Blackstone Valley remembered faces.
Not kindly.Not accurately.But forever.
By the fourth morning, Ben could feel it—the subtle shift in how people looked at him. Not fear. Not respect.
Assessment.
He walked the valley's winding paths with measured steps, hands visible, posture relaxed but alert. He didn't touch the Omnitrix. He didn't let the faint heat under his skin rise. He followed Old Liang's rules.
And the valley responded.
People didn't block his path anymore. Conversations lowered when he passed. Deals paused—not because he was strong, but because he was uncertain.
Uncertainty was dangerous.
Lin Yue noticed it too.
"They're watching you like you're a storm cloud," she murmured as they passed a cluster of traders. "Not raining yet. But everyone's ready to run."
Ben exhaled slowly. "I was hoping for 'friendly neighborhood traveler.'"
She snorted softly. "You landed from the sky and killed cultivators. This is friendly."
They reached a narrow marketplace carved into the cliff face, where merchants sold everything from dried meat to stolen sect manuals. A woman with mechanical fingers argued loudly with a man missing half his jaw. Nearby, two teenagers sparred halfheartedly, wooden sticks cracking against each other.
Ben took it all in.
This place wasn't chaos.
It was ecosystem.
And ecosystems reacted violently to disruptions.
It happened fast.
Too fast for strategy. Too fast for restraint.
A scream tore through the marketplace.
Sharp. Panicked.
Ben's head snapped toward the sound.
A boy—maybe twelve—was being dragged across the stone by two men. His clothes were ragged, his eyes wide with terror as he clawed uselessly at the ground.
"Please!" the boy screamed. "I didn't steal it—I swear!"
One of the men backhanded him hard enough to snap his head sideways. "Shut up."
Lin Yue stiffened. "Debt collectors," she whispered. "They don't care if he did it."
Ben's jaw tightened.
Don't intervene, Liang's voice echoed in his mind. Observation, not action.
The boy's scream turned into a sob.
Something inside Ben twisted.
He stepped forward.
"Hey," he called.
The men turned.
One sneered. "This doesn't concern you."
Ben glanced at the boy's bruised face, then back at them. "Looks like it does."
The second man's gaze flicked to Ben's wrist.
Recognition sparked.
"You're the artifact brat," he said. "This is a private matter."
Ben's voice stayed calm. "Let him go."
The first man laughed. "Or what?"
Ben hesitated.
He felt it—the Omnitrix responding to his pulse, eager, restrained.
If you transform, Liang had warned, the valley will remember.
Ben looked at the boy again.
The boy looked back.
Not with hope.
With resignation.
Ben made his choice.
The Omnitrix flared.
Green light exploded outward—not wild, not uncontrolled.
Intentional.
Focused.
Heat surged through Ben's body as Heatblast manifested, flames curling tightly around his limbs instead of bursting outward. The air warped, stones beneath his feet glowing faintly red.
The marketplace froze.
Every conversation died.
Every eye turned.
Ben didn't shout.
Didn't threaten.
He just stood there—burning.
"Last chance," Heatblast said, voice layered with crackling flame. "Let him go."
The men stumbled back instinctively.
One dropped the boy immediately.
The other hesitated a fraction too long.
Heatblast moved.
A single step. A single gesture.
Fire snapped into existence around the man's arm—not enough to kill, not enough to disfigure.
Enough to teach.
The man screamed, collapsing as the flames vanished just as quickly as they appeared.
Ben turned back to the boy, flames already dimming as the Omnitrix enforced cooldown.
"Run," he said.
The boy didn't hesitate.
He bolted.
Silence swallowed the marketplace.
Ben felt it then.
The cost.
The Omnitrix's glow faded—but something else replaced it.
Pressure.
Not Qi.
Attention.
Lin Yue grabbed Ben's arm. "We need to leave. Now."
They didn't run.
Running showed fear.
They walked—steady, deliberate—back toward their shelter.
Behind them, whispers spread like fire.
"He transformed.""On neutral ground.""He broke the rule.""He chose a side."
By the time they reached the shack, Old Liang was already waiting.
He didn't look angry.
Which was worse.
"You intervened," Liang said calmly.
Ben met his gaze. "Yes."
"You revealed power," Liang continued.
"Yes."
"You disrupted balance."
Ben didn't look away. "Yes."
Liang studied him for a long moment.
Then he nodded.
"Good," he said.
Lin Yue blinked. "Good?"
Liang turned toward the valley. "Because now," he said, "we see who moves first."
As if summoned by the words, a horn sounded.
Not a sect horn.
A valley horn.
Low. Resonant. Claiming attention.
Ben's stomach dropped. "That doesn't sound welcoming."
"It isn't," Liang replied. "That is a challenge."
Lin Yue's face drained of color. "The Enforcers."
From the far end of the valley, figures emerged.
Five of them.
They moved with purpose, their Qi tightly controlled, their expressions blank. Each wore mismatched armor bearing the same sigil—a broken scale.
Blackstone Valley's law.
Such as it was.
They stopped twenty paces away.
The one in front—a woman with iron rings around her wrists—spoke.
"You used power publicly," she said. "Against debt holders."
Ben stepped forward. "They were hurting a kid."
The woman didn't react. "Not relevant."
Lin Yue bristled. "He didn't kill—"
"Not relevant," the woman repeated.
Her gaze fixed on Ben. "Neutral ground survives because no one believes they can change it."
Ben clenched his fists. "So what—you punish anyone who does the right thing?"
The woman tilted her head slightly. "There is no right thing here."
She raised a hand.
"Compensation," she said. "Or consequence."
Ben glanced at Liang. "Define compensation."
Liang smiled thinly. "They will take something."
Ben swallowed. "Money?"
The woman shook her head. "No."
She looked at the Omnitrix.
"Access."
Ben stiffened. "No."
"Then consequence," she said.
The Enforcers moved.
Ben felt the Omnitrix surge instinctively—but Liang's hand closed around his wrist.
"Don't," Liang said quietly. "This is the cost."
Before Ben could react, the woman struck.
Not with Qi.
With a talisman.
It slapped onto Ben's chest and burned.
Agony tore through him as symbols flared, sinking into his skin like molten brands.
The Omnitrix screamed.
Ben collapsed to one knee, gasping as the world spun violently.
"What—what did you do?" he choked.
The woman stepped back. "A limiter."
Ben's vision blurred.
"Your artifact will still function," she continued, "but not freely."
Liang finished softly, "They've capped your transformations."
The woman nodded. "Ten breaths. No more."
She turned away.
"Break the rule again," she said over her shoulder, "and we take the arm."
The Enforcers vanished into the valley.
Silence returned.
Ben sagged forward, hands shaking.
Lin Yue rushed to his side. "Ben—are you okay?"
He laughed weakly. "Define okay."
The Omnitrix pulsed faintly—restricted, constrained.
Limiter DetectedTransformation Duration: Severely ReducedOverride Conditions: Unknown
Ben closed his eyes.
He had chosen to be seen.
And Murim had answered.
Old Liang looked down at him.
"You saved one child," he said. "And paid for it."
Ben looked up, pain blazing behind his eyes.
"Worth it," he said hoarsely.
Liang smiled—slow and dangerous.
"Good," he said again. "Because now you will learn how to fight within limits."
Above them, Blackstone Valley buzzed with renewed interest.
The anomaly wasn't just powerful.
It was principled.
And that made it far more dangerous.