Tian's silver eyes held Jin's gaze. "So, tell me, Shen Jin. After everything you've been through, what is it that you truly want?"
Jin didn't even have to think about it. The question was just a formality. He had been thinking about the answer for three nights, in the mud, in the cold, with bullets tearing through his body.
What did he want? A second chance? More power? Riches? It was all junk. He'd had power, and they'd turned on him for it. He'd had a life, and they'd taken it.
He had achieved everything he'd ever gotten through his own sweat and blood, and he knew, with the solid confidence of a man who had survived hell, that he could do it all again. He didn't need a cheat or some magical shortcut. He had a whole lifetime of experience to back him up. All he needed was a truly clean slate.
"I want you to destroy this world," Jin said. His voice was calm, like he was ordering a coffee.
Tian's translucent form flickered, and his silver eyes widened just a little. He had expected a plea for power, for life, for revenge on a personal scale.
He hadn't expected a request for total annihilation. "This entire world?" Tian asked, a hint of surprise in his voice. "You know its fate is already broken. Destroying it won't cause any big problems in the cosmos, but… why? Why ask for that?"
A bitter, ugly laugh escaped Jin's lips. "Because it's a failure. A failed experiment, you said so yourself. It took everything from me—my youth, my friends, my peace. It used me up and then tried to throw me in the trash. A world like that doesn't deserve to keep existing."
He looked Tian directly in the eye, his own gaze burning with a cold fire. "I don't need anything from it. I don't want to save it. I just want it gone. That's my wish."
Tian was silent for a long moment, studying the absolute certainty in Jin's face. Then, he gave a slow, sad nod. "A soul forged in hatred… I understand. Very well. Your wish will be granted."
"Good," Jin said. "But before you pull the plug, there's one last thing I need to do. A few loose ends to tie up. I want to vent a little, you know? Can't leave this place with regrets."
"What is it you need?" Tian asked, his voice getting weaker.
Jin's lips pulled back into a smile that was pure, unadulterated hell. "The men who sent those soldiers after me. The ones who sit in their safe, clean rooms and give the orders. The bigwigs. I know they have a secret meeting place, a bunker for when things go wrong. I want you to send me there. I want to say a personal goodbye."
Tian looked at the raw, black hatred in Jin's eyes and sighed. "The cycle of revenge is endless… but I am in no position to judge. As you wish."
He raised a single, trembling, see-through finger and pointed it at Jin.
The world dissolved.
It wasn't a violent teleport. One moment he was standing in the glassy crater, and the next he was somewhere else entirely. He was standing in a long, sterile hallway made of polished concrete and cold, white steel.
The air was dry and smelled faintly of chemicals from the high-tech air purifiers. He was still naked, his body humming with the restored energy Tian had given him.
Alarms blared instantly. Red lights flashed, casting long, dancing shadows down the corridor.
"Intruder alert! Sector Gamma! Unidentified entity! All security teams, respond!" a calm, automated voice announced from speakers in the ceiling.
Jin just stood there for a second, rolling his shoulders, feeling the smooth, effortless power that flowed through his new body. It felt good. Really good.
Heavy metal doors slid open at both ends of the hallway, and soldiers in advanced, bulky combat armor poured in. They weren't like the grunts in the forest. These were the elites, armed with experimental energy rifles.
"Freeze! On your knees, now!" the lead soldier shouted, his voice muffled by his helmet.
Jin just laughed. It was a deep, hearty sound, full of relief and release. He hadn't felt this alive in years.
"You guys are going to need more men," he said, his voice echoing in the hallway.
They opened fire.
Beams of lasers, hot enough to melt steel, shot down the corridor. Jin didn't even try to dodge. He just raised a hand, and a shimmering, invisible shield of his own energy bloomed in front of him.
The beams hit the shield and splashed off like water, leaving scorch marks on the ceiling and walls.
The soldiers stopped firing, their confusion obvious even through their helmets.
"My turn," Jin said.
He clenched his fist, and the energy shield compressed into a solid, invisible spear. He flicked his wrist, and the spear shot down the hallway faster than a bullet.
It went straight through the first soldier, then the second, then the third, punching clean, silent holes through their advanced armor and their bodies before shattering against the far wall.
The three men collapsed in a heap, their armor the only thing holding their ruined bodies together.
The remaining soldiers stared in horror. Jin was already moving.
He wasn't the clumsy, overpowering beast from the forest. This was different. This was him in his prime, but a hundred times better. He was a ghost, a blur of motion.
He appeared in front of a soldier, his hand gently touching the man's chest. The soldier's eyes went wide, and then his armor and everything inside it simply crumbled into a pile of fine, gray dust.
He moved to the next, his fingers tracing a line across the man's rifle. The weapon dissolved, and the soldier's hands along with it. The man screamed, a high, thin sound that was cut short as Jin's other hand tapped him on the forehead.
It was a massacre. A quiet, terrifyingly efficient one. He wasn't just killing them; he was unmaking them, using the raw, creative energy he commanded to simply erase them from existence. It was a message.
In less than a minute, the hallway was silent again, empty except for Jin and a few piles of gray dust.
The automated voice was still going. "Threat level critical. All non-essential personnel, evacuate. Containment has failed."
Jin smiled. "Containment always fails when you cage a god."
He started walking down the hallway, toward the heavy blast door at the end. He knew where the bigwigs would be.
In the command center, watching all of this on their monitors, their faces pale with the dawning horror of what they had unleashed. He was coming to make sure they had a front-row seat for the end of the world.