CHAPTER 80: DIMENSIONAL SPACE

The moment Liam stepped through the ripple, the world around him — his bedroom — vanished and he saw himself floating in the middle of outer space.

He saw himself surrounded by an endless, star-dappled void. It was like he had stepped into a magnificent painting.

The stars that shimmering in the distance looked so beautiful and it left Liam feeling awestruck.

For a moment, it seems like he forgot how to breathe. Not because he couldn’t breathe — he realized with astonishment that he could — but because of the overwhelming scale of what he was seeing.

There was no ground beneath him or ceiling above him. It was just an infinite expanse of starry void.

Also, even though he was in outer space, he didn’t feel weightless. His body was steady, as though invisible hands kept him anchored. Even his heartbeat sounded louder here, echoing faintly in the silence.

"Fuuu..." Liam exhaled softly, the sound vanishing instantly into the silence. "This is insane."

The next moment, he heard the system in his head.

[Welcome to the Dimensional Space, Host.]

Liam smiled and looked around and he notice some objects drifting yet utterly still in the void.

"Are those the items in the inventory?" He asked in surprise, as he tried to walk towards them.

To Liam’s surprise, when he took a step forward, there was resistance beneath his shoe. It was firm and steady, like polished stone.

Yet when he looked down, there was nothing there. Just the endless black of space stretching beneath him.

Still... it felt solid. Each step landed with perfect weight, neither echoing nor sinking.

"So I can actually walk here..." He let out a soft laugh, half in awe.

Liam slowly walked towards the drifting objects. The objects drifting still in the void are the items in the inventory before its upgrade — the documents, car keys, gold, platinum and palladium bars.

Standing in front of them, Liam realised the items of identical were arranged neatly together.

The documents were arranged atop each other in neat stacks, like perfectly aligned folios. Almost like invisible shelves/tables are holding them in place.

This was the same for the key fobs that were drifting still beside each other and the rare metals bars stacked atop eac, and arranged beside each other. Then Winter Heart and the 17.5-carat blue diamond.

Liam nodded slightly in satisfaction at how the items were arranged. They made things easier for him.

He tried to retrieve one of the key fob. And when he thought of the car, the Ferrari SF90 Stradale, its key fob which was in the Dimensional Space drifted towards him and settled into his hand.

Actually, besides the Rolls Royce Ghost Black Badge’s key fob which was in the care of Nick, the other cars’ key fobs are all here.

Liam smiled and sent the key fob back and it returned to its original position. He felt that he has done enough sightseeing and it was time for him to actually know the Dimensional Space’s functions. If it has any.

He felt that it should as the endless starry void shouldn’t be all there is to the space.

And just as he thought that, the endless starry void around him disappeared and be found himself standing on an endless flat terrain — a desert.

The beautiful and breathtaking starry void has been replaced with a wasteland.

"Umm, system, when I said its functions, this isn’t what I meant," Liam said, shaking his head.

[This is the true form of the Dimensional Space, Host]

"Ohhh, I see. So, it’s an endless wasteland... Not bad, I guess," Liam muttered in disappointment.

He was expecting something grand and the starry void had raised his expectations, but it was all a bust as the whole Dimensional Space is nothing but a desert.

[Quite contrary to what you’re thinking, Host. The Dimensional Space is a pocket realm the size of Earth and it’s an empty wasteland because it’s barren.]

"That’s... That’s actually not bad. So, it’s barren, huh? Does that mean that I can turn it into another Earth?"

[Yes, Host. The Dimensional Space is a barren Earth and has the potential to host life just as your original world. While it currently can’t do so due its present condition. When the criterias are met, it will evolve and acquire the necessary capabilities.]

"That’s neat. So an Earth sized sandbox. Not bad all," Liam nodded slowly to himself.

Now that he heard what the system said about the Dimensional Space, he wasn’t so disappointed anymore. He was already think of many things he can do with it.

Having an Earth sized pocket realm to himself meant potential unlimited resources. Though the whole place was currently barren, it will evolve in the future and by then, it will be able to easily support life and resources will be bountiful.

But Liam wasn’t focused on the future but the present and even though the whole space was barren, it still has its uses.

Why wait weeks for the Nevada facility to finish construction? Why worry about zoning, power consumption, or regulators breathing down his neck?

Here, there were no limits. There was no neighbors to complain, no satellites to spy on him and no governments to sanction him.

And the best part? The molecular assembler, just like the laptop from the system store carried its own zero-point power storage. Energy wouldn’t be a problem.

If I’d known this earlier, I wouldn’t have stressed at all, Liam thought, shaking his head.

But Nevada wasn’t wasted. Far from it. That site would serve another purpose — storage and distribution. The Dimensional Space would be the factory. Nevada would be the storefront.

It would be the perfect misdirection.

He exhaled slowly, excitement sparking in his chest.

"Alright. Let’s begin."

With a thought, he called up his status screen.

[Host: Liam Scott]

[Age: 18]

[Lifespan: 220 Years]

[System Level: 2]

[Strength: 37]

[Agility: 36]

[Stamina: 37]

[Attribute Points: 0]

[System Points: 0]

[Skills: Pro-level Vehicular Operation, World-Class Etiquette, World-Class Culinary Arts, Formless Combat Doctrine, Perfect Memory, Universal Linguistics]

[System Function(s): Sign-in, System Store, Dimensional Space]

***

Seeing his status screen, Liam noticed that something was different. The inventory section was gone.

He noticed it but didn’t linger on the details too much. There would be time to explore later.

For now, there was only one thing he wanted.

"System, exchange for 10,000 system points."

[Ding!]

[Transaction complete. $100,000,000 has been deducted.]

[You have received 10,000 SP.]

Liam’s opened the system store and his eyes locked immediately onto the entry that had haunted his thoughts since the very beginning, the molecular assembler.

He didn’t hesitate as he purchased it immediately.

A moment later, the barren air before him rippled violently. The ground beneath his feet trembled faintly as though reality itself had been pulled taut, then split apart.

A deep hum filled the air, reverberating through his bones. Light surged from the cracks in space, forming outlines, edges, towering structures that grew more defined with each passing second.

The molecular assembler was materializing.