The Shattered World

Four hundred days ago, the shattered Ash Zone descended.

It brought with it the supernatural system of Ash Zone Walkers.

But it also brought inevitable destruction.

Countless Ash Zone entrances opened across the planet.

They appeared in the sky, in the deep sea, in underground caverns, on the surface-everywhere and anywhere. Some were even difficult to find.

Once an Ash Zone entrance opened, if the Ash Zone was not cleared and the entrance closed within ten days, the entrance would transform into an anomalous calamity that affected reality.

It was said that the world government held out for only fifty-six days before declaring its dissolution, leaving each region to fend for itself.

And now Xia Lin stood in Pearl City, in the east of the world, once one of the most prosperous cities in the old world.

He climbed the stairs all the way to the roof.

Amid the howling wind, Xia Lin stood atop the CBD skyscraper and slowly narrowed his eyes.

A shattered city spread out before him.

Nearly a hundred black holes of varying sizes spun within sight. These were Ash Zone entrances that had yet to be cleared and closed.

The city had been carved into irregular sections.

Lava welled up from some sections, while others were utterly barren. Some were covered in ice and snow, while others were shrouded in darkness.

High overhead, an enormous city floated in the air, casting a vast shadow over the land.

S-rank calamity: Mechanical Sky City.

Eerie, unidentifiable roars echoed from the distant city blocks. God only knew what rank of monster was making them.

Still farther away, on the outskirts of the city, a towering black-and-red tree stood tall, radiating an ominous aura.

S-rank calamity: Demon Tree Paradise.

Suddenly, a dragon's roar rang out.

Countless black dots came flying through the air from afar, growing larger as they approached.

It was a flock of more than a thousand three-clawed wyverns, each over ten meters long.

SS-rank calamity: Calamity Dragon Nest.

These Dragon Nest troops had flown from a thousand miles away, heading straight for Mechanical Sky City with a clear objective.

Dragon roars rang out as the Sky City's automated defense system activated.

Lasers and missiles of every color erupted like a torrential downpour, filling the sky with bursts of fire.

Calamities, too, had conflicts with one another. They fought and even destroyed one another.

The weak were prey to the strong. This was an unchanging truth of the universe.

And humanity struggled to survive in the cracks between these endless calamities.

They were weak.

But fortunately, they were weak, so powerful calamities would not single them out for attack.

Xia Lin suddenly understood what that system prompt had meant.

Life without a powerful backer won't be easy, whether in the Ash Zone or in reality.

He recalled the layout of Iron Rain Base.

The base was enormous, sheltering an area within a hundred li.

A target that large was almost certain to attract the attention of powerful calamities. Yet in the original owner's memories, the base had never faced a moment of life or death, nor had he heard of any calamity above A-rank taking the initiative to attack Iron Rain Base.

Having thought that far, Xia Lin wasn't afraid in the slightest.

Does Iron Rain Base have someone backing it?

Most likely.

But Li Peipei, if your backer is so powerful, why are you only level five? Only sequence forty-three?

And how could you have fallen into the hands of a rookie like me?

Ignoring the battle between calamities overhead, Xia Lin took the stairs out of the building and cautiously headed north.

That was the direction of Iron Rain Base.

Three days later.

A truck drove along a shattered highway.

Eight large characters were printed on the truck: "Clear Light Logistics, rapid delivery."

It was a Clear Light Logistics transport vehicle.

A heavy autocannon was mounted on it, and armor plating covered its body.

Rather than a truck, it looked more like a heavily armored tank.

Two men and a woman sat inside.

All three wore Clear Light Logistics combat uniforms and had large-caliber combat rifles slung across their bodies.

One drove while the other two kept watch, constantly alert to their surroundings.

After the Ash Zone descended, long-distance travel became a luxury.

Countless calamities of varying ranks had become the protagonists of this world, while humanity could only struggle to survive in the cracks between them.

Yet the flow of supplies between bases could hardly be cut off, as weaker bases could not produce every kind of material they needed.

Thus, the logistics companies of the new era came into being.

These days, anyone who dared run a logistics business was undoubtedly capable.

They had their own armed groups and special Ash Zone Walker squads, and their founders were invariably Ash Zone Walkers of at least level four, with extraordinary strength.

The rank of a logistics security team also varied according to what it was escorting.

The three people in the truck were all Ash Zone Walkers, but their levels were low: one was level two and the other two were level one. That meant whatever they were escorting probably wasn't particularly important.

"Stop!"

The captain's voice suddenly rang out. Wang Ye slammed on the brakes, and the combat vehicle's wheels left two black marks on the road as it skidded ten meters before stopping.

All three looked ahead.

A hundred meters in front of them.

A figure in ragged clothes, his face covered in dirt, sat on the highway guardrail, swinging his legs with a hearty smile on his face.

"Hey! Heh heh heh!"

He waved in greeting as he jumped down from the guardrail and ran toward them at a brisk pace.

He didn't stop until he reached the front of the truck.

He took a deep breath and said excitedly,

"I'm finally seeing people! The wilderness really isn't a place for people."

"Oh, right, my name's Xia Lin. Handsome guys, beautiful lady, could you give me a lift?"

Wang Ye rolled his eyes inwardly.

The words "fucking idiot" were on the tip of his tongue, but he swallowed them.

Out in the wilderness, the people you met weren't necessarily people. Kindness out here only led to bad consequences, and keeping your distance from anyone and anything was the way to survive.

How can you even ask for a lift?

Don't you know the rules?

Wang Ye couldn't be bothered to comment, or even pay attention to this guy called Xia Lin.

He simply started the vehicle, intending to continue on his way, but suddenly felt the captain's hand on his thigh.

He traced out two characters.

Fat sheep.

"Come on up, brother! We're all compatriots out here, and helping each other is the way to go!"

"Giving you a ride is no trouble at all. Come on, buddy, sit in the back."

Wang Ye laughed, warm and generous, while the other man and woman in the vehicle also beamed, as though they had seen a walking pile of gold coins... no, a long-lost relative.

The smile on Xia Lin's face grew even brighter.

He climbed into the truck's back seat and sat beside the woman. As the vehicle started moving, Xia Lin's smile remained unchanged as he said,

"The wilderness is way too scary. I wandered around out there for three days, and man, was it miserable."

"Zombies and monsters bothered me day and night. Yesterday, a female ghost even climbed into my bed in the middle of the night. She scared me so badly I almost pissed myself."

"She even wanted a guy sleeping under a bridge? She really isn't picky. But you know what? She actually looked pretty good."

"Oh, right, buddy, where are you headed?"

The captain, Li Qing, who was also the only level two in the vehicle, spoke slowly.

"Ancient Splendor Base."

Understanding dawned on Xia Lin. "Oh, oh, oh, I know Ancient Splendor Base. It's the closest base to Iron Rain Base. Oh, right, I forgot to mention, I'm from Iron Rain Base."

Li Qing and Wang Ye quietly exchanged a glance.

Then Xia Lin spoke again.

"Something you just said really struck a chord with me, buddy."

"Out here, we're all compatriots."

"Since we're all compatriots, doesn't that mean we're on the same side?"

Wang Ye and Li Qing laughed.

"Of course."

Xia Lin said, "Since we're on the same side, that means we're in the same faction, right?"

Wang Ye and Li Qing said, "Right, right, right. Of course we are."

But Xia Lin fell into thought.

"But what should we call our faction?"

Wang Ye lightly tapped the steering wheel as he answered with a smile.

"Why would we need a name? We're all human, aren't we? Since we're all human, naturally we all belong to the human faction."

Understanding immediately dawned on Xia Lin.

"Well said, buddy!"

"Then tell me, if I killed someone, would that count as backstabbing my faction?"

The moment he said the word "killed," the atmosphere in the vehicle froze...

Li Qing frowned and was about to speak, but Xia Lin interrupted him.

"How big a bounty did Iron Rain Base put on me?"

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. It's such a hassle going out without a disguise skill..."

Crack.

Xia Lin struck first, moving as fast as lightning. He grabbed the woman beside him and snapped her neck.

At the same time, two rays of light burst from Xia Lin's fingertips and instantly entered Wang Ye and Li Qing's bodies.

Rapid Nourishment!