The armored transport rumbled across cracked concrete, headlights slicing through the darkness that enveloped the outskirts of District B-7. Even with reinforced plating, the vehicle vibrated under the pressure of the unstable spatial energy ahead.
Inside the cabin, tension hung thick.
Lin Yufan sat stiffly, daggers strapped to his legs, thumb tapping nervously against the metal bench."Why… why does it feel like we're heading straight into a boss fight?"
Chen Feier clasped her staff to her chest, whispering prayers for courage and clarity. "It's not a boss fight. It's reconnaissance. Just reconnaissance."
"Recon doesn't usually come with THIS kind of atmosphere," Yufan muttered.
Across from them, Chu Tianxing sat with his eyes closed, but he wasn't resting.
His mind was scanning.Reading.Calculating.
Every bump in the spatial fabric felt like a jolt of electricity at the edge of his senses.
Instructor Zhao, sitting near the front, glanced back."Chu Tianxing. Report."
Chu's eyes opened, glowing faintly with reflected streams of invisible data.
"Distortion intensity increasing. Frequency instability rising. The rift is cycling through collapse-and-surge patterns. Something is trying to stabilize it from the inside."
Lin Yufan's face drained of color."…So not just knocking. It's… hammering the door open?"
Chu did not deny it.
The instructor swore under his breath. "We'll adjust—Team Alpha will be backup, Team Beta goes for the scan. You three follow my lead. Do not engage unless I tell you."
The transport screeched to a halt.
The doors hissed open.
A blast of cold, corrupted wind hit them immediately—thick with metallic scent and an undercurrent of biological rot.
The night outside was illuminated by an eerie, pulsating purple glow.
Like the heartbeat of a dying beast.
The collapsed warehouses around them had been half-crushed by pressure waves. Concrete walls bent inward as if squeezed by an invisible hand.
"God…" Chen Feier whispered."It's much worse than the last one."
Instructor Zhao raised a fist."All units, spread out! Formation C! Keep visual range!"
Teams moved in sync, forming arcs of defensive positions as drones rose into the air, their scanners flashing blue.
Then—
BZZZ—CRACK—
Half of them instantly glitched out, falling like dead birds.
"Interference field!" Zhao barked. "Keep distance from the core! Don't let the distortion swallow your comms!"
Lin Yufan hunched behind a collapsed barrier."This is insane. Who sends rookies to this?!"
"You're not rookies," Zhao shot back."At least, he isn't."
He jerked his chin toward Chu Tianxing.
Chu stepped forward, ignoring the debris crunching under his boots. He extended his hand, letting the distorted air flow across his fingertips.
Data patterns burst into his senses—erratic, wild, but decipherable.
"This isn't a normal rift," he said quietly."It's layered."
Zhao blinked. "Layered?"
"A rift within a rift. Something tore through the primary breach from the inside and is forcing a secondary rupture."
In other words—
Something strong.Something smart.Something desperate.
Chen Feier trembled. "What could even do that…?"
Before Chu could answer, the ground shook violently.
THUD!
THUD!
THUD!
Dirt exploded upward, and a massive shadow tore free from the earth—mandibles dripping with corrosive acid, legs like serrated scythes, and a carapace pulsing with crimson energy.
A mutated insectoid.Twice the size of the scavenger they faced before.
Instructor Zhao's eyes widened."Everyone, fall back! Defensive circle! Do NOT let it break formation—!"
The creature screeched—a razor-sharp shriek that rattled teeth.
Lin Yufan whispered, voice cracking,"…This thing is Level 10 at least."
Chu remained unnervingly calm.
"No. Higher."
The creature swung a massive forelimb—and space itself rippled around it.
Chen Feier gasped. "It's distorting the air…?!"
Chu Tianxing stepped forward, eyes blazing with cold clarity.
"It's a Riftborn variant," he said."Classification—Predator Type."
Instructor Zhao gripped his weapon tightly."Chu Tianxing! Do you have readings?"
"Enough."
Chu's gaze sharpened, data converging in his mind like storm clouds.
"Yufan, target its joints—don't aim center mass. Feier, prioritize shields over healing. That thing's shockwave will hit before its body does."
Zhao blinked. "How do you—"
But Chu was already moving.
He whispered like reciting code:
"Trajectory confirmed."
The creature lunged.
The night shattered.
And the battle at B-7 truly began.