As I wandered around the destroyed city, I collected the monster's bodies and the human remains, trying to reassemble them. However, many parts were missing, so I eventually buried their bodies. Sometimes you can see how a person died by their last look—betrayal, injustice, or regret.
It took me several days to gather what I could, but it was a rich harvest. Sadly, people not only evacuated but also took their wealth with them. Even the bank that resided here was not spared. To the last penny, everything was taken.
I collected 2 gold and 83 silver by selling all the monsters. There were extraordinary creatures and mortal-grade ones too, but what surprised me most was the Elite remains. It had been blasted open by a cannon. The system didn’t sting, though—it gave me 1 gold, 47 silver, and 55 copper for it. I felt rich again, but remembering the meditation technique and the Elite gene cap potion I had lost all motivation.
With everything ready, I left the city. What about the outpost? Those monsters lurk in the water, and they might spot me if I go near the outpost and attack. Who knows what I might find there? Maybe nothing. So, without wasting any time, I buried the bodies of the people whose remains I could find. Half a day passed while I did so.
Walking through the fields, I continued south.
United Earth Headquarters
BANG! A loud slap echoed through the room, and the wooden table cracked and split in two. The culprit was an old man who had smashed it with his fist. The ground beneath him even cracked as he struck the table again.
BANG! With bloodshot eyes, he glared at the people in the room, who all looked down, not daring to meet his gaze.
“Tell me how we lost 28 cities in just three days in the first Realm!” the old man demanded. If you had been here a few minutes ago, you could have read his name on the template in front of his desk Helix—Central Region representative.
“Why aren’t you answering me?!” His voice grew even more hoarse. His concern wasn’t for the people or the land, but for meeting the quota of the Were tribes. If this wasn’t met, they would take people instead, targeting those with high gene caps, claiming they are more tender to the teeth.
Helix knew better than anyone else. His son had been taken by the Were tribes because his son’s gene cap was 110—great potential, but now lost. At the time, Helix had wanted to join the rebellion, but he realized that fighting against the Were tribes was why he had led people who destroyed and sold out humans to them. The regret and pain he felt that day were overwhelming. For days, he couldn’t sleep and was haunted by it. The endless guilt and regret almost made him end his life, but a ray of light broke through the darkness of his grandchildren.
He later discovered his son had children, and instead of denying anything to them, he took his grandchildren in as his own. Many knew about his grandson, who he revealed to the public, but he could protect his granddaughter—whose gene cap, at 147, was the highest since humanity’s birth—by casting a veil of secrecy.
He knew he might not accomplish the rebellion, but he could nurture the future generation to fight for their freedom. That was why he was building up a secret force, to break free from the Were tribes at the right time and atone for his past crimes.
But now, he had to find a way to meet the quota before the deadline. No one said anything, though, as they were afraid of Helix and the Were tribes alike. They wanted the Were tribe to choose another spokesperson, distancing themselves from the destruction of so many cities.
They blamed it on a terrorist organization and moved on. Even now, they endure the consequences, but their hearts and minds are occupied by the golden future that lies ahead.
“There’s nothing we can do we should prepare some sacrifices. Those organizations prospered for too long. We should ask for compensation, after all, it was in their jurisdiction, and they should bear the burden of not meeting the quota,” said the Southern Alliance representative. Their alliance only suffered the destruction of 2 cities, while the rest happened in the other alliances' territories 4 in the Central, 7 in the Western, 6 in the Eastern, and 9 in the Northern.
The face of the Northern Alliance representative was pained, to put it mildly. “We suffered this because of those terrorists and rebels. It’s not our fault for losing so many territories,” he said, shaking with anger.
If they paid compensation, their alliance would become the weakest, and even then, within the alliance, his faction—currently the ruling one—might be besieged by the other factions. He would be seen as the biggest traitor in his alliance. He had to make the Central region pay the most somehow.
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He knew the Western and Eastern regions both aimed to become the strongest and were competing with the Central in every aspect. However, they could never truly surpass the Central as long as Helix remained the representative.
Soon, a dogfight of words ensued, but the outcome was what the Northern Alliance hoped for. The Central region paid the most, but their alliance didn’t get off scot-free either. They had to sacrifice 30,000 people with a gene cap above 70.
He had to call the leaders of the other two factions to judge who to send—likely rebels and organizations dissatisfied with them. But even then, he had to sacrifice someone from his own family. Without hesitation, he chose his nephew. He had never gotten along with his brother, and his brother always opposed him in everything. With a malicious look, he left, almost smiling—a snake with human skin.
After many days of walking, I reached another city. Upon entering, not only did I have to pay 10 copper, but my gene cap had to be tested. When I hesitated, one of the guards, recognizing me, exclaimed, “Wait, isn’t this the famous gene deficit?” As he spoke, many people turned to look.
Seeing this development, I pretended to hide my real gene cap. “Haha, he is! You don’t have to check his gene cap! It’s well known his gene cap is 31,” the soldier who recognized me laughed, waving me away. “You should go. You’re not one of the people we’re searching for.”
With that, he shooed me away, and many people cast disgusted gazes or spat at me for still being alive and shaming anyone who came into contact with me. Shaking my head, I quickly entered an alley, changed my clothes, and put on a mask. The mask was nothing more than a full-face cover with two holes for the eyes.
Many people avoided me, as walking around with a mask was suspicious during the day and even more so at night. Soon, I entered an inn, went to my room, and collapsed onto the bed. Life sure is hard for the famous, but even harder for the despised.
I positioned myself for meditation. After a few more hours of calming down from the looks and whispers, I searched for some food from the system. I couldn’t go downstairs to eat because people would recognize me, and rumors spread quickly. The innkeeper might even kick me out if he knew I was the one who booked the room.
With nothing to do, I could only read the books again, familiarizing myself and preparing for at least a month in this city. But now, I wondered why the guards were checking people’s gene caps. This raised questions in my mind. They couldn’t be recruiting—if they did, they would put out a notice, and people would go to apply for it. The only explanation seemed to be that they were making some sort of check-up on people, or something entirely else.
I pondered this hard, but I couldn’t come up with an answer that might explain the situation. All I could do was practice. I tried to combine my mental strength as described in the Spiritual Cap, but it was extremely difficult. It took me several hours just to succeed. By nighttime, all my spiritual energy was exhausted, so I had to meditate again to replenish it and think about why I had failed.
Was it because I tried to forcefully unite the energy, causing clashes between them? Thinking about this, I tried again with less energy, and I succeeded. I moved them in a circulating way, not trying to blend them forcefully but waiting for them to do so naturally.
Seeing my success, I wanted to channel it back into my mind, but I failed the moment I tried to control it. It wasn’t working that way, so should I try to, like when I blend them, let it flow into my mind rather than forcing it there? I could give it a go once I recovered all my spiritual energy.
As I gathered energy, I also realized I could perform small actions like moving my hand or arms a little bit. So, I tried to synchronize the meditation technique not with my heart but with my body, but it failed. Was it not possible, or was I missing something? Could it be that instead of the body, it has to synchronize with the soul? But how do I do that? I can feel my body, but not my soul, which is the main repository of spiritual energy.
The soul is like a vase that contains spiritual energy. There is a limit to how much this vase can hold. My vase is already stronger than the average person’s, and I could defeat others more easily. But I’ve never had a chance to do so—whether with people or monsters—because they seem to group up much more in the South.
Do the monsters in the South like to group? After all, I have limited spiritual energy, and if there are too many, it will be problematic for me. Not knowing the answer to my question only upset me further. What could I do? I gave up the useless thoughts and focused fully on meditation.
But every time I did, I heard a small, rhythmic thumping sound. At first, I thought it was my heart, but it wasn’t. What is this sound? It drives me crazy not knowing. I wanted it to stop because it irritates me extremely.
Bored with meditating, I started to sync with the thumping rhythm of how I gathered spiritual energy. Every time I synchronized with it, I felt a closer bond with myself. It felt strange—as if I could feel my body better. It’s hard to explain, but the world seemed clearer, and my hearing and sense of smell provided much more information in my brain.
Moving around, I found that controlling the spiritual energy in my body was much easier—as if it had become part of me rather than a foreign object. Did I integrate my soul and body into one, or am I in the process of doing so? Something happened, but I don’t know exactly what. It felt strange and good at the same time.
Just as night fell on the city, I moved out of the inn to learn about the city and its layout. In the center of the city is the city Lord's mansion, with various facilities around it. The city’s name is Zinith. From what I know, someone misspelled it when it was originally written down, and it was supposed to be Zenith. This resulted in the city having such a funny history, making it much more enjoyable.