The Weight of Survival

MC's POV

Iron Haven wasn't built to protect people—it was built to cage them. The deeper we walked, the clearer that became.

The city was a corpse masquerading as a kingdom. Blood stained the cracked pavement, pooling in the slums where the weak were discarded like garbage. Children with hollow eyes clung to scraps of moldy bread, their ribs visible through torn rags. Smoke from burning bodies lingered in the air, mixing with the stench of piss and sweat. Every alley had its own brand of horror—gangs carving flesh for sport, traders bartering in human lives, guards who watched without interference. This wasn't survival. It was damnation.

I kept my grip tight around my blade, my mind sharpening the cold edge of control I had learned to wield since the world fell apart.

Zhao Yue walked beside me, her shoulders stiff, fingers twitching at her side. She had killed before, but the things in this place? They weren't human anymore. Not really. I felt her unease like a second heartbeat.

Chen Rui scanned the rooftops, his sharp eyes tracking shadows that slithered in and out of sight. "Someone's been following us since we got in," he muttered. "I count three."

Yusheng exhaled, rolling his shoulders like a predator waiting for an excuse to bite. "You want me to handle it?"

"Not yet," I murmured. "They might just be watching."

"Or waiting," Lin Hua added, her voice carrying a quiet certainty. "Predators don't waste energy without reason."

She was right. And if Iron Haven was filled with anything, it was predators.

The System Evolves

The Divine Crystal pulsed against my chest, a dull, rhythmic beat that only I could feel.

[ System Notification ]

Farm of the Forsaken has leveled up to Level 2.

New Function Unlocked: Soul Harvest – Certain kills now grant remnants of the fallen, absorbing fragments of their abilities or essence.

New Perk: Tyrant's Growth – The more enemies fall to your blade, the stronger your body adapts to carnage.

My hands curled into fists, feeling a surge of something unfamiliar—a pull deep in my bones, something waking inside me. The system wasn't just rewarding me for killing. It was changing me.

I swallowed the feeling, my eyes scanning the filth around me. If there was ever a place to put these new skills to use, it was here.

The Black Market's Rot

We moved deeper into the heart of Iron Haven. The market was where the worst of humanity thrived—stalls lined with bloodstained weapons, cages filled with people too weak to defend themselves. Merchants hawked mutant meat and scrap-metal armor, their voices like vultures picking apart the dying. The air buzzed with cruelty.

Zhao Yue stopped in front of a weapons stall, her gaze locking onto a set of iron-tipped gloves, designed for quick, brutal strikes. She picked them up, testing the weight.

"You should take them," I said.

She glanced at me, her expression unreadable. "They feel right."

She hadn't used her newfound power since we left the last city. She was afraid of it, afraid of what it made her feel. But she couldn't run from it forever.

"Then use them," I told her. "You're not the same person you were before. Stop pretending you are."

Her fingers tightened around the gloves, then—slowly—she nodded.

A Test of Power

We weren't looking for a fight, but in Iron Haven, fights found you.

As we passed through an abandoned lot, a group of six men stepped out of the shadows, their faces hidden behind scavenged helmets and masks. Their leader, a broad-shouldered man with jagged scars across his throat, grinned at us like we were already dead.

"You new here," he said, voice rasping like sandpaper. "That means you don't have protection."

Yusheng cracked his knuckles. "We don't need it."

The scarred man's grin widened. "Wrong answer." He snapped his fingers. Two men lunged forward.

They were fast. I was faster.

The first swung a rusted machete at my head. I sidestepped, grabbing his wrist and twisting until bone snapped like dried wood. His scream barely had time to leave his throat before my blade opened it.

[ Soul Harvest Activated ]

A red mist seeped from his corpse, sinking into my skin. Strength increased slightly.

The second man barely had time to react before Zhao Yue was on him. Her fingers sparked—and in a flash, she fired. A precise bolt of energy shot from her fingertip, punching a hole clean through his skull. His body hit the ground before his brain even registered he was dead.

Silence.

The others hesitated now. The smell of death lingered in the air, thick and unmoving.

The scarred leader's face twisted, no longer grinning. "You should've paid for protection," he snarled, raising his axe.

I stepped forward, meeting his gaze. "We just did."

He swung—

I ducked under the heavy arc, stepping in close. My blade slid into his gut, twisting. Blood gushed down his armor, his breath hitching in disbelief. I leaned in close enough for him to see his own reflection in my eyes.

"Too slow."

I ripped the blade upward, spilling his insides onto the ground.

The others ran.

The Cost of Mercy

Zhao stood over the corpse of the man she had killed. Her fists were clenched, her breathing controlled but not calm. She was staring at her hands like she expected them to be something else—something monstrous.

I placed a hand on her shoulder. "Good shot."

She swallowed. "It felt… easy."

"Survival is easy. Living with it isn't."

She didn't answer. But she didn't throw the gloves away, either.

Lin Hua sighed. "We just made enemies."

"We were always going to," I said. "Now they know we don't break easy."

Chen Rui smirked. "And I was starting to think this place would be boring."

Mei, quiet all this time, finally spoke. "How much more do we have to kill before we can leave?"

I looked around, at the broken streets, the festering wounds of a world that had already rotted to its core.

"As many as it takes."

The Divine Crystal pulsed in my chest again. We weren't done here.

Not yet.