Chapter 28: The Government?
--
[Congratulations! You have obtained a rare-tier reward—
●A Spirit Beast Contract Scroll. x1]
---
A violet flash appeared before his eyes, which soon turned into a pale, rough bark that resembled an ancient treasure map from those TV shows.
"...Spirit Beast Contract Scroll."
He stared at the intricate violet symbols, which pulsed with a faint glow. The markings twisted across its surface in slow, unnatural patterns, as though they were alive and ready to jump out from the scroll itself.
This was a rare-tier reward.
Carefully, Lucien reached out and gently touched the scroll.
The instant his fingers made contact, information surged into his mind, allowing him to instantly understand how the scroll worked.
His eyes sharpened as he realized it wasn’t a simple scroll that immediately made a beast his slave.
"This scroll isn’t some artifact capable of forcing a powerful beast into submission by its own. To form a contract, I would need to defeat the respective target I want to make a contract with in a fair one-on-one battle. And even then, there are chances I can still fail."
The beast had to willingly submit after defeat before a contract could be established.
Its purpose wasn’t control but loyalty.
Once the contract was formed, neither side could betray the other and if either one of them attempted to do so, they would be subjected to divine lightning from the heavens as a form of punishment that would reap their lives.
_Heavens, huh._
His thoughts immediately drifted toward Snowy.
Though the idea disappeared just as quickly as it formed because the ferret wasn’t his, it already belonged to someone else. And more importantly, Lucien still remembered the terrifying pressure it had released before devouring Kael into the spatial tear.
The status screen might classify its combat power as D-, but he trusted his instincts more than any number, not to mention movement itself wasn’t possible under the ferret’s spiritual pressure.
If he fought that thing right now, maybe he could stand a chance, but a complete victory? He wasn’t sure about that.
"Besides, I don’t think it will leave that kid. They are already bonded."
With that thought, he stored the scrolled as getting a companion could wait.
...
Several days had passed since the clash that had shifted the command of the building to someone else.
Fishing was the only productive activity that people spent most of their time on.
Lines hung from shattered windows while improvised nets were lowered into the water below, crafted with whatever they could find. Every day survivors brought up dozens of catches, most of them mutated so much that they didn’t even resemble a normal fish from the past in any manner.
Some possessed dark scales tougher than leather, while others had rows of jagged teeth or strange protrusions growing from their bodies.
And due to the increasing rate of mutation, the awakened crystals also became frequent but still frustratingly rare.
Catching one in a day was considered good.
And whoever found one had the right to decide what to do with it.
No one could interfere.
A rule imposed by Andrew to prevent people from fighting and killing each other.
It was also the reason only a handful of new awakeners had appeared over the past week despite everyone’s consistent efforts.
Lucien stepped onto the twelfth floor and found Andrew overseeing the work.
Compared to before, things were far more organized now as people had assigned responsibilities and schedules to follow.
Groups rotated between fishing, transporting supplies, and guarding the occupied floors.
It wasn’t a true community yet, but it was no longer the chaos that had existed in his past life.
"Everything going well?" Lucien asked.
Seeing it was him, Andrew let out a tired laugh.
"You can see for yourself, I can’t even rest."
Lucien’s gaze shifted towards a freshly caught fish lying nearby. The creature was larger than anything they had caught only days ago. Long claws capable of tearing flesh apart and teeth sharp enough to make even awakeners bleed.
His expression slowly hardened as he muttered to himself, "The mutation rate is increasing rapidly."
Andrew immediately understood what he meant as catching a single fish these past few days required multiple men to pull the rod together.
The sight of the mutated fish stirred up an old memory in him.
The silhouette.
The enormous creature that had rammed into the building from beneath the black water and created an impact on the same scale as a mini-earthquake targeted at a single building.
_It should probably be the mutation of a shark or some massive creature._
Even now, remembering it was enough to create a faint sense of dread in his mind.
If ordinary fish were evolving this quickly, then what about the creatures that once lurked inside the deepest parts of the oceans?
And what about those that humans that humanity had never even discovered?
Lucien turned toward the distant horizon visible through the broken window, looking at the calm, black water that seemed peaceful.
Something told him the real danger hadn’t arrived yet.
Lucien eventually straightened and brushed the dust from his clothes before turning towards Andrew.
"Come with me."
Andrew blinked, momentarily confused as the sudden request clearly caught him off guard, but only for a second.
He turned toward one of the newly awakened residents nearby and pointed at him. "You, handle things here until I get back."
The man immediately nodded and only then did Andrew follow after Lucien.
The two moved through the building without speaking, their footsteps echoing faintly through the stairwell as they climbed past the upper floors before eventually reaching the final staircase that led to the rooftop.
Lucien pushed open the heavy metal door without much visible effort.
A cold gust of wind rushed past them.
Dark clouds stretched across the horizon while the endless black water below reflected the fading light of the sky in the evening glow.
Andrew stepped onto the roof beside him and for a while, neither of them spoke.
Then Lucien finally broke the silence with a question. "Have the people already started talking about it?"
Andrew’s expression immediately turned serious after realizing what Lucien was talking about.
"The black water?"
Lucien nodded.
"It’s rising, and faster than before."
Andrew walked closer to the edge and glanced downward.
"When we first settled here, it wasn’t even close to the building. Now..." He exhaled slowly. "It’s already reached the seventh floor and no one knows when it’s going to stop, if it ever will."
Lucien remained silent because there was no answer to that, not one that they knew.
Several lower floors had already become completely uninhabitable, the Black Water having risen to the sixth floor. Furniture, supplies, and anything left behind had long since been swallowed by the black water.
At this rate, the situation would only continue getting worse and death would be a matter of time.
"We’ll have to deal with it eventually."
Andrew spoke, rubbing the back of his neck.
"I know. And what about communication? Any updates there?" Lucien’s voice carried a hint of frustration.
"We’ve still been trying but there’s no other awakaner that possesses the ability of flight." He replied with a shake of his head.
"Not even the king Aiden talked about, nor his whereabouts."
Lucien was about to respond when suddenly, a sharp alarm echoed through the distance.
Both of them froze.
Their heads turned instinctively and before long, they noticed something emerging from the clouds.
A helicopter.
For a brief second, neither of them moved.
Though the next instant, Andrew’s eyes widened before he shouted at the top of his lungs, "We’re here. Help us."
His sound manipulation raised his voice so much that it left Lucien’s ears ringing.
A frown formed on his face but at the same time, his body stiffened which was then followed by a cold sensation as countless possibilities flashed through his mind.
The people he had killed.
Was he going to become a prisoner? Or be killed directly?
Golden sparks briefly crawled around his fingertips before starting to condense into a lance.
Before it could fully form, a sudden screech tore through the sky.
