After receiving the order, one of the henchmen walked over and tied the knots around old John. Going so far as to add new ones.
More nervous than bewildered, the old man, who didn't speak thus far due to the pain and bloodloss said difficultly to the crooks' leader:
"What are you planning to do? Is it really worth killing me over a building?"
The head of the crooks didn't reply. He just sneered.
..
Moments later,
"Farewell, John Castle. Remember, in your next life, this wasn't personal." Throwing away a cigarette he barely smoked in the river, the mob leader said with a bored tone.
More terrified than curious, watching where he was about to get thrown and die, the old foreigner thought with self-pity and self-derision:
'Is this really how I die?'
At that moment, John had regrets.
Marriage was important, but perhaps he should have focused on something more meaningful.
Despite the many women he met and his numerous fleeting relationships, he left no children in the world.
XX
Saying that everything goes dark after death wasn't quite accurate.
Except for when one fainted, there was no 'rest.'
Earth existed for millions, if not billions of years. But before John had his first childhood memories—the moment everyone 'wakes up' alive, he reckoned the concept of time didn't exist.
It could be said that being born was faster than waking up from sleep.
And rebirth to the old Irish felt no different.
'Where am I?' Waking up in a spacious, brightly lit, white hall, John wondered. Only for a second.
"Finally awake?" A voice suddenly chuckled and asked from behind him. "I thought your soul would stay in a cathartic state for another thousand years. You're even more interesting than I thought, my dear."
'Who was that?!' Hearing the voice, John tried to speak. He couldn't, and trying so, he finally realized several wrong things.
'Where is my body?!' Trying to turn and see who spoke, the man realized he was a golden orb of light.
'Is this my soul?! If it is, why can I think but not move it?!'
Stuck staring at the wrong end of the white hall, John panicked considerably.
First of all, why could he see without a body?
Thousands of questions polluted the man's mind, which included his death and what he recognized as a woman's voice stated.
What concept were thousand years?! Was that person behind him a god?!
No, a goddess with that heavenly-sounding voice?!
It was like music to John's ears, and he wanted to stare at the beautiful existence. It was even safe to say that it was an attraction.
How strange was it when he wasn't even made of flesh?!
"Stop panicking. Everything will be fine, my dear." The voice said gently.
The next moment, John's soul floated over and landed before the woman.
When he turned, and his spiritual sight was finally on her, he was shocked.
-Picture here-
The woman was fuckin bare!!!
And gorgeous as fuck! He would have relished in his first ever crime and jumped her if he had a body despite understanding that she was most likely a goddess who could erase him with a thought!
Right now, even being a soul, he was lost in the sacred pair of milkers! The sight alone was a miracle and a blessing worth ten thousand deaths!
After enjoying what he saw a bit too much, John finally understood that he didn't die in vain...
Something not less stunning or mouth-watering was the woman's face. She was someone he recognized from Dragon ball Z, Android 18.
Too captivated by the big-chested android's cock-rising features to think of asking why she was nude or lifting weights, he suddenly listened to her say:
"Do you like what you see?"
The woman, definitely a goddess, asked. Her eyes and voice sounded very playful.
"I do," John answered. He wanted to keep looking but not forever. He would go mad if he did and couldn't do anything to her.
"You can continue to look, then. It all belongs to you anyway, my dear." The woman replied seductively.
"What?!" Hearing that, besides the amazing shock, John regretted not having a body.
He asked four questions when his thoughts and desires became a mess. Those were those he cared about most.
"Are you who I think you are? Are you Android 18?!"
"Why do you call me your dear?!"
"Also, can you give me a body if you're a goddess?!"
The woman chuckled and said:
"Yes, my dear. I am exactly who you think I am, but the powers I have and the authorities I wield are not those you remember.
I'm calling you my dear because I have chosen you out of many to become my husband.
And yes, I can surely give you something simple like a body. After all, I am Juhachi, the eighteenth supreme, and the Blonde supreme."
"Your husband?!!" John was a soul, but he swore he almost grew a dick hearing what she said.
He would get some miraculous cultivation enlightenment if he didn't have one. Then he would ascend and find a way to grow one on the spiritual ball he was stuck as.
XX
"Haha, what's shocking to you now will only come off as natural in another thousand years, my dear." The woman John identified as Juhachi now said with a teasing and amused expression.
As if prompting him to ravage her like he secretly or not so secretly wished.
XX
Seconds later,
Even if the strength was the same, the status Android 18, or—Juhachi now announced—and her body was greatly different. Both were better.
Though he didn't well understand the exalted identity she seemed to possess, he reckoned she was an existence close to perfection.
In great disbelief, after some quiet, which Juhachi didn't interrupt, John finally calmed a bit. He was still craving a body and her to immediately enjoy what she offered.
A little out of nowhere, but he was certainly the last person to care...Who would refuse to marry her?
If somebody told him that he was in heaven, he would believe it. Having the opportunity to marry a figurative and literal goddess was definitely a heavenly joy.
It would be some lustful pleasure, not just a joy with Juhachi's beauty.
John, who was thinking of asking something rushed, calmed down again. If he was the husband she chose, he could take his time.
From what she mentioned earlier about thousands of years, time didn't seem to be a concern to her.
Watching Juhachi still not putting down the black weights she seemed to train with, the Irish man who wasn't blond in his previous life asked what he cared about. Which was certainly not why he was picked. He didn't want her to reconsider her choice if it was done on a whim.
"Am I stuck with you here? What's this place?"
Juhachi promptly answered, "This is my reincarnation palace. You're about to reincarnate, my dear."
"Reincarnation? Is that possible? Where?" John, who didn't want to go and separate from his promised wife, asked nervously.
"Don't panic." Juhachi seemed to enjoy seeing the soul ball get hysteric despite saying this. "I won't be able to help you in your new life, but we'll meet anytime you wish."
Obviously, she could read John's thoughts.
"What do you mean by that? How so?" Confused, John inquired hurriedly.
"Just grow stronger and stronger. It won't be long, and you'll know when the time comes. Have a nice sleep and a safe trip, my dear." Standing up from the red couch, Juhachi said, putting her hands over the spiritual ball he was.
When she did, John entered a great sleep—A sleep that was much more significant than the previous one, even if shorter.
Not giving the soul she selected the opportunity to touch her like she said he could, Juhachi, who felt a little mischievous, muttered:
"...I hope that was the best way to motivate him. He would probably be unable to support it if we consummated the marriage and had sex now."
John going berserk, perhaps mad for her godly snatch. Or an unexpected lovemaking effect.
At that moment, only she knew exactly what she was hinting at.
..
Graphene,
Night,
In a wealthy and industrial city resembling New York and a back alley with rolling stairs,
'Sleep is really different from death.'
Waking up again, John, who looked at his surroundings, concluded.
New memories in a body he had this time, John, who was put to a less profound form of sleep by Juhachi, smiled.
Not just at the claiming of his identity but at this world. A world extremely advanced but which went through great wars, many civilizations, and space exploration.
Accepting how planets were indestructible and self-repairing in this new and bizarre world, John barely had the time to think of something next.
His brother, one of three Bogard siblings of which he was the second oldest, yelled down:
"John, what are you doing down there? I already told you not to creep when Mai comes over! Forget any stupid thoughts you have."
The 15-year-old John Bogard, who was only separated by two years from his oldest brother Terry and just one with this one, smirked.
Looking up, he saw a blonde young man. His middle sibling. Only the latter's upper body was outside the window and the red building when he called. Very aggravated.