The moment the Void Core dissolved in Cole's palm, a sensation like liquid lightning surged up his arm and slammed into his chest. His modified Iris flickered violently, struggling to categorize the foreign energy. It wasn't electricity; it was the fundamental fuel of the rift.
---
[QI ABSORPTION SUCCESSFUL]
[QI LEVEL: 1.2% -> 5.4%]
[STRENGTH +2, AGILITY +1]
---
Cole gasped, his muscles tightening as the Qi knit together the micro-tears from his weeks of training. The heavy alloy cleaver in his hand suddenly felt lighter, as if it were becoming an extension of his own reinforced skeleton.
"Efficiency," he murmured, clenching his fist. "The system is just a more honest AI."
A scream erupted from the street below. A group of students from the MIT campus were being cornered by two more Void Crawlers. Among them was Marcus, his face pale, his expensive Iris implants glowing a frantic, useless red.
"Help! Someone call the Peacekeepers! The network is down!" Marcus shrieked, stumbling over a piece of debris.
Cole stood on the edge of the magnetic rail, looking down. His Dissection Analysis instantly highlighted the glowing joints of the monsters and the pathetic, unoptimized heart rates of the humans. He could jump down and save them in seconds.
He didn't move.
"They're still waiting for a rescue that isn't coming," Cole observed. He felt a cold, self-righteous satisfaction. This was the result of the "Utopia" his father loved so much—breeding humans who couldn't even run properly without a GPS.
"Turner! Cole!" Marcus spotted him. "You have that... that thing! Kill them! I'll give you all my social credits! I'll have my father promote you!"
Cole leaned his cleaver against his shoulder. "Your social credits are worth zero in a world without electricity, Marcus. And your father is currently hiding under a desk, praying to a god he forgot existed."
One of the Void Crawlers lunged, its mandible grazing Marcus's leg. The boy wailed, a sound of pure, unadulterated cowardice.
"If you want to live," Cole called out, his voice carrying an arrogant authority that silenced the group's panic, "pick up the metal rods from the wreckage. Aim for the gap in the second thorax segment. If you don't, you're just biomass."
"We can't! We're not trained for this!" a girl cried out.
"Then die," Cole said simply.
He wasn't being cruel; he was being pragmatic. If he saved them now, they would follow him like leeches, draining his resources and slowing his growth. He needed to see if anyone in this "perfect" city had a spark of willpower worth salvaging.
The girl, driven by a sudden, primal fear, grabbed a jagged piece of the fallen statue. As the Crawler moved toward her, she thrust it forward. It didn't kill the beast, but it cracked the chitin.
---
[SOVEREIGN'S ARROGANCE PULSES]
[OBSERVATION: WEAKNESS ELICITS EVOLUTION]
---
Cole felt his own Qi thrum in response to her defiance. He had seen enough. He didn't care about the girl or Marcus, but he cared about the Void Cores inside those two monsters.
He dropped.
He didn't land like a hero; he landed like a predator. The magnetic rail creaked as he used it as a springboard, plummeting into the back of the first Crawler. The 42-pound slab descended like a guillotine.
CRACK.
The creature's head was driven into the pavement. Cole didn't stop to admire the kill. He spun, his feet moving in the martial patterns he'd stolen from Jake, and drove the point of the slab into the second Crawler's underside.
Blue ichor sprayed the students. Cole stood amidst the carnage, his eyes glowing with that predatory greenish-blue light. He ignored the terrified "thank yous" from the survivors.
He knelt, expertly carving out the two new Mana Cores.
"You... you just let them almost kill us," Marcus stammered, clutching his bleeding leg. "You're a monster, Cole."
Cole stood up, the two glowing cores in his hand. He looked at Marcus with a pitying smirk. "No, Marcus. I'm the only person in this city who is actually awake. You should be grateful I let you watch a free lesson."
He turned his back on them, looking toward the MIT main hall. A massive spatial distortion was forming there—the entrance to the First Dungeon.
"The Peacekeepers will be here in three minutes," Cole said over his shoulder. "They'll try to 'protect' you by putting you in a camp. If you're smart, you'll run the other way and find something sharp to hold."
He walked away, leaving the elite of the "Old World" shivering in the dark. He had data to gather, and a godhood to cultivate.
----------
[Character Status Update]
[Qi Level: 5.4% -> 14.2% (After Dual Absorption)]
[Rank: F (Progressing...)]
[New Insight: Humanity is the lowest-tier resource.]