The Black Dragon Fortress drifted through the silent dark of Dimensional Anchor Space.
Here, time was severed.
One day inside the fortress equaled a single second outside the world.
No causality. No interference. A perfect womb for creation.
Deep within the ship, the Bio-Lab hummed with restrained violence. Equipment salvaged from Laboratory Seven had been fused into the fortress's systems—steel grafted to magitek, science stitched into sorcery. Rows of cloning vats lined the chamber, each filled with luminous green nutrient fluid, their surfaces trembling as if something inside were dreaming.
Su Chen stood at the central console.
Saya Takagi's fingers danced across holographic panels, streams of genetic data scrolling faster than the eye could track. Beside her, Xiao Yi Xian examined vials of reagents, her expression calm but intent, the Little Fairy Doctor fully in her element.
"The issue with the Insect Queen's forces," Su Chen said, voice steady, "isn't combat strength."
A hologram rotated before them—a dissected Magma Beetle, organs labeled, carapace peeled back to reveal a grotesquely efficient biology.
"It's reproduction," he continued. "They hatch in minutes. Lose a million, gain two million. My Skeleton Army is durable—but it isn't replaceable at that scale."
"So you want biological mass production," Saya said without looking up. "We've got cloning vats. Biomass isn't a problem—those insects practically donated themselves. But without a stable template—"
"We get tumors," she finished bluntly. "Mutant sludge. Not soldiers."
Su Chen turned his gaze to Xiao Yi Xian.
"That's where alchemy bridges the gap."
She raised a vial, liquid glowing faintly within.
"True Dragon Blood," she said. "Diluted to survivable levels. Dragon lineage is aggressive—but stable. It doesn't reject foreign genetic structures. If we combine it with the Tyrant Virus…"
"…we get controlled mutation," Su Chen said. "Regeneration. Adaptive growth. Strength without collapse."
He moved to the primary vat.
A container opened, dumping thousands of Insect Spirit Cores into the fluid. The liquid shimmered, energy dissolving instantly.
One drop of Ignis's Heart Blood followed.
Then—
The syringe plunged in.
The T-Virus spread like wildfire.
"System," Su Chen said quietly. "Apply Life–Death Cycle."
He placed his palm against the glass.
Green light—vibrant, generative—intertwined with cold gray decay. Life and Death clashed, then stabilized under sheer will. He didn't let the DNA choose its path.
He forced it.
The vat began to boil.
Cells multiplied violently, structure locking into place at a rate that mocked physics. Muscle layered over chitin. Bone reinforced itself mid-formation.
Ten minutes later, the fluid drained.
The chamber hissed open.
Something stepped out.
Two meters tall. Broad-shouldered. Its body was plated in black insect chitin, reinforced by Tyrant-grade musculature. Claws curved like execution tools. Faint orange embers burned in its eyes—dragon fire, restrained but present.
> Void Stalker — Generation One
Level: 30 (Elite)
Traits: Acid Blood, Accelerated Regeneration, Pack Intelligence
The creature hissed, disoriented.
Then it saw Su Chen.
It dropped to one knee.
Not fear.
Recognition.
Its genetic structure carried his blood. Loyalty wasn't programmed—it was encoded.
Esdeath leaned against the doorway, arms crossed.
"Hideous," she said. "But solid."
"It's a drone," Su Chen replied. "A prototype."
He turned slightly. "Babata."
"Current biomass allows for approximately one hundred thousand units," the AI responded. "Production time: forty-eight hours under Anchor conditions."
"Proceed," Su Chen said. "Fill the cargo holds."
---
The Pressure of Ascension
Creation handled, Su Chen turned inward.
The Gravity Chamber sealed behind him.
Gravity: 300× Earth Standard.
Even with his Gold Body, pressure screamed through bone and sinew. The air itself felt heavy, hostile.
This was necessary.
Evolution did not occur in comfort.
He sat.
Five High-Grade Spirit Stones floated around him, orbiting alongside the final reserve of Dragon Heart Blood.
> Objective: Star Traveler Rank
Requirement: Condense a planetary core within the Dantian
At Planetary Rank, his energy existed as turbulent mist—vast, powerful, but unfocused.
That would no longer suffice.
"Begin."
He inhaled.
The Spirit Stones shattered instantly, releasing a torrent of energy that poured into him like a collapsing star. Dragon Blood vaporized, soaking into muscle, bone, marrow.
Heat surged.
Five thousand degrees.
The chamber's floor warped. Reinforced plates glowed red. His Gold Body ignited, light pouring off him in blinding intensity.
Inside his Dantian, chaos raged.
Mist spun faster. Denser.
"Condense."
His Mind Authority closed around the energy like a vice.
CRACK.
The storm collapsed inward.
At the center of his Dantian, a tiny sphere formed—no larger than a marble. Solid. Spinning. Generating its own gravity.
A miniature planet.
> Evolution Successful
Rank Achieved: Star Traveler (Level 1)
Capabilities: Vacuum Survival, Independent Gravitational Flight
Su Chen opened his eyes.
Three hundred times gravity pressed down—
And meant nothing.
He stood effortlessly.
Not through telekinesis.
Through control.
"I've crossed it," he said quietly. "Star Traveler."
His system interface updated.
> Level 15 → Level 20 (Cap Unlocked)
He exhaled.
---
The Legion Awakens
Two days later—Anchor Time.
"Disengage Dimensional Anchor," Su Chen commanded. "Return to real-time flow."
Reality snapped back.
The Black Dragon Fortress reappeared above the Central Domain.
Below lay the vitrified ruins of the Volcano of Origins.
To the west, the sky darkened.
Storm clouds churned, alive with movement.
The Insect Queen had felt it.
"Open the bay doors."
The underside of the fortress split open.
Black shapes fell.
One hundred thousand Void Stalkers.
They hit the ground running—rolling, hissing, reforming instantly. Their bodies were designed for impact, their regeneration immediate.
Behind them marched the Skeleton Army, five thousand elites forming an unbreakable phalanx.
At their head stood the commanders:
Esdeath.
Saeko.
Albedo.
Lin Que providing overwatch from the ship.
Su Chen flew forward, hovering above them all.
His presence bent the air—a Star Traveler, carrying the gravity of a newborn world.
"We don't wait," his voice thundered, amplified by Thu'um.
"We advance."
"Target: The Hive of the Insect Queen."
"Objective: Extinction."
"MARCH."
The earth trembled as the legion moved.
Void Stalkers sprinted on all fours, faster than beasts ever should. Skeletons advanced in perfect formation.
From the west, the swarm answered.
Millions rose to meet them.
The war for the Central Domain had begun.
And for the first time—
The monsters of this world were not the apex predators.