[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-dawn-walker":3,"chapter-dawn-walker-dawn-walker-chapter-62":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","Dawn Walker",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},1836922,2443,"Chapter 62: Dawn House II","dawn-walker-chapter-62",62,"\u003Cp>---\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The number he had seen with his own eyes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Ninety-nine thousand.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sekhmet’s stomach turned cold.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"If this man is too high for me to read, that means...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His gaze flicked to the cloaked figure again, just a fraction.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Higher than ninety-nine thousand.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Higher than a half-god.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sekhmet swallowed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"So he is a god.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The thought sat in his skull like a stone. In Null, gods were not rare. But being close to one without knowing their mood was like standing next to a sleeping beast and hoping it didn’t dream of eating you.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sekhmet forced himself to look away.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He kept his face calm.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lily didn’t notice his internal storm, but she noticed his silence.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"What,\" she asked quietly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sekhmet shook his head slightly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Nothing,\" he said.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Bat Bat sniffed the air and whispered, \"Cloak man smells scary.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sekhmet hissed, \"Stop smelling dangerous people.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Bat Bat blinked.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I smell everything,\" it argued.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They reached the inspection point.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A guard captain stepped forward, helmet tucked under his arm. His armor was a bright steel-blue with the city crest on the shoulder. His eyes moved from Lily’s face to Sekhmet’s boots, then to Bat Bat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His brows rose.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He did not ask about the bat first. That alone was impressive discipline.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Lady Lily,\" the captain said, bowing properly. \"Welcome back to Slik.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lily nodded once.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Captain Rorran,\" she replied. \"Open the way.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The captain’s eyes softened with relief, then sharpened with duty again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"We will,\" he said. \"But protocol stands. Your escort must declare items and submit to a scan.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sekhmet’s mind tightened.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Scan.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The captain gestured.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A pair of guards rolled forward a waist-high slab of gray crystal etched with runes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A combat stone variant, used for scanning cargo and items.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The captain looked at Sekhmet.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"State your name and trade affiliation,\" he said.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sekhmet’s voice stayed steady.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Sekhmet Dawn,\" he replied. \"Merchant household. Dawn House.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The captain paused a fraction.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Dawn House,\" he repeated, the name clearly meaning something.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He looked Sekhmet up and down again, then nodded.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Declare your storage,\" he ordered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sekhmet chose his words carefully.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Pocket storage,\" he said. \"Relic-based.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He did not lie.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He just didn’t say it was a land.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The captain signaled to the crystal slab.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Place your hand.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sekhmet stepped forward, placed his palm on the cold surface.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The runes flared faintly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fzzz...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The stone hummed like it was tasting his chaos energy and deciding if he was worth the trouble.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A guard beside the captain read the runes as they formed lines of light.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Chaos energy purity,\" the guard announced.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sekhmet’s jaw tightened slightly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Numbers were a curse.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the guard’s eyes narrowed in confusion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Purity reading... unstable.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The captain frowned.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Unstable?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The guard adjusted the angle of the reading crystal and tried again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fzzz...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The runes flickered and then dimmed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"It’s reading a suppression signal,\" the guard said slowly. \"Like a training tool is anchoring his real output.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sekhmet did not react.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lily’s eyes flicked to him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The captain nodded once, suddenly understanding why Sekhmet looked like a man who could survive purgatory without looking like a god.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Training restraint,\" the captain said. \"Fine. It explains the mismatch.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sekhmet’s mind made a note.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Mismatch.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The city guard was noticing the same thing Sekhmet had noticed for months: his displayed battle power and his actual survivability did not line up.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The scan rune moved to the storage reading.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The crystal slab pulsed again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fzzz...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The guard reading the runes blinked.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Storage... detected.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The captain waited.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The guard hesitated.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Size reading is... abnormal,\" he said carefully.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sekhmet’s heartbeat slowed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ba - dum... Ba - dum...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The captain narrowed his eyes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"How abnormal?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The guard swallowed, then forced himself to continue.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"It’s not a standard pocket,\" he admitted. \"It... it has terrain signatures.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Silence hit for a breath.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Several guards looked at Sekhmet like he might be smuggling a small kingdom.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sekhmet’s mind raced.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Terrain signatures. Damn it.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lily’s gaze snapped to Sekhmet, sharp.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sekhmet spoke before she could.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Relic-based,\" he repeated calmly. \"Old. Unstable. It does not behave like normal storage.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The captain studied him for a long moment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then he did something unexpected.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He sighed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Like a man who had seen enough nonsense in Slik to know when to pick his battles.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Relic storages exist,\" the captain said. \"Rare. Dangerous. But not illegal if registered.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He looked at Sekhmet.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Are you carrying living prisoners inside it,\" he asked bluntly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sekhmet’s expression did not change.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"No,\" he answered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That was true in the way officials cared about.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He did not consider the half-dead ghoul he had fed on last night a \"prisoner.\" He had panicked. He had stored him to keep Lily from seeing. The man now lay in the void land, alive, changed, breathing in the empty space like a mistake Sekhmet hadn’t decided how to correct yet.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The runes would not detect it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Void land did not read like a normal pocket dimension. It swallowed signals. It hid what it held like darkness hides light.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The captain nodded.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Any cursed gods’ remnants,\" he asked.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sekhmet’s mind twitched.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Define cursed.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He answered with the safest truth.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Nothing active,\" he said.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The captain held Sekhmet’s gaze, then stepped back.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Register it at the relic office within three days,\" he ordered. \"If you do not, and it causes an incident, Dawn House will pay the fines.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sekhmet nodded once.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I understand.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The captain turned to Lily.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Lady Lily,\" he said. \"We will send word to the City Lord.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lily’s jaw tightened. \"Do not,\" she said.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The captain blinked.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lily’s eyes hardened. \"Not yet,\" she added. \"I want to walk in without trumpets.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The captain hesitated, then bowed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"As you wish.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then he glanced past her shoulder.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Your escorts,\" he said, voice lowering. \"Where are they?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lily’s face tightened.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"All dead,\" she said.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The words landed like stone.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The captain’s expression shifted. No pity. Respect.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"They fulfilled their duties,\" he said quietly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lily nodded once, jaw clenched.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The captain hesitated, then asked, \"How did they die?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lily’s eyes sharpened.\u003C\u002Fp>",1005,"2026-06-09T06:31:32.937Z",1,"novelbin.me","d767b7cc4755c918cd304e9099f60fb1c1ab74890343154ea3d14d08e5460b64","dawn-walker-chapter-4","dawn-walker-chapter-61",359,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fdawn-walker-cover.jpg"]