The Pacific split open.
A pillar of seawater detonated upward as the Black Behemoth burst from the depths, its translucent blue shield shimmering like a rising star. The fortress-truck stabilized midair, dumping entire lakes back into the ocean below.
Inside, the atmosphere was a mix of adrenaline and victory.
"Pressure normalized," Lin Xiya said, pulling off her sensor helmet, silver eyes dimming. "No pursuit from below. Whatever lives down there didn't dare follow."
Su Chen stepped out from the rear corridor, dressed in a black tactical trench coat layered over his Magitek Bone Armor. Water still dripped from the golden trident he held loosely in one hand.
"Mera?" he asked.
Shizuka pointed her thumb behind her. "Farm Zone. Esdeath built her a containment tank. She's… staring at the artificial sun lamp like it just insulted her IQ."
"She'll adapt," Su Chen said. He took his seat—his throne—letting the System windows flicker into view.
---
[System Check]
Level: 11 — Realm Lord
World Fusion: Ready for execution
---
"System," Su Chen said, "explain it."
> [World Fusion: The host may take any independent Space—Dungeon, Rift, Pocket Dimension—and permanently fuse it into a chosen object or territory. The fused Space becomes subject to the Host's laws.]
Su Chen's eyebrow arched.
"So if I find a Spirit Stone Mine Rift… I don't copy the stones—I steal the mine."
> Correct.
The Black Behemoth may become a moving cluster of worlds.
A slow grin spread across his face.
"I'm basically driving a multiverse."
---
The Distress Signal
"Boss!" Jiang Rou called from the cockpit. "Priority broadcast on the old military channel. And… it's global."
The main screen lit red.
Cities—whatever remained of them—were blinking out.
Then a voice:
> "This is Dragon City Base Command. Mayday. Mayday. We are under attack by a Level 40 Beast King. The walls have been breached. All Awakened forces—coordinates attached—request immediate—"
Static devoured the rest.
Lin Que stepped forward, jaw tight.
"Dragon City is Central Command. Two million survivors. If it falls, this entire region collapses."
She looked at Su Chen. Not begging—making a deal.
"What's the price?"
"Dragon City sits on the Old Space Center," Su Chen said. "Functional launch silos. I want the base. And I want the launch codes."
"They'll agree," Lin Que said instantly. "They don't have room to negotiate."
"Jiang Rou. Max velocity. Burn spirit stones. Ten minutes."
The Black Behemoth roared forward—blue ion trails tearing through the jetstream.
---
Siege of Dragon City
Dragon City wasn't a city anymore—it was a mountain fortress drowning in fire.
Mutant beasts swarmed it like a living tide: razor-winged eagles, molten golems cracking the ground, horned boars battering steel walls.
But towering over all of them—
A monster that eclipsed the mountains.
[Mountain Crushing Kong — Level 42]
Earth Element • Seismic Smash
It slammed its fists into the earth.
The mountain cracked open like glass.
Walls collapsed. Soldiers vanished into fissures screaming.
General Li watched through the bunker monitors, face grey with defeat.
"Nukes?"
"Inert," his aide said. "It's throwing boulders to intercept them mid-air!"
General Li closed his eyes. "Then we are—"
The bunker darkened.
Not from power loss.
From a shadow.
A titanic shadow blotting out the sun.
"The hell… is that a ship?"
The Black Behemoth descended like a celestial executioner.
Su Chen stepped onto the roof, coat snapping in the wind, trident glinting with stored lightning.
"Level 42," he said. "Good warm-up."
He didn't jump down.
He pointed the trident forward.
"Esdeath," he said casually, "you know how you said there's no ocean nearby?"
"Yes," she said.
"I brought one."
He opened his Infinite Storage.
A vortex in the sky tore open.
The ocean fell out.
"Skyfall."
A billion tons of water plummeted downward like a planetary hammer.
The beast tide didn't drown—they were obliterated by sheer kinetic force.
Molten monsters solidified mid-roar.
Eagles were crushed mid-flight.
The Mountain Kong staggered under the falling ocean, bellowing as the sudden flood slammed it to its knees.
"Now I go."
Su Chen dropped.
[Gold Body] + [Hulk Rage] + [Gravity Assist]
A comet of golden light crashed onto the Kong's stony arm.
CRACK.
The arm shattered.
Su Chen landed on its shoulder, gripping its neck like a handle.
"You're big," he whispered. "But you're hollow."
[World Fusion — Activate]
A portal bloomed on the Kong's chest—linked to a volcanic pocket-dimension Su Chen had scouted earlier.
"Enjoy."
Lava erupted inside its ribcage.
The Kong didn't die—it collapsed, melting from the inside out, a screaming furnace turning white-hot.
It fell.
The battlefield went silent.
Su Chen stood atop the smoldering corpse, seawater spiraling around him like a halo as he pulled the flood back into the sky.
"SOLDIERS OF DRAGON CITY," his voice boomed with Siren's Song, "your contract is fulfilled."
---
The Space Center
One hour later.
General Li met Su Chen amidst ruin and steam. His hand trembled as he shook the young Realm Lord's.
"You saved two million people. The Space Center is yours. But… why? The satellites are dead. There is nowhere left to go."
"There's always somewhere to go," Su Chen said.
He placed his hand on the Space Center's master console.
[Copying—Launch Codes]
[Copying—Orbital Trajectories]
[Copying—Spaceship Blueprints]
He turned on comms.
"Saya. Data inbound. Can you modify the Behemoth for orbital ascent?"
"With the Spirit-Fusion Drive? Hell yes," Saya answered. "But we'll need a space-grade hull."
"I already have Leviathan Void Skin."
General Li blinked.
"You're… you're actually leaving the planet?"
Su Chen handed Lin Que a Sub-Control Token for the Book of the Undead.
"My army stays with you. Five thousand skeletons. Full authority. You rebuild this city. When I return, it better look like a fortress."
Lin Que swallowed hard.
But her back straightened.
"I'll hold the line."
---
Launch Protocol
Su Chen boarded the truck.
"Esdeath, Akame, Saeko, Xiao Yi Xian, Mera, Lin Xiya, Shizuka, Saya—move out."
He sat on the throne.
"System," he commanded.
"Target world: Swallowed Star (Earth Arc).
Objective: Locate Luo Feng's timeline.
Goal: Acquire the Black Dragon Mountain X81 spaceship—or an Automaton Guard."
The Black Behemoth vibrated.
Void plating shifted.
The Spirit-Fusion Drive screamed awake.
The fortress-truck rose from the ground—then pierced through the stratosphere like a war god ascending.
It didn't stop at the clouds.
It didn't stop at the sky.
It kept going.
Into the black.