True to her unique class as a Combat Alchemist, Clara could craft an endless variety of potions.

She could even restrict a potion’s use to herself alone.

Alongside standard Healing Potions, she could brew offensive potions imbued with elemental magic, as well as status-effect varieties like sleep potions and paralysis potions.

Which raised one crucial question.

What exactly did she use to craft these potions?

Surprisingly, nothing more than pure water and Magic Stones.

Wait—just that?

“Huh? Boss, don’t you find it weird that mages can start fires, create ice, and breathe lightning using nothing but mana?”

…Fair point.

So what exactly was the difference between an alchemist and a mage?

“Clara, aren’t you actually a mage?”

“I thought so too at first! But no matter how hard I tried, I just couldn’t channel magic through the mana in my body. I could mimic it using Magic Stones, though.”

Maya chimed in with an explanation.

“Magic and alchemy may appear similar, but they are fundamentally quite different, Your Highness. A mage directly manipulates mana to create magic, whereas an alchemist manifests it indirectly through the medium of Magic Stones. To draw a comparison with modern technology, a mage would be akin to a state-of-the-art smartphone capable of doing anything on its own, while an alchemist is… well, a microwave. You need both water and electricity just to heat up a cup of noodles.”

That last analogy felt a bit off.

Regardless, it seemed Magic Stones and mana were remarkably versatile tools.

That would explain why superhumans could wield such extraordinary powers so freely without a second thought.

“But Boss, why is your place so small? Are you broke?”

Clara, the newest summoned being, was brimming with curiosity.

And she absolutely never held it back.

The question might have come across as rude at first glance, but considering Clara’s memories from her life, it wasn’t hard to understand where she was coming from.

Besides, wearing one’s heart on one’s sleeve like this actually made conversation easier in its own way.

Most tellingly, her bright, cheerful smile made it obvious there wasn’t an ounce of malice behind the question.

Still, why the place was small…

Jungho glanced around at the sight of four people—Lea, Maya, Clara, and himself—all standing in his studio apartment.

…It was cramped.

Until now, it hadn’t felt particularly tight. Lea and Maya had been training diligently in the Multi-dimensional Training Ground, and even during downtime, they would rest on the bed or sofa before heading back into the Dimensional Room to resume practice.

It was technically a two-room(?) apartment, and three people in a two-room was reasonable enough.

But with their numbers now swollen to four, things were getting a bit snug.

There were two possible solutions.

One: move to a bigger place.

Two: expand the Dimensional Room.

Both had their pros and cons, but one issue tipped the scales.

“Oh! But potion-making is going to produce a lot of fumes!”

“Fumes? The only ingredients are water and Magic Stones, though?”

“The process of altering properties involves evaporating or burning off impurities. So an open, well-ventilated space would be ideal.”

That would immediately trigger complaints in downtown Seoul.

Which was why expanding the Dimensional Room seemed like the better option.

But Clara had yet another dilemma to add to the pile.

“A Spring of Life? You mean a spring that produces the Water of Life?”

“I’m not sure about that much.”

“If it really is the Water of Life, you have to build that first! The Water of Life is completely free of impurities and doubles the effects of Magic Stones, so not only would it enhance performance, but it would also allow the creation of entirely new potions!”

Huh…

Adding the Spring of Life required two Source Stones.

Expanding the Dimensional Room required one Source Stone.

That was already three Source Stones needed.

But he currently only had two Source Stones.

And there was one more problem.

He planned to add another door to the Dimensional Room to rescue Liu Xiaolong’s sister, which would cost one Source Stone.

He could repurpose an existing door, but for convenience, he wanted to maintain at least three.

But looking at the situation, even if he received one Source Stone from Liu Xiaolong later, funds for various facility investments would still be tight.

“Clara, you can still work with just purified water for now, right?”

“Sure, though the effects will be reduced.”

“Then let’s go with that for now. I don’t think we’ll need potions for Tower climbing just yet.”

“Huh? Those two sisters may be terrifying, but I’m no slouch myself, you know?”

At that, Lea and Maya smiled at Clara for the first time.

“If we’re talking about Tower climbing, you staying here might actually be the more helpful choice.”

“Well said. There’s no need to complicate matters by inserting yourself into the line of fire.”

Clara felt puzzled for the first time.

Having more people capable of fighting in combat was obviously a good thing—so why were they trying to sideline an outstanding combat asset like herself?

It didn’t feel like simple posturing, either.

Jungho offered an awkward smile and changed the subject.

“More importantly, there’s something I’d like to ask of you three.”

Jungho explained in detail his desire to rescue Liu Xiaolong’s sister and laid out the operation plan.

The three women each voiced their opinions.

“Would it not be simplest to slaughter the Shanghai superhuman and his entire faction?”

When did she become a radical?

“You need to better understand international affairs, Dame Lea. Such unilateral action could provide the opposing nation with a pretext.”

Though she looked the youngest, Maya was capable of the most rational thinking.

“Furthermore, Korea is not yet entirely Your Highness’s domain. Such matters should be resolved at your personal discretion after you have claimed dominion over Korea.”

…She still hadn’t let go of her ambitions.

“A rescue mission? I show up and immediately get a fun assignment? Let’s go, let’s go! Boss!”

She might have seemed the least thoughtful, but hers was the most agreeable answer.

“Then I’ll head over right now.”

Jungho listened to the words of advice pouring from the three—no, two—of them and activated Teleport.

He had tested it several times already, so the skill itself was familiar.

But using it on a Tower other than Seoul’s Tower 25 was a first, and he was intensely curious about how it would feel.

Upon activating the skill, five selectable towers appeared, just like with Meteor Summoning.

He selected the Tower 13 in Shanghai.

Next was confirming the location.

Unlike Quest Insight, Teleport unfolded a three-dimensional map.

However, it was merely a three-dimensional grid of intersecting lines like a chessboard, making it difficult to distinguish individual objects in fine detail.

But he could make out the approximate size of rooms, so finding the apartment where Liu Huiying was staying wasn’t difficult.

Floor 35, room 317, was it?

The apartments were packed so tightly together that they might as well have been a giant chicken coop.

Before the skill’s activation window expired, Jungho hastily teleported into the apartment’s bathroom.

Surveillance cameras dotted every corner of the apartment, making the bathroom the only space with any semblance of privacy.

The bathroom interior… looked larger and nicer than the one in his studio apartment.

Hmm…

Should he actually move to a nicer place?

He hadn’t particularly coveted a bigger home, but seeing a spacious bathroom was changing his mind.

Jungho used one Source Stone to connect the closed bathroom door to the Dimensional Room.

*Beolkeong.*

The moment the door opened, the three women who had been waiting inside stepped out.

“Lord, this bathroom is rather spacious.”

“I should think a bathroom ten times this size would be more fitting for Your Highness.”

“Is the bathroom in that house really that small? Well, I suppose if the house is small, the bathroom would be proportionally tiny.”

Hmm…!

Maya immediately cast wind magic to block out sound.

“Your Highness, you may rest easy now.”

“Lord, there are no signs of anyone nearby. It appears the resident is out.”

“Should I make a sleep potion? Or a knockout potion?”

Normally, potion-making required long hours of careful preparation, but in a pinch, Clara could supposedly improvise with just drinking water and Magic Stones.

Though the effects would be significantly weaker, and the failure rate was apparently quite high.

Still, it would apparently work fine on ordinary civilians—but there was no need for such a cumbersome approach when a knife-hand strike from Lea would suffice.

…This was the normal way to think, right?

“Let’s head back for now.”

The door was now linked, so they could return easily at any time.

Furthermore, since he could monitor the exterior of the linked door from within the Dimensional Room, they could get to work—no, launch the operation, that is—the moment Liu Huiying returned.

They returned to the original studio apartment through the Dimensional Room.

Technically, he had just taken an overseas trip to China, but since he’d only toured a bathroom, it didn’t feel like much of anything.

His first overseas trip via Teleport, and it was a tour of a Chinese bathroom…

Jungho shifted his thoughts and asked Clara a question.

“Clara, what kind of smartphone would you like?”

Nothing beat a smartphone when it came to absorbing modern knowledge.

Clara received a Universe Phone and an Apple Phone from Lea and Maya, tested them both this way and that, then thrust both hands forward and answered:

“I’ll take both!”

This one truly had no concept of restraint.

* * *

Wang Wei.

Ranking first in the Shanghai Tower.

The Chinese authorities were still propagating the claim that all Thirteen Heroes had reached the 67th floor, but Wang Wei himself knew better than anyone that he was the only one who could shoulder what came next.

The massive support for conquering the top floor?

All of it was for him.

The power to command superhumans at will?

That, too, lay firmly in his grasp.

China had already learned firsthand through the Beijing Tower Collapse just how devastating and shocking it was to lose a major city.

Which was why they could never afford to lose Shanghai, China’s foremost city.

But upon reaching the 67th floor, he realized something.

Other nations, too, relied on only one superhuman—or at most two—to carry their towers.

Under such circumstances, there was no way any foreign superhuman would transfer to the Shanghai Tower using a Tower Affiliation Change Ticket.

In short, he was the sole ruler of the Shanghai Tower.

Of course, he wasn’t unaware of what had happened to the ranking-first superhuman of Seoul Tower in neighboring Korea.

Seeing that, he had one thing to say.

Dumb bastard.

The man was an attention-seeker with far too much greed.

He’d tried to hog everything for himself and brought about his own ruin.

Above all, he should have at least cleared the 65th floor before revealing himself, but he’d picked a fight with the government far too early.

In a word, an idiot doing idiotic things.

Looking deeper into the circumstances, one might understand why Kim Taemin had been left with no choice.

But Wang Wei had no interest, nor any need to know.

The two Shanghai superhumans he was currently watching closely were Liu Xiaolong and Jin Taiyang.

The Chinese authorities were grooming them as superhumans to back him, but they surely knew the underlying truth.

In China, it was par for the course for superhumans to be discarded like consumables once they outlived their usefulness.

Look at what had become of the superhumans once revered as the Thirteen Heroes.

On the surface, they still seemed to live comfortably, but in reality, they had long been grinding through the 60th-floor zones every single day without rest, farming items as a daily routine.

And so.

He needed to seize both of them by the throat before he ended up in the same situation.

The problem was.

Jin Taiyang was young and easily manipulated, but Liu Xiaolong—whether due to stubbornness or rigidity—showed no openings to exploit.

So what was there to do?

He would have to settle things from his end.

He had already assigned the assassination to Jin Taiyang, but…

There was a separate, surer way to finish off Liu Xiaolong.

Liu Huiying.

Eliminating the one family member he had left.

If she alone were to disappear…

Would Liu Xiaolong, having transferred his affiliation to the Seoul Tower, really want to return to Shanghai?

He could come back or not—it didn’t matter either way.

And if his fury blinded him to his surroundings, making him vulnerable to Jin Taiyang’s ambush, that would be fine too.

He had already bought off Guo Tao, a superhuman stationed at Heaven.

The man had long harbored a slimy lust for Liu Huiying, so all it took was a gentle nudge for him to volunteer for the task.

Today.

The moment Liu Huiying returned home this evening.

Liu Xiaolong would lose the only family he had left to care about.

In a way, wasn’t he granting Liu Xiaolong true freedom?

*Kuhahahaha!*

Wang Wei’s booming laughter echoed endlessly through his stately mansion, grand as a tycoon’s estate.