The aftermath of the first harvest lingered in Lian like a slow poison that refused to leave the bloodstream.
The corrupt Mechari enforcer's heart had not only widened his meridians and pushed him from Core Condensation Peak to Stellar Circuit Early; it had also poured fragments of the man's life directly into Lian's mind like oil seeping into water.
Memories came uninvited and vivid.
Lian saw the enforcer dragging terrified civilians into shadowed alleys, ripping out organs while they were still conscious, selling them to black-market buyers for quick credits.
He felt the man's twisted pride in being feared, the cold satisfaction of power over life and death, the thrill of taking what others could not protect.
These fragments slipped into Lian's thoughts at the worst moments—when he was eating the simple stew the old blacksmith brought, when he was swinging the hammer in the forge yard to burn off restless energy, when he was trying to sleep on the hard cot near Elara's bed.
The whispers followed, no longer just a low murmur but a constant chorus that grew louder each day.
They spoke in full sentences now.
Threats from the enforcer's victims.
Pleas for mercy.
Mocking laughter from the enforcer himself.
Names of people Lian had never met.
He woke some nights covered in sweat, the voices echoing in his skull: "You think you're different? You'll end up like me."
Lian would clench his fists, force the voices down, and stare at the ceiling until dawn.
But they never truly left.
They waited.
Patient.
Like old friends who knew he would eventually listen.
Elara saw it all.
She noticed the way his void eyes sometimes lost focus, staring at nothing as if listening to voices only he could hear.
She noticed the way his fingers twitched against the hilt of his blade when he thought no one was looking.
She noticed the way he hammered scrap metal in the forge yard when the restlessness became too much, sparks flying high as he released frustration in controlled, furious swings.
She never asked him to stop harvesting.
She never asked him to explain the voices she sometimes heard when he muttered in his sleep.
But she watched.
And she waited.
The old blacksmith saw it too.
He watched Lian train, hammer swings hard but controlled, no blur steps, no Qi show—just root power.
The old man never preached.
But he spoke once, voice gravel low.
"Harvest path."
"Corrupt."
"Voices get louder."
"Until they own you."
Lian stopped swinging.
Looked at the old man.
Void eyes hard.
"I control them."
The old man smiled faint.
"For now."
Lian turned back to the hammer.
Struck harder.
Sparks brighter.
The whispers laughed.
Second harvest.
Lian chose the target.
A Reaper scout.
White eyes.
Seen in the black market auction districts.
Lian wanted those eyes.
Wanted the vision Qi that allowed the old man to see through everything.
Wanted to see like him.
They tracked for days.
Used the enforcer's memories to avoid patrols.
Moved at night.
Cloaked.
Silent.
They found the scout in a hidden auction house.
Selling harvested cores to the highest bidder.
Lian waited until the deal was done.
Ambushed in the alley behind.
Pressure freeze.
Cut throat.
Took the eyes.
Alive still.
Then harvest.
Back in the forge.
Cauldron ready.
Pain worse this time.
Soul clash.
Whispers scream.
But power too.
Vision Qi.
Eyes glow faint blue.
See meridians.
See Qi flow.
See hidden.
Reaper scout's memories.
Reaper knows
Knows old man location.
But how
Looked deeper
He worked for the old man before.
Secret mission.
Looked deeper again
Ancient ruin.
Sector 7 dead zone.
Knows more.
The white-eyed man is not the master.
He serves someone older.
Deeper.
A true progenitor remnant.
Very powerful
Lian smiled cold.
Closer.
And bigger.
Lian wasn't strong but he will be in time
Thinks of leaving them behind
Turns to see elara
Elara watched the ritual from the doorway.
When it ended she stepped forward.
Hand on his arm.
He looked at her.
Voice steady.
"Done."
She squeezed.
But her eyes were more worried.
The whispers in his head were louder now.
She heard them sometimes.
When he slept.
Names.
Screams.
Threats.
She held his hand at night.
Quiet.
"Stay you."
Lian woke.
Nodded.
But his eyes were deeper void.
Harvest two.
Power jump.
Stellar Circuit Middle.
Speed.
Strength.
Vision.
Whispers constant.
Old man warned.
"Stop soon."
"Or lose yourself."
Lian nodded.
But plan already forming.
Next harvest.
Bigger.