176. Slaughter Spire (Part 1)
People in the city are all zombies.
Not everyone is satisfied with university life. For example, Luther, a country boy from Lanjucun, found it hard to adapt to living in a dormitory with four people. Using the money he earned from two months of part-time work, he moved out and rented a room in the industrial park of Trivira City.
As an engineering student, this choice wasn't too bad. Although he didn't get into a top-tier university, his college was at least in the capital, much better than provincial institutions. His studies weren't overly demanding, allowing him to work part-time and earn a little money. Such a free-spirited life wasn't bad at all, but over time, it became increasingly monotonous.
Adults always said that people who went to big cities became cogs in the machine. Luther disagreed; he thought he was different. After all, he had emerged victorious from the trials faced by so many test-takers. Surely, he was unique.
But as he ran through the city streets, his life reduced to a routine of home—school—work, this monotonous triangle drained the confidence he once had.
The monotonous and exhausting daily life, combined with high living costs, forced him to sell his dreams for money. No matter how much he earned, it was never enough. The constant material comparisons of those around him deepened his inferiority complex, leaving him numb. Among his peers, discussions about degrees and graduate studies were endless. Cases kept coming up, and for the first time, Luther, a boy from the countryside, heard the term "degree devaluation."
The pressures and competitiveness hollowed out Luther's soul. His once-proud uniqueness now seemed small and ridiculous in the mass-production reality of the interstellar metropolis.
People in the city are all zombies.
Early in the morning, Luther opened the apartment door. The headless corpse of a neighbor rolled down the stairs, but he didn't notice at all.
Lowering his head as he walked through the streets, he looked like a zombie—eyes lifeless and expression numb. Staying up all night working on a report had left his head spinning. Even as the security guard was torn in half by a towering, muscular bio-enhanced soldier in front of him, with intestines and vertebrae ripped out, he didn't notice.
None of the four members of his project team contributed anything, yet today, he had to present their work on stage.
Walking and modifying his magical projection simultaneously, Luther, with dark circles under his eyes, repeatedly checked his models and tables to ensure everything was correct. The cold numbers and magical radiation made his eyes sting, but he had no choice but to keep writing.
A round, rolling head landed at Luther's feet. Without a second thought, he kicked it away and habitually scolded without looking up, "Little Jack, that's the 47th time! Stop playing ball on the road!"
Perhaps because he was too tired, he didn't notice that Little Jack's body was hanging from a lamppost, burned to a crisp.
'The light is white. You may proceed.'
The blood-smeared traffic light began to blink. Luther, holding his projection, crossed the street. On either side of the road were piles of burning wrecked cars and the corpses of mounts. Above, crows circled incessantly while mosquitoes and ghouls fought over the remains of a woman's long dress—though perhaps this wasn't a vulgar assault, as the woman only had her lower half left.
Following the street, Luther skillfully entered a cheap convenience store, pulled open the refrigerator door, and took out a fried egg sandwich and a lemon soda.
Switching his information runes to the payment page, he completed the self-checkout. Keeping his head down, he grabbed his items and politely said to the store's owner, whose chest was literally open:
"Good morning, Aunt Anna."
He dashed into the empty subway station, sprinted down the corpse-strewn escalator, and waited for about ten seconds, standing on tiptoes. A bio-enhanced soldier pulled its forearm out of a citizen's chest, turned its head, and its three eyes quickly focused, locking onto Luther's form.
Buzz—
The train arrived. The doors opened, and Luther groggily stepped onto the train, finding a seat with practiced ease. He knew this train well; he rode it daily. Especially the seat next to the right-hand armrest, where a young, fashionable female mage in black stockings always sat.
Over time, Luther had become acquainted with the female mage. His gaze lowered slightly, noticing her shapely legs wrapped in black stockings, neatly placed in high heels. He immediately felt a trace of comfort.
"It's nice to see you again, Miss Ruth. You must be busy today too?"
Luther, while editing his report, chatted cheerfully with the woman beside him:
"I have to present later as well. This is the only outfit I have that's presentable—ah, I really can't wait to graduate and earn enough to buy some decent clothes to meet people properly."
He unwrapped his sandwich and devoured it in a few bites, washing it down with soda while typing quickly with one hand.
The female mage beside him seemed to be in a bad mood today. She didn't respond and sat quietly, like a corpse. Luther glanced at her: her hands rested on her legs, her gaze calmly fixed ahead, as if contemplating her own losses.
But this was normal; everyone in the city had their own troubles.
Clack-clack-clack-clack-clack—
The virtual keyboard clicked furiously as the train surfaced, crossing the blood-stained city on an elevated track. Explosions and smoke rose all around. Bio-enhanced soldiers scuttled up skyscraper walls like spiders or cockroaches, smashing windows and using suction-cupped appendages to extract living people from inside.
[The train will soon arrive at Big Red Gate Station.]
"Alright! Finally finished! No more problems now!"
Luther excitedly closed his projection and sighed in relief. Glancing at the beautiful mage beside him, she was still serene and stunning, sitting quietly and gazing forward. Her delicate face was flawless, like a statue.
"Miss Ruth, you must be very busy today. I won't disturb you…"
Miss Ruth sat quietly, her eyes clear, her makeup exquisite. She looked every bit like an urban beauty and elite.
Blushing, Luther pretended to drink from his empty soda, avoiding her gaze, afraid she might notice him stealing glances.
"People from my hometown say everyone in the city is a zombie."
He spoke softly, unsure whether he wanted her to hear or not:
"But you're not, Miss Ruth. You're special—"
Crack-crack-crack!
Suddenly, a harsh sound erupted from the broadcast:
"Emergency notice! Emergency notice: A group of terrorists has launched an attack on our city with bio-enhanced soldier units! All citizens are advised to stay home and await military and police rescue!"
In the train's cockpit, a bio-enhanced soldier slowly raised its head from the withered corpse of the conductor.
"The terrorists have been identified as Abyss felons—Remaining Moon!"
The bio-enhanced soldier raised its hand and tore open its chest, revealing a blue Remaining Moon mark on its heart.
"Once again, all citizens are advised to stay home and await military and police rescue!"
[Dimensional bomb activation confirmed.]
"Do not leave! Do not leave! Do not—"
Screech!
Instantly, the front half of the train vanished. The train made an emergency stop, and Luther's body flew forward. Miss Ruth fell onto him, landing in his arms.
"…What the hell is this?!"
A moment later, Luther came to his senses. Standing amidst the wreckage, he helped Miss Ruth to her feet:
"Did you hear the news just now? There might be terrorists nearby. Miss Ruth, we need to leave quickly…"
He suddenly noticed something was off. Though it wasn't his first time holding a girl's waist, the sensation was unusual. His fingers, embedded in Miss Ruth's slim waist, felt sticky and wet. Probing further, he felt slippery, soft, tube-like objects slide from his fingertips.
Drip, drip…
Stiffly, Luther turned his head to look at Miss Ruth's face: she was still serene and beautiful, her elegance like that of a marble goddess.
Unfortunately, this statue was only half intact, symmetrically split from the center of her forehead.
People often say not to like a girl for her appearance, but for her inner self.
Luther clearly saw Miss Ruth's inner self beneath her beautiful exterior: a tangled mess of rotten intestines, half a lung, and steaming kidneys. His fingers weren't just on her waist but directly pressing into her organs.
At that moment, Luther understood that liking a girl wasn't easy.
He let go of Miss Ruth—or rather, 'Miss Ru|th.'
Turning around, Luther heard the sounds of magic and destruction reverberating through the city. The 'squelch-squelch' of bio-enhanced soldiers' flesh squirming was almost amusingly cute, complemented by their simple, pure gaze. From afar, they even looked adorably naive.
But when they stepped onto the streets and used blood-compression guns to rip living people into minced meat bit by bit, their innocent gaze became far less endearing.
Especially when their gaze turned toward Luther.
............…
Night Butterfly Federation's "Light"-class warship activated stealth mode, hovering above the clouds.
Remaining Moon, like a monarch, sat in the shadows. Relaxed and poised, he overlooked Trivira, the city at his feet. Bio-enhanced soldiers rampaged through the streets, the squelching of their flesh and the screams of the people forming a grotesque symphony.
Humanity's pleasure lies in watching chaos grow, observing slaughter swell, admiring rivers of blood, and witnessing mountains of corpses.
"Now, Trivira is completely under our control, Father!"
Mozilan said excitedly:
"An interstellar civilization… taken over by a ragtag group of bandits like us. Ha, it's unbelievable."
"Ragtag bandits?" Remaining Moon sneered. "The days of interstellar piracy are over. From now on, we are warlords."
Years of careful planning and countless sacrifices had been made. Over 30,000 bio-enhanced soldiers were deployed in Trivira, their sunk costs immeasurable.
But as long as they obtained the shards of the Identifier's Eye, the forbidden knowledge it held would more than compensate for their losses.