Rashly attacking an Ability User with unknown and powerful defensive capabilities was nothing short of a death wish.
The fact that the woman could remain safely within that strange building was a massive mystery and a warning signal in itself.
That was why Ah-Lan would rather use valuable items to trade for food than attempt to seize it by force.
However, Ah-Hao curled his lip, his face betraying a hint of sinister disdain that didn't match his frail appearance.
“Sis, you're being too careful,” he scoffed, though his eyes remained fixed on the distant point of light. “I saw it. When those low-level zombies lunged at her, she was paralyzed with fear. Her face went white, and she couldn't hide the terror in her eyes.”
“When she traded the bread with you, her gaze… hmph, it was just like those ‘good people’ from before who gave us scraps because they thought we were pitiful.”
He emphasized the words “good people” and “pitiful” with heavy sarcasm.
“Ah-Hao, listen to me.” Ah-Lan pressed down on her brother’s shoulder with a firm, unusually stern grip. “That building and that woman are definitely not right! Until we figure out what’s going on, you are not to go near there, and you are not to make a move!”
Ah-Hao lowered his gaze, his voice dropping. “As long as she isn’t from one of the Inner City Companies, so what if she has some special ability?”
His voice carried a coldness and certainty far beyond his years.
“I have plenty of ways to deal with people who are stupidly kind! After all… I’m just a small, weak, pitiful child with a broken leg!”
He touched his injured leg, his eyes flashing with pain before quickly twisting into cruelty.
He suddenly looked up at Ah-Lan. “Sis! I’m certain that the room she’s in can withstand the Death Tide!”
The Death Tide…
Just hearing those two words made Ah-Lan’s heart tighten as if gripped by an icy hand, her breath hitching in her throat.
Compared to the lack of food and the harsh weather, the Death Tide—which occurred every seven days—was the true scythe swung by the Grim Reaper.
The Death Tide was a greyish-white haze thicker than normal fog, laced with tiny specks of dark red or eerie green light.
Wherever the Death Tide passed, steel rusted, concrete crumbled, and flesh and blood silently dissolved, festering and withering away.
Defending against the Death Tide?
That required astronomical prices for purification and filtration systems, or expensive shelters that were multi-layered, sealed, and equipped with internal self-circulation.
Such things were luxuries that “ground rats” like them, who scavenged for scraps in the ruins, could never hope for.
Their only way to cope was to crawl into the deepest, darkest crevices like actual rats when the warning for the Death Tide sounded. They would block the entrance with anything they could find, hold their breath, and pray in terror that the gap was tight enough—praying that not a single wisp of the Death Tide would seep inside.
The last Death Tide…
Ah-Lan’s fingertips trembled uncontrollably.
Last time, the hiding spot they found wasn't deep enough, and a mutated rat had gnawed a small hole in the blockage at the entrance.
That grey-white mist, smelling of sickly sweet metallic rust, had seeped in like thin threads.
At that moment, Ah-Hao had lunged forward without a second thought, using everything he had to block the lethal encroachment.
He had told her to find something to plug it quickly, his voice urgent yet filled with a fierce, desperate resolve.
By the time she finally sealed the gap with concrete debris and wet mud, Ah-Hao’s left leg from the calf down had been submerged in the seeping mist for several minutes.
There had been no immediate professional debridement, no Anti-Toxin Serum, and certainly no expensive tissue repair treatments.
They could only use rags to wipe away the greyish-white slime clinging to his leg, watching as the skin turned from red and swollen to blistered within hours. Then the blisters burst, and the skin and muscle began to blacken and rot.
It was a slow and cruel process, accompanied by persistent high fever and bone-eroding pain.
Now, the swelling in Ah-Hao’s leg was worsening. The purple-black area was slowly but stubbornly expanding as the muscle lost its vitality and died bit by bit.
Every movement was torture for him.
There was only one day left until the next Death Tide…
Without a truly safe shelter, Ah-Hao had almost no chance of survival.
And now, a shelter that seemed capable of absolute defense against the Death Tide was right before them.
Ah-Lan’s heart was in a state of violent struggle.
Logic told her that Ah-Hao’s judgment was too risky and reckless; that building and that woman were shrouded in oddities and unknown dangers.
But emotion—specifically her guilt and the desire to protect her brother—grew like wild weeds, nearly drowning out her reason.
For Ah-Hao’s sake… perhaps it really was worth taking a risk?
Just as Ah-Lan’s eyes wavered and her internal scales tipped, Ah-Hao, who had been watching the building, saw a change.
On the upper part of the drab, unfinished building, two shimmering words suddenly appeared on the previously bare concrete wall: “Terminal Station.”
Below them was a line of smaller text: “Shelter.”
The moment he saw the words “Terminal Station” clearly, his pupils contracted to the size of pinheads!
His eyesight far exceeded that of a normal person. He didn't just see far; he had a beast-like sensitivity to details and changes.
He had carefully observed every corner of that building, especially the area around the lit window. He was absolutely certain that it had been nothing but rough concrete—there had been no writing whatsoever!
These words… they had appeared out of thin air!
In just those few short minutes, they had grown silently out of the wall.
An unprecedented chill instantly seized Ah-Hao’s heart, far more piercing than the cold wind of the ruins.
His sister’s warning suddenly exploded in his ears, and he realized she was right!
This was not something a normal Ability User or a small faction could achieve!
This had moved beyond the realm of “weird.” This was some kind of incomprehensible, fundamental power!
That seemingly naive woman was either a terrifying existence herself, or she was protected by some unimaginable power.
Kill her and take the house?
That plan now seemed utterly laughable and incredibly dangerous to Ah-Hao.
Sending his sister to attack a target backed by such unknown power?
How was that any different from telling her to jump straight into the Death Tide?
The longing for shelter and the fear of the Death Tide continued to gnaw at him, but another, stronger fear instantly overwhelmed everything—
He could not lose his sister!
In a flash, Ah-Hao made his decision.
He couldn't let his sister take the risk, but he wasn't willing to sit and wait for death either.
His rotting leg and the approaching Death Tide forced him to find another way out.
He quickly lowered his gaze. When he looked up again, the malice and calculation on his face had vanished, replaced by a complex expression of lingering fear, realization, and worry.
He gently tugged on Ah-Lan’s sleeve, his voice carrying an imperceptible tremor. “Sis… look over there.”
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