---
The storm over Sector 13 had not faded.
But Li Tianming was already gone.
With the data cube secured and the Raven Cult given orders to go underground, he left the ruins alone — heading east, past collapsed megastructures and black forests overrun by mutated fungus. His destination: Sector 94 — a no-man's land known only as Raven Abyss.
It wasn't on maps.
It wasn't even officially marked as a zone anymore.
Because according to the Dragon Empire and the Eagle Dominion, it didn't exist.
But it did.
The system marked it clearly.
> [Destination: Raven Abyss. Time remaining: 58 hours.]
[Caution: Sector contaminated with unstable soul signatures. Chaos Anomalies likely.]
---
By nightfall on the second day, Tianming reached the edge.
Raven Abyss wasn't just a zone — it was a wound.
The earth here had been ripped open like a vein. Towering cliffs plunged into mist-filled blackness. Giant hands of steel — once part of mecha-titans — jutted from the gorge, frozen in death. Wind howled like memory, carrying whispers that weren't in any language.
Tianming stood at the edge, eyes scanning with the Chaos Eye.
> [Scanning...]
[Soul Echoes Detected: 37]
[Living Chaos Seeds: 4 – Status: "Dormant/Corrupted"]
[Other Signatures: Unknown. Warning: Aware of your presence.]
He crouched and leapt forward.
Down.
---
The descent into the Abyss was unnatural.
Time felt slower. Light warped.
He moved along skeletal walkways made from the remains of war machines, bypassing ruptured bunkers, shattered pods, and corpses wrapped in vines of metallic flesh.
And then—
He saw the first pod.
A giant chrysalis of bone and steel, hanging from the wall like a cocoon. Inside was a humanoid — suspended mid-scream, skin blackened, eyes glowing faint red.
Tianming stepped closer.
The system whispered.
> [Chaos Seed #073: Lian Xue. Condition: Semi-Alive. Mental Status: Broken.]
[Warning: Contact will trigger awakening. Engage?]
Tianming didn't move.
But a voice echoed — not from the pod, but inside his head.
> "You smell… like us."
"You carry the mark."
"But you… didn't die."
All around him, other pods began to twitch.
He turned slowly.
> One. Two. Six.
All pulsing now.
Something was waking them up.
> "This isn't right," he muttered. "They're supposed to be dead."
A deep hum filled the air.
Then a thump.
From deep in the ravine below, a heartbeat pulsed through the stone.
> BOOM.
And again.
> BOOM.
Tianming dropped to a crouch, blade ready.
> "System," he whispered. "What's waking them?"
> [New Chaos Entity Detected. Tier: ???. Signature: Merged.] [Name: Mother of the Abyss]
[Warning: Entity is capable of triggering Mass Seed Resonance.]
Suddenly, one of the pods burst open.
Lian Xue — Chaos Seed #073 — fell out screaming, her body covered in metal tendrils. Her eyes glowed like fractured rubies.
She looked at Tianming.
And smiled.
> "You're the one they left behind."
She lunged.
Tianming dodged just in time, slashing at her arm. Sparks flew. She didn't bleed — only fragments of living metal sloughed off her skin.
> "You don't have to do this!" he shouted.
> "We all have to," she whispered. "The Abyss doesn't forget its children."
She raised her hand — and her soul exploded outward like a storm.
> [Trait Detected: Abyssal Pulse – Fracture Tier Chaos Shockwave]
[Defense Required: Activate Trait Shield or use Chaos Collapse]
Tianming responded instantly.
> Hellfire Surge – Black Variant!
Echo Collapse – Single-Point Trigger!
Chaos Eye: Predictive Arc Enabled!
He absorbed one of her attacks, redirected her death echo, and unleashed a blast of soulfire directly at her heart.
Impact.
She shrieked — and vanished into smoke and sparks.
> [Target Status: Dissolved. Hostile Seed Purged.]
[Soul Count: 6 / 999999]
But more pods opened.
One.
Two.
Four.
Six.
Twelve.
Dozens of Chaos Seeds emerged from their cocoons — some walking, others crawling, some still screaming. They weren't mindless… but they weren't sane either.
And then…
> The Mother of the Abyss spoke.
Her voice wasn't a whisper.
It was a thought.
> "So… another Chaos Lord walks into my home."
"Will you abandon them again… like the last one did?"
Tianming's blade lowered slightly.
> "You know the truth, don't you?" he asked.
> "I am the truth," the voice answered.
"I was born from their failures. From their fear. From the moment they realized Chaos couldn't be controlled."
> "So they buried us."
The stone wall before him cracked — and from it emerged something massive, female-shaped, formed from melted bodies and gears. Her face had three mouths. No eyes.
> "Now I ask you, Chaos Lord…"
"Will you join us? Or bury us again?"
---