The Thirsty Doraemon

"Thud!" Just as Ye Chuan and the others were having breakfast, a loud noise came from the hallway not far behind them. It sounded like something had fallen onto the floor.

"Hmm?" Thinking it might be some sudden incident, Ye Chuan and Bai Qianshuang immediately released their spiritual senses and quickly detected a familiar presence.

"Whoa?" Lan Xiaoke was the first to float over and immediately noticed a figure in a white lab coat lying face-down on the floor, motionless as if dead.

Not dead, right?

Lan Xiaoke nudged the figure with her foot, but there was no reaction at all.

Dead?

"..."

...

"Gulp, gulp... Phew." A young woman sat at the table, sipping from a cup of water before finally letting out a long exhale.

"Indeed, carbon-based lifeforms can't survive without water."

After speaking, Ke Ning adjusted her glasses—she was the one who had just collapsed on the floor, requiring Ye Chuan to use a Revival Pill to bring her back. Judging by her condition earlier, she had been dangerously close to meeting her maker.

Ke Ning did give off the impression of being malnourished—her dark circles were heavy, and even her voice sounded half-dead.

"Why didn’t you drink water if you were thirsty?" Though Ke Ning seemed indifferent, Ye Chuan didn’t even know where to begin with his criticism. Who knew someone could actually dehydrate themselves to the point of passing out?

"I got too absorbed in my research and only realized I was dying of thirst when it was almost too late," Ke Ning replied, pausing briefly before adding,

"I should’ve just had a cup of coffee. Hydration is important, after all."

"You could’ve taken a sip while showering."

"You had time to shower but not to drink water?" Ye Chuan sighed. This was an S-class tenant in his house—if she died of thirst, it’d be a disaster. Still, he was curious about what had kept her so engrossed.

"What were you researching?"

"The cause of dimensional rifts," Ke Ning said.

"That must be pretty difficult, right?" Ye Chuan remarked. "You should still take care of your health."

Ke Ning—his personal "Doraemon"—couldn’t afford to have anything happen to her. He was counting on her to supply him with gadgets daily.

"Not really. There’s actually been progress," Ke Ning continued. "Generally, we believe the universe is multiversal. During the early inflationary phase after the Big Bang, certain regions of space experienced quantum fluctuations..."

Ye Chuan felt a headache coming on. "Can you explain it in simpler terms?"

Ke Ning tilted her head slightly, as if asking—You don’t even understand this?

"In short, the appearance of rifts isn’t accidental—they’re the result of collisions between countless bubble universes. And in the future, there will inevitably be infinite rifts, infinite worlds," Ke Ning summarized.

Bai Qianshuang suddenly spoke up. "Then, could there be a rift leading to the Tianxuan Continent?"

Ke Ning wasn’t familiar with the Tianxuan Continent but patiently explained, "Theoretically, yes. But actually finding it would be extremely difficult."

Bai Qianshuang seemed disappointed upon hearing this.

"Can I take my breakfast inside?" Ke Ning asked, picking up a plate of bread as if she didn’t want to stay out any longer.

"Sure."

"Thanks." With that, Ke Ning left with her plate.

Then, as if remembering something, she retrieved a detector from her pocket dimension. "If you plan on entering any rifts in the next few days, help me collect some data with this."

"Got it."

After Ke Ning returned to her room, Ye Chuan noticed Bai Qianshuang’s dejected expression. He wanted to tell her he had the ability to enter the Tianxuan Continent, but revealing it now would be pointless—he still couldn’t take anyone with him, nor was he strong enough to accompany her in seeking revenge.

Too weak.

Still powerless.

Just then, his phone buzzed. Ye Chuan checked it and saw a message from Wang Yanran:

Wang Yanran: Ye Chuan, I’ve collected thirty energy cores.

That many?

The sheer number surprised him. Combined with his duplication magic, this was equivalent to a month’s worth for him.

Having help really did boost efficiency. He could barely farm one core in half a day, yet these super martial artists had managed to gather thirty for him.

Ye Chuan: Bring them over now. I’ll make the belts for you.

Wang Yanran: Okay.

Almost instantly, there was a knock at the door.

Ye Chuan: "..."

Seriously? Were you already standing outside when you sent that message?

Lan Xiaoke opened the door, and Wang Yanran immediately stepped inside, taking a deep breath with her eyes closed as if savoring the dense spiritual energy in the air.

"What are you standing there for?" Ye Chuan waved her in, amused by her blissful expression.

"Right." Wang Yanran snapped out of it and walked up to him.

She placed a coded briefcase on the table and opened it, revealing dozens of energy cores carefully nestled in foam padding.

Ye Chuan’s eyes gleamed.

"This is the first batch," Wang Yanran explained, though she noted that given their rarity, there was no guarantee how many more they could gather.

"Good." Ye Chuan collected all the cores and used his duplication magic to double the count.

[Acquired Energy Cores x60]

He immediately opened the tech tree and dumped the black dots into the energy core slots for instant unlocks.

[Unlock Successful: Strength Boost Lv.1]

[Unlock Successful: Constitution Boost Lv.1]

[Unlock Successful: …]

Sixty cores later, though he was still some distance from the next tier, the series of upgrades left him thoroughly satisfied.

Feels good.

[Critical Bonus Triggered: Realm +1]

[You have reached the Peak of Crystallization Realm]

Oh?

An unexpected reward. Perhaps due to unlocking so many attributes at once, he had even advanced a minor realm.

Nice.

Time to break through to the Golden Core stage.

Beside him, Wang Yanran noticed Ye Chuan spacing out but didn’t interrupt. Once he put his phone down, she asked, "Thirty cores for three ninth-tier transformation devices, right?"

"Yes. Two orders from super martial families, one from the Super Martial Alliance," Wang Yanran confirmed.

In high spirits, Ye Chuan added, "In that case, I’ll offer them a customization option—whether it’s the armor’s appearance or functionality, they can request modifications."

"Modifications?"

"Right. Some may prefer offense-focused armor, others defense. Even cosmetic changes like color can be tailored."

He paused before adding,

"Ten million per modification point, no upper limit, no refunds for revisions."

Wang Yanran nodded instinctively.

"Understood. Ten million..."

She found the pricing reasonable. After all, those ten cores had cost the super martial families a fortune. Spending extra to customize their ideal abilities would undoubtedly appeal to them.