Amid the ruins, golden motes of light slowly settled.
Zone 1, once the heart of the Safe Zone's highest authority and power, had been reduced to rubble, with only shattered walls remaining.
Only a few twisted steel beams remained of the dome built from blast-resistant glass. Sounds of unrest rose intermittently from the surroundings, as though gods were approaching the opening.
Figures began to stir beneath the rubble.
The survivors of Zone 1 removed their protective tools and disguises, pushed aside the stones pinning them down, and crawled out, covered in dust and grime.
They looked at the scene around them, as though the apocalypse had descended all over again, and let out long breaths.
"We survived..."
"That crazy old man is finally dead!"
Only half as many people remained alive as before. Yet all that showed in the survivors' eyes was relief at having escaped death.
They did not care why Qi Tian had died. They only knew that the old bastard had nearly dragged them into the grave with him.
At the center of it all, Ander stood quietly. Not a single speck of dust had touched his black jacket.
He stared coldly at the spot where Qi Tian had died, then let out a helpless sigh.
Qi Tian's cutting words had robbed him of any chance to mock the loser from a victor's lofty position.
They had left Ander silent.
The ruler of Zone 1, accustomed to hiding behind the scenes, weaving snares with lofty schemes and weighing life and death solely against his own interests, now found himself with nothing to say.
Before Qi Tian's expansive spirit, which had long since set life and death aside, his schemes to kill through others looked like moss in a gutter exposed to the blazing midday sun-petty and unfit