Leaving and Placing the Counterpart
Silent Hill.
Xu Mo stepped out of the space gate.
The once-quiet town had become lively. Vehicles stopped one after another outside its borders. Xu Mo blinked in surprise—he hadn't expected Dina to mobilize this quickly.
Construction had begun within a single day. Truly, regardless of the country, the privileged class always worked with terrifying efficiency.
Workers bustled everywhere. Xu Mo gave them only a glance before entering the surface world.
---
The Surface World
In a villa at the edge of town, Alyssa had settled in after taking full control of the surface world.
Inside the warmly decorated living room, Alyssa and Sadako sat side by side, watching television.
At this moment, both had shed their terrifying appearances. Alyssa wore a white dress, her hair combed neatly, resembling the innocent girl next door. Sadako lounged beside her in silk pajamas, her manner casual. To an outsider, they would look like nothing more than ordinary sisters.
The moment Xu Mo entered, they rose from the sofa.
"Master!" they said in unison.
Xu Mo nodded lightly. He had come to make preparations before returning temporarily to the Marvel world. Renovations here would take at least a month, and leaving this body lying around was a risk. Julie and Jason still didn't know his true identity—if this vessel wandered freely, problems could arise.
So he decided to place it here under Alyssa and Sadako's protection.
The two agreed without hesitation.
---
Securing the Body
Together, they moved to a basement room. Xu Mo opened a portal to Antarctica, hauling in vast blocks of ice until the room was filled. At the same time, the walls shifted and locked into place, thickening to over ten meters like the plates of a Transformer. The cold would never escape now.
He brought down a bed from upstairs and lay upon it. With a thought, his soul slipped free from this body.
Turning to Alyssa and Sadako, he gave one final order.
"While I'm away, scour the outer and inner worlds. Gather more powerful evil spirits. The greater the variety of monsters, the stronger the fear we can harvest."
Both nodded seriously. Their combined strength left them unmatched among most spirits in this world.
Xu Mo paused, then extended a hand toward his sleeping body.
From within, a sealed soul emerged—a pale wisp that drifted into the Dark Divine Codex at his brow.
It was his counterpart's soul, the true owner of this vessel. When Xu Mo had taken over, he had sealed it into slumber. But now, thinking of the future, he couldn't leave the man like this forever. Better to find him another vessel in the ordinary world.
With that done, Xu Mo vanished.
---
A New World
In a parallel world, Xu Mo opened his eyes.
He lay in a bedroom, two women asleep beside him, their smooth backs exposed.
Xu Mo sighed. "Did I pick the wrong time again? Why is it that every time I arrive in a new world, none of these peers are doing anything proper?"
He dressed, entered the bathroom, and stepped into another space gate.
When he emerged, he stood within a luxurious villa in Kyoto. Clearly, this was the residence of wealth and privilege.
"You've landed in a family like this. You'll thank me later," Xu Mo murmured, preparing the vessel for his counterpart.
Inside one of the bedrooms, a young man sat scowling at a document. When Xu Mo appeared, the man snapped in irritation.
"Who are you? Who let you in?"
Xu Mo ignored him. With a wave, he yanked the man's soul from his body. The phantom struggled in horror, only to be crushed in Xu Mo's hand.
He gathered the fragments of memory, then drew forth his counterpart's sealed soul, merging the fragments into it. A moment later, he placed the soul into the waiting body.
Once everything was in order, Xu Mo snapped his fingers. As his counterpart stirred awake, Xu Mo turned and vanished.
---
Awakening
The counterpart blinked awake. His face shifted from shock to elation.
"I… traveled through time?"
He remembered only being caught with his young neighbor woman, forced to hide in a closet when her husband returned. Somehow, he had fallen asleep—and now awoke here.
The new memories confirmed it: he was now the son of a wealthy Japanese family. But the situation was messy. His mother had died early, his father had remarried a beautiful young woman, and she had borne a half-brother. Ever since, she had schemed to cut him out of the inheritance, using every trick to weaken his standing with his father.
At this very moment, she was plotting to siphon money from the company he managed temporarily. If his father discovered the loss, his position would be destroyed.
As he digested this, a knock came at the door.
Straightening his clothes, he opened it.
A woman in a purple dress stood there—fair skin, delicate features, and a mature, seductive figure. She looked nothing like a woman in her thirties with a grown son.
From memory, he knew her name: Misa Sadao, his stepmother.
She entered gracefully, arms folded. "We need to talk."
---
The Threat
"Resign from the company," she said coldly.
"No way," the counterpart snapped.
"If your father discovers this financial loss, what do you think will happen? You'll lose more than just control of this branch."
Her calm expression made it clear she had already decided his fate.
The counterpart's eyes darkened. In a sudden motion, he seized her wrists and pinned her against the wall.
"What are you—what are you doing?" Panic flickered in Misa's eyes.
He ignored her, tugging at her dress.
She gasped, about to cry for help, but his hand silenced her lips.
"Madam Misa," he whispered, his tone sharp, "you wouldn't want Father to see us like this, would you?"
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