Deity remnants

In the early morning, Alex was awoken by the buzzing of his alarm clock.

It was Saturday.

He drew open the curtains, revealing a darkness still cloaking the world outside, yet it was indeed seven o'clock in the morning.

After a quick breakfast, Alex prepared to set out.

He glanced at the calendar:

[Blue Star Calendar, January 2nd, 2010]

[Western Calendar, Saturday.]

Due to the absence of the sun, temperatures outside the Safe Zone continued to plummet, making it incredibly cold.

Unable to afford expensive thermal suits, Alex layered himself in thick clothing, wrapping himself up like a bear and slinging his backpack stuffed with food over his shoulders before heading out.

There were numerous exits from the Safe Zone, with the nearest just a ten-minute walk from Alex's home.

However, this particular exit was small, with few wandering deities outside, so it was rare for a Gods-Eater team to embark from here.

Fewer teams meant fewer opportunities for him.

Alex decided to head to the largest Safe Zone exit near his residence—Exit Number One.

Within the Safe Zone, only the larger exits were numbered, facilitating communication among Sequence Ability Holders and the coordination of deity-hunting missions.

The smaller the exit number, the more deities wandered outside, and the more powerful they were.

Danger and opportunity coexisted; more deities meant more chances to slay them.

Hence, more Gods-Eater teams tended to gather at those exits.

Exit Number One, seemingly towards the end of the sequence, was clearly not prioritized in Alex's Safe Zone, with a number in the tens of thousands.

But Alex believed that every little bit counted. Surely, some Gods-Eater teams would still gather here.

This knowledge hadn't been taught in schools or textbooks. Alex had learned it yesterday during his half-hour internet session from a popular science post on the Camp of God-Slayers forum.

Thinking about how much more useful that half-hour online was compared to years of school, he couldn't help but complain internally, "School is really useless. It's not as helpful as surfing the net."

"Ah, but the internet is too expensive and doesn't even provide meals. School is free and includes two meals a day. If only the best of school and the internet could be combined," he sighed.

After pondering for a moment, Alex chuckled, "I should be grateful for the United Government's policies that keep me fed. How dare I complain about school?"

It would take Alex over two hours to reach Exit Number One, yet he was full of energy.

He was filled with anticipation for his future. That Safe Zone exit held the hope for him to escape his current fate.

The journey, though over two hours long, was somewhat monotonous.

Walking along the road, he saw dilapidated houses, most of which had collapsed. The road was littered with rubble and dust due to neglect.

Navigating through fallen buildings and stones, Alex often had to climb over them, leaving him breathless.

Despite the long journey, Alex encountered very few living souls. Occasionally, a passerby or two would be in a rush, not residents of the area.

Four years ago, several pieces of the air-defense glass here had inexplicably shattered. This glass served as a barrier to prevent deities from entering the Safe Zone. With the glass broken, the residents here lost their only protection.

Many deities seized the opportunity to invade and launch attacks on the Safe Zone.

To prevent the situation from escalating, the United Government swiftly dispatched a team of Sequence Ability Holders to eliminate and drive away the invading deities, then ordered engineering teams to repair the shattered air-defense glass as quickly as possible.

Fortunately, the United Government's response was timely, preventing any large deities from entering the Safe Zone; otherwise, the consequences would have been catastrophic.

However, the incident still caused significant losses. Many of the original residents either died during the attack or relocated.

The United Government repaired the Safe Zone's defensive fortifications but did not rebuild the streets and houses here.

Alex speculated that once a safety incident occurred, people would no longer trust the area's security.

Even if the infrastructure were rebuilt, no one would be willing to move here.

So, the United Government decided not to waste its efforts.

The lack of people put Alex at ease. At least, he didn't have to worry about someone stealing his food from his backpack.

Most individuals who graduated from Haven Academy struggled to find decent employment, contributing to the poor security in the area.

For Alex, the absence of people was much more reassuring than their presence.

Finally, Alex spotted a blue sign twice his height, painted with white letters that read "Safe Zone Exit Number One."

"I'm finally here," he exclaimed.

As he approached the exit, he intended to check out the situation but found it packed with people for some unknown reason.

To see what was happening inside, he had to climb up a small hill and observe carefully.

His first glimpse was of the exit's protective gate.

This was his first visit to a numbered Safe Zone exit and his first sight of its gate.

The gate was seven to eight meters wide and three to four meters high, seemingly made of a special alloy, giving it a very heavy appearance.

The protective glass on the gate had numerous layers, making it impossible for him to see through to the outside of the protected area.

In front of the gate stood over a dozen individuals wearing transparent helmets and orange-and-white striped thermal suits.

A thermal suit, valued at over two silver coins, was an astronomical amount in Alex's world, affordable only by Sequence Ability Holders.

After the establishment of the United Government, currency was no longer issued by individual countries but by the United Government in the form of copper, silver, and gold coins.

Although called copper, silver, and gold coins, they were not made of pure precious metals due to the large-scale use in Safe Zones worldwide. Instead, they were various alloys.

Copper coins were the least valuable because they were not only cheaply made but also mixed with many impure metals.

Generally, ten thousand copper coins were equivalent in value to one silver coin. And one thousand silver coins were equivalent to one gold coin.

However, because of the low production cost of copper coins and the varying proportions of other metals doping by different minting institutions, it often took twelve thousand copper coins to exchange for one silver coin.

For Alex now, a silver coin seemed like a fortune akin to millions in his previous life, far beyond his reach.

It seemed these were the Sequence Ability Holders gathered at this exit.

Only a few wore thermal suits. Besides these dozen individuals, over a thousand regular people, like Alex, bundled up tightly, surrounded the area.

Alex wondered what these people were doing here.

Didn't only Sequence Ability Holders gather at the exits?

At this moment, two Sequence Ability Holders in thermal suits removed their helmets, seemingly completing a hunting mission and preparing to return.

Immediately, hundreds of ordinary people swarmed around them.

"Sirs, would you like to rest? We have excellent foot baths!"A hotel owner yelled loudly. 

"Sirs, I have delicious cuisine here!"

"I have a luxury apartment free for both sirs to stay in! All I need is for you to take a few pictures with me!"Another hotel owner responded without giving in.

"Sir, my daughter is still unmarried. As soon as she saw your valiant appearance, she decided she wants to marry no one but you!"

"Sir, do you need a wife? If you already have one, I'll be your mistress without a title!"

The crowd surged forward frantically. but instinctively maintained a distance of more than a meter from the two Sequence Ability Holders.

The two Sequence Ability Holders, seemingly accustomed to this scene, didn't linger long. In the end, they chose a fancy restaurant and a cozy hotel before leaving.

The owners of the two establishments picked by them had excited red glows on their faces.

Alex watched the crowd's reaction in astonishment.

He knew Sequence Ability Holders were highly sought after in this world but never imagined it would be to this extent.

Without a doubt, these were ordinary people from the outskirts of the Safe Zone. They pinned their hopes on attaching themselves to a Sequence Ability Holder to escape their miserable fate and lead a more comfortable life.

Like Alex, they also strived for social mobility. Unfortunately, none of them had the kind of luck Alex had, and they might never be able to escape the outskirts of the Safe Zone.

Thinking about this, Alex felt grateful to fate and once again strengthened his resolve.

"Heaven has bestowed upon me the Gods-Eater sequence. I must grow stronger!"

He tried to push through the crowd to get closer to the remaining dozen Sequence Ability Holders, but he was immediately shoved aside.

"Kid, get to the back of the line! Why are you pushing?"

Alex said, "I'm not here to find Sequence Ability Holders. I won't compete with you for their attention."

All he wanted was to see if there were any leftover deity remnants. He wasn't interested in the Sequence Ability Holders.

But no one believed his intentions.

Upon hearing Alex's words, everyone around him chuckled.

"Who are you kidding? Everyone who tries to push forward says the same thing."

There was nothing Alex could do but wait at the outermost layer.

The protective gate of the Safe Zone exit opened and closed repeatedly, with Sequence Ability Holders constantly entering and exiting. The crowd of ordinary people dwindled over time.

By nightfall, Alex finally secured a spot near the front.

Unlike others, whenever a Sequence Ability Holder returned from outside the Safe Zone, he focused not on them but on the whereabouts of the deity remnants they carried.

Unfortunately, these remnants were all taken away by the nearby United Government inspectors, and he didn't manage to pick up any.

Just as Alex thought his day was fruitless, another team returned.

One of the Sequence Ability Holders inspected his harvest and ended up throwing an ear infested with worms onto the ground beside him.

"Wrong pick. This thing is useless. It wasted a spot in my backpack," he complained.

Alex, eyes gleaming at the sight of the worm-infested ear, swallowed his saliva, preparing to sneak it away unnoticed.

However, a cleaner scooped up the ear into a dustpan and walked away.

Alex was almost driven mad! After waiting so long, he finally saw a piece of deity remnant, only for it to be taken away!

Abandoning his prime spot among the onlookers, Alex immediately followed the cleaner away from the Safe Zone exit, hoping to find an opportunity to reclaim the deity's ear.

The cleaner didn't realize that someone could be so interested in the trash in his dustpan. He walked to a street corner and dumped the ear into a filthy trash can before leaving. Alex watched from the shadows, ensuring the cleaner was gone.

"Perfect!" Alex knew his chance had come. Once the cleaner was out of sight, Alex approached, intending to retrieve the ear from the trash can.

But just as he was about to lean in, he saw what appeared to be a uniformed officer approaching. The officer glanced at the deity remnant in the trash can, took out a notebook, and made a note.

Alex frowned. "Deity remnants in the trash are being documented? Is this even trash?"

However, the officer from the administrative bureau didn't pay much attention and walked away after recording the information.

Once the officer was gone, Alex dashed over. He opened the lid of the trash can, and a pungent smell of blood hit him.

But when he saw the sight inside, he was stunned.

There were numerous deity remnants in it!

Alex's eyes widened, his heart pounding.

Then he glanced at the remains of the god in the trash can and licked his lips.

"Is this... a feast for gluttons?!!"