Brandon White did not hesitate; he stepped through the spatial gate and entered. The moment he crossed the threshold, the gate vanished.
He paid it no mind, simply following that unseen tug forward. Not long after, he arrived within a tiered palace.
The ancient, solemn hall bore traces of damage, worn down by the passage of countless years.
At the very center of the palace stood a massive book, its surface filled with dense lines of script. Every single character gave off a soft, gentle glow, and a layer of mysterious energy lay veiled over it.
The Book of Ages.
The most powerful artifact in the world of Jackie Chan Adventures, it recorded all history and information across the long ages of this world. It could rewrite history—words written upon its pages would directly become reality, altering the recognition of every person in this world.
No matter who you were, how powerful you might be, or where you stood, the words inscribed upon the Book of Ages would become the truth; no one could escape its power.
In the original story, if Jade had not by sheer luck torn out a page from the Book of Ages, Shendu would have been almost impossible to defeat.
Brandon looked at the text recorded upon the Book of Ages. He did not recognize the characters themselves, yet he understood their meaning. What puzzled him was that he felt his [Authority of Nature] yearning for the Book of Ages, though not with the same raw, hungry desire it had shown toward the Mouse Talisman.
It felt more like it wanted it… but was too shy to say so.
Right then, another presence settled upon Brandon, as if communicating with the [Authority of Nature].
The gist of it seemed to be: Why be so polite with me? It's nothing valuable anyway. Consider it a gift for my godson.
Odd as that was, that was the meaning.
Mm. Still very odd.
Before Brandon could react, the Book of Ages at the center of the hall suddenly blazed with dazzling light. The colossal book shrank violently, then shot straight into Brandon's mind. In an instant, Brandon clutched his head.
He felt an immeasurable flood of information scour his nerves—yet at extreme speed that same information faded from his mind.
The process was excruciating.
Slowly, a faint golden radiance began to emanate from Brandon's body, and in that moment his entire bearing ascended.
Sacred. Majestic. Sovereign.
Inviolable—utterly holy.
At this moment, his eyes turned wholly white, not a trace of black remaining.
Pure. White. Transcendent.
It was a beauty beyond words, and one thing was certain: these were not a human being's eyes.
As time passed, the light around Brandon gradually ebbed.
The pain in his head quickly receded as well, and he could not help but take a deep breath.
It had been a long time since he'd felt pain like that.
But the gains were just as astonishing.
[Eye Technique · Book of Ages]
[Ability: Command all things under heaven. The host may freely alter this world's history at any point in time, changing it into whatever form he desires.]
[Restriction: Effective only in this world. Other worlds require parsing of the time rule.]
This was the ocular technique formed by the fusion of the Book of Ages with Brandon—an extremely powerful ability.
Although it was restricted in other worlds, requiring the parsing of their temporal laws, that limitation hinted at another possibility: in a foreign world, the Book of Ages might likewise acquire the capability to act according to that world's laws.
Even if that would take a very long time.
But of time, Brandon had no lack.
All the more since this was only one ability that had emerged from the Book of Ages' fusion with him. Its true potential did not end here.
After returning to his own world, the Book of Ages in Brandon's mind floated free and hovered before him.
"Begin parsing."
The instant he spoke, countless filaments rose from the Earth, springing up from every corner to connect and fuse with the Book of Ages. Then, upon the originally blank pages, lines upon lines of text began to surface.
In the voidlike spaces beneath various nations, luminous spheres that had been glowing softly were suddenly acted upon by a mysterious force. Their pure white light gradually took on other hues, and faintly—almost imperceptibly—it seemed as though formless souls were gestating within those spheres.
Parsing the world would take an exceedingly long time. After the Book of Ages completed its initial linking, it returned to Brandon's sea of consciousness.
From here on out, everything would be left to time.
Perhaps, once the Book of Ages truly finished parsing this world's information, it would present Brandon with a considerable surprise.
Brandon stretched, then went off to relax with Doraemon and the others.
He had to admit, those virtual games were actually pretty fun.
Over the next few days, not much happened. The only thing that truly piqued Brandon's interest was that the chat group gained two new features.
A Virtual Battle feature, and a Points Enhancement feature.
The Virtual Battle feature meant that the chat group would simulate a battleground. Two members who wanted to fight could pay one hundred points and battle inside it, allowing them to compare their relative strength.
One hundred points was not an expensive price, but the fact that the battle process could not be streamed was… not very user-friendly.
Madara Uchiha and Whitebeard were particularly fond of using these two features to duel.
As for the results, according to both of them it was a draw; but if it were a fight to the death, Madara Uchiha would have the edge.
Because Izanagi—this ocular technique—had a decisive effect in situations where the gap between opponents was razor thin.
Clearly, Whitebeard's power could not suppress Madara.
As for the Points Enhancement feature, it was a bit like upgrading in a game. By spending one thousand points, you could enhance your skills, bloodline, talents, authorities, or even your entire energy system. The success rate was random; the chat group did not specify it directly.
But according to the members, so far no one had succeeded.
It felt almost like a points scam.
However, the members who had tried this feature also tended to be the same ones with abysmal luck when it came to the raffle draws. So it was hard to say that the enhancement feature necessarily had a minuscule success rate—it was also possible their luck was simply that bad.
Boil Daigo into Soup: "My physique is clearly the Sage Body by now, and I've bought so many combat skills—so why can't I beat you, Tendou?"
Daigo was a bit dejected. He had spent all of his points on enhancing himself.
His Sharingan had already reached the three-tomoe state, and his Sage Body purchase was no worse than Hashirama Senju's. His physical constitution absolutely couldn't be called weak. With those skill books on top of it all, he had no trouble at all fighting monsters—but against Tendou, he was completely suppressed!
The key point was, Tendou hadn't even transformed!
If not for the Sage Body's obscene regenerative powers, he might have died already.
He couldn't make sense of it.
Granted, in the Kamen Rider Kabuto world, Tendou Souji's combat prowess was strong—but not to the point of suppressing him this outrageously, right?
Even with three-tomoe Sharingan, he still couldn't track Tendou's movements!
(End of this chapter)