The tension was a tangible force in the air, a cold, oppressive weight that seemed to stifle the very breath of the huddled survivors. The two groups, one a weary assembly of the desperate and the other a disciplined, armed unit, eyed each other with a raw suspicion that predated the end of the world.
Lin Kai stood in front of his people, his posture relaxed but his muscles coiled tight beneath his tattered clothes. His hand, a hair's breadth from the hilt of his blade, was the only thing that felt truly alive in the suffocating silence.
He watched the man who led the strangers, a figure whose name he didn't know but whose presence felt more menacing than any corrupted monster. The man's eyes were cold and devoid of any humanity, a chilling void that spoke of a cruelty far more profound than the mindless hunger of the mutated.
"We should go somewhere to talk," Lin Kai said, his voice a calm, even tone that cut through the silence. He gestured with a subtle flick of his head towards the skeletal remains of a building nearby, its hollowed windows staring out like empty eyes. "The screams of the corrupted are far too close to have a proper conversation."
The man, Shen Feng, gave a slow, deliberate nod. His eyes, fixed on Lin Kai, held a glint of predatory intelligence. He was calculating, sizing up his prey. "That's a good idea," he agreed, his voice a low rumble.
"A bit of shelter would be wise. My men and I… we've been running for a while."
He gave a sharp, almost imperceptible gesture with his hand. His men, a dozen figures clad in tattered prison uniforms, moved in a coordinated, disciplined way. There was no hesitation, no confusion.
They were a unit, a pack of wolves. They were not survivors in the way Lin Kai's people were; they were predators. The survivors from Lin Kai's group huddled even closer, their eyes wide with fear as they watched the armed strangers.
They were more frightened of these men than they were of the unseen horrors in the darkness.
They all moved cautiously into the shelter. It was the ruined husk of a small office building. The walls, still mostly intact, were thick enough to block out the distant moans of the dying city and provide some measure of cover.
The air inside was stale and heavy with the scent of dust and decay, but it was safer than the open street. As they settled inside, a nervous silence descended upon them.
Lin Kai's people sat together on the floor, their backs pressed against a wall, their eyes darting to the guns held by the strangers.
Shen Feng's eyes, cold and calculating, swept over Lin Kai's group. They lingered for a moment on the terrified faces of the women, his gaze as devoid of emotion as a machine's.
The way he looked at them made Lin Kai's blood run cold. This man had no respect for life, only for resources. Then, his gaze snapped back to Lin Kai, his expression unreadable.
"So," Shen Feng began, his voice a low rumble. "How do you do it? How do you use the aether so… efficiently? Are you a Pre-Awakened one?
Lin Kai was taken aback. The question wasn't what he expected. It was a direct question about his abilities, something no one else had dared to ask.
He kept his face impassive. "Pre-Awakened? What are you talking about?" he asked, trying to buy time and understand this strange new world these people lived in. He saw a flicker of annoyance in Shen Feng's eyes, a flash of frustration at the evasive answer.
"Don't play dumb," Shen Feng said, his voice hardening, losing its pretense of civility. "You're a Zero Order Awakened, just like me but stronger I can sense it. You can use the aether to heal yourself, to create things out of thin air, to fight back with an ease that shouldn't be possible. How?"
Lin Kai and his group were now a mix of confusion and fear. Han Zhe and Jiang Lie looked at each other, and then back at Shen Feng.
Both of them are at Zero Order (Mid) now, but they still didn't understand what this man was talking about. Their power felt like a new muscle they didn't know how to use, an energy that was a part of them but remained untamed.
"I don't know what you mean," Lin Kai said, his voice still calm despite the growing tension. "It's from practice. By using and harnessing it with my body."
Shen Feng's face twisted into a snarl of pure rage. He looked at the guns in his hands, then at Lin Kai's twin blades. He was at a disadvantage in a fight, and he knew it. But he and his group have guns which makes in this situation favouring them.
This kid is either playing dumb or is truly ignorant. Either way, he is a threat, a loose end, a potential rival for power. A fool could get them all killed. Shen Feng decided to cut to the chase, to force the issue.
"Then give us your aether cores," Shen Feng said, his voice now a demand, a low growl that filled the room. "And tell me where to find more of them."
Lin Kai and the others looked at each other, their confusion now replaced by a chilling fear. "Aether cores? What is that?" Han Zhe asked, his voice trembling, his eyes filled with a desperate plea for understanding.
Shen Feng's face contorted in a mask of pure fury. "Don't play with me! I'm not a fool. The aether cores… those small stones that form after an Awakened person dies! You all have been hoarding them to yourselves, haven't you?" He raised his gun, pointing it directly at Lin Kai's face.
His men, a chorus of cold-eyed killers, raised their guns as well, the barrels aimed at the terrified survivors. "We don't want your women. We don't want your food. We want the cores. Give them to us, or everyone dies."
Lin Kai saw the madness in Shen Feng's eyes. He wasn't playing around. He was a man who had been pushed to the brink of insanity and was willing to do anything to get what he wanted.
He was delusional, blinded by his own greed. He thought he had the upper hand, but he had no idea what Lin Kai could truly do. He was just a human, a Zero Order (Mid) one at that. He had nothing against a Zero Order (Peak) one.
The survivors behind Lin Kai were now openly weeping, the sound a mournful chorus that filled the silence. Han Zhe and Jiang Lie took their battle stances, their bodies tense, their eyes filled with a desperate resolve. But they were just two people against a dozen armed men. It was a suicide mission.
Lin Kai knew he had to act fast. He raised his hands in a gesture of surrender. "Fine," he said, his voice calm, persuasive, and steady. "I will give you the cores, and I'll give you something else. A piece of information that you will not regret hearing."
Shen Feng lowered his gun slightly, a glint of excitement in his eyes. He thought he had won. He took a cautious step forward, his men still on guard, but their postures relaxed, their focus on Lin Kai.
The promise of power was a drug, and they were addicted. "What information?" Shen Feng asked, his voice filled with a greedy impatience.
"First, tell me what you are," Lin Kai said, his voice low and firm, a perfect counterpoint to Shen Feng's rage. "How did you learn about the cores? What happened to you?"
Shen Feng hesitated for a moment. He had the advantage. He could kill them all and take everything, but the promise of information, of understanding what was going on, was too tempting. He made a decision. He would tell him, and then he would kill him. He and his men were the masters of this new world. He had a gun, and they were weak.
"Fine," Shen Feng said with a menacing smirk. "You want to know how we got here? You want to know how we got what we wanted? Then I'll tell you. But don't think you can escape."
The world had ended for Shen Feng a week ago, in a prison cell. He was a man who had been locked away for years, his only reality the cold concrete and the faces of his fellow inmates.
When the Primal Decree came, he was not a free man, but a prisoner. He heard the voice, felt the cold aura of the aether, and was confused. But when the screams started, he knew he had to act fast.
He was a survivor. He had been a predator in the old world. In this new one, he would be a king.
He and his men broke out of their cell, using a rusted piece of metal to pick the lock. The prison was chaos. The guards were either corrupted or dead, their bodies twisted into grotesque parodies of themselves.
Shen Feng's group, all twelve of them, ran to the armory. They took as many guns and ammunition as they could carry. They were not fools.
They knew that in this new world, a gun was a better weapon than a sharpened stick. They killed a few corrupted ones that were in their way, their guns barking in the silence of the city.
The aether was new to them. They didn't understand it, and they couldn't use it. They killed a few more corrupted ones, but to their surprise, their own power didn't increase. They were still at Zero Order (Low).
Shen Feng was a man of action, not of blind faith. He knew that if he wanted to get stronger, he would have to find a way, not just wait for some god to give it to him. He was a man who made his own luck, who took what he wanted.
"We can't kill a horde of them," he said, his voice low and firm. "We need to hide. We need to scavenge. We need to find food and shelter."
They found a quiet corner in a derelict warehouse, their hearts pounding in their chests. They were safe for now, but they were still weak.
A few days later, they found a lone man, a survivor with a familiar aura. The man was on the brink of death, his body covered in deep wounds, a trail of dried blood behind him.
"Please... help me," the man rasped, his eyes filled with a desperate terror. "I'll tell you everything. I'm a Pre-Awakened one. I can help you."
Shen Feng looked at his men, then at the man. He was a fool, a weakling, but he had something Shen Feng wanted. He walked up to the man, a cold, calculating smile on his face.
He knelt down, pulled out a bottle of water, and helped the man drink. "Of course, we'll help," Shen Feng said, his voice full of a false warmth. "What happened to you?"
The man drank greedily, his eyes filled with gratitude. He was so grateful for the kindness that he couldn't see the coldness in Shen Feng's eyes. He began to talk, telling Shen Feng everything he knew.
He spoke of the Primal Decree, of the aether, and of the different Orders. "We're called Pre-Awakened," the man said proudly, a faint smile on his lips. "We are the chosen ones. The ones who can fight back."
Shen Feng listened patiently. He didn't care about being chosen. He only cared about power. "So how do you get stronger?" Shen Feng asked, his eyes gleaming with a predatory light.
The man, oblivious to the danger, proudly revealed his secret. "By killing the corrupted. But that's not all. Every being with aether, every beast and every awakened one, when they die, they leave a small stone behind… an aether core. You can absorb it, and it will increase your aetheric efficiency."
The man laughed, a hollow sound. "I was a fool. I tried to hunt a beast that was far too powerful for me. I wanted to get stronger faster. And now… look at me."
A cold silence descended upon the group. The man looked at them, his laughter gone. He had said too much. He saw the gleam in Shen Feng's eyes, and he knew he had made a mistake.
"Wait… wait, wait," the man stuttered, his eyes wide with terror. "You don't… you don't kill other people for this, do you? It's not a good thing to kill human beings. We have to unite."
Shen Feng didn't respond. He just nodded to one of his men. The man raised his gun and give it to his leader, and without a moment's hesitation, he fired a single bullet into the man's head.
The body slumped to the ground. Within seconds, it began to dissolve, a faint light glowing in the place where the heart had been.
Shen Feng picked up the small, obsidian-like stone that was left behind. A mental interface appeared in his mind.
"Zero Order (Mid) Attained. You have killed a Pre-Awakened one."
He was surprised. He was at Zero Order (Mid) just by killing a single human. It was a far better way to get stronger than killing a hundred corrupted.
He looked at the stone in his hand. He was a cautious man. He had a rule: never take a risk you can't come back from. He looked at one of his subordinates, a man named Zhao Li. "Zhao Li," Shen Feng said, his voice calm. "Eat this. I need to know if it works."
Zhao Li looked at the stone, and then at Shen Feng. He knew better than to argue. He was a prisoner who had nowhere to go, no one to protect him.
He was a survivor, and he would do what he had to do. He swallowed the aether core. A look of surprise and awe spread across his face.
"It works! It works!" he yelled excitedly. "I can feel the aether! I can… I can use it. It's… I'm stronger!"
Shen Feng smiled. He had found the secret to power in this new world. They would no longer scavenge for food and ammunition. They would hunt other awakened humans for aether cores.
They would become the strongest. They would become a new kind of predator, a new king. He ordered his men to rest, and then they set out on their hunt. They killed a few more awakened people, but they were weak, and the cores were not as powerful.
Shen Feng realized that the stronger the person, the more powerful the core. He needed a new kind of target. He needed a powerful awakened one. And then he found him.
He looked at Lin Kai, the kid with the confident eyes and the battle-worn body. He could sense the overwhelming power from the kid's aether, a power that was far beyond his own.
He was a fool to have thought he could take him on with just a gun. But he was confident. He had the advantage of numbers, of surprise. He was sure he could kill Lin Kai and take his core. With that, his group would become unstoppable.
His thoughts were interrupted by Lin Kai's words. The kid was offering him a deal. He was offering him a way to get what he wanted without a fight.
He was also offering him a valuable piece of information, a secret that was worth more than a thousand aether cores.
Shen Feng's eyes gleamed with greed. He had won. He would take the core, and he would become a king. He had him right where he wanted him.
He was still walking towards Lin Kai, a sinister smile on his face, a gun in his hand, and a plan in his mind, unaware of the trap he was about to step into.
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Author's Note:
Apologise for delaying chapters. Hope u enjoy this and have patience for future chapters also.