*Pop.*

Feng Ye’s hammer slammed down as if striking space itself. The air visibly warped under the impact. Beneath that terrifying force, the monster’s head first deformed—then shattered completely. Its skull, hard as it was, crumpled like tofu under the stone hammer, bursting apart with flesh and brain matter.

That single strike caved in the monster’s skull. To Feng Ye, it was as effortless as smashing a watermelon.

The gory spectacle froze the onlookers. Their eyes nearly popped out of their sockets—until the enraged monster sent them flying with wild swipes while they stood dumbstruck.

“Who *is* this guy?”

The Awakened struggled to their feet. The monster’s indiscriminate rampage hadn’t seriously injured them, but their legs felt weak. Watching Feng Ye land lightly after pulverizing the beast’s head, their hearts skipped a beat.

They’d battled this monster for ages without progress. Yet this unknown youth had crushed one of its heads with a single hammer blow. It defied belief. They whispered among themselves, asking if anyone recognized Feng Ye. Blank stares answered them. Even the broad-shouldered shield-bearer—who knew nearly every B-Rank and A-Rank hero in Haven City—couldn’t place him. The S-Class elites were all public figures, and Feng Ye matched none. He must be a newly promoted A-Rank Awakened.

“If we’d known an A-Rank was here,” grumbled a swordsman hefting a heavy blade, “we wouldn’t have wasted time on that messy delay tactic.” He plopped down on the ground, done fighting.

The shield-bearer sighed into his comm. “Coldshot, stand down. An A-Rank’s taken over the monster.” He didn’t know Feng Ye’s exact rank, but that hammer strike proved power rivaling an A-Rank. As a veteran B-Rank himself, he’d been helpless against the beast.

A flat “*Mhm*” crackled through the comm. No one knew what the distant sniper felt.

Soon, only Feng Ye remained fighting. The monster’s full fury locked onto him. Its two remaining heads glowed crimson; massive claws slashed down like thunderbolts—claws that had shattered the shield-bearer’s defenses. Feng Ye didn’t flinch. He pulled his wrist back, then thrust it forward. His war hammer met the claw head-on.

A sickening *crack-crack-crack* of splintering bone echoed. The monster’s hulking form flew backward with a pained shriek. But the hammer’s force didn’t stop there. A shockwave erupted from the impact point, tearing through the beast’s body and blasting the street behind it into rubble under razor-sharp wind pressure.

The monster crashed to the ground, blood oozing from every orifice. Its two heads lolled limply—clearly dying.

“Tangtang… pinch me?”

Lin Chuan had sidled up to his sister just in time to see Feng Ye flatten the monster. His jaw dropped wide enough to fit an egg. “Am I dreaming?” He tugged Lin Tang’s sleeve, disbelieving.

She elbowed him in the gut. He crumpled, clutching his stomach.

“*Ughhh!* Y-you—you little brat! I just asked for a pinch!” Lin Chuan gagged.

“You wanted proof you weren’t dreaming,” Lin Tang said coolly. “This is more… direct.”

“But why channel Spirit Energy into it?!” he wheezed. “Trying to kill me?”

“The sharper the pain,” she replied, “the surer you are it’s real.”

Ignoring her brother’s groans, she gazed starry-eyed at Feng Ye. He’d dismissed his War Spirit and now stood atop the monster’s corpse. *This* was his true strength. How could the Ye Clan call him a disgrace? Did they spend too much time on StarCraft to see clearly?

Yet recalling his official Awakened rank, Lin Tang suspected hidden complications.

Feng Ye clicked his tongue, poking one of the monster’s heads with his boot. “This thing feels like three different Beasts stitched together. If it was *born* like this… ugh.” The mental image of three Beasts tangled in… *activities*… made his skin crawl.

Other Awakened gathered around the corpse, pointing and murmuring like zoo visitors. Unwilling to be part of the exhibit, Feng Ye hopped down.

Far away, in a high-rise room, the smug doctor and Meteor stared, dumbfounded. The doctor’s wineglass had shattered when Feng Ye’s first hammer blow exploded the monster’s head. Crimson stains soaked his white trousers, unnoticed. His face turned ashen as he watched the fallen beast. After several deep breaths, he growled, “Who was that hammer-wielding bastard?”

Meteor snapped out of his shock and pulled up the Awakened team’s files—a perk of his new A-Rank status. He found Feng Ye’s profile. His expression twisted as he read it.

“Well?!” the doctor snapped, seeing Meteor frozen like a flickering salon sign. “Who is he? How dare he ruin my plan!”

Meteor wordlessly handed over the tablet. The doctor’s face cycled through every color of that salon sign before he hurled the device against the wall. “Like hell! Do they think I’m a child? A *D-Rank* killed my custom A-Class Hybrid Beast? Next they’ll say huskies can drive cars! He’s hiding something!”

Fury warred with caution on the doctor’s face. “He might be an Association inspector. They’ve sniffed out our research.”

“That’s my fear too,” Meteor said grimly. “We’ll audit our staff. There’s a mole.”

The doctor nodded darkly. “What now? Abandon the specimen?”

“Tactical retreat,” Meteor advised. “Avoid attention. Destroy its core and genetic data. Leave no traces for the Association.”

“I prepared for this,” the doctor sneered. “Even if I didn’t trigger the self-destruct, their primitive labs and incompetent staff couldn’t crack my research in ten years.”

Still, he pressed a remote. A gene-bomb embedded in the monster activated.

No one noticed the subtle shift. Then gasps erupted as thick mist poured from the corpse. Its massive form began melting away.

“Let’s go,” the doctor said. “I’m accelerating the experiments. We must perfect the ‘Transcendent Core’ before the Association moves.” He recalled his two subordinates sent to retrieve the gene-enhancer serum. If they failed, he’d activate Plan B.

Meteor cast one last, venomous glance at Feng Ye before following the doctor out.

He didn’t see Feng Ye—standing beside the dissolving corpse—suddenly turn and stare directly at their high-rise window, a thoughtful frown on his face.

“Brother Feng Ye,” Lin Chuan huffed, stomping over. “You played me! If I’d known you were this strong yesterday, I wouldn’t have overacted!”

“I used my Divine Artifact,” Lin Chuan complained, “and spent an hour flat on my back just to stand up. Then Old Man beat me and I spent *another* night bedridden!”