Global Asset: Rebirth Of The Ruthless Scholar
Chapter 1: The Fortress Of The East
The Violet Sky Over Beijing Was No Longer A Sign Of Terror; It Had Become A Symbol Of The New Order. Under Xun Long's Command, The Ministry Of State Security Had Evacuated A Five-Mile Radius Around The Stabilized Rift, Turning The Once-Busy City Center Into A High-Tech Forbidden Zone. Inside This Zone, The Rules Of Traditional Physics No Longer Applied.
Xun Long Stood At The Edge Of The Iron-Yard's New Extension, Looking At The Massive Energy Conduits Pulsing With Dungeon Mana. His 1000x Intellect Was Simulating Thousands Of Global Scenarios Simultaneously. He Knew That While China Was Stabilizing Under His Shadow, The Rest Of The World Was Beginning To Burn.
"Master," Li Mei Reported, Her Voice Calm But Urgent. She Was Speaking In Russian Today, As Per Xun Long's Command To Keep Their Conversations Indecipherable To Any Hidden Microphones. "The United States And Europe Have Reported Their First Rifts. They Are Attempting To Use Conventional Nuclear Weapons To Close Them. The Results... Are Catastrophic."
Xun Long Let Out A Cold, Short Breath That Could Almost Be Mistaken For A Laugh. "Using Splitting Atoms To Fight Dimensional Magic Is Like Using A Candle To Put Out A Forest Fire. They Are Only Feeding The Abyss."
He Turned To His Console. He Had Already Mapped Out The Countries That Were "Saveable"—Pakistan, Parts Of Central Asia, And Southeast Asia. These Were The Regions He Would Integrate Into His Empire. The Rest Of The World Was A Lost Cause, A Necessary Sacrifice To Ensure That The Human Race Evolved Under A Single, Sovereign Leader.
"Increase The Production Of The V-10 Omega Suits," Xun Long Ordered In Urdu. "I Want Our Borders Fortified By Next Month. If Any Refugee Fleet From The West Approaches Our Waters, They Are To Be Turned Back. We Are Not A Charity; We Are The Last Bastion Of Logic In A World Of Madness."
Chapter 2: The Scholar's Tactical Supremacy
Despite The Global Chaos, Xun Long Continued To Attend His Advanced Research Meetings At The University. It Was A Tactical Choice—To Keep The Mask Of The "Scholar" Alive While He Secretly Directed The Military Reconstruction Of The Nation.
In The Grand Conference Hall, International Scientists—Those Who Had Managed To Escape The Initial Rifts Abroad—Were Arguing Over The Nature Of The "Violet Particles."
"It's A Biological Contagion!" A Scientist From Germany Shouted In English.
Xun Long, Sitting In The Back With A Simple Notebook, Finally Spoke Up. His Voice Was Soft, But It Instantly Silenced The Room.
"It's Not A Contagion," He Said In Perfect, High-Class French. "It's A Re-Writing Of The Planet's Source Code. You Are Looking At The Particles As Invaders, But They Are Actually The New Building Blocks Of Reality. If You Continue To Fight Them, Your Bodies Will Reject The Atmosphere And You Will Die Within A Year."
He Stood Up And Walked To The Whiteboard, Drawing A Series Of Complex Equations That Merged Quantum Physics With Ancient Symbols He Had Found In The Pakistan Project Files.
"The Only Way To Survive Is Integration," He Continued, Switching To Mandarin For The Benefit Of The Listening Generals. "We Must Adapt Our Biology To Match The Rift's Frequency. I Have Already Developed The First Successful Integration Serum In The Iron-Yard. The Government Will Begin Testing On The Elite Units Tomorrow. Anyone Who Objects... Is Free To Leave The Protection Of The State."
The Room Was Dead Silent. The Scientists Looked At The Equations—Calculations So Advanced They Felt Like They Were Staring Into The Mind Of A God. Xun Long Didn't Wait For Their Approval. He Had Already Decided Their Future.
Chapter 3: The First Bloodline Tremor
Later That Night, Deep Within The Silent Corridors Of The Iron-Yard, Xun Long Was Attempting To Manually Sync His Heartbeat With The Dungeon Heart He Had Captured. This Was The Beginning Of The Volume 11 Preparation—The Awakening Of The Divine Bloodlines.
Suddenly, His Vision Blurred. A Sharp, Stabbing Pain Exploded In His Chest, Far More Intense Than Any Bone He Had Ever Broken. His Body, Optimized As It Was, Could Not Contain The Sudden Surge Of Power.
A Pillar Of Pure, Golden Energy—Different From The Dungeon's Violet Light—Erupted From His Chest. It Hit The Reinforced Ceiling, Melting Through Five Meters Of Titanium In A Fraction Of A Second. The Entire Base Shook As If Hit By A Kinetic Bomb.
"Master!" Li Mei Rushed In, Only To Be Blown Back By A Pressure Wave That Shattered The Glass Windows Of The Observation Room.
Xun Long Was Floating Three Inches Off The Ground, His Silver Eyes Blazing With A Light That Felt Like A Thousand Suns. For A Moment, The Air Around Him Didn't Smell Like Ozone; It Smelt Like Ancient Incense And Primordial Fire. A Single Language Poured Out Of His Mouth—A Language That Didn't Exist On Earth, Yet Everyone Who Heard It Felt A Primal Urge To Kneel.
The Blast Lasted Only Five Seconds Before Xun Long Collapsed, His Body Smoking, His Skin Covered In Faint Golden Runes That Quickly Faded.
"It's Too Early," He Gasped, His Pulse Thundering Like A War Drum. "The Bloodlines... They Are Fighting For Dominance."
He Looked At The Hole In The Ceiling. He Had Just Accidentally Revealed A Power That Didn't Belong To The Dungeons. It Was Something Older, Something Divine. If The Beings Behind The Rifts Saw This, They Would No Longer Treat Him As A Sovereign—They Would Treat Him As A Target.
"Li Mei," He Whispered, His Voice Hoarse. "Cover This Up. Tell The Ministry It Was A Reactor Overload. No One... No One Must Know What Really Just Happened."
Chapter 4: The Subjugation Of The Neighbor
The News From The Southern Border Was Grim. Refugee Caravans From Neighboring Nations Were Swarming Toward The Chinese Frontier, Begging For Protection From The Monsters Emerging From The Unstable Rifts.
Xun Long Arrived At The Border In An Unmarked Military Transport. He Didn't Come To Offer Food. He Came To Offer A Contract. He Stood On A Concrete Wall, Looking Down At The Thousands Of Desperate People. Among Them Were Former Ministers And Tech Giants From These Nations, Now Begging For A Place To Sleep.
"One Chance," Xun Long Said, His Voice Transmitting Through The Public Address System In Perfect Urdu. "I Will Open These Gates. But The Moment You Step Through, You Are No Longer Citizens Of Your Countries. You Are Assets Of The Iron-Yard. Your Wealth, Your Intelligence, And Your Blood Belong To Me. If You Rebel, You Will Be Fed To The Very Dungeons You Are Running From."
One Arrogant Former Politician Tried To Argue, Claiming International Human Rights. Xun Long Didn't Waste Words. He Motioned To An Omega Guard. Within Seconds, The Man Was Kidnapped From The Crowd And Brought To The Other Side Of The Wall, Where A Low-Level Dungeon Rift Was Still Active.
The Brutality Of What Followed Was A Message To Everyone Watching. Xun Long Watched With Indifference As The Man Was Consumed. He Gave Them One Chance, And They Saw What Happened When Someone Ignored It. One By One, The Refugees Knelt. The Expansion Had Begun.
Chapter 5: The Silent Shadow In School
Back At Sheng-Hwa University, Life Seemed Surreal. While The World Outside Was Falling Apart, The Classes Continued Under The Shadow Of The Violet Sky. Xun Long Sat In The Back Row, His Head Resting On His Hand, Looking Bored.
A New Group Of Students—Transfer Students From The West Whose Families Had Paid Millions To Secure A Spot In The "Safe Zone"—Tried To Assert Dominance. They Didn't Know Who Xun Long Was. To Them, He Was Just Another Local Student Who Looked Wealthy But Weak.
"Hey, Scholar," One Of Them Jeered In English. "I Heard You're The Teacher's Pet. Why Don't You Do Our Assignments? We Paid For This Education, We Shouldn't Have To Study."
Xun Long Didn't Even Look At Him. He Was Reading A Forbidden Text On Dimensional Anchoring. When The Student Tried To Grab His Book, Xun Long Simply Tilted His Head.
"I Will Give You One Chance," Xun Long Whispered In French, Then Russian, Then Urdu. The Student Froze, The Weight Of The Three Languages Crushing His Confidence. "Don't Be Loud In My Presence. I Value My Silence More Than Your Life."
The Student Laughed It Off, Calling Him A Freak. But That Evening, As The Student Left The Campus To Go To His Luxury Hotel, A Black Van Pulled Up. He Was Never Seen At The University Again. His Entire Family, Who Had Used Their Wealth To Buy Safety, Was Found To Have "Voluntarily" Donated Their Assets To The State And Moved To A Labor Camp In The North. Xun Long Didn't Need To Show Power In School; The Results Spoke For Themselves.
Chapter 6: The Venom Agency Upgrade
The Venom Intelligence Agency Was Now Operating At A Global Scale. Xun Long Had Upgraded Their Servers Using The First Dungeon Heart's Energy. They Weren't Just Hacking Computers Anymore; They Were Hacking Reality.
"Master," The Lead Operative Reported In Mandarin. "We Have Successfully Infiltrated The Elders' High-Council Meeting In Tokyo. They Are Planning To Assassinate You During The Upcoming National Day Parade. They Think Your 'Protection' Is Only Effective Within The University Walls."
Xun Long Smiled—A Cold, Predatory Expression That Made Even The Operative Feel Uncomfortable. "They Think I Am A Target? Good. Let Them Send Their Best. I Need More Samples For My Infinite Class Research. If They Send Assassins, I Get Free Research Subjects."
He Ordered The Deployment Of The Omega Security Detail To Tokyo. Not To Kill The Elders—Not Yet. But To Kidnap Their Most Loyal Enforcers And Bring Them To The Iron-Yard. He Wanted To See How A "Human Professional" Handled The Injection Of Dungeon Mana. The Brutality Of These Experiments Was Kept Secret Even From The Government. Only Xun Long And Li Mei Knew The Truth Of What Was Happening In The Depths Of The Scrap Yard.
Chapter 7: The Overture To Volume 11
As Volume 4 Came To A Close, Xun Long Stood Atop The Iron-Yard, Looking At The Horizon. The Sky Over Japan Was Turning A Dark, Sickly Red—A Sign Of A Higher-Level Rift Opening.
He Could Feel The God-Tier Bloodlines Within Him Reacting To The Red Sky. A Small Blast Of Energy Erupted From His Foot, Leveling A Pile Of Scrap Metal. His Luck Was Pulling Him East, Toward The Elders, Toward The Chaos.
"China Is Secure. The Surrounding Nations Are Subjugated," Xun Long Murmured In Urdu. "But The World Is Still Too Loud. Li Mei, Prepare The Sovereign One. We Are Going To Tokyo. I Want To Be There When The First Elder Realizes That The Boy They Mocked... Is The Only Thing Standing Between Them And Extinction."
He Looked At His Hands, Which Were Now Glowing With A Permanent, Faint Violet Hue. The Struggle For Survival Was Over. The Struggle For Dominion Was Just Beginning.