They found me!
Shiao Yi tried to run, but his exhausted body wouldn't move.
Thud.
He was slammed down onto the floor. His vision was drenched in blood-red and at the same time he caught the sight of a warped metal wall collapsing toward him.
Even the air around him was compressed as if the pressure itself were closing in.
The space bent and twisted in on itself.
Summoning every last ounce of strength, Shiao Yi pushed off the ground and leapt.
Thud.
His back hit the ground hard and the blood burst from his mouth. Just as he was about to lose consciousness, he felt it—an overwhelming killing intent.
At the same moment, he heard the sound of flesh being torn, the stench of burning, the screams, the roars.
Was this a battlefield? Hadn't the war ended already?
—Is this where I die?
Feeling the soil beneath him, Shiao Yi's mind slipped into darkness.
It was hot.
The heat brought his awareness back.
Someone's hand rested on his left shoulder. From there, a warmth feeling poured in and spreading through his entire body.
His shattered bones and ruptured organs burned with pain. It felt like fire raging inside him.
He had taken a direct hit from a gravity wave. Even though he managed to throw up a shield at the last second, it was a miracle he survived at all.
"Ugh…"
Shiao Yi groaned from the heat and the pain. His entire body ached deeply.
He heard a voice… faint, distant.
But once again, he slipped into unconsciousness. Just before everything went dark, he felt something gently brush against his lips. It was warm and soft… comforting. But maybe it was just a dream.
He was lying down. On some kind of cloth. A soft blanket covered him.
That's when he woke up.
He tried to sit up suddenly—but the pain overwhelmed him.
It felt like his body was falling apart.
He remembered. His bones had been shattered. His organs were damaged too.
The pain was still there, but the bones seemed to have been healed. His upper body was bare and it wrapped in bandages to hold him together. The bleeding inside his body had stopped.
Had someone treated him? But why? Why would anyone bother to heal him?
He looked around.
The room was small. Stone walls. Stone floor. Dim lighting. Nothing else.
A prison?
Had he been captured?
If they weren't going to kill him, then what did they want? Were they planning to use him again… as a weapon?
He opened his eyes wider as he sensed the door opening. The footsteps echoed closer.
And what he saw left him stunned.
The man who entered looked like he had stepped out of another time. His clothes were completely out of place—as if he belonged in medieval European or a fantasy story.
He wore a dark blue, high-collared outfit made of thick, sturdy fabric with no synthetic materials in sight. Over it, reinforced leather armor with metal plating. A glossy fabric draped across his shoulder—was that silk?