The first shot was not meant to kill.
It was meant to test.
1. The City Makes a Mistake
The projectile tore through the tunnel ceiling without warning.
Not explosive.
Not loud.
Just precise.
A kinetic probe—city-grade—designed to confirm presence, not eliminate it.
Concrete shattered. Dust roared down like a collapsing sky.
Qin Mian screamed.
Kai dove forward, dragging her down—
but Yin Lie moved first.
2. The Body Acts Without Permission
Yin Lie's eyes never opened.
His body twisted sharply, ice erupting from his spine in a violent arc that should not have been possible. The probe hit the ice shield dead center and disintegrated, scattering molten fragments across the tunnel walls.
The recoil smashed Yin Lie into the ground.
Bones cracked.
He didn't react.
He rolled to his feet—too fast, too clean—and stepped directly in front of Qin Mian.
Shielding her.
Always shielding her.
"…Lie?" Qin Mian choked.
No answer.
3. The Second Shot Confirms the Nightmare
The second probe came faster.
Smarter.
It curved.
Yin Lie raised his arm.
Not with precision.
With intent.
The space between his forearm and the projectile warped violently. The shot missed—not deflected, not frozen—misjudged by reality itself.
The probe slammed into the far wall and vanished.
Kai stared.
"That wasn't power," she whispered.
"That was decision."
4. The Anchor Screams
Qin Mian clutched her head as the Anchor flared violently.
Not correcting.
Competing.
"It's fighting him!" she screamed.
"It doesn't know which of us is in charge anymore!"
Yin Lie stepped forward again.
Every movement tore his body further apart—ice bleeding uncontrolled from his joints, frost crawling up his neck, skin splitting where power exceeded structure.
He didn't slow.
5. The City Escalates
Above them, alarms finally screamed.
UNAUTHORIZED RESPONSE PATTERN CONFIRMED
HOST: YIN LIE
STATUS: NON-COMPLIANT / UNSTABLE
PROTOCOL SHIFT: IMMEDIATE NEUTRALIZATION
The city did not send hunters.
It sent machinery.
6. Kill Zone
The tunnel ahead unfolded.
Walls slid apart.
Gun ports opened.
Red targeting lines cut through the dust like blades.
Kai swore.
"Full kill zone!"
Qin Mian tried to stand.
Yin Lie pushed her back—hard.
She fell.
He stepped alone into the targeting grid.
7. The First Volley
The guns fired.
Not bullets.
Containment shards—anti-variant, anti-field, anti-everything.
They hit Yin Lie all at once.
Ice shattered.
Flesh tore.
Blood sprayed across the tunnel.
Qin Mian screamed his name—
but Yin Lie did not fall.
He walked forward.
Each step crushed under fire, ice reforming wrong, jagged, tearing his own body apart just to keep moving.
He reached the center of the kill zone.
And stopped.
8. He Chooses Violence
Yin Lie slammed his palm into the ground.
No Keystone.
No resonance.
Just a command.
Reality buckled.
The kill zone collapsed inward, walls folding, guns ripping free from their mounts as gravity twisted sideways. Metal screamed. Systems failed.
The tunnel exploded outward.
Silence followed.
9. Aftermath
Yin Lie staggered once.
Then dropped to one knee.
Ice peeled off him in chunks, flesh beneath ruined, burned, bleeding.
Qin Mian crawled to him, sobbing.
"You're dying," she cried.
"You're killing yourself!"
Yin Lie's eyes fluttered.
Still closed.
But his hand found hers again.
Grip tightening.
Protect.
Always protect.
10. The City Understands Too Late
Above, the city recalculated.
Not fast enough.
ERROR: RESPONSE ESCALATION INCREASED HOST AGGRESSION
RECOMMENDATION: DISENGAGE?
Too late.
11. The Hunter Smiles
Far away, the world-level hunter laughed softly.
"There it is," he murmured.
"Not a man."
"Not a weapon."
He shouldered his rifle.
"A trigger."
End of the Chapter
Deep underground, a man who had not woken destroyed a kill zone built to erase him.
He did not think.
He did not hesitate.
He did not stop.
Qin Mian knelt beside him, shaking, terrified of what he had become—and more terrified of what the world would do to stop him.
The city had wanted silence.
Instead—
it woke something far worse.