With every passing second, Damian Cross found it harder to breathe.His vision blurred. The strength slowly drained from his battered body, while the endless ocean beneath him pulled the remaining warmth from his blood.Ten years had passed since the rain began.It had fallen without stopping until cities vanished, mountains became islands, and the world humanity once ruled disappeared beneath an endless sea. Then the creatures came—monsters that rose from the deepest trenches as mana awakened within the survivors.Damian had endured all of it.He had built the Greyhaven Sanctuary Arc, the largest and safest vessel still sailing the drowned world. More than two thousand families lived within its reinforced hulls and connected platforms. To them, Greyhaven was not merely a ship.It was the last place they could still call home.And Damian was the man who had kept it alive.Until this mission.A day earlier, Greyhaven had received a report claiming that the water was finally receding so

The third ring of her phone woke Naomi Grant.Still half-asleep, she reached across the bedside table and answered the call.“Hello?”“Naomi.”Her eyes opened instantly.Naomi sat upright and cleared the sleep from her voice. “Mr. Cross. It’s been a while.”Naomi Grant had served as the Cross family’s lawyer for ten years. She was more than an employee. She had grown close to Damian before his relationship with Sarah drove him away from nearly everyone connected to his family.At one point, many people had even expected Naomi and Damian to end up together.Then Sarah entered his life.After Damian married her, he cut contact with almost everyone he had once known.Naomi was the only exception.“Do you need something?” she asked, reaching for her glasses.“I want you to cancel every allowance being sent to my wife and her family.”Naomi went completely still.Until yesterday, Damian had been willing to pour nearly unlimited amounts of Cross money into the Moore family. Now he wanted to

After activating the dimensional ring, Damian immediately turned his attention to the Greyhaven Ark. This time, he intended to build the Ark larger and stronger than the one from his previous life.Back then, upgrading Greyhaven had been a constant struggle. Civilization had already collapsed, leaving them to rely on rusted wreckage and whatever scraps they could recover from submerged cities.But the Great Flood had not begun yet.Factories were still operating.Engineers were still alive.Every material he had once begged the ocean to return was still available for purchase.“This should be enough.”Damian studied the blueprint one final time.A cold mechanical voice suddenly echoed inside his mind.[Level 100 Grand Ark blueprint detected.][Blueprint recorded in the System Archive.][Level requirements not met. Blueprint cannot be constructed.] Damian froze.The drawing vanished from the paper in front of him.At the same time, a translucent screen appeared in the air. Damian dro

Sarah still couldn’t believe what had just happened.Damian had really divorced her. As if that weren’t enough, he had also reclaimed the house where her family had been living.“That bastard! Who does he think he is, taking this house away from us?” Grace shouted furiously.The Moore family stood helplessly outside the house, watching the bank representatives remove the few possessions they were permitted to keep.“No! Where’s my computer? What about my car?” Tyler demanded when he saw the men locking the gate.Only a few pieces of clothing had been returned to them—and they were old clothes the family no longer wore.“Oh my God! My bags! My jewelry! Everything is still inside! Open this gate!” Grace shouted in panic.Sarah clenched her fists.“What is the meaning of this? Why aren’t you returning all our belongings?” she demanded.The manager stepped forward.“We are merely following the court order, Ms. Moore. According to the ownership records, everything inside the property belon

The entire hall fell silent when Naomi Grant entered.Every pair of eyes immediately turned toward her.Naomi hurried over to Damian.“Mr. Cross, are you all right?”Sarah’s mouth fell open.Her gaze darted between Damian and Naomi as she struggled to process what she had just heard.“Did she just call him Mr. Cross?” Grace asked in disbelief.Tyler laughed nervously.“Well, Damian’s last name is Cross too. Technically, that makes him Mr. Cross.”“Isn’t she his lawyer?” Adrian asked suspiciously.Sarah straightened her back.The very idea that Damian could be the mysterious Mr. Cross was impossible. Her former husband and the chairman of Cross Corporation couldn’t possibly be the same person.“You again?” Sarah asked. “Aren’t you Damian’s lawyer?”Then she let out a mocking laugh.“Did my ex-husband impress you so much that you even followed him here?”Naomi narrowed her eyes and turned toward her.“Aren’t you Sarah Moore, one of Cross Corporation’s project managers? How dare you caus