"You didn't invite me to your graduation?" The lady frowned, twirling her fingers. In response to her frustration, Lin Fan found himself abruptly flipped upside down, suspended in the air.
They were now soaring high above the skies, with Lin Fan enveloped in a layer of light green energy that kept him firmly under the woman's control.
"Have you become so rebellious that you no longer care about your only sister, the Tornado of Terror, Tatsumaki herself?" She questioned with a hint of disappointment.
"N-No... It wasn't that important anyways..." Lin Fan hurriedly tried to downplay the situation, beads of sweat forming on his forehead. Being suspended 500 meters in the air was far from comfortable, he could even see the Empire State Building from this height!
Despite his unease, Lin Fan found that his new position offered him a sweeping view of Manhattan, one of the five boroughs comprising New York City. The iconic skyline dominated by towering skyscrapers, helicopters with the logos of affluent families, sleek black attack drones gliding through the air, effortlessly evading their paths...
People below appeared as tiny dots, blending harmoniously with the buildings, resembling a pointillism artwork. Lin Fan's memories informed him that there were approximately twenty million inhabitants in the city alone, an increase from the original 10 million due to wealthy refugees who sought safety when the Calamities first emerged.
Central Park, an expansive park spanning nearly 1.4 square miles stood as a prominent feature in the heart of the city. Renowned museums like the Guggenheim, the transformed USS Intrepid military base, the Museum of Natural History, and more dotted the landscape. Notably, the pitch-black synthetic metal reinforced United States of the World Headquarters commanded presence as it loomed over all the other skyscrapers.
"You're not still upset about middle school graduation, are you?" Tatsumaki tapped her cheeks as she recalled lifting up the entire building with her psychokinesis and almost hurling it into the Hudson River until her brother begged her to stop. After all, who dared them to disrespect her, one of the three only S-rank in the city, by not awarding her only brother the valedictorian title? Well, she wasn't even ranked a decade ago...
Caught red-handed, Lin Fal felt a wave of embarrassment wash over him. His reaction had been instinctive as if it was ingrained within him. If this sign was to say anything, it confirmed that he had almost finished merging with the memories of his new body.
Perhaps merging was not the appropriate word here; if anything it was more like a 'sync' or an 'update.' Lin Fan realized that the similarities between himself and the Lin Fan of this world were too numerous to ignore, leading him to believe that they are the same person but in differing worlds.
"Fine, whatever. I'll let it slide this time but there won't be a next time." Tatsumaki let out a sigh as she twirled her index finger in a circular motion, adjusting Lin Fan around so that he was no longer upside down. "Did they teach you about the Calamities yet?"
"Yeah, they did. Are the monsters and the Calamities related in any way? If they are, why don't they just tell us about the Calamities way earlier?" Lin Fan couldn't help but ask. In his memories, monsters were a regular occurrence, considering that mankind was already in danger from the monsters then why not just tell the teenagers about the Calamities?
"They didn't even tell you this? What are these teachers doing?" Tatsumaki scolded, then proceeded to explain. "When the Calamities invaded our world, they brought about immense devastation, saturating the world with such overwhelming negative emotions that they couldn't dissipate naturally. Normally, these emotions would manifest as ghosts haunting specific areas. However, due to the extended period of the Great Annihilation, the prolonged exposure to extreme emotions that sprung out of it has made our world more susceptible to changes. We can't conceal the existence of monsters since they are a regular occurrence, but we can censor the appearance of the Calamities when they do emerge."
Tatsumaki paused, her vibrant emerald eyes studying the young man next to her. "As for why we keep their existence a secret until you graduate high school..."
Her lips curved into a rare but gentle smile as she ruffled Lin Fan's hair. "Isn't it better to let children be children?"
Despite being significantly smaller in stature, the fact that she levitated above Lin Fan gave her an air of authority as the older sister. "Anyway, we're here."
Tatsumaki and Lin Fan gradually descended, their descent concluding at a modern two-story house situated in a residential district. Nearby, similar houses stood, and children could be seen playing and frolicking around.
[Would you like to sign in at USW-CONTROLLED-TERRITORY-NEW-YORK-CITY: LIN-FAMILY-HOME?]
'Yes.'
[First-time sign-in bonus has been triggered!]
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[Epic Grade - Genetic Optimization Serum Series Model AR: Baseline Human - Priming Treatment]
[Sign-In System files an appeal to Rotation System.]
[Reason: AIUBEN-0DASNEQK-YUNGAT-KAENWRT]
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