Epoch of Twilight

The battle between Luo Yuan and Lao Xie was a tight one. Concerned, the guy with the glasses, who was standing aside, jumped forward and tried to gnaw at Luo Yuan with his fishy claws. He was fast, so it did not take him long to reach Luo Yuan, who was only four meters away. Feeling his claws touch Luo Yuan’s clothes, the man smiled. No matter how powerful an evolved person was, a drop of Antiaris poison could kill them instantly and turn them into a puddle of water.

Suddenly, Luo Yuan retracted his sword, turned around and slashed into the air. There was a fan-like glow as time seemed to freeze. The guy with the glasses went stiff. He could not move his body at all. He let out a forced smile as a long bloody cut appeared on his face, spreading all the way down to his waist. His body was sliced into half and glided slowly to the ground.

"No!" Lao Xie screamed in devastation. His face was filled with blood, cut into half horizontally as Luo Yuan retracted his sword. Blood and flesh were flowing out, making for a gory sight. Luo Yuan shook his head as he said calmly, "I have wasted too much time."

Lao Xie let out a lunatic laugh and roared like a beast, "You killed Zhou Wen! You are dead, Boss will never let you go!"

Luo Yuan looked at him expressionlessly. "It’s your turn now."

Terrified, Lao Xie took a few steps back.

He had underestimated Luo Yuan’s ability at first, but as time passed, his power seemed to be growing like a rocket. Although Lao Xie had managed to defend himself at first, a few seconds later, his defense system started to break down. The strength of Luo Yuan’s attacks was getting more and more intense, and Lao Xie’s body started to ache. Luo Yuan’s power was rising like there was no limit to it.

Lao Xie knew very well that his defense was not unlimited, although he had the ability to divert one’s attack to a nearby area. By expanding the area force was applied on, he could minimize the pressure on a particular area. This made him fearless against bullets, guns, and swords. No matter how sharp or powerful they were, fighting them only felt like scratching an itch for him. Before the purge of the evolved people, he had managed to escape from the campsite by using that ability of his. However, his ability still did not allow him to handle big mutated beasts. Attacks from such beasts could destroy his defense immediately. Plus, it could not defend him against artillery. Such an attack could crush him into pieces.

While Lao Xie was distracted by what Luo Yuan had said, Luo Yuan dragged his Zhanmadao and walked towards him. His speed was so fast that he turned into a shadow. He held his sword with both hands and stomped hard on the floor. Power was transferred from the tips of his toes to his waist, spine, arms, and eventually to the tip of his sword. By the time Lao Xie snapped out of his thoughts, the sword was already right in front of him. He tried to defend himself by crossing his arms, but the tip of the sword was already touching the skin of his forehead.

Within 0.1 seconds, the layer of oil was broken and spilled from the back of his head. Lao Xie was stunned, his eyes filling with anger. He wanted to curse Luo Yuan, but before he could, Luo Yuan proceeded to attack him again. This time, Lao Xie’s ability had no effect whatsoever. His head was sliced by the sword and plunged out of his body towards the ceiling. Blood was flowing as he shook uncontrollably, and soon his enormous body collapsed onto the floor.

Luo Yuan stood where he was, blood dripping from the tip of his sword to the ground. It looked brand new again. The remaining soldiers who were stationed at the prison rushed to the scene. Before they could even see Luo Yuan’s face, they were hit by his force and passed out on the floor. Suddenly, the prison was defenseless.

Luo Yuan opened the cell gates one by one, letting the evolved people break out of the prison. Some of them were grateful and some ran straight away, while others cursed him, unwilling to leave their cells. The government’s authority had not weakened after the apocalypse. Most of them knew that something strange was going on, but none of them dared do anything, afraid that they would get sentenced. Of course, there were some who wanted to prove themselves by fighting Luo Yuan, but looking at the gory scene along the tunnel, none of them dared even say anything.

Not long after reuniting with Wen Yujie, Luo Yuan found Xu Zhiqiang’s cell. Having been crowned the leader of the rebellion, he had been given special treatment. His cell was low, shallow, and completely dark. He could only sit in it. He couldn’t stand up at all. Of course, the defensive measures were even stronger, but Luo Yuan slashed the gate open easily with his sword.

It had only been a few days, but Xu Zhiqiang already looked haggard. When the gate was opened, he backed off deeper into the room, but when he saw it was Luo Yuan, his eyes sparkled with hope.

"Mr. Luo, I knew those injuries were nothing for you!" he said weakly.

"Let’s get out, we’ll talk later."

"Right, let’s go!" Xu Zhiqiang stood up trembling.

They found Xiao Baihong and Shen Jixing in a cell nearby. They did not waste much time, leaving the prison area fast. Wen Yujie was hesitant at first, as she was not sure if a prison break was the right thing to do. Looking at Luo Yuan’s expressionless face though, she did not dare say anything. She had no choice but to escape with them.

Seeing them running away, some of the evolved people followed them as well. After all, breaking out of the prison was not the end of the story. The most crucial part was avoiding getting captured again.

"Where are we going?" Xu Zhiqiang asked Luo Yuan as they ran.

It seemed like a simple question, but it wasn’t. By asking that, Xu Zhiqiang was basically surrendering the leadership to Luo Yuan and choosing a side.

"Where else can we go? Let’s just finish them all in one go!" Xiao Baihong said loudly. He had been furious ever since hearing the news.

"Do you know who the brain behind this rebellion is? Who the members are? What their abilities and military strength is? Nonsense! Who do you want to finish in one go?" Xu Zhiqiang said.

"I think it should not be that hard..." Xiao Baihong said quietly.

"I need to go home. We’ll see what we’ll do next after checking the conditions at home." Luo Yuan was out of the Earth Pulse mode, so his emotions were coming back to his body. Thinking for a bit, he said, "Of course, you guys could go home too if you want, but please be careful."

Everybody went silent. Although their families were not there with them during the apocalypse, they had formed new families. They could not hide any longer. A prison break was big news, especially a mass prison break. Perhaps their homes would now be under major surveillance.

"I’m not going back. My wife is working in Hope City, I don’t have anyone here," Xu Zhiqiang said.

"Me neither. The situation won’t get any better or worse if I go back," Xiao Baihong said, clenching his teeth.

"Then I’m not going either." Wen Yujie looked desperate as she realized that she was now a fugitive.

"I need to go back, there’s nobody to take care of my mother." Shen Jixing thought for a long time before making up his mind, "I’m not following you guys, I’m leaving!" he said and went off right away.

Some of them did not even say anything before leaving, and Luo Yuan did not try to convince them to stay. The Desert City was a small place, and the shelter wasn’t even one-fifth of it. Although their bodies were weak, they were evolved people, so their strength was higher than the average person. In 10 minutes, Luo Yuan had reached the warehouse area, where he used to stay.

Maybe he was fast or maybe the enemy’s forces has yet to regroup, but Luo Yuan did not come across anyone suspicious along the way. No doubt that was good news. It proved that they still had some privacy and control. In fact, he’d picked up some clues while he’d been fighting Lao Xie. Lao Xie had been shocked to see him, which meant that he had not had access to Luo Yuan’s details, photos or address.

Luo Yuan had been looking forward to going home, but his excitement was crushed when he reached his destination. The dorm door was wide open, and there was nobody inside. The blankets were in disarray, and stools were lying everywhere on the floor. The whole room was a mess. Luo Yuan was relieved when he opened the closet. Their luggage and clothes were gone. It did not look like a raid. They must have escaped, otherwise, they wouldn’t have taken their clothes with them.

"Mr. Luo, there’s a note!" Xu Zhiqiang had noticed something on a table.

Luo Yuan walked up to him immediately, picked up the note and read, "Don’t worry, we’re safe!"

There was a drawing at the bottom that looked like a sun and clouds. The handwriting belonged to Huang Jiahui, while the drawing was obviously Wang Shishi’s.

It was obvious that the note was meant for him, but what did the drawing mean?

"A sun? Clouds?" Luo Yuan thought to himself, "Could it be their new location? Or does it mean something special?"

"Is there anywhere to hide in the shelter?" Luo Yuan turned around and asked the people who had followed him.

"Although the shelter looks enormous, most of it is occupied by warehouses, and the rest is filled with people. There’s nowhere to hide," Xu Zhiqiang thought before he said, "The only places where one could hide would be the exhaust pipes and the sewer. If we were to hide for a long time, we’d need to think about food and drinking water though. The food is given out according to headcount in the shelter, so our only choice would be the sewer."

The location and images did not seem to be related. Perhaps the drawing was just a scribble that meant nothing. Luo Yuan stopped thinking about it and asked Xu Zhiqiang, "The sewer? Maybe there’s water there, but what about food? Do you mean...?" he tried to guess.

"That’s right! The sewer is used by both the Desert City and the shelter. The environment is damp and the domestic sewage is heavy, so there are many big underground creatures living there. Before the crypt worm tide, the military would clean it almost every month. The last time they cleaned it was less than two weeks ago."

Luo Yuan’s eyes brightened up. The continuous use of the Earth Pulse had exhausted his nucleus and the remaining conserved energy in his body. Suddenly, he felt both mentally exhausted and famished. He could even eat a cow if there was one in front of him.

"Let’s go there!" he decided immediately.