Free Web NovelChapter 32: 32 | Storm Empress!
The rest of the day felt... strange. Not because anything wild happened. But because nothing happened.
It was too quiet.
At first, Dexter didn’t mind. The girls finally had hope again.
He’d handed them a way to cultivate that danced right past their shattered meridians.
That was huge.
Of course they’d be excited.
But after several hours, he realized he had been ignored.
Completely ignored.
They’d eaten exactly once the whole day — early morning, when the food cart arrived and he’d made them that medicinal tea.
After that? Nothing. Lunch came and the plates sat untouched Cold food, closed doors, and three girls lost in their own glowing little worlds.
Dexter leaned against the bedroom doorway, arms crossed, watching them like a parent whose kids had discovered a new video game.
Mira was by the window in her wheelchair, eyes pressed shut. Tiny waves of mana rose and fell around her like a warm breeze. Inside the bedroom, Selene sat cross-legged on the bed, breathing slow and steady, each inhale and exhale perfectly in sync with the Grand Cosmos Scripture.
And Lyra? She’d claimed the living room sofa, glasses on, eyes closed, deep in her own cultivation trance.
Three spots. Three girls. Three absolute cultivation maniacs.
Dexter sighed loud enough to shake the walls. "I’m starting to feel like a forgotten houseplant in this room."
No one even twitched.
He shook his head, a tiny smile tugging at his lips. "Maybe I should’ve waited a few more days before teaching them."
But he wasn’t really upset. Honestly? This made him happy. The way they dove in so obsessively meant one thing: those dark thoughts of ending it all were gone. They’d found hope again. A belief that one day they’d stand at the top once more. And that was everything.
So, with nobody interested in food, Dexter sat down alone and pulled the entire dinner tray toward himself.
As he ate, he noticed something else his bloodline evolution had done to him.
His appetite had gone completely wild.
Since his body upgraded, he needed almost three times as much food. His stomach was like a bottomless pit.
He stabbed a hunk of steak and muttered, "Great. First Lyra was the endless eater... now I’m turning into a clone of her." He chuckled at his own joke, then grabbed the remote and flipped on the TV.
The screen flicked through boring stuff, political chatter, monster attack updates, Hero Association announcements, ads for protein bars. Then suddenly, an emergency broadcast took over.
A female reporter’s urgent voice cut through.
The screen showed chaos. Big yellow letters at the bottom read: [LIVE BROADCAST — DETROIT COUNTRY DISASTER RESPONSE].
Dexter’s eyebrow went up.
The camera zoomed out. Far off in the ocean, a gigantic luxury yacht had snapped clean in two.
Both halves were sinking fast.
People screamed, jumping into the churning water, clinging to bits of wreckage while others were already slipping under.
The reporter’s voice shook. "A disaster off the coast of Detroit Country! The Aurora Queen, a massive luxury vessel, has suffered a catastrophic structural collapse and split in half roughly twelve kilometers from shore. Over one hundred passengers are now stranded at sea—"
Before she could finish, the camera jerked upward. A howling gust of wind ripped across the ocean. The clouds spun like a stirred pot.
And then she dropped from the sky.
Long silver-white hair streamed behind her like a banner. A tight battle suit gleamed under the sun. Her eyes were gold and cold as winter.
She hung in the air, not moving, yet the sheer power bleeding off her made the screen seem fragile.
The broadcaster’s voice exploded with excitement. "She’s here! The pride of the younger generation! The rising symbol of global hero supremacy! Storm Empress!"
Dexter’s eyes narrowed. He set his fork down.
She moved.
"BOOM!"
The air cracked like thunder. She shot forward so fast the camera could barely track her. In a blink, she reached the broken yacht.
Each half of that ship weighed several hundred tons, heavy as a small building. Without a pause, Storm Empress reached out both hands. One grabbed the front half, the other grabbed the rear half. And she lifted.
Dexter’s chewing stopped dead. His eyes stretched wide. She was carrying both halves. In each hand. Like they were grocery bags.
The giant chunks of metal rose into the sky as if they weighed nothing. Passengers still trapped onboard screamed in disbelief.
Calmly, she flew both sections to the beach and set them down, gentle as placing a sleeping baby.
Then she turned and shot back over the water, a blur of wind. The camera struggled to keep up. She plunged into the ocean and came back up clutching three people.
Then five. Then ten. Over and over. A living hurricane. In minutes, nearly eighty stranded passengers had been scooped up and set safely on dry sand.
The newscaster’s voice boomed like an announcer at a sports final. "Another impossible feat by one of humanity’s greatest young protectors! Storm Empress proves again why she’s the strongest hero of her generation! At only twenty-four, she continues to rewrite what modern heroes can be! This — is the hope our generation looks up to!"
Dexter stared at the screen, jaw tight. His chest felt heavy. What he’d just seen was terrifying.
She could actually fly! And that speed, it was insane.
Enough raw strength to lift hundreds of tons like it was nothing. Durability to rocket through the ocean without a scratch. She’d left the Superhero Realm in the dust and was most likely at the Ultra Realm.
A 24 year old Ultra realm hero was astonishing. She has most likely broken some sort of record.
He leaned back and sighed.
The gap between him and the world’s true monsters was still an ocean wide. He fixed his eyes on Storm Empress frozen on the screen. So that’s the level I need to reach someday... No. That’s the level I need to crush.
Right at that moment—
DING!
A familiar golden glow blinked in front of his face. The 10,000 Times Investment System.
Dexter straightened up, heart kicking. A second message appeared beneath it.
---
[10,000x Investment System Activated.]
[You imparted the Grand Cosmos Scripture to your wives.]
[Calculating multiplier...]
[Multiplier Achieved: 100x.]
[Reward Generation In Progress...]
---
[You have received...]
