Chapter 285: Era

The biting cold wind howled mournfully in front of the desolate building, like wails and laments.

Zhao Yi's hand, clutching the note, trembled uncontrollably. He was like a beast on the verge of collapse, his mouth contorted in a snarl, attempting to roar, but only emitting sounds of painful whimpers...

He clenched his right fist tightly, channeling all his fury and despair, and slammed it forcefully onto the ground!

Boom—!!

A visible wave of energy rippled outwards, instantly shattering all the surrounding frost. Ghastly cracks spread wildly in all directions like a spiderweb.

Zhao Yi took a deep breath. Several distinct and eerie voices overlapped, resounding like a volcanic rumble:

"...Who's selling coal in this city?!"

"The Three Great Guilds," Dr. Yi replied slowly, having been aimlessly wandering the streets since leaving headquarters. He looked at Zhao Yi, who was on the verge of exploding. "Over by the Centennial Tower in the city center..."

Zhao Yi scrambled to his feet, stumbling. A terrifying aura mixed with chilling killing intent exploded from the black monster like a tide!

His eyes, gleaming with eerie runes, fixed on a certain direction in Aurora City.

A deafening roar erupted—!! His figure blurred into an afterimage, vanishing from the spot instantly.

Frosty debris swirled in the air. Dr. Yi still lay on the ground like a corpse, completely indifferent to what Zhao Yi was about to do. He slightly turned his head, looking at Ling'er lying beside him, her long eyelashes frozen together by ice and snow.

As he looked at the delicate, porcelain-doll-like girl, deep guilt and despair reappeared in his eyes. If only his research had yielded results, perhaps none of this would have happened.

Three hundred years of accumulation at the Aurora Base had led to the current Aurora Realm... Yet a tiny "pump" had unexpectedly become the final straw to destroy this realm. Humanity's once proud science, the material civilization that once believed itself capable of dominating nature, was utterly vulnerable in the face of true unknown.

Dr. Yi stared blankly at the sky above. He had spent over a decade at the Aurora Base and hadn't truly looked up at the sky in a long time. But at this moment, he suddenly felt there was little difference between looking at the sky from the surface and looking at a concrete slab from within the base.

What difference was there between an empty sky devoid of hope, and suffocating, oppressive walls?

Dr. Yi remained silent for a long time, then suddenly smiled.

He fumbled for his pistol from his waist and drew it, then calmly yet despairingly pressed the muzzle against his temple and slowly closed his eyes.

"...This goddamn era."

Bang—!

A gunshot echoed. A splash of blood bloomed in the abyss of despair, like countless swallowed cries, bringing silence to the world.

"Please, don't let anything happen to you all..."

"My misfortune is enough; don't let my family get involved..."

Jian Changsheng sped along the frost-covered road. On either side, he occasionally saw pedestrians frozen to death or unconscious from the cold, or residents still desperately struggling for warmth.

He saw everything, his heart growing increasingly anxious, and could only pray incessantly.

A clamor of voices drifted from nearby. Jian Changsheng glanced over, seeing a dense crowd of figures jostling together on a wide boulevard, seemingly fighting over something.

Jian Changsheng had not intended to stop, but just as he was about to look away, several familiar figures appeared in the crowd.

"Uncle?!"

Jian Changsheng's eyes lit up. He immediately changed direction and rushed into the crowd, grabbing the shoulder of a middle-aged man jostling in the throng.

"Uncle, what are you doing here?"

"Jian?" The uncle turned, surprised to see Jian Changsheng. "Are you here to buy coal too?"

"...Coal?"

Jian Changsheng looked up. The first thing he saw was an imposing, ancient-looking tower, the tallest building in Aurora City. The road below it, teeming with countless people, was also one of Aurora City's most central boulevards, though now completely blocked by the crowd. A little further ahead was the central boiler plant, no longer operating.

He saw dense crowds surrounding the boiler plant, with sounds of chaotic brawling and cursing occasionally drifting from it. Those in the front row held banknotes, waving them wildly, seemingly queuing to buy coal.

Perhaps due to the large gathering of people, the temperature here was slightly higher than elsewhere. But even so, the faces of the people were flushed red from the cold.

"Is buying coal really such a big affair?" Jian Changsheng asked, puzzled.

"Don't you know?" the uncle replied. "The price of coal has skyrocketed... Ordinary households can't afford it at all, but to survive, they have to pool resources to buy and use it together. However, not everyone cooperates honestly. People are fighting over coal, money, even resorting to violence... It's utterly chaotic here."

"Skyrocketed? How expensive can coal be?"

"Five hundred thousand, for one kilogram."

"Five hundred thousand?!" Jian Changsheng's eyes widened. "Are they insane? With coal this expensive, are people actually willing to buy it? They're already fighting, why don't they just storm the boiler plant directly??"

The uncle extended a hand, pointing towards the front of the boiler plant. Numerous figures stood clustered together like a human wall, staring at every person who approached for a transaction. Among them were several enforcers, hands resting on their gun handles, their expressions rather grim.

Behind them, a man with narrowed eyes leaned against the wall by the boiler plant's entrance. A few streaks of blood still clung to his hands. A subtle yet palpable pressure enveloped the entire open area in front of the boiler plant.

A divine path wielder?

Seeing this scene, Jian Changsheng's brow furrowed deeper.

"Aren't the enforcers doing anything?"

"Several groups have already come..." the uncle sighed. "But in the end, they didn't do anything, just stood by and watched. These people are very cunning. Earlier, someone incited the crowd to rush in and loot, but before they even entered, the narrow-eyed man knocked them all unconscious. And they had no external injuries, so you can't even charge him with assault..."

Just as Jian Changsheng was about to say something, his uncle was pushed forward by the surrounding crowd.

"Jian! Wait for me outside, okay...? I still have some retirement savings, enough to buy a bit. Come home with me later, and whatever you do, don't fall asleep out here..."

Before his uncle could finish speaking, he was pushed away by the crowd. The surrounding clamor drowned out his words, and Jian Changsheng, standing behind him, couldn't hear clearly at all.

Jian Changsheng watched the figures struggling to survive in the tide of the era. In a trance, he imagined threads extending from their bodies, making them like puppets controlled by someone else, pleading, cursing, desperately trying to stay alive, only to have all their value drained away in the end. And at the end of those threads, holding their fates, were the unseen greed and ambition of those in power.