Chapter 226: Your internal pool is getting very dense

The sulfur mist from the lower siding didn’t rise into the sky; it drifted flat along the surface of the channel, turning the white glare of the naval searchlights behind the cliff into a dull, orange smudge. Out on the water, the twin diesel props of the lugger kept up a steady, vibration that rattled the iron brackets of the oil lamp, sending tiny rings of light across the damp wood of the ceiling beams.

Jun-ho sat near the center of the low hold, his large rubber boots planted two feet apart on the non-slip deck tiles. He had unbuckled the stone-gray plates of the Ashen Monarch Core Plate, setting the massive slabs flat against the cedar storage locker. His plain gray shirt was dark with condensation, the thin fabric sticking flat to his shoulder blades and outlining the dense, unyielding lines of his frame.

Inside his chest, the expanded lake of seventy-five hundred mana points was completely quiet, moving in a slow, deep circle that kept his skin perfectly warm despite the freezing rain outside.

Right at the corner of his left eye, the solid black blocks of text were waiting, perfectly silent.

[ Level: 31 ]

[ Unassigned Attribute Points: 5]

[ Active Trait: Ashen Domain (Phase 4 – 70-meter radius)]

[ Inventory: The Monarch’s Ledger (Bound)]

He didn’t look at his hands. He focused his mind entirely on the five fresh points waiting in his eye. To stabilize his Phase 4 domain against the long-range radar loops of the legacy fleets, his raw physical output needed a permanent, structural anchor.

"Put all 5 points into Mana," Jun-ho whispered into his own collar.

[Attribute Allocation Detected: 5 Points to Framework.]

[Applying 100x Multiplier to Resource Logic...]

[Mana increased by 500. Current Mana: 3200/8000.]

The shift inside his chest was completely silent. The frozen reservoir behind his ribs expanded by another full circle, a deep, heavy density settling into his left wrist and his thighs. The air right around his cedar chest grew thin, a thin layer of gray frost opening across the wood grain of the floorboards beneath his boots, a small disc of white ice forming exactly where his soles were planted. ℯℯ𝘭.

Rea slid onto the cedar locker right next to his side, her long bare legs exposed high along the silk line of her black tunic as she shifted her hips with a slow, deliberate swing. Her full crimson lips were inches from his jawline, her wild orchid perfume cutting right through the sour grease smell of the boiler pipe. She leaned her entire weight flat against his ribs, her golden-blue eyes spinning in a lazy, sharp circle under the oil lamp.

"Your internal pool is getting very dense, big guy," Rea whispered, her voice a deep, sultry purr that carried the heavy scent of wild orchids through the close cabin air. She reached out her bare hand, her fingers tracing a slow line down his forearm with a teasing, light friction that made his skin prickle against the frost.

"The ledger inside your duffel bag is already running the Phase 4 framework. The Sun King flagship just cleared the twelve-mile buoys, and they’re deploying their secondary search line across the harbor mouth. If we don’t lock this class upgrade into the ledger within three minutes, their deck mages will freeze the shipping channel from behind."

Lilith let out a low, dangerous growl through her teeth, her crimson eyes flaring with a dark fire as her voluptuous hips leaned even closer into Jun-ho’s side, her large chest pressing flat against his ribs to mark her territory. Her long, ink-black hair fell across his shoulder line in heavy waves, the tight crimson leather of her outfit straining against her rounded fullness as her lips parted into a breathless murmur. "The book has already locked my spirit to his chest, water girl. My hand is locked to his line, and the room down here doesn’t check the size of your scissors."

"The database log is still running the core synchronization, Jun-ho," Eun-bi said, her voice dropping into that flat, quiet public-sector drawl that was thick with an intense, sharp irritation.

She didn’t look at Lilith’s chest, keeping her gaze locked straight onto his face. She had her canvas bag slung tight across her gray flannel shirt, her dark hair wet and messy as her bare thigh stayed pressed firmly against the side of his rubber boot for stability.

"If you let this rogue broker crowd the narrow track with her hair and her incense, the system will trace the mana displacement before we can even unpack the high-tier cores. The registry belongs to the collective detail, not her private collection."

Jun-ho didn’t pull back from either woman. He reached out his right hand, his fingers closing around Rea’s narrow waist under the loose silk fabric of her tunic, while his left shoulder remained pinned against the hot, firm line of Lilith’s leather top. The dual friction made the suppressed lake behind his ribs pulse in a deep, slow rhythm that filled the entire dark hold with a silent, heavy weight.

"The contract boards require a live target," Jun-ho said, his voice low and steady in the small room. He turned his head slightly, his lips brushing light against the soft skin of Rea’s neck before looking back at Eun-bi. "The boards don’t check the outer sidings anyway."

Eun-bi let out a short, sharp chuckle through her teeth, her fingers slowly releasing the grip she had kept on her trauma scissors as she sat back down on the edge of the canvas mattress, her posture relaxing completely as the old wooden lugger slid deeper into the dark gray mist of the outer bay.

The boat bumped against the dark timber planks of the Black Slipway Market with a heavy, wet thud. Tae-woo and the four elite vanguards burst out of the forward hatch, their massive new Tier 4 frames forming a solid line of leather and muscle against the salt wind. Each man held his wide block of dark basin rock slung over his back like a massive stone shield, their iron knuckles clean and steady as they looked through the fog.

Jun-ho stepped onto the dark wood of the pier first, his large rubber boots making a quiet, firm thud that didn’t make the old structure creak an inch. With his level sitting at thirty-one and his mana capacity extended to eight thousand points, the air right around his gray hood turned cool, his Phase 4 domain keeping a slow, silent perimeter seventy meters wide across the floating market lane, freezing the wet grease on the timber planks instantly into a white sheet of hard glass.

"Old Man Jo is waiting behind the iron screen," Rea whispered, her breath warm against his bare neck as she led the way through the narrow aisle between two rusted containers, her hip wedged tight against his side. "Let’s go trade the cores before the central district fleet can even re-align their tracking loops."