Chapter 23: The Apex Landlord
Location: Terra Nova – The Sovereign's Spire
The sun rose on Terra Nova. It was a massive, blue supergiant star, casting a surreal azure light over the emerald jungles.
Inside the newly constructed Citadel, life was... loud.
"Cannonball!"
SPLASH.
Feng Xi jumped from the highest tower of the castle. She wasn't aiming for a swimming pool. She was aiming for the active volcano vent located three miles behind the castle.
She hit the magma with a sonic boom. A plume of lava shot into the stratosphere. Seconds later, she floated on her back in the molten rock, wearing a bikini made of condensed solar flares, sipping a drink from a coconut she had carbonized.
"Ah," Feng Xi sighed, relaxing as the 2,000-degree heat warmed her skin. "Finally, a bath that doesn't freeze in five minutes."
Meanwhile, in the Castle's Great Hall, Jiang Chen sat on a throne made of black Star Metal.
Mo You stood beside him. She was inspecting the interior design with a critical eye.
"The walls are sturdy," Mo You noted, tapping the silver metal. "But the aesthetic is too... shiny. I suggest we decorate the hallway with the skulls of our enemies. It adds character."
"No skulls," Jiang Chen said, scrolling through a holographic projection of the planet. "This is a home, not a crypt."
"Boring," Mo You huffed. "A home without fear is just a hotel."
Jiang Chen ignored her murderous interior design tips. He was focused on the System.
[Territory Analysis: Terra Nova]
[Mana Density: 500% of Earth Standard]
[Resources Detected: Spirit Crystal Veins, Adamantite, Star Metal (Trace)]
[Threat Level: Extreme]
"This planet is a goldmine," Jiang Chen murmured. "If I can mine the Adamantite here and ship it back to Earth, the Jiang Clan's army will be invincible. Every soldier could have S-Rank armor."
RUMBLE.
The castle shook. Dust fell from the high vaulted ceiling.
Jiang Chen frowned. "Earthquake?"
"No," Mo You's eyes narrowed, looking toward the jungle gate. "Footsteps."
Location: The Castle Gates
Jiang Chen and Mo You walked out onto the ramparts.
The jungle surrounding the plateau was trembling. Trees—massive redwoods five hundred meters tall—were being snapped like toothpicks.
Emerging from the treeline was a nightmare.
It was a Behemoth. A gorilla-like creature standing three hundred meters tall. Its fur was made of moss and stone, and lightning crackled around its massive tusks.
[Boss Detected: Terra King Kong]
[Rank: SS (Native Apex)]
[Status: Angry. You built a house on his favorite napping spot.]
The Behemoth roared. The sound wave flattened the grass for miles. It beat its chest, creating thunderclaps, and stared hatefully at the shiny silver castle intruding on its territory.
"A big monkey," Mo You yawned. "Shall I dissect it? Its fur would make a decent rug."
"Wait," Jiang Chen held up a hand. "He's the local landlord. We are the tenants. We should be polite."
Jiang Chen jumped off the wall.
He floated down, stopping at eye level with the colossal monster. Compared to the Behemoth, Jiang Chen was smaller than a flea.
"Hey!" Jiang Chen shouted. "I live here now. Go find another mountain."
The Behemoth paused. It squinted at the tiny purple speck. Then, it snorted derisively.
It raised a fist the size of a stadium.
SMASH.
It punched Jiang Chen.
The impact cratered the plateau. Dust obscured everything.
"Husband!" Feng Xi flew in from the volcano, dripping with lava. "Did the monkey squish him? Can I burn the monkey now?"
"Wait," Mo You crossed her arms, smirking. "Watch."
The dust settled.
The Behemoth's fist was still pressed against the ground. But the monster looked confused. It tried to lift its arm. It couldn't.
Underneath the massive knuckles, Jiang Chen stood calm, holding the millions of tons of pressure with one hand raised above his head.
"That was rude," Jiang Chen dusted off his shoulder with his free hand.
[Grandmist Art: Gravity Reversal.]
Jiang Chen pushed up.
BOOM.
The Behemoth was launched into the air. The 300-meter Titan flew backward, flailing its limbs, defying physics. It crashed onto its back in the jungle, crushing a few acres of forest.
The Behemoth groaned, sitting up dizzily. It looked at Jiang Chen with fear.
Jiang Chen flew closer. His eyes glowed purple. He released his Sovereign Aura.
Behind him, the phantom images of the Abyssal Dragon and the Solar Phoenix manifested, staring down at the ape.
"Submit," Jiang Chen commanded. " Or die."
The Behemoth looked at the Dragon (Death). It looked at the Phoenix (Fire). It looked at the Human (Impossible Strength).
It whimpered.
Slowly, the massive King of the Jungle lowered its head. It crouched down in a submissive posture, exposing its neck.
[System Notification]
[Entity Tamed: Terra King Kong]
[New Role: Gatekeeper.]
"Good boy," Jiang Chen landed on the Behemoth's nose. "From now on, you guard the front door. Anyone who isn't a Jiang Clan member... you squash them."
The Behemoth nodded vigorously.
Location: The Courtyard – Establishing the Link
With the local wildlife pacified, Jiang Chen returned to the courtyard.
"Now for the logistics," Jiang Chen said.
He pulled two massive items from his inventory.
* Spatial Anchor (A-Rank)
* Void Crystal (Looted from the Academy of Silence)
"I'm going to build a Warp Gate," Jiang Chen explained. "Direct connection between this castle and the Jiang Estate in Shanghai."
He placed the anchor on the ground. He began to channel Grandmist energy into the Void Crystal, purifying its corruption and turning it into a stable power source.
"Husband," Mo You asked. "Opening a stable portal across light-years requires immense calculation. If you miscalculate by a decimal point, you might open a portal inside a sun."
"I have the coordinates," Jiang Chen smiled. "My blood is the GPS."
He closed his eyes, focusing on the resonance with his parents.
'Dad. Mom. Incoming.'
VWOOM.
A swirling purple vortex opened in the middle of the courtyard. It stabilized into a solid, oval mirror.
Through the portal, they could see the garden of the Jiang Estate back on Earth.
Standing on the other side were Jiang Wu and Lin Xi.
"It worked!" Lin Xi clapped her hands. "The video quality is amazing. Is that the planet? It looks so... green."
"Son," Jiang Wu peered through the gate. "Is that a 300-meter tall monkey sleeping by your front door?"
"That's the security guard, Dad. His name is Tiny."
"Tiny," Jiang Wu chuckled. "Good name."
"Dad, send the mining drones," Jiang Chen ordered. "And the construction crews. I want this planet strip-mined for Adamantite within the month. We are going to armor the entire Crimson Guard."
"Already on it," Jiang Wu signaled behind him.
Through the portal, a fleet of heavy-duty industrial drones and workers began to march through. They stepped from Earth to Terra Nova in a single stride.
"This changes everything," Lin Xi noted, stepping through the portal to hug her son. "The Global Alliance fights over resource asteroids. We have an entire S-Rank planet to ourselves."
"It's not just resources," Jiang Chen looked at the blue sun. "This planet... the mana feels ancient. I found ruins near the south pole."
"Ruins?" Mo You perked up.
"Yes. Not human. And not Void," Jiang Chen's expression darkened. "The architecture matches the description Li Qing gave me. Pre-Creation."
"The previous Grandmist User?" Mo You guessed.
"Maybe," Jiang Chen said. "I'm going to investigate it later. But first..."
He turned to Feng Xi, who was dragging a roasted dinosaur leg through the portal.
"We need to host a housewarming party."
Location: The South Pole of Terra Nova
While the Jiang family celebrated their new conquest, deep beneath the frozen ice caps of the planet's south pole, something stirred.
It was a temple buried under miles of ice.
The walls were made of a metal that didn't exist on the periodic table—a metal that pulsed with purple light.
In the center of the temple lay a sarcophagus.
It had been sealed for a million years. But the moment Jiang Chen had activated the Sovereign's Spire and released his aura, the seal had cracked.
Dust fell from the ceiling.
A rune on the sarcophagus lit up.
[Origin Signal Detected.]
[The Heir has arrived.]
[Protocol: Awakening the Guardians.]
Inside the temple, thousands of stone statues began to crack.
Red eyes opened in the darkness.
These weren't monsters. They were machines. Ancient, war-machines built to kill Gods.
And they had just woken up.