Chapter 2: Sudden Attack by a Strange Beast

A ray of morning sun slanted through the window, falling upon a massive blade.

The black blade was over two meters long and more than thirty centimeters wide, leaning against a metal bedside table.
On the bed beside it, a man with the appearance of a youth was sleeping soundly.

The door opposite the bed was suddenly pushed open gently, and a burly figure tiptoed in.
This was a sturdy man, the well-developed muscles on his bare arms proclaiming his strength.
His rather handsome face, however, now wore a roguish smile with a hint of mischief, and in his hand, he held a foxtail grass.

Tiptoeing to the bedside, the man grinned wickedly and slowly extended the grass in his hand toward the nose of the person on the bed.
But in the next second, the person on the bed abruptly opened his eyes, flipped over, and stood up, his right fist punching straight at the man.

“Hey, Xingzi, don’t hit me, it’s me!” the man shouted in alarm, his body jerking backward, nearly losing his balance and falling.
On the other side, Xia Lixing’s fist had already stopped in mid-air, looking at the man with some amusement.

“Hua Qiang, have you forgotten about my ability?”

“Pah, pah, pah, who knew your ability was so freakish, giving you a warning even when you’re asleep.”
The man called Hua Qiang had accidentally stuck the grass in his own mouth just now and was currently spitting out the seeds.
“Xingzi, you might as well just rename your ability ‘Alarm System’.”

Xia Lixing paid Hua Qiang no mind, quickly got dressed, and patted Hua Qiang’s arm. “Let’s go, join me for a morning workout.”

“Alright.”
Hua Qiang wiped his mouth clean and agreed with a grin, jumping directly out the window.

‘This guy… too lazy to even go down one floor.’
Xia Lixing shook his head and simply jumped out the window himself.
The two of them landed on the street below.
The somewhat empty street had only the two of them jogging.

This was Xia Lixing’s “old home”—a civilian safe zone.
It had taken him just over a day to get back.
He had arrived at the safe zone at night, and many people who had already gone to bed got up to welcome him.
Though it was called a safe zone, it was actually only the size of a village, with a few hundred people who were all very familiar with each other.
Xia Lixing’s return this time was like that of a child who had been working away from home for many years finally coming back.
A few of the elderly people who had taken care of him back then even shed tears of joy.

This Hua Qiang was a good buddy of Xia Lixing’s back in the day.
The two were of similar age and had awakened their abilities around the same time.
The difference was that Hua Qiang had awakened a body-strengthening ability, which wasn’t very useful and had limited potential, while Xia Lixing had awakened a rather powerful ability.

Back then, Xia Lixing chose to join the “Guardians,” while Hua Qiang stayed in this safe zone.

“Xingzi, you’re pretty famous among ability users now.”

Clearly, this kind of morning jog was no workout at all for Hua Qiang; he could still speak easily while running.

“What fame…”

Xia Lixing knew Hua Qiang was teasing him and replied helplessly.

“Really, the other day I met some members of a search team. I asked them, ‘Do you know an ability user named Xia Lixing?’ Guess what they said?”

Xia Lixing paused for a moment. “A search team?”

“Yeah, a search team. And when I mentioned your name, one of them, who looked a couple of years older than me, had this look of admiration on his face and asked if I was talking about Senior Xia.”

Hua Qiang laughed twice, seeming to find it very amusing that someone of a similar age would call Xia Lixing “Senior.”

But Xia Lixing didn’t respond, instead stopping in his tracks and asking with a serious expression, “Hua Qiang, when did you meet the search team?”

“Just over two weeks ago. They passed through here and rested for about an hour. What’s wrong?”
Hua Qiang stopped as well.

Frowning and pinching his chin, Xia Lixing sensed something was off.
In terms of timing, the Aberrant Beasts’ “rest” had started less than a week ago, and by convention, all search teams were required to return half a month before the “rest” to avoid being trapped by the gathering beasts.
Although there were sometimes A-rank ability users still outside, an A-rank ability user would definitely not call him “Senior Xia.”

Just what reason could that search team have for not returning to the central city at that time?

After thinking for a long time without coming to any conclusion, Xia Lixing had never received any notice from his superiors either.
Since he couldn’t figure it out for the time being, Xia Lixing decided to put the matter aside for now.
Since he hadn’t been notified, it probably wasn’t a big deal.

“Nothing, just asking. Hua Qiang, what’s your current ability user rating?”

The ability user rating was a classification system used by the “Guardians” to indicate the strength of ability users, ranging from E to A, with S above that, and the only five super S-ranks in the world.

“Barely managed to get a C-rank, hehe.”

“C-rank? Not bad, that’s already in the top ten thousand of ability users.”

Xia Lixing was a little surprised.
After all, Hua Qiang’s ability user rating had been unrated, which was even lower than E-rank, and his potential was only C-rank.
He hadn’t expected him to actually grow into a C-rank ability user in these few years.

“Come on, who can compare to you in ability user ratings? A super B-rank rating, the number one B-rank, and your strength is pseudo A-rank, placing you in the top hundred among the 152 A-rankers.”

Xia Lixing had some fame among ability users.
After all, according to his rating, he was a B-rank ability user, but his actual strength was enough to rank in the top hundred of A-rank.
Or in other words, his rating should have been A-rank, but due to his ability, he was given a B-rank rating.
Thus, some gossips joked that Xia Lixing should be called “pseudo A-rank.”

“Oh right, Xingzi, any news about your family?”

Hua Qiang’s question plunged Xia Lixing into silence.
Although he considered this safe zone his home, he had no blood relatives here.
He had been found nearby shortly after the apocalypse descended twelve years ago.
Cases of being separated from one’s family were common during the apocalypse, but Xia Lixing was a bit special; he had, quite clichély, no memory of anything before the age of eight.

Everyone in the safe zone treated Xia Lixing well, and he treated them as his own family.
But over the years, Xia Lixing had not given up on searching for his blood relatives.
However, the apocalypse had caused who knows how many people to be devoured by Aberrant Beasts, and even the “Guardians” had never been able to find any useful information.

In this apocalyptic world, to be missing was almost equivalent to being dead.

“Uh… well, let’s not talk about that. Let’s go eat!”

Hua Qiang realized he had touched a sore spot and quickly changed the subject.

“Yeah, let’s go eat.”

In the safe zone, Xia Lixing experienced a long-lost sense of relaxation.

No missions from the “Guardians,” no teaching students; he was almost completely carefree.

After having breakfast with Hua Qiang, the two of them sat on two large rocks downstairs, chatting idly.
At this time, the people in the safe zone were also waking up one after another, and for a moment, the small safe zone had a lively feel to it.

“Yo, Lixing, did you sleep well last night?”

While they were chatting, a middle-aged man walked over, greeting them with a smile.

“Morning, Uncle Li. I slept very well last night.”

This middle-aged man was also one of the ability users in the safe zone.
His ability was to change the speed and hardness of objects.
Although it only worked on inanimate objects, it was still a decent ability.

“By the way, Uncle Li, have there been any strange occurrences near the safe zone recently?”

Although he wasn’t too concerned about the appearance of the search team, Xia Lixing decided to get a better understanding of the situation first.

“Strange occurrences? No, everything’s been the same as usual.”

“I see… then it’s nothing. Thank you, Uncle Li.”

“What’s with being so polite with your uncle! If you need any help, just say the word!”

After learning from Uncle Li that nothing unusual had happened recently, Xia Lixing finally decided to temporarily ignore the matter.
Perhaps that search team had one or two A-rank ability users leading them.
Since everything was normal, it didn’t matter.

Xia Lixing had intended to let it go, but trouble found him instead.

A piercing alarm suddenly blared through the safe zone, followed by a voice from the loudspeakers in every corner that made people’s faces change: “Emergency situation, Aberrant Beast attack! Scale unknown, preliminary assessment D-rank. Please stay in safe areas and do not go out easily. All ability users, please gather in Sector 1 within three minutes. I repeat, emergency situation, Aberrant Beast attack! Scale unknown…”

Without another word, Xia Lixing and Hua Qiang exchanged a glance, stood up, and ran towards Sector 1 on the edge of the safe zone.

As a “pseudo A-rank” combat ability user, Xia Lixing, though appearing somewhat thin and weak, had monstrous physical stamina.
Hua Qiang, with his body-strengthening ability, was not far behind.
By the time the two arrived at Sector 1, the scout in the reconnaissance room who was broadcasting the alarm had just finished the third warning.

Sector 1 was the alert zone of every safe zone.
Besides the outermost first wall, there was only a reconnaissance room about three stories high standing between the first and second walls.
This was only a reconnaissance area for the safe zone, so no one lived here besides the scouts.

Faintly hearing the roars of Aberrant Beasts in the distance, Xia Lixing’s expression turned grim.
Glancing at the ruined walls scattered throughout Sector 1, he didn’t stop but instead leaped into the air, using the ruins as a foothold, his entire body shooting forward like a black arrow until he was almost level with the reconnaissance room.
Then, under the astonished gaze of the scout inside the window, he kicked off the glass of the reconnaissance room and landed on its roof.

‘What the hell… how do you get a foothold on glass?’

But before the shocked scout could recover, Xia Lixing, who had only glanced outside from his high vantage point, had a change of expression.
He immediately squatted down and pressed his hand on the roof of the reconnaissance room.
The next moment, the ceiling of the reconnaissance room melted like metal under high temperature, then disappeared amidst a distortion of the air.
Xia Lixing jumped down through this large hole and snatched the alarm communicator.

“Correction to the alarm, B-rank Aberrant Beast tide! Ability users below C-rank, stand by in Sector 2. C-rank and above, hurry here immediately!”

Xia Lixing’s words didn’t bring the scout beside him back to his senses.
He was still gaping, his eyes fixed blankly on the large hole in the ceiling.

“Didn’t they say this reconnaissance room could withstand a B-rank Aberrant Beast attack…”

“But it can’t withstand a pseudo A-rank’s ‘Ethereal Flame’.”

Hua Qiang, who had just pushed the door open, grinned.