The planets were like wild fruits in a garden—crisp and crunchy when bitten.
Flight magic didn't seem to work properly here. After all, this was a vacuum, and there was no air or wind to propel movement, which made sense. Not just flight—fire, water, lightning… Blaine found that most of his elemental spells failed to function normally. Clearly, his cultivation was still far from sufficient.
Most planets in space were dead worlds, barren and lifeless. Only a few—like Titan, Asgard, and Nidavellir—could sustain life. Among the countless universes, such planets were rare.
While Blaine was testing his footing on a moon-like celestial body with rough, cratered terrain and gravity barely a tenth of Earth's, his danger sense suddenly flared.
A blinding headache tore through his skull, as if it were about to split open. His entire body went rigid, and cold sweat drenched his back. Every nerve screamed in alarm. Whatever was coming—its threat level surpassed even the first time he had met Gali.
He looked up just as Gali froze. She straightened from the "ball" she'd been standing on, her face grave and tense. Blaine had never seen her look like that before. Following her gaze, he focused his mind, activating his Copy Eyes to enhance his sight.
In the distance, an overwhelming light blazed toward them—moving at a speed that defied imagination.
It wasn't just faster than light—it was leaping across hundreds of millions of light-years in mere seconds. Blaine knew instantly that he could never reach such velocity, not even with trillions of energy units at his disposal.
"Blaine, you should go back first. My dad's here to pick me up… I'm leaving~."
And with that, Gali vanished.
Blaine had wanted to see what Gali's father—the Devourer of Worlds—actually looked like, but it seemed she wasn't giving him the chance. Still, with her there, Blaine wasn't too worried about Earth getting eaten by "Uncle" Galactus.
Of course, that thought was nothing more than a reckless whim. He wouldn't dare face Galactus himself unless he had a death wish.
Fifteen minutes later, Blaine raised his right hand, and a space rift opened before him, revealing the courtyard of his villa.
After the endless darkness of space, the dim glow of night back on Earth felt strangely comforting. He hadn't even realized how late it had gotten.
Now that Gali was gone and he'd had enough rest, Blaine didn't know what to do with himself. It had been several days since his last system upgrade—to Hunter Space 2.0—and he hadn't checked it yet. Remembering it now, he gave the command:
"Open Hunter Space 2.0."
"Hunter Space 2.0—now serving the host."
He examined it carefully, but at first glance, nothing seemed different. The interface, the contents, the design—everything looked the same.
"Don't tell me I got scammed again…"
In an instant, Blaine shadow-stepped into the horse ranch belonging to that big, fat rich man nearby. He used the darkness to slip past security cameras and approached a stable.
"Receive."
A faint light flashed—and one of the horses vanished, stored in his Hunter Space.
"Release."
The next second, the horse reappeared, perfectly fine.
Seeing it alive and unhurt, Blaine exhaled in relief.
This little experiment was to test whether Hunter Space 2.0 could now store living creatures. He hadn't dared to try it on himself, so he'd chosen a horse instead. If it worked, great. If it didn't… well, horse meat for dinner wouldn't be the worst outcome.
Satisfied, Blaine teleported back to his villa. This time, he decided to enter the space himself.
Swish!
In a blink, Blaine vanished—not through teleportation, but by stepping directly into the Hunter Space.
Inside was nothing but an endless white expanse. The ground, the sky, the horizon—everything was pure white, stretching infinitely in all directions.
"This is supposed to fit the entire United States?"
Blaine doubted it. He crouched, then launched forward at full speed, sprinting for minutes on end.
After ten minutes of nonstop running, the world remained the same—empty, colorless, infinite.
"That's it? Seriously?"
A hint of disappointment crept into his voice.
"Hunter Space 2.0 currently includes only these functions," the system replied.
"When upgraded to version 3.0, the host will be able to use imagination to create anything within Hunter Space."
"I'll be damned—so 3.0's where the good stuff starts."
Since there was nothing interesting here, Blaine exited. To his surprise, the transition was seamless—he came out exactly where he'd entered.
"When upgraded to version 4.0," the system continued, "Hunter Space will be able to move freely and relocate anywhere according to the host's needs."
Blaine couldn't deny the temptation—but right now, he was broke. He'd have to make do with version 2.0 for the time being.
*Drip, drip…*
The ringtone broke his thoughts.
He'd been about to head to the backyard to practice when he saw the caller ID—and smiled.
"Well, if it isn't my favorite paying customer…"
He stretched lazily and muttered, "Ah, the god of luck truly smiles on me."
Then he straightened up, picked up the phone, and answered.
"Hello?"
"Mr. Hunter, I need your help again."
"Oh? What's the matter? Don't tell me S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Avengers can't handle it this time again?"
"Mr. Hunter, this isn't a joke. The situation has become extremely serious. We're requesting your assistance as a last resort."
The tone on the other end was grave, and even Blaine felt the tension.
"Sokovia hasn't started flying yet, has it?"
"What? Soko… what?"
"Oh—nothing, nothing. Go on."
From that reaction, it was clear Fury didn't know anything about Sokovia yet—which meant the crisis hadn't reached that point.
Others might not recognize the name, but Blaine did. As someone who'd traveled across timelines, he knew exactly what it meant. Sokovia—the battleground between the Avengers and Ultron. The place where Scarlet Witch lost her brother, Quicksilver.
"I can't explain over the phone," Fury said. "Mr. Hunter, please meet me in person so we can discuss the details."
"Send me the address," Blaine replied.
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