In the vacuum of space, sound could not travel.
The vast cosmos was a place utterly unfit for life. With no oxygen and temperatures reaching -270°C, it was a domain of inevitable death.
For an ordinary human—or even those who had reached higher levels of power—surviving there would be unthinkable.
Yet Daniel drifted through the void as casually as if he were walking through his own backyard.
After reaching the Peak Supreme Realm through the martial art Void Traversal, his body had transcended its natural limits, becoming something sustained purely by energy.
This was one of the greatest traits of that art—the transformation of a mortal body into something beyond.
The martial path had clear stages—from ordinary practitioners to higher realms like the Harmonious Realm, the Unrestrained Realm… and finally, the Peak Supreme.
Even so, Daniel knew this was not the end.
Beyond it lay a domain where existence itself underwent a qualitative change.
Adult dragons, for instance, stood at that level.
That was why he had been powerless against them.
"Luckily… only two remain," Daniel thought.
Before encountering them, he had once considered himself powerful. Only after facing that terrifying draconic race did he realize how limited his perspective truly was.
After the sacrifice of his disciples, his power had been forcefully elevated, and his vitality completely restored.
With his current strength, knowledge, and physique, he believed that if he gave it his all, he would stand a good chance against them—one at a time.
—
The System that aided humanity was far from perfect.
Its limitations were obvious.
The most talented were held back.
Others could barely progress.
Because of this, resisting the constant invasions from other races had become an overwhelming struggle.
Martial arts proved far more effective, but even they required proper preparation before awakening.
Daniel understood that better than anyone.
Other worlds followed entirely different paths.
In the Murim World, everything revolved around cultivating Qi and martial evolution.
In the Runic World, power came from inscribing and activating runes capable of altering reality itself.
As for the Eragon Empire, soul techniques, magic, and combat were fused into a single system, producing highly versatile warriors.
Humanity, on the other hand, had received something… different.
An interface.
Something that seemed too convenient.
But its purpose… was something else entirely.
Daniel suspected an external interference—something far beyond even the dragons.
And that… bothered him.
—
At NASA's space observation center, chaos reigned.
Voices overlapped. Arguments broke out across the room, while the frantic clatter of keyboards filled the air.
Old monitors displayed distorted images, static lines flickering across the screens.
Theories emerged every second.
Some claimed it was the body of a missing astronaut drifting near the Moon. Others immediately refuted it—the figure was upright, arms crossed, its gaze imposing, showing no signs of lifeless rigidity.
Without atmospheric pressure, the body should have been completely deformed.
The transmission itself flickered with delays and distortions, as if the signal struggled to remain stable.
"This is impossible…" someone muttered, their voice trembling.
"Zoom in! Now!" another shouted, unable to contain their panic.
Alisha watched in silence, her eyes locked onto the screen, analyzing every detail despite the poor image quality.
The Marshal and the Admiral stood just as rigid, though tension was clearly visible in their expressions.
President George maintained a neutral face, but his fingers tapped lightly against the table—a clear sign of unease.
The trio's real concern, however, was Michel, the CIA director, who was making calls with a faint smile, completely unfazed by the chaos around him, using a secure landline.
"Hmph! I still don't understand how a psychopath like him got that position," Alisha muttered under her breath, biting her lip in disdain.
She had competed for that very position, but his influence with the hidden powers of the U.S. had proven insurmountable.
Through her investigations, Alisha had uncovered atrocities—he was a lunatic who conducted human dissections and grotesque fusion experiments with animals.
Crimes worthy of countless death sentences.
And yet, there he was—sitting in one of the most powerful chairs in the nation.
"Kyaa! He… he disappeared!"
The desperate scream cut through the room like a blade.
Everyone turned sharply toward the main screen.
The figure was gone.
For a brief moment, no one breathed.
The silence that followed was suffocating.
Then, Admiral Thomas' voice echoed through the room—this time carrying unmistakable tension.
"Look at the observation module feed… now."
Slowly, everyone turned.
And then—
A collective shiver ran through the room.
The man stood there.
Completely naked.
Right in front of the satellite's glass dome.
The image flickered slightly, as if the system struggled to process his presence.
There was no sound.
No movement.
Only him.
Inside the structure, three American astronauts stared, frozen in shock.
Their bodies trembled slightly, unable to react to the figure floating in the vacuum without any suit or oxygen supply.
Even the internal communication crackled faintly, as if the systems themselves were being affected.
One of them tried to speak.
Failed.
Another instinctively stepped back, bumping into the panel behind them.
The third simply stared, eyes wide, as if facing something their mind refused to accept.
The man waved.
A simple gesture.
Friendly.
Wrong.
Completely wrong.
He smiled.
And then made a gesture—
As if asking for permission to come in.
The astronauts retreated even further, panic now fully visible on their faces.
The air felt heavy. Suffocating. Even inside the station.
That presence…
…defied every natural law.