Chapter 158: When the Prophecy Erupts (Part One)

Flashbacks of the past flickered across Xue Feifei's eyes like a zoetrope. Her tears, her smiles, everything about her seemed as though it had never changed.

Yet in the end, all of this gradually faded into nothingness, leaving nothing in Xue Feifei's line of sight save for the lifeless corpse before her.

Xue Feifei bit her lower lip, pressing down with all her might. The taste of fresh blood already filled her mouth, yet she still refused to let go.

Until... until a few minutes later, Tuantuan's body completely vanished. Only then did she finally stand up.

Coming with nothing, leaving with nothing, leaving behind only the void in this world—this was the inevitable destiny that all Awakeners had to face, or rather, the price of possessing power!

After swallowing a blood potion, Kong Zhe's health had recovered significantly. Yet at that moment, he felt not even a shred of joy at having cheated death.

Could this be considered surviving a mortal crisis?

Perhaps...

Yet he had watched with his own eyes as Tuantuan died in his arms... This energetic girl, the one who was always smiling, had just a short while ago been running and jumping about like a child, holding a ridiculous oversized sword and playing knight.

The "Command Spell" doodle drawn on the back of his hand had not yet completely faded, and her voice still seemed to echo in his ears, calling out "Master" at every turn. Yet this girl, who always brought everyone to fits of laughter, had now vanished from this world so silently and utterly, making it somewhat difficult to accept.

This debt must be avenged!

Kong Zhe clenched his fists tightly, his fingernails digging into his palms as fresh blood trickled down.

A moment later, Kong Zhe loosened his grip and pulled a palm-sized pocket watch from his clothes.

This item had been looted from the explosive man he had killed earlier. According to him, this device could locate the positions of all superpower users.

Though the mechanics behind it were unknown, its usage was exceptionally simple. The dial currently displayed one red dot and two green dots. His own location was the red dot right in the middle, while the two green dots undoubtedly represented other superpower users.

It seemed the water-manipulating woman had not yet left this place, which suited him just fine.

What puzzled him, however, was why there were two green dots.

If the green dots represented superpower users, and the explosive man was already dead, and Tuantuan was also gone, then besides the raincoat-wearing woman, was there yet another superpower user present here?

He shook his head. Whoever the other person might be, and whether they truly existed or not, it did not matter.

Gazing at the glowing dots above, Kong Zhe's eyes were filled with hatred.

He was determined to kill that raincoat-wearing woman; as for the other person, he would assess the situation when the time came...

Kong Zhe let out a cold snort, preparing to leave and hunt down the raincoat woman for revenge, when Xue Feifei suddenly rushed up from behind and grabbed him.

"Take Xiao Lei and get out of here right now..."

"Huh?"

Kong Zhe turned around in confusion. Xue Feifei was keeping her head lowered, making her expression impossible to read.

"What are you trying to do?"

Kong Zhe finally caught sight of Xue Feifei's face. Obscured by her disheveled hair, her eyes appeared completely unfocused. There was neither sorrow nor joy on her face, and her voice was utterly flat and devoid of emotion, bearing no resemblance whatsoever to someone who had just lost her only remaining family member.

When she raised her head, Kong Zhe met her eyes. They were densely webbed with bloodshot veins, her pupils slightly constricted. Being stared at so fixedly by her gave Kong Zhe a creeping sense of dread.

It was a look Kong Zhe had seen before. In the previous life's racial war for survival, the veteran suicide squads all wore this exact expression before heading into battle.

—The look of someone who had made a resolute decision and cast all thoughts of life and death aside.

"Hey, are you alright?"

Kong Zhe frowned, shaking her by the shoulder.

Yet Xue Feifei violently shoved Kong Zhe's hand away, her voice remaining as stagnant as still water.

"I'm fine... Take Xiao Lei away from here, immediately!"

Having dropped these words, Xue Feifei turned and ran toward the stairwell without looking back, heading downstairs.

Kong Zhe felt that Xue Feifei was acting somewhat abnormal, but just as he prepared to chase after her, the emergency communicator on his chest suddenly transmitted Hong Ling's voice.

"Big Brother... Kong..."

"Hong Ling? How are you holding up?"

"We're trapped underground... There are armed people all over the place above, we can't get out..."

Hong Ling's intermittent voice crackled through the walkie-talkie.

"I... can't breathe... Big Brother Kong... save me..."

The voice abruptly cut off there, replaced entirely by static noise. Kong Zhe called out a few times, but there was no further response from the other end.

"Damn it!"

Kong Zhe cursed under his breath. Everything was happening all at once!

Though he was worried Xue Feifei might do something foolish, the situation on Hong Ling's end was clearly far more critical at the moment.

At that moment, Xiao Lei was crouching in a corner like a frightened child, her head buried in her knees, sobbing softly. Kong Zhe had no time to spare. She had suffered enough tonight and had just witnessed the death of a close friend; asking her to follow him into battle now would be expecting far too much of her.

Kong Zhe sighed, took a few quick strides, and leaped directly off the roof.

The chaotic melee below was still ongoing, though the gunfire had lessened considerably compared to before. For one, after venting their fury, most of the Awakeners had regained some composure; for another, the number of surviving Awakeners had drastically decreased.

The death toll tonight had exceeded five hundred, every single one of them an Awakener. These individuals should have been precious combat assets for humanity's future, yet they had perished so vainly here.

One could say that more than half of the Awakeners had not died fighting bosses, but rather at the hands of their fellow humans.

However, Kong Zhe had no time to dwell on such thoughts. Guided by his senses, he quickly located Hong Ling and the Nine-Headed Serpent. Having continuously consumed potions earlier, his Blood Magic state had once again fully recovered.

Under such conditions, his combat prowess was naturally extraordinary, and everyone had witnessed his active performance in the boss battle. Even when gathered in groups, the remaining Awakeners eyed him with a degree of fear.

Especially after he swiftly executed several ringleaders, Kong Zhe stood there sword in hand, resembling a malevolent deity. The remaining Awakeners finally panicked, screaming in terror as they scattered in all directions.

Seeing that the nearby people had cleared out, Kong Zhe gave the command to the Nine-Headed Serpent.

Boom!

With a tremor in the ground, the Nine-Headed Serpent thrust one of its heads up from beneath Kong Zhe's feet, its jaws opening. Its slender, forked tongue carried Hong Ling's unconscious body forward, depositing her gently.

Hong Ling had passed out, though her health bar had not depleted much.

Her complexion was slightly bluish. After a rapid inspection, Kong Zhe quickly realized she had merely fainted temporarily due to oxygen deprivation.

This allowed Kong Zhe to breathe a slight sigh of relief. It seemed he had arrived in time, preventing a second death within his team.

After feeding her a few health potions, Hong Ling let out a soft groan and finally regained consciousness, though she remained somewhat weak.

"Big Brother Kong..."

"Don't speak. Get some rest for now; Xiao Jiu will take you outside the safe zone... You've worked hard. Once tonight is over, everything will be fine!"

"Mm..."

Hong Ling managed a faint smile before passing out once more.

Kong Zhe stroked the scales of the Nine-Headed Serpent. The creature hissed softly, once again scooped up Hong Ling with its tongue, burrowed underground, and moved toward the outer perimeter of the safe zone.

Although the area outside the safe zone was currently swarming with frenzied demonic beasts—making it far too dangerous for ordinary people or Awakeners to venture out alone—under the protection of the Nine-Headed Serpent, there should be no major issues.

Kong Zhe stood up, preparing to search for Xue Feifei. The matter of the raincoat-wearing woman could wait.

Xue Feifei's parting expression still troubled Kong Zhe deeply. Though she looked normal on the surface, that very fact made it all the more suspicious.

Having just lost her younger sister, how could she possibly feel no grief? Crying like Xiao Lei did would be understandable, but her deadpan demeanor gave Kong Zhe grave cause for concern.

As an ordinary person, Xue Feifei couldn't have traveled very far. Taking the building he had just left as his starting point, Kong Zhe began searching the surrounding area.

Midnight had officially arrived, and the giant moon in the sky had shifted directly overhead, resembling a colossal eyeball glaring down upon the earth.

The originally beautiful night view was marred by the thick stench of blood blanketing the venue, making the atmosphere deeply oppressive.

A faint mist permeated the air. Kong Zhe initially paid it no heed, but gradually noticed something was amiss.

He sniffed the air slightly, realizing that besides the smell of blood, there was another rather pungent odor mixed in.

This scent seemed to have started appearing not long ago. At first, it was very faint and hard to detect, but as time passed, the smell had grown increasingly intense.

The stench—resembling old, damp rags shoved up one's nose—grew heavier by the minute, even inducing a mild sense of nausea in Kong Zhe.

What was happening? Had another accident occurred?

Kong Zhe frowned, covering his nose with his clothes as he sprinted rapidly through the corridors, searching for any sign of Xue Feifei.

He had to find Xue Feifei as soon as possible, driven by a strong premonition that this strange odor was somehow of her making.

"Take Xiao Lei away from here, immediately!"

Xue Feifei's final warning echoed in his ears once more. Kong Zhe could not fathom what she meant, but the unease in his heart grew increasingly profound.

Xue Feifei, what on earth are you doing?

...

Five minutes later, the obnoxious stench reached its peak, and complaints and curses began echoing continuously throughout the safe zone.

It was precisely at this moment that Kong Zhe finally spotted Xue Feifei in a corridor on one of the floors.

Her hair was disheveled, and her blood-stained face was rendered even more striking by a pair of lifeless, dull eyes. In one hand she dragged a bucket-like container, while the other clutched a lighter. Her right foot seemed to be sprained, making her movements awkward. Limping heavily, she shuffled down the hallway like a zombie.

"Hey, are you alright?"

Kong Zhe's voice rang out, finally restoring a flicker of vitality to Xue Feifei. Yet upon seeing Kong Zhe in the distance, her emotions suddenly surged into agitation.