The 666th year of The Apocalypse.
Zombies hadn't besieged the city yet, but the four major bases clashed over resources again, battling with Earth, Water, Fire, Wind, Space, Wood Series Abilities, as intense as a planet colliding with Earth.
Bai Ren and his arch-enemy fell during the chaotic fight.
Ironically, after surviving 666 years of The Apocalypse without being devoured by zombies, humanity perished by their own hands through mutual slaughter.
Bai Ren closed his eyes unwillingly.
After an indeterminate time, a piercing cry reached his ears, "Don't eat my brother! Please, let him go!"
In that desperate and frantic scream, Bai Ren suddenly opened his eyes.
He saw flames before him.
He tried to move but realized his hands were restrained and he couldn't stir.
Not far away, there was a grill with a roaring fire beneath it, and the black pot on the grill was steaming, looking like the water would soon boil.
Around the grill, a group of people, dressed in rags almost like zombies, gathered in front of the pot, one of them holding a small child.
The child looked about four or five years old, struggling and crying incessantly, "Elder sister, save me, elder sister, save me."
On the other side, a girl about seven or eight was also being dragged away, prevented from coming forward.
It was the girl's cries that woke Bai Ren; she still hadn't stopped shouting, "Elder sister, I beg you, save our half-brother! Elder sister, please save him!"
"Shut up!" the person restraining the girl snapped and slapped her.
The great force of it swollen the girl's face instantly, and she could no longer speak, stars in her eyes.
At that moment, the iron pot on the grill finally made a "gurgle gurgle" sound of boiling water.
"The water's boiling, quick, throw the two-legged sheep in," one guy swallowed hard as he urged.
His urging tightened the throats of the men beside him.
Behind them, a dozen women stared intently at the boy, their eyes treating him like a fat lamb rather than a child.
Bai Ren frowned; she well knew what was happening. Cannibalism was explicitly forbidden by the base, yet, here in the outskirts, people still engaged in this horrific act!
She clenched her teeth secretly and tried to activate her Special Ability, but there was no response.
With a startled look, Bai Ren raised her head and tried to activate her Special Ability again, but still, there was silence all around.
Where had her Special Ability gone?
Her Twelfth-rank top-tier Wood-series Ability was her reliance, yet now it had disappeared?
Bai Ren was still startled by the disappearance of her Special Ability when boiling water splashed from the pot.
Seeing the person holding the child about to throw him into the scalding pot, terror rapidly freezing in the child's eyes, Bai Ren could care for nothing else.
She forcefully jerked her wrist down; the person restraining her hadn't used much force, and anticipating the imminent meat soup, he had become careless, unexpectedly setting her free.
The Strong Guy didn't have time to chase as Bai Ren blended three steps into two, leaping up before the child could be thrown into the pot, pulling him into her arms; his belt soaked into the hot pot, hitting Bai Ren's hand and instantly turning red.
Bai Ren involuntarily frowned, knowing the child would have been cooked thoroughly had he fallen in.
The man who tried to throw the child didn't expect the girl to charge over suddenly and immediately reached out to grab her.
Bai Ren, quick of both eye and hand, kicked the boiling water towards the man.
The man, not expecting the girl to strike so fiercely, barely dodged using skills honed from years of escaping, but still got splashed, the scalding water making him blister instantly.
Fuelled by rage, the man pulled the Scythe from behind his waist and raised it high.