Chapter One: The Black Hole in the Southern Suburbs

"Heroes season four is over, right? Has Peter’s power come back yet… If it were me, I’d want his ability, too. How awesome would that be… Whatever, whatever, let’s talk about it next time." Tang Yi hung up the phone with a sigh of resignation and let out a long breath. "Why is it that nobody ever seems to like me?"

"Let’s watch some TV." With a flick, the television screen flashed on.

"The current time is 12:50 p.m., December 12, 2009. I’m reporting from the southern suburbs of Shanghai. In recent days, there have been reports of objects suddenly appearing here—various items. Let’s take a look together."

"As you can see, these objects that have suddenly appeared include cars, paper, rocks, even half a house, clothes, and cooked meals. Oh… and look at this! The mysterious little black holes have appeared again these past few days. Let’s see what they’ll bring this time."

"Look at that—a plaque from the Bank of China, Shanghai branch, has just appeared out of nowhere. My god, could this be real? Did the black hole bring this sign here…?"

"This looks exactly like the power of the black hole-maker in 'Heroes'!" Tang Yi muttered to himself.

The broadcast switched to the studio, where the host said, "Professor Feng, what’s your take on these recent black hole events?"

Professor Feng replied, "These black hole phenomena are likely a kind of natural cosmic occurrence, much like sunspots. There’s a theory that there are multiple kinds of black holes. One type, similar to what we’re seeing now, should be a wormhole—a shortcut through space. For example, flying from China to the U.S. takes more than ten hours, but if we used a wormhole, it might take only a few minutes, or even just a second."

The host asked, "If we follow this theory, how do we explain the objects appearing in the southern suburbs? All the items that have appeared can also be found elsewhere in Shanghai, and they’re still in their original locations."

Professor Feng paused in thought. "It’s possible that these black holes aren’t connecting to our universe, but to another parallel one. I think we now have strong evidence for the existence of parallel universes."

"Parallel universes… Could there really be heroes in another universe?" Tang Yi muttered. "If only I could go take a look."

On TV, the host asked, "Does this mean inter-universe travel is possible? Some say these black holes are one-way only."

Professor Feng replied, "Theoretically, yes. But so far, only inanimate objects have been shown to pass through; we don’t know if living things can withstand the gravitational pull. As for the one-way theory, didn’t we just see objects being sucked away by a black hole?"

Tang Yi jumped to his feet. "I have to go see it for myself, or I’ll never be satisfied!"

"Taxi!" he called as he got in. "To the southern suburbs."

"You’re headed to see the black holes too, aren’t you?" the driver asked.

"Are there many people going?"

"Of course! I’ve already made five or six trips today alone!"

"Then let’s hurry!"

"You got it! Buckle up!"

With a screech of tires, the cab sped off.

Fifteen minutes later, the brakes squealed. "All done… Huh? Where’d he go?" The driver glanced back to find the seat empty.

"Dammit, in such a hurry to be reborn?" Tang Yi cursed as he crawled out from under the seat, tossing the fare to the driver.

"Sorry about that! Today’s a good day, trying to pick up as many fares as possible. Take care!" The driver nodded repeatedly in apology.

"This is outrageous!" Tang Yi’s mouth hung open wide enough to fit several apples.

Seeing the scene in person was completely different from watching it on TV.

Tang Yi climbed up a tree and looked out over the area. For miles around, the southern suburb highway was closed, and various items littered the ground—one huge junkyard.

Suddenly, a loud hissing erupted as black holes appeared one after another!

At the same time…

In another parallel universe, in the southern suburbs of Shanghai, the same hissing and flickering black holes filled the air, the place already a wasteland.

Two figures darted among the ruins.

"Lin San, this time I’ll make sure you suffer!" one of them shouted.

"Tsk tsk, Xiao Zhang, you’ve been chasing me down for five days and nights, and still can’t catch me," the other replied.

"Hmph, I’ve held back because of the rules. But now, I don’t care anymore. Take this—!"

Back in Shanghai’s southern suburbs, the reporter continued, "As you can see, a large black hole has suddenly appeared. What will it bring this time? Many curious citizens have come to witness this marvel… Oh no, the black hole is sucking things in! People are retreating from the scene… I can’t be sure, but I think I just saw someone get pulled in too… Looks like it’s true, we’ve got it on camera. We don’t know what will happen to someone sucked in by a black hole, but let’s hope for the best for them!"

Tang Yi, curious about the black hole, poked it with a stick—and was instantly sucked in!

"Help! Somebody help!" he shouted at the top of his lungs, but the noise from the black hole drowned him out completely.

His vision went black, and he lost consciousness.

No idea how much time passed before Tang Yi groggily came to. The sun was blinding—no, wait, it was a fluorescent lamp. "Hey, where am I?" he called out.

"This is the Shanghai headquarters of the National Center for Extraordinary Abilities. What’s your name?" asked a middle-aged man in a white lab coat.

Tang Yi gave him a startled look. "My name’s Tang Yi… Wait, the National Center for Extraordinary Abilities, Shanghai branch? When did that become a thing? Are you Professor Feng?"

The man in the white coat checked a palm-sized computer in his left hand. "Hmph. This isn’t your universe anymore. In fact, Tang Yi, you died here three months ago. You have a Professor Feng in your world, too?"

"Oh, wait—what? I already died here? And why am I here? Abilities… but I don’t have any special powers."

"You don’t now, but you will soon. You’ll understand why you’re here in a moment. Xiao Yao, fetch the perfect serum!"

He held out his hand, as if expecting something to fall into it.

"What are you doing? I’m not a guinea pig—" What happened next left Tang Yi dumbstruck. A syringe floated out of a room labeled "Serum Lab," drifting through the air until it landed in the white-coated man’s hand. Tang Yi rubbed his eyes and shook his head, trying to see more clearly.

"Hold out your hand!"

"No, wait—ow!" Tang Yi felt a jolt as if shocked by electricity, his whole body going numb.

Then he saw the man in the coat jab the needle into his arm and empty the syringe. Tang Yi passed out again.

"Take him to the testing room," ordered the white-coated man. Tang Yi floated through the air and was deposited inside.

Outside the glass wall of the testing room, Professor Feng and several others stood by a table with a microphone on it.

Inside, Tang Yi woke up shivering from the cold. "Hey, why are you locking me in here? I really don’t have any abilities. Let me out!"

A sudden voice blared through the speakers, making him jump. "Stop fussing. Check the table behind you. See what you can affect. If nothing works, try the rainbow-colored wall and see if you can release anything."

Tang Yi turned and realized the room was huge—maybe two hundred square meters. There was a massive table. Why massive? Because it was ten meters long and eight meters wide. That big!

The tabletop was like an encyclopedia—wood, stone, copper, iron, water, fire, dolls, TVs, computers, cell phones, paper, lab rats, turtles, flowers, saplings, grass—everything you could imagine, living or not. Even more stuff covered the floor: bicycles, motorcycles, cars, even a small plane and a locomotive.

"You want me to test superpowers? Seriously? I don’t have any!"

The speaker replied, "What you were just injected with is a power-generating serum. There’s only one kind, but everyone reacts differently, so we need to test you."

Tang Yi thought to himself, "Damn, is this a world of heroes? Are the TV heroes real here? If so, this is wild—maybe I’ll have a power too! I have to try!"

He began his grand quest to test his powers. Why "grand"? Because what followed left everyone inside and outside the testing room deeply perplexed. Tang Yi spent six whole hours trying everything—touching this, poking that, even nibbling on leaves, biting stones, and gnawing on iron bars—but nothing happened. Was it because he wasn’t from this universe? Professor Feng wondered. But in theory, it should work. The serum had never failed in a population of over a billion, everyone got something—big or small.

With no options left, Tang Yi finally shouted that he was starving, so they let him out to eat. He touched and knocked on the door, curious about what it was made of, then walked over to Professor Feng. Just as he was about to speak, he suddenly felt a flash of inspiration, a sudden clarity in his mind! Tang Yi closed his eyes, savoring the sensation. The others, curious, gathered around. As they did, flashes of insight overwhelmed Tang Yi—so many, so quickly, that he fainted again.

"Could this Tang Yi have the same ability as the other one?" asked a man with a mustache.

"Seems so. The situation just now was exactly like what happened a year ago with the other Tang Yi," Professor Feng sighed.

When Tang Yi came to, he was in another room. "Wow, it smells amazing!" He rushed toward the table laden with food, but as soon as he got close, the food began to float, and with a bang, the table smashed against the wall, breaking apart. Tang Yi, too, was left groaning on the floor.

Professor Feng shook his head with a wry smile and picked up a communicator. "Afu, come fix the table in Tang Yi’s room." Then he turned to a young girl beside him. "Xiao Yao, help Tang Yi up." She raised her hand, and Tang Yi rose from the floor as if lifted by invisible hands, settling into a chair.

A moment later, a man in his fifties came in—it must have been Afu. He quickly pieced together the broken table, restoring it to its original form in less than half a minute. Tang Yi, mouth agape, walked over and immediately felt another flash in his mind. It was as if he could do anything he wanted with wood. He pressed his palm to the table, thinking about whether he could make it half-round and half-square. To his amazement, the table slowly shifted, becoming just that. Afu glanced at him in surprise, then sighed and left.

Tang Yi heard Afu’s sigh and finally closed his mouth, turning back to ask Professor Feng something. But Professor Feng spoke first. "Eat first. When you’re done, I’ll explain everything in detail. Come to the main hall when you’re finished—I’ll be waiting." With that, he and Xiao Yao left. As she walked out, Xiao Yao glanced back, a look in her eyes that was hard to decipher—a mix of excitement and disappointment. Tang Yi, busy devouring the food, didn’t notice.

After eating, Tang Yi left the room and realized he was on the third floor of an eight-story building. The building was built around a central atrium, with corridors and railings connecting all four sides on each floor. In the center of the ground floor were a few tables with umbrellas and some lounge chairs. Tang Yi looked around and wandered over to the east elevator.

Two minutes later, he arrived at the main hall of another building to the east. It was a large, well-lit space, reminiscent of a bank lobby, but with only a few desks and chairs and not many people—quiet and serene. After a quick look around, Tang Yi strode over to a desk, sat down, and said, "Let’s talk!"

Professor Feng sipped his tea, then began to speak slowly…