For many of the women, this was their first time stepping through a portal, and their curiosity was evident. When they entered, they were still in the Sunshine Garden Apartments. When they emerged, they were at the very top of the New York Pearl Tower!

Their excitement spilled over as they let out gasps of astonishment.

Upon stepping out, they were greeted by the revolving restaurant. The restaurant was surrounded by a circle of floor-to-ceiling windows made of high-strength tempered glass. Standing there, they had a panoramic view of all of New York City.

The endless sea of violet mist was overwhelmingly breathtaking.

While the rooftop of the Sunshine Garden Apartments was also above the mist, it was only 20–30 meters above it. The view from here was far superior.

The women were dumbstruck as they stared out of the windows.

"So beautiful!" "This is what the violet mist sea looks like?" "It wasn't this magnificent when I visited the New York Pearl Tower before." "Look! Some of those trees are taller than the buildings!" "Oh my gosh, look at that monkey—it's huge!"

Their awe-filled comments echoed through the space.

Standing high above the ground gave them an immense sense of security, freeing them to leisurely discuss the violet mist.

Suddenly, Winnie Morgan exclaimed, "How strange—why is that part of the violet mist bulging upward?"

The group turned their gaze to the north.

Lulia Smith recalled something and said, "That should be the location of Mount Morno, right? I've climbed that mountain before."

Mount Morno, located several dozen kilometers north of New York, wasn't very tall, only about 200 meters, but it spanned a large area.

Today's visibility was quite good, and the mountain was faintly visible on the horizon. Now, however, the entire mountain was shrouded in violet mist.

James Lone said calmly, "Have you forgotten? There's violet mist even on plateaus, so why wouldn't it be on mountains?"

When the internet was still operational, he had meticulously researched the global spread of the violet mist.

The mist's height was consistently around 60–70 meters above ground level. Yet, many places around the world, particularly plateaus, already had elevations exceeding this height—like the Kunzang Plateau, which is at least 800 meters above sea level.

Logically, such areas shouldn't have violet mist.

But James Lone had seen countless videos from residents in high-altitude and mountainous regions. Without exception, these areas were also covered by violet mist, maintaining the same height of about 60 meters, appearing no different from ground-level regions.

Why was this?

Additionally, the violet mist over the ocean was peculiar as well. Despite the vast depth from the sea floor to the surface, the mist still extended over 60 meters above the water.

Why was that the case?

As for whether the ocean floor had violet mist, he didn't know, nor had he seen any related videos. Now, no one dared to dive into the sea to investigate.

In summary, it seemed the violet mist adjusted its height to match the varied surface elevations of the Earth, maintaining a consistent height of roughly 60 meters everywhere.

This was incredibly bizarre!

The only exceptions were tall structures and large trees, which protruded above the mist—these areas were not forcibly covered by it.

James Lone had even seen a video from a dam engineer. The dam he was working on was tall enough to rise above the mist.

Could it be that structures like tall buildings and dams, being man-made, or large trees, being living organisms, were not considered part of the Earth's "natural" landscape?

This thought left James Lone with the unsettling impression that the violet mist might possess a simple form of intelligence—eerily strange.

Squinting, he stared at the endless violet mist below.

The reasons behind this violet mist were undoubtedly far from simple.

Prompted by James Lone's explanation, the women began recalling various details about the mist.

Elsa Thomas speculated, "There might be a massive conspiracy behind this disaster!"

The other women nodded repeatedly, their faces serious.

"Yes, it's too strange."

Only April Jones, who had a carefree and silly personality, remained unfazed, sipping milk tea in one hand and taking selfies with her phone in the other.

After calming down, the women began cleaning the satellite pod.

James Lone provided a simple layout plan:

The revolving restaurant would serve as a communal area.The Skyline Hotel would be their residential quarters.

The Skyline Hotel had 35 rooms of varying sizes. Naturally, James Lone claimed the largest and highest presidential suite for himself.

The other eight women chose their rooms based on the order in which they were accepted by James Lone. Future arrivals would follow the same rule: first come, first served.

With so many rooms, James Lone wouldn't need to worry about housing for his women for a long time.

Shirley Inr Won, being first in line, picked her room first. However, she didn't choose the second-best luxury suite. Instead, she opted for the business suite next to James Lone's room on the left.

Monroe Anne hesitated for a moment before following Shirley's lead, choosing the suite on James Lone's right.

The other women quickly realized what was happening.

Room size wasn't important.

After all, this was a luxury hotel, and any suite was more than adequate for a single person.

The key was proximity to James Lone!

The closer they were to him, the higher their chances of gaining his favor and seizing opportunities.

And even in the worst-case scenario, being closer to James Lone meant a higher likelihood of being saved in the event of danger!

None of the women were foolish; one by one, they picked rooms closest to his.

James Lone noticed but said nothing, pleased with their behavior.

He was especially impressed with Shirley Inr Won, whose cleverness was growing by the day.

He pulled out a Perception Fruit and handed it to her. "This is your reward."

Shirley Inr Won was overjoyed, knowing she had made the right choice. Smiling brightly, she said, "Thank you, Master!"

After eating the Perception Fruit, her eyes lit up, and she exclaimed excitedly, "Master! My perception ability seems to have upgraded! I can sense things from farther away!"

James Lone smiled. "Oh? Congratulations! How far can you sense now?"

Shirley experimented with April Jones and then reported, "Roughly from here to that wall."

James Lone measured the distance—it was about 5 meters, the same range as when his perception ability reached 2-stars.

He thought to himself, "It seems that perception upgrades have a fixed growth range, unrelated to the individual, but purely dependent on the ability itself."

The other women gathered around Shirley, full of curiosity and envy.

"So it really can upgrade?" "What does upgrading feel like?" "Wow, Shirley Inr Won is amazing! When will I get my upgrade?"

Until now, James Lone had told everyone that eating the same fruit repeatedly could lead to an upgrade. But since no one had successfully upgraded before, some doubted his words.

Now, with Shirley Inr Won's successful upgrade, the women were convinced.

Still, they couldn't help but feel a mix of envy and jealousy.

Some of the more cunning women exchanged glances, subtle sparks flying between them.

In their hearts, they silently vowed to perform better, earn more ability fruits from their Master, and become the next woman to upgrade.

James Lone saw their expressions and merely smiled without speaking.

Competition among women was highly beneficial to him.

He had no intention of stopping it.

If they started fighting, so be it.

After all, he had the Life Stimulation ability to heal them anytime.

Besides, watching the "kittens" squabble could be quite entertaining, couldn't it?

Having just moved in, there was still much to do.

First, the entire satellite pod needed a thorough cleaning to remove any trace of the previous occupants.

Of course, James Lone wouldn't bother with such tasks—he left them to Shirley Inr Won and the other women.

He opened a portal and stepped into subspace.

It was time to check on that foolish girl, Teresa Taylor.