Chapter 87: Strategic Pivot

Through his newly awakened Qi Perception, Ji-Hong could distinctly sense the sudden, heavy surge of internal energy circulating within Donape’s body.

While his vision wasn’t sharp enough to map the flow down to individual meridians, he could clearly feel the dense Qi rooted firmly in Donape’s legs and surging smoothly into his left arm.

By catching this raw, unfiltered glimpse of how internal energy operated in reality, Ji-Hong knew he was now standing at the very threshold of a realm beyond human limits.

As the old Murim saying went: It is impossible to comprehend what you have never seen, but once you have witnessed it, understanding is only a matter of time.

Beside him, Butler Lee stared at the scene in silent disbelief.

He had always known the shopkeeper was formidable, but he never imagined Donape possessed power of this magnitude.

Take Great Guardian Mareum, for instance—the undisputed peak martial artist of the Baek Family.

If Mareum were placed in the exact same situation, standing completely still while someone with a great figure like Viktor pulled his arm with both hands, Mareum would inevitably budge. He wouldn’t be dragged around easily, of course, but his frame would still shift.

That was simply how human anatomy and leverage worked. A martial artist could brace themselves, absorb impact, or redirect force—but to stand effortlessly unshakeable like an ancient mountain without moving a single millimeter defied the fundamental laws of bodily mechanics.

Mareum couldn’t hide his contorted expression a moment longer. Stepping forward, he offered a low, solemn bow.

"I apologize if I am overstepping my bounds... but allow me to conduct this final test alongside him."

Viktor had zero desire to prolong his own humiliation, but after glancing back and receiving a firm nod from Chairwoman Mislaine, he swallowed his pride and refused to back down.

Matching their breathing in unison, Mareum and Viktor gripped Donape’s extended left hand tightly.

On an unspoken cue, both men surged backward, pulling with immense, coordinated force. Yet once again, Donape didn’t budge in the slightest.

Realizing that their joint effort hadn’t shifted him even a fraction of a millimeter, both men subconsciously abandoned all restraint. They threw their full physical power into the effort, using both hands to haul against Donape’s arm like men trying to tear down a mountain.

Still, Donape stood as immovable as a solid, ancient boulder effortlessly withstanding a typhoon.

After several agonizing minutes of sheer struggle—to the point where thick veins bulged across their forearms and foreheads—the simple test came to an abrupt, overwhelming end.

Exhausted and thoroughly defeated, Mareum and Viktor collapsed onto their knees against the pristine floor, rapid gasps escaping their lips as heavy beads of sweat dripped down their temples.

"Hoho, I apologize that I can’t offer you any drinks to catch your breath, since everything in this shop is strictly a commercial product," Donape said smoothly, strolling back behind the counter as if he hadn’t just anchored two heavyweights to the floor with a single arm.

While everyone in the room remained frozen in quiet awe, Ji-Hong released his concentration, letting his Qi Perception fade before stepping closer to Mareum.

"So, how did it feel, Sir Great Guardian?" Ji-Hong asked, unable to mask the triumph in his voice.

Mareum stared blankly at his own trembling hands, breathing heavily. "It... felt like trying to pull a two-ton boulder embedded in the earth. It wasn’t just physical strength... his frame was so solid it felt as though he had literally taken root into the floor beneath us."

"This is impossible," Viktor rasped from the floor, his voice thick with frustration as he voiced his fierce denial. "It’s a trick. It has to be some kind of trick!"

Viktor had only agreed to come to this back-alley shop because Mislaine claimed it housed cutting-edge virtual reality tech—a level of immersive realism that not even a hyper-advanced superpower like the Starfall Federation possessed.

Yet, before he could even lay eyes on this alleged revolutionary hardware and software, he was stuck suffering the sheer humiliation of having two battle-hardened, hulking men fail to shift a single young shopkeeper who was smaller compared to their size!

"So... you’re telling me this shop is capable of manifesting superhumans? Even that pill was an elixir created inside a virtual world?" Mislaine asked, her voice tight as she voiced her lingering curiosity.

"More or less," Donape replied nonchalantly.

Mislaine’s expression hardened into complete, solemn intensity. Her earlier premonition—that this abnormal venue possessed the power to let humanity leap far beyond its natural boundaries—was no longer a mere hypothesis. It was an undeniable fact.

While her logical mind struggled to bridge the gap, her instincts were already entirely convinced.

Then, as if dropping the final, devastating bomb on the room, Ji-Hong casually offered another revelation that struck the onlookers—especially the members of Babylon Mercenary—dead silent.

"Boss Don... you were the one who dismantled those attackers on the night of my Grandpa’s birthday banquet, weren’t you?"

"More or less," Donape replied once again, his tone completely indifferent.

Mareum’s head snapped up, his jaw tightening in sheer shock.

While a small, cynical part of him had suspected Donape might have used clever kinetic tricks during their arm-pull contest earlier, Ji-Hong’s statement changed everything.

If Donape truly possessed the terrifying degree of internal energy control Ji-Hong described, then wiping out a squad of heavily armed assassins in seconds wasn’t just possible—it was the absolute truth.

On the other side of the counter, Mislaine, Morgan, Kassandra, and Viktor fought with every fiber of their being to maintain their composure.

Mislaine had originally traveled here to supervise the investigation. And her three elite operatives were tasked with gathering intel on the mysterious failure of Babylon Mercenary’s high-stakes assassination attempt against Patriarch Baek.

For days, their intelligence network had hit a complete dead end. No one knew who had crippled their top-tier strike team in a matter of seconds.

The official reports claimed the Baek Family’s internal security had repelled the assault. But Babylon Mercenary knew better—the Baek family simply lacked the physical gears or martial firepower to neutralize their agents so cleanly.

Now, hearing such explosive, top-secret intel dropped as if it were trivial daily gossip, the four mercenaries struggled to process the sheer weight of it.

The roadblock that had shattered their elite squad wasn’t a secret military faction, an orbital weapon, or an ambushing army. It was a single man—and he was currently standing right in front of them, holding a warm cup of Obsidian Roast Coffee.

Mislaine’s tactical instincts kicked in instantly. Recognizing the extreme danger of the situation, she pulled out her smartphone, typed a rapid series of bullet points on the encrypted notepad, and subtly turned the screen toward her three operatives.

- DO NOT talk or whisper. If martial arts and internal energy are real in this shop, even a breathy whisper could be overheard from across the room.

- DO NOT take any hostile action. Stand down and let the situation play out naturally.

- Treat what we just heard as the starting foundation for our investigation, but operate with absolute discretion. Avoid any contact that could expose our true agency.

- CRITICAL: Assume the shopkeeper is a genuine superhuman capable of feats far beyond standard human physics. He may possess sensory or physical capabilities that defy all operational logic. Proceed with extreme caution.

In under a minute, Mislaine conveyed the warning to Morgan, Kassandra, and Viktor without drawing a single glance from the rest of the cafe. The three operatives gave almost imperceptible nods, instantly stifling their combat postures.

Donape picked up on the subtle shift in atmosphere and the sudden, stiff posture of the four people from Babylon Mercenary. However, he didn’t bother dwelling on it.

"Shopkeeper, how about selling one of these VR Capsules to me?" Mislaine asked, stepping up to the counter. "Name your price—I will match any number you write down."

Even after learning the truth—that Donape was the solitary force who had effortlessly dismantled her elite assassination strike team—Mislaine remained remarkably cold and rational. She refused to let personal emotion or pride compromise her disguise or derail her primary objective.

Seeing the raw potential of the VR Capsules, she recognized instantly that these machines held the power to completely reshape the global hierarchy of strength. While she still believed advanced military hardware and modern combat gear were superior to individual superhumans, she was no fool: if she could combine high-tech weaponry with superhuman physical conditioning, why wouldn’t she?

Donape set his mug down on the glass counter with a quiet clink and tilted his head.

"They’re not for sale," Donape replied flatly. "Apart from what’s listed on the menu, there is nothing commercial for purchase in this shop. Someone offered me a blank check before, and the answer was the exact same. No. Whatever I sell is clearly displayed up there."

He gestured casually toward the digital menu board mounted above the counter.

"Besides, I don’t understand why you’re trying so hard to buy the hardware when you can simply come here every day," Donape continued, resting his elbows on the counter.

"You can grow stronger, master fictional abilities, and treat this place as your personal training ground. Good, bad, civilian, or murderer—I don’t care who comes through that door as long as you pay and follow the rules. Anyone who causes trouble gets blacklisted. Simple as that."

He took another slow, unbothered sip of his Obsidian Roast Coffee before flashing a dry smile.

"So why not just bring your people here? I have fifty VR Capsules available. Coming here every day shouldn’t be an issue for someone with your capital, right?"

On the surface, his words sounded like a shameless, self-serving promotional pitch for his cafe.

Yet, to Great Guardian Mareum and Chairwoman Mislaine, the statement landed with the weight of an absolute revelation.

Donape was entirely right.

Rather than wasting time, money, and political leverage trying to pry away an untouchable machine, why not simply deploy their own operatives to train here directly?

Even if the shop turned out to have hidden catches down the road, they had nothing to lose except a negligible amount of time and money.