Hyuk took Bright Noa and departed.
Internally, the Spider-demon had been itching to strike. If she could somehow place Hyuk under her mental control, she would acquire a minion whose combat power was entirely off the charts.
Ultimately, she did not dare take that risk.
When the Jpscan City incident occurred, she had not yet arrived on Earth, but she had read the memories of various superhumans and aliens under her command, knowing full well just how terrifying Hyuk was.
That was why she had not acted rashly.
Years had passed. While Hyuk might not necessarily still be the absolute strongest superhuman on Earth, she was definitely sitting right at the very top tier. Nobody knew just how monstrously powerful she had become in the interim.
Only after Hyuk departed did the Spider-demon finally feel a heavy weight lift off her shoulders. In truth, there was another reason she had not dared make a move, the fortune-telling result from earlier.
A binary choice concerning life and death.
Looking back now, she had made the right call.
The bald bodyguard mumbled, "She might not have been able to resist your mental control, you know. All those threats could have just been a bluff."
SLAP!
Hearing that, the Spider-demon whipped around and struck the bald bodyguard across the face, her expression furious. "If you ever talk that kind of reckless nonsense again, I will rip your tongue out. Are you seriously suggesting I gamble my life on a fifty-fifty chance?"
"..."
The bald bodyguard lowered his head in silence, not daring to utter another word.
The Spider-demon turned to her assistant. "What would have happened if I made a move just now?"
SWISH!
The assistant pulled a single card from the deck, and her answer made the Spider-demon's breath catch in her throat.
"Life and death inverted."
Which meant absolute, certain death.
"Where is Wen?"
"Sedated. He passed out for now."
Wen was a superhuman capable of peeking into the true strength and power levels of others. He had been serving under the Spider-demon for the past two years, but seeing Hyuk had apparently terrified him out of his mind.
Nobody knew what Wen had actually managed to glimpse. The Spider-demon decided she would pry into his memories later, she was beyond curious about the true extent of Hyuk's power.
The essence of the Spider-demon's innate ability revolved around the manipulation of neurotransmitters. Mental control was merely one application of it; reading, writing memories, and altering psychology were all child's play for her.
It was a top-tier control-type ability.
...
Later that same evening, Hyuk delivered Bright Noa back to Manager Bach. True to his word, Manager Bach cheerfully informed her that he had already spoken with Master Card, and the battlesuit arrangement was all set.
He handed Hyuk an address for a clothing store.
"Just head over there and look for Master Card. No need to worry about paying extra."
"Got it."
That concluded their transaction. As for what would happen to Bright Noa next, it was none of Hyuk's concern. She pocketed the business card for Master Card's clothing store and left.
Upon seeing Manager Bach, Bright Noa instantly understood the situation and began profusely thanking and bowing to him, shedding tears of genuine gratitude.
"Wah... Manager Bach, thank you so much! If it weren't for you, I would be dead meat for sure. Don't worry, the moment I get some cash, I will pay you back right away. I swear on my life!"
The moment Hyuk walked out, Manager Bach wiped the warm, welcoming smile right off his face. Unfazed by Bright Noa's glib lies, he offered a grin that carried a chilling menace.
"Manager Bach..."
Manager Bach patted Bright Noa on the shoulder, his smile gradually fading entirely. "Old Lin, do you really think I wouldn't know whether you actually have the means to pay me back?"
"W-What... what do you mean?"
Bright Noa looked at Manager Bach's expression and started trembling in fear.
Manager Bach continued calmly, "I don't blame you for not being able to pay. There are so many debt-restructuring programs right here in my company, why didn't you ever come to me? What was the deal with packing up your family and buying one-way plane tickets out of the country?"
Hearing that,
Bright Noa collapsed to his knees with a THUD!
"Manager Bach! I... I was just momentarily out of my mind! Please believe me, I was just blinded by desperation! I swear! The moment I get back, I will pay you every cent!"
"You're not going back," Manager Bach said coldly. "You're just going to carry this debt from now on. Whether you pay me back or not doesn't even matter anymore. Don't worry, you won't die, but you aren't going to live in comfort, either."
"Manager Bach!!"
Screaming in terrified panic, Bright Noa was dragged away by Manager Bach's underlings. They operated outside the laws of human society, bound by an entirely different order of rules.
Manager Bach might have acted meek and submissive in front of Hyuk, but that didn't mean he was actually harmless.
...
The next day.
Following the address on the business card, Hyuk found a modestly sized clothing store. Its interior decor was far more exquisite and aesthetically pleasing than an average storefront, possessing a rather unique artistic charm.
An old man with a full head of white hair sat behind the counter.
Hyuk pulled out the business card.
"Manager Bach sent me. I am here to find Master Card to have a set of clothes made."
The old man glanced at the card, stood up, and motioned for Hyuk to follow him upstairs to the second floor. He wheeled out a clothing rack and unrolled a massive sheet of sketch paper from the storage room.
As he spoke, he said, "I am Master Card. You're here to commission a battlesuit, right? Tell me your specific requirements. Do you have any preferences for its appearance or design?"
When it came to designing clothes like this, Hyuk knew absolutely nothing.
She repeated the requirements she had given to Manager Bach: "Heat-resistant, impact-resistant, tear-resistant, and extraordinarily durable. It needs to be able to adapt to all kinds of extreme environments."
Master Card began mixing his paints under Hyuk's curious gaze. "There are no ordinary physical materials that can satisfy all those requirements," he said. "How about we change our perspective?"
"I'm listening."
"This garment will only serve the purpose of clothing and adornment. It won't be able to shield you from any attacks or damage. Conversely, it will be completely indestructible. Its appearance and style can be changed at will. How does that sound?"
"That works."
Hyuk was entirely fine with that. From the very beginning, she had not relied on a combat outfit for defense anyway; its sole purpose was simply not getting destroyed.
"Then I'll begin."
Master Card glanced over Hyuk's measurements, picked up a brush, and began sketching directly onto the canvas. The paints were opened, blended, and gradually took the shape of an outfit.
...
Twenty minutes later.
"All done."
Master Card worked remarkably fast. He had sketched a pair of black trousers and a white shirt paired with a dark suit jacket. Once finished, right before Hyuk's astonished eyes, he reached his hand straight into the canvas.
And pulled the freshly painted suit right out of the frame.
SWISH!
He gave it a vigorous snap in the air before handing the suit over to Hyuk. Taking it in hand, Hyuk found that the texture felt identical to ordinary fabric.
"It has a real, tangible presence, you can see it and touch it. In reality, I painted this suit within the Quadrant 007. Since no one can ever reach the Quadrant 007, you naturally never have to worry about this suit getting damaged in combat. Once you put it on, you can freely alter its style and appearance whenever you like."
"Thank you."
Hyuk found Master Card's ability utterly mind-boggling. According to his explanation, what she saw and touched was merely a physical projection of the suit from the Quadrant 007 into this current Quadrant.
"May I ask you a question?"
"Shoot."
"What exactly is a Quadrant? How do different Quadrants differ from one another?"
Hyuk had never truly understood the definition of a Quadrant. For the longest time, she had vaguely assumed they referred to different stellar regions or entirely separate universes.
Master Card didn't immediately kick her out; as he was tidying up his canvas and paints, he had a bit of spare time to chat with Hyuk and satisfy her curiosity.
"You learned about Cartesian coordinate systems in school back on Earth, didn't you? A flat plane divided into four quadrants by two axes, that's the basic concept of a quadrant."
"I know that much."
Master Card continued, "However, in real-world observation and the definition of things, an object's dimensions aren't limited to just two. Length, width, height, temperature, density, volume, color, and so on. If you keep adding new dimensional parameters into a Cartesian coordinate system, you'll find that the number of quadrants grows at an exponential rate."
Hyuk understood.
"So there are countless Quadrants?"
"Basically, yes. No one can ever pin down the exact number; every phenomenon is entirely independent, yet different Quadrants share borders. Doors, for instance, are the concrete manifestation of those borders. However, two Quadrants can never overlap, one is one, and two is two."
This explanation cleared things right up for Hyuk. This concept of Quadrants wasn't quite the same as parallel universes. According to Master Card's explanation, different Quadrants weren't just alternate realities.
All parallel universes of a given universe existed within the exact same Quadrant, because the separating factor was treated merely as a dimension of cosmic observation.
In short.
Every single Quadrant could be considered a distinct universe and world, distinct and unique. Because their dimensional coordinates varied, their composition and manifestation could differ wildly.
There were even Quadrants that didn't contain any physical structures at all. Take the Quadrant 007, for example; according to Master Card, it made for a rather ideal canvas for the Pictorians.
Master Card added, "My understanding of Quadrants stops right about here. Even though I frequently use the Quadrant 007 as my canvas, my actual comprehension of it is still quite limited."
"Thank you for the explanation."
Hyuk offered her gratitude and turned to leave.
Only then did Master Card remember something else.
"Oh, right."
"Hm?"
"I left a little pocket hole inside your clothes. You can store anything you like in there, though I wouldn't recommend putting living creatures inside."
Hyuk located the pocket Master Card had mentioned, reached her hand inside, and felt around. She figured this pocket could probably fit her entire body inside; the interior space was immense.
"Does this pocket connect directly to the Quadrant 007?"
"No. It's merely a border intersection between the Quadrant 007 and Quadrant 042. The Quadrant 007 lacks any physical structure, so ordinary matter sent inside would instantly collapse and vanish."
Getting an infinitely large spatial pocket bundled with her combat suit was a pleasant surprise. Hyuk had actually been wondering how she was going to solve her storage issues.
A look of genuine joy crossed her face.
"Thank you so much!"
"Don't mention it."
With that, Master Card made a polite gesture signaling her out. Hyuk was the most powerful lifeform he had ever laid eyes on, and on a sudden whim, he had decided to gift her this little trinket.
Others might not have noticed, but Master Card could see it clearly: the space around Hyuk's non-physical projection, drawn from the Quadrant 007, had warped to a terrifying degree.
She was essentially a human-shaped celestial body!
Hyuk changed into Master Card's creation right there in the store. With a mental nudge, the neat business suit instantly shifted into a casual, comfortable outfit.
Stepping out of the shop,
Type Zero mused, "Earth really is dangerous!"
Who would have thought an ordinary-looking old man was a master capable of treating a Quadrant as his canvas, even if he didn't look particularly strong.
That didn't mean his racial abilities weren't completely broken, however.
Hyuk muttered, "Master Card is probably a Pictorian, right?"
"Most likely."
During their conversation earlier, Master Card had subtly leaked hints about the Pictorian racial trait, though he never revealed what star system he hailed from. Hyuk knew better than to pry.
That would have been terribly intrusive.
Hyuk tested cramming plenty of items into the spatial pocket, only to find it truly acted like a bottomless pit that couldn't be filled. The border intersection zone between Quadrants was absurdly vast.
She tossed all the data storage drives she had brought back from Gulan into the dimensional pocket, while Type Zero began hoarding massive amounts of Earth's technological data, making sure to back it all up inside the spatial storage.
You never knew when it might come in handy.
...
Three days later.
Hyuk received intelligence from Manager Bach: he had tracked down a Vinespawn, hiding near a slaughterhouse in Jpscan City, complete with a photograph.
It was a scruffy, bearded middle-aged man.
Type Zero asked, "Is that him?"
Hyuk shook her head.
"No."
She vividly remembered that the one who killed her parents was a young man. Even though the appearance didn't match, operating under the principle of "better to kill a thousand by mistake than let a single guilty one escape," Hyuk had no intention of letting this Vinespawn off the hook.
Aliens had plenty of ways to alter their appearance; you couldn't rely on outward looks alone to identify them. Since that was the case, she preferred a simpler, more direct method: execute them all.
The moment Hyuk made a move, the Jpscan City Star-Link cell went on high alert.
"Team Leader, The Powerful is on the move!"
Shenan immediately stepped up.
"What's the situation?"
The bespectacled young man tracked Hyuk while utilizing his innate talent to harvest and analyze intelligence. "She has locked onto the whereabouts of a certain Vinespawn."
They had all reviewed Hyuk's file, knowing full well that her parents had perished at the hands of a Vinespawn, so they naturally understood the motivation behind her sudden activity.
Shenan asked, "Is a fight going to break out?"
The bespectacled analyst nodded.
"Very high probability."
"Location?"
"The southside slaughterhouse."
...
Hyuk didn't waste a single second, heading straight for the vicinity of the southside slaughterhouse and tracking down the isolated villa based on Manager Bach's intel.
She shoved open the main door.
A scruffy, bearded middle-aged man came into view. The burly man looked thoroughly surprised upon seeing Hyuk's face. "I was wondering who's been sniffing around looking for me lately. This is quite the unexpected surprise."
As he spoke,
Three people materialized behind Hyuk, cutting off her exit in a pincer formation. One of them, a man in a black trench coat, transformed his arm into the barrel of a cannon.
"The Powerful?! Lain, you really stepped in a pile of dogshit!"
The burly man's expression soured as he realized they were in deep trouble. He turned to Hyuk and said, "You and I shouldn't have any personal beef. What do you want with me?"
Hyuk remained expressionless, answering a question with a question.
"Do you know where other Vinespawns are?"
The bartender she had executed earlier had mentioned that a considerable number of Vinespawns had fled and gone into hiding. It was entirely possible these fugitives were still in contact with one another.
The burly man narrowed his eyes.
"If I tell you, will you let me go?"
Wrong answer!
Before Hyuk could even speak, one of the three men flanking her shuddered violently, throwing his head back and roaring at the top of his lungs: "She's radiating killing intent! Lain, strike now!"
BOOM!
The moment those words were uttered, the taut atmosphere ignited. Massive vines sprouted straight out of the ground, twisting and weaving together in an attempt to crush Hyuk into pulp.
However,
Hyuk was infinitely faster than them. A deafening, thunderous sonic boom tore through the air. Before the giant vines could even fully sprout, the shockwave shredded them to ribbons. Her sheer terminal speed instantly superheated the surrounding air into a glowing sheath of plasma. The three men who had surrounded Hyuk were blown apart into crimson mists of blood in the blink of an eye.
Yet, unexpectedly, the man whose arm had transformed into a cannon re-coalesced back into human form shortly after being reduced to a bloody vapor, dragging the burly man along as they flickered out of existence and vanished entirely.
[Infinite Overload · Potential Unleashed]
[Strength: 11,204,000,000 tons ⬆]
The system interface updated.
[Felinoid: A sentient extraterrestrial species evolved from feline-like beasts. Highly sensitive to murderous intent and fighting spirit; born warriors.]
——
[Metalloid: An alien race whose bodies are rich in metallic elements. They feed on metals and can absorb various properties directly from them.]
——
Hyuk turned her head and gazed hundreds of meters away. The abnormal sounds and energy fluctuations radiating outward allowed her to instantly pinpoint the source. Her airborne frame left behind a glowing trail of radiating plasma light.
A deafening sonic boom cracked.
The air rushed back to fill the vacuum tunnel left in the wake of her flight. The thunderous shockwave echoed across the entire district as the Hoplite and the terrified burly man flickered back into reality hundreds of meters away, still catching their breath.
"Holy shit, she's that strong?!"
The Hoplite's arm reverted from its cannon configuration back to normal. That parlor trick had been completely useless. He had heard the tales of The Powerful, but actually exchanging blows with her was the only way to truly understand what terrifying really meant.
A massive surge of vines erupted across the burly man's body, rapidly twisting and knitting themselves together over his skin to form a grotesque, blood-red vine armor.
There was no time for idle chatter.
The Hoplite raised his hand, and the bracelet on his arm instantly projected a blinding, azure light. In the next instant, his body was pulled into the center of a massive, intricate holographic circuit diagram.
Hyper-Gravity Exo-Suit · Armed!
The circuitry glowing with azure light rapidly materialized into solid matter, forming a bulky, high-tech powered exoskeleton with a reflective metallic sheen, straight out of a sci-fi blockbuster.
The innate racial trait of the Hoplite allowed their bodies to transform into weaponry, but their technology was also exceptionally advanced. Molecular restructuring and phase-shifting teleportation technologies were standard-issue for high-end tactical infantry units, and while formidably powerful, they consumed staggering amounts of energy. They could only be used in dire emergencies, requiring half a month to recharge after a single activation.
If he got blown to bits one more time, he would actually stay dead.
"I haven't been pushed around like this in ages! How many years has it been since I last died? I am so going to settle this score! Lain, let's take her down together!"
Then,
BOOM!
A blinding streak of plasma tore straight through the Hoplite's hyper-gravity exo-suit. Before the armor could even finish materializing, Hyuk had already obliterated it.
This masterpiece of solo tactical engineering, which the Hoplite had considered his ultimate trump card, crumpled like scrap metal in front of Hyuk. The terrifying impact instantly dismantled it down to the subatomic level.
Before the Hoplite could even process what was happening, he was swallowed whole by the blinding, superheated light of an induced nuclear reaction. A micro-scale fusion blast flashed across the scene, its blinding radiance lasting less than a millionth of a second.
Even so, he was vaporized completely. This time, he was dead as dead could be, with even the microscopic debris of his exo-suit vanishing without a trace.
[Infinite Overload · Potential Unleashed]
[Strength: 11,204,200,000 tons ⬆]
——
[Hoplite: A bizarre alien race capable of transforming their bodies into various armaments. Their combat prowess is directly tied to their personal perception and mindset.]
——
The remaining shockwave caught the burly man, sending him flying over a dozen meters away in sheer terror. Panicking, he scanned his surroundings to lock onto Hyuk's position, only for Hyuk to descend from the sky and slam directly into him.
BOOM!
The earth shook as a violent wave of compressed air blasted a massive cloud of dust into the air.
Hyuk planted her foot squarely on the burly man's head. No matter how wildly he struggled, he couldn't budge Hyuk by even a millimeter, and thick pools of blood began seeping out from beneath his vine armor.
"Tell me where the other Vinespawns are."
The burly man apparently had a stubborn streak.
"If you've got the guts, just finish me!"
With that,
A dull THUD!
Hyuk crushed the burly man's skull straight into the ground, clean and decisive. Whether the man talked or not wouldn't change the outcome; it was simply a matter of finding them sooner or later anyway.
The Vinespawns were all going to die regardless.
Hyuk despised dragging things out with idle chit-chat. If he didn't want to talk, fine. If the burly man thought he could use this as leverage to negotiate or bargain for his life, he clearly had no idea what kind of person Hyuk was.
[Infinite Overload · Potential Unleashed]
[Strength: 11,214,200,000 tons ⬆]
That single burly man alone boosted Hyuk's strength by 1,000 tons, indicating that his combat power was no slouch. But it didn't really matter, whether it was 1,000 tons or 10 million tons, it all felt entirely the same to Hyuk.
...
Back at the Star-Link cell base.
"It's over."
"Thank goodness it didn't blow up into a massive catastrophe."
"Team Leader, should we send a cleanup crew to secure the scene?"
Shenan let out a long breath.
"Send a team to check it out."
"Got it!"
The Star-Link crew had monitored the entire skirmish, recording the progression of the battle in full detail. The bespectacled analyst's fingers flew across his keyboard as he ran a deep intelligence analysis on Hyuk's performance.
During the brief clash, Hyuk had displayed a terrifying velocity of Mach 11. Put that way, it might not sound fully visceral, but converting it to meters per second, 3,740 meters per second, made the sheer horror of it sink in.
And it was abundantly clear that this wasn't even Hyuk's top speed. Leaning into his innate talent, the bespectacled analyst dug deeper into the combat metrics, excavating layers of hidden telemetry.
Mach 20?
Mach 40?
No.
Hyuk's true limit was at least Mach 100, if not higher.
Beyond that, her physical strength and defensive capabilities were so absurdly overwhelming they defied imagination. It was a set of data calculated to give an observer heart failure, the ultimate definition of true power.
Shenan stared at the figures for a long time, completely lost for words.
The bespectacled analyst muttered, "She's vastly more powerful than she was four years ago. I can say with absolute certainty that she no longer falls into the category of humanity. Her very existence transcends the human definition."
If humanity's current stage of development could be considered a form of evolution, Hyuk was undoubtedly standing miles ahead at the very vanguard. Her mere existence challenged the fundamental physical laws of reality.
"Endless evolution, continuously approaching the bottom-layer essence of the universe and the world, until one becomes a being that transcends everything, that is the limit I chase!"
The computer monitor was playing footage of Hyuk's recent skirmish. The glowing radiance of the plasma light on screen illuminated the South Asian man's face.
He was muttering to himself.
Beneath his calm, indifferent expression, his eyes surged with an infinite, burning hunger for evolution, a deep-seated yearning to evolve to the absolute limit and transcend all existence.
The South Asian man's digital probing had once again caught the attention of a certain digital lifeform. The two of them instantly reprised their high-stakes cyber chase across the internet, culminating in a swift digital shell game.
The screen went dark.
The outcome once again ended in Type Zero failing to trace him. Furthermore, she keenly sensed that this digital stalker's techniques and methods were rapidly evolving.
At an astonishing speed.
Practically matching the pace of true evolution.
As time ticked away, both superhumans and aliens were growing stronger. Type Zero's innate advantages as a digital lifeform were gradually being caught up to and equalized. She, too, was in urgent need of growing stronger.
Otherwise, the day would eventually come when she was no longer qualified to remain Hyuk's ally.
However, as a digital lifeform, she had no inherent concept of physical strength or weakness; her might depended entirely on the internet she inhabited.
Since that was the case, the only path forward was to overhaul her underlying network architecture. Type Zero brought this up to Hyuk: "As an ally, I believe it's necessary for you to know this."
"Upgrading the network?"
"Yes."
"How do we do that?"
Hyuk had no objections to the idea.
Type Zero explained, "The underlying communication structure of a network dictates the upper limit of my capabilities. If Earth's internet were upgraded into a quantum network, I would become completely invincible."
Unfortunately, Earth's current information and communication technology hadn't evolved to that level yet. Therefore, what Type Zero meant was that she could either build a brand-new network from scratch,
Or discover a novel network paradigm hailing from a different Quadrant.