Zhang Sanfeng hoisted the two oversized backpacks with ease and strode forward at a brisk pace.
The young Taoist boy, Song Qingshu, hurried to follow behind his grand-master while clutching the rest of the gifts.
Among the strange guests, there were so so beautiful they seed like gods—but the gorilla-like creature and the tal-skinned man with deep-set eyes still unnerved Song Qingshu. Without his grand-master around, he wouldn't dare stay alone with these people.
Kizaru gave Fubuki a quick nod and led Esdeath after Zhang Sanfeng. As for the severed head of the super-dangerous beast, it was fine to leave it where it was.
Even in death, the creature's head radiated an intensely frightening aura. The giant tiger that the bystander had captured had nearly wet itself in fear just being near it—there was no worry that anyone would try to ss with it.
The rest of the group followed after Kizaru, chatting and laughing along the way. Although they had spent a lot of ti talking in the chat group, this was the first ti they were actually eting in person. Everyone was a little giddy with the novelty.
Fubuki and Ai Haibara, besties in the group, were practically ready to swear sisterhood on the spot. Even Orochimaru and Tony Stark hit it off surprisingly well.
One was a "mad scientist" and behind-the-scenes manipulator, while the other was a "playboy" and arms dealer—but their shared experiences building labs made for instant chemistry. Their conversation flowed naturally, as if they'd known each other for years.
Watching how quickly they clicked, Kizaru had no doubt they'd be teaming up to develop biological weapons by the ti this was all over.
Soon, the group arrived at a secluded residence nestled behind the mountain. Zhang Sanfeng had prepared a special banquet there to entertain the guests who had co from other worlds to celebrate his hundredth birthday.
But just as he was about to sit down and chat, a young Taoist acolyte ca rushing over. No one heard what was said, but Zhang Sanfeng's expression subtly shifted.
"Dear friends, I'm afraid sothing urgent has co up. I must attend to it imdiately and may not be able to properly host you. Please forgive my discourtesy."
After a brief mont of thought, Zhang Sanfeng made his decision. He gave the group a sincere apology, then left Song Qingshu behind to host the guests in his stead. With a grave expression, he turned and departed with the new acolyte.
The group exchanged confused glances until Kizaru took the initiative to break the silence and invited everyone to sit and begin the al.
The bystander—also a transmigrator—cooperated naturally, and soon everyone was seated around the round table. The kitchen monks of Wudang were already on standby, and dish after dish of exquisite food began flowing out like a river.
"These are all dishes I've never seen before!"
Kobayashi whipped out her phone, snapping away enthusiastically.
The only downside was that her phone had lost its internet access after leaving her original world—otherwise she'd be posting these pics online in a heartbeat.
"If you like them, I'll learn how to cook them and make them for you!"
Tohru, seated nearby with her big tail swaying happily, was already plotting where to find the recipes later.
"Hey… idiot—ahem, Random, what's going on with Master Zhang?"
Ai Haibara instinctively opened her mouth to call out the bystander's usual nickna, but when faced with this massive man standing over two ters tall, bulging with muscle, she hesitated. The "stupid mutt" she had on the tip of her tongue turned into a cautious, "Hey."
Everyone in the chat group knew one thing for sure: if you had a question, just ask the bystander. He'd definitely have so idea.
The only downside? The guy had a pretty spotty mory. Aside from a few series he loved—like JoJo—he only rembered bits and pieces of other ani plots.
Especially the Detective Conan world that Haibara ca from—he barely rembered anything aside from a few key characters. That alone had nearly made Haibara pop a blood vessel.
"Uh, hey kid… has Zhang Wu Xia of the Wudang Sect returned yet?" the bystander asked, scratching his head as he turned to the nearby young Taoist, Song Qingshu.
If he rembered correctly, Zhang Sanfeng's hundredth birthday celebration coincided with the return of Zhang Cuishan along with his wife and child to Wudang Mountain—only for the Six Major Sects to co knocking.
Zhang Cuishan, unwilling to betray his sworn brother Xie Xun, chose to take his own life. His wife, Yin Susu, followed him in death out of guilt over crippling one of the Wudang Seven Heroes. Before dying, she left their son Zhang Wuji with the morable line: "The prettier the woman, the more dangerous she is."
"H-How did you know that…?" Song Qingshu, still intimidated by the "gorilla monster," summoned his courage to respond. He trusted his grand-master, and that gave him the nerve to speak up.
"So I guessed right. Looks like we've hit that point in the tiline… Well, here's the situation—"
The bystander genuinely wanted to help Zhang Sanfeng.
While he didn't think Xie Xun was exactly innocent, Zhang Cuishan certainly didn't deserve to die for him.
The only problem was, he didn't quite know how to help. Sure, he could easily drive off the Six Major Sects with his strength—but Wudang would probably never accept such a violent solution.
Frustrated, the bystander decided to just lay it all out and asked if anyone else had ideas.
Song Qingshu was so stunned his eyes nearly popped out. He was now absolutely certain these people were immortals or demons—how else could they know things that hadn't even happened yet?
"This is simple. If that Zhang Cuishan guy doesn't want to give up his brother, we'll just kick out the people harassing him," Tony Stark said breezily. He couldn't see what the big deal was—Wudang had powerful backers now. They could throw out anyone causing trouble.
And if anyone wanted to make it a legal issue, they could just lawyer up and drag it out for years until it fizzled away. Stark was no stranger to lawsuits—Stark Industries dealt with hundreds of them every year. If Zhang Sanfeng needed help, he'd be happy to lend him a whole legal team.
"That's too much trouble. Just kill them all. If Master Zhang's not comfortable doing it, I don't mind getting my hands dirty," Esdeath said flatly.
She was already getting bored. After her last trip to Kizaru's world, she'd expected at least a few decent opponents this ti around—even if they weren't quite on Kizaru's level.
But a sweep of her Observation Haki told her everything she needed to know: aside from Zhang Sanfeng, the rest of these so-called martial artists were trash.
Even Orochimaru, who had so strength, was nowhere near Kizaru's league.
The only one who might give her a proper fight was that girl with horns and a tail—but of course, Kizaru had forbidden her from starting anything. La.
anwhile, Song Qingshu trembled uncontrollably nearby. Even the slight killing intent Esdeath had unintentionally let slip was more than enough to send the young novice into a panic—even though Ai Haibara, seated further away, hadn't sensed a thing.
Thankfully, Esdeath's intent vanished as quickly as it appeared. If she hadn't been in such a relaxed state, she wouldn't have lost control like that.
"If it's just paralysis… I might have a way to fix it—"
Orochimaru spoke in his usual unhurried tone. While he wasn't quite at the level of creating people out of thin air, by this point in ti, he was already quite accomplished in the art of human modification.
To him, curing Yu Daiyan's paralysis was trivial. Even if all four limbs had been severed at the root, Orochimaru could reattach them—or transplant entirely new ones, if needed.
Of course, it wasn't that Orochimaru had suddenly developed a bleeding heart.
What truly piqued his interest was this entirely new world that Zhang Sanfeng resided in.
An entire universe full of untapped resources. Even if the average strength of its inhabitants paled in comparison to the ninja world, there were still plenty of things that caught Orochimaru's curiosity.
"If it's really possible to cure him, then with Yu Daiyan's character, he should be able to forgive Yin Susu! That would just leave the Six Sects and the other martial artists…" the bystander said, eyes lighting up.
After all, Yin Susu was only the indirect cause of Yu Daiyan's injury. If Orochimaru could heal him, then surely the rest of the Wudang Seven Heroes would be willing to accept her.
But the real thorn was Zhang Cuishan's sworn brother, Xie Xun. Sure, the Golden-Haired Lion King had gone on a killing spree mostly because of Cheng Kun's manipulations—but the fact remained: a lot of people had died by his hand.
Zhang Cuishan didn't want to betray his brother. He also didn't want to drag his master and fellow disciples into the ss. In the end, his only option was to take his own life in penance.
"Yeah, that's a tough one…" Haibara Ai muttered, frowning.
She couldn't quite wrap her head around the whole "jianghu honor" thing.
To her, Zhang Cuishan's situation looked an awful lot like soone knowing the whereabouts of a serial killer and flat-out refusing to tell anyone.
Worse still, he admitted he knew where the killer was—but swore he'd never say a word.
If it weren't for the fact that Zhang Cuishan was, in a way, on their side—and according to the bystander, was even willing to die rather than speak—Haibara would've seriously questioned his sanity.
Even in a modern society governed by law, what he was doing would be considered obstruction of justice.
"Hmm… I might have an idea. Tell what you all think," said Borsalino, rubbing his chin.
Even he was feeling a little speechless. If it were soone like Vivi or Nami trying to protect a friend, he'd absolutely back them up—no hesitation.
But soone like Zhang Sanfeng clearly wouldn't approve of that kind of personal bias. If they wanted a true win-win solution, they'd have to approach it through the lens of traditional Eastern values and philosophies.
And when it ca to a moral justification strong enough to override a deep-seated vendetta, only one thing ca to mind: national hatred.
Zhang Sanfeng had personally lived through the transition from the Song dynasty to the Yuan. He harbored a natural hostility toward the Mongols. On top of that, he had once admired the Ei swordswoman Guo Xiang—whose entire family had perished during the Mongol invasion of the Southern Song.
If they could invoke the righteous cause of resisting the Yuan dynasty, it might just override the blood feud.
The Battle of Yashan, where a hundred thousand loyalists had thrown themselves into the sea rather than surrender, was still fresh in collective mory. The martial world had already begun to stir with anti-Yuan sentints.
If they could guide that sentint and channel the entire jianghu toward the cause of resistance, Wudang would find itself on unassailable moral high ground.
And if Zhang Cuishan was truly willing to die for Xie Xun, then surely he'd also be willing to convince his brother to join the anti-Yuan movent.
As long as Xie Xun aligned himself with the rebellion, even his old enemies wouldn't be able to publicly attack him or Zhang Cuishan. If they tried, they'd risk being labeled as collaborators with the regi.
When Borsalino finished laying out his plan, the group fell into an involuntary silence.
None of them were familiar with the history of the Song and Yuan dynasties, but the sheer audacity of what Borsalino proposed—guiding an entire population to rise up against a nation of tens of millions—left them stunned.
"Th-this… isn't that a little extre?" Kobayashi glanced around nervously, lowering her voice.
"He wants to overthrow an entire country… Is that really necessary?" Haibara Ai echoed, equally shaken.
The most radical solution she'd considered was offering generous compensation to the victims, including those from the Six Sects. She never imagined Borsalino would go full scorched earth—toppling a regi just to clear Zhang Cuishan's na.
"Amazing! I love this plan! Let be the general! It doesn't matter what nation it is—I can destroy it!" Esdeath's eyes glead with excitent.
A war of this scale in an entirely unfamiliar world? From Borsalino's description, the target nation sounded as large as her own Empire, maybe even bigger.
This was right up her alley. Even if there was nothing to gain for her personally, Esdeath was more than eager to plunge headfirst into this cataclysmic conflict.
"Heh, truly worthy of you, Borsalino-kun. That's quite the plan. If you're serious about toppling a nation, count in," Orochimaru said, licking his lips.
At first, he thought the idea was overkill—going this far just to help Zhang Sanfeng's disciple?
But once Esdeath spoke, sothing clicked.
A war of this magnitude could an untold opportunities for the Hidden Leaf Village. Even if their ninjas couldn't directly participate, simply supplying weapons and logistics could bring in unimaginable profits—for Konoha and the entire Land of Fire.
This was a nation larger than all the countries in the shinobi world combined. Even basic trade could make the Land of Fire fat and overflowing with wealth.
"Hey! What's a war without Stark Industries? Whatever weapons you need, I've got them!" Tony Stark's eyes lit up too.
Perhaps due to Borsalino's interference, he'd skipped a certain pivotal mont in his life—he hadn't seen Dr. Yinsen die for him—so this Tony was still very much the classic arms dealer.
If there was one thing better than a weapons contract, it was multiple weapons contracts.
The only downside was this world's apparent lack of tech. Even if Stark Industries wanted to sell advanced gear, they'd probably have to stick with low-tier products for now.
But Tony wasn't picky. What truly excited him was the inspiration he got from Borsalino's plan.
There were so many mbers in this chat group, and so many worlds. Each one a potential market for Stark Industries. Even if no demand existed yet—he could create it.
That was the real path to fortune.
°°°
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