The Black Dragon Tower pierced the smog of the Capital City like a jagged obsidian tooth. It was a monument to the new world order—a place where the line between high-tech corporate greed and ancient martial ferocity was blurred into a single, neon-lit skyline.
Kaelen Voss stood at the base of the tower, draped in a tattered grey cloak he'd lifted from a scavenger. He looked like a ghost haunting a cathedral of glass. Around him, the elite of Earth—Star Travellers in sleek, biological armor and "Spirit Readers" with hovering weapon-arrays—glided through the entrance, their scanners ignoring the "beggar" at the gates.
They didn't see the way the air shimmered around his feet. They didn't feel the gravity subtly bending to ensure no speck of dust touched his boots.
"Identification," a guard barked. He was a Grade 9 Student, enhanced by cybernetics. He looked at Kaelen with visible disgust. "This is the Black Dragon Alliance's Grand Auction. Unless you have a net worth of ten billion Earth-dollars or a Star Traveller license, move along."
Kaelen didn't speak. He simply let a fraction—a microscopic sliver—of his Spirit Reader aura leak out.
The guard's knees buckled. His cybernetic HUD flickered red as his heart rate spiked to 180 BPM. It wasn't just physical pressure; it was the weight of a soul that had seen the birth and death of galaxies. To the guard, it felt as though a black hole had just opened its eye in front of him.
"I have something to sell," Kaelen said, his voice a low, melodic rasp.
The guard swallowed hard, his bravado evaporating. "P-Please... the VIP elevator is to the left. Manager Wu will see you."
The Appraiser's Room
Manager Wu was a Star Traveller Level 3, a man who prided himself on his composure. He had seen "Star-Core Fragments" and "Ancient Heritage Keys," but as the cloaked youth sat across from him, Wu felt a primal urge to crawl under his desk.
"You claim to have a... 'Genetic Optimization Technique'?" Wu asked, trying to keep his hands from trembling.
Kaelen tossed a small, hand-written data-chip onto the table. "It is called the 'Triple-Rotation Gene Drive.' It allows a Star Traveller to refine their Genetic Energy three times faster than the standard 'Daoyin' techniques provided by the Dojo of Limits."
Wu laughed nervously. "Young man, such a technique would be Grade-S. It would be worth a continent."
"Read the first three lines," Kaelen commanded.
Wu plugged the chip into his neural link. Five seconds later, his eyes snapped open, bloodshot and wide. His skin began to flush a deep red as his internal energy began to circulate in a pattern he had never even dreamed of. It was efficient. It was elegant. It was divine.
"This..." Wu gasped, unbuttoning his collar. "This is incomplete. It only goes up to the Star Rank."
"If I gave you the version for a Universe Knight, your brain would liquify trying to process the first syllable," Kaelen said coldly. "Auction it. My starting price is the 'Nebula-Core Liquid' and the 'Void-Grass' currently listed as tonight's headliners."
"But those are for the Prince of the Iron-Blood Sect!" Wu protested. "He's already pre-ordered them with a deposit of—"
"Then he will have to outbid a God," Kaelen interrupted, standing up. "And I assure you, his pockets are not deep enough."
The Auction Floor
The Grand Hall was an amphitheater of floating crystalline booths. In the center, a holographic stage displayed the treasures of the galaxy.
Kaelen sat in the shadows of the back row. He didn't need a VIP booth. He was a predator in a room full of peacocks.
In the front-most booth, bathed in a golden spotlight, sat Prince Aris. He was a Star Traveller Level 6, a prodigy of the Iron-Blood Sect. He reclined in his chair, two beautiful Grade 1 Star Traveller women peeling exotic fruits for him. He was the epitome of the "Universe-Level" arrogance Kaelen had spent eons crushing.
"The next item," the auctioneer announced, her voice amplified by sonic-arrays, "is a late addition. A peak-tier Genetic Technique: The Triple-Rotation Gene Drive. Bidding starts at fifty billion, or... a direct trade for the Nebula-Core Liquid."
The room went silent. Then, a roar of whispers. A technique that could triple cultivation speed? It was a foundation-shifter.
"One hundred billion!" a voice shouted from a private booth.
"One hundred and fifty!"
Prince Aris straightened up, his eyes narrowing. "Two hundred billion. And I'll take the head of whoever tries to outbid me."
The room went cold. The Iron-Blood Sect wasn't just rich; they were butchers. No one dared to cross them. The auctioneer looked around, ready to hammer the gavel.
"The Nebula-Core Liquid," a calm voice drifted from the back of the hall.
Everyone turned. Kaelen hadn't moved. He hadn't even raised his hand.
Aris sneered, looking toward the back. "You. The rat in the cloak. You think a pile of credits can outbuy me? I am the buyer and the seller in this city."
"You are a child playing with matches in a library," Kaelen said.
Aris's face contorted. He stood up, his Level 6 Genetic Energy flaring, causing the glass panels of the nearby booths to crack. "Guards! Remove this trash!"
Four Star Traveller Level 4 guards blurred toward Kaelen, their energy-spears humming.
Kaelen didn't stand up. He simply tapped his finger on the armrest of his chair.
"Domain: Event Horizon."
In an instant, the light in the room seemed to get sucked toward Kaelen. A heavy, suffocating pressure slammed down on the hall. The four guards weren't just stopped; they were pinned to the floor, the marble beneath them shattering into powder as the gravity around them multiplied by a factor of fifty.
They groaned, their armor imploding, their ribs snapping under the weight of their own bodies.
Kaelen looked at Aris, who was struggling to even remain standing. The Prince's "Iron-Blood" aura was being crushed into nothingness.
"A Domain?" the auctioneer whispered in terror. "A Star Traveller with a Domain?"
In the Swallowed Star universe, a Domain was the mark of a genius among geniuses—usually something only a Universe Level warrior could hope to touch. For a Star Traveller to possess one was like a toddler wielding a nuclear warhead.
Kaelen stood up, his cloak fluttering in the artificial wind of his own power. He walked down the aisle, the gravity-well following him. Every Star Traveller he passed was forced to bow, their foreheads hitting the ground as his aura washed over them.
He reached the stage and picked up the vial of Nebula-Core Liquid—a swirling, iridescent purple fluid—and the Void-Grass.
"My technique is worth ten of these," Kaelen said to the trembling auctioneer. "Consider the rest a gift to the Black Dragon Alliance. It will give you enough power to survive the storm that is coming."
He then turned to Prince Aris, who was gasping for air, his face inches from the floor.
"Tell your Sect Leader," Kaelen whispered, leaning down. "I am reclaiming this planet. He can either be a brick in my foundation or the dust beneath my boots. Choose quickly. I have a King in the stars to kill, and I am in a very large hurry."
Kaelen vanished.
He didn't use the door. He simply stepped into the air and, with a sudden manipulation of gravitational vectors, shot through the ceiling like a railgun projectile, leaving a gaping hole in the obsidian tower that stared up at the moon.
Chapter End: The Transformation Begins
Back in the Silent Zone, atop the highest ruin, Kaelen downed the Nebula-Core Liquid in a single gulp.
His body erupted.
The liquid was like molten lead, scouring his veins, burning away the last of his mortal impurities. His "Star-Devouring Breath" went into overdrive. The tiny star in his Dantian expanded, turning from a dull white to a violent, pulsing blue.
[Rank Breakthrough: Star Traveller - Level 5... Level 8... Level 9!]
[Warning: Genetic Saturation Reached.]
[Evolution to STAR RANK initiated...]
As the sun began to rise over the polluted horizon, Kaelen Voss looked up. His gaze pierced through the atmosphere, through the solar system, and fixed on the distant, glittering heart of the galaxy where the Aeon Emperor sat on a throne of stolen stars.
"I'm coming for the crown," he whispered.
The Void-Shattering Pagoda in his soul hummed in approval. The hunt had truly begun.