The pulse of the Fortress of Justice already resonated in Li Wei's mind, the promise of the next world just around the corner. He had walked out of the Lin mansion, leaving his parents in the lament of their own despair. But before Aegis could complete the dimensional jump, a voice, once a source of terror, stopped him dead in his tracks.
"Li Wei! Stop, you bastard!"
The voice was Lin Jian's, laden with a rage Li Wei knew well. He turned slowly. Lin Jian was walking down the street, not alone, but flanked by two figures Li Wei hadn't seen in years. His former fiancée, Xia Lihua, a cold and distant beauty, and her father, the patriarch of the Xia family, a ruthless businessman. The irony was palpable; Xia Lihua, the woman the Lin family had promised him to cement an alliance, and whom Lin Jian had stolen from him with the same ease with which he had stolen everything else.
Lin Jian stopped a few meters away, his face contorted by resentment and alcohol. "So here you are, you cowardly rat. Did you think you could disappear and leave me with all this mess? Did you think your little financial tricks would go unnoticed?"
Xia Lihua looked at him with a mix of curiosity and familiar disdain. "Well, if it isn't Li Wei. You've truly fallen low. You ran away like a rat, and now you come back in those ridiculous clothes and street-dog scars. How pathetic."
Xia Lihua's father merely frowned, assessing Li Wei with a shrewd gaze.
The old anger stirred in Li Wei's chest, but it was a controlled anger, not the despair of yesteryear. "I didn't hide, Lin Jian. I was busy destroying what you built on my back. And you, Xia Lihua, there's nothing you can say that I care about."
Lin Jian lunged, his eyes bloodshot. "I'm going to teach you to respect me, you miserable bastard!" His fist, though trained in martial arts, was predictable.
In first person: His punch was slow. Predictable. Before, I would have cowered, received it. But Earth-199999 had taught me true speed, true brutality. I dodged it with ease, barely a movement of my head. His fist whistled past my ear. The surprise on his face was almost comical. Before he could react, my hand shot out. It wasn't a punch, but a precise open-palm strike, the force amplified by the Helldiver suit. It impacted below his jaw. I heard a crack. His eyes unfocused, and Lin Jian collapsed to the ground like a sack of potatoes, unconscious before he hit the pavement.
Xia Lihua let out a gasp. "Jian! What have you done to him, monster?!"
Xia Lihua's father, a man not easily surprised, took a step back, his eyes fixed on Li Wei. "You... what are you?"
Li Wei looked at Lin Jian's unconscious body, a hint of icy satisfaction. "I am the result of your choices. And this is just the beginning of what Lin Jian will receive."
The Horde of Domestic Tyranny
Just then, from the neighboring mansions and street corners, a crowd appeared. These weren't civilians; they were Lin Jian's personal thugs, mercenaries hired by the Lin family for "security" and to handle their "discreet problems." Seeing Lin Jian unconscious and Li Wei standing over him, they launched their attack, a mob of twenty or thirty men armed with clubs, knives, and some makeshift firearms.
"Commander, multiple hostile contacts approaching. Armament: Light. Threat level: Low to medium. Request Helldiver deployment?" Aegis asked, its voice impassive.
"Negative, Aegis," Li Wei replied, his voice resonating with cold authority. He looked at the approaching horde. These were the same types of men Lin Jian had used in the past to "discipline" him, to silence his protests. To humiliate him. This was their last humiliation, their last attempt at control.
"These are my demons," Li Wei said, not to Aegis, but to himself. "And I'm going to exorcise them myself."
In third person: Li Wei charged, not waiting for the assault. It was a dance of violence, but a dance he controlled. Lin Jian's thugs were numerous, but they lacked discipline, lacked the ferocity with which the Desolated and the Kree had fought.
A burly man with a metal club lunged. Li Wei evaded him with a sidestep, his arm extending to disarm him with a fluid motion. The club was ripped from the thug's hands and, with a quick turn, Li Wei used it to strike another on the head, knocking him down.
Gunfire erupted. Li Wei activated his Personal Distortion Field (an armor upgrade gained from his combat experience), becoming a blurred, almost invulnerable figure for a few moments. Bullets bounced harmlessly or were deflected. He emerged from the field, firing precise bursts from his Helldiver rifle that disarmed the gunmen.
A group of thugs tried to surround him. Li Wei released a Stun Grenade he had adapted with Kree technology. The blinding, deafening explosion caused the men to fall to the ground, screaming and covering their eyes. Li Wei passed among them, delivering quick, decisive blows that rendered them unconscious.
It was not a massacre. It was not the efficient slaughter of the Helldivers. It was a demonstration of absolute superiority. Every blow, every movement, was a reminder that the Li Wei they had known was dead, and in his place, there was a warrior who no longer feared anything from this world.
Xia Lihua's father and Xia Lihua watched, their faces pale with horror. The sight of Li Wei, alone, defeating an entire horde of armed men with brutal efficiency, was something their privileged minds could not comprehend.
In less than three minutes, the street was filled with unconscious bodies. Li Wei stopped, his breathing even, his Helldiver armor intact. Lin Jian still lay unconscious. The scene was the epitaph of the life he had left behind.
He looked at Xia Lihua and her father. Their eyes, now devoid of contempt, showed only pure terror. He was no longer the Li Wei they could humiliate. He was a power they did not understand, and for the first time, they felt it.
"This is what happens when you play with fire," Li Wei said, his voice cold and resonant. "Lin Jian thought he could manipulate. You thought you could scorn. You have reaped what you sowed. And believe me... this is just the beginning."
Without another word, Li Wei turned, his silhouette standing tall against the distant city lights. The familiar dimensional pulse activated around him.
"Commander, the dimensional breach is stable. Next jump to: World 2: My Hero Academia," Aegis reported.
Li Wei felt one last surge of satisfaction. He had taken his revenge. Not with words, but with deeds. He had shown that he was not a scapegoat, but a predator. The golden cage no longer existed. Only the immensity of the multiverse awaited.