Night swallowed the camp.
Lights flickered on one by one, fragile and artificial—small defiant stars against an ocean of darkness that didn't care.
A transport vehicle rolled out.
Four figures stepped into the night.
And vanished.
"Qin Tian."
Qin Dadi's voice was low, controlled, as they ran.
"Our mission: eliminate a Shadow Cat squad near the perimeter."
No hesitation.
No ceremony.
Just a sentence that decided life and death.
"They're fast. Claws sharp enough to open a throat in one motion. They prefer the dark."
A pause.
"Once we engage—create distance. Observe first. Don't fire blindly."
Observe.
Don't fire blindly.
Qin Tian processed the words.
Not as advice.
As variables.
He could hear it—the doubt beneath them.
Unproven.
Unreliable.
Replaceable.
"…Understood."
His voice was steady.
Too steady.
The rifle in his hand felt… comfortable.
Familiar.
More familiar than his own body.
"Relax," Xiao Yunlong laughed lightly, though there was something forced beneath it. "We've killed plenty of these things."
His blade caught faint light as he ran.
"Watch closely. You'll see what real power looks like."
Power.
Qin Tian's eyes shifted slightly.
Expectation stirred.
Not admiration.
Not awe.
Something colder.
Measurement.
The radar on Qin Dadi's wrist pulsed faintly.
Red dots.
Moving.
Alive.
Soon—
They wouldn't be.
"One kilometer."
Qin Dadi slowed.
The team adjusted instantly.
"Find your position."
Qin Tian broke away without hesitation.
No reluctance.
No need for instruction.
His body moved efficiently, slipping into shadow, finding elevation, angles, lines of sight—
Like it had done this countless times before.
Even though—
He hadn't.
Shapes emerged in the distance.
Black against black.
At first, they seemed like distortions.
Then—
They looked back.
Shadow Cats.
Not the kind imagined in stories.
No softness.
No beauty.
Only wrongness.
Their bodies were too large. Their limbs too long. Their faces… stretched, hollowed, with eyes that burned in the dark like something refusing to die.
Green light flickered in their pupils.
Not intelligence.
Not quite.
But something close enough to be unsettling.
For a brief moment—
Qin Tian felt it.
A thin thread of instinct.
This is dangerous.
Then—
It was gone.
Suppressed.
Filed away.
Replaced by clarity.
"Four targets."
Qin Dadi moved first.
His body cracked—
Not metaphorically.
Physically.
Stone erupted across his skin, swallowing flesh, replacing it.
He grew.
Expanded.
Transformed into something heavy.
Something meant to endure.
The ground trembled under his steps.
Loud.
Obvious.
A distraction.
The Shadow Cats reacted instantly.
They scattered.
Not in panic—
But in calculation.
"Trying to run?"
Xiao Yunlong blurred forward.
Fast.
Too fast.
His blade carved through the air—
The fight was brief.
Violent.
Efficient.
Bone shattered.
Blood sprayed.
A head separated cleanly from a body.
Qin Tian watched.
Through the scope.
Breathing steady.
Heart calm.
Too calm.
On the other side—
Three Shadow Cats lunged toward Liu Zhaozhao.
Silent.
Lethal.
Perfect arcs of motion.
She didn't move.
Didn't need to.
Fire answered.
Violent.
Hungry.
It erupted from the ground, swallowing them whole.
The screams—
High-pitched.
Animal.
Desperate.
They echoed across the plains.
Qin Tian adjusted his aim.
Crosshair steady.
No emotion.
No hesitation.
Bang.
The first Shadow Cat's chest collapsed inward.
Its body jerked—
Then fell.
Bang.
The second lost its head before it understood it was dead.
The third—
Burned.
Writhing.
Screaming.
Alive.
Too long.
Qin Tian watched it.
Through the scope.
Finger resting lightly on the trigger.
Should I?
A simple question.
But the answer didn't come immediately.
Not because he couldn't.
But because—
He didn't feel the urgency.
Eventually—
The flames consumed it.
Its movements slowed.
Stopped.
Silence returned.
Heavy.
Lingering.
Qin Tian lowered the rifle.
Something drifted toward him.
Light.
White.
Faint.
It entered his body.
Quietly.
Like breath.
[Cat's Agility] (White)
And something else.
A number.
Cold.
Precise.
[Evolution Points: 15]
Qin Tian stood still.
Processing.
They're resources.
The realization came naturally.
Too naturally.
Not enemies.
Not creatures.
Not lives.
Resources.
Xiao Yunlong approached, smiling.
"You're insane," he said, almost admiring. "First time using that rifle and you're already landing shots like that?"
Qin Tian nodded slightly.
Polite.
Detached.
But his eyes—
Were on the corpses.
He remembered the moment before.
Watching the last one burn.
Listening.
Waiting.
Why didn't I shoot?
Not hesitation.
Not mercy.
Something else.
Optimization.
Saving the bullet.
Qin Dadi stepped closer.
His body had returned to flesh.
But faint cracks still lingered—
Like something that had difficulty remembering it was human.
"Rockification. Crimson Flame. Spiritual Body."
He spoke evenly.
"As you saw."
A pause.
Then—
He extended his hand.
"Welcome to Earth Dragon Team."
Qin Tian looked at it.
The hand.
The gesture.
The meaning behind it.
Acceptance.
Trust.
Camaraderie.
Concepts.
Definitions.
He reached out.
Took it.
"Captain."
The word came out smoothly.
Naturally.
Perfectly.
Too perfectly.
Behind them, Xiao Yunlong and Liu Zhaozhao smiled.
Relieved.
Satisfied.
They thought they had gained a teammate.
But Qin Tian—
Felt something else entirely.
Not belonging.
Not connection.
Only this—
My value increased.
And somewhere deep inside—
Something that used to resist that thought—
Didn't anymore.