The sky above Paris Base City darkened.
This time, the Black Dragon Fortress did not hide.
No cloaking field.
No dimensional misdirection.
It descended openly through the clouds, its colossal silhouette blotting out the sun as it hovered directly above the HR Alliance Headquarters. The shadow alone caused panic to ripple through the city like a spreading disease.
Alarms screamed.
Sirens wailed.
On the bridge, Su Chen rose from his seat.
"Babata," he said calmly. "Crack the vault. Disable the laser grid."
A holographic figure flickered to life, arms crossed, expression smug.
"Please," the female AI scoffed. "Their firewall is a joke. This is pre–Yun Mo Planet garbage tech."
A pause.
"Laser grid disabled. Vault access achieved."
Su Chen nodded and turned to the others.
"Esdeath. Saeko. Crowd control."
He met their eyes.
"If Wargods interfere, stop them. Cripple if necessary. Do not kill unless you absolutely have to."
He didn't elaborate, but they all understood.
Dead Wargods meant global panic.
Global panic meant nukes.
Esdeath smiled, ice forming along her rapier. "Relax. I'll just freeze their legs."
Saeko rested a hand on her blade, expression calm and deadly. "They won't get close."
Su Chen vanished.
---
HR Alliance Vault – Underground
Deep beneath the headquarters, past layers of reinforced alloy and energy shielding, space folded.
Su Chen appeared inside the vault.
Three-foot-thick Grade-A alloy doors meant nothing to him.
The room was vast, illuminated by cold white lights. Battle suits lined the walls. Spirit Reader weapons rested in sealed racks. Rare monster materials were stored behind transparent energy fields.
Any other intruder would have drooled.
Su Chen didn't slow down.
He walked straight to the center.
Suspended within a magnetic containment field was a single vial of golden-red liquid, glowing faintly like molten sunlight.
Dragon Blood.
The air around it vibrated with raw genetic power.
---
[Target: Dragon Blood]
Grade: SS
Effect: Massive Genetic Evolution
Market Value: 80 Billion
---
One vial was enough to transform an elite warrior.
Enough to push a talented human straight into the realm of Wargods.
Su Chen placed his hand against the field.
"One person per vial," he murmured. "That won't do."
[Infinite Copy.]
Light flashed.
One vial became ten.
Ten became a hundred.
A hundred became a thousand.
The vault filled with identical containers, each holding liquid dragonfire.
Enough to create an army.
"Good."
He swept his gaze across the rest of the room.
Mu Ya Crystals—taken.
Soaring Shuttle components—taken.
SS-Grade battle suits—taken.
The shelves emptied in seconds.
Then—
WEE—WOO—WEE—WOO—
The alarms finally triggered.
Not because of the hack.
Because the weight sensors realized the vault was suddenly empty.
Su Chen exhaled.
"Time to go."
The ceiling above him melted.
Not cracked.
Not shattered.
Melted.
A beam of condensed black light pierced straight through the alloy like it was paper.
A man descended slowly through the hole.
He wore a simple black martial arts uniform. In his hand was a long black spear, its surface alive—subtly moving, like a living vine. His presence was quiet, but oppressive, like a deep ocean pressing against the lungs.
The light in the vault dimmed.
Hong.
Master of Limits.
---
[Hong]
Rank: Planetary 6 (Star Traveler 1)
Talent: Domain of Darkness (Rank 2)
Weapon: Cloud Contact Vine (Symbiotic)
---
Hong looked at the empty vault.
Then at Su Chen.
"You're the intruder Babata warned us about," he said softly. "The one who stole from Luo Feng."
"I borrowed," Su Chen corrected, lifting a vial of Dragon Blood. "And I'm borrowing this too."
Hong's eyes narrowed. "You're not from this Earth."
The shadows around him stirred.
The lights died.
---
[Domain of Darkness – Activated]
---
Vision vanished.
Sound died.
Even Su Chen's spiritual perception dulled, as if reality itself had been wrapped in thick cloth.
"This is a Domain," Su Chen said, smiling in the darkness. "Forcing your will onto the world."
He didn't ignite light.
He expanded presence.
---
[Gold Body: Radiance]
[Lich Spirit: Necrotic Domain]
[Frost Queen: Absolute Zero]
---
Three forces erupted outward.
Golden brilliance tore holes in the darkness.
Green necrotic flames licked at the edges of space.
Absolute cold froze the air itself.
The vault reappeared, half-lit, half-dead.
"You have a Domain," Su Chen said, stepping forward, his skin glowing like forged gold. "But I have Authority."
Hong's calm finally cracked.
"Multiple attributes…?" he muttered. "Monster."
He moved.
The spear thrust forward—not fast, but absolute. It ignored distance, appearing instantly at Su Chen's throat.
CLANG.
Su Chen caught the spear tip between two fingers.
---
[Strength: Planetary Equivalent]
[Indestructible Diamond Body]
---
The weapon vibrated violently, but it couldn't pierce his skin.
"Sharp spear," Su Chen said. "Weak force."
[Flesh Manipulation – Muscle Explosion.]
He yanked.
Hong was pulled forward.
Su Chen punched.
Hong's body dissolved into shadow, phasing through the strike.
"Soft style?" Hong reappeared behind him. "Endless Night."
Thousands of shadow spears formed overhead.
Su Chen opened the Book of the Undead.
"Shadow Manipulation—Reverse."
The darkness stopped.
Then turned.
The shadow spears rotated, locking onto Hong instead.
Hong's pupils shrank. "You're controlling my Domain?"
"Darkness," Su Chen replied, "belongs to the dead."
Space folded.
[Space Authority.]
He appeared directly in front of Hong.
No attack.
He placed a hand on his chest.
---
[Target: Hong]
Copying: Domain of Darkness (Concept)
Copying: Spear Mastery (Grandmaster)
---
Flash.
Understanding flooded Su Chen's mind—how will crushed space, how silence suppressed existence.
"Thank you," he whispered. "Teacher."
He pushed.
Hong slammed backward, skidding across the vault floor, blood spilling from his mouth. His living armor absorbed most of the force, but his organs screamed.
Hong struggled to his feet, breathing hard.
He understood.
He couldn't win.
"What do you want?" Hong asked, lowering his spear. "To destroy Earth?"
Su Chen shook his head.
"I want the Gravity Training Rooms," he said. "The ancient ones. From the Dojo of Limits."
Hong blinked. "…That's it?"
"And a peace agreement," Su Chen added calmly. "I don't touch your planet. You give me gym equipment."
Silence.
Then Hong laughed weakly.
"…Deal."
---
Two Hours Later
The Black Dragon Fortress rose through the atmosphere.
Inside the cargo hold, an Ancient Gravity Chamber had been installed—a massive cylindrical structure capable of generating up to 1000× gravity.
Su Chen faced his team.
"We have Dragon Blood," he said. "We have a Gravity Room."
He lined them up.
"The next forty-eight hours will be hell."
Each of them received a vial.
"This will tear your muscles apart," Su Chen continued. "The gravity will crush your bones until they adapt."
He looked at Jiang Rou.
"You too."
She swallowed. "Will it… hurt?"
"Yes," Su Chen said honestly. "But afterward, you'll be able to punch a tank."
He turned to the map of Earth.
The Central Domain.
The 100× gravity wall.
"Train," he said. "I'm upgrading the ship."
---
[System: World Fusion]
Target: Ancient Gravity Chamber
Recipient: Black Dragon Fortress (Dojo Sector)
---
The ship groaned as physics bent.
Su Chen sat down, closing his eyes.
He had a new Domain.
And three others waiting to be fused.
"When we cross that wall," he murmured, "we won't endure the gravity."
"We'll own it."