The soldiers atop the Jiangnan Base wall were pale as ghosts, their bodies trembling uncontrollably. The aura of a Planet-Level Seventh-Tier Beast Emperor was overwhelming just meeting its gaze felt like having their souls crushed beneath an invisible mountain.
No ordinary human could withstand such a force.
Around them, every weapon the base possessed heavy cannons, railguns, and high-energy lasers was locked onto the enormous dragon's head. The laser turrets hummed, fully charged, ready to fire at a moment's notice.
But the Eastern Sea Azure Dragon ignored them all. Its eyes contained only one figure Rowan.
With its massive claws resting on the wall, the colossal dragon over a mile long tore through the ten-level Krol metal fortifications as though they were paper. The city wall collapsed instantly, and the dragon's massive body pressed downward, sending soldiers tumbling into the air like rag dolls.
Panic erupted. Soldiers screamed as they fell, some firing their weapons blindly, their bullets ricocheting dangerously close to their own comrades.
Down below, the civilians watching from afar gasped in terror. Many turned to flee, desperate to escape what they thought would be certain doom.
Then, in the midst of that chaos
A wave of powerful psychic energy swept through the air. The collapsing wall stopped mid-fall, held up by an unseen force. The soldiers, moments away from plummeting to their deaths, found their armor glowing faintly. An invisible energy lifted them gently back into the air, suspending them safely above the ruins.
"Didn't I tell you not to come in here?!" Rowan's voice cut through the air, both irritated and helpless.
The Azure Dragon lowered its massive head, clearly remorseful. At over sixteen hundred meters in length, it loomed high above the base walls, which stood only twelve hundred meters tall. The walls made of advanced Krol alloy, strong enough to withstand a King-class beast's impact were utterly useless before a Beast Emperor.
Realizing its mistake, the dragon immediately withdrew, lowering its head to the ground like a scolded child. It dared not move again, its massive body trembling slightly as it let out a soft, low hum that sounded more like a frightened whimper than a roar.
The soldiers, still suspended in the air, could only stare, eyes wide and jaws slack. Some of them looked as if their brains had shut down entirely.
They had suspected earlier that the terrifying creature outside the base might actually be Rowan's pet. But suspicion was one thing seeing it with their own eyes was something else entirely.
A Beast Emperor, the apex of all monsters on Earth, kneeling submissively before a human.
It was beyond belief.
Since the Virus Outbreak decades ago, both humans and beasts had undergone forced evolution. The two sides had warred for generations, leaving behind nothing but blood and vengeance. The rise of two Beast Emperors had ensured humanity could never fully reclaim the planet. Even the mightiest human warriors Hong and the Thunder God could not guarantee victory against those monsters.
And yet, before their eyes, one of those legendary Beast Emperors bowed to Rowan like a loyal hound.
It was so absurd that some of the soldiers began pinching their arms to make sure they weren't dreaming.
Rowan floated slowly above the city wall, every eye fixed upon him. His calm, steady voice resonated across the battlefield, amplified by thousands of hovering drones broadcasting the scene worldwide.
"From this day onward," Rowan declared, his voice carrying with quiet power, "you will remain outside the Jiangnan Base. You are to guard this place. Any beast that dares attack kill without mercy. Protect humanity. Safeguard this land. Do this, and I shall protect you for life. I will help you rise even higher until your name, the King of Earth's Beasts, echoes across the stars."
The world seemed to still.
The Azure Dragon blinked once, then twice. Seeing that its master wasn't angry, it let out a soft trill of approval. With a slow, graceful movement, it spread its vast wings and lowered its head in acknowledgment, agreeing to the command.
It didn't need the soul imprint to bind it it would have served Rowan willingly. Just being near him had already granted it treasures and power beyond its imagination. In mere months, it had ascended from a lesser beast to the supreme rank of Beast Emperor.
For the dragon, whose very name was whispered in fear by every monster on the planet, to find purpose under a human it was almost poetic.
"From now on," Rowan added, turning toward the stunned commander beside him, "you'll also obey General Jia's orders. When he commands, it's as if I've spoken myself."
The general looked dumbfounded. "S-Sir Rowan… are you serious? You mean this… creature will take my orders?"
The dragon tilted its massive head toward him and gave a slow, deliberate nod.
Rowan smiled faintly, clapping the man's shoulder. "You've got this. For now, just focus on keeping the base secure. I'll come for him when I need him again."
In truth, Rowan knew that bringing the dragon everywhere he went was impractical. As impressive as it looked, its sheer size made stealth impossible. Unless he could later teach it a special technique to reduce its form like the Golden-Horned Beast's dimensional compression secret keeping it stationed here was the smartest move.
And with General Jia's strategic experience, the dragon's power could be fully utilized to protect the base and surrounding regions.
As Rowan turned and rose into the sky, the soldiers below began to cheer, the sound spreading like wildfire. The drones captured every moment Rowan's steady gaze, the dragon's obedient bow and broadcast it live to the entire world.
Within hours, news exploded across every network:
"Rowan Commands a Beast Emperor!"
"Human and Monster United to Protect the Earth!"
On the global forums, people lost their minds. Some worshipped Rowan as the savior of humanity. Others simply couldn't believe what they'd seen.
Meanwhile, deep within the Hong Ning Base, the two most powerful men on Earth Hong and the Thunder God were secluded in training.
Thunder crackled around the Thunder God's body, illuminating the room in blinding flashes. His concentration was absolute, his brow furrowed in frustration.
"Damn it," he muttered through gritted teeth. "I can feel it I'm so close to comprehending the domain! Why can't I break through?!"
Across from him, Hong sat cross-legged, his aura compressed to a tiny circle no wider than half a meter, his power terrifyingly dense. Without opening his eyes, he spoke calmly, "You're forcing it. Be still like water. Let your spirit flow. The domain will come to you when your mind and body are in harmony."
The Thunder God snorted. "Easy for you to say! Rowan's already miles ahead of me. I can't even beat that dragon of his! What kind of martial master am I if I can't even defeat someone's pet?"
His frustration was palpable, but Hong only smiled faintly. "Pressure creates progress. You're close, Thorsen. Don't rush. You're at the threshold just one step away."
Still, even Hong couldn't deny the weight pressing on his heart. Rowan, once a junior, now stood above them both. If they didn't push harder, they'd soon be staring at his back, forever unable to catch up.
Elsewhere, Rowan continued to train with his younger brother Rofe under Babata's guidance, spending months inside a reconstructed gravity chamber.
For Rowan, who had already reached the Star-Level realm, the chamber's pressure had to be increased to over five thousand times Earth's gravity just to challenge him. Rofe, still adjusting to his evolving planetary physique, struggled to withstand even a fraction of that.
Every day was agony and progress.
Under Babata's instruction, they delved into the Mastery Codex, a mental technique designed to refine psychic control to perfection. The training transformed their crude telekinesis into an art each motion deliberate, each thought sharpened like a blade.
While the brothers honed their craft, the world continued to change.
In the year 2060, near the ruins of the Statue of Liberty, the waters off the coast of old New York began to churn violently.
A monstrous figure emerged from the depths a two-hundred-meter creature of nightmares. Its roar split the air as it lunged toward the shore.
Laser cannons, fighter jets, and missiles rained down upon it. None made a dent.
Then its jaws opened, forming a black abyss, and everything the base, the soldiers, the sea itself was consumed.
As the creature vanished beneath the waves once more, the ocean erupted with movement. Thousands no, millions of sea beasts began to rise from the depths, surging toward the coast like a living tide.
The war for Earth was far from over.
But this time, humanity had Rowan and the Dragon Emperor guarding their walls.
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