Starting Point / Fathers
In the Name of Divine Abilities
Author: Zhu Xin Xiaren
Synopsis:
Synopsis:
In the lunar calendar year 3230, the Great Cataclysm erupted. Humanity fell from its position as ruler of the world, and the Divine Land became humanity's last preserve.
In 3255, Martial Marquis Lu Zhao was under investigation.
"Strictly speaking, an extraordinary of your rank has no authority to investigate me."
Chapter 1: Starting Point
A spring rain had just passed over Fangcheng in the South Sea West Circuit, leaving the mountains fifty kilometers outside the city soaked.
Lu Zhao didn't much like rain. Whenever it rained, the mountain paths became extremely dangerous. Ant Ridge was especially steep, and the abundant rainfall had carved out many hidden gullies.
If someone fell into one, probably only an extraordinary could survive.
Rain also gave him insomnia.
Lu Zhao suffered from a severe sleep disorder. Even the faintest sounds could keep him from falling asleep.
Ding.
A text message popped up on his phone. Lu Zhao saw that his mother had sent him birthday wishes.
"Twenty-six already."
Lu Zhao was a little dazed.
Today was his twenty-sixth birthday, yet he had lived fifty-two years.
Perhaps one good turn deserved another. In his previous life, he had been a narcotics officer who had died arresting drug dealers, also at the age of twenty-six. He had transmigrated to a world both similar to and utterly different from his old one.
This world was much like his previous one. People spoke Chinese, and it had the Qin, Han, Tang, Song, Yuan, and Ming dynasties.
During the Jiajing era of the Ming dynasty, when the Holy Roman Empire still existed and France had yet to adopt the hands-up salute, steam power had only just appeared, the first Industrial Revolution had yet to take root, and Britain was still a second-rate European power.
In the forty-fifth year of Jiajing's reign, the Jiajing Emperor became an immortal.
The following year, the Ming dynasty fell, and the world descended into chaos.
The difference was the existence of extraordinary power. The rulers of every dynasty had all been powerful extraordinaries.
This power was known as a divine ability.
Extraordinaries could not live forever, but divine abilities could be passed down. After every powerful extraordinary died, an "object" resembling a Buddhist relic would be left by cremation. It could be a jeweled orb, an imperial seal, or a saber, spear, sword, or halberd.
Historical records from the Spring and Autumn period stated: "Divinity rests within the marrow, and spirit condenses into bone. Its markings resemble the River Map and the Luo Shu, and its substance is like cold jade from Kun Mountain."
The objects through which divine abilities were passed down were collectively known as Fate Bones.
Life force development allowed people to absorb Fate Bones and gain extraordinary powers, while a small number awakened on their own.
By the time Lu Zhao was born, it was already the modern era. His family were farmers in the South Sea West Circuit. His father had been a soldier and gone to work in the city after leaving the army, while his mother was a textile worker. Their property consisted of a two-story house and two mu of farmland, and their annual income could reach three to four hundred thousand.
The country in this world was extraordinarily prosperous, so he benefited as well. In a working-class family, one person's wages could support five people, while a working couple could enjoy a moderately comfortable life.
After the Great Cataclysm, the economy regressed fifty years in just ten.
By then, Lu Zhao had graduated from university and returned to his hometown to become a border police officer.
He had worked for four years and was now the commander of a reinforced platoon at an outpost, with the rank of lieutenant.
His daily work was much like that of a fire lookout. He spent most of his time patrolling the mountains, watching not for fires but for demonic beasts passing through the forests.
Today, he and Liu Qiang were returning from a shift at the outpost.
"Be careful. Don't fall into a gully."
Lu Zhao warned the man following him, a twenty-two-year-old trainee police officer named Liu Qiang.
He was Lu Zhao's superior's nephew. Since mountain patrols were dangerous, he had been deliberately placed under Lu Zhao.
Lu Zhao was considered the border station's "number one expert," so following him offered a basic guarantee of safety.
Today, they were returning from a shift at the outpost deep in the mountains and forests.
Liu Qiang had his phone in hand and was contacting the police dispatch center.
"Brother Lu, we just got word that a fugitive might be hiding somewhere on this mountain. What should we do?"
"What fugitive?"
"An earth-element extraordinary. He killed someone in Lin City."
Fear appeared on Liu Qiang's face. "We won't run into him, will we?"
Lu Zhao didn't so much as bat an eyelid. "Don't worry about it. If we run into him, we can claim the credit."
He was an extraordinary too. His ability was telekinesis, and within a range of one kilometer, he could manipulate forty grams as easily as his own limbs.
It was registered as a high-risk divine ability, and he had to report his movements when entering or leaving places like commandery cities and the capital.
The two walked along the mountain path, their rain boots slapping against the muddy ground. This kind of sticky path was actually the most slippery. The worst injury he had suffered as a border officer had come when he slipped and fell into a hidden gully.
"If we catch the fugitive, I should be able to get a permanent position right away, shouldn't I?"
Liu Qiang had started fantasizing before he had even caught sight of the man.
His life development was only nine points, making him a bottom-tier extraordinary. A permanent position as an armed police officer required at least ten points of life force, which meant being a first-rank extraordinary.
Life development was much like educational qualifications. In combat positions, one had to be first rank to become a lieutenant, second rank to become a field officer, third rank to approach senior colonel, and fourth rank was a strict requirement for becoming a general.
Lu Zhao had thirty-five points, the highest in the entire border station.
"Your uncle is the service brigade commander, the third-ranking person at the station. Stick it out a few more years and you'll get a permanent position."
Lu Zhao added, "Train hard lately. Don't let the assessment come around and find your life force doesn't even meet the standard. If you can get it to eleven points, you're practically guaranteed to pass."
"If I had eleven points of life force, I'd go to a big city like Cangwu City. Only an idiot would stay here getting battered by wind and rain and bitten by mosquitoes."
Like many young people from small towns, Liu Qiang longed for the big city.
He changed the subject. "I heard from my uncle that you came out of the Imperial Capital Academy, Brother Lu. So why are you still here?"
An insensitive greenhorn.
Lu Zhao smiled, showing no anger. He took the rifle off his shoulder and released the safety.
Liu Qiang jumped. Before he could beg for mercy, he heard the grass in the distance begin to rustle violently.
Rustle, rustle, rustle!
As though he had expected it, Lu Zhao raised his rifle and aimed at the distant bushes, moving the muzzle slowly and steadily.
A dark shape sped past, closing in on them as it zigzagged from side to side.
It was as if it knew a gun was trained on it and could predict the line of fire and where the bullet would land.
Startled, Liu Qiang shouted, "Brother Lu, something's running toward us!"
Life development was essentially evolution, and the end point of evolution was called a god.
An ancient god would emerge in every dynasty. They were symbols of their dynasty's prosperity, as well as the beginning of its downfall.
After a dynasty fell, its ancient god would continue to exist in the form of a special biosphere. The creatures born and bred in these biospheres were called demons.
Twenty years ago, the number of these demonic beasts had suddenly surged. Countless demonic beasts never seen before had appeared from who knew where, knocking humanity from its position as ruler of the world.
The lands beyond the Divine Land had become a paradise for demonic beasts. Humanity could only build city-states and cling to survival atop the ruins of the old era.
The Divine Land was the last pure land that belonged solely to humanity.
Lu Zhao's father and elder brother had died in the cataclysm twelve years ago. Now only he and his mother, who had heart disease, remained.
Chapter 2: Fathers
Bang!
A bullet burst from the barrel amid flame and gun smoke, curved along a bizarre arc, and flew into the grass.
The dark shape tumbled to the ground, and the thrashing bushes fell still at once.
His divine ability could not kill directly, but with a gun it became a high-risk divine ability. He only needed to apply a little force to a bullet in flight to control it as easily as his own limbs.
Lu Zhao could hit his target every time within eight hundred meters, and within five hundred meters he could make a bullet fly in circles.
"Is it dead?"
"Not sure yet."
Lu Zhao raised his rifle, aimed, and fired again. He walked closer and parted the grass, revealing a demonic beast the size of a wild boar that resembled a black cat. Horns grew from its head, and its pupils were golden.
It was still breathing.
He raised his gun and pulled the trigger.
Bang!
The bullet pierced its skull, and the cat beast finally stopped breathing.
Only then did Lu Zhao dare approach further. He bent down to examine the demonic beast.
Hiding behind him, Liu Qiang asked, "Brother Lu, is this a demonic beast? It seems so weak. One shot and it went down."
He had been here less than half a year, and this was his first time seeing Lu Zhao kill a demonic beast up close. It had seemed too easy.
"Can you take a bullet?"
Lu Zhao asked in return. Liu Qiang gave an embarrassed smile and shook his head.
"There are demonic beasts in this world that can withstand bullets. If one appeared here, it wouldn't be a minor border officer like me guarding Ant Ridge. It would be an army corps."
"Brother Lu, you graduated from Imperial Capital University. Why did you stay here to guard the mountain?"
Liu Qiang finally couldn't hold back the question that had puzzled him for so long.