Dusk spread like ink across the sky. The clouds above looked torn open, bleeding red light. Chen Mo and the squad were on their way back when the radio suddenly crackled with a piercing alert:
"The outer refugee zone has been overrun by a zombie tide. Signal lost."
That was where Chen Mo's parents lived.
He didn't hesitate. He leapt from the transport and sprinted into the wind. The air roared past his ears. The ground trembled beneath his feet. His heartbeat pounded like war drums.
Zhao Yang tried to stop him. "Chen Mo, calm down—" "I am calm," Chen Mo replied without turning, his voice slicing through the air like a blade on ice.
The refugee zone was scorched earth. Bodies lay scattered among the ruins. The air reeked of ash and blood.
Chen Mo stepped into the wreckage, each footfall heavy, as if crushing his own heart. He lifted a collapsed shelter panel and found a bloodstained scarf—his mother's. Another slab revealed a shattered wrist guard—his father's.
He froze. His fingers trembled as they touched the guard, as if still feeling the warmth of his father's rough hands.
"You weren't soldiers… but you died on the battlefield." "I protected so many… but I couldn't protect you."
The wind stopped. The world fell silent.
He closed his eyes. He saw his mother humming softly in the kitchen. His father repairing his boots late at night. That rainy night—his father carrying him through a horde, his mother shielding him from the cold.
"You were my reason to survive." "Now… what do I have left?"
Zhao Yang stepped closer, but a surge of energy knocked him back. Lin Lan gasped. "His body… it's breaking apart!"
The ground shook. Dust hung in the air. Time itself seemed to hesitate.
Chen Mo slowly stood. His fists clenched. Bronze skin cracked with dark red veins. The Star Abyss fragment pulsed at his chest. Energy surged like a tidal wave.
He raised his right fist to the sky and growled:
"You say they're already dead?" "Then I'll shatter 'already.'"
He punched. The air rippled. Space cracked. Time froze.
The wind stopped. Dust hung motionless. Birdsong cut off. Blood mist halted midair.
Zhao Yang froze mid-step. Lin Lan's cry caught in her throat. The world had been paused.
Only Chen Mo moved—outside of time—his gaze cold and divine.
Ability Awakening: Fist of Shattered Time Tier: Mid Tier 3 Effect: Shatters local time flow, creating a "Time Freeze" zone Side Effects: Delayed actions, memory breaks, temporal distortion
He walked toward the corpses. One punch shattered a time node. The entire zone collapsed. Bodies crumbled like sand. Time's threads snapped in the air.
Zhao Yang regained motion, stunned as he saw Chen Mo standing at the center of the fracture. Lin Lan whispered, "This isn't just an ability… it's a protest against reality."
The sky trembled. The Star Abyss fragment glowed. A whisper echoed in Chen Mo's mind:
"You have strayed from the path of fate." "The Time Watchers are coming."
A blurred figure appeared in Chen Mo's vision— Silver hair, black robes, eyes swirling like star trails. It hadn't arrived… but it was watching.
Chen Mo looked to the sky, slowly lowering his fist. He spoke softly:
"You stole my past." "Then I'll bury you… with my future."