Path of survival
by M1zushi
In just a few hours, the aberrant water ants had grown to the size of four or five fists, flying through the streets like drones. The ones that hadn’t grown had shed their wings and were crawling on the ground. They shrank their bodies under door gaps, trying to squeeze their way into the buildings.
A large water ant flew over and bit An Yu on the shoulder. The sharp pain made him reel for a moment. As the ant exploded, he looked at his terminal—his survival value had dropped by nearly 5 points.
A white morpho butterfly quickly covered An Yu’s wound with its wings. The number on his terminal slowly recovered.
“The water ants are getting stronger,” Ning spoke up for An, reminding them. “We can’t let them bite An Yu freely anymore. Everyone else, be careful to dodge, too.”
The words had barely been spoken when the droning intensified. A swarm of water ants flew straight toward An Yu. In an instant, Lumen took a step in An Yu’s direction, faced the swarm, and parted his red lips, releasing a faint sound.
To An Yu, it sounded like a soft, incomprehensible murmur, but the swarm instantly lost its formation under the sonic attack. They tumbled violently in the air and then fell to the ground.
Flame raised an eyebrow in approval. “It seems the supplementary amplification plates are indeed very effective.”
Lumen shot him a glance and sneered, “It is indeed far more useful than pure violence.”
Flame was about to speak when he suddenly frowned. He stretched his hand out, brushing past Lumen’s cheek, and crushed a water ant that was silently approaching.
It was a very small one with blue eye sacs. Its wings beat silently, and it had no odor. It was a new aberration product.
He tossed the filthy thing into the rain and chuckled at the stunned Lumen. “Newborn little leopard, don’t underestimate your enemy.”
The group walked for a whole street in the rain before they finally found an empty car.
Along the way, frenzied water ants slammed against the car windows. Their terrifying eye sacs pressed and deformed against the glass, their fangs scraping out ear-piercing sounds. An, on the verge of collapse, buried his head in Ning’s arms. Flame, harassed by the obstructions on the windshield, almost flipped the car several times.
By the time they finally made it back to the antique shop, everyone was exhausted.
The streets were still deserted and it was impossible to know how many of the people hiding in their homes were still safe.
They re-entered the shop. The metronome was still standing quietly on the piano. An Yu looked at it for a moment and suddenly felt that something was wrong.
“It’s so clean,” he said softly.
Before they had left, the wind had blown rain all over the room. All the merchandise had suffered varying degrees of contamination and corrosion, yet the metronome stood on the piano, spotless, silent, and peaceful.
Lumen lifted the cover and released the pendulum. Nothing happened.
He moved the sliding weight up and down a few times. The pendulum only swayed twice, following the motion of his hand, but it still wouldn’t swing on its own.
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He had noticed when they were in the shop earlier; the sense of space in the entire antique shop was normal.
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The skin plague and the aberrant water ant swarm were terrifying, but they were unrelated to the time distortion and likely had no connection to the Super-aberrant either. But the Super-aberrant’s existence would make the suffering of the District 34 residents, who were already enduring the plague and the swarm, even more painful. If it could continuously reset time, then not even the most brilliant medical treatment could save the people of District 34.
Don't scrape
Don't copy
Lumen nodded. “We tried.”
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Tick, tock, tick, tock.
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He let go.
Don't scrape
Left and right—tick, tock, tick, tock…
The sound of the mechanical striking echoed through the quiet antique shop. The group stared at the metronome in astonishment. It was the first time-keeping device in District 34 to regain its function.
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He collected himself and pointed at the metronome. “There is another space hidden here.”
Author’s Note:
Snowflake fragments
[Jin Xuyan (4/6)]
[Taming the Leopard (2)]
The taming process was not as smooth as I had anticipated and I experienced a resistance that was beyond imagination.
At times, I even found it difficult to control myself and inflicted punishments that were too severe.
Watching those marks spread across his snow-white skin… it was beautiful, and also heartbreaking.
But he had to learn to submit.
He never understood.
I wasn’t making him submit to me. I was making him submit to the path of survival.
In this senseless world, it was the only path to survival he had left.
Snowflake fragments
[Zhao Ran (Lumen) (2/5)]
[Don’t Even Think of Taming Me]
Pitch-black vines bound me tightly; my neck, wrists, waist, the tops of my thighs… they cut into my flesh, making me feel every artery throb forcefully, my body on the verge of bursting.
The black rose vines should have been covered in barbs, but the ones he used to torment me were smooth.
But I still hated him.
In this aberrant era… freedom in destruction also seemed to be a valid path.
I didn’t know if this was what I wanted. I only knew that no one had the right to force me to choose.
He self-righteously saved my life, forcing me into this vortex of humanity’s resistance against the disaster.
His genetic entropy was extremely high, which meant his genes tended toward a stable state, and a more powerful ability.
The black rose’s ability was to make the target fall into despair. After despair came submission.
But for some reason, he never used it on me.
This, for the time being, stopped me from working against him on missions.
I truly lacked the power to defy him.
But he… would also never have my obedience.
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