"I'm back…"
After returning to Earth from the Flaxans' dimension, Jovian went straight home.
"Welcome back, my son."
The moment he walked in, Nolan—fully recovered—pulled Jovian into a huge hug.
"Hey, Dad—you're healed?" Jovian's face lit up when he saw Nolan looking good as new.
"Of course," Nolan said easily. "That little bit of damage wasn't going to kill your old man."
His muscles subtly flexed, and the pressure rolling off his body made it obvious: he was completely recovered.
"I'm going to take a shower first," Jovian said as he stepped out of Nolan's arms. "That fight was more intense than I expected. I'm drenched in sweat."
"Jovian—did you handle the enemy?" Mark stared at him with pure excitement.
"They were even more stubborn than I expected," Jovian said with a small laugh. "But I used some… gentle methods and sent them all on their way. They shouldn't ever come looking for trouble again."
"Gentle methods?" Mark's eyes were full of curiosity. "What did you do? Can you tell me?"
"Haha. You couldn't pull it off even if I explained it," Jovian said, waving him off as he headed for the bathroom. "Oh—what are we having for dinner, Mom? After I shower, I want something fresh."
"Don't worry," Debbie said from the kitchen, smiling warmly while she worked. "It'll be something you love."
"Perfect." Jovian nodded and disappeared into the bathroom.
…
Mark was left standing there, face drooping.
"Mark, don't look so miserable," Nolan said, patting Mark on the shoulder. "Your father and your brother both made it home safe. You should be happy. Tomorrow, I'll spend the whole day training with you."
"Really? Thanks, Dad!" Mark instantly perked up.
In Mark's brain, "training all day" automatically translated to "hanging out all day." If Nolan was going to spend time with him, that was all that mattered.
In the bathroom, cold water poured over Jovian and left him feeling clearheaded and refreshed.
After his shower, he looked at the table loaded with food, the corners of his mouth rising as he dug in hard and ate his fill.
Then he crashed on his soft bed and slept like a rock.
When morning came and sunlight hit his face, Jovian finally opened his eyes and checked his status screen.
Everything looked the same—
Except the Spacetime Gate energy bar.
Spacetime Gate Energy: 4598328%
"Holy shit…"
Jovian wasn't exactly a poet. When something shocked him, "holy shit" covered most situations.
"How many little cucumber freaks did I kill?!"
He tried to recall yesterday's glorious slaughter… thought about it for two seconds… and gave up.
Who remembers exactly how many slices of bread they've eaten in their life? Who remembers how many cucumbers?
Either way, with this much energy, the number of things Jovian could do just skyrocketed.
At 100% energy, he could travel between worlds.
And if the energy went beyond 100%… he gained a lot more control.
First, he removed that annoying percent sign and replaced it with energy points.
So now he had 4,598,328 energy points left.
Traveling to another world cost 100 points.
And then…
"System Edit."
"Add: Spacetime Gate world-capture technology."
Yes—Jovian was upgrading his cheat.
Because the cheat was something he designed himself.
He was cheating with pure skill. Completely fair.
Fake Freeborns relied on some mysterious entity's system and became the system's errand boy—looking like a Freeborn, but really just someone else's tool.
A real Freeborn builds his own system, adds whatever functions he wants, and does whatever the hell he wants.
"System edit successful…"
"Spacetime Gate world-capture technology added successfully."
After a rapid-fire "coding session" in his head, Jovian finally created the function he wanted: the ability to scan and "capture" worlds, then selectively choose where to travel.
The advantage was obvious—he could avoid garbage worlds, avoid worlds that were too strong, and only go to worlds where he could do whatever he wanted while still benefiting.
"First world capture."
Sitting on his bed, Jovian initiated his first-ever world scan.
"Detected…"
"Unknown high-tier world. Reading information…"
"World contains entities far above host energy level. Read failed."
"Spend 1,000,000 energy points to establish a link?"
"The first world is high-tier already?!" Jovian didn't know whether his luck was amazing or cursed. In his old settings, randomly landing on a high-tier world was about as likely as hitting the jackpot.
Now that he'd upgraded the system, the very first pull was a high-tier world.
"Spend one million points. Link it."
Jovian didn't hesitate for even half a second.
A high-tier world was rare. Even if he didn't go now, just locking it in for later was worth it.
High-tier world acquired: MCU.
Note: This world contains many entities whose power greatly exceeds the host and may threaten the host's life.
World rating: Extremely Dangerous.
"MCU? Not happening yet." Jovian immediately shook his head. "I'll keep it saved. I'll go when I'm prepared and the timing's right."
"I want a world where the top tier is only around heavy-hitter terrestrial level or, at most, serious planet-buster."
MCU's danger level was off the charts. If you counted the animated stuff, power scaling went even crazier—Odin, the Ancient One, Dormammu, Thanos, the Eternals, the Celestials… and all the absurd monsters from the comics who might show up.
Way too much trouble.
"Let's see what the next one is…"
Jovian was just about to keep rolling when noise outside his window caught his attention.
Outside the door, Cecil was talking with Nolan, Mark, and Debbie—and the vibe was not friendly.
"There's an unknown lifeform in space closing on Earth at supersonic speed," Cecil said bluntly. "With the Guardians gone, we need your help, Nolan."
"Listen, Cecil!" Debbie snapped, hands on her hips. "Nolan just recovered! There are still parts of him that haven't fully stabilized!"
Her tone made it clear: she didn't trust Cecil at all.
"But right now, aside from Nolan, no one can stop that thing," Cecil insisted. "This enemy is strong."
"Maybe…" Mark's eyes lit up. Maybe he could take his father's place and face whoever was coming.
"Maybe I can go instead of my dad."
Just as Mark started to volunteer, Jovian dropped straight out of the second-floor window and landed—taking the job before Mark could finish.
Jovian's eyes carried a faint killing intent.
Yes. Jovian planned to kill the one-eyed alien up there—Allen the Alien.
Because Jovian wanted that ability: after every battle, as long as you didn't die, you came back stronger.
It was basically a Saiyan power set.
And Jovian wasn't letting anyone steal his perfect prey.
"Jovian, you just went through a brutal fight," Debbie said, her voice full of worry. She didn't want her son pushed this hard.
"It's fine, Mom. I'm not tired," Jovian said with an easy wave.
He wasn't tired at all.
If anything, he felt incredible.
He was already looking forward to snapping that one-eyed alien's neck and taking his ability for himself.
"But—" Debbie still hesitated.
"Let him go," Nolan said, pulling Debbie close and speaking gently. "That alien isn't that strong."
"…Okay," Debbie sighed. She'd learned the hard way that she couldn't out-stubborn those two.
…
Cecil watched Jovian—who looked like he was vibrating with bloodlust—and his stomach sank.
So it really was just like he'd imagined.
In Cecil's eyes, Jovian was already labeled: wild, arrogant, soaked in killing intent—an evil, uncontrollable kid.
And while Cecil stared at Jovian, silently thinking about how to eliminate this future disaster…
Nolan, stroking his chin, was thinking about something else entirely—
How to take down the Global Defense Agency.
Next world: The Boys. Heat vision is on the shopping list.