Chen Mo had first discovered the mysterious space years ago.
It happened after a traffic accident—a runaway truck had come barreling toward him on the roadside. In that split second of mortal danger, his mind suddenly cleared, his heart thundering like a drum. A surge of power flooded his body. Before his eyes, the speeding truck seemed to slow down.
That instant burst of potential let him leap aside, narrowly escaping the crushing wheels.
Afterward, he realized his body had changed. He was stronger—his thoughts, memory, and reflexes sharper. Most incredible of all, a small cube-shaped space had appeared in his mind, like a Rubik's Cube floating in the void. With a mere thought, he could store physical objects inside it.
The sudden gift of a superhuman ability thrilled Chen Mo. Dreaming of one day becoming as powerful as the superheroes in movies, he began training relentlessly—physical conditioning, martial arts, knife throwing. He told no one of his secret, waiting for the day his potential would truly awaken.
But fate seemed to mock him. The growth of his power was painfully slow.
Years passed. The cube expanded from ten to twenty centimeters on each side. His physique improved—strength, speed, endurance, and reflexes all reaching the level of top athletes. His intelligence, memory, and reasoning soared beyond normal human limits.
In hand-to-hand combat, he was already formidable—easily handling four or five strong men at once. To better use his spatial storage ability, he practiced throwing knives until he could hit a sparrow in midair from ten meters away; at close range, his strikes were as lethal as bullets.
Chen Mo poured all his time and energy into honing and studying his powers. He cared nothing for fame, elite universities, or prestigious companies. With his intellect, those things would be easy to obtain if he ever wanted them.
His parents had stable jobs and a comfortable life. The family lived happily together, and Chen Mo never longed for wealth. What he truly desired was strength—real, hidden strength. He preferred to remain unseen, to watch the world from behind the curtain and smile quietly.
Years of growth had indeed made him powerful, yet the difference between what he expected and what he achieved was vast. In a modern, technologically advanced world, such power was still far from enough to defy laws or right every wrong.
The quiet but fulfilling years lulled him into contentment, until Zhou Tianhao's cruelty shattered that peace.
When Chen Mo finally broke his restraint, he became ruthless and decisive—cold and sharp as a blade. He forced Zhou Tianhao to reveal the passwords to his bank accounts and safe, took the money, and ended his life with a single stroke. Not one person in the villa survived. Before leaving, he burned the entire place to the ground, erasing every trace.
When he noticed the expansion of his internal space afterward, there was no time to investigate. The explosion would soon attract the police. He stuffed the travel bag into the enlarged space and left in haste.
From Zhou Tianhao, he had taken over eight million yuan—enough to pay for Chen Jingde's treatment for a year or two. He hurried to the hospital, secretly handed the money and bank cards to his parents, gave a few brief instructions, and went straight to the airport.
He boarded the earliest flight to Los Angeles. Even though he had prepared meticulously and stayed cautious, he still decided to hide abroad for a while—just in case.
Only after the plane took off did Chen Mo finally have time to reflect on the strange changes within him. He'd always felt that his ability wasn't so simple—that something greater was still dormant, waiting to awaken.
The sudden expansion of the inner space after killing Zhou Tianhao felt like a clue—a key to his next evolution.
From his years of studying supernatural phenomena, Chen Mo reasoned that his power's growth must be tied to his mental strength.
The space had first appeared after the car accident, when the life-threatening shock had forced his spiritual energy to surge, expanding his brain's potential and unlocking the hidden dimension.
That explained why his physical ability, thought speed, and memory had all improved—it was the manifestation of an awakened mind.
Now, after killing a man and breaking through his psychological limits, his mentality had transformed again. With his mental state elevated, his spiritual power had surged dramatically.
The space wasn't the only thing that grew—Chen Mo could feel his mind becoming sharper, clearer. His thought process, reaction time, and memory had all improved greatly, even if his body felt unchanged.
But… was that truly all there was to his ability?
Fugitive and killer, Chen Mo sat quietly in his seat, absentmindedly practicing drawing and returning his lighter from the space while lost in thought. Suddenly, the entire plane jolted violently, snapping him out of his meditation.
Passengers stirred awake. The cabin filled with startled cries and confusion.
The turbulence intensified. After two dull bangs, everyone could feel the aircraft shudder and lose speed.
Chen Mo glanced out the window—the clouds were getting closer. The plane was descending fast.
One word flashed in his mind: crash.
Panic spread through the cabin. Flight attendants tried to calm everyone.
"Please remain seated and fasten your seat belts!"
In the cockpit, the captain gripped the controls tightly, fighting to stabilize the plane, while the co-pilot rapidly checked the instruments, reporting every change.
Both engines had failed. The plane was gliding powerless, and worse—its control system was malfunctioning. Maintaining flight balance was nearly impossible.
They were dropping quickly, already below the clouds. Below them stretched an endless ocean.
"Altitude six thousand feet. Airspeed two-twenty knots!" The co-pilot's voice trembled.
Despite the captain's best efforts, the aircraft continued to lose altitude. The control failure made it impossible to keep level. The plane was diving at a dangerous angle—far too steep for a safe water landing.
At this speed, the instant they touched the ocean, the water's resistance would tear the aircraft apart, sending the wreck straight to the depths. Survival chances—zero.
Then, through the cockpit window, the captain spotted a streak of green amid the endless blue. As the plane glided closer, that green patch grew larger.
"An island!" he shouted, unable to contain his excitement.
"What?" The co-pilot jerked his head up from the instruments.
"There's an island ahead! If we can land on it—we might survive!" The captain's eyes lit up. In this desperate situation, it was the first sign of hope.
The island wasn't large. They were descending fast. Neither pilot knew if they could reach it in time.
He had to control the height perfectly—too soon or too late, and they'd crash into the sea.
The captain switched on the cabin intercom.
"This is your captain. Brace for impact!"
While passengers screamed and flight attendants shouted instructions, Chen Mo stared out the window. The ocean was terrifyingly close now. His heart pounded violently—each beat powerful, flooding his body with blood. His mind roared, and the inner space began expanding again at incredible speed.
The island was only a few hundred meters away. But the plane couldn't hold on any longer. The captain's forehead beaded with sweat. In the final moment, he pulled back hard on the controls and shouted into the radio, "Brace for impact!"
The tail struck first. The immense force made the ocean feel like solid steel. The rear fuselage tore apart instantly. The aircraft shuddered, passengers flung forward as the cabin tilted violently.
The drag slowed the plane slightly, but the twisting motion caused the left wing to hit the water next. The engine beneath it was ripped clean off. The nose pitched left, the left wing snapped, and the plane skidded diagonally across the surface. Moments later, the right wing was torn away as well.
The captain released the controls, his expression hollow—there was nothing more he could do.
The disintegrating plane tumbled and spun across the waves. Seats, luggage, and bodies were thrown from the broken fuselage. Inside, chaos reigned—blood, screams, and shattered debris everywhere.
And amid the destruction, Chen Mo was changing.
His heart pounded faster, his perception stretching outward. The world slowed again—the spinning cabin, the tumbling luggage, the drifting magazines—all moving in slow motion.
The cube space in his mind expanded rapidly until it reached a full one meter across. Then, it stopped—only to transform again.
Its once-solid borders turned transparent. Beyond them stretched a void filled with countless shimmering points of light, like distant stars woven into a radiant night sky.
At the very center of that starlit expanse floated a single, bright sphere—glowing softly with a mysterious, beckoning light.