! That game console factory must have a problem!! This needs to be noted down!! We must thoroughly investigate that game console company!! I can't believe I've already gained so much from just the first day of observation! As expected of humanity's strongest hero, Zero! Damn it!"

As he spoke, the man casually took out his water bottle, only to find it was empty. Upon closer inspection, he discovered that the bottle had been leaking.

"Damn it! Even without water, I'll still persevere!" the Observer said, his gaze hardening. At the same time, he noticed a green sphere had appeared in Zero's hand sometime during the night!

"Wait! This thing that looks like a watermelon must be Zero's latest weapon, it must be! As expected of Zero, he can even make a secret weapon with such an easy-to-lower-guard shape..."

Then, right in front of him, Zero used a kitchen knife to cut open his watermelon.

"Huh? It's a real watermelon! Wait! I get it! Good, this must be a necessary supplement to prepare for the big battle! That must be it. I didn't expect Zero to be such a meticulous person."

After cutting the watermelon open, his gaze suddenly fell on the observer: "Alright, stop drooling! If you want to eat watermelon, come and eat with us! You've been climbing over there for half a day."

"...Ahhh! He's already found me! Is he trying to trick me into showing myself? I won't fall for it! I'm a professionally trained person! Do you think I'd just eat your food so easily? Sorry! Although I respect you very much, we're enemies now. Even if I die on this sandy ground, I won't eat your watermelon!" The man muttered to himself as he began to carefully try to move to a different position.

……

Meanwhile, at the Hero Association headquarters, almost all the action heroes were holding a meeting. Many of the technically skilled heroes were also present. However, today, most of them had heavy dark circles under their eyes. The reason was quite simple: ever since Zero disappeared, they had been here plotting a way to deal with her.

This is the fourth night without sleep, and many ordinary people are already at their mental limit.

"Damn it! Does Zero really have no weaknesses?" Leng Yan slammed his fist on the table in anger.

"First and foremost, one thing is certain: Zero is capable of handling almost any powerful mind control ability! This is evident from Zero's past record." A bespectacled man said to Xiao Zhan, "Through Zero's battle against the gods, we can see that the Hero Association's known powers have an estimated 0.002% chance of inflicting damage on Zero. Therefore, we do not recommend using any magic known to the Hero Association. Furthermore, we do not know the source of Zero's power, so we have no way to take corresponding measures. As for physical strength, based on our known combat battles, Zero's physical strength is estimated to be more than a hundred times that of Captain Justice and Thorus combined—more than that, possibly even a thousand times. As for recovery ability, Zero recovered from a life-threatening state to a state where he could move in just a few minutes, without even needing any medical assistance."

Listening to the report from the person in front of him, Leng Yan couldn't help but rub his forehead.

"Don't even think about it. Compared to Zero, you're nothing but mortals. The weapon he wields, the one you call the Sword of Judgment, is an ancient Eastern weapon specifically designed to kill gods." Fenrir suddenly spoke up. "You think ordinary mystical power can really work against a weapon that can kill gods? And let me remind you, above that Sword of Judgment, Zero possesses an even more powerful weapon. A sword that mortals don't even have the right to see!"

"Wait! You mean the one Ivan used when he detonated antimatter?" Hearing his words, Leng Yan asked in confusion, "Although I saw a vague shape, I couldn't be sure what it was at the time."

"I once heard a legend that when the power of one of the gods reaches its limit, he will become an existence capable of transcending this universe. At that time, this universe will no longer be suitable for his kind of life, and he will ascend to a more advanced universe. In that higher world, our universe is nothing more than a grain of sand to them. The imagination of the beings in that universe is simply incapable of understanding everything there, just as characters in a movie cannot understand people in reality. They are like painters, able to freely depict or change the universe as a canvas. And we will never be able to understand them. Such people are called transcendent beings. And correspondingly, weapons that transcend the universe are naturally called transcendent weapons. They do not even exist in any space in the universe. And the sword in Zero's hand is a transcendent weapon."

Upon hearing Fenrir's words, almost everyone was stunned.

"Wait, if what you're saying is true, then Zero's weapon should belong to a higher dimension, right?" a technician couldn't help but ask.

“I don’t know what dimensions are. I only know that the ancient Eastern powerhouses seem unwilling to be merely ordinary gods, and almost every Eastern powerhouse is searching for a way to become a transcendent being.” Fenrir shook his head: “But don’t worry, at least Zero doesn’t seem to be a transcendent being yet.”

"A transcendent being..." Upon hearing his words, everyone gasped in astonishment.

"Then, is there any way to restrict the weapons in his hands?" Leng Yan suddenly asked Fenrir.

"I'm just an alpha wolf. Even if you ask me that, there's no way I could know! As a magical beast, it's already quite an achievement to know so much," Fenrir said to Cold Flame, clearly dissatisfied. He strongly asserted that he wasn't a god of knowledge and couldn't possibly know too much.

"Damn it! If that's the case, what about an antimatter weapon attack?"

“If we want to use antimatter weapons, we first need to catch him off guard!” another person said. “Also, judging from Zero’s severely injured state last time, Zero should still have a limit. As long as we continue to attack him for the next half month until he reaches his limit, we should still have a chance. As it stands, we can’t find Zero’s weak point at all, so we can only try to probe him. But how exactly can we find an army as powerful as the gods last time?”

Hearing his words, a helpless expression appeared on everyone's face. If it were an ordinary criminal, with everyone's combined intellect, surely they would find a way, right? But Zero was like an insurmountable mountain! Moreover, they could hardly find any obvious weaknesses in Zero based on his past achievements. A perfect hero—perhaps that's the best description of Zero!

"Damn it! Anyway, let's see if the people monitoring Zero have any intelligence." Torus scratched his head helplessly, then turned on his communicator. Immediately afterward, the observer who was supposed to be lying in wait appeared before everyone.

At that moment, he was eating a watermelon: "This watermelon is so sweet, and wow, it's even chilled."

“An exclusive secret recipe!” Zero replied.

"By the way, there's a hidden treasure chest in the place you're passing by right now," the observer said while eating watermelon and watching Lin Jie play the game.

"..." The people in front of the screen.

Chapter two

"Speaking of which, you should be getting ready to fight me by now, right?" While playing the game, Lin Jie's gaze unconsciously drifted towards the stars in the sky. After eating a few watermelons with Lin Jie, all the military observers were called back, leaving only Zero on the entire oasis.

"Speaking of which, I'm actually a little curious about what methods they'll use to deal with me. Come to think of it, this feeling of letting loose and being the big boss is really quite nice." Lin Jie was thinking this when suddenly a punch landed on his face, sending him flying.

Zero, who had been knocked away, couldn't help but look at the person who threw the punch, and cold sweat broke out on his brow instantly.

"Holy crap! Seriously? This is such a troublesome opponent right off the bat?" Looking at the person in front of him, Lin Jie couldn't help but give a helpless wry smile: "Little sister, what were you thinking, traveling all the way from H City to the desert?"

"I came here because of you, my 'hundred-times-a-brother'!" Hearing the other person's words, Lin Wan's face showed an angry expression: "Brother, can you please stop this! Come back with me right now. Do you know that you've been harassed by a lot of people lately because of you?!"

"Um... I'm a hero who saved the world, can you please not act like this? Give me some face, okay? After all, I still have a very respectable image." Looking at Lin Wan's angry expression, Lin Jie was almost sweating profusely.

"Brother, do you think I'd let you off so easily?" Lin Wan said, clenching her fists angrily.

"Um...can you please not slap me in the face? I might have to rely on my looks to make a living from now on." Seeing Lin Wan's expression, Lin Jie couldn't help but take a step back again.

"You don't even need a face with this look!!" Lin Wan said angrily to Lin Jie, "Dude, can you please stop tarnishing the image of Zero in my mind?! And what are you even doing?! It feels like you're missing a personality-correcting punch!!"

As she spoke, Lin Wan had already grabbed Lin Jie by the collar. Her fist was raised once again.

Lin Jie didn't seem to have any intention of resisting. However, Lin Wan's fist didn't land very hard; it just landed on Lin Jie's chest, and it felt soft and yielding.

"Brother... are you really not going to stop? If you continue, I might really hit you, and I'll specifically hit you in the face." Lin Wan helplessly punched Lin Jie's chest: "Besides, if you hurt other people for Sister Xiaoqian's sake, will Sister Xiaoqian really be happy when she finds out?"

"Sorry, you can hit me however you want, but this is the only thing you can't do!" Hearing Lin Wan's complaint, Lin Jie simply said calmly, "Besides, Xiao Qian would be happy, after all, she's a complete little devil! The most selfish kind of devil."

Is that really the case?

"Who knows? But at least I'm not as selfless as I used to be! In a way, I'm a selfish guy too. And this time, your brother might really have to be selfish for once." Lin Jie patted Lin Wan's head: "Go ahead and fight, anyway, Ignore them and they won't go back."

"..." Hearing his words, Lin Wan finally calmed down: "I understand, brother. I won't try to persuade you anymore!"

After saying that, before Lin Jie could react, he punched Lin Jie in the face, sending him flying again: "You bastard brother! Just stay here and get beaten up by the crowd, get a good lesson!!"

After saying this, Lin Wan walked away into the distance. Almost simultaneously, a sniper bullet streaked across the sky and shot directly at the bottle in the center of the oasis. The military's most powerful plasma sniper rifle finally unleashed its full power at this moment.

Taking advantage of Lin Wan's distraction, they planned to destroy the bottle in one fell swoop. However, to everyone's surprise, the bullet did hit the bottle, but the bottle remained unharmed. In fact, if viewed in slow motion, one would see that the bullet merely passed through the bottle itself.

Lin Jie paid no attention to the sniping of the bottle; he simply watched calmly as Lin Wan boarded the Hero Association's plane.

……

"It seems that even Zero's own sister can't persuade him." After Lin Wan boarded the plane, Leng Yan's expression turned grim.

In fact, there have been many protests recently against the World Hero Association's decision to challenge Zero. Many people have even begun to put pressure on the Hero Association, with several prominent figures openly stating they will side with Zero.

there are many reasons.

However, there are several key reasons. First, Zero's actions won't affect ordinary people; they'll only reduce the number of superhumans. This leads them to believe that Zero is still doing something righteous. After all, in their view, power beyond government control is the root cause of social chaos. Those mysterious figures possessing extraordinary abilities are often the perpetrators of large-scale acts of violence.

Therefore, in their view, Zero's actions were actually a form of protection for ordinary people like them. Furthermore, reducing the amount of mysterious power would make it easier for the World Government to manage the world, at least reducing much of the chaos. For ordinary people, those superhumans who could easily escape the World Government's control were often the greater threat to their lives.

Therefore, Zero's approach surprisingly gained the approval of many people around the world.

Another reason is that Zero has saved the world many times, and for a savior, the world has never repaid him in any way. Now, granting his wish is the best way to repay this savior, isn't it? After all, without Zero, the world might already be destroyed.

This is the second reason.

The third reason is quite practical. They believe that even the World Government and the Hero Association combined couldn't defeat Zero. After all, Zero was a super-strong individual who went on a rampage during the War of the Gods. How could anyone possibly defeat someone who has surpassed even the gods? To them, Zero's challenge was less a formality and more a friendly notification to them, like ants.

Moreover, if their frequent attacks truly anger Zero, they might then face the wrath of a powerful god! They certainly don't want Zero's anger to ultimately be vented upon them as well.

It was precisely because of these three reasons that even the current headquarters of the Hero Association was almost completely blocked by protesters. As for the dozen or so local television stations? Almost every celebrity was talking about these events, only their opinions differed.

……

Looking at the report from the World Government and then at the protesting crowd below the Hero Association building, Leng Yan's brows furrowed. Since the arrival of the gods, Leng Yan had been almost constantly busy.

"Sigh! It seems we need to deal with these troubles before we can start a war with Zero." Gear's figure appeared beside Cold Flame.

“Have you found Rose? We need her power now. If there’s anyone else who can fight Zero, perhaps Rose is the only one left on the Association’s side.” Cold Flame asked Gear, “Perhaps by using Rose’s analysis and autonomous evolution, we can find a way to defeat Zero.”