Mystical Journey

“What time is it?”

“My Lord, it is nine o’clock in the morning,” a medic in the hospital carefully answered.

Vulture No. 2 stood in thought in the hospital’s main conference room. She lowered her head to looked at the mobile phone in his hand. She was still holding on to a walking stick but her thoughts were somewhere on White Crab Island.

“Based on the rough estimate of our data, the entire East side of Slann has been infected by over two million people. It’s still unknown on the range it has spread out but we are trying our best to transfer everyone into quarantine.”

The Sanitary Minister sitting beside him drew large breaths on his cigarette. He was pale white as he hadn’t slept all night. A man who was only sixty-five years old had a face full of wrinkles and was overwhelmed with fatigue. He looked like he was over eighty.

“And all that could head up are dispatched?” No. 2 asked in low voice.

“What more can we do?

“We have done whatever we should.”

“You and I have done whatever possible all night and we have just received news that the Presidential House has obtained knowledge of the situation at Black Federation and Red Nation.”

“They’re worst off than us!”

The Sanitary Minister coldly blurted, “At least thirty million people infected over there in one night, thirty million!!” The mention of this number had his face more and more upset.

Both his hands grabbed into his hair as he coarsely ran through them, lowering his head.

“What has the world come to!?”

“Yes, what’s wrong with this world? How did it become like this?” A streak of sadness flashed past No. 2’s eyes.

“It would be better to follow them to White Crab Island. It’s better than not knowing anything!” The Sanitary Minister shouted out.

“This is a world war. We can only wait now,” No. 2 shook her head and said. A old granny like her has lived most her life and was only a step away from her grave so dying was no big deal. However, her children, grandchildren and the fate of Slann were just unfolding. It couldn’t just come to an end because of this.

However, there was nothing they could do besides wait.

******

In a cave.

Countless people, countless objects, rocks, and blood froze as if time has stopped.

Only Zhi Jinqin quietly hung over the monster’s abdomens in the center. She looked on with glee as Yuria slowly walked in.

“Brother… You’re finally here?” Zhi Jinqin complicatedly gazed at her brother who she hadn’t seen in decades, or maybe she should say, a family member that she had accompanied for decades. She had made so many sacrifices for this only family member.

Yuria bore no expression as he scanned the surroundings. People who died, dismembered bodies, blood spilling like a river, nothing was out of his expectation.

That moment decades ago was the same as present.

There was no sadness in Yuria’s eyes, only peacefulness.

“Brother…” Zhi Jinqin gave a gentle smile, “come with me and create a new world that only belongs to us…” She slowly raised her arms and extended towards Yuria.

“Decades ago, we failed but this time, I will not…”

“Qin.” Yuria quietly cut her off. “Decades ago, we had already missed it once.”

Zhi Jinqin was dumbfounded.

“No.” She put down her arm. “We are not wrong. What’s wrong is this world.”

“So you plan to destroy the entire world?” Yuria could not comprehend.

“We are creating.” Zhi Jinqin argued. “Brother, isn’t having both of us together forever great?” She looked at Yuria with naiveness.

“A world that only has the both of us… Isn’t that, what you and I always wished for?”

“But the others are innocent!!” Yuria shouted.

“Innocent?” Zhi Jinqin lowered her head. “There are too many innocent people, I can’t handle them all… Brother, why can’t you understand where I’m coming from?”

Yuria was silent for a moment before lifting his foot and walking towards Qin.

Crackle…

A spider-web like space rift immediately cracked open beneath his foot.

Clatter!!

The still space broke and crushed into pieces. Large amounts of transparent glass projected and scattered everywhere. Yuria was stunned as he stood where he was, watching Zhi Jinqin slowly fade and diminish before him.

“Qin!!!”

He extended his arm out in an attempt to grab his sister but felt the world spinning.

“Brother, father said that this way, I will be all better… But why do I feel pain…”

Zhi Jinqin laid weakly on a white hospital bed. One of her eyes had been removed.

“What did he do!!?” A young Yuria looked at his sister in disbelief. One of her eyes was…!

“I’m going to look for him!!” He turned to run out as if he lost his mind but was grabbed by Qin on the wrist.

Her strength was extremely weak but Yuria couldn’t bring himself to shake it off.

“Brother… If there’s one day where there’s a world with just two of us, will you be happy?” Zhi Jinqin whispered.

“I…” Yuria suddenly awoke and saw Parakeet sitting beside him. She looked at him with worry. In front of him was a bonfire.

He sat up. His body was drenched with cold sweat.

“I…” He opened his mouth but did not know how to answer that question. He wiped his face with his hand. He felt chills all over.

“Did you see her?” Parakeet asked with a low voice.

“I… Don’t know.”

“It’s a dream. Her powers are getting stronger and have started to radiate the entire island,” Parakeet said in a deep voice. “We must hurry.”

She stood up and threw a water bag towards Yuria, “It all depends on you, whether you choose her or this world…”

Yuria sat by the bonfire without saying a word.

******

In a cave.

Those who could stand up were sparse. Only Prince and No. 1, as well as a handful were left. Such a large amount of blood and flesh piled on the ground to the point where the actual rock surface couldn’t be seen any longer.

Those who entered had all died.

No. 1 and Prince sustained wounds all over. Their waists were severely injured and a few areas were obviously festered and infected. They were fatigued and did not know how long more they could hold on.

Their gaze at Zhi Jinqin were complete with fear, anxiousness, and insecurity.

So many had given their lives yet Zhi Jinqin did not suffer a scratch.

If it weren’t for Prince chopping off a section of Zhi Jinqin’s tentacle that she retrieved back, everyone on site would have probably died.

“Where’s the Ultra Channel Saber?” Prince whispered as he looked at Vulture No. 1.

“Here.” No. 1 took it out with a bitter smile and handed it over. This thing was his biggest trump card for his trip, but it was no longer now. It was now Prince’s only chance to hurt Zhi Jinqin. All hope was on him.

Thinking about this, he swept a glance around the cave blankly. All he saw were corpses, flesh, blood and festered gunk. Stink and smoke engulfed the entire cave.

He had predicted extremity of this encirclement, so he brought along a few secret weapons but he didn’t think they would be at such a losing end.

At this point, he didn’t even know if he would make it out alive.

“What’s the situation?” He was staring at Zhi Jinqin who was instantly frozen by the earlier white blast and was swiftly defrosting her way out while looking at the only seemingly wise Red Nation’s Prince. They had met before and have been in contact.

“Looks okay. It’s still good for one more usage.” There were two scars on Prince’s face. Blood was seeping through his ferocious yet handsome face, delivering an aura of gloominess.

Both their teams shrunk themselves into a corner in the cave and stared at Zhi Jinqin in the middle trying to break free from the binds of the earlier blast. All of them had long ceased fire as no bullets nor bomb prove effective on Zhi Jinqin. If it weren’t for Vulture No. 1 and Red Nation’s Prince keeping their cool from the beginning and instructing appropriately as their only way out, the last few on the teams would have been overwhelmed by fear.

“This time I really brought out the two weapons of mass destruction in the country. Whether it works or not, we will find out here and now!” Prince was intrepid and ambitious. He had placed all bets on this as he declared viciously with a pale face.

“Zhi Jinqin has a parent virus crystalizing rapidly in her hand.

“Her intentions are clear.”

“The density of the parent is high but it will not be airborne.”

“It fares high on waterborne,” Vulture No. 1 coldly spoke.

“She wishes to contaminate the entire ocean!!”

“This maniac!!” Prince couldn’t help but gasp. It wasn’t just her, the remaining few subordinates’ faces darkened even in a state of extreme fatigue and carrying severe wounds.

If polluting the entire ocean was successful, then no matter how they fought, there would only be one ending. That would be to be infected and perish.

“The plan to extinct humans was the intel the spy I placed in White Crab obtained,” Vulture No. 1 said in a low voice. Even for someone as deep as him, he couldn’t help but gaspwhen he heard the news. Those from White Crab weren’t loyal soldiers who would willingly forgo tranquil days and destroy the world with Zhi Jinqin? It wasn’t their style to do such a silly thing so once the people from the research center had an inkling, they spread the news and naturally, all soldiers of White Crab fled. Two or three countries’ allied forces turned up with full force, nipping what was left of Zhi Jinqin in White Crab Island headquarters.

It was also why there was no one defending at White Crab Island headquarters. No one was willing to die with Zhi Jinqin.

“You and I understand and at this stage, if she doesn’t go down, we all be going down.

“There’s no point escaping to the ends of the earth today.

“It’s just death at the end of the day, we just have to give our all.” Red Nation’s Prince gritted the words out of his teeth.

“If this does nothing to her, then what else can we do?

“Blast her one more time and what if it doesn’t work?” Vulture No. 1 asked in a low voice.

“We have done what we can.”

“Being pushed here, we all know that we’re just being used as a human shield,” Prince didn’t bother to cover up his face of sarcasm.

“Those impure bloodlines hiding outside the quarantine area being onlookers while we fight for our lives here, we have gone above and beyond!”