Deep in the mountains of Karst Valley State, a group of Stoneborn powerhouses had converged on the same stretch of wilderness.

They’d gone in with twenty-five.

Now there were only eight left.

The man leading them was so furious his jaw kept tightening like it might crack—but all that rage had nowhere to go. It just churned in his chest, useless.

Because the second his mind flashed back to that figure—the one who’d casually killed their companion with a single punch—his whole body betrayed him. A hard, involuntary shiver ran through his spine.

On the continent of Eldoria, he’d seen strong.

He’d just never seen that kind of strong. No skillshow. No fancy techniques. Just simple, brutal force.

"What do we do, boss?" one of the men asked. "Do we head back?"

"Head back for what?" the leader snapped, eyes dark. "If we drag that thing back with us, who in our clan can handle it!?"

"This is so damn cursed," someone muttered. "How the hell does a place like this have a soulless thrall that strong?"

The leader’s gaze cut sharp. "And you two—how did it take so long for two of you to kill one Tier 19 human? How have you not finished him already?"

"Boss... it’s really not on us." Gravel’s face twisted like he was about to cry. "He didn’t just have a spatial-type ability—Teleportation. He even had a space-time ability."

"Space-time ability!?" The Stoneborn all froze, eyes widening.

"No way."

"Those powers disappeared ages ago."

"A Tier 19 human piece of trash can’t possibly have that."

"I don’t know either," Gravel said fast, almost tripping over his words, "but it was absolutely space-time ability!" He hurriedly explained what had just happened, start to finish.

By the time he finished, the group had gone quiet—every face tense, every brow drawn tight.

If Gravel was telling the truth... then yeah.

It really was possible.

And that realization hit them like a cold hand squeezing the heart.

Space-time ability—an ability that fused time and space. Something that flat-out broke common sense.

"Teleportation and space-time..." the leader said, voice heavy, brows knotted. "If that human is allowed to grow... he’ll become terrifying."

"Boss," someone said, glancing around uneasily, "what do we do now? I don’t feel safe here. If they find us, we’re finished."

"It’s fine." The leader forced his voice steady. "This pocket world is huge. We move farther out, then blend into human territory. Lay low for a while. Figure out what kind of world this is first."

His eyes narrowed as his thoughts turned over.

"With a soulless thrall that monstrous, and space-time abilities showing up..." He paused. "This world might not be as simple as we thought. We might even find an opportunity here—something that lets us break through."

"Oh." The others’ spirits lifted a little. "Yeah, boss. We’ll follow your lead."

"Good." He jerked his chin toward the dark line of ridges. "Move. Head deeper into the mountains."

"Got it."

Fallen Star City...

Ethan was resting when his phone rang. Maxwell.

"Ethan. They went into the deep mountains," Maxwell said. "Satellites can’t get an exact position right now, but we’ve confirmed which range they’re in. We’ve got the feeds locked on that area—if they come out, we’ll spot them immediately."

"Mm." Ethan’s voice was calm, but his eyes were cold. "Good work. Keep watching. If they start drifting toward the Void Realm, you tell me the second you see it."

"Understood."

The call ended. Ethan lay back down on the bed, exhaling slowly.

Then there was a knock at the door.

"Come in."

A moment later, a beautiful figure stepped inside carrying an absurdly large bowl.

"Hey..." Mia said, her cheeks faintly red. "Miles had them make this. Mutant chicken stew. It’s good for recovery... you should eat it while it’s hot."

"Oh. Okay." Ethan didn’t refuse. He’d lost a lot of blood—he really did need to replenish.

He sat up, took the bowl... and the instant he saw what was inside, his eyes went wide.

"Damn," he blurted. "Isn’t this a little too nourishing?"

It was a thick, rich stew that looked like it had been slow-cooked for hours—big chunks of mutant chicken simmered with heavy slices of medicinal roots, wild herbs, and dried berries.

Before the apocalypse, any one of those ingredients already counted as serious "body-tonic" food.

After the apocalypse, with mysterious energy awakening and saturating everything, their effects had skyrocketed to who-knew-what level.

Eat a bowl of this at night...

Was he even going to be able to sleep?

"Miles said you lost way too much blood," Mia said, watching him. "If you want to recover in a few days, you need something strong."

"...Alright." Ethan nodded, accepting it.

He couldn’t afford to take it slow.

Not with those few guys still out there—if he didn’t deal with them soon, it was only a matter of time before something went wrong.

It didn’t take long before Ethan finished the entire bowl—meat and broth, not a drop left.

In the apocalypse, resources were scarce. Something this good? Wasting it wasn’t even an option.

"Thanks. You worked hard," Ethan said, handing the empty bowl back to Mia.

"By the way... why are you the one delivering it? Where is everyone else?"

"They all said they were busy," Mia said, her face still a little red. "So... it ended up being me."

"Oh." Ethan nodded like it was no big deal.

Mia hesitated by the bed. "Captain... how do you feel?"

"Pretty good," Ethan said honestly. "Just... kinda hot. Guess it was a little too nourishing."

"Good." Mia’s voice softened. "Then... I’ll head out."

"Mm."

Mia picked up the bowl and stood to leave.

Ethan watched her go—watched that flawless back, the way she moved—and before he even realized what he was doing, he triggered [True Sight] and took a look.

Bad idea.

His already overheated blood went straight past "warm" and into full-on boiling. His nose prickled like it was about to betray him on the spot.

Ethan clamped a hand over his nose and sucked in a sharp breath.

"Um... Mia," he blurted. "I’m not really sleepy right now. How about you stay and talk for a bit?"

"Okay." She agreed instantly, without even a second of hesitation.

She set the bowl on the table and sat down at the edge of his bed.

For a moment, the air between them turned thick—quiet, intimate, like the room had shrunk down to just the two of them. Mia was the one who broke first.

"Captain... if one day we got strong enough that we didn’t have to fear any threats anymore," she asked softly, "what would you want to do most?"

Ethan chuckled. "I’d probably find a girl and just live a carefree life."

Mia’s fingers tightened in her lap. "Then... Captain, do you have someone in mind?"

"Hmm." Ethan rubbed his chin, lips quirking. "Not right now."

"Oh." Mia nodded, disappointment flashing across her face.

Then she suddenly looked up, eyes fixed on him.

"Captain... what do you think of me?"

Ethan hadn’t expected her to come straight out with it. For a second, his brain actually stalled.

"Y-you..." he managed. "You’re... pretty good."

Mia made a small sound in her throat.

Ethan’s eyes widened as her beautiful face moved in close—close enough he could feel her breath. He still couldn’t quite believe she was being this bold.

And with all that "recovery stew" raging through his system, his restraint lasted about half a second.

You’re the one who started it...

Ethan grabbed her, pulled her into his arms, and pushed her down onto the bed in one smooth motion, his body pinning hers beneath him.

Their mouths crashed together again and again—hungry kisses, tangled breaths. In the tugging and fumbling, clothing got yanked loose, peeled away, tossed aside...

Before long, there was nothing left between them.

Even though Ethan had already seen Mia’s perfect figure through [True Sight], seeing her like this—right in front of him—still made him freeze for a beat.

Her skin looked smooth and luminous, almost glowing in the dim light. Every curve was exactly where it should be—soft in the right places, dangerously tempting everywhere else.

Ethan couldn’t hold back anymore. He pressed down over her.

"Mm..."

With a soft, breathy moan, their bodies finally joined—fitting together perfectly.

Outside...

"So..." Emily asked, unable to hide her curiosity. "You think Mia’s gonna pull it off?"

"She’s been in there a while," Chris said with a shrug. "I’d say things are going pretty damn well."

"Not surprising," someone else chimed in. "You’ve seen the way Ethan looks at her."

"Man..." Big Mike muttered. "I should’ve gotten some of that soup too."

"Yeah?" Emily shot back. "And who exactly were you trying to impress?"

"Hey, I’ve got options."

Chris snorted. "Sure you do. Worst case? It’s just you and your right hand again."

"Alright, alright—shut up."

The laughter rolled through the group, easy and loud, like nobody wanted to think too hard about what was happening behind that door.