He swallowed a Strength Fruit first. Five hundred more jin — he was at eight hundred-plus now. The Agility and Vitality fruits added one each. The Mind Fruit gave him no chime at all.But he could feel it. His thoughts moved sharper. Every sound within a kilometer of him was an open book. He'd never had senses like this. Whatever else mental strength did, it didn't hurt.He could hear the lake now. Not just the water — the thin ripple of something breathing under it. He didn't want to know what that meant.He flexed his hand. Strong now. If he ran into Hank again, at least he could die with posture. One good punch first. Even if it only bruised the man's ego.He cracked open the Signature Weapon Blind Box.A battered sickle.He wasn't surprised. He was a Farmer. What, had he expected a cannon? A sickle made too much sense. He swung it experimentally. It added a hundred jin to his strength — more than the hoe. A weapon, even a farm weapon, counted. He'd use it later.He set it down gen

If I bring him back to my homeworld and break him as my slave, I'll never run out of food again.Song watched Ethan across the clearing, her purple eyes half-lidded, and turned the thought over like a piece of fruit she hadn't decided whether to eat. She'd been out of stasis long enough to know her people would have noticed she was gone by now. Twelve of them had come through the rifts together, and she'd been the smallest, the weakest, the one who'd gotten left behind. They'd come looking. When they did, she'd hand this human over, chain him to a field, and let him grow whatever he wanted for the rest of her very long life.She smiled into her own hand.Ethan touched the tattoo on his wrist—the Ice Spirit Bracelet Song had sealed onto him two nights ago—and studied the alien woman across the fire.She's sitting on a fortune. Every artifact on her, every jewel she'd worn the night she rose from the lake, every trinket from her homeworld that she'd probably forgotten she was carrying.

"My classmate's address is—" Ethan gave it. Then: "Don't storm the house. If they know you're there, they kill the family first. Just confirm who we're dealing with.""You want what?" Cheng stared at him. The implication landed, and his stomach went cold. A farmer kid with an E-rank Class was planning to take on Blood Fiend on his own. "Ethan. Their bottom-rung people are level forty. Forty or fifty. You're—""I know." Ethan didn't raise his voice. "I'm just asking you to confirm they're Blood Fiend. And keep back. If they feel the Enforcers watching, they slaughter the family. I can't bet my friend's life on that."He paused. "Also—my friend's an A-rank Swordsman. If he grows up, he's going to matter. Don't underestimate him."Cheng started to argue, looked at Ethan's face, and stopped. The kid wasn't bluffing. Whatever he had planned, he'd already decided to walk into it.Ethan hung up. He sat with it for a minute, then called Felix back.The Chen living room had gotten worse.A Blo

"Move." Vulture herded his eight men and the bound Chens off the road and into the wilds.The Aberrations this close to the wall were weak—mostly D-rank trash. Vulture's team swatted them aside without breaking stride. The recent surge in monster numbers was bad news for Scavengers. To Blood Fiend, it was just scenery.Thirty minutes later, they saw Ethan.He was standing in the middle of a freshly tilled clearing, the hoe in his hand.Vulture's mouth watered. Alive. Capturing him alive meant a gene-modification reward from the organization. One more promotion, maybe even a shot at the Twelve Zodiac.Felix saw Ethan and his knees almost gave out. I did this. I led him here. If Ethan dies, it's my fault.Ethan's eyes went first to Felix. He was alive. He was cut up, but he was standing. Ethan let out a breath he hadn't known he was holding.Then he saw Xiruo.She was draped across Felix's shoulder, her shirt dark with blood, her face the color of paste. She'd followed Felix to his yard

"Take these." Ethan laid a stack of fresh vegetables on the table—cabbages, cucumbers, a basket of tomatoes. "Eat what you need. Text me if anything comes up."Guotao stared at the produce and held up both hands. "Absolutely not. I've seen the Exchange. A single cabbage goes for two hundred thousand. I can't take this.""I grew it." Ethan was already walking to the door. "It's not worth anything to me. Keep it."He clapped Felix on the shoulder and left.Guotao watched him go, then turned to his son. "You said he Awakened an E-rank Farmer. E-rank. Where does an E-rank Farmer get cabbages that sell for six figures?""His talent." Felix's head was still spinning. "It's his Class. Whatever it is, it's good. Dad—this stays in this house. Nobody outside. Nobody at the academy. Nobody at all."Guotao nodded slowly. He remembered the family meeting they'd had months ago, when Felix's acceptance had come through: Felix at Longhu, parents staying in Jiangnan, keeping an eye on Ethan for as lon