The outer perimeter stretched nearly fifty miles from the monument portals. Our team of six soldiers had been pushed this far during the city's expansion, deposited at the edge where obsidian construction met natural grassland. Captain Reynolds had ordered us to establish a forward observation post, but honestly, we had no idea what we were observing.
I decided reconnaissance made more sense than sitting around watching grass grow.
"Brody, Jansen, with me. We're going to check out what's beyond the city limits."
Private Brody grabbed his rifle out of habit before remembering it was useless here. Private Jansen just shrugged and followed.
The grassland beyond American City looked deceptively normal at first glance. Tall grass swaying in a gentle breeze, scattered wildflowers, the occasional boulder. But the spiritual energy saturating the air made everything feel more vivid, more alive.
We walked maybe half a mile before Jansen stopped.
"Sergeant, check this out."
A bush heavy with berries grew beside a cluster of rocks. The fruits looked almost identical to blueberries, except they glowed faintly in the shadows. I plucked one and rolled it between my fingers. Perfectly round, firm but yielding slightly to pressure.
The token in my chest pulsed.
[First discovery: Spiritual Blueberry. Award: 100 merit points.]
I blinked at the notification. One hundred points for picking a berry?
"Try finding something else," I told them. "Anything that looks edible or unusual."
We spread out, searching the immediate area. Herbs grew in abundance, some familiar, others completely alien. Vegetables that resembled carrots but with purple skin. Mushrooms the size of dinner plates. A vine bearing fruit that looked like miniature watermelons.
Brody called out from behind a large boulder.
"Movement, Sergeant. Something's over here."
I approached cautiously, hand going to my knife. The portals had stripped us of firearms, but blades still worked just fine.
A rabbit sat among a patch of leafy vegetables, munching contentedly. Except this rabbit was the size of a small dog, its fur shimmering with an almost metallic sheen. It noticed us and froze, nose twitching.
"That thing's huge," Jansen whispered.
The rabbit returned its attention to the vegetables, apparently deciding we weren't immediate threats. Its ears swiveled, tracking our positions, but it kept eating.
Brody took a step closer.
The rabbit bolted.
Not fast enough.
My knife left my hand before conscious thought caught up. Years of training guided the throw. The blade sunk into the rabbit's flank with a wet thunk, and the creature tumbled, squealing.
I crossed the distance quickly, ending its suffering with a second strike.
The token pulsed again.
[First discovery: Spiritual Rabbit. Award: 200 merit points.]
Two hundred points for a rabbit. This hunting thing might actually be profitable.
I picked a berry from the nearby bush, the same type I'd discovered earlier. No notification appeared. I tried another herb, then a different vegetable. Nothing.
But when I focused on the berries in my hand, a new option appeared in my mind.
[Sell Spiritual Blueberries? Current value: 5 merit points each.]
Interesting. First discoveries paid well, but I could still earn points selling what I gathered afterward.
We hauled the rabbit carcass and our foraged goods back to camp. The other soldiers had been busy too. Private Chen dumped an armload of strange purple roots onto the ground. Corporal Williams carried a sack full of what looked like oversized strawberries.
"Got a hundred points for finding these first," Williams said, grinning. "Another twenty from selling the extras."
Chen nodded. "One hundred fifty for the roots. Not bad for an hour's work."
I examined our collective haul. Enough food to feed the team for days, plus we'd all earned merit points in the process.
"Let's cook this rabbit," I said. "Jansen, get a fire going."
The fireplace came together quickly using rocks and dried grass. Jansen had always been good with survival skills. Within twenty minutes, flames crackled cheerfully, and the rabbit roasted on a makeshift spit.
The smell hit me first. Rich and savory, nothing like the bland protein in our ration packs. My mouth watered as fat dripped into the fire, sizzling.
When the meat finished cooking, I cut a piece and bit down.
Flavor exploded across my tongue. Tender, juicy, with a complexity I'd never experienced in any meat before. The spiritual energy infused in the rabbit's flesh made every bite incredible, satisfying in a way that went beyond just filling my stomach.
"Holy shit," Brody mumbled around a mouthful. "This is amazing."
The berries were even better. Sweet but not cloying, with undertones that changed as I chewed. The purple roots tasted like a cross between sweet potato and something I couldn't identify, creamy and rich when roasted in the coals.
I looked at the remaining MREs stacked in our tent and knew we'd never touch them again.
Not when food like this grew wild just outside the city.
We worked through the afternoon, converting our observation post into something more permanent. The outer perimeter offered plenty of space, with obsidian buildings stretching in neat rows along the city's edge. Most stood empty, their bronze plaques waiting for someone to claim them.
I examined the nearest structure, a two-story building that could house twenty soldiers comfortably. The plaque displayed rental costs in merit points. Five hundred per day for a building this size. Expensive, but necessary if we wanted to establish a real presence here.
Brody and Jansen hauled our supplies into the ground floor while I planned our next move. We needed more personnel. Six soldiers couldn't hold territory or conduct proper reconnaissance. Captain Reynolds needed to know about the city, the God, everything that had changed in the past week.
The portal sat fifty miles away, surrounded by the massive American City. Too far to travel casually, especially without our vehicles.
I pulled out my cell phone to kill time, expecting the usual "no service" message.
Full bars.
I stared at the display, not quite believing what I saw. Full reception in another dimension, fifty miles from the nearest portal to Earth. That made absolutely no sense.
"Brody, check your phone."
He dug it from his pocket, glanced at the screen, then looked up at me with wide eyes.
"Full signal, Sergeant."
The impossibility of it didn't matter. I scrolled through my contacts and hit Reynolds' number.
It rang.
Three times, then his familiar voice answered.
"Martinez? When did you leave the portal? I didn't see you come through."
"I'm still in the cultivation realm, sir. Cells work here somehow."
Silence stretched for several seconds.
"You're calling me from another dimension."
"Yes, sir. And we've got a situation you need to know about." I launched into an explanation, describing the Eastern Region God's appearance, the city that materialized from nothing, the merit point system and identity tokens. Reynolds listened without interrupting, though I heard him moving around, probably pacing his tent.
"A God," he finally said. "An actual God."
"That's what he called himself. Created an entire city in seconds, sir. Miles of obsidian buildings, all identical construction. The portal's in the center of the city now, but we and our tent were pushed about fifty miles from it. We're stationed just outside the outer perimeter of the city now."
More silence as Reynolds processed that.
"What do you need?"
"Another team, sir. At least twenty soldiers. We're trying to establish a foothold along the outer perimeter, but six people isn't enough. The perimeter is about fifty miles through the city from the portal, so any kind of travel equipment we're allowed to bring—bikes, skateboards, anything the portal allows. And bring hand crank charging equipment for the phones. We'll run out of batteries eventually."
"Understood. I'll have a team ready by tomorrow morning. Anything else?"
"Merit points are the currency here. We earn them through cultivation progress and helping others. Everything costs points to rent. We'll need to coordinate how the military handles that."
Reynolds exhaled slowly. "This just keeps getting stranger. I'll brief the team before they come through. Expect them by 0900 hours."
The call ended. I stared at my phone for a moment longer, still amazed it worked at all.
The next fifteen days transformed our small observation post into a proper military installation.
Reynolds sent thirty soldiers through the portal, all equipped with hand-crank chargers and basic supplies. We established regular communication schedules, calling back to Earth twice daily with updates. The charging equipment worked perfectly, keeping our phones operational despite the dimensional barrier. Surprisingly enough, bikes and skateboards passed through the portal without issues.
Our team explored the city systematically, mapping streets and cataloging building types. American City followed a concentric circle design, with the monument plaza at the center and rings of buildings spreading outward. Residential spaces dominated the outer perimeter where we'd established our base. Commercial districts occupied the middle rings. Larger structures, probably administrative or training facilities, clustered closer to the plaza.
The All Paths Library appeared during our second week, a magnificent building that rose from the ground just like everything else. Knowledge inside cost merit points to access, but the first floor welcomed anyone. We documented its location and reported back to Reynolds.
Merit points flowed in steadily as we cultivated and helped newcomers navigate the city. I reached Body Tempering third layer, earning five hundred points total from breakthrough rewards. The team pooled resources, renting three large buildings along the perimeter and converting them into military barracks.
The military's growth accelerated faster than I'd anticipated.
Within five days of establishing our perimeter base, we had sixty soldiers rotating through the portal. Captain Reynolds coordinated schedules from Earth, sending fresh teams every three days while rotating veterans back for rest and resupply. The hand-crank chargers kept our phones operational, turning our dimensional outpost into a proper communication hub.
We mapped every street in American City's outer rings, cataloging building types and rental costs. The residential structures we'd claimed became proper barracks, with soldiers pooling merit points to maintain long-term leases. Three buildings cost us fifteen hundred points daily, but housing sixty people made the expense worthwhile.
Combat training adapted to our new reality. Without firearms, we drilled with knives, practiced hand-to-hand techniques, and sparred using our growing physical enhancements. A soldier at Body Tempering third layer could throw another across a room. Fourth layer cultivators moved fast enough to blur. We learned to compensate, adjusting tactics for superhuman speed and strength.
The merit point economy became clearer through experimentation. Helping civilians navigate the city earned steady income. Discovery rewards paid well initially but dried up as others documented everything within reasonable distance. Herb collection provided consistent returns, though the rates fluctuated based on rarity and condition.
I reached Body Tempering fourth layer after twelve days, earning another hundred points. The breakthrough came during morning meditation, spiritual energy flooding through my skeletal structure. My bones hardened, becoming dense enough to withstand impacts that would shatter normal human frames. A private tested this by hitting my arm with a metal pipe. The pipe dented. My arm didn't even bruise.
We established patrol routes beyond the city perimeter, venturing into the grasslands to hunt spiritual beasts. The rabbits were easy prey, worth two hundred points for first discovery but only twenty points when sold afterward. Larger creatures appeared occasionally. A deer-like beast the size of a horse netted us five hundred points. A pack of wolf-equivalents forced our team to retreat, their spiritual pressure overwhelming our fourth layer cultivators.
The All Paths Library changed everything when it appeared. Knowledge costs were steep, but the potential was obvious. Several soldiers pooled resources to purchase the basic combat manual, sharing insights despite the Heavenly Dao's restrictions on direct teaching. We couldn't transfer the knowledge itself, but we could demonstrate techniques and let others figure out the principles.
I broke through to Body Tempering fifth layer on day twenty, alone in my barracks room. The spiritual energy I'd been accumulating suddenly compressed, forcing itself deeper into my internal organs. Heat blazed through my chest as my heart, lungs, liver, everything enhanced simultaneously. The familiar black tar oozed from my pores, though significantly less than previous breakthroughs.
The notification appeared immediately.
[Breakthrough achieved: Body Tempering fifth layer. Award: 100 merit points.]
My total sat at eight hundred points after rent and expenses. Not bad for three weeks of work.
I cleaned up quickly, scrubbing away the impurity residue in the shower of the rented barracks.
When I returned to my bed, the token pulsed with a new notification.
[Virtual Space now accessible. Enter through identity token interface.]
I sat on my mattress, pulling the token from my palm. The announcement detailed everything. Shared consciousness environment, forums, combat arenas, private lobbies. Even a map function for navigating the cities.
The other soldiers noticed too. Excited voices echoed through the barracks as people discovered the virtual space features.
I focused on the entry command, feeling the mental pull.
The transition was instantaneous.