The fog barrier surrounding Iron Cloud Mountain was thicker than usual, fed by the excess mana bleeding off the formation arrays.
Fatty Zhang stood at the main gate, checking his watch. He was wearing his usual expensive suit, but he kept glancing nervously at the swirling gray wall. He had lived here for weeks, managing the construction, but ever since he saw Lin Meng scream and sweat black tar, he looked at the place differently. It wasn't just a rich kid's hideout. It was a wizard's tower.
A taxi pulled up to the gate. The driver looked terrified of the fog and practically pushed his passenger out before speeding away back down the mountain road.
Su Yun stood alone on the asphalt. She wore a simple white dress, clutching her handbag. She looked pale. Since the incident in the warehouse, where she had watched a masked figure disintegrate a tiger, she hadn't slept well.
"Miss Su," Fatty Zhang called out, forcing a professional smile. "Welcome to Skyview."
"Zhang... Wei?" Su Yun recognized him, the loud, rich kid from class. Lin Hao asked me to come here. He said it was urgent.
"Yeah," Fatty muttered, swiping his keycard to open the pedestrian gate. "The Boss doesn't do 'casual' anymore. Come on. Don't touch the black posts."
They walked through the fog.
Su Yun shivered. The air felt charged, like the moment before a lightning strike. She felt pressure on her chest that made it hard to breathe.
Then, they broke through the cloud bank.
Su Yun stopped. Her jaw went slack.
The brutalist concrete mansion sat against the piercing blue sky, overlooking a sea of clouds. But it wasn't the architecture that stunned her. It was the feeling. The air here was sweet. The sunlight seemed sharper. And pacing on the front porch, looking like a mythical beast carved from shadow, was a black dog the size of a pony.
"What..." Su Yun whispered. "Where are we?"
"The safest place on Earth," a voice said.
Lin Hao walked out onto the porch. He was wearing simple black training gear. He didn't look like the quiet, invisible student she had sat behind for three years. He stood with a stillness that felt heavy.
"Come inside," Lin Hao said.
Five minutes later, the three of them sat in the main hall. The glass walls offered a panoramic view of the clouds below.
Lin Hao sat at the head of a long, mahogany table. Fatty Zhang sat on the right, fidgeting. Su Yun sat on the left, her hands clasped tight in her lap.
"I didn't call you here for a reunion," Lin Hao started, his voice calm and direct. "I called you because you two are the only people outside my family who know the truth."
He looked at Su Yun. "You saw the Masked Expert."
Su Yun nodded slowly. "It was you. I knew it. The height... the voice..."
He looked at Fatty. "And you saw what happened to my sister."
Fatty gulped. "The black slime. The glowing skin. Yeah, hard to forget, Boss."
"The world is changing," Lin Hao said. "The news calls it an 'Awakening.' They think it's a slow, manageable process. They think the Guardian Families have it under control."
He leaned forward. The air in the room seemed to darken.
"They are wrong. What we have seen so far, the tigers, the fires, that was just the drizzle. The storm is coming."
He placed his hand on the table.
"I found something. Before the Pulse. A Legacy."
It was the standard lie, but delivered with his Level 9 charisma, it felt like absolute gospel.
"An ancient sect foresaw this era. They left behind a vault. Wealth. Knowledge. Power."
He gestured around the room.
"This villa isn't a house. It's a fortress built on that Legacy. And right now, I am the only member of this sect."
He looked at them, his eyes locking onto theirs.
"I cannot hold the gate alone. I need generals. I need people who can manage the mortal world while I handle the threats you can't see."
"Su Yun," he said. "You have a mind for organization. You're calm under pressure. I want you to manage the Sect's logistics. The finances. The public face."
"Fatty," he turned. "You have connections. You know how to grease wheels. I want you to be the procurer. The builder."
"But," Lin Hao paused. "To do this, you cannot be mortal."
He reached into his pocket and pulled out two glass vials. Inside, a clear, blue liquid swirled with a faint, inner light.
"These are 'Awakening Serums' from the Legacy," he lied. "They will force open your potential. It will hurt. It will be dangerous. But when you wake up, you will no longer be sheep waiting for the wolves."
He slid the vials across the table.
"This is the offer. Join me. Bind your fate to this mountain. Or walk away now, and I will erase your memories of this place."
Silence stretched in the room.
Su Yun looked at the vial. She thought of the tiger's jaws snapping inches from her face. She thought of the helplessness.
Fatty looked at the vial. He thought of his rich, empty life, where his father's money solved everything except his own fear.
Su Yun moved first. Her hand shot out and grabbed the vial.
"I'm in," she said, her voice trembling but firm. "I don't want to be a victim again."
Fatty gritted his teeth. He looked at Lin Hao, the guy he used to lend pencils to, who was now offering him superpowers.
"Hell," Fatty said, grabbing his vial. "If the world's ending, I'd rather be in the VIP section."
Lin Hao smiled.
"Good choice," he said.
He checked his interface. [Upgrade Points (UP): 13,006,130].
He had his team. Now, he had 3 million points to turn them into monsters.