“All ten gems… are lit!”

Rowan’s heart began to race.

This ring—he’d bought it years ago while traveling, from an antique stall for just two hundred yuan.

After his unexpected death, his soul had transmigrated into the Marvel universe. To his surprise, the ring had come with him.

There was no doubt now—this was no ordinary trinket. It was a treasure.

The only problem was, even after five years, Rowan hadn’t been able to figure out what the ring actually did.

It wasn’t until two years ago, during an accidental electric shock, that he discovered something strange—the ring had absorbed the current.

That was the moment he realized how to activate it.

It needed power. Literally—electricity.

As it absorbed the current, the blue gemstone embedded in the ring would gradually fill with an ethereal, dreamlike mist.

Overjoyed by the discovery, Rowan went out of his way to commission a custom-made wireless magnetic charging base just for the ring.

Unfortunately, the ring seemed like a bottomless pit. Charging it for two or three months would only fill one gem with mist.

And now, after two full years of charging, all ten gems were finally full.

“I wonder what’ll happen now that it’s fully charged…”

Holding his breath, Rowan stepped forward and reached for the ring, which was now radiating an aura completely different from before.

As soon as his fingers touched it, the ring seemed to sense his presence. The mist inside the gemstones slowly began to recede.

Feeling no discomfort, Rowan exhaled in relief, then slipped the ring onto the index finger of his right hand.

The moment it made contact with his skin, he felt a faint sting.

He looked down and saw thin red threads of blood being drawn into the ring from beneath his skin.

Thankfully, the sensation lasted only two seconds before the absorption stopped.

Still reeling from shock and unease, Rowan was just beginning to process what had happened when—

Vrrrm!

A surge of immense, overwhelming energy erupted from the ring.

In an instant, the deep blue mist burst forth, forming a fist-sized vortex of swirling black and blue energy.

Rowan felt an invisible force weighing down on him, his breath caught in his throat. And then, to his horror, the vortex rapidly expanded until it looked like the gaping maw of a void.

Before he could react, it swallowed him whole.

The world spun violently.

Rowan tumbled to the ground.

When he looked up again, he was stunned to find that everything around him had changed.

He was no longer in his bedroom.

He was now in a dimly lit alley.

It looked run-down, but clean. There just wasn’t much sunlight.

Though his mind reeled with confusion, Rowan kept his expression calm. He scrambled to his feet and scanned the surroundings.

Looking up, he saw rows of densely packed apartment blocks, plastered with colorful, flickering neon signs.

The style was reminiscent of cyberpunk—but not to an extreme degree.

His heart skipped a beat.

The signs were written in Mandarin.

This wasn’t New York’s Chinatown.

He’d been there before. It didn’t have such massive high-rises or anything close to this cyberpunk vibe.

“Was that… long-distance teleportation? Or… did I transmigrate again?”

His mind raced through possibilities.

Just then, he spotted something—large characters on a nearby archway, the kind you’d find at the entrance to a residential complex.

“Nan’an Community.”

Rowan frowned.

“Nan’an Community… that name sounds familiar…”

He thought for several seconds but still couldn’t place it.

“This architecture… doesn’t look like the Earth I came from. It’s probably another world entirely.”

He made a mental note as he surveyed the surroundings.

Out of habit, he glanced at the ring on his right index finger. One of the previously glowing gems had dimmed completely.

“So each ‘jump’ consumes the energy of one gem…”

Staring at the now-dark gemstone, Rowan began piecing things together.

“No one’s around. Right now, I need to figure out whether this is a teleportation gate… or just random transmigration.”

He looked at the ring thoughtfully, analyzing what he knew so far.

“How do I trigger the return trip… Maybe I should start by focusing my thoughts?”

Instead of rushing off to explore the area, Rowan decided to experiment with the ring. If it really could take him back to the Marvel world, that was more important.

Sure enough, as he concentrated, a blue mist swirled before him once again, quickly forming another black-and-blue vortex.

Before he could react, it swallowed him.

A second wave of vertigo hit.

Moments later, Rowan landed back in his apartment within the S.H.I.E.L.D. compound.

Slightly dizzy, he collapsed onto his bed.

“I’m back.”

He let out a long sigh of relief.

And then, a surge of excitement welled up in his chest.

He now understood how the ring worked.

Looking down at it, he saw that out of the ten brilliant gemstones, two had now gone dark. Only eight still shimmered with energy.

“So it really does cost one gem per jump.”

Rowan grimaced.

Charging a single gem took two to three months—and just one round trip had already consumed two.

At this rate, the energy would be gone in no time.

“I really need to get in touch with Tony Stark. Maybe his arc reactor can charge this thing faster.”

He absentmindedly rubbed the ring, lost in thought.

He didn’t believe for a second that electricity was the best energy source. More likely, it was the lowest-grade option, which was why charging took so long.

In theory, an arc reactor should work much faster.

“Let’s try jumping again. I need to know if this is a random portal… or a fixed one.”

Even though he hated wasting energy, Rowan knew he had to get to the bottom of this.

So once again, he focused his thoughts.

Blue and black mist reappeared. The vortex formed.

This time, he was ready. Even though the world spun again, he managed to keep his balance.

As the darkness faded, he saw the same dim alley.

The same cyberpunk signs.

And far in the distance—the familiar gateway reading Nan’an Community.

“So that’s how it is… This ring is a two-way portal.”

Rowan’s mind finally grasped the truth.

The ring wasn’t a random transporter. It was a dimensional gate, connecting the Marvel universe and this new world.

“Next step… is figuring out exactly where this new world is.”

He already had a suspicion. The name Nan’an Community rang a bell—it was familiar somehow.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep