The End in Sight

"Only half an hour left. I need to get to the place where she first appeared..."

Mu Xiao had compared maps of the present-day City of Magic with the City of Magic from his memories and accurately located where she had first settled. It was a law firm on the surface, but inside it was an intelligence agency and contact point. According to the records in his memories, she had undergone her first evolution inside that law firm. Mu Xiao had to hurry there and gamble on his fate.

If he had been lucky enough to obtain the miracle of rebirth, what else was beyond his reach?

Luck was a kind of ability too.

"Only by becoming stronger can I properly protect my little sister and help her become a New Human."

Mu Xiao was a selfish man who believed only in his own strength. Especially in this world that was about to lose its humanity—once the shackles restraining human nature shattered, madness, desire, darkness, brutality, fear... negative emotions would consume countless people. So what if Mu Xiao was selfish? So what if he was cold-blooded? It was all for the sake of his own survival. Besides, he did not originally belong to this world and felt no sense of belonging here. He could only trust himself... and his sister.

Mu Xiao drove his little magnetic hovercar at top speed toward the law firm. It took roughly fifteen minutes before he finally arrived in front of a five-story classical building.

"Fifteen minutes left. I hope I can find her within ten minutes. Otherwise, I may never get another chance to obtain her original genetic blood." Mu Xiao took a deep breath to calm his nerves, then entered the law firm.

The law firm looked no different from an ordinary building, with numerous offices scattered throughout. Mu Xiao could not possibly find her in this hidden agency full of capable people in such a short time. Moreover, there had to be concealed rooms inside the building. That was what he feared most.

"All I can do now is rely on luck. Even if I can't find her, once the apocalypse breaks out, I can hopefully find her amid the chaos." Mu Xiao's eyes were sharp as lightning as he swept his gaze across the men, women, young, and old passing by. Whenever he came to a room, he simply opened the door, then shut it again under the stunned gazes of those inside.

He searched without restraint.

Mu Xiao knew that a law firm was a sensitive place, but disaster was drawing closer by the second. He was not afraid of provoking this secret organization. Better yet, if he could draw out the people within it, his chances of finding her would increase significantly.

Sure enough, Mu Xiao's brazen, arrogant search quickly drew the law firm's attention. Just as he was about to head up to the second floor and begin searching there—

A pretty woman blocked the second-floor corridor, wearing a practiced smile as she said, "Sir, if you're looking for someone, please register downstairs. Someone will arrange it for you..."

Mu Xiao did not even spare her another glance. He walked past where she stood blocking him and continued opening doors to inspect the rooms.

"Sir, if you keep this up, I'll call security!" the young woman said angrily.

When she saw that Mu Xiao still ignored her, she took out her communications computer and spoke quietly into it. Soon, several tall men in black hardened leather armor approached from ahead. They drew one-meter-long metal rods, clearly prepared to use force to subdue Mu Xiao if he refused to cooperate.

Mu Xiao had already noticed the men approaching and recognized the metal rods in their hands as B-rank stun batons. A strike from one would leave a person wishing for death from the pain, while their highest setting delivered high-voltage electricity capable of killing someone instantly. These were prohibited weapons that ordinary people could never purchase.

Once those men entered Mu Xiao's attack range, he moved like lightning. He pulled out his modified electromagnetic gun from beneath his clothes, decisively activated its overclocked power, and fired streams of electricity that flashed like silver snakes at the men ahead, whose expressions changed drastically.

In a single exchange, the men at the front went limp and collapsed to the floor unconscious. But it gave the remaining three men in the back time to react.

The three men burst forward, fury flashing in their eyes. They raised their stun batons, glowing red like fire-heated iron rods, high above their heads. Nimbly evading several electric currents fired by Mu Xiao, they charged at him with swift strides.

"Just as I thought. They aren't ordinary security guards..."

Mu Xiao's gaze sharpened. Ordinary people could not possibly evade the currents released by an electromagnetic gun. These guards had likely received formal combat training.

Even so, Mu Xiao felt no fear. He took a small step back, bent his body, and shot forward like an arrow. By the narrowest margin, he slipped through the blockade formed by the three fighters. His five fingers clenched into a fist, and he drove it forcefully into one man's ribs.

His fist was heavy as iron. With a faint crack, the fighter lost his balance completely and fell to the ground.

Mu Xiao spun like a whirlwind and swept a kick into another fighter's arm, striking precisely at the point where the joint exerted force. The man could no longer grip his stun baton, and it dropped to the floor. Mu Xiao followed up with a flying kick that whipped up a fierce gust of wind and smashed into the man's vulnerable jaw.

The guard immediately flew backward two meters with his head thrown back, losing consciousness as well.

Mu Xiao did not even look at the last guard, because his left hand had already fired. At such close range, the guard could not evade the speed of the current and was directly electrocuted unconscious.

The entire process took less than thirty seconds. Seven or eight guards had lost their ability to fight. Most of the people in the corridor were so frightened that they did not dare move, terrified of provoking Mu Xiao, this violent thug.

Mu Xiao possessed extensive combat experience and had also used an S-rank physique enhancement drug. Although his body had not yet reached S-rank, it was at least A-rank. These guards, on the other hand, possessed at most B-rank physiques. Naturally, they were no match for Mu Xiao.

Those guards' stun batons were not specialized weapons, so Mu Xiao unceremoniously picked one up from the ground for self-defense. After all, it was far more stable than an overclocked microwave blade and considerably more powerful as well. It could be extremely useful at a critical moment.

Next, he continued searching the offices on the second floor. No one tried to stop him for the moment, but even after searching the entire floor, he saw no trace of her.

It was not until the third floor that Mu Xiao finally stopped. Not because he had found her, but because three laser pistols had locked onto him. With a body that had not yet evolved, Mu Xiao could not possibly outrun laser beams. So he sensibly raised his hands in surrender, only to be met with punches and kicks from several burly guards, along with several lashes from stun batons.

"Damn it!"

Mu Xiao gritted his teeth and endured the scorching pain of his flesh splitting open. Fortunately, the guards did not intend to kill him. As long as he endured for less than ten more minutes, the whole world would descend into chaos, and he would be able to get out then. It was just that all his weapons had been confiscated, and the electrical burns left him injured. If he encountered a mutant monster, things could become dangerous. Fortunately, the miracle drug—the most important item—had not been found. The drug was extremely important to Mu Xiao, and he had known there would be danger in coming to this intelligence agency. So when he ordered the medicine, he had also spent money on a pair of athletic shoes with hidden compartments, concealing the drug and his communications computer inside.

Why was Mu Xiao so certain that the world would enter its dark age of evolution today? Why was there no possibility of some temporal deviation, such as him being a butterfly that had stirred up some kind of effect...

Because he had learned from the news on his communications computer that today was the day the moon carried out the New Human Plan and launched the PB Gene Drug.

Once it reached five o'clock in the afternoon, vast quantities of the drug would spread from the sky, covering the entire globe at once and bringing about the mad plan of global evolution...

The searing pain that felt as though his body were being cut by blades dragged Mu Xiao's wandering thoughts back.

"This kid's physique is at least B-rank. Maybe he isn't an ordinary person. Take him to the secret room on the fifth floor and question him," said the head guard, whose face looked as though it had been carved with a knife and chisel.

Mu Xiao smiled bitterly to himself. He had miscalculated. Once they took him into a secret room, escaping might not be easy. He could only hope there were not too many people inside. Then it might serve as a temporarily safe place. Otherwise, if the virus broke out and mutants appeared inside, he would be in extreme danger.

At this point, he did not want to unleash his immense pressure. If he killed these people and drew even more guards into a desperate attack, the situation would only worsen. He might even lose his life, and then everything would be over. Besides, he did not want to miss his chance to find her. The apocalypse would break out soon anyway, and he could escape in the chaos.

In truth, zombies were not frightening. What was truly terrifying were mutants with special abilities.

For Mu Xiao, who had not yet evolved, they were undoubtedly the greatest unknown danger.

Mu Xiao's hands were locked in electrified restraints. Any attempt to break them by force would trigger high-voltage electricity and directly paralyze him. Three guards dragged him into an empty room on the third floor, then led him through a hidden chamber and up its passageway to a small dark room on the fifth floor.

As he entered the small dark room, Mu Xiao had kept his head lowered. Suddenly, someone yanked his hair from behind and pulled his head up. His face twitched violently. Before he had time to cry out in pain or curse, a person's face entered his view. In an instant, his entire body began to tremble, the shaking growing more and more intense. The guards mistook it for fear and began laughing and mocking him.

Yes, he was afraid.

He was also thrilled, terrified, excited, nervous... Countless emotions erupted like a volcano, flooding every cell in his body until he nearly suffocated. The indescribably complex feelings bursting forth at this moment, all sensations and words, became one simple sentence.

"I've finally found you."

His eyes held only 'her.'

The moment Mu Xiao finished speaking, a sudden upheaval erupted throughout the entire secret chamber, like a bolt of thunder splitting a clear blue sky without warning!

The guard restraining Mu Xiao began to tremble violently. His resolute face twisted into something hideous and terrifying, purplish-blue veins spreading across his dark skin like a disgusting net covering his face. His once-powerful body swelled by half again, his clothes bursting apart in an instant to reveal an iron-colored chest bulging with veins. Even his fingers had shot out half a foot longer...

In less than fifteen minutes, that guard had mutated into a muscular monster barely resembling a human!

On the other side, a female guard also began to mutate. Her body became thick and muscular, exposed sinews stripping away every trace of feminine softness. After mutating, she grabbed the head and arm of the companion beside her with one hand, then sank a mouthful of sharp teeth viciously into the other woman's pale neck.

"Ah!!"

The agony of tearing flesh drew a shrill scream from the victim, piercingly sharp within the silent secret chamber!

The horrifying sound jolted Mu Xiao back to his senses. In an instant, he understood that the apocalypse had erupted at the worst possible time. At that moment, he smelled a violent, bloody aura rapidly closing in on him. With life and death on the line, every muscle in his body exploded with strength. He lunged and charged forward, breaking free from the guard behind him whose genes had mutated.

Some people in the secret chamber were mutating, while others remained unaffected. But the former were already destined to become inhuman monsters. If the latter survived, they were highly likely to become new humans.

But none of that was what Mu Xiao needed to worry about. He had to first free himself from this disadvantageous situation, while also getting closer to the 'her' he had already identified.

'She' was being held inside an iron cage. Originally, Mu Xiao might have been locked up alongside her, but the apocalyptic virus had erupted at the wrong time, leaving him in a dangerous situation.

"Unknown changes have occurred in the fifth-floor secret chamber! Requesting reinforcements! Requesting reinforcements!..."

One guard shouted into the communicator in his hand, and a response quickly came from the other side!

"Unknown changes have occurred underground as well!! Aahh!..."

The bloodcurdling death scream sent an icy chill rising from the depths of one's heart!