In the middle of a forest on the Island of Flowers, screams could be heard from inside a small hut.

They were the screams of a woman in pain.

"Gyaaaa!"

"Hold on, my lady."

The screams echoed throughout the forest.

"It's almost out. Just a little more!"

After much effort, the pregnant woman finally gave birth.

"It's a boy!"

The mother was panting and could barely say a word.

"Let... Let me hold him."

Outside the house, the father waited impatiently, almost out of nails to bite.

His faithful companion ran excitedly towards him.

"The baby is born! Your son is born!"

"Already?! What do I do now, Zhu?"

Zhu made a straight face.

"I think it would be better if you went in and saw for yourself, maybe."

"Do you think so?"

"Of course!"

The father entered the house with the biggest smile in the world. He went straight to the room where his wife was. The woman looked at him with a smile on her face.

"Our baby is born, Nus. It's a boy."

Nus widened his eyes and picked up his son. He looked closely at the baby's features.

"He doesn't look anything like me..."

The atmosphere in the room became a bit depressing.

"He got your strength and stubbornness. Too stubborn even to be born." She smiled.

The depressing atmosphere disappeared with the mother's words.

"Ohh, so that's it! My boy is going to be the strongest in the world!"

"Jian," said the mother.

"What?"

"Our son's name. It will be Jian."

"Jian..."

Suddenly everything started to dissolve. First the house, then the trees, the servants, Zhu, and finally, the couple with their child.

"Jian, wake up."

Jian woke up startled.

"Mother..."

"Mother? What are you talking about?"

"I dreamed about my parents. The day I was born."

"Okay, buddy. Now, let me check your qi."

"I'm serious! It felt too real. Like it was a memory."

Baiji opened Jian's hanfu and placed his hand on his chest. Jian looked suspiciously.

"Hey, Baiji. We could call this harassment, right?"

"Shut up and let me concentrate."

Baiji used his mantra eye, a skill used only by Taoists that allows them to see the flow of qi in any living being.

"The qi is not flowing as it should."

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"That explains why it is taking so long for me to recover. Wait."

Jian lifted his head and began to look around.

"Where are we? I don't remember anything after sitting on that log."

The place resembled public transport, with several seats.

Meanwhile, someone was approaching them. Heavy footsteps, from someone at least 2 meters tall.

"The problem is solved. How is your friend?"

Jian looked at him with a surprised expression.

"Oh, I see you're awake. My name is Kamba."

Kamba extended his hand to Jian.

"You are inside the transport that will take you to our village."

"Village? But we're supposed to go to the Lang Gang base. Baiji, it seems you were mistaken."

"Wait and see. We're in the right place."

Kamba's hand remained extended. He looked at Jian and then at his arm, making some signals with his eyes.

Jian looked at him and then at his arm, not understanding.

"Jian, shake his hand."

"Shake his hand? Why would I do that? He doesn't seem a bad guy."

Baiji took Jian's hand and made him shake Kamba's hand, adding that handshakes were a greeting practice in other countries.

"How do you know that? We grew up together and never even left the Tianxin province," questioned Jian.

"I heard it somewhere."

Kamba explained that they were near the village gate. A gate that controls who enters and leaves the village, and a password and identification are always required. This practice was implemented after a traitor led to an invasion by a rival gang.

"Here is your identification. Normally, guests of the boss don't need it, but without it, the villagers would be scared and wary of seeing strangers without identification."

The identifications were just a blue armband with the gang's symbol.

They then arrived at the border gate, and a guard approached the transport.

"Password, please."

"Kamba123."

A kind of sensor scanned the entire transport.

"Beep."

"Identification confirmed. Welcome, Mr. Kamba."

Kamba then proceeded.

"That was easy, wasn't it?"

"Yes, hard must have been memorizing that password," said Baiji with a straight face.

They then arrived at the port. As soon as they got out, Jian and Baiji were startled by the type and size of the transport.

"What kind of transport is this?!" Jian shouted, surprised and at the same time confused and scared.

The two were gaping.

"It's just a Zantya," said Kamba.

"Just?!" exclaimed Jian, adding, "What is a Zanyta?"

"It's not Zanyta, it's Zantya," corrected Baiji, no longer showing surprise.

"Baiji, weren't you surprised too? Why are you acting all intellectual now?"

"Zantyas are Kamigamis completely taken over by animal genes, with no human genes left. It's the first time I've seen one this size, so I was surprised for a brief moment."

"So that means this thing was once a human?"

"That's right, oink."

Kamba laughed at Jian's innocence and added, "Kamigamis can no longer become human, so to prevent complete transformation, they need to drink an elixir twice a year. Unfortunately, the elixir took a few years to be ready, and many who transformed during the war became Zantyas. That's the case with this one."

"So this phenomenon that transforms people into Kamigamis still exists?"

"Yes. It spread throughout the entire country. There are areas with high levels of radiation and others completely free. This radiation is called Gudai."

"I understand."

"Oh, by the way, I totally forgot to give you this."

Kamba took something out of his bag.

"Huh? Pills?"

"They are Gudaizi pills. They are not as potent as the elixir, but they serve to prevent transformation."

"Transformation? Does that mean..."

"Yes, our village still has a bit of radiation."

"The radiation reached here? Oink."

"Even being 2000 ft below the surface, it reached here. This proves how sinister and dangerous Gudai is."

Jian and Baiji took the pills.

"Mehhh! So bitter!"

"Stop being a child, Jian."

"Hahahah! Yeah, right? Dr. Pilo didn't hold back on the acidity."

Kamba enjoyed the situation. He then remembered Jian's injuries.

"By the way, Dr. Pilo returned to the village this week and has the pharmacy open. Go there to have him check those wounds, Jian."

"It's okay, Kamba. We just want to pay the last debt to your chief and return to the surface."

"The chief is not here at the moment. He went to the surface two days ago."

"What?! Damn, it seems we arrived too late." Baiji was depressed.

"And when will he be back?"

"Hmmm, the chief usually stays away for a week, so... around 4 days."

"That's a long time."

"Besides, I need to inspect my transport. It had some problems during the trip, so even if I wanted to, I couldn't take you back."

"The situation just gets worse..."

"Well, what can we do, right? Is there an inn around here? Oink."

"Baiji, we can't just spend money recklessly."

"And where do you want to sleep? On the street?"

Kamba looked at the two and remembered that the money used in the village was different from the surface. The two became even more depressed, but Kamba handed them a bag with 10 small metal sticks.

"This is the money we use here. It's not much, but it's enough to get by for these 4 days."

Baiji remembered the paper with the instructions he had taken from the surface.

"Who gave us the instructions about the hideout? Is he around here?"

"Instructions? I'm just a mere driver. I'm not very aware of what comes out of the boss's office."

"He gave us the paper in a village south of the capital. He was wearing a red hooded cloak."

"That's very vague, I can't say."

Jian added that during his encounter with the mysterious figure, he noticed that even though he was wearing gloves, he noticed that a finger was missing."

"Hmm. Maybe it's Khaizi. The watchdog of Mister M."

"Mister M?"

"The boss's right-hand man. He takes care of the place when the boss is not around."

"And where can we find him?"

"No one can find Mister M except the boss. He always finds those who need him. If it was really him who gave you the tips, he will find you sooner or later."

After having most of their doubts clarified, Jian and Baiji said goodbye to Kamba.

"See you in 4 days, Kamba!"

"Don't forget to visit Dr. Pilo!"

Already far from the others, Kamba scratched his head.

"I forgot to say where Dr. Pilo's pharmacy is..."

Already far from the other, Jian and Baiji scratched their heads.

"Where is Dr. Pilo's pharmacy?"