Marvel: A Portal to the World of Swallowed Star

The next morning, Rowan woke up to a deep, lingering soreness across his body. It was especially noticeable in the smaller muscle groups. Rather than complain, he was thrilled.

Anyone who trained knew that soreness meant progress.

After a quick wash, he realized that Maria Hill had already left for work. On the table, still warm, sat a simple breakfast: milk, eggs, and corn. Rowan finished the meal she had left for him and then drove to the warehouse where the rice was stored.

Standing before the mountain of one hundred thousand bags of rice, Rowan paused in thought.

"Hmm... I should be able to transport all of this to the Swallowed Star world in one go, right?"

He raised his right hand. The ring on his index finger shimmered with a soft blue light. Only four of the gems embedded in the ring were still glowing.

"I forgot to borrow the Arc Reactor from Tony yesterday," Rowan muttered. "Well, I'll just call him this afternoon. First, I need to meet with Howard Zhou."

He snapped his fingers. A swirling blue-black vortex opened in front of him.

Rowan focused his mind on shaping the portal. He had realized yesterday when returning with a suitcase in hand that he could control the vortex's shape and size at will.

Under his guidance, the portal expanded until it resembled a massive black hole. Like an endless maw, it pulled in every single one of the hundred thousand rice bags.

In the blink of an eye, both Rowan and the cargo vanished from the warehouse.

When Rowan opened his eyes, he was in a different warehouse clearly the one in the Swallowed Star world. The space was wider, the ceiling higher. Half the room was now stacked with rice.

He chuckled. The vortex really could scale to any size. Very convenient.

Rowan reached for his phone, intending to call Howard Zhou to arrange pickup. But just as he raised his hand, he froze.

He stared at the ring on his finger. What had been four glowing gems was now down to two.

"..."

His lips twitched.

So even enlarging the portal drained extra energy.

"No such thing as a free lunch, huh?"

He sighed. "If only I had an Infinity Stone. Unlimited power, infinite travel."

Shaking his head, he dialed Howard's number.

"Hey, Howard. The address is 311 Qingping Road. Bring the trucks."

After making the call, Rowan resumed his workout, slowly going through a set of the Basic Ten Forms. With his muscles still sore, he moved carefully.

Even so, by the end of one set, sweat dotted his forehead.

A vehicle's engine roared outside.

Rowan stepped out to find Howard's truck pulling up, trailed by two large freight vehicles.

"Howard, good to see you," Rowan greeted him.

"Hey!" Howard beamed with excitement.

He had barely slept the night before, anticipation keeping him awake. If Rowan wasn't bluffing, this could be his big break.

"Come on, let's inspect the goods."

Wasting no time, Rowan led Howard into the warehouse.

The moment Howard entered, his eyes widened.

The warehouse was filled to the brim.

"Check whatever you like," Rowan said, motioning casually.

Howard, hands trembling slightly with excitement, pulled out his pocketknife and sliced open one of the bags. Gleaming white grains spilled out.

His eyes went wide.

Perfect texture. No discoloration. No signs of age.

He grabbed a handful and brought it to his nose. A clean, fresh fragrance. No stale odor at all.

"Rowan, my man, this quality is unreal!"

Howard gave him a huge thumbs-up without hesitation.

He had thought he was getting a good deal yesterday, but this? This was like hitting the jackpot.

Grain of this caliber would normally wholesale for no less than nine yuan per jin. But Rowan had offered it to him for only seven yuan.

That was a two-yuan profit per jin. For 2,500 tons, that came out to ten million yuan.

A massive windfall.

That was Howard's entire net worth, right there in one deal.

"If everything checks out, feel free to haul it all away," Rowan said. "And I guarantee every future batch will be just as good."

"Say no more! Rowan, from now on, you say east and I won't even glance west!"

Howard clapped him on the shoulder with gusto.

If Rowan wasn't so young, Howard might have knelt right then and there to call him big brother.

To him, Rowan was practically divine more valuable than his own father.

"Hahaha, good. Here's to our partnership."

Rowan chuckled, giving Howard a friendly pat on the shoulder.

He could already imagine it: as Howard raked in profits, his standing in the Zhou family would skyrocket. That meant the Zhou family would eventually become Rowan's shield in the rice business within the Swallowed Star world.

The Zhou family wasn't some great powerhouse, but it was more than capable of protecting a rice supply chain.

Rowan had other options, sure, but he didn't care for complications.

Once wealth reached a certain point, it became just numbers.

True power was what mattered.

A few years down the line, when he reached the planetary level, Earth currencies would be meaningless.

Howard spent the next hour directing workers and drivers, joy practically radiating off him. Truckload after truckload of rice disappeared into the convoy.

Rowan's bank account ticked up as the last bag was loaded.

Thirty-five million yuan.

Add in the leftover two hundred thousand from the watch sale, and he now had a grand total of 35.2 million yuan.

One deal and he was rich.

They also agreed that Howard would return in one week for the next shipment.

The delay was to give Howard and the other wholesalers time to move the current stockpile.

Flooding the market too quickly would crash prices, which would benefit no one.

A week was just right for redistribution across other factions and even nearby cities.

"With over thirty million in hand, I can now place an order for Grade 1 to 3 Kroluminum and get the alloy business rolling."

Back at the apartment he rented near the Limit Martial Hall, Rowan crunched the numbers.

He had just asked Howard about the alloy pricing:

* Grade 1 Kroluminum: 5,000 yuan/kg

* Grade 2 Kroluminum: 15,000 yuan/kg

* Grade 3 Kroluminum: 40,000 yuan/kg

Grade 2 had the hardness of diamond, combined with all the advantages of steel. It was bound to become a hot commodity in the Marvel world.

That made it his best seller.

Rowan decided to purchase 1,000 kg of Grade 2 and 200 kg of Grade 3.

That came out to 23 million yuan.

More than enough for an impressive product showcase.

Once this batch was sold, he'd be swimming in money back in the Marvel universe.

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