This is a story about a boy that happened a long time ago.
That year, when the boy was fourteen years old, he wore black mourning clothes and dug a hole in the back mountain of his hometown. He placed the remains of his parents inside, letting their graves accompany his sister's small grave. The young man prayed to God, and he prayed that God would reunite the three of them underground.
The boy was saddened by the passing of his parents, but he was also glad that they, with their disabled legs, could finally leave this malicious world. However, the boy was now alone, and there was nothing warm in the world to miss.
This is the second year after the all-out war between superpowers and the World Government. After the radical superpowers launched suicidal raids on major cities, many prosperous cities in the world of Hyboria were destroyed. The World Government 37 Twenty-two capitals of the participating countries were destroyed, and more than 250 million people died in the "Three Dark Days" at the beginning of the war, while several times that number died in the subsequent chaos and small-scale attacks. -The two years of all-out war that followed caused the total population of the entire Sibiya world to drop by one-third.
Radical superpowers believe that they are new humans who represent the future, while mortals without superpowers are old species that should be eliminated. However, these old species dare to plan to deprive them of their superpowers. This is undoubtedly unstoppable. Great hatred - these crazy superpowers use their powers wantonly without any psychological burden, destroying everything they can see. They don't let anyone go, including the old and weak, women and children, and even specifically target the old, weak, women and children.
In fact, once superpowers with small targets but great power lower their moral bottom line and begin to carry out indiscriminate attacks, there is almost nothing in the world that can stop them. On a frontal battlefield, ordinary human armies may still be able to fight. However, no matter how the security war in the city is fought, the World Government suffers the most serious damage. Because it is difficult to prevent devastating attacks, the super cities with a population of more than 10 million in the past basically no longer exist. The World Government divides their large cities one by one. , and then build a fortress to watch each other, but even so, it is impossible to defend against them.
If it weren't for the fact that some superpowers affiliated with the World Government could control and prevent radical attacks, the world order would have collapsed long ago. It would not be like it is now. The World Government still controls most of the world and often sends out mechanized armies to eliminate them. There are superpower societies all over the world, and the reason why these superpowers are willing to stand in the same camp as the vast majority of ordinary people who are hostile or even hate superpowers is because everything they cherish has been threatened by those radicals. destroyed by the attack.
The world calls these superpowers who hunt superpowers for revenge "hunters," and the boy is one of them.
Although he is one of the youngest hunters, the boy has already experienced many battles. In the beginning, he would still be confused because of killing people, and even fear the blood in his hands, but after thinking that it was those radical superpowers who destroyed his home and killed his family, the young man never showed mercy again, and he became Cold-blooded and cruel, he will never forgive anyone.
The boy and several hunters formed a team and acted together. They hunted down the lurking superpowers in the city, and fought with the members of the radical super society in the wilderness. With his own abilities, the boy traveled between life and death again and again. Go and defeat powerful enemies one after another. It is precisely because of this that he also clearly understands the nature of his ability while displaying his ability again and again.
That's 'stagnation'.
It is not the 'self-acceleration' that the young man imagined before. On the contrary, the essence of his ability is to freeze everything within a huge range centered on himself. In this stagnant space, only he can move. In most cases, the boy is almost invincible for the duration of his ability, because no matter how fast he attacks, he will definitely be slowed down. To the point where you can dodge.
It sounds incredible, but for the Siberian people, this is not something worth marveling at... because superpowers do not need to follow any rules. This is the conclusion reached by the Siberian World Government after many years of research.
The superpowers of superpowers are all kinds of weird, some are quite ordinary and can be explained by science, while some are completely contrary to common sense and even ignore various laws, even the awakening of superpowers - so far, no matter the radicals Neither superpowers nor the world government have found any pattern of awakening. A person who awakens superpowers may have been a beggar on the street a day ago, and the descendants of the two superpowers may not be able to awaken superpowers for life.
There is no doubt that there must be some kind of inherent law in this, but because the Sibiya Central Research Institute, which has the deepest research on this aspect, was destroyed by the most powerful superpowers at the very beginning of the war, this law remains to this day. So far no one has found it.
Because of the young man's subconscious vigilance and deliberate concealment, almost everyone thought that his superpower was teleportation. In terms of external performance, there seemed to be no difference. In actual combat, stasis may not be able to cause large-scale damage, but it is too convenient for targeting fragile superpowers. In the past two years of hunting, the boy has killed more than 80 radicals with his own abilities. The number of supers sent is almost as many as the entire other teams. Among these supers, there are many who are powerful enough to defeat the army alone. However, in the unprepared stagnant space, their ending is that their heads fall to the ground and they become A young man’s exploits.
In this way, another two years passed in the conflict. The world's population continued to decrease, but the war situation gradually stabilized.
If the war continues like this, then the radical superpowers will inevitably face defeat - although they have several of the strongest superpowers with destructive power comparable to fusion bombs, not to mention the world government, there are also hunters who can match it. , without the support of population, they are rootless duckweeds after all. Years of all-out war have not only reduced the world's population by one-third, but also sharply reduced the number of radical superpowers. To this day, except for the largest Except for more than a dozen superpower clubs, most of the superpower groups have been wiped out.
On the other hand, with the large number of awakened people brought by the huge population base, the World Government has a steady stream of superpowers. One is declining and the other is ebbing. It seems that the war will not last long... In various fortresses, TV stations have begun a full-scale counterattack. ’s countdown, exciting speeches are played on every broadcast, the chaotic super era is coming to an end, everyone believes that the dark days are about to pass, and a new order is about to be established.
The young man was also one of them. He was seventeen years old at this time. He had several comrades who had a tacit understanding and could rely on each other. Because of friendship and bond, his cold heart regained its warmth. As a young man, he couldn't help but Start looking to the future—what kind of life should I live after the war? Do you want to find a cute girl to get married? If you want to get married, who should you invite to the wedding? How many children will you have after marriage? What should the child do in the future
This is what the Hyborians are like, they like order, a life that is predictable and controllable. The young man is no exception. He has even begun to make preparations for raising children. He has purchased several pre-war baby-raising books at the flea market. He has even begun to plan the decoration of his new home, waiting for the future hostess to arrive... Even if the comrades are kind. Laughter couldn't stop him from thinking about all this, and that might be the taste of happiness.
If only everything was as beautiful as imagined.
On a cold and humid autumn afternoon, the light rain that seemed to penetrate into the bone marrow fell pattering down. Under this gloomy sky, the last few large super power societies were eradicated by the Siberian World Government troops and the Hunters. This world There is no longer any large-scale radical group of superpowers in the world, only illegal superpowers scattered around the world.
A young man who has been fighting hard for many years—no, now I should say he is a man. The adult man took a breath of exhaustion on the final battlefield full of gunpowder smoke. He used his abilities again and again to help his team avoid danger and protect his comrades who had fought together for many years. He displayed more than twenty times in one day. In the stagnant space, the man feels that his abilities have been completely overloaded, but he does not feel hard at all, because this is the last battle. After this battle, the world will return to order, the dark night of war will soon pass, and peace will The dawn of the world is close at hand.
At this time, the man was already one of the top leaders of the Hunters. He controlled several of the strongest Hunter squads. This time, in order to deal with the only remaining and strongest group of crazy superpowers, the Hunters Almost everyone came out, but even so, this battle was extremely difficult.
None of the superpowers who have survived the war until now are weak. Each one has the power to fight an entire army alone. They can call wind, rain, thunder, and create tornadoes and earthquakes. Some can absorb all physical impacts, and some can There are many mind controllers who can control the energy of entities and even people's hearts. If it weren't for the full support of the World Government, the Hunters alone would never be able to defeat the opponent. Both sides suffered extremely heavy casualties. They died together, and several government regiments completely lost their numbers.
But in the end, the hunter won. Among the most powerful ones among the radicals, one of the superpowers with fusion bomb-level destructive power was killed by a man in a sneak attack, while the others are now being killed by Siberian aircraft and other hunters outside the atmosphere. Surrounded by strong men, the man looked up at the cloudy sky. He looked at the flickering light behind the clouds and couldn't help but laugh.
The war was about to come to an end, and he even began to think about how to hold a peace banquet tomorrow. The faces of the men and comrades were filled with happiness, which was the smile that only those who have tomorrow and hope can show.
But the next moment, the happy smile solidified.
Because the original allies, the military forces affiliated with the Hyboria World Government, suddenly turned against the Hunters.
Merciless bullets were shot from the unsuspecting back. In an instant, one-third of the remaining hunters died on the spot. The remaining hunters were shocked and angry. They looked at the indifferent Siberian World Government troops. Cursing loudly the other party's incomprehensible behavior, these battle-experienced superpowers immediately began to prepare for a counterattack, but before they could start to release their superpowers, a steel facility like a signal tower was erected from the army's array, invisible The field spread, and almost all hunters lost their superpowers.
Many years later, when all the superpowers had almost forgotten this incident, anti-superpower interference fields were successfully developed amid countless specious rumors over the years, and their first target turned out to be their former comrades.
"The world doesn't need superpowers."
The man could hear the ruthless voice, and he could see his comrades beside him falling one after another. Bullets penetrated their brains, and bomb shrapnel tore apart their bones and internal organs. The man looked around blankly, and everything came to a standstill. Before the anti-super interference field could reach him, it was blocked by the stagnant space. This allowed him to survive the unprepared attack, but it also allowed him to witness his comrades 'gradually' dying in front of his eyes.
At this moment, the man felt that he had once again returned to the day when he was twelve years old. He once again witnessed the things he cherished being destroyed, and he could only sit back and watch everything happen - the difference was that the last time it was superpowers who took action The former brought the bitterness called 'powerlessness', but this time, ordinary people brought the consequences called 'betrayal'.
Was this betrayal sudden? In fact, no, before the incident, the man had actually noticed various omens - the budget cuts of the hunter, the overt and covert publicity and the public opinion put all the blame on the 'superpowers', not simply Radicals... When everyone is immersed in the anesthetic called victory, the world government has already prepared its butcher's knife. As a senior leader of the Hunters, he was certainly aware of this. He had already anticipated that the Hunters would be disbanded after the war, but at that time, he did not expect that the World Government would act so decisively and mercilessly. .
The man left the battlefield in a state of confusion. No one noticed his departure. After completing the mission, the World Government troops disposed of all the corpses of the superpowers and hurriedly returned to their respective stations. They still had many tasks to do, annihilation The remnants of the Hunters are just one of them. They have to rush back to the fortress to capture all the superpowers living in the city.
The man who couldn't understand all this was extremely exhausted. As he flew all the way and lurked back to the fortress where he lived in the past, a riot was taking place in the fortress - countless ordinary people were frantically attacking the homes of those with superpowers living in the city. Then drag out these superpowers with little fighting ability and kill them... The powerful superpowers are either radicals or hunters. The few remaining ones basically serve in the world government. They have been wiped out long ago. , the rest are all weak superpowers that have basically no effect.
These weak superpowers were unable to resist. They didn't even know why their formerly kind neighbors suddenly attacked them. Some superpowers even called on everyone to stop. There was definitely some misunderstanding in this - without exception, their heads were full of Being cut off, as the embellishment of this carnival riot, this scene occurs everywhere in the world, whether it is at the top of the government or in the slums, without exception.
As for why... it's very simple, because superpowers can receive far better subsidies than ordinary people, because superpowers don't regard themselves as the same as ordinary people, because superpowers always have a proud look on their faces, and they seem to be different. .
The most important thing is because superpowers have superpowers and they don't.
The man who sneaked back to the street where he lived could see that the cozy hut that had just been renovated a few days ago was already burning with scorching flames. On the nearby street, mutilated, headless corpses had been destroyed by the high temperature. Smoked and shriveled.
Whose body is that
who knows.
Looking at the raging fire that was almost the same as the day his sister died and his parents lost their legs eight years ago, the man fell silent and then smiled. He didn't know why he was smiling, but he was smiling happily.
On this day, 90% of the superpowers in the world died. Both the radicals and the hunters were completely wiped out. Superpowers were almost extinct from the world of Siberia for a time. The lucky ones who survived were in panic all day long. They cannot see the future, cannot see hope, and even begin to doubt the meaning of their existence, while patrols hunting for the remaining superpowers are searching every corner of the world.
But the world left behind did not become better as the world government expected. In fact, it became worse.
Because with the death of a large number of superpowers, various 'mutations' have occurred in the world.
- Rumor has it that superpowers can devour each other's superpower essence to improve themselves.
But except for the most powerful superpowers, no one knows what the superpower essence is. Even those superpowers say that the entire world is filled with countless superpower essences, and others cannot see it, let alone Don't talk about swallowing.
But there is no doubt that this essence exists, and it is closely related to the awakening and birth of superpowers... The death of countless superpowers seems to have set off a frenzy throughout the entire world of Siberia, and an invisible frenzy surged past. , those ordinary people who were crazy in the past were horrified to find that they seemed to have superpowers, and they seemed to have become a member of the prey, and the speed at which superpowers were born was ten times faster than in the past.
This was something the world government never expected.
The birth of superpowers is originally unpredictable, but the birth speed of superpowers is not fast at first, so there is a possibility of completely eradicating them and using anti-superpower interference fields to suppress their birth. The world government believes that the entire world will counterattack. Can return to its original appearance under the influence of stance. But the position cannot be opened 24 hours a day. As a powerful superpower and hero who can rival the radicals, the Hunters will definitely become a new privileged class after the war, allowing superpowers and ordinary people to get along equally? Even the superpowers themselves don’t believe it.
Therefore, the world government, which stands on the side of ordinary people, will never sit back and watch the power of superpowers grow. The new order must be sacrificed with the blood of superpowers.
But now, when the contradiction between ordinary people and superpowers has intensified, leaving no room for relaxation and coexistence, the world government has found with horror that their rule has begun to fall apart... Because of the greatly accelerated spread of superpowers, no one knows what is happening next. Will he become a superpower in a moment? Will he become a prey? The plan to eliminate superpowers that originally cheered everyone has become the source of self-destruction for the world government, because the superpowers who awakened naturally in the first place are still biased towards order. , but now, they are forced to become outright anti-social elements.
Just think about it, if you suddenly have superpowers and have the power to control the lives of ordinary people at will, the law cannot restrain you, but ordinary people without superpowers are hostile or even hate you, and they want to take it away all the time. Your superpower wants to kill you and other superpowers - what will you do
There may be some people who will let others slaughter them, but there will always be people who want to resist, even if they were part of the group that wanted to drive away all the superpowers before - the shift of humankind's position is as fast as light.
So... order, collapsed.
Anyone can kill anyone, and they can't stop anyone. When the number of superpowers increases at an incredible rate, the world falls into a cycle of faster and faster collapse... There are more and more types of superpowers. They are becoming more and more powerful and strange. In order to protect themselves and not to be preempted by others, everyone fights each other like crazy, destroying everything they can see. The world collapses into chaos, the ecological cycle completely collapses, and the earth Turned into scorched earth, the sky was dark, and in this real apocalypse, humans were still killing each other.
The man witnessed all this, he witnessed the collapse of civilization and turned into chaos. He finally understood that what can destroy order and happiness is never a superpower, but the human heart.
Since this is the case... Since the human heart is like this, the world is like this. That being the case, that's the order.
Then that's all.
The enlightened man finally made up his mind on this. Since the world is so weird, let him completely transform this crazy world. Since people's hearts are so dark and selfish, let him be the most selfish one. Since the order is so fragile, let him be the one. Create the most perfect and solid order.
Even if it takes ten, twenty, thirty or even a lifetime, he will definitely do it.
So, time flew by, and the moment when the metal throne took shape in the center of the world—
The iron-cold and solid order is born in the hands of the strong.
The ripples of steel power spread, and information began to interact.
Joshua, who was supposed to turn back time, watched all this. He stared at this dreamlike past. The warrior was silent. He watched the man create a new order by himself. He watched the man create metal. Taking the human form as his slave, he watched this man coldly treat all things equally and forge souls into tools.
Joshua stared at the destruction and rebirth of the old Hyborian world.
He turned his head and looked at the man behind him, watching all this with him.
"The three hundred and twentieth observation failed...this is the ending again."
The man murmured like this. He tilted his head slightly and looked at Joshua. His eyes were indifferent, but not condescending. The man just stared without any emotion, and then whispered: "The Adventer."
"Leave my world."
Don't say it's impossible. This kind of thing has happened in reality. Indonesia and Nepal in 1998 are an example.
Originally this chapter was very dark, but after a friend advised me to change it a lot... it became a bit half-baked.
(End of chapter)