Deviant: No Longer Human

"I-It's the Human Empress…!"

A stammered whisper.

Then—

"What the fuck are you doing, idiot?!" Another soldier barked, slamming his hand against his squadmate's shoulder.

"Move! Step aside, you fool!"

The man barely managed to shuffle back before—

"SALUTE!"

Instantly, a synchronized wave of movement—

Laser rifles snapped upright.

Boots slammed together.

Fifty soldiers stood in rigid formation, hands over their chests.

And then, a collective roar—

"EMPRESS!"

Excitement. Awe.

The very ground trembled with their voices.

The barricade, once an unyielding steel wall, now felt more like an open invitation.

The bloody battlefield behind them suddenly felt insignificant.

And Wang Xiao?

His bored expression finally shifted.

"What's going on? Is someone masquerading as an empress now?"

Wang Xiao chuckled, watching as the woman, wrapped head to toe in a gray robe, didn't even look at him—

She just leapt into the ocean like a depressed mermaid, disappearing into the abyss.

He raised an eyebrow.

Interesting.

Not that it mattered.

Because he had no fucking clue who this 'Human Empress' was.

How could he?

She had only appeared three months ago.

______

The Three Dynasties of the Modern World: Aka, A Bunch of Failed Experiments

The world had only ever known three ruling dynasties.

1. The Qing Dynasty

2. The Sun Dynasty – Wiped off the face of the earth by Wang Xiao. (He cared even less.)

3. The Xuan Dynasty – Still hanging on, located on the Australian Continent, where it was playing Cultivation Simulator in real life.

The Xuan Dynasty was built with one desperate goal—

"Create an Immortal to fight for humankind."

Because, apparently, everyone else with power was too busy either fucking off or fucking someone.

The so-called Guardians. The so-called Eight Princes.

Useless.

Too 'neutral' to do shit.

And neutrality in a world filled with gods?

Might as well bend over and lube yourself up for divine punishment.

Then, things changed.

Aether awakened slumbering consciousnesses within people's souls.

And suddenly—

The gods were back.

Which meant humanity had officially reached "Oh fuck" territory.

Because these weren't the friendly, wish-granting gods from bedtime stories.

No, no.

They were exactly as they were described in mythology.

Cruel. Selfish. Psychotic.

They didn't save people.

They didn't protect people.

They demanded worship, offerings, and the occasional virgin sacrifice before they'd even consider lifting a single divine finger.

And so, three months ago, the Xuan Dynasty made an announcement—

They had finally chosen a ruler.

A ruler who was the first human to attain 'Immortality.'

Thus, she became—

"The Human Empress."

Her feats?

Top-tier.

She had subjugated a tsunami in the Oceanic Continent.

Rearranged the entire geography of Australia into a rainforest.

And now, in just three months, she had been single-handedly aiding the world's military, cleaning up beast tides like she was a janitor for reality.

Countries fell over themselves, giving her medals, citizenships, and probably a few horny princes.

Meanwhile, Wang Xiao?

He had been too busy playing with his women.

Didn't take it seriously.

Didn't give a single flying fuck.

And even now?

1. He didn't know her.

2. He didn't recognize her aura.

3. Even if he did—

An 'Immortal' was still just an ant.

____

"Why can't I go in...?"

Wang Xiao cracked his neck, rubbing his jaw lazily as he stood before the helmeted guard blocking his way.

"She can go inside, but I can't? What kind of discrimination is this?"

The soldier scoffed.

"Hmph! She is an Empress! Who the hell are you?!"

Wang Xiao blinked.Then, he smiled. "I see... a corrupt official... Why don't you just die?"

The guard opened his mouth to retort, and then reality answered Wang Xiao's command.

BANG.

The soldier fucking exploded...His entire body burst apart from the inside, like a microwave full of spaghetti and bad decisions.

Blood. Organs. A rain of wet, meaty chunks.

Flesh splattered across the barricade, painting it in vibrant shades of "you fucked around and found out."

Silence.

A wet, dripping sound echoed across the battlefield.

Wang Xiao sighed, stepping forward as if he had just stepped in a puddle, mildly annoyed.

"Huh… seems like the heavens didn't like you."

Then—

"INTRUDER!"

The remaining soldiers, snapping out of their collective trauma, instantly raised their weapons—

And suddenly, every single rifle, plasma cannon, and railgun locked onto him.

A hundred lasers.

A hundred fingers on triggers.

All aimed...At the most dangerous fucking man on the planet.

"Let him leave."

Splash!

A drenched figure rose from the sea, stepping onto the dock like a goddess emerging from the depths.

Only a few minutes had passed since she vanished into the abyss, but now—

Behind her, the ocean had turned red.

The dungeon below?

Cleaned out.

A one-woman genocide had just taken place beneath the waves.

The soldiers, still rattled from watching their comrade spontaneously combust, were too stunned to react.

Except for one.

"He dared to kill a soldier—"

"He didn't do anything."

The Human Empress cut him off, her voice sharp, certain.

"It was a coincidence. If he had, I would have known."

She frowned, her brows knitting together.

Because despite her absolute confidence in her own abilities, something about the situation didn't make sense.

She saw no aura from this man.

In fact, she felt nothing.

And that?

That confused the hell out of her.

Why did the soldier explode?

Maybe…

Maybe the heavens really were angry about his misdeeds.

Wang Xiao, meanwhile, finally took a good look at her. And for the first time in a long time…His eyes blinked.

Once. Twice. Thrice.

Because what he saw actually surprised him. Her deep aqua eyes quivered, their depths reflecting an entire ocean. Her curved golden brows arched elegantly, their shape soft, yet commanding.

Her hair—Not just blonde. But pale gold, like the gentle strands of a morning sun creeping over the horizon. Her face was round, her cheeks lightly flushed, giving her a look of youthful purity—yet carrying an underlying strength.

A small, high nose.

And two soft pink lips pressed together.

Beauty? Yes.

But was it enough to unsettle him? No...

___

"Human Empress, huh? That's a pretty wild name."

Wang Xiao's lips curled into a smirk as he gave her a slow once-over. Not bad. Even by his absurdly high standards, she was something.

Ning Xue's aqua eyes narrowed. Calm, but probing, she asked, "…Have we met?"

Wang Xiao raised a brow. She speaks Chinese? Unexpected, but not shocking. The Human Empress was rumored to know everything. What's a language or two on top of that?

Yet the way she looked at him—curious, searching—made him wonder.

Tall. Handsome. Black hair. If she had seen him before, she'd remember. People like him didn't fade.

Wang Xiao chuckled, slipping a cigarette between his lips. His eyes flicked past her, to the blood-tinted sea.

"Not really. But if I were you, I wouldn't turn my back on an ocean full of man-eaters."

A spark. The cigarette lit.

A slow inhale.

Then—

"Or maybe…" He exhaled smoke, eyes glinting. "You like the danger?"

Ning Xue's breath caught in her throat.

Something was wrong.

The moment Wang Xiao spoke, a shiver ran down her spine. It wasn't his words—it was the way he said them.

Like he already knew. Her eyes darted past him—and everything went dark.

A vast, writhing shadow eclipsed the battlefield, stretching across the water like the maw of an ancient predator. The sea trembled, as if reality itself feared what lurked beneath.

Then—

"SKREEEEEEEEEEEEEE—!"

The ocean erupted.

A beast older than kingdoms, larger than warships, and crueler than gods tore its way from the abyss.

The kraken.

Its chitinous flesh shimmered in a mix of abyssal black and bioluminescent red, a body coated in thick, mucus-like armor that pulsed with eldritch energy. Ten monstrous tentacles slithered through, each covered in razor-edged suckers that oozed with corrosive bile.

And its head—a fusion of deep-sea horror and malevolent intelligence. Rows upon rows of jagged teeth lined its massive beak, glistening with the liquefied remains of its last meal. Clusters of abyssal eyes blinked independently, their empty, soulless gaze locking onto the battlefield.

Then, without hesitation—

It struck.

A storm of tendrils lashed forward with the speed of a lightning bolt.

"WHAT THE FU—"

"IT'S COMING! RUN, RUN, RUN—!"

"NO—!"

Ning Xue reacted on instinct—her fingers flicked outward, BZZZZZT!—a shimmering golden energy barrier snapped into existence, enveloping her and the nearest dozen soldiers.

The others?

They never even had the chance to scream.

BOOOOM!

Puchi! Puchi! Puchi!

A direct hit. Bodies vaporized on impact. Armor crumpled like wet paper. Blood and viscera exploded outward, painting the docks in splashes of crimson.

"A-Ah—!" A surviving soldier, Xu Han, stumbled backward, eyes wide as he watched his squadmates disappear in a burst of red mist.

His hands trembled, barely gripping his rifle. "They're… They're gone. Just… gone…"

"It crushed them like insects… Like they were never here…!"

"CAREFUL!" Ning Xue clenched her teeth as the next impact rattled through her shield.

BANG!

CRRRRACK!

Hairline fractures splintered across its surface. She staggered, feeling a sharp sting in her mouth—blood.

Too fast. Too strong.

"This… This is a demigod-level monster."

She had fought demigods before. But this? This thing wasn't just strong. It was cruel. It was enjoying this.

The kraken hissed, its voice a grating screech of hunger and amusement. It coiled back, its abyssal eyes gleaming with cruel intelligence. One hit. Just one. The shield still held.

So it changed targets.

Its cluster of soulless, alien eyes locked onto someone.

Someone not running.

Someone not reacting.

Wang Xiao.

Still fucking smoking.

A slow, curling shift passed through the kraken's ugly body. Its massive, abyssal mouth twisted into what could only be described as a cruel grin.

And then—all ten tentacles changed course.

A "HHRRRRHHHGGG!" rattled from its beak, a sound somewhere between a laugh and a death sentence.

It had found a new target.

"No… NO!" Ning Xue's stomach dropped. Her eyes widened in alarm.

"MOVE!" she shouted.

"IDIOT! — HE'S JUST STANDING THERE!" Another soldier, Li Cheng, screamed, barely holding his frustration. "WHAT IS HE DOING?!"

And yet—

He only exhaled a slow, lazy plume of smoke.

Unbothered.

And still—completely, utterly still.