Entropy Erosion Cycle: Absolute Zero

Chapter 2: Ripples of Entropy

The afterglow of the setting sun, like congealed blood, stretched itself across the broken silhouette of the city, painting the ruins in a macabre, crimson haze. Amidst this desolation, Lu Shang cradled the still-sobbing little girl, Xiao Ya, as they navigated the labyrinth of debris with cautious, measured steps. The devastation wrought by the explosion far exceeded his darkest imaginings; once-proud buildings now lay as skeletal frames, ravaged as though by some colossal beast, their supports trembling on the brink of collapse. The air was heavy with the acrid stench of scorched matter, intermingled with an overpowering metallic tang that threatened to choke the very life from those who inhaled it.

He knew with an urgency born of desperation that he must find sanctuary—any safe haven—swiftly. The recent blast would undoubtedly have attracted the attention of the dreaded Serpent’s Tail, and their relentless search for him was surely underway. Moreover, that frigid, ominous voice had warned him that his Entropy Counter was now active, a grim reminder that he could not recklessly wield his newfound abilities without dire consequences.

“Child, what is your name?” Lu Shang asked softly, his voice a gentle murmur intended to distract her from the horrors unfolding around them.

Lifting her tearful eyes, the girl looked up at him with an expression of timid hope. “I… I’m Xiao Ya,” she replied in a quavering whisper.

“Xiao Ya… what a lovely name,” he murmured, offering as warm a smile as his battered heart could muster. “Come, let’s leave this cursed place behind. Uncle will take you to somewhere safe, alright?”

At his reassuring words, Xiao Ya clung tightly to his neck, her fragile trust igniting a spark of warmth within his despondent soul even as the burden of responsibility grew ever heavier upon his shoulders.

Together, they made their way along a barely passable street, the silence of the ruined city as pervasive as a somnolent curse. Occasionally, spectral figures—survivors dazed by shock and terror—drifted like lost phantoms, their faces etched with bewilderment and dread. The urban landscape, now mute and still, bore the scars of calamity, each shattered window and crumbling wall a testament to the violence that had ravaged it.

After what felt like an interminable half-hour of cautious wandering, Lu Shang’s searching gaze fell upon a dilapidated apartment building that, though clearly abandoned for many years, retained a semblance of structural integrity. Its walls were marred by deep fissures and layers of defaced graffiti, while most of its windows lay shattered. Yet, compared to the ever-present threat of discovery by the Serpent’s Tail lurking in the outskirts, this derelict edifice offered at least a temporary refuge.

With meticulous care, Lu Shang hoisted Xiao Ya up a rickety staircase, guiding her to a room on the second floor that, despite its sparse furnishings—a scattering of dilapidated furniture and a thick layer of dust—still appeared relatively clean. He set about tidying the space with deliberate strokes, clearing away debris as best he could before beckoning the little girl to sit.

“Xiao Ya, rest here for a while. I must fetch some water and food,” he said, his tone gentle but laced with urgency.

Nodding obediently, Xiao Ya’s eyelids drooped with fatigue, her body clearly overwhelmed by the day’s ordeals. Lu Shang, stroking her unruly hair with tenderness, then departed the room with measured steps. He was acutely aware that securing essential supplies was paramount—for both his survival and that of the child entrusted to his care.

He combed through the desolate corridors of the abandoned apartment with painstaking care. The building, long forsaken, had been thoroughly pillaged; most rooms were barren, save for scattered remnants of forgotten lives. Just when hope seemed to wane, he discovered, behind a locked door he forced open with great effort, a small emergency kit. With an almost incredulous joy, he pried it open to find within it a modest stockpile: compact biscuits and an unopened bottle of mineral water—a veritable boon amid such dire circumstances.

A surge of relief coursed through him. This discovery, like a beacon in the bleakest winter, was providence incarnate. With cautious excitement, he carried the kit back to the room and presented it to Xiao Ya.

“Look, Xiao Ya—uncle has found us some food and water,” he said, his smile infusing the otherwise somber atmosphere with a fleeting sense of hope.

At the sight of the sustenance, the little girl’s eyes shone with newfound brightness. She eagerly accepted the compact biscuits, devouring them with a fervor borne of hunger and despair, even as she dutifully passed the water to him between bites.

Witnessing her simple satisfaction, Lu Shang felt a gentle solace seep into his beleaguered heart; at least for a moment, they were safe from the immediate perils. Once nourished, Xiao Ya soon succumbed to a weary slumber, and Lu Shang tenderly positioned her against a wall in a corner, ensuring she would rest as comfortably as circumstances allowed. He himself reclined against the opposite wall, and in that quiet solitude, his mind churned with an array of troubling questions.

Foremost among them was the enigma of his own power. The inadvertent burst of frigid energy he had unleashed moments earlier, followed by the subsequent surge that triggered the self-destruction of a janitorial automaton, left him both awestruck and deeply troubled. What, precisely, was the nature of this power? How could it be controlled so as not to wreak further havoc? Each uncontrolled manifestation risked further calamity, a realization that weighed heavily upon his soul.

Furthermore, he pondered the sinister origins of the Serpent’s Tail organization. Who were they that stalked every individual touched by extraordinary ability? What was the true meaning behind the cryptic “Entropy Counter” they so ominously referenced? And, more disturbingly, why did every soul he rescued—from that ill-fated girl to those he had inadvertently brushed against at the scene of the accident—seem destined to awaken similar powers within twenty-four hours? The notion that he might have become an unwitting harbinger, a disseminator of these abilities, filled him with a horror that was almost too immense to bear.

“Saving one is tantamount to unleashing destruction…” The phrase echoed in his mind like a heavy chain, binding his spirit with an inexorable moral quandary. In rescuing Xiao Ya, had he inadvertently sown the seeds for a future replete with more awakened, and thus uncontrollable, beings? Each use of his abilities appeared to accelerate the local increase in entropy—a butterfly effect of cosmic proportions—and the very thought tormented him with its cruel inevitability.

Lost in these dark contemplations, Lu Shang suddenly became aware of a subtle, insidious change in the atmosphere. A faint, electric tremor seemed to ripple through the still air, as if unseen currents of energy were beginning to stir. He lifted his gaze sharply, scanning the room with an instinctive wariness.

In a distant corner, he noticed minute particles of dust quivering in place, as though drawn by an invisible, malevolent force. This delicate phenomenon, barely perceptible to all but those attuned to energy fluctuations, confirmed his growing apprehension—something was amiss.

Before he could fully grasp the portent, a soft, almost imperceptible sound reached his ears from below—a gentle, rhythmic rustle that cut through the silence like a whispered warning. Lu Shang halted, his breath caught in his throat, and listened intently.

The sound swelled gradually, growing louder and drawing nearer. It resembled the careful, almost furtive footsteps of someone ascending the stairs. His heart pounded fiercely in his chest; he was painfully aware that it could only be those agents of the Serpent’s Tail closing in on him.

With deliberate slowness, he roused Xiao Ya from her slumber, signaling her with cautious, silent gestures to remain utterly still. The girl, her wide eyes now flickering with a dawning terror, obeyed without a word. Clutching her close, Lu Shang edged toward the door, every sense alert.

Peering through the narrow gap, he saw—a solitary figure clad in a dark uniform, advancing with cautious precision towards their temporary refuge. In the figure’s hand gleamed a mysterious black device, its tip pulsating with a ghostly blue light that recalled the instrument wielded by the janitor automaton earlier.

A dread as cold as winter’s heart gripped Lu Shang. He knew with unmistakable clarity that he had but moments to decide. He could not allow this stranger to draw nearer, for the risk of re-exposure to peril was far too great.

In a heartbeat, as the intruder neared the threshold of the room, Lu Shang flung the door open with a burst of inner strength, summoning the latent power that simmered within him. All of his strength converged into his outstretched hands as he prepared once more to invoke the “Vacuum Decay”—a power he had only begun to understand, yet one that now surged forth uncontrollably.

But in that pivotal moment, a chilling, disembodied voice resounded in his mind: “Warning! Target Lu Shang: your Entropy Counter is rapidly declining, current value 999987. Excessive energy use will hasten its depletion to zero!”

The sudden admonition froze him mid-action. He felt the potent forces within his body ebb and surge uncertainly, his resolve shaken by the harrowing implication of that finality—a termination he dared not imagine. In that precarious instant of hesitation, the stranger in the black uniform sprang into action. His startled expression quickly hardened into grim determination as he recalibrated his aim, the device in his hand now trained directly on Lu Shang.

A brilliant, azure beam of energy burst forth from the device, its speed so breathtaking that Lu Shang could scarcely register its approach before it seared into his chest. An excruciating agony, like the blow of a red-hot hammer, assaulted him; his body was flung backward with savage force, colliding violently with the wall before sliding limply to the ground.

A choking cough tore from his throat as a trickle of blood escaped his lips. He felt his flesh and spirit fray as though rent asunder by some unholy tempest, each pulse of pain a reminder of his vulnerable mortality.

The assailant, unyielding in his purpose, surged into the room with ruthless efficiency, his device once more poised as an instrument of retribution. “Lu Shang,” he intoned coldly, his voice resonating with an imperious finality, “your abilities are a threat to world stability. You must submit to our control.”

Struggling to rise, Lu Shang’s battered form betrayed him; his strength was nearly spent. He gazed upon the man before him with eyes aflame with a mixture of seething anger and hopeless despair—an expression that belied his inner turmoil.

And then, as if summoned by the very desperation of the moment, Lu Shang sensed a subtle, yet distinct, ripple of energy emanating from behind him. In a final, last vestige of hope, he turned his head to behold Xiao Ya standing resolutely in his shadow. Her eyes glimmered with an uncanny, fierce intensity, and though her tiny frame trembled, her resolve shone unmistakably.

“Uncle…” she uttered, her voice soft yet imbued with an indescribable fortitude that belied her age.

In that instant, an invisible torrent of energy erupted from Xiao Ya, cascading through the room like a tidal wave. The very air around them twisted and contorted as disparate objects began to convulse and levitate, drawn into the vortex of her burgeoning power. The man in black faltered, his eyes widening in disbelief as his device flickered erratically under the strain of this unforeseen force.

“This… this cannot be…” he stammered, his voice trembling as if in the grip of profound terror.

Before he could articulate another syllable, the entire room was subsumed into a maelstrom. Every object—from scattered shards of debris to forgotten relics—was caught in a frenzied spiral, whirling madly as if consigned to an infernal dance. The assailant’s body, contorted and helpless, writhed in agony as the overwhelming energy bound him in an inescapable embrace.

Lu Shang could scarcely believe the spectacle unfolding before his eyes. Xiao Ya, the delicate child he had sheltered, now radiated an astonishing, untamed power—far surpassing even his own, manifesting in a display that was at once both beautiful and terrifying in its intensity.

A memory flitted through his mind: the disembodied, ice-cold voice that had proclaimed that every soul he rescued would awaken their latent abilities within twenty-four hours. Now, it appeared that this prophecy was manifesting with brutal veracity.

“Xiao Ya, stop!” Lu Shang cried desperately, his voice cracking with paternal worry as he struggled to restrain the overwhelming force emanating from her. “You will hurt yourself!”

But the child’s eyes, full of both concern and a resolute determination, met his with a silent promise. “Uncle, I will not allow them to harm you,” she declared in a voice that, though still tender, vibrated with an unyielding resolve.

As Xiao Ya’s power swelled, the vortex intensified. The swirling debris accelerated, and the contorted form of the black-uniformed assailant was slowly reduced to a grotesque, lifeless heap—a macabre marionette whose strings had been severed by the inexorable might of her will.

Lu Shang, caught between agony and astonishment, clutched Xiao Ya to his chest. He could feel the residual chill of battle still clinging to her fragile body, and the sight of her spent, trembling form deepened his paternal anguish. “Xiao Ya, are you alright?” he gasped, his voice heavy with both relief and dread.

The little girl shook her head weakly, murmuring, “Uncle, I’m okay… just a bit tired.”

In that quiet moment of respite, as Lu Shang cradled her with fierce gratitude and sorrow, the disembodied, glacial voice echoed once more in his mind: “Warning! Target Lu Shang: your rescued subject has awakened Entropic abilities. Current Entropy Counter for target: 999975. Any further energy use will accelerate its decline to zero!”

A fresh surge of dread overwhelmed him as he gazed at Xiao Ya’s delicate form. He knew not the precise value of her own counter, nor what consequences might follow should she inadvertently unleash further power. The gravity of their situation was unmistakable—they had been irretrievably exposed. With her newfound, potent abilities, the Serpent’s Tail would no doubt spare no effort to capture them both.

Lu Shang’s eyes roamed over the disordered remnants of the room, his mind a whirlwind of confusion and fear. Where should they flee now? In a world so fraught with peril, what sanctuary could possibly shield them from the relentless, predatory forces that stalked their every step?

In that moment of desperate uncertainty, his gaze was drawn to an object that glowed with an eerie, persistent blue—a device clutched in the hand of the fallen assailant. Though battered by the tumult of energy and violence, the instrument remained functional, its spectral light a silent promise of secrets yet to be revealed.

Instinctively, Lu Shang reached for the device, his trembling fingers closing around it. He could not divine its precise purpose, yet his intuition whispered that it might hold critical insights into the workings of the Serpent’s Tail, perhaps even a clue to extricating them from this ever-deepening quagmire.

Gripping the mysterious contraption tightly, Lu Shang cast a determined look upon the weary form of Xiao Ya, his eyes alight with a steadfast resolve. No matter how treacherous the path that lay ahead, he vowed to protect her with every ounce of his being. He would seek answers, unravel the dark mysteries that had ensnared them, and ultimately expose the truth behind the relentless, inexorable cycle of entropy that bound their fates.

They must leave this place—swiftly, without delay. With careful deliberation, Lu Shang lifted Xiao Ya into his arms once more and emerged from the dilapidated apartment building, merging silently with the encroaching night. Behind him, the ruined edifice stood like a mute tombstone, its crumbling façade bearing witness to the calamitous struggle of superhuman forces, and foreshadowing the even more ferocious confrontations that lay on the horizon. In that profound darkness, Lu Shang and Xiao Ya—the unwilling bearers of the “Entropy Scars”—would continue their desperate flight and inexorable quest. Wherever they trod, ripples of entropy would surge silently, altering the very destiny of the world and rendering its future ever more enigmatic and uncertain.

Thus, as the night deepened and the distant city lay shrouded in an impenetrable gloom, their journey began anew—each step a silent defiance against a fate woven in chaos, each breath a quiet testament to their enduring hope amidst the encroaching shadows of doom.