Me and My Overpowered Abilities

The Zenith Guild proceeded to enter the E-grade dungeon, their members on high alert and armed with better intel about the dungeon boss's strength. With careful planning and preparation, they felt confident in their ability to handle what awaited them. After all, humanity had always reached the top of the food chain through intelligence and strategy, not brute strength.

"An undead dungeon..." Michael muttered, his eyes narrowing as he observed a skeleton warrior charging toward them with a rusted sword in hand. A faint glint of satisfaction flickered in his gaze.

'Undead... they are immune to mind control.' The realization filled him with a sense of opportunity. 'If I fight through enough of these, I could gain their remind control immunity, making me immune to Adam's illusions.'

"Those with skills particularly effective against undead, you'll stay back for now and conserve your strength. I don't want anyone dying, so work together and manage your mana carefully," Blessing's father commanded, his voice carrying authority as he crushed a skeleton warrior in his grip. The shattered bones scattered to the ground, lifeless.

"Michael, you'll lead Party 1. Abdi and I will each take charge of the second and third parties. Remember, there are at least ten times more monsters in this dungeon compared to F-grade dungeons—around 100,000 in total. Be cautious and stick to the plan," he added, his sharp gaze scanning the group as he stepped forward with his own party.

"Understood," Michael replied, nodding with determination. He had a deep connection to Blessing's father; their families went way back. When Michael's struggles had reached Blessing's father, he offered Michael a place in Zenith to help him rebuild his life. However, even he hadn't anticipated Michael's meteoric rise, a power strong enough to rival his own.

A total of 300 adventurers now moved through the dungeon in their assigned parties. Despite the immense danger, the reward was equally enticing. The dungeon's estimated value exceeded 500 million dollars—more than 20 times that of an F-grade dungeon. For everyone here, clearing this dungeon could be life-changing.

Of course, the danger in this dungeon was immense. Among the 100,000 monsters within, 70,000 were F-rank creatures, while the rest consisted of E-rank monsters, dungeon sub-bosses, and the dungeon boss itself, whose strength was estimated to be at the terrifying D rank.

Initially, only about 100 E-grade dungeons were appearing worldwide. However, the situation had escalated drastically. In the United States alone, as many as 50 E-grade dungeons were now emerging daily. While each dungeon took seven days to reach a Dungeon Break, clearing even 50 such dungeons daily was proving impossible. The sheer number was overwhelming. As a result, the government had been forced to open the dungeons to the public, allowing individuals to join raids in exchange for rewards that would help them grow stronger.

But this crisis begged the question: what if the government hadn't been so greedy? In their bid to monopolize the rewards of these dungeons, they had stunted the growth of the general population. If the benefits had been distributed more broadly from the beginning, the nation's collective strength might have been sufficient to handle the increasing number of E-grade dungeons. And with the dungeon appearance rate rising steadily, the future seemed even more precarious.

***

"What do you think?" Sam asked, standing on a hill overlooking the forest. It was Sunday, and I had finally taken the time to see the land I'd bought. Before the earthquake, the United States had a population of about 300 million, yet almost half the country's land was unused. This forest had been one of those untouched areas until a dungeon outbreak ripped through it.

Now, it was a shell of what it once was. The trees were scarred, parts of the ground looked like they'd been torn apart by massive claws, and the air carried a faint smell of decay. Goblins and other monsters roamed freely, making the forest their new home. The government had made some effort to clear them out, but a few were left behind, supposedly for research. Whether the ones I saw now were part of that plan or had just slipped through the cracks didn't really matter to me.

This land was abandoned, deemed uninhabitable by anyone else, exactly what I was looking for. Through Sam's negotiations, I managed to get 1,000 acres of it for 16 million dollars. A steal, apparently. Not that I cared much. I was a billionaire now; losing a few million here or there didn't even register anymore.

"It's not too far from school, just a 45-minute drive away. I made sure the land was good for building your home without any issues. You could even add your own gas station since you hate going out," Sam said, handing me a folder with the finalized paperwork.

I nodded lightly, taking the papers without a word. A 45-minute drive wasn't a big deal. In the United States, that was nothing. People here had no problem driving two hours to work if they had to. When you live in a country this big, long drives just became part of life.

"What do you plan on building here, anyway?" Sam asked, clearly curious.

"Something like the Istana Nurul Iman Palace," I replied, placing a cigarette between my lips as I casually lit it. The look on Sam's face made it clear he wasn't expecting that answer.

"You're joking, right?" he asked, wide-eyed. I exhaled a puff of smoke and gave him a blank look.

I didn't answer. His shock was warranted. The Istana Nurul Iman Palace wasn't just any building—it was the largest residential palace in the world. It wasn't just a home; it served as the seat of Brunei's government, boasting over 1,700 rooms, a banquet hall that could seat 5,000, and a mosque for 1,500 people. To call it extravagant would be an understatement.

"Hire fifty people with the Builder Job Class or something similar," I said, my tone calm and detached. "I already have the resources to build the place. I just need them to assemble it." As I spoke, I glanced toward the forest ahead. With a simple wave of my hand, I activated my genjutsu. The monsters lurking within the dense trees froze for a moment before turning on each other. It was efficient, and within minutes, the once-dangerous creatures had wiped themselves out.

"I'm already on it," Sam replied, tapping away on his tablet. He hesitated for a moment before adding, "Oh, one more thing—the signal here is terrible. Should I have them build a cell tower nearby while they're at it?"

I nodded without much thought, my eyes still on the now-silent forest. The solution was simple, and money could solve almost any problem. "Do it," I said. When you have the resources, anything can happen with the right price tag.

It didn't take long for the builders to arrive, but I immediately placed them all in a genjutsu. I didn't actually need them for what I had planned. With a flick of my hand, I summoned a massive portal from the Gate of Babylon. Slowly, an enormous structure began to emerge.

What I summoned was a grand palace, resembling the legendary Hanging Gardens of Babylon, though enhanced and redesigned for my personal needs. Unlike the original, which was famously constructed as an upside-down palace, this one was a sprawling architectural masterpiece—more grounded, yet no less magnificent. It was surrounded by smaller, intricately designed buildings that complemented the palace's grandeur.

"I guess I'll just give you the same name, The Hanging Garden of Babylon," I said to myself.

I stretched out my palm, a glowing ki blast forming in the center. With a sharp motion, I launched it at the uneven terrain below. The explosion sent shockwaves through the ground, obliterating the rough patches and leveling the area perfectly. As the dust settled, the palace descended, fitting seamlessly into the newly cleared space as if it had always belonged there.

I hovered into the air, flying around the structure to inspect every detail. From above, it was breathtaking. Every angle, every design element—it was perfect. Once satisfied, I descended and landed lightly on the ground.

Since I didn't like drawing attention, the palace's features had been chosen with discretion in mind. Built using modern architecture, it could easily pass as an advanced marvel of contemporary design. But beneath its unassuming exterior, the palace was anything but ordinary. It could be considered a "smart palace," capable of responding to voice commands to carry out a variety of tasks.

It came equipped with an impressive array of features: barriers, lasers, stealth mode, and an almost endless list of capabilities that felt like they'd been plucked straight out of a child's imagination. If a kid could dream it, this palace could probably do it.

Hell, it could even reshape itself, removing or adding buildings at will to align with whatever design I envisioned at the moment. Flexibility, functionality, and absurd levels of technological advancement all in one place.

"Man, that was hard work," one of the builders said, wiping his brow as he admired the massive palace they had just 'finished building.' He and the others nodded in agreement, their faces glowing with pride. To them, this was undoubtedly their finest work yet, a masterpiece they would remember for years to come.

They took a moment to appreciate the grandeur of the structure—the sprawling palace, the connected buildings, the empty riverbeds waiting to be filled with water, and the expansive gardens awaiting vibrant blooms. It was the kind of place anyone would dream of living in, and for a fleeting moment, some of them wished they could stay. But they shook off the thought, said their goodbyes to me and Sam, and left with smiles of satisfaction.

"So," Sam said, breaking the silence as he took in the palace with awe. "What kind of flowers are you planning to plant in the gardens?" His gaze lingered on the surrounding grounds, still trying to process the scale and beauty of what had just been created.

Building something like this should have cost at least $10 billion, but somehow, I had managed it for just a few hundred million. Sam still hadn't figured out how I pulled it off.

"None," I said blankly, waving my palm as the Gate of Babylon opened. From it emerged a fleet of sleek, high-end cars that drove themselves to the roundabout near the palace and parked in perfect alignment.

Afterward, I headed to the area I planned to use as my gym. With another wave of my hand, I summoned the finest gym equipment the Gate of Babylon had to offer. Machines designed for every conceivable workout filled the space, each gleaming with precision engineering and cutting-edge design. Satisfied with the gym, I moved on to the kitchen, where I repeated the process, filling it with state-of-the-art appliances and tools that would make any chef weep with envy.

In no time, the entire palace was filled with the best of the best. Of course, that wasn't entirely true. The treasures within the Gate of Babylon were ever-expanding, constantly growing in quality and rarity. For all I knew, new and better treasures might have already been born without my knowledge—but that wasn't important right now.

Sam stood nearby, watching all of this unfold with a mixture of amazement and disbelief. His mind was racing with questions he didn't dare ask. From his perspective, he could clearly see the value of everything I summoned. He'd already double-checked the palace itself and was horrified to realize that it wasn't worth $10 billion as he initially thought—it was so priceless that no amount of money could ever hope to quantify it.

The cars, the gym equipment, the kitchen tools, everything I pulled from the Gate of Babylon, was the same. The sheer value of it all transcended the concept of currency itself, making even the US dollar feel laughably insignificant.