Dark Tower

"You want to challenge a Red Zone with just a few people!?" Emily's voice rose, disbelief clear in her eyes. "That's crazy, Brother. We won't even make it to the dungeon entrance alive!"

A Red Zone wasn't just a high-risk area—it was a monster nest. Since the dungeon was already broken, creatures would constantly pour out, making the surrounding area a death trap. But Alex just smirked. 

That infuriating, confident smile. Emily clenched her fists. She hated how he always dragged things out, putting her in suspense instead of just getting to the point.

Before she could snap at him, Alex pulled out his storage box. "When I was gathering lifeforce, I captured a mutated saber-tooth wolf inside here." He pressed a few buttons, and in an instant—THUD. The wolf's corpse materialized on the floor. Emily's gaze flickered to it, then back to Alex. "You should know where I'm going with this."

Emily folded her arms, pouting. "Just get to the point already."

Alex chuckled at her impatience. "This one died from its own ability, but this box can also store living monsters, Emily." He gave her a knowing look. "With this, and my storage ring, I can capture as many monsters as I need. I just need to modify the slave contract formation and ensure they become my loyal force." He grinned internally. 'This is way faster than that VR game plan I had in mind. That would've taken ages to establish.'

Emily's eyes widened. "You're planning to build an entire squad of monsters?" Her brows furrowed. "And what do you mean by slave contract and formation?"

Alex blinked, then smirked. "Oh… I forgot you never read cultivation novels. I told you those books were a good investment—"

Emily deadpanned. "Don't try to justify your hobby.

Just explain."

Alex sighed, then broke it down. He explained how slave contracts worked—how they provided absolute control, ensuring obedience or instant death if broken. But for monsters with lower intelligence, he'd need to modify the contract to instill loyalty rather than just enforcing commands. As he spoke, something clicked in his mind. 'Mingyue's world should have something similar to a beast contract. I should ask her about it later.'

Emily sat back, thinking. Then she looked up. "Brother… how effective would that slave contract be on awakeners?"

Alex's brows lifted. "That depends on their ability Why?"

Emily's voice was calm, but her words sent a chill down his spine. "The Black Tower."

Alex's expression darkened. He knew exactly what that meant. The Black Tower was a prison for awakeners—but not just any prisoners. It was for the worst of the worst. Every single person inside was a psychopath. Killers. War criminals. Rogue awakeners who couldn't be controlled. "That place is under Hunter Association control."

Emily nodded. "Yes… but each of them is strong, Brother. Some of them are even three-star and four-star hunters." Her sapphire-blue eyes gleamed with something sharp. "If we use the slave contract, we can put them under our control. And since no one knows about this contract system— We might even be able to strike a deal with the Association."

Alex's smirk slowly returned. Now that was an interesting idea. Alex quickly shook his head. "Not worth it." Alex's voice was firm, unwavering. "You, of all people, should know how dark people can become. What do you think will happen if the slave contract falls into the wrong hands? If the Hunter Association gets their hands on it?" His expression darkened. "It would be worse than anything we've ever seen."

There were other reasons, of course. Alex had no intention of revealing qi to the Hunter Association. He had already planned to introduce a dumbed-down version of the cultivation method using mana. But the contract required qi to function.

Emily's gaze turned solemn. She had seen the darkest sides of humanity. She hated dark hunters—hated them to the bone. But the possibility of gaining power quickly had made her momentarily greedy. Because if they became strong enough, they could finally go to that dungeon— And confirm their father's fate.

Alex turned the storage cube over in his hands, playing with it absentmindedly. For the longest time, he had drawn a line—he wouldn't capture humans. But now… Was that line really so clear There were plenty of people in the Black Tower who didn't belong there. Rather than wasting resources, letting them rot in prison, wouldn't it be better to put them to use? A grin slowly crept onto his lips. "We can't touch the ones in the Black Tower… But don't you come across dark hunters in your missions, Emily?"

Emily's eyes narrowed slightly. "Yeah. A lot."

Alex pulled out another storage cube, this one without defects. "Here, use this for now. It's meant for inanimate objects. The inside is a vacuum, so if you store food, put it in another storage container first." He slid it across the table. "It should be useful for packing emergency items. I'll make you a better one later."

Emily picked it up, turning it over in her hands, her fingers tapping lightly against the interface. Alex continued. "Your idea wasn't wrong, but like I said— I don't want the Hunter Association involved." His gaze sharpened. "I'll modify the cube so you can use it to capture dark hunters during your missions. We'll use them as test subjects." His tone was casual. But Emily knew— This wasn't a joke. Alex had already decided.

A strange feeling settled in her chest. She wasn't sure how she felt about it… But she didn't disagree. Alex then pulled out a few qi crystals and a scroll. He handed them to Emily. "You should start cultivating too. But don't go too far—just reach the early Foundation stage so you can switch methods later if needed."

Emily looked at the transparent crystal in her palm. It had a slight orange hue, different from the blue glow of mana crystals. She tightened her fingers around it, feeling the raw, untamed energy inside. Alex leaned back and added— "Oh yeah, one more thing." He took out a storage ring, placing it on the table. "You should be able to use this once you reach the Foundation stage." His expression turned serious. "But remember— Unlike cultivators in Mingyue's world, we don't have ambient qi. We have to rely on qi crystals to recover. I don't have a lot of them right now, so use them sparingly."

Emily picked up the ring, rolling it between her fingers before slipping it onto her palm. She met Alex's gaze. "I'll be careful." For once, she wasn't arguing. Alex nodded. This was just the beginning.