Beneath the cover of a pitch-black night...
Logan stared at the building before him, which was still radiating a staggering aura, and found himself completely dazed.
The wildly fluctuating Hetero-Energy signature had indeed stabilized. But for Logan, the overarching problem was that it had stabilized at an utterly ridiculous level. He felt like a hopeful lottery ticket holder who had just checked the winning numbers and won the ultimate grand prize, except now, he suddenly lacked the courage to step forward and claim it.
It was only now that the urgent voice of the Golden Lion, communicating from the spaceship stationed in deep space, finally crackled in his ear.
"General, get out of there immediately!" the Golden Lion's tone was frantic. "The radar console indicates that the Hetero-Energy signature we detected earlier has completely erupted! It's right on top of you!"
The Golden Lion shouted his warning from the control room, but the other end of the transmission remained completely, uncharacteristically silent.
"General? General?!" the Golden Lion pressed anxiously.
After a long pause, Logan's voice finally came through the comms.
"You're too late," he stated, his voice completely hollow of emotion.
If the Golden Lion's report had been just thirty seconds later, Logan probably would have already knocked on that front door.
"General, what do we do now...?"
Beside him, the surrounding shadow soldiers turned their eyes toward Logan, waiting single-mindedly for his orders. Even though the Hetero-Energy that had just erupted before them was incredibly powerful and terrifying, a soldier's absolute duty was to obey their superior's command. Even if the Snow Emperor herself, or some other demonstrably invincible opponent, were waiting inside that building, they had no justification for a retreat.
Logan cut the communication channel, his silent gaze locked onto the building. He let out a slow sigh.
"Things have escalated past a point I can comprehend. But regardless of what lies ahead, let us go meet this entity."
With those words, Logan took a step forward. His soldiers followed him in lockstep, their resolve unshakeable.
Meanwhile, on the other side...
Inside that dilapidated house.
Master Wyatt's eyes were wide with shock. For all his composure, he couldn't stop a look of pure astonishment from breaking across his face, entirely failing to control his emotions. The refined restraint of a hundred-thousand-year-old sage completely shattered at this exact moment. He stood entirely rigid, his eyes refusing to blink.
If anyone else had been standing in his shoes, their reaction would have been identical.
A man with a bizarre aura, whose Hetero-Energy level at its lowest was no different from an ordinary civilian, had suddenly dropped out of nowhere, asked him a single question, and then, in the span of a single breath, skyrocketed from a common human baseline straight to a full-fledged Nebula Body powerhouse right before his eyes.
Whoever witnessed that would have their jaw hit the floor, unable and unwilling to utter a word.
Master Wyatt remained silent for a long time, allowing the dissipating vortex of Hetero-Energy to wash over him. He asked, his voice laced with uncharacteristic self-doubt: "Your Excellency... exactly what kind of lifeform are you?"
The races that existed across the Seven Parallel Universes were countless, but he had never heard of a species born with a baseline Hetero-Energy capacity this gargantuan. At this moment, Master Wyatt was certain that Zoran, this traveler who had crossed over from another world, must have possessed a mind-bogglingly immense life energy level before he even set foot in this universe. It wouldn't even be an exaggeration to say he was a literal fragment of another world's primordial source!
Otherwise, why would the rules of this universe match him with such an astronomical amount of Hetero-Energy?
Inadvertently, a strange, profound emotion welled up within Master Wyatt's heart.
"A Nebula Body... cough, cough..." Master Wyatt sighed.
Countless races and warriors across the Seven Parallel Universes had struggled through endless cycles of reincarnation, and those capable of reaching this transcendent tier could be counted on a single hand. Yet here, a completely authentic, undeniable Nebula Body powerhouse had been abruptly generated right in front of him.
There had to be a limit to how absurd reality could get!
Master Wyatt took a deep, long breath, forcing his mental state to stabilize so his foundational convictions wouldn't waver. After pondering for a moment, he genuinely couldn't find the words to describe his current state of mind, finally spitting out a single modern phrase: "Unbelievable."
Across from him, Zoran was analyzing his current condition down to the absolute finest detail.
By accepting the matched Hetero-Energy, he had completely assimilated into the universal laws of the Ultra Beast Force. His Hetero-Energy had surged wave after wave before finally locking into its current plateau. Yet unlike Master Wyatt, his face bore absolutely no trace of surprise; it was as if he had anticipated this exact outcome from the very beginning.
"It's only natural, isn't it?" Zoran smiled faintly, speaking partly to himself and partly as an explanation to Master Wyatt.
As the Moon Demon, the sovereign representative of another world's primordial source, the power he now held did not exceed his expectations in the slightest. For a Demon born inherently omnipotent, a sudden influx of power was hardly enough to make him lose his poise.
He merely pulled his erupting Hetero-Energy back inward with complete serenity, calmly resting his hands together as everything returned to absolute stillness.
Finally, silence settled over the room once more, as if nothing out of the ordinary had ever occurred. The only evidence left behind was the interior of the house, which now looked like it had been thoroughly ravaged by a category-five hurricane.
Zoran composed his thoughts, surveying his surroundings. A sudden realization sparked in his mind.
This universe seemed to have quite a deep appreciation for the existence of a Demon; his current condition was the absolute proof. Feeling the raw strength circulating through his body, a satisfied glint flashed in the depths of Zoran's eyes.
At this exact moment, having successfully obtained this massive power, the thought that crossed his mind wasn't actually about himself.
A demonic lifeform was incredibly sought-after in this universe. To put it bluntly, Hetero-Energy here was practically a free giveaway, just show up, click, and claim your prize.
And yet...
Demons like him were far from a solitary occurrence.
Instinctively, a specific silhouette surfaced in the depths of Zoran's mind.
Master Wyatt watched the previously quiet Zoran suddenly crack a subtle, highly ambiguous smile. He couldn't help but feel a sudden pang of suspicion. Usually, when someone wore that kind of expression, what exactly were they plotting in their head?
"Fascinating," Zoran murmured, lowering the corners of his mouth as he lightly clapped his hands.
Not too far away, just outside the perimeter of the building, a reasonably competent aura was drawing very close. Logan had arrived.
That man truly was a warrior of unshakeable conviction; if it had been anyone else, they would have fled for their lives by now.
With a brief sweep of his thoughts, Zoran mapped out the general trajectory of events. The hundred-thousand-year reincarnation loop required the resurrection of Hades as a foundational element. Zoran had his own objectives and had no intention of derailing that prerequisite. Furthermore, he wasn't anyone's nanny, and Kino didn't exactly possess a personality he felt compelled to coddle.
Logan wouldn't actually do anything drastic to Kino anyway; if anything, he would ensure he repaid the debt of gratitude he owed Kino from a hundred thousand years ago in the previous cycle.
With these thoughts in place, Zoran turned to Master Wyatt and said, "A guest has arrived. I won't interfere."
Master Wyatt nodded, his gaze seemingly piercing through the darkness and the structural walls to look outside. He had sensed Logan's presence as well, but he wasn't worried. Master Wyatt was a man of genuine capability.
Watching Zoran float back down toward the lower level, Master Wyatt simply called out in curiosity, "Where are you going?"
Zoran didn't bother turning around, his tranquil voice drifting back over his shoulder: "Hold on a moment. I need to make a phone call."
He smiled. "A long-distance one."
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