The spatial distortion caused by the portal that had teleported Xeno into the unknown world of Earth finally ended. As such the silver giant took his time to stabilize himself and take a better look at his surroundings.

Xeno quickly empowered his sluggish senses, accurately analyzing the foreign territory. He was currently standing in the center of a crossroad, tall buildings were standing at both sides of the two roads that intersected exactly where Xeno was standing. However, even if they reminded him of the middle section of the capital, back in the Empire, there was one fundamental element that differentiated the two worlds. 'Chaos'.

[Xeno's POV]

This must be the aftereffect of the start of the challenge, nonetheless I am impressed by the efficiency of the System. It said that only a few hours have passed since the beginning.

Yet I can already perceive the alarmed screams of the frail humans persecuted by the ones taken over by the parasites. Even if I cannot understand their language I can still guess the emotions behind their words. Terrorized, panicked and afraid of the unexpected invaders.

Continuing my observations I could easily sense the stench of both burning hydrocarbons and blood and flesh. Without doubt caused by the various crashed vehicles positioned a few meters from my position.

I also recognized a few living signatures in my proximity, a few infested humans were feasting over the open viscera of one of their fallen kind. They were joyously feasting over the viscous reddened, bloody flesh of what I could guess once was a middle aged male human.

As I had already gotten the information about how these parasites multiplied themselves through the chip, I knew that they infested only dead corpses of humans. Thus my interest has been piqued, why were they eating their means of reproduction? Did they have a means to somehow restore the body and implant their eggs inside of it? I was indeed curious, as such I decided to better observe the situation.

I rapidly continued to scan through the cracked windows of the constructions that elevated themselves around me.

I could even notice the various broken signs of what seemed to be stores of various kind. I wouldn't have guessed their identity so easily if not for the merchandise that I sensed inside of said stores, as in Siri-0rF they were a completely obsolete type of structure. Both the System and the presence of spatial objects took their place long ago.

Soon after I expanded my senses even more and I started to perceive the numerous living signatures that were provoking the continuous screams. Groups of humans were fighting for their lives against similar humanoid figures, which I immediately identified as infested for their strangely bloated bellies.

The more I observed those parasites, the more I started to convince myself that the System description of the creatures wasn't as accurate. Something was missing, maybe with the start of 'the main mission' of the challenge, more information will be disclosed.

Nonetheless I should be attentive on the cause, a better understanding regarding the nature of my enemies is essential. I shall observe them for now.

Thus I quickly activated my stealth perk, and through my quadrupedal position I dashed toward a tall building opposite to the group of parasites, which were still eating the cadaver.

With my sharp claws I pierced through the walls and windows of the building, climbing high enough not to be noticed by the primitive creatures below.

[Narrator's POV]

Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

Not too far from the zone in which Xeno was stalking the group of infested, six young humans where struggling to keep their lives.

They were a group of students whom knew each other by either being coworkers or studying at the same university. Now in the face of danger, they decided to stick together,

[Three hours ago]

It distinguished itself from the other fast-food stores as a big 'm' shaped yellow sign was displayed in front of it. Even this morning, one of the many McDonald of Nova York had opened.

As usual Jake was the first to arrive, Wednesday morning was his turn to be the first member of the staff to arrive and start cleaning the place. At least, to his delight, the world government banned the open 24 hours per day trend characteristic of the fast-foods chains before the World War Three. Working all night long didn't suit him at all, he was a morning type of person, as such he never went to sleep after midnight.

Yet today his monotonous routine seemed completely different. One of the reasons that gave Jake a sense of oddity was the tense air that was circulating through the people he had seen on his way here. Not only the workers down the streets were fewer in number, but their expressions exuded uncertainty and concern.

As today was the day in which the great calamity was supposed to descend upon Earth. At least it was what Jake firmly believed, from what he could see even a good part of the population knew that something might happen today.

Yet this worried Jake even more, he wasn't like them. He was sure about it, from today precisely at 10:00 a.m. the future of humanity would permanently change. It has been since a few months ago that he started to prepare himself for this day.

'The damn world government! They have been acting weird since then, continuously denying the existence of an extraterrestrial life form. The association must be right. They either must have made a sort of agreement with the creature or they have been under its control since long ago...'

Still lost in his thoughts, Jake had inevitably arrived in front of the glass doors of the McDonald. For a moment he looked at his reflection in the glass pane of the door. His appearance was more similar to that of a soldier ready for war, rather than that of a waiter. He was wearing a complete green military suit, equipped with lots of pockets which contained knifes and even a little shovel attached on his left leg. He was also wearing a pair of high black boots, a yellow-green bulletproof vest, a sort of reinforced military hat and a huge backpack. Finally he was carrying two handguns onto his brown, firm tool belt.

Jake quickly nodded, having mentally checked of not missing anything important.

During the first hours of work nothing relevant happened. He just received some strange looks from both his coworkers and clients. Yet this did not provoke any shame in the young man, on the contrary every look of ridicule he received it only made him worry for what awaited such unprepared individuals. He hoped for their fate not to be as cruel and painful as he imagined it to be.

Then around 9:00 a.m. was time for the turn of his friends Cloe, Brian and Jhin, to start their working routine.

"Good mornin' everyone."

Waving his hand to the three young students, Jake's bright smile couldn't hide his bizarre look.

"Bahahah Jake what the hell is with your outfit today!"

Without hesitation Brian, made one of his classic deep laughs. The big black guy towered over his friends, being over two meters tall, Brian was still making a bizarre expression before his eyes fell on the two weapons carried by Jake.

"I see you are serious on this one. Maan ya should be more easy okey? Is the world really in danger? C'mon I see no aliens here yet! Yoo! Relax!"

However Jake's expression had remained totally serious. His conviction didn't diminish in the slightest, leaving Brian a little bit speechless.

"Do not fear my friend! I won't leave you guys alone in case of danger. You can count on me."

After his decisive speech, Jake quickly added:" Well, if anything happen even better. You know that I am a prudent person"

Relaxing his previous dead serious expression, Jake quickly eased the tension that had formed between them.

They greeted each other a bit, before the trio directed toward the changing room to put on the McDonald employee suit.

'Fortunately today the manager isn't here, or I would have needed to change my outfit. Not that I would have agreed to it though, who cares right? Everything is going to change.'

While immersed in his thinking, Jake didn't fail to notice the new backpacks of both Jhin and Cloe. They surely weren't military ones, yet they were similar to the ones utilized for camping. In particular the one Cloe was carrying over her shoulders was particularly evident, as her petite stature of 1,5 meters highlighted it even more.

'These guys, really… There is no camping awaiting for us. But I couldn't tell them the truth. I'm sorry, may luck be with us."