Beneath his drenched cloak, Zi-Cheng’s palms began to sweat. There was no mistaking it, someone must have seen his camp by the riverbank and mistaken him for a beastmen scout.
A vivid, blood-soaked image flashed through his mind, sending a shiver down his spine. If being labeled an “unknown” was enough to draw hostility from Chris and Julia, being deemed as a beastmen scout would literally make him a public enemy for all humankind.
(I have to get back before they find my camp!)
Without hesitation, Zi-Cheng bolted toward the city gates, his figure disappearing into the storm. The relentless downpour pelted his face, but getting soaked to the bone or falling ill was the least of his concerns now.
Through the sheets of rain, he sprinted at full speed toward the riverbank, just in time to see the once-calm river transformed into a raging serpent, its frothing torrents devouring everything in their path. At this rate, even if the guards didn’t come for him, the camp’s location was already in peril.
(Hana…)
Zi-Cheng’s thoughts turned to his only companion at the camp. If he could save just one thing, it would be the little white flower still sitting quietly inside the tent.
Fortunately, when Zi-Cheng reached the outskirts of his campsite, he spotted Julia and her team of five guards huddled under the trees. The relentless downpour had clearly made any further search impossible for the moment.
Breathing a quiet sigh of relief, Zi-Cheng ducked into the tall grass. Using the rain as cover, he crept closer to catch their conversation.
“Vice-Captain Kinsley, this rain’s showing no sign of letting up. Maybe we should call it a day?”
That raspy voice—Zi-Cheng immediately recognized it as Torenzo York, the same guard who interrogated him on the streets, and set off the chain of events that that led to his misery.
Torenzo’s words seemed to strike a chord with the other guards, who quickly nodded in agreement, their bodies weary and strained from hours of slogging through the rain.
But Julia remained unmoved.
“Call it a day? Over a little rain?” Her voice was sharp enough to cut through the downpour. “Tell me, would any of you have dared to say that to my brother when he was captain?”
Torenzo stiffened. The mention of Chris Coleman seemed to hit harder than it should have, and it showed in the slight tightening of his jaw, the subtle shift in his stance. His face flushed, not from embarrassment, but from a deeper frustration that he couldn’t let out.
Though Zi-Cheng saw something unspoken flickered in the man’s eyes, Torenzo said nothing in the end. It appeared Julia’s rank, her skills, and the sheer authority in her tone left no room for argument. As the rain continued to pour, all Torenzo could do was to bow his head, swallowing whatever words might have come next.
Minutes crawled by, and over an hour passed, but the storm showed no signs of relenting.
As the sky dimmed with nightfall drawing closer, the guards grew increasingly restless. They shifted from foot to foot, the thick mud sucking at their boots as their patience began to fray.
Yet Julia refused to back down. Her fists were clenched tight at her sides, her frustration palpable as rainwater streamed down her face, dripping from her soaked bangs. She gazed on the darkened sky as though sheer force of will could make the storm break.
(Glare all you want, Julia, but even you can’t keep your team out here forever. Once night falls, you’ll have no choice but to head back.)
Zi-Cheng smirked faintly from his hiding spot, the rain keeping him well concealed. Perhaps, against all odds, things were finally starting to work in his favor.
Or so he thought.
Out of the corner of his eye, something dark floated down the river—and Julia noticed it too.
“The beastman’s backpack!” her voice cracked through the air like a whip.
Zi-Cheng’s head snapped toward the river, and his heart sank. There it was, his black backpack, unmistakable, bobbing helplessly along the raging current.
Frustration surged in his chest as the river roared louder, the water rising faster than he could have imagined. Everything he’d worked so hard to gather was swept away, vanishing before his eyes. His heart twisted in pain, but all he could do was bite down on his arm to hold back the cry in his throat.
Yet, he wasn’t the only one unwilling to let go.
“No way I’m heading back empty-handed!”
“Vice-Captain—!!”
Before anyone could stop her, Julia took off her armor and dove headfirst into the rapids.
(She’s insane! This woman’s completely lost it!)
Zi-Cheng’s thoughts raced as he watched Julia desperately fight against the current, pushing herself toward the floating backpack. The guards, still stunned by her reckless act, broke into a frantic sprint along the riverbank, panicking but unsure what to do.
Stolen story; please report.
“Watch out!”
Torenzo lunged to grab a guard who nearly slipped into the river, pulling him back just in time.
“The ground’s too soft! There’s no way we can pull her to the shore!”
By now, Julia had reached the backpack, clutching it tightly in one hand. Yet, gold-tier or not, her body was no match for the river’s wrath. She was tossed around like a withered leaf, utterly powerless as the raging water dragged her downstream.
Zi-Cheng followed behind the guards, hoping they had some kind of plan to save her. But all they did was flail helplessly at the river’s edge, shouting and screaming like a bad comedy troupe.
“Someone, help her! She’s going to drown!”
“The current’s too strong, our rope can’t reach her!”
It was almost pitiful to watch, but beneath the absurdity of it all, Zi-Cheng felt the weight of reality bearing down. Julia, gasping for air and barely keeping her head above water, was losing the fight. It was only a matter of time before the merciless river dragged her under for good.
To be, or not to be?
The classic question caught Zi-Cheng off guard, the two choices before him drawn like a fine line in the sand.
(Seriously, risk my neck to save Julia?)
(Yes, the very same woman who threatened me on the street and had me beaten to a pulp.)
(Yeah, because you kissed her!)
(What was I supposed to do? Surrender myself and let her lock me up?)
(Why were you running away in the first place)
(That’s….irrelevant….)
(Really? If you’d just did what Chris told you, none of this would have happened in the first place.)
(Oh, come on! That’s easy to say now, but who could’ve known how things would turn out?)
“It’s all about probability….”
Indeed it was. It was probability, or rather, possibility that saved him from Crimson Plume’s impossible countdown.
(Saving this woman is a mistake. I know it. I’ll regret this!)
(So you choose to let her die because of uncertainty.)
(No, but...)
"You always think you’re right, don’t you? That’s your biggest problem!"
The sharp echo of his father’s voice struck Zi-Cheng like a bolt of lightning, freezing him in place. His tone, as biting as ever, sent a chill racing down his spine.
--------------------------
Back at the riverbank, the frantic guards shouted desperately as Torenzo stood frozen, watching Julia being tossed around in the current like a rag doll. She vanished beneath the waves, only to resurface moments later, each appearance weaker than the last.
“Damn it, Julia….”
Torenzo’s knuckles turned white as his mind screamed for action, racing for anything that could pull Julia from the clutches of the raging river. But there was nothing he could do against the sheer force of nature.
“We can’t… we can’t lose you too….”
He staggered forward, his boots sinking into the mud. Every passing second felt like a cruel countdown to the inevitable.
And then, through the relentless storm, a cloaked figure emerged.
“Who—?” Before Torenzo could finish, the figure weaved through the chaos with his arm raised. An intense blue light erupted, bathing the riverbank in an otherworldly glow.
“Secured target area. Activate [Developer Mode — Construct]!”
With those words, a low, guttural rumble tore through the storm’s roar. The water’s fury stilled momentarily as jagged rocks burst upward, rising from the depths to form a platform beneath Julia, lifting her above the deadly current.
The guards stood in stunned silence. This was no battle technique; it was unlike anything they had ever seen and defied everything they thought possible — a demonstration of power that bent the laws of nature itself.
“What the hell are you waiting for? Throw her the damn rope!” the cloaked figure shouted, a command that snapped the guards into action.
“Ah, right, the rope!”
Torenzo scrambled for the coil of rope at his side. Tying a stone to its end, he hurled it with all his might. The rope sailed through the air and landed just within Julia’s reach. As she tied it around her waist, the guards began pulling her toward safety.
“So that’s it. We’re even now.”
The cloaked figure mumbled the words as he turned and walked away. By the time Julia was safely back on shore, her mysterious savior had already vanished into the storm without a trace.
“Who was that?” The guards exchanged uneasy glances.
A beastman saving a human was unheard of. But if it wasn’t a beastman, then why had this person concealed his identity and set up camp outside the city?
Julia, still dripping wet and catching her breath, seemed just as perplexed as her colleagues. She knew it wasn’t her older brother Chris, but something about her savior felt oddly familiar, like a thread dangling just out of reach. Her gaze shifted to the backpack now lying at her feet. Perhaps the answer lay within.
One by one, she pulled out its contents. Folded clothes, towels, a utility knife, and other basic toiletries, all arranged in a way that seemed more fitting for a human noble than a beastman scout.
Finally, at the bottom of the backpack, Julia retrieved a small, delicate white vase. Though its water had spilled, the tiny flower it held remained unshaken, its petals still turned toward the dim light filtering through the stormy sky.
image [https://i.imgur.com/Tt67WQx.png]
“What is this…?”
Turning the vase over, Julia noticed a small note attached to its base. Unfolding it, she read two lines of writing:
Though the stars abandon us,
We shall prevail and thrive for decades to come.
Julia read the words aloud, her voice soft but resolute. Whatever the truth about the owner, she felt certain this person was not a beastman. Staring at the little flower, she fell silent, the cryptic message drawing her into deeper thought. For the first time in years, she allowed herself to pause, to truly reflect, as if the storm outside mirrored the turmoil she’d been suppressing within.