"Ye Chuan, they agreed—three billion to develop this transformation device." After hearing Ye Chuan's request, Wang Yanran relayed the message to the other party.
Soon, she received a reply.
"Oh? They really are loaded." Ye Chuan was surprised. He’d casually thrown out the figure of three billion, and they’d actually agreed.
Was this armor meant for some non-Super Martial big shot?
Well, if the client was willing, Ye Chuan had no objections. After spending just 300,000 in costs to unlock the "monster theft" trait, he’d immediately pocket three billion.
A 100,000% return.
Profits so high they were practically overflowing.
"Not bad, I guess." Just as Ye Chuan was marveling at how easy it was to make money these days, the entire house suddenly shook, followed by continuous tremors.
"Earthquake?!" Lan Xiaoke shrieked, immediately ducking into the safety corner with her arms over her head.
Since when do ghosts fear earthquakes?
"Huh?!"
"We’re not even on a fault line—how could there be an earthquake?" Ye Chuan immediately released his spiritual sense, his gaze piercing through the window. Outside, the azure sky had split open, a massive fissure tearing through it like shattered glass.
"You’ve got to be kidding me. The rift spawned right outside our door… If the house collapses, none of you monsters are getting out alive." Muttering under his breath, Ye Chuan immediately stood and headed for the door.
He never expected a spatial rift to open right on his doorstep.
If the house collapsed, where would he take in tenants? That would be a disaster.
"Let’s go check it out." Bai Qianshuang turned to Lan Xiaoke, then seemed to remember something. "Xiaoke, go see how Miss Luo is doing."
With that, Bai Qianshuang followed Ye Chuan out, and Wang Yanran quickly trailed behind.
"Luo Xi?" Lan Xiaoke floated mid-air. "Uh… I don’t even know where she lives."
……
"Woo—" The alarm blared across the entire city, and the emergency broadcast crackled to life. "Warning, warning. A spatial rift has appeared in Jinwan District, Haizhu City. All nearby citizens must seek shelter immediately."
"Warning—"
The sirens wailed relentlessly. A rift appearing directly in the city was the worst-case scenario—no one could predict the scale of destruction it might bring.
The military and the Super Martial Alliance mobilized at once.
"Wait, seriously? Another rift in the city? Didn’t the last one just disappear?"
"Oh god, it’s right outside my balcony! Should we evacuate?"
"Hide, quick! The monsters are coming!"
Pedestrians scattered in panic. The trauma from the last monster attack was still fresh, and even with preliminary countermeasures in place, no one wanted a rift opening right where they lived.
Meanwhile, at the Super Martial Alliance headquarters, Minister Shen received the alert in the command center.
"What? A rift in Haizhu City?" Though nominally still a branch director, Minister Shen had largely ceded authority to the Wang family. Now serving as the rift warfare commander, he coordinated Super Martial artists and military forces against rift monsters.
Upon learning of the rift’s appearance, he immediately pulled up surveillance footage. On the screen, an enormous tear split the sky, dark and foreboding, exuding an aura of dread.
"Exact coordinates," Minister Shen demanded.
"Sir, the location is…" The staff relayed the position, and Minister Shen paused. "That location."
"Minister, nearby Super Martial artists are already moving. Should we deploy the military?"
"…" Minister Shen shook his head. "Hold the military for now. Have the nearby Super Martial artists assess the situation first. That area… seems to be that man’s home."
That man?
The staff exchanged confused glances. Before they could ask, the surveillance feed showed a figure hovering mid-air above the rift, standing atop a flying sword with arms crossed, silently observing the fissure’s formation.
"Just as I thought…" Minister Shen wasn’t surprised. He’d heard Ye Chuan hadn’t left Haizhu City recently. Now, the rift had spawned right outside his doorstep.
Minister Shen almost felt bad for the monsters.
If this were a game dungeon, they’d just walked into an S-rank hell mode.
At that moment—
"Why aren’t they coming out?" Ye Chuan stood on his sword, expressionless as he stared at the eerie blue rift.
He was undeniably pissed. Not only had the monster spawn point appeared right outside his home, but the tremors had shaken his house.
His presence also drew the attention of nearby residents, who peeked through their windows in awe.
"Whoa, since when can people fly?"
"Hey, doesn’t that guy look familiar? Isn’t that the kid who used to mooch steamed buns from my stall?"
"Times have changed. Now we’ve got flying humans."
"Is he really going to fight alone? The monsters are coming!"
"Oh no, he’s trying to buy time to protect us. This is dangerous!"
……
"First one to stick its head out gets obliterated." Flames erupted from Ye Chuan’s hand, coalescing into a massive fireball.
Finally, the rift stirred—like a calm lake disturbed by a ripple—and a gigantic claw emerged.
"Boom!" The fireball exploded against the claw in a burst of flames and smoke.
A furious roar echoed from the rift. The monster seemed to experience the equivalent of getting its fingers slammed in a door—injured the moment it stepped out.
Soon, the creature’s full form came into view: a towering, Godzilla-like beast over ten meters tall.
"…" Ye Chuan’s spiritual sense assessed it—roughly Foundation Establishment level.
Eyeing the charred claw, Ye Chuan smirked. "Interesting. A rift this big, and only one of you shows up?"
Just as he was about to dismiss it as weak, the beast roared and unleashed a blue laser from its maw.
Ye Chuan didn’t flinch. The laser struck him but was absorbed by an invisible force.
"Pathetic." With a mere pulse of his aura, the laser shattered into nothingness.
He raised a hand and fired a dark energy beam.
"Boom!" The monster’s body exploded.
"Too easy." Just as Ye Chuan was writing it off as laughably weak, an eerie presence surged from the rift.
The fissure suddenly turned crimson, and an even larger, more terrifying beast began to emerge—several times the size of the last.