The townhouse was located in the wealthy ring of District 7. It did not look like the kind of place a student would rent.

It looked like a fortress. The walls were made of stone that had been heavily reinforced. As soon as Zen walked through the front door, he could feel the magical protections humming in the air.

Valeria locked the door behind them. The sound of the deadbolt clicking shut was loud in the house.

"I will show you to your room," Valeria said with a smile, taking his bag and leading him upstairs.

She opened the door to a large, luxurious bedroom. The bed was enormous and the sheets were made of silk. There was a private bathroom. It was even nicer than the rooms Zen used to have five hundred years ago when he was an Emperor.

"My room is across the hall," Valeria said, leaning against the doorframe. "If you need anything... Anything at all... Just call my name."

"I just need to sleep, Val," Zen said, sitting down on the edge of the bed.

"Get some rest," she whispered softly. She slowly closed the door, leaving him alone in the room.

Zen waited for ten minutes. He listened carefully until he heard the door across the hall close.

He did not trust Valeria. He stood up, grabbed his canvas bag, and pulled out his GE burner drone.

Zen tapped the drone’s power rune and manually accessed its optical sensors through his terminal interface. He used the drone’s infrared camera to sweep the entire room and scan for electronics: the air vents, the mirrors, and the corners of the ceiling.

Nothing. There were no hidden cameras... no listening bugs.

"System," Zen thought. "What is the probability of Vanguard surveillance inside this specific house?"

[Probability: 0%. The Goddess of War is highly territorial. She values absolute privacy in her personal domain and would not allow Vanguard High Command to monitor her living quarters.]

"Good," Zen smirked in the dark.

He put the drone down and pulled out the dark purple Heart-Stone. It was full of energy.

He sat cross-legged on the floor holding the stone in both hands.

"System, initiate absorption," Zen ordered.

[Processing Mid E-Rank Boss Core...]

A violent wave of heat rushed up Zen’s arms and slammed into his chest. This core was much stronger than the ones from the sewers. It felt like swallowing a volcano.

Sweat poured down his face as he forced his body to take in the energy.

[Absorption complete. Core fracture repaired by 5%.]

[Congratulations. You have reached High F-Rank.]

Zen opened his eyes. The purple stone in his hands crumbled into useless grey dust. He felt amazing. The pain in his ribs was gone, healed by the surge of magic.

Zen flexed his hands in the dark bedroom, feeling the difference. His muscles weren’t screaming anymore. His ribs had quieted to a dull, manageable ache. High F-Rank. It wasn’t much, but it better.

"System," Zen thought. "Project my cultivation trajectory. If I keep clearing dungeons at this pace, how long until I hit my original Emperor-level rank?"

[Calculating long-term trajectory based on current soul architecture...]

[Projected ceiling reached at: Low D-Rank.]

[Estimated time to reach ceiling at current pace: 4-6 weeks.]

Zen frowned. "That’s it? Low D-Rank?"

[Clarification required. Heart-Stones repair the structural integrity of your mana core: the vessel. They fill cracks. They reinforce walls. However, the soul fragments currently held by the Five Goddesses are not structural. They are the fuel source inside the vessel.]

[Analogy: You are rebuilding an engine. Heart-Stones are the metal and the bolts. Without them, the engine collapses. But the fragments are the combustion. Without them, the engine sits perfectly assembled and does absolutely nothing.]

[At Low D-Rank, your vessel will be fully rebuilt. You will be strong enough to survive in this world without constant risk of death. But your maximum output will be permanently capped at approximately 0.3% of your original Emperor-level power.]

[You will be a well-constructed engine with no fuel. Forever.]

Zen stared at the ceiling.

So the dungeons keep me alive, he thought slowly. But the Goddesses are the only ones who can actually give me my power back.

[Affirmative. Dual Cultivation is not optional. It is the only mechanism that can transfer a soul fragment from an anchored host back to its origin point. Heart-Stone cultivation and Dual Cultivation are not competing paths. They are sequential requirements.]

[Phase One: Rebuild the vessel. Phase Two: Refuel it.]

"And right now I’m still in Phase One," Zen muttered.

[Correct. You have approximately 96% of Phase One remaining.]

"Encouraging as always," Zen said flatly.

He walked over to the desk, picked up the hacked GE drone. He tapped the power rune again, and the little silver ball floated up, its red light blinking on.

Zen didn’t just want to survive anymore. He wanted to get back at Kaelen Thorne. But first, he needed to keep his audience engaged to keep the credits rolling in.

"System," Zen said. "Log into the Ghost Scrapper account. Let’s do a quick shadow-boxing stream for the fans. They wanted to see the footwork."

[Ghost Scrapper is now LIVE.]

[Notifying 14,850 followers...]

Instantly, the viewer count spiked. The chat box started moving at light speed.

User_992: HE’S ALIVE! The legend returns!

ScrapRat: Bro, are you going back to the sewers?!

MetalHead: Show us that parry stance again! I got 1,000 credits ready!

Zen smirked, standing in the center of the room. He made sure the camera angle was tight, showing only his torso and legs so the expensive bedroom background wouldn’t give away his location.

"No dungeons tonight," Zen whispered, keeping his voice extremely low so Valeria wouldn’t hear him across the hall. "Just some combat theory. Watch my feet."

He moved into the Emperor’s Stride, making a perfect, fast turn. Then he did the Vanguard Parry. He moved smoothly and carefully without using any mana. The chat went absolutely wild, spamming small donations and cheers.

After ten minutes of basic forms, Zen stopped. He gave a casual wave toward the drone’s lens, completely confident in the hacked digital blur masking his identity on the live feed.

"That’s it for tonight. Stay sharp."

"System, end stream."

Zen caught the drone as the red light clicked off. He put it back in his bag, turned off the lights, and laid down on the silk bed.

Zen closed his eyes in the dark bedroom. His ribs had quieted. His core was stable. The silk sheets felt almost offensive against his bruised skin. Sleep was about forty seconds away.

[Notification: GE Network Algorithm Flag — Account: Ghost Scrapper.]

[Reason: Anomalous Movement Vectors. Seventy-two independent users have submitted reports tagging your stream for "Cheating / Hacking" and "Exploiting Glitches."]

Zen opened one eye. "Cheating? Seriously?"

[Update: Standard automated review bypassed. Encrypted shadow-log decrypted via incoming data spike.]

[Alert: The GE backend algorithm did not process the reports as standard cheating. It cross-referenced your exact footwork angles against a hidden executive database. Your movements triggered a 99% match for "Imperial Martial Paradigm."]

[Flag was escalated directly to manual oversight.]

[Manual oversight at the GE Network executive level is handled exclusively by the Omni Domain Spymaster.]

Both eyes open now. Zen’s pulse instantly spiked.

A hidden database just for Imperial footwork? Zen thought, his blood running cold. Nyx hardwired the entire global network to hunt for me. How long ago did this flag go up?

[The algorithm flagged the stream thirty-one minutes after your very first broadcast. The Spymaster personally reviewed the footage eleven minutes after that.]

She’s already seen it, Zen thought, his entire body going very still. That was two days ago.

[Affirmative.]

Then why hasn’t she moved yet?

[Analyzing behavioral pattern of the Spymaster based on historical data...]

[Conclusion: She does not move on incomplete information. She is watching. She is building a profile. She wants to be certain before she acts, because acting prematurely and being wrong is the one outcome she cannot tolerate.]

[Additionally: Your soul fragment resonance has not fully activated through the GE feed. She suspects. She does not yet know. There is a difference, and she is aware of that difference.]

Zen stared at the ceiling.

[New Message Received.]

[Sender: UNKNOWN — Origin: Omni Domain, routed through 44 proxy servers.]

[Attached: 1,000,000 Mana-Credits. Transferred directly to Ghost Scrapper account.]

[Message body: "You fight just like him. I am coming to find you."]

The bedroom was very quiet.

There it is, Zen thought.

[The soul fragment resonated. She knows.]

How long do I have?

[Unknown. The Spymaster operates on her own timeline. She will not rush. She will not warn you again.]

[Probability that she is already watching this room: 34%.]

Zen looked slowly at the ceiling. At the walls. At the mirror above the desk.

"Why am I not surprised?" Zen muttered dryly to the empty room.