Sera felt a sharp pain in her core as if her stomach had ruptured, spilling its content, the acid burning through her flesh, but she knew this was just her mind filled with anxiety trying to tell her she was doomed. Still, the pain was real. She could still feel where the blow had landed as if it had just happened.

She could clearly imagine the man before her, showing a mocking expression hidden behind his mask. His eyes showed as much, and his tone was playful.

“No point in trying to play the hero,” he said. “You may not end as roadkill if I like what I hear.”

She shuddered, somehow seeing her life flash before her eyes. It was short and filled with the stench of dirty backstreets, which didn't really prompt her survival instinct to kick in. If anything, she could only lament how it all turned out. She knew it would be pointless even if she wished to run away as she always did.

From the corner of her eyes, she noticed a small red dot aimed at her heart. She shuddered even more, looking in the distance, yet saw nothing but mounds of rubble as far as the eyes could see and a wide road piercing through the middle. However, she knew someone was hidden within, invisible, yet the threat was all too real.

She gulped loudly, choosing her words carefully, yet nothing came to mind. She had no way out of this. She noticed the man grow impatient, and her anxiety mounted. She opened her mouth, yet silence reigned. The man's eyes narrowed, but hers grew wider, filled with fear, and only the truth escaped her lips.

“They’re dead,” she said, her speech hurried, drowned in a primordial fear.

The man stayed silent. She could feel he doubted her words. She panicked.

“Killed, croaked, gone, snuffed, passed on!” she blurted out. “They’re all dead!”

The man looked down at her, her collar still in his hand. In fact, she started levitating. Her feet left the ground. She could feel the tension of her clothes as she hovered, cutting her circulation from the pressure, yet the man seemed at ease despite her weight. She looked down, only to see a mechanical arm holding her. She didn't remember this man having been augmented.

“Nice arm...” she squeaked. “Lightforge Industries?”

“Nice, isn't it?" the man said, yet there wasn't the slightest trace of a smile in his eyes. "Carbon-fibre base with tungsten plating. Light and durable. The best of the best. Also, it costs an arm, but what can you do when it comes to quality?"

“How nice...” she replied sheepishly. “Good for you.”

"I have your boss to thank for that. Without him cutting my arm off, I may never have realized how nice their products are."

Sera's eyes widened even more as fear sprouted in them. Her breathing accelerated, and her gaze started shifting back and forth, seeking a way out where there was none. She only saw three other men guarding the perimeter. In their hands was state-of-the-art weaponry that she knew people of their ranks couldn't afford.

Her mind raced, trying to figure out how they could afford it, but she drew a blank. She didn't even know why this mattered, but her mind needed something to distract herself from, and this seemed as good as any other.

“I’ll ask again, where is he?” the man reiterated. “I don’t believe he’s paying you enough to risk your life on this.”

She gulped again. She knew she was done for. There was now only one thing she could do. If the truth was out of the question, then she could only lie.

“We found a large deposit back there, and the boys are busy mining it,” she replied, stuttering most of the words. The fear was real, and it seemed to make her words more believable.

“There... that wasn't so difficult, now was it?" the man said, finally easing her back to the ground. However, before she could relax, the man grasped her throat, threatening to pull away her mask. "Now... Why don't you slowly guide us to them? Or... well, you know how it usually goes, don't you?"

Sera slowly tried to rock her head back and forth, yet was unable to. The man’s hold was much too firm for her to overcome. She could only blink slowly, trying to get her message across. It was only then that the man released her.

She fell to the ground, resembling a broken structure that had just lost its foundation. Her legs were weak, and her eyes watered. If she wasn't so dehydrated, she might have soiled herself. Before she even had the chance to catch her breath, one of the three men grabbed her under her arm, prompting her to her feet before shoving the muzzle of his weapon down her back.

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A small yelp escaped her mouth, prompting the men to laugh, yet the threat remained. She walked back toward the light barrier unassisted, almost stumbling with every step. She stopped before the screen of light, unwilling to go back there, as she recalled what she had endured ever since they arrived here.

This wasn't how I pictured this day when I woke up this morning...

Before she could will herself forward, the man behind her discharged his weapon on the ground, creating a ray of light that collided with a nearby stone. All of its energy was absorbed by the rock, raising its temperature until it became glowing red. She could feel the heat radiating through her clothes and could only imagine what it would feel like if she had been hit by it.

“Enough wasting time,” the man growled in a deep voice, yet muffled by his mask. “Just get on with it!”

However, before she could take the step herself, she was shoved forward by the butt of the man's rifle, hitting the crux of her back. She rammed head-first into the light barrier, only to pass unscathed. She fell face-first into the rubble beyond, clutching at her mask with both hands, securing it firmly while not even bothering to break her fall.

She rolled to the side, writhing in pain as a rock scraped one of her elbows clean. Red, warm blood flowed from the wound, yet her captor wouldn't even let her experience that pain in peace. He picked her up by her clothes again, feeling her clothes dig between her legs. Even as a woman, the feeling was less than pleasant. She could only lament the fact that she seemed small and harmless, almost as if she were a pet.

“Careful. We wouldn't want to damage the goods before we get what we came for," the man said, not even bothering to hide the derision in his tone. Never in her life had she felt so helpless despite having grown up on the street. After all, even back then, she had the option of running away.

Now, however, that option had been taken from her. All she could see in her future was a rifle to the back of her head. She could barely stop the tears from flowing, knowing that they would realize she had lied and they were dead.

******

Ever since he had left the area where the giant mound of red crystal was, Ning Shan had trekked through the ruined city, avoiding all manners of deformed creatures he encountered. He considered slaughtering them for the dust they contained but chose against it as he couldn't get the giant purple-eyed bird out of his mind.

He looked overhead, seeing a slight shimmer in the distance, using it as a guidepost. He had almost reached his destination when he heard the sounds of other living beings in the area. He stopped and squinted, waiting for the sound to become clearer, only to dash to a nearby building soon after.

He waited, his back against the wall of a nearby window, peaking through it. The sound grew closer, reverberating throughout the streets. The sound of many rubber boots hitting the hard pavement was clearly different from the usual subdued steps of wild animals. They didn't even try to mask the sound. So much so that Ning Shan would even believe they did it on purpose to lure him out.

However, he was proven wrong as he saw a group of five emerge from the rubble, walking in a tight formation, their weapons raised, yet still somewhat relaxed. There was even a man walking with his arms behind his back, completely unconcerned, followed by another who seemed strangely familiar yet much too nervous compared to the other four.

It was only a split second later that Ning Shan finally recognized her as the woman who had previously left him behind. He could only shake his head at how unlucky she was. Her situation was obvious from her body language and the sheer dread that oozed out of her.

What's the best way to go about it? Should I take my chances with them or leave them be?

He looked to their current destination and found that they would reach the stash of red crystal if they continued on this path. While he doubted they could do anything against the swarm of ants, he was unwilling to take any chances.

He looked back at the group, only to leak a slight hint of killing intent, which went entirely unnoticed before he quickly buried it in the depths of his heart, showing only a cold and calculative smile on his face. This bounty was his to claim in the future; he wouldn't let anyone learn of it until he was ready to harvest it.

He quietly observed them, following from a distance until he noticed something. From time to time, he could see a red dot appear on the woman's clothes, aimed at her heart. He didn't think much of it at first, thinking it was probably the quirks of this world. Yet, he also felt a slight hint of killing intent every time it appeared before it disappeared again.

Each time the woman noticed it, she would shudder and look even more uncomfortable. It strangely felt like a predator toying with a cornered prey, only to see it despairing at what awaited it.

The next time the dot appeared, Ning Shan prompted the dust to reach his eyes, activating his peculiar sight. The world shifted, and he could finally see what he had missed. Reflected by the dust permeating the air was a long, straight ray of light originating in the distance.

He followed it, only to see a man at the other end, kneeling on the ground as he raised one of the peculiar weapons the people of this world liked to use, except that it was much longer and seemed even more deadly. The man seemed to be giggling, and Ning Shan could see his chest rise and fall to the rhythm of his chuckle.

With narrowed eyes and a slight smile, Ning Shan jumped from roof to roof, rushing towards the man, making sure to stay out of sight. The only way to do so was to circle around the group, which took a long time. Finally, he ended the chase behind the man, completely unnoticed.

He only hesitated for a moment, seeking the best way to end this man's life. As for sparring him, it never even crossed his mind. He had no intentions of showing mercy to armed men. More than once, he had been burned by his naivete when he was younger. Not learning from it would be disrespecting himself and what he had experienced.

In a swift motion, he slid his left hand beneath the man's mask, blocking his mouth and nose and ripping the man's mask apart in the process. To him, this seemed the optimal method instead of aiming for his throat as he could stop him from uttering any sound, and in the case where he failed, he knew the loss of the mask would be a death sentence.

With his right hand, he formed a spear and used his qi to clad his fingers with lightning before thrusting straight into the man’s back. As he expected, the man wore armour, yet it easily buckled under the force of Ning Shan’s thrust, breaking through while barely making a sound. In fact, his hand slid into the man’s flesh as if through butter, emerging from the other side, the man’s heart in his hand.

The organ soon collapsed into dust as it was removed from his body, floating away in the breeze. The man's eyes grew wide with terror, if only for a split second before his body started disintegrating. Less than a breath later, nothing remained of him except for a pile of dust that soon dissipated in the wind and his gear safely into Ning Shan's hand. Everything went as he had expected: precise and silent as if everything had been rehearsed a thousand times before.

With the threat eliminated, Ning Shan stood at the edge of the building, looking down at the group of five, who seemed totally oblivious to what had just happened while he planned his next step.