Every time he communicated with Jarvis, Taro felt as if he had returned to his previous life on Earth.
After all, both the name "Jarvis" and its voice were modeled after a movie Taro had once seen. He had described them to Fabeli and Hathaway, using them as a template for shaping Jarvis's "personality".
Even now, Taro was the only one who could enter this source code data world of Jarvis on his own, thanks to his ability to connect with others' consciousness through mental magic. This feature of Jarvis had been developed by Fabeli based on Taro's mental magic techniques. Others required external devices to interface with Jarvis.
"This is merely a minor observation about you," Jarvis stated earnestly.
"Too bad Fabeli and the others haven't finished developing the device that allows direct neural connection with you… Hmm… How's the progress on the 'Virtual Earth' system and network architecture model?" Taro chuckled, shaking his head before moving on to another topic.
The Virtual Earth Network was an immense project, and with a super-intelligent AI like Jarvis, much of the work was naturally entrusted to it. The purpose of creating tools was to free humans from tedious labor. What was an ocean of calculations for humans could be completed by Jarvis in mere seconds.
"Everything is progressing according to your design framework. We already have a basic prototype model…" Jarvis reported.
The digital world shifted. Streams of green data flowed like auroras, and beneath Taro's feet, virtual data cities emerged one after another. They assembled into towns, then provinces… Under Jarvis's control, the future Virtual Earth was miniaturized so Taro could take in the entirety of its external landscape.
In the end, all the modeled data cities formed a landmass shaped like a giant rooster.
Taro gazed at this "Second Earth" beneath him, a hint of wistfulness in his expression.
For the people of this world, this artificially created Second Earth was truly a second Earth.
But for him…
…
Morning had fully arrived. Taro slowly opened his eyes and exhaled a long breath.
As he did, the entire forest before him trembled. The Phoenix appeared from somewhere, spreading its wings and circling him in midair. The morning light cast faint, elongated shadows of the man and the bird in the sky. As light and shadow intertwined, Taro gently descended to the ground with the Phoenix.
Hathaway, draped in a light robe, leaned against the doorframe, watching as he flew back from the sky.
"You've grown another year older," Hathaway said with a smile as her husband approached.
Taro halted, momentarily startled before laughing. "Today's my birthday? I completely forgot." He shook his head. The Phoenix flapped its wings and shrank in size, perching on his shoulder.
Hathaway shot him a playful glare. "You really are getting senile…"
Taro stepped closer, running his fingers through Hathaway's long, violet hair—just as soft and voluminous as in her youth. With a chuckle, he said, "You too. We're both getting old."
Hathaway smiled helplessly, leaning into Taro as they watched the sunrise together. In her heart, she silently thought: What a fool…
…
The night had passed, and at last, it was July 18—the second day of the World Martial Arts Tournament's global finals!
Today, the final three contestants would determine the ultimate champion!
Who would claim the title of the world's strongest?
"There's no suspense, right? Today, everyone's just here to see what kind of pose Master Taro strikes when he takes the championship…" A young man joked as he left the hotel with his girlfriend, heading straight for the tournament venue. Watching a short promotional video for the event on his phone, he couldn't help but comment.
His girlfriend giggled. "Not really. I'm more excited to see how Master Taro teaches the other two finalists a lesson! Hehe…"
"The other two?" The young man raised an eyebrow.
"You didn't check today's match schedule? The officials just posted it… Here."
She pulled out her sleek, stylish planetary smartphone. Seeing it, the young man's eyelid twitched, and he suddenly felt a dull pain in his right abdomen… He focused on the screen and read, "The final match will be… a three-person battle royale?! It's actually a three-way battle?!"
Shocked, he took the phone and examined it carefully.
"…No third-place match. In the final round, the last one standing will be crowned the tournament champion and earn the title of 'World's Strongest'… The other two will share the runner-up position."
"No matter, Master Taro is going to wipe the floor with the other two anyway!" his girlfriend said with a laugh. The young man was just about to hand the phone back to her when a notification suddenly popped up on the screen. He caught a glimpse of it and immediately shuddered, his eyelid twitching.
"Hey! You're not allowed to look!" His girlfriend snatched the phone back.
"Taro-sensei and Tao Pai Pai fanfiction… Taro-sensei and Tam-sensei fanfiction… Haha… My eyes…" The young man covered his face in disbelief. His girlfriend, blushing furiously, pounced on him. The two of them playfully scuffled as they made their way toward the martial arts tournament arena under the morning sun.
Before long, they merged into the crowd of thousands moving in the same direction. They were just a small part of a much larger anticipation—everyone eager to see what kind of spectacular battles today would bring.
—
"BOOM!!"
With the resounding crash of a ceremonial drum, the final match of the Tenkaichi Budokai was officially underway!
The stadium was packed to the brim, and the audience roared like thunder!
"Taro-sensei! Taro-sensei! Taro-sensei!…"
"Muten Master! Muten Master! Muten Master!…"
"Noah Robe! Monkey D.! Hang in there! At least last a little while!"
"Come on, give it your best shot!"
Monkey D. and Noah Robe emerged from the contestants' tunnel one after another. Hearing the cheers around them, they couldn't help but smile wryly—after all, even the spectators knew the championship's outcome was practically set in stone.
But for them, the championship title wasn't the most important thing. The true prize was the opportunity to test themselves against the grandmaster!
Monkey D. clenched his fists tightly.
Noah Robe remained as silent as ever, gripping the hilt of his sword. The familiar texture of the wooden handle left him feeling a lingering sense of dissatisfaction… No matter what, it was frustrating not to be able to go all out in a proper sword fight against the old man. If he had the choice, he would gladly forgo any title or prize money—just to be able to step into the ring wielding his strongest blade for a real battle!
Muten Master… If it's him, then surely, he'll bring out my strongest strike!
As Monkey D. and Noah Robe stepped onto the stage, the excitement in the crowd only intensified!
But behind them, the person everyone expected—Taro-sensei—was nowhere to be seen.
"Where's Taro-sensei?"
"Where did the Muten Master go?"
"Did something happen?"
The audience buzzed with confusion.
Monkey D. and Noah Robe stood on the arena, waiting, but Taro had yet to appear.
Even the referee and host, Sunglasses Bro, was baffled. Of course, he had no authority over Taro's actions… Just as he was about to grab the microphone to say something, a sudden uproar swept through the entire stadium.
The host looked up, and from a special seating area in the audience—he knew exactly what kind of place that was, the VIP section reserved for Tam and the others—
A lone figure gracefully stepped out, soaring through the air toward the Broken Mountain Arena.