When Titans Fall
"Survival depends on us now," Future-Ethan said, his calm cutting through the pouring rain. "Going back is suicide. We walk into its mouth."
Wang Zi Chen gripped the wheel tightly. His knuckles turned white. He had Revival Tokens. Ethan did not. For Future-Ethan, dying meant oblivion.
"Then… we turn around—" Wang started, twisting the wheel.
CR-R-RACKLE!
Lightning exploded above them. The blinding flash froze everything in its wake.
A COLOSSUS.
A hundred-meter-tall orb of nightmarish flesh. Countless serpentine tentacles lashed at the stormy sky, twisting in frantic agony.
GLOOORRGGLE…
A wet, gargling roar shook the car.
KRA-KA-THOOM!
Another lightning strike followed. There were no more shadows or doubts.
A MOUNTAIN OF SUCKERED FLESH.
A gigantic octopus, as if scaled up from a hellish seafood market, crawled onto land. Rain poured off its impossible bulk. It was not swimming; it was crawling toward them.
GLOOORRRGGLE!
A monstrous suction ripped through the air. The sports car screamed as its tires skidded uselessly on the flooded road, sliding backward toward the gaping maw.
"Terminus Shard! GO!" Future-Ethan yanked the red cord from his neck. The obsidian shard flew from his hand—not thrown, but driven by desperate will. It streaked through the storm, a vengeful comet.
Thwip.
It vanished into the mass of flesh and muscle. A needle against a skyscraper.
Did it work?
They stared, breath caught in their throats.
GLOOORRR—ACK!
The leviathan's roar choked. Its tentacles thrashed in violent, spastic pain. Its enormous head jerked backward, a silent scream echoing in the sudden stillness.
THUUUUUD!
The mountain collapsed. The ground shook like it was an earthquake. A final, wet gurgle escaped it.
Then…
SHLOOOOOP!
An explosion. A tidal wave of thick, black ink burst from its ruptured flesh, mixing with the torrential rain. A toxic downpour began.
Inside the car, Wang Zi Chen stared at Ethan, his eyes wide with disbelief. "Ethan… you… You just used the Terminus Shard?!" His voice cracked. An S-tier artifact, worth more than a dozen Revival Tokens… gone.
"Calculated risk," Future-Ethan said flatly. There was no choice. Die now, or die forever. Artifacts meant nothing without breath.
Relief lasted three seconds.
A foul odor hit them. Thick. Rotten. Metallic. Like rancid seafood stewed in sewage.
"Did you—" Future-Ethan began, his nose wrinkling.
"Not me!" Wang gasped, covering his mouth with a hand. His face turned ashen. "The… the ink…!" He couldn't finish. He doubled over and vomited violently, spewing bile and half-digested food onto the leather seats.
The stench grew stronger. Future-Ethan fought the urge to vomit, holding his breath… until he saw the sickly green hue of Wang's vomit. His stomach churned. He joined Wang, heaving helplessly.
Wang Zi Chen lifted his head, his lips smeared with something dark. Not just vomit. Thick, tar-like black. Fear filled his eyes. "Ethan… I'm… I'm throwing up BLACK BLOOD! The ink… it's… poison…!" His voice was a raspy whisper.
Future-Ethan looked down. His vomit swirled with the same horrific black sludge.
Oh, hell.
His vision blurred. His lungs burned.
"Ethan…" Wang choked, slumping back into the seat, a look of betrayal on his pale face. "Was… was this… part of the plan too…?" His head rolled to the side. Still.
Future-Ethan wrestled against the creeping darkness for three more agonizing seconds. His hand twitched, reaching for nothing. Then, everything went dark.
Future-Ethan. Deceased.
--- DEATH REPLAY TERMINATED ---
Ethan gasped, awareness returning. The calm lake surface mocked him.
Goddamn kamikaze octopus!
He died because of a dead monster's toxic fart? Unbelievable.
He mentally cursed the unfairness, then focused on the four glowing icons in his store.
Before the replay? B-grade Combat Mastery. Easy choice.
Now? Everything had changed.
The new Apocalypse drowned cities in mutated sea monsters. Once dinner. Now, extinction-level threats.
Where did they come from? The deep, vast ocean.
Facing skyscraper-sized crustaceans? B-grade fists were useless.
Why waste points on strength when you need… brains?
He made his choice.
[68 Points Deducted]
[Item Acquired: Qiankun Pouch]
[Skill Acquired: Rubik's Savant]
A small, simple cloth pouch appeared in his hand. At the same time, knowledge flooded his mind—algorithms, spatial patterns, color sequences. Not just how to solve a cube, but how to see the world in layers, angles, and perfect spatial relationships. His thoughts sharpened and became clear. Memory locked into hyper-focus.
This was the real prize of Rubik's Savant: Enhanced Cognition. Spatial reasoning. Critical thinking. Fast processing. Essential tools when monsters scramble signals and warp perception. The actual cube-solving? Just a bonus.
Testing the pouch, he opened it. Instantly, a 10-cubic-meter void appeared in his mind's eye. A thought sent his phone vanishing into the pouch. Another thought brought it back. Spatial storage. Incredible.
He was about to experiment further when his phone buzzed sharply. An unknown number.
Official? The ones who can save Mom?
He answered right away. "Hello?"
"Ethan?" A voice as smooth as velvet but full of authority filled the line. "Lin Yiwan. Head of Statistical Analysis, China Apocalypse Management Bureau. I'll oversee your intake. Are you available?"
"I am. But I have a flight at noon. We can meet now. Where?" Ethan replied, already moving. Lin Yiwan… why did that name ring a bell?
"My system shows you're at Ganshui University. Ocean Cafe, opposite the East Gate? I'll be waiting." Her tone was polite and efficient.
"Ten minutes," Ethan confirmed, tucking the Qiankun Pouch into his jacket. He broke into a jog toward the East Gate, the name Lin Yiwan echoing strangely in his newly sharpened mind.