Sphinx Street was a notoriously chaotic area in New Dal City.
It was filled with all kinds of shady establishments—cheap bars, underground casinos, karaoke joints, and pool halls.
Naturally, these businesses gave rise to gangs and street thugs. Violence here was practically a nightly event.
Take right now, for example—a floor-to-ceiling window of a pool hall shattered from the inside as a bloodied, battered figure was sent flying out.
Immediately after, a towering figure stepped out through the broken glass.
He was nearly two meters tall. When he stepped down, he crushed a thick wooden board underfoot—it was clear he was heavy, but not fat. No, his physique was broad-shouldered and muscular—pure brute strength that radiated oppressive force.
He stomped on the man who had been flung out and pinned him down. The neon lights of the street illuminated the face of this streetwise strongman.
His features were rugged and sharply defined, with bold eyebrows and large eyes. At first glance, he looked intimidating—almost like a thug. But a closer look revealed a certain heroic charisma.
He ignored the chaos still going on inside the pool hall. After pinning the unlucky fellow underfoot, he simply sat down on the poor guy like a makeshift chair.
The man beneath him nearly coughed up more blood from the weight.
When the poor soul finally blacked out, the strongman didn't even flinch. He casually picked up a crumpled newspaper from the ground—dirty and tossed aside—and began reading.
"Sodis Resistance Crushed – Empire's Western Campaign Victorious Again!"
"Another Unknown Dimensional Gate Opened in the Capital – Advance Squad Annihilated, Gate to Close in 3 Days."
"Multiple Cannibalistic Incidents in Vandel City – Suspected Link to a Previously Uncontrolled Dimensional Rift."
"The world just keeps getting messier…" Ben muttered with a sigh.
That's right. This strongman's name was Ben. He wasn't from this world. Two weeks ago, he had somehow transmigrated into it.
Whenever he thought about how it happened, he felt an unbearable sense of loss.
Back in his original world, Ben was doing pretty well for himself—charming looks, great sense of humor, and some unique talents. Life was smooth.
Not long before the transmigration, he had just "conquered" a young, wealthy, and gorgeous landlady—and was about to move into her luxury villa for free.
But one moment he was lying in her warm embrace, and the next… he woke up in this brawny body, fighting for dominance on the mean streets.
Although the new body was incredibly fit, going from a posh villa to roughing it on the streets was a harsh downgrade. It stung.
Still, Ben had decent mental resilience. He'd reluctantly accepted his reality.
This body's previous owner had likely died in a gang brawl. There was still a half-healed scar behind his ear.
And he wasn't just any thug—he had supernatural abilities, registered with the Empire's Bureau of Special Ability Management as an E-Rank ability user. His power? Enhanced Physical Strength.
To put it simply—his body was far beyond normal. Strong muscles, dense bones, incredible endurance.
Yes, this "Strongman Ben" was technically gifted.
But even so, he was still just E-Rank. In an empire with centuries of history, E-Rank ability users were dime a dozen. You might not trip over them every block, but every few streets you'd find a couple. Nothing special.
And now with random dimensional gates popping up globally, bringing all sorts of powers from other worlds, even more unpredictable forces were reshaping the social order.
So being an E-Rank musclehead? That only qualified Ben to be a small-time gang leader on the street.
"Yep, this transmigration really wasn't ideal…" Ben muttered with a self-deprecating grin.
At that point, the fight behind him in the pool hall had settled down.
A short but mean-looking underling came out with some thugs, dragging a bloodied man.
"Boss, we got the money."
He respectfully handed Ben a bag full of cash.
Ben took it without even counting, glanced back at the wrecked hall full of unconscious bodies, and didn't bother reacting.
He casually slapped the head of the battered man and sneered,
"In Sphinx Street, nobody skips out on paying me. You thought hiring a bunch of nobodies gave you the right to defy me?"
No response. That annoyed Ben a little.
Just as he was about to rough the guy up again, he paused and checked the man's nose for breathing.
A few moments later, Ben cursed, "Damn it, I told you to go easy! Look at this—dead! People are gonna think I'm some heartless killer!"
The thugs looked surprised, but one shrugged,
"Boss, this is New Dal. One or two dead? Nobody cares."
"Yeah, maybe before. But now the papers say the Sodis rebels are crushed. Empire's westward push is a success. Next, they'll stabilize the frontline—and New Dal won't be frontline anymore. It'll be a supply hub. That means order's coming back. The wild days are ending." Ben shook his head.
But after saying all that, he realized his underlings probably didn't get it. He dropped the subject.
He pulled two bundles of cash from the bag and tossed it at one random thug.
"You're responsible for the body. Take 20 grand and lay low for a while. Shake down whoever you want for more if needed. Come back when it's quiet."
Street rats in New Dal were used to this kind of "lay low and return" drill. The city's investigators weren't exactly diligent.
Hell, sometimes no one even reported these gang beatings. The guy might've just earned a free 20k.
"Got it, boss!" the thug grinned.
Then paused, puzzled.
"Uh... wait, what do you mean 'shake down whoever you want'?"
"Figure it out yourself," Ben replied, pocketing the rest and standing up.
He had made up his mind.
No more street thug life.
These past two weeks were just to get familiar with the world and earn some quick cash. Now, it was time to find a real path forward.
After dismissing his crew to go blow off steam, Ben headed home.
Yes—he had a place. Being a gang boss had some perks in New Dal.
But he was going to sell the house and leave this dump. Too many people knew his shady side here. Every street corner, someone would call him "Boss," or worse, an enemy might leap out at him.
How was he supposed to start fresh with that?
As he was pondering all this and walking through his apartment stairwell, he turned a corner—and suddenly felt a strange energy ripple from his chest.
His heartbeat sped up. His stamina plummeted.
Before he could figure out what was happening… a glowing multi-colored portal appeared before him.
His instincts screamed.
"A dimensional gate!?" Ben gasped.