The Black Behemoth rested along the shoreline, the waves pounding its reinforced hull like war drums. But inside, the luxurious living room felt nothing like victory. No cheers. No relief. Just a suffocating quiet—the kind that pressed down on the lungs.
Su Chen sat shirtless on the sofa, but "sat" wasn't the right word. His body trembled like a machine pushed beyond its limit. Every second, his skin flickered violently—Diamond silver, Hulk green, crackling blue lightning, then the corpse-pale shade of the Lich physique.
A walking rainbow of disaster.
His fingers dug into the armrest. The leather powdered instantly.
A guttural groan escaped him. "Guh…"
Shizuka hovered beside him, panic rising. "His temperature—forty-five degrees Celsius! His organs are literally baking!"
Xiao Yi Xian didn't waste breath. Her hands were a blur, grinding herbs from the Botanical Garden with practiced precision. "It's a genetic clash," she said sharply. "You swallowed the bloodlines of a God and a Monster at the same time. And your base is an Undead physique. Your DNA is in open war."
That was putting it lightly.
Every muscle fiber in Su Chen's body felt like it was being shredded and knitted back together repeatedly. There wasn't even space to scream.
The System chimed in his skull:
[Genetic Instability: 80%]
[Warning: Host Body insufficient for 'Space Authority'.]
[Warning: 'Rage Force' conflicting with 'Lich Calm'.]
He forced a breath. "I knew it… I took the buffet… but I didn't chew."
Thor's biology. Hulk's Rage Force. Lich physiology. Spatial Authority.
He'd stacked power on power like a greedy idiot.
Now the universe wanted payment.
Xiao Yi Xian looked up. "If this keeps going, your soul will fracture—"
"XIAN!" Su Chen's voice split between human and beast. "ICE-HEART PILL. NOW!"
She didn't hesitate. She jammed a glowing blue pill between his teeth. Ye Qingyu placed a palm between Su Chen's shoulder blades, flooding his meridians with freezing qi. The Gamma radiation buckled under the sudden cold, stabilizing—but barely.
Seconds stretched like hours.
An hour passed like a war.
Then, finally, his body stopped convulsing.
He slumped forward, panting, sweat forming a small pool beneath him. He felt like an engine that had run without oil.
The System pinged again:
[Stabilization Complete.]
[Current Status: Hybrid (Human / Asgardian / Lich / Mutant)]
[Stats Recalibrated.]
Su Chen cracked open his eyes. They looked hollow—like someone who'd wrestled a god and barely won the handshake.
Natasha, arms crossed in the corner, let out a long breath. "I've seen Banner turn green," she muttered. "Never seen someone cycle through four species at once. Are you dying or what?"
Su Chen managed a tired smirk. "Evolving. Messily."
He stood, joints popping like gunfire, and walked toward the window. The ocean wind hit his skin—refreshing but not enough.
Su Chen lifted a hand and tried to open a space portal.
A spark.
A faint warp in the air.
Then nothing.
His nose started bleeding.
He wiped it calmly.
"The laws here are heavier," he muttered. "In New York, space folded like paper. But this Expanded Earth… the gravity, the mana density… this world is a high-tier dimension."
His Space Authority felt crippled. Teleportation range: maybe ten kilometers. Hulk strength: mountain-busting at best, nowhere near planet-breaking.
The truth settled like cold iron.
"I'm not a god yet," he said quietly. "Just a stronger ant in a land full of giants."
---
The Upgrade Team Assembles
While Su Chen recovered, Saya Takagi spread loot across the table like a kid in a candy shop.
She held up a holographic blueprint of the Arc Reactor, eyes shining. "This… is beautiful."
She glanced at the diesel generator powering the truck.
"Trash. Pure trash."
Then she turned to Su Chen. "If I replace the Palladium core with Spirit Stones, I can build a Spirit-Fusion Drive. Infinite energy. And we can power full-body energy shields without limit."
"Do it," Su Chen ordered.
Natasha slid a flash drive onto the table. "SHIELD schematics—Quinjet VTOL system, Helicarrier cloaking tech. You'll need stealth if we're diving into the deep ocean."
"Good," he said.
His eyes drifted to the map—the Golden Signal pulsing deep in the Mariana Trench.
But for the first time, he looked at the Abyss with respect instead of arrogance.
"System. Danger level?"
[Abyss Zone Detected.]
[Monster Levels: 50–80]
[Boss Level: 90+ (Calamity)]
Su Chen's current combat power: barely 30–35 with everything stacked.
He exhaled. "If I go there now, I die. The Leviathan was Level 45 and I only won because its biology was predictable. A Level 80 monster would kill me just by looking at me."
This wasn't a Marvel movie.
This was a cultivation world wearing an apocalyptic skin.
He needed training arcs, not death sentences.
---
Change of Plans
"We aren't going to the Trench?" Esdeath asked, clearly disappointed.
"No," Su Chen said. "We're heading to the Outer Rim of the Inner Sea first. Storm region. Perfect for body cultivation and lightning tempering."
Thor's lightning affinity flickered in his status bar—not enough to summon thunder yet, but enough to eat lightning.
And eating lightning was exactly the kind of madness that pushed a body-cultivator to the next tier.
---
The World Scale Explained
Later, the whole team gathered around a projection map.
Su Chen zoomed in on a tiny dot. "This is the Jinghai District. Your university. The military base."
Zoom out.
"This is the New Asian Continent."
Zoom out again.
"This is Expanded Earth."
The map revealed continents large enough to dwarf Jupiter's red storm. Oceans wide enough to swallow moons. Entire regions labeled "Terra Incognita."
"The MCU?" Su Chen said simply. "A pocket dimension next to this."
Natasha swallowed. "You're telling me aliens invading New York… was basically the tutorial?"
Su Chen nodded. "Pre-game lobby."
He highlighted the world layers:
"Mortal Domain: mana thin, gravity 1.5x."
"Central Domain: gravity 100x, air is liquid mana, monsters born at Level 100."
"We'll go there eventually," he said, "but not today."
---
Preparation Phase
"Saya, how long for the Spirit-Fusion Drive?"
"Twenty-four hours."
"Good. We're training until then."
He faced his team:
"Saeko—learn to control Rage Force. Fight me."
"Esdeath—practice merging Ice with Space Authority. Frozen Space is your next breakthrough."
"Xiao Yi Xian—analyze the Asgardian blood in my sample. Brew a strengthening potion."
"And Natasha…"
The spy straightened.
"You need a Class."
He tapped her forehead. "I can't give you a System. But I can give you something better."
From his storage, he pulled a black-bound manual.
[Shadow Walk]
A skill book from the Akame ga Kill Royal Vault.
"Necromancy doesn't suit a spy," Su Chen said. "Stealth does. Learn this. In this world, a spy who can't vanish is just a corpse waiting to be picked up."
Natasha smirked. "Finally, something I understand."
---
The Grind Begins
Su Chen walked toward the Dojo—his version of a forge.
He had infinite potential, yes. But potential meant nothing without heat and pressure.
His next cultivation path was brutal:
Fuse Hulk's Rage with the Indestructible Diamond Body.
Fuse Thor's Lightning with Breath of Water.
Refine the Lich Calm into spiritual stability.
Stabilize Space Authority in heavy gravity zones.
Lightning storms, monster hunts, physique breakthroughs…
He needed everything.
He cracked his knuckles.
"Alright," he muttered.
"Let's grind."