Sweet Fist stepped towards one of the dead monsters and saw an object within the monster’s body. It was a misshapen object covered in blood and monster guts, but Sweet Fist sensed something from it. Something that was both alien and familiar. He bends over, reached out and touched it.

A fortuitous encounter! Host has found a monster core. It looks like the Gap connect to a world full of Qi and the monsters of that world have monster cores. Cores that could aid in the cultivation of the host and his disciples! Host, collect as many monster cores as possible and uncover the secrets of Monster Cultivation.

Sweet Fist briefly glanced at his two companions. Even though they were only fifty metres away, both Night Leopard and Six-shot Samurai were more interested in the dead monsters than him right now. That was good. Sweet Fist turned his attention back to the transparent window of text before him and gave a mental shout.

“Reunion, are you there?”

“Yes, I am. Host, I thought you said we should not speak to each other when others are around?”

“Yes, but this is important. What on Nexus is this monster core and what is Monster Cultivation?”

“Monster Cultivation, also known as Monsterization or Monsterization Cultivation, is a school of cultivation in which humans change into a monstrous form.”

“That tells me absolutely nothing!”

“Oh, you want the longer explanation! Why didn’t you just say so?” Reunion joyously exclaimed. “I love telling you the history of cultivation techniques. In the distant past, when the multiverse was first born, and the first worlds were created, the lands were barren and-“

“No, I do not want the longer explanation. I just want to know what this core is?” Victor mentally screamed.

“Oh, fine. You know the core inside of you right now? The core that you form with Qi? Well, humanoids races are not the only ones who can do that. Qi affects all living things, and that includes animals. Animals can form cores and become spirit beasts. However, if the Qi is corrupted or if the beasts-“

“Short version, Reunion! I need the short version!”

“This is the short version! It is tens of thousands of histories in a few sentences. This is as short as it gets.”

“Just get to the point.”

“Monster Cultivation a school of cultivation that offers a shortcut for power. There are ways for cultivators to absorb monster cores into their bodies for power. However, it comes with huge drawbacks.”

“What kind of drawbacks?”

“They turn humans into monsters. Not just in how they looked, but also in their mentality, instincts and-”

“Sweet Fist, what are you doing there?”

The words from Night Leopard made Victor looked up and he realized that the heroine was approaching.

“Host, just grab as many monster cores as you can. I shall explain later.”

Victor growled. A sound that Night Leopard heard. “Is there a problem?”

It did not escape Victor’s notice that the heroine had taken up a defensive stance. An unnecessary move as Victor wasn’t idiotic enough to attack someone with the Nexus Accord in effect, but he could not fault the young heroine for her caution. His problem was her lousy timing.

“Nothing.” Victor turned his back to the heroine and put the monster core into his storage ring. Till he knows more about these cores, and how they could help his cultivation, Victor did not want people to know about them. Victor turned back to face Night Leopard and pointed to the dead monsters around him. “Oh, I get scavenger rights to these.”

The heroine’s face turned in disgust. “There is a Gap above us, and you are worrying about loot?”

“It is always best to settle the rights as soon as possible. Trust me on that, it will save you a lot of trouble in the future.”

As the one who killed the monsters, Victor now owns the rights to their bodies. They were considered his spoils of war. One of the reasons why heroes and villains were willing to set aside their differences whenever the Nexus Accord were invoked was the age-old practice of ‘Scavenger Rights’. Usually, this means selling any useful body parts for research and crafting, and their meat to brave food connoisseurs, but that is nothing compared to the cores. Victor wants all the cores. He just needs to find a way to extract them without other people knowing about them.

“He may be an asshole, but Sweet Fist is right about that.” Samurai pointed at the corpses around the police cruiser. “You better tag those before someone comes along and lay claim to them.”

“I have my drone.”

Victor looked up and noticed the police drone for the first time. Of course, there is a drone. He had forgotten how relevant these monstrosities of technology were. He just hopes the drone didn’t see him pocketing the core.

“Please tell me you are not streaming this?”

Night Leopard laughed at Victor’s plead. “No, I am not. No one is allowed to stream anything while the Nexus Accord is active. A few people, especially corporate heroes, did try it out at first but it was found that the heroes on camera were more interested in getting views than fighting the Gaps.”

“Shocking.” Victor deadpanned.

Night Leopard could only shrug. “After a few incidents like that, streaming is now banned. We still record the fights and provide the highlights to news agencies though. That’s why you see so many videos of the fight at Lantern City.”

Victor shook his head in disappointment. “That is just stupid. This is a bloody invasion. What if young heroes and villains in Velocity City are more worried about looking good than getting the job done because they know they are being recorded? Stuff like this should be put aside for the moment.”

“That idea had been floated before but there is just too much upside for a total ban. Everyone want to see how their favourite hero did during a Gap, so a ban on streaming is the compromise. Besides, studies showed that having the videos increase participation in Gap events by thirty percentage.”