Chapter 87: Chapter 87: Martial Demonstration
When Liu A'dou "died," time lost all meaning for him. Endless life, endless time—he floated between void and reality, sensing himself and the world. At one point, he thought he was going to die. But the hand he still held—Ada's—told him he couldn't die yet. At least, he couldn't let go and leave Ada to die.
So, in the boundary between life and death, A'dou cried out: Give my life to Ada.
The sea's current carried them as waves of life energy surrounded them. They drifted like glowing jellyfish for days. Liu A'dou's boundless vitality flowed into Ada's body, boosting her life expectancy like a bull market rising sky-high. And A'dou realized that not only could this save Ada's life, it could also keep him from sinking into the mire between life and death. That gave him the drive to keep going—until he entered Pandora's Magic Box.
He found the way to live, and he found the meaning of death. In the end, he awakened—and with that, he grasped a sense too sharp to bear: the Eighth Sense.
He hadn't learned to control his microcosmic cosmos yet, but he had already awakened the Eighth Sense. That alone made him a once-in-eternity anomaly. The Eighth Sense was awareness of the universe and all living things—a view from above the heavens, able to observe all life below. It was the first step to transcending the void and ascending—a starting line to divinity. It was also the pinnacle of human tolerance, a sea vast enough to contain infinite power.
With the Eighth Sense supporting him, Liu A'dou unleashed infinite Ripple. He not only healed Ada, but brought spring back to Themyscira.
His healing power was so overwhelming that even the Amazon warriors thought Gaia herself had returned.
But in the end, they were sorely disappointed—because Liu A'dou was a man.
"Diana, what happened?"
"Mother?" Diana hadn't yet reported the man's presence to the leader of the Amazons—her mother, the legendary warrior queen from myth, Hippolyta. "It's nothing."
"Nothing?" The queen had lived for over a thousand years. Nothing escaped her eyes. She immediately saw through her daughter. "This is the man you rescued? From what I can see, he didn't need rescuing."
With a wave of her hand, the Amazon warriors stormed in and surrounded Liu A'dou.
The Ripple energy faded, and the light in Liu A'dou's eyes disappeared. He felt no discomfort. Since the Ripple originated from within his own body, it had healed him first. He felt fantastic now.
He glanced around. There were all kinds of women—some curvy, some lean, some beautiful, some not—but clearly, Amazonian genes were no joke. Plus, many of these women had been crafted by Hera herself, so even the "ugly" ones weren't that bad.
There was just one thing Liu A'dou was seriously unhappy about and wanted to protest—their height. Most of them were over one meter seventy, and plenty were even taller than one meter eighty. That put a lot of pressure on him. In the middle of this Amazon crowd, he wasn't exactly... visible.
So, without drawing attention, he stepped up onto the bed. "I think I understand the situation I'm in. But don't worry—I mean no harm. We can be friends."
Queen Hippolyta wasn't buying a word of it. She raised the golden lasso and whipped it around Liu A'dou. The rope glowed with radiant light. "Man, tell me how you got here. No one enters Hera's barrier without our permission."
How would I know? Liu A'dou thought. The Lasso of Truth invaded his mind, forcing him to speak honestly. But even without it, he would've told the truth anyway. All he remembered was being dragged into the deep sea by two polar bears. They kept heading north, then a storm hit, and everything went black. "We ran into a storm. We didn't come here on purpose."
The queen didn't sense any lies, nor did she find any sign of the island's barrier being breached. The Lasso of Truth confirmed it—this man was telling the truth. "Man, this is the home of the Amazons. We don't allow men here. I'll spare your life, but you'll be under supervision. You're not allowed to roam freely."
Just then, Ada woke up. Her clothes were still a mess—soaked and disheveled—but her complexion looked great. "What happened, Liu?"
"Nothing," Liu A'dou replied casually. "We just ended up in the Kingdom of Women."
Then he turned back to the tribal queen. "I accept your terms. But you have to make sure my companion is well cared for."
"No problem. When it comes to women, we Amazons are as broad-hearted as the Mediterranean Sea."
Liu A'dou looked around at all the women, most of whom were generously showing off their upper halves, and thought to himself—yeah, your chests are definitely broad.
"Ada, this isn't a dangerous place. Just stay here with them for now and rest easy. Don't worry about me—I'll be fine," Liu A'dou said, hopping down from the bed. "Alright, take me to my room."
The room where Liu A'dou was placed under house arrest wasn't a cell—it was just an ordinary guest room. It had food and water. The only restriction was that he couldn't leave. Other than that, there wasn't much to complain about.
Ada, on the other hand, was under the care of Princess Diana, the youngest woman on the island. Though she appeared to be in her twenties, Amazons aged incredibly slowly after reaching adulthood. Every one of them had a long lifespan.
The young Diana was full of curiosity about the outside world. Ada's arrival was the perfect way to satisfy that curiosity.
"I am Diana, daughter of Hippolyta, princess of the Amazons. What's your name?"
"Ada Wong. You can just call me Ada." Since Liu A'dou had said there was no danger, Ada decided to get along with these strange women.
"Alright, Ada. You're from outside Themyscira. You must know a lot. Tell me about the world out there," Diana said eagerly.
Ada thought to herself—I've only been in this world for less than half a year. How much could I possibly know? So she deflected, "There's plenty to say about the outside world. Why don't you give me a tour of Themyscira first?"
Diana agreed at once. "Good idea! Come on, I'll take you to the most fun spots on Themyscira." Every inch of the island was like a childhood playground to Diana—she knew it better than anyone.
After a full round of exploration, Ada was finally convinced—Liu A'dou hadn't been joking. This really was a kingdom of women. No men. Only women.
This world made no scientific sense.
"Ada, now I'll take you to our training grounds," Diana said, saving the best for last.
Amazonian society revered martial prowess above all. The stronger a warrior, the greater her respect. That made the training ground the most sacred place on the island.
The female warriors sweated and grunted on the field. It was like a gym exclusively for women. Just watching made Ada feel a little overwhelmed. These warriors trained so hard—weren't they worried about ruining their figures?
Ada worked out too, but she preferred running and swimming. Rarely did she lift weights or push grinding wheels. The Amazons' training methods were downright extreme.
"Let me give it a try!" an out-of-place voice suddenly shouted. A shadow shot past Diana and darted into the training ground.
It was Liu A'dou.
He dashed in like a rabbit on the run. One moment he was weightlifting, the next he was sprinting, and then he was competing with the women in pull-ups...
In less than fifteen minutes, he'd cycled through seven or eight different training drills—and beat the warriors at every single one.
"Too easy, too easy. Got anything tougher? I came to Themyscira for hell training. Show me your secret techniques—the stuff you keep hidden away."
To solidify his Eighth Sense, Liu A'dou knew he needed to cultivate his microcosmic cosmos. So he figured, why not borrow the training methods of these Amazons—who were clearly descended from the same Greek mythos as the anime he used to watch—to achieve that goal?
"You shouldn't be out here. You were supposed to be confined to your room," Diana said, clearly annoyed. Not because Liu A'dou had escaped, but because he had the nerve to underestimate Amazon training.
"I need high-intensity training. Don't you have that here?"
He had the audacity to ignore her—and worse, belittle their regimen.
"I want to challenge you," Diana said, her pride flaring. The young princess had issued her declaration.
Liu A'dou continued to ignore Diana. He looked over at Ada, who had changed into Amazonian-style clothes—legs bare in the breeze. Only now did he really notice. "You're beautiful."
Ada smiled, actually a little shy. Though she had been unconscious, she vaguely remembered the things Liu A'dou had done for her. Especially how he'd held her hand the whole time without letting go. That image had completely replaced the parted-hair policeman who once held a place in her heart. Now, Liu A'dou was her everything.
"Hey! Don't ignore me!" Diana snapped, unable to handle the couple flaunting their affection in front of her. "I want a match with you—by the traditional rules of the Amazon warriors."
Liu A'dou finally turned and grinned. "Just what I wanted." His eyes roamed up and down Diana's figure. She was a beauty. A match with a beautiful woman? Now that sounded like fun.
But matches required preparation—so it wouldn't happen today.