Author: [Bear with me here. Need to do this world dumping before the main story]
Three decades ago, the Eastern Central Administration vanished from the face of the Earth. They left behind everything—their most tightly gaurded technology, cities, and their legacy.
At first, no one noticed. But as communications fell silent and trade routes abruptly ceased, it became clear something had gone terribly wrong. The ECA had closed its borders, sealing itself off from the world.
The other superpower, the United Continental States Authority, responded with caution at first. They launched reconnaissance drones toward the South Eastern Sea, where ECA's core territories lay. None returned. Each was swallowed by silence the moment it crossed the waves.
Some officials urged restraint. The mystery was too costly to chase. But others saw it as provocation—an act of war. The hawks won.
Two carrier strike groups and three nuclear-capable submarines sailed east, a show of force. Just like the drones, they vanished without a trace. Not a signal, not a survivor.
The losses were catastrophic. Economically, militarily, technologically—the UCSA had been gutted. Suddenly, the officials who had counseled patience found themselves vindicated. Something was wrong, terribly wrong, and no further risks could be tolerated.
But time was against them. Inflation tore through the UCSA's markets. The disappearance of the world's manufacturing hub—the very place where most of its technology had been sourced—sent prices soaring beyond control. Desperation followed.
Factories could be rebuilt, supply chains reestablished—but the estimates were grim. Ten years to rebuild industry. Fifteen before stability. The people did not have that long.
As life grew unbearable, anarchy spread. With society on the brink, the UCSA's leaders turned their eyes back toward the forbidden land of the ECA. If they could not rebuild, they would take.
A full-scale invasion was declared.
It was the UCSA's final mistake.
The entire military force vanished in less than a year. What returned was nothing. With no army, no economy, and no hope, the UCSA dissolved into chaos. Its collapse shattered the last deterrent against global war.
The world descended into a frenzy. Nations turned on one another for resources. Some sought the nuclear stockpiles once held by the UCSA. Others, blinded by desperation, cast their gaze toward the forbidden ECA territories. None succeeded. All were erased.
When the fires settled, sixty percent of humanity was gone. Nations had burned. Whole continents became uninhabitable. And still, the ECA remained untouched—silent, forbidden, impenetrable.
Author's Note: That number doesn't include the ECA's citizens—if they are even still alive.
Amid this ruin, two figures slipped beneath the notice of history. Wei Lin and Xu Yan—once lead researchers of the Franche Fusion Project, the brightest minds of their era. Together, they had achieved the impossible: a breakthrough in net-positive fusion energy.
But the wars ended their work before it could begin. Forced into obscurity, the two fled east, surviving while nations crumbled around them.
Years later, they built a quiet life at the edge of the ECA's forbidden zone. They married. Twelve years later, they had a child. His name was Wei Xu.
And his story is the one that follows.
{End}