Chapter 1 - Prologue

Somewhere in Africa,

An injured man with a pale complexion is clutching his bleeding chest with a painful expression. His eyes are full of anger and madness like a desperate beast.

"Huff! Huff! Damn those special agents!! I didn't expect me, Dragon to die so unjustly!" The man ran near a secluded alley and looked at his bleeding chest with an unsightly expression.

He is known as the most notorious criminal in the twenty-first century, code-named 'Dragon.' Nobody knows what his real name is, not even himself. He forgot about it over time.

A kind-hearted couple adopted him in his childhood. His adopted parents were one of the world's best researchers, so they taught him everything they knew since childhood. His childhood was mostly spent on learning with his adopted parents.

He was a genius himself. So, he quickly understood everything they taught him.

But they forgot to teach him the cruelty of society. So, when his adopted parents died in an accident, he felt his world was broken apart. Without any family and relatives, he felt his life had no meaning.

Therefore, he spent most of his time afterward on studies and graduated from a top university when he was sixteen.

Then, he faced the cruelty of society all alone. He was tricked into joining a criminal research association by some shady businessmen.

He was involved in various weapon development, genetics, and chemical projects, which made him realize his dangerous situation. He was waiting for a chance to escape from the institution and return to normal life in society.

But it was too late to return. The FBI soon raided their hideouts, and he was the only one able to escape successfully. But, his information has been compromised.

Ever since then, he started living his life in a hideout. He traveled throughout the world, slowly transforming from a naive teenager to a cold-hearted criminal. He did everything possible for survival.

He researched and developed various new drugs, weapons, technologies, etc. and sold it in the international black market for a living. Due to his support, many criminals got their hands into dangerous equipment, which promoted various terrorist attacks worldwide. He was extra careful to erase all traces of his dealings to avoid law enforcement agents.

He was code-named 'Dragon' by the FBI, and ever since then, he used the title for his mercenary work. With all the money from the deals, he quickly built many hidden bases in a small country in Africa.

Then he spent most of his time researching new technology, genetics, and weaponry. He researched and developed various gene enhancement drugs, nuclear weapons, etc. which increased his risk factor.

Due to a mistake, his position was compromised, which led to the special agents from all over the world raiding his base.

He quickly escaped the base and detonated the laboratory to avoid his research data from being obtained by those special agents. He would rather destroy them than donate it to those dogs, which made his life so miserable. Anyway, he had built too many secret bases due to his cautious nature.

However, during the escape, a stray bullet pierced his chest resulting in a fatal injury.

Even with the injury, he managed to bypass the blockades by the police.

But his injury was more severe than he thought. The right lung was punctured and bleeding profusely. If not given proper treatment in time, he will surely die.

But he doesn't have any time for treatment due to the blockade. It looked like god abandoned him in the world.

"Huff, huff, It looks like it's the end of me today." Dragon grasped his injured chest tightly, trying to stop the bleeding. But it doesn't seem to be effective. The bullet was stuck inside his lungs, further worsening the injury.

He laid down on the ground, weakly looking towards the sky. He grasped the pendant hanging on his neck and stared at it affectionately. It was one of the few objects his adopted parents left for him.

The pendant was a gift from his parents when they were alive. It was made up of a piece of meteorite. His parents found it while they were traveling.

"Dad, Mom, I'm sorry for disappointing you in this life. If there is a next life, then I promise I won't ever be naive again. I would rather be a cold-blooded killer than be a naive idiot." Dragon apologized with blurry vision. He knew that his death was approaching soon.

"But before leaving, let me give this world a big gift for my departure. It's a pity that I won't be able to see the biggest firework in the history of this world. I'll light the candle for my funeral myself, haha..." After muttering these words, Dragon slowly lost his consciousness. He was a few steps away from his death.

After a few minutes, his heart stopped beating.

In a secretive underground nuclear base in Africa, a computer started beeping loudly. There were many red alerts notification on the screen.

[Beep! Subject's heartbeat stopped beating.]

[Initiating project named 'Candlelight.']

[Time remaining 10, 9, 8, .... 1, 0]

After the timer reached zero, all the nuclear weapons stationed near the base activated simultaneously.

The Dragon, lying on the ground, raised a smile subconsciously as if feeling his greatest masterwork activated.

*BOOOOOOM!*

A colossal blast detonated in the area affecting area up to 100 Km. Everything within the blast radius was devastated.

The nuclear blast destroyed his entire body. Still, strangely the pendant on his neck seemed to absorb all the heat and radiation like a small black hole.

After a few seconds, the pendant uttered a mechanical sound.

[Ding! Starting absorption of abnormal energy.]

[0% , 1%, .... 100%]

[Ding! The system is starting! Binding the system to the host's soul.]

[Error! The host's body is beyond repair.]

[Ding! Starting the emergency transmigration process to save the host soul.]

[Ding! Insufficient energy to operate the system after transmigration.]

[Ding! Starting the Hibernation process!]

Dragon, who wasn't aware of the strange happening, traveled through the dimension toward a brand new world.

(PS: Don't complain about grammar. I'm not a native speaker. I'll try my best to make it readable at the very least. You can comment in the paragraph if there is any mistake. Thanks~)