Glo parked the car deftly in front of a destroyed building. Their source in the city had told them they may find some good treasure left behind.

Most of the surrounding ruins looked bleak and behind them was a scorching wilderness, obscured by the afternoon dust storm.

Glo sighed. She hoped that she would be able to salvage enough today to pay for their stay. If they had enough, they could skip paying the life exchange; which would be a relief.

The four teammates began to file out of the old vehicle, keeping their guard up in case any strange creatures were hiding in wait.

Theo took the front, being the leader, he would not let his teammates take the fall before him.

Theo: Yeah, anyone who knew of its power had the influence of the power reduced

Tom: So more like “the less you knew about it the more likely you were to be influenced”

Theo: Yeah, kind of..

Glo: But doesn’t that mean like the whole world or something?

“No,” Levi, the nerd of the group, corrected. 

“gods didn’t have influence past a certain region. Their region of influence became their ‘territory’. For example, Some were valley gods others were mountain gods”

He paused briefly as they neared the ruined building, the doors seemed to be barred by metal rods. They would make quick work of those using the handy laser cutter, but it still gave him assurance that they were likely to find treasure.

Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.

‘and shelter from this damned sun,’ He thought as he continued speaking,

“there were some greater gods like the great Dao who were said to influence the entire eastern wasteland and

the only one known with influence over the world was the one that existed during the Deception 

Wasn’t he like, a fake god?” Tom asked as he fished out the laser cutter from his bag.

“Well, Yeah,” Levi answered, “It was said to be a made up delusion by humans. all the gods of the Deception were done away with after humans discovered the time portal”

“It was bound to happen” Glo said ominously, over the hum on the melting metal. The door game way and Theo and Levi Hastily ensured it would not make a banging noise as it fell.

“What was the deception like?” she asked as they warily filed into the building.

They paused in silence momentarily checking that the coast was clear.

Levi who was guarding the rear, quietly responded

“The records say that it was a time ironically of great peace and prosperity” he said, before adding

“But only for a select few. The greatest population of humans existed within this period. About 8 billion humans”

“Pardon me?!” Glo asked in shock at the same time Tom exclaimed

“No freaking way! That's a load of crap”

“Shhhhh, quietly” Theo, who had been quietly listening urged them to be lower their voices. He did not seem shocked by the information, unlike Glo and Tom who still seemed unable to process.

Tom, in a lower voice, asked “Damn! How the - . So how did they fit on this damned place?!

Theo responded softly while looking around “They didn’t. They were so overpopulated they were seeking habitat on the moon”

Glo who saw that the coast was clear, laughed as she said,

“Aah, and that's how they met their demise. Must have been a bunch of crazies, they aimed for the freaking moon!”

“Why didn’t they try Mars; it has all the potential. With enough effort they would have discovered its resources” Levi asked curiously.

Theo responded, “They didn’t want to. The select group of elite had already decided on the moon, so all of humanity had to just follow along.”

“Let’s check upstairs there doesn’t seem to be anything here”

They all quietly agreed and headed for the stairs, falling into a tactical position. 

Levi, who was now guarding the side, responded “Wow, Ive always wondered what led them there. Must have been hurtful when they found The Ghost”