It wasn't just because of the system's prompt.
It was also because of the door itself.
That was no ordinary stone.
The vein-like patterns pulsating on its surface were emitting an energy that made every cell in Qin Yu's body sing with joy.
That was... the scent of rules.
"Step aside."
Qin Yu reached out, trying to push the door.
It didn't budge an inch.
It was as if he had slapped the entire Earth.
The sheer weight of it reverberated back through his arm, making his bones creak.
"It's useless."
Behind him, Elena leaned against a pile of discarded alloy crates, clutching her chest.
Her face was pale, but there was still a hint of mockery in her eyes.
"Odin tried every method."
"Laser cutting, high explosives, even hydraulic jacks."
"This door is like it's grown into the void."
"Without the key, no one can open it."
Qin Yu withdrew his hand.
Rubbing his wrist.
"Key?"
He turned to look at this woman whose mouth remained sharp even when injured.
"That fool Odin."
"In this world."
"The greatest key."
"Is violence."
Qin Yu didn't try to push the door again.
He took two steps back.
Snapped his fingers.
"Hum—"
The liquid metal that had been coiled at his feet suddenly began to boil.
It didn't attack the door.
Instead, it flowed along the edges of the doorframe.
Like countless tiny drills, it frantically burrowed into the surrounding walls.
"What are you doing?"
Elena was stunned.
"Since the door won't open."
Qin Yu pulled an energy bar from his pocket and took a bite.
He spoke with his mouth full.
"Then I'll tear down the wall."
"Take the door with me."
"And open it slowly."
"Madman..."
Elena murmured to herself.
This was the underground foundation of the Ice-Free Port!
That was permafrost with hardness comparable to S-Class alloy!
"Crack! Crack!"
A harsh shattering sound rang out.
The entire underground warehouse began to shake violently.
Dust fell in showers.
The liquid metal in Qin Yu's hand was a monster fused with S-rank material.
Cutting through this kind of rock was no different from cutting tofu.
Five minutes later.
"Up!"
Qin Yu shouted lowly.
His right hand made a grasping motion in the air.
Countless liquid metal tentacles instantly tensed.
"Boom!!!"
With a deafening roar.
The massive stone door, along with a thick layer of its rocky frame.
Was actually forcibly ripped out!
Where the door had once been embedded.
Only a pitch-black, gaping hole remained.
Bottomless.
A chilling wind howled through it.
"Fatty!"
Qin Yu called out without turning his head.
"Coming, coming!"
Qi Chun, wearing ill-fitting armor, scurried over.
Seeing the stone door floating in mid-air, his eyes nearly popped out of his head.
"Holy shit!"
"Brother Yu, are you planning to dig up their ancestral grave?"
"This thing looks downright sinister..."
"Enough nonsense."
Qin Yu manipulated the tentacles, steadily placing the stone door, which weighed dozens of tons, onto the engineering robot's tray.
"Transport it back to the ship."
"Place it next to my core control room."
"If it gets so much as a scratch..."
"I'll just cut off that fat of yours and patch it up."
"Don't do that!"
Qi Chun let out a miserable cry.
He quickly directed several robots to carefully carry the stone door out.
As he walked, he muttered under his breath.
"What kind of world is this?"
"Stealing money, food, and women is one thing."
"But even doors are being stolen..."
Qin Yu ignored Fatty's grumbling.
His gaze.
Fell on the remaining items in the warehouse.
Although the core door had been dug out.
The supplies filling this warehouse were still a windfall.
Especially the pile of metal ingots glowing with a faint blue light in the corner.
[Name: Deep Sea Mithril (Purified Version)]
[Rating: S-Grade Rare Material]
[Description: A special metal extracted from deep-sea volcanic fissures, possessing extremely strong energy conductivity.]
"Good stuff."
Qin Yu felt it.
In the weapon case on his back.
The dormant "Netherworld: Death's Kiss."
Was vibrating.
It was desire.
It was hunger.
"You want to eat?"
The corner of Qin Yu's mouth lifted slightly.
He placed his hand on the pile of mithril.
"Then eat your fill."
"Hum!"
The sniper rifle on his back flew out automatically.
The gun body instantly liquefied.
Like a greedy maw.
It directly pounced on the pile of mithril.
"Sizzle—"
Devouring.
Frenzied devouring.
The originally silvery-white mithril visibly diminished.
On the pitch-black body of "Death's Kiss."
Dark blue streams of light began to appear.
As if lightning flowed through its veins.
[Ding!]
[Exclusive weapon "Netherworld: Death's Kiss" is devouring S-rank Material...]
[Energy replenishing... 30%... 50%... 80%...]
[High-energy metal injection detected!]
[Dormancy period forcibly shortened!]
[Current status: Awakened!]
The weapon, which originally required 72 hours to cool down.
With the support of financial power.
Took only ten minutes.
To regain its vitality.
And.
It was stronger.
Qin Yu reached out and grasped the gun body.
That cold, heavy, destruction-filled sensation.
Brought him peace of mind.
"Such a waste..."
Qi Chun, who had just returned after moving the stone door, saw the mithril pile now less than half its size.
He clutched his chest in pain, slapping his thigh.
"Brother Yu!"
"That's mithril!"
"One gram can be exchanged for ten tons of fresh water!"
"And you just fed it to that thing?!"
"This isn't raising a gun; it's raising a gold-devouring beast!"
Qin Yu slung the gun back over his shoulder.
Glancing at the heartbroken Fatty.
"Only dead enemies."
"Are good enemies."
"Only resources spent."
"Are combat power."
"What's the point of keeping this scrap metal?"
"Waiting for the next Odin to steal it?"
Qi Chun opened his mouth.
Unable to refute.
He could only silently shed tears of poverty.
"Alright."
Qin Yu clapped his hands.
"The remaining junk."
"You handle moving it."
"I'm heading back to the ship."
"Those new 'tenants.'"
"Are still waiting for me to arrange their accommodations."
...
Night fell.
In the far north, night.
Always comes especially fast.
Although the "sun" was still burning, it could only illuminate an area of a few dozen nautical miles.
Further out.
Remained endless darkness and bitter cold.
The "President" was docked at the pier.
Brightly lit.
On the deck.
Li Ruobing held an electronic roster, her brow furrowed tightly.
"Qin Yu."
Seeing Qin Yu return, she immediately went up to him.
There was a hint of dissatisfaction in her tone.
"Fifty-eight people in total."
"Aside from that Elena, everyone else is either seriously or lightly injured."
"The Medical Pods are full."
"Most importantly."
Li Ruobing pointed to the originally spacious but now crowded rear deck.
The female warriors who had lost their armor.
Were huddled in sheltered corners.
Although blankets and hot soup had been distributed.
Their wretchedness and desolation.
Were still clearly visible.
"There's nowhere for them to stay."
"The cabins are already full."
"We can't have them sleeping on the deck, can we?"
"If they freeze to death."
"Wouldn't your fight have been for nothing?"
Qin Yu glanced at those shivering figures.
Indeed.
Although the President was large.
Its original design was that of a warship.
Not a cruise ship.
There simply weren't that many living quarters.
"Who said there's no space?"
Qin Yu walked to the control console.
Lit a cigarette.
Gently tapped a finger in the air.
And brought up the System Panel.
[Vehicle Management System: President]
[Current Form: Cruiser Mode]
[Special Function: Cube Reconfiguration (Activated)]
"Watch closely."
A faint smile curled at the corner of Qin Yu's mouth.
"In this world."
"As long as your thinking doesn't stagnate."
"There are always more solutions than difficulties."
He pressed the button flashing with a Rubik's Cube emblem.
"Rumble—"
The entire ship.
Suddenly came to life.
It wasn't a simple transformation.
But rather, like countless building blocks.
Frantically moving and combining.
"Ah!!"
The female warriors on the deck let out cries of surprise.
They felt the floor beneath their feet shifting.
The originally flat deck.
Suddenly bulged upward.
Metal walls rose from the ground one after another.
Rooms appeared out of thin air as if by magic.
"This... what is this?"
Elena, who had just had her wounds bandaged, walked out leaning against the wall.
Watching this unbelievable scene before her.
She was utterly dumbfounded.
She had seen grand sights before.
Odin's Hall of Gods was also an S-Class vehicle.
But it was just big.
Just tough.
She had never heard of.
A ship that could be molded like clay?
"Don't panic."
Qin Yu's voice broadcast throughout the entire ship.
"This is your new home."
As the last metal panel clicked into place.
The originally empty rear deck.
Had transformed into a three-story... dormitory building.
Entirely silver-white.
With a streamlined design.
Seamlessly integrated with the ship's hull.
"Three floors."
Qin Yu pointed at the newly appeared structure.
"The first floor is a cafeteria and public bathhouse."
"The second floor has triple-occupancy dorm rooms."
"The third floor has single rooms, for those at squad leader level and above."
"As for you."
Qin Yu looked at Elena.
"Your room is on the top floor."
"Though not large."
"It has a view of the sea."
"Don't mention it."
Dead silence fell over the scene.
The female warriors stood with their mouths agape.
Even before the apocalypse.
Such living conditions would have been considered luxurious.
Let alone in this Wasteland World where you had to sleep with one eye open.
Hot water?
Single rooms?
A sea view?
Was this really the treatment for prisoners?
"Go inside."
Qin Yu waved his hand.
"Since you're my people now."
"Don't stay looking so wretched."
"Take a bath."
"Get some sleep."
"Tomorrow morning at five."
"Work starts on time."
"I don't keep idle people."
The crowd began to stir.
Some tentatively walked into the building.
Soon.
Exclamations of surprise could be heard from inside.
"There's hot water!! It's really hot water!!"
"My God! This mattress is soft!"
"And there's a mirror!"
Cheers rose one after another.
The originally oppressive, fearful atmosphere.
Instantly dissipated by more than half.
For women.
In this filthy, chaotic apocalypse.
A hot shower.
A clean bed.
Is more lethal than any S-grade weapon.
This was Qin Yu's method.
The stick and the carrot.
Simple.
Brutal.
But effective.
Elena stood where she was.
Not moving.
She looked at the man standing high above, overlooking everything.
Her gaze was complex to the extreme.
She had thought.
What awaited them.
Would be dark prison cells.
Endless humiliation and torment.
But...
"Why?"
Elena walked up to Qin Yu.
Lifted her head.
In those sapphire blue eyes.
There was a trace of confusion.
"We are the defeated."
"Prisoners."
"You don't need to do this."
Qin Yu looked down.
At this woman who had washed the blood from her face, pale but still breathtakingly beautiful.
He smiled.
A very casual smile.
"Because I have a cleanliness obsession."
"I don't like having."
"A bunch of stinky people running around on my ship."
This reason.
Was very Qin Yu.
Elena was stunned for a moment.
Then.
The corner of her mouth actually lifted slightly.
It was the first expression she had shown.
Since Odin's death.
Not a cold smile.
Not a bitter smile.
But a kind of... helpless relief.
"Thank you."
She said softly.
Her voice was very small.
Almost scattered by the sea breeze.
"Don't thank me yet."
Qin Yu turned and walked towards the bridge.
Waving his hand behind his back at her.
"I said."
"We start work at five tomorrow."
"If you can't get up."
"I'll tear this building down."
"And throw you into the sea to feed the fish."
Elena watched his retreating back.
This time.
She didn't feel that bone-chilling killing intent.
Instead.
She felt a long-lost sense of...
Order.
In this chaotic, collapsing world.
Order.
Was more precious than life.
...
Late at night.
In the core control room of the "President."
Qin Yu was not asleep.
He sat before that massive stone door.
Watching the patterns on the stone door that were originally still.
Now seemed to come alive.
Slowly flowing.
Gathering towards a groove in the center of the stone door.
"Is this the so-called..."
"Entrance to the truth?"
Just then.
Li Ruobing's voice came through the communicator.
Carrying a hint of laziness.
And a hint of... temptation.
"Husband."
"Finished with work?"
"Xue'er and Qian Qian."
"Are waiting for you in the room."
"Saying... they want to celebrate with you."
"The victory of conquering the Northern Wastes."
Qin Yu was stunned for a moment.
Then.
The coldness on his face instantly melted away.
Replaced by.
A smile that any man would understand.
"Coming."
He stood up.
Straightened his collar.
As for the stone door.
The truth.
The apocalypse.
Tonight.
They all had to step aside.
No matter how vast the world.
The wife is the greatest.
Bedroom.
The lighting was dim.
The air was filled with an indescribable scent.
It was hormones.
And sweat.
Qin Yu leaned against the headboard.
Bare-chested.
The lines of his lean, powerful muscles looked like a perfect work of art in the faint light.
Especially those two lines of the Adonis belt.
Simply a fatal temptation.
He held a post-coital cigarette between his fingers.
Not lit.
Just held it lightly under his nose, sniffing it.
"Hah—"
He let out a long, heavy breath.
Refreshed and clear-headed.
What does it mean to be a winner in life?
This is it.
Kill the fiercest enemies.
Plunder the most goods.
Sleep... ahem.
Take care of the most beautiful wife.
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