Stellar Steps

The shattered earth sprawled with countless cracks, and black smoke veiled the last rays of the setting sun. On muddy roads, countless people trudged forward, faces marked with despair and terror. Occasionally, someone would stumble into a c***k, and the cries of anguish never ceased. A line of survivors stretched into a massive column of tens of thousands, guarded on either side by warriors who had enhanced their bodies—a type known as 'evolvers.' These evolvers began appearing after Earth's sudden cataclysm six months prior. At the rear of the line, Lu Yin looked into the distance, hearing the chilling sounds of chewing. With a dreadful roar, a mutated hound with glowing red eyes, nearly two meters long, leaped out from behind a burning tree, its b****y jaws open as it charged toward the column. Survivors screamed in terror at the sight. Lu Yin's gaze sharpened as he drew a peculiar weapon from his waist, resembling an iron rod but sharpened to a blade at one end. He leaped up, bringing the weapon down in a single, swift motion, slicing through the mutated hound's neck effortlessly. Blood spattered onto the grass, staining it red. With the beast dead, silence returned, and the line of survivors continued forward, fearfully but resolutely. Lu Yin inspected his iron rod, noticing a few cracks. "It won't last much longer" he muttered. As the sun set and darkness consumed the land, all the evolvers lit fires along the line, hoping to keep the mutated beasts at bay, and the group halted their progress. Venturing into the unknown in darkness was suicidal. A crackling sound came from Lu Yin's radio. A voice announced, "evolver number three, search for food within a one-kilometer radius." Lu Yin, Evolver number 103, glanced at the hound he had just slain, lifted it, and tossed it toward the front of the line. "Eat" he said. Murmurs rippled through the group as a few men came forward to carve up the hound, accustomed to such scenes despite the human bone remnants lodged in its jaws. One hound would barely feed twenty people. Lu Yin walked away from the fires, gripping his iron rod as he ventured into the distance. The chewing sounds never ceased; pairs of green eyes stared at him in the darkness—mutated rats, grotesque but edible. Swinging his rod, Lu Yin crushed more than a dozen of the rats, carrying them back to the line. This would suffice for his share. A scream suddenly rang out, and without looking back, Lu Yin knew an evolver had fallen. He had no intention of going to their aid; who knew what had attacked—perhaps a venomous snake, a bloodsucking mosquito, or one of the powerful mutated rats capable of biting through steel. Such creatures were all too common in the wild. The line of survivors remained eerily quiet, everyone huddled behind the flames as if that thin layer of fire could truly protect them. Lu Yin gazed at them with pity, then looked up at the sky. The stars were brilliant, the air cleared of pollution since the disaster, though countless creatures had mutated in tandem, including humans themselves. No one knew what had triggered the mutation, but in a single night, beings had transformed into horrors. Many humans had turned into mindless creatures, devouring anything alive; these were called zombies. The remaining survivors had grown stronger, if only slightly, yet they could enhance themselves further by consuming the crystals found within mutated creatures' bodies—this was how evolvers were born. It was as if Earth had reverted overnight to a primitive state of survival of the fittest. Earth's grand arsenal was largely destroyed; Lu Yin himself had witnessed the explosion of his city's weapons cache, as if modern weapons had no place in this new age. A gust of wind swept over the ground, where bloodstained newspapers, pinned by stones, rustled in the breeze. Lu Yin picked one up, glancing at the headline: 'February 3, 2200, a day etched into history. On this day, China's Sky Five landed on Neptune, making Bai Qian the first Earthling to explore the gas giant.' He dropped the paper as a young girl nervously handed him a roasted leg of some mutated beast. Lu Yin accepted it with a faint smile. "Thank you." The girl shyly smiled back and returned to the line. The meat was tough and nearly inedible, even with seasoning, but Lu Yin ate it gratefully. He needed strength. Suddenly, the flames flickered, and Lu Yin swiftly drew his iron rod, striking down a mutated mantis that had lunged through the fire. Such a creature could cause massive casualties if it breached the line, its sharp, red-glinting blades rivaling the edge of Lu Yin’s rod. Throughout the night, Lu Yin rested for only two hours, killing more than a dozen mutated beasts attempting to invade the line. His area suffered no casualties, though other sections weren’t as fortunate. One group of survivors, along with dozens of evolvers, were slaughtered by a massive mutated boar that could launch deadly quills. If the more powerful evolvers hadn’t intervened, the toll would have been higher. As dawn broke, the column resumed its journey southward. They aimed for Jinling, the largest survival settlement in Jiangsu Province, where the military, many evolvers, and one of China’s revered 'Seven Saints,' Zhou Shan, awaited. The half-year apocalypse had given rise to many evolvers and birthed the seven pinnacle warriors known as the 'Seven Saints.' Communication remained difficult but possible. Recently, evolvers were classified by strength: ordinary evolvers, who had only begun consuming crystals; human-level warriors with power far surpassing average evolvers; and city-level powerhouses capable of colossal destruction, known as 'Earth-Level' warriors. At the peak stood the sky-walking 'Heaven-Level' warriors—the Seven Saints. Their unparalleled might was why they bore the title of 'Saints,' a symbol of hope for humanity's survival. The Jinling settlement housed one such Saint: the Enforcer Saint, Zhou Shan. The column continued, still over a hundred kilometers from Jinling—a journey of hours in peacetime, but now requiring days. Miles away, countless zombies wandered, drawn by the scent of the living. The evolvers guarding the line eyed them warily. Though slow, these zombies possessed enormous strength and carried a deadly poison in their blood. A single touch would cause an evolver’s skin to fester, leading to madness and eventual transformation into one of them—the most terrifying fate of all. Lu Yin squinted, gripping his iron rod tightly. Fighting zombies wasn’t difficult; they were always the same, unlike evolvers who could grow stronger. This was a relief for the countless survivors; if zombies could evolve as well, survival would be hopeless. The biggest threat to survivors currently comes from mutated beasts. Just as Lu Yin and the others prepared to face the horde of zombies, they suddenly halted, then turned and retreated. A bad feeling rose in Lu Yin’s heart. The ground trembled, and ahead of the column, a massive vine emerged from the earth. Its branches seemed almost sentient, capturing many survivors. Amid their despairing screams, those caught were crushed into blood, soaking the soil where the vine had rooted. Survivors fled in terror, including several evolvers. Lu Yin's eyes twitched; this mutated vine was undoubtedly Earth-level, beyond what ordinary evolvers could match, even with a few Human-level warriors in their midst. The evolvers in the group had no intention of fighting it head-on and all fled backwards to avoid the vine's reach. After a while, the vine retracted underground as if satiated. Countless survivors sobbed and shouted in despair, with some collapsing mentally under the strain, including a few evolvers. Soon, a crackling sound came from Lu Yin’s radio, followed by a voice, "Hold your positions. The Enforcer Saint will personally come to escort us." Upon hearing this, a cheer rose among the survivors. To them, Heaven-level warriors were like gods. It was as if, with their arrival, any problem could be resolved. Lu Yin’s face twisted in a slight sneer. Saints? He clutched his left arm, feeling the lingering pain in half his body that still ached as a constant reminder of that fateful night. An entire city had been abandoned, with every undestroyed weapon pouring its wrath inside. Screams filled the air, and his body had been burned on one side. When he looked back, he saw those lofty eyes and blinding golden light. Liu Shaoge—the man known as the Light Saint, one of the Seven Saints—Lu Yin would never forget. The agony he had endured that night was something he swore to repay a hundredfold. As the fires rose and the sky darkened, Lu Yin prepared to rest. Suddenly, cries and screams broke the silence not far away. He frowned, turning toward the commotion. A hundred meters away, several young girls were surrounded by over a dozen evolvers who jeered and laughed. Some of the girls’ clothes had been nearly torn off as they silently wept. This scene was all too familiar. In this apocalyptic world, human decency had plummeted. Lu Yin had seen this countless times. It was almost inevitable; in this environment, protection always came at a cost. He closed his eyes, trying to relax his mind. In the distance, a girl cried out as one of the evolvers slapped her to the ground. "Damn it! I’ve been risking my life protecting you. What’s wrong with wanting a bit of fun? Don’t play hard to get! Just the other day, I had a little starlet begging me to take her, and now I don’t even want her. Get up!" The girl glared at the evolver with hatred, her eyes red with fury. The surrounding evolvers laughed, relishing this world where they could do as they pleased, unchecked by any authority. Suddenly, a gust of wind swept through, and Lu Yin appeared before the evolver, his iron rod pressed against the man’s throat. In a cold tone, he said, “Leave.” A tense silence fell around them, broken only by the quiet sobbing of the girls. The evolver’s face darkened, and he gritted his teeth. “Lu, this has nothing to do with you. They’re under my protection.” “You’re disturbing me,” Lu Yin replied coolly. He pressed the sharp edge of his rod deeper, drawing blood as it trickled down. The evolver’s eyes filled with fear. “Alright, alright, you won. They’re yours; I won’t touch them.” Lu Yin withdrew his rod and walked back to his spot, indifferent. Many in the group watched silently, already accustomed to this kind of scene. To them, Lu Yin seemed strange, even unpredictable. The other evolvers exchanged angry glances, but none dared to make a move. They knew all too well how strong Lu Yin was. The girls quietly moved behind him, seemingly wanting to say something, but he kept his eyes shut, ignoring them. They could only look at him with gratitude before sitting down carefully. Not long after, a stunning young woman with an alluring smile and revealing attire approached Lu Yin. She glanced sharply at the girls, scaring them into quickly backing away and bowing their heads in fear. The woman smirked in satisfaction, then sat beside Lu Yin, blowing lightly into his ear. Lu Yin reached up and seized her neck, opening his eyes with a cold glint. “Try that again, and you’ll die.” Her gaze turned icy, but she forced a flirtatious smile. “You’re as heartless as ever.” He released her, still glaring. “What do you want?” She rubbed her neck, shooting him a playful glare. “You’ve made some enemies, did you know?” Lu Yin didn’t respond. She continued, “Zhang Tong and his men are plotting against you. They’ve got over ten evolves, and you’re on your own. Be careful.” “Thanks,” Lu Yin replied flatly. (End of Chapter)