Chapter 7 SIX HOURS

Power roared through me like a river breaking its dam. I kept my palms slammed against the cracking ground, teeth clenched so hard I tasted blood. “Hold on!” I shouted over the screams of the crowd and the shrieking veins. “I’ve got you!”

The collapsing network fought back, trying to drag me under, but I pulled harder. Golden-blue energy exploded upward, flooding every inch of my body. My meridians burned white-hot. Strength like I’d never dreamed poured into me, muscles swelling, bones singing, vision sharpening until I could see every terrified face in the square clear as day.

The mother from earlier clutched her daughter tighter, staring at me with wide, desperate eyes. “It’s… it’s stabilizing! The shaking stopped!”

I laughed through the fire in my veins, wild and raw. “Damn right it stopped! You hear that, Scar? I actually did it!”

Scar stood ten paces back, axe ready, face twisted with fury and fear. “Chen, pull back now! You’re glowing like a damn beacon! Every hunter in the wastes will see this!”

But I couldn’t stop. The rush felt too good. Every fear, every hungry night, every time I’d been stepped on…it all burned away in the flood. “Just a little more,” I growled. “Almost got the whole network…”

The world tilted.

Then it went black.

~~~~

I woke up choking on the taste of copper and smoke.

My eyes snapped open. I was lying on cold stone, not in the safe zone square. A hidden cave. Dim spirit moss glowed on the walls. Chains of old mining lanterns hung from the ceiling. My whole body ached like I’d been run over by a spirit beast caravan.

Scar sat across from me, maybe five paces away. His massive frame filled the narrow space. Axe resting across his knees, blade pointed toward me. His face looked pale under the scars, eyes flat and exhausted.

“What… happened?” I rasped, pushing myself up on one elbow. My voice sounded wrecked.

Scar didn’t move. “You saved the zone. Vein Collapse stopped. People cheered your name for about ten minutes before the hunters started pouring in like ants on sugar.”

I looked down at my arms. Fresh scars, long, ugly claw marks and deep cuts, ran from my wrists to elbows. They weren’t there before. Blood had dried in dark lines across my skin. “These… I don’t remember these.”

Scar’s grip tightened on the axe. “Six hours, kid. You were out for six full hours.”

Six hours. My stomach dropped. I sat up fully, back against the cave wall. “Tell me.”

“You went wild after the extraction. Power rush hit you like lightning. Then the blackout took over. You weren’t you anymore.” Scar’s voice stayed low, but there was weight behind every word. “Hunters came. Looters too. Thought they’d carve the system out of you while you were down. Ten of them. Maybe more.”

I glanced toward the cave entrance. Bodies lay scattered outside in the pale morning light, twisted, broken, some with their chests opened like someone had been looking for something inside. Blood painted the rocks. “I did that?”

“You did worse.” Scar leaned forward slightly, eyes never leaving my face. “Laughed while you did it. Real laugh. Not the nervous street-rat shit you do. This one sounded… old. Satisfied. You drained two of them while they were still screaming. Pulled their cultivation veins right out in front of their friends. Said it felt cleaner than beast veins.”

My hands started shaking again. I pressed them flat against the stone floor. “I don’t remember any of it. None. Last thing was the power flooding in and you yelling at me to stop.”

Scar nodded slowly. “That’s how it starts. You saved the zone, sure. Hundreds of people get to see another sunrise because of what you did. But whatever was wearing your skin enjoyed the rest. Enjoyed it a lot.”

I swallowed hard, throat tight. The Emperor’s voice was quiet now, but I could feel it there, resting, content, like a dragon curled around a fresh kill. A new system window hovered at the edge of my vision.

[Dragon Emperor Resonance: 4.7%]

The jump hit me like a slap. From under two percent to almost five. In one night.

“Four point seven,” I whispered. “It jumped that much?”

Scar’s eyes flicked to the faint glow I knew only I could see. “You can see the numbers rising, huh? Good. Means you’re still fighting it a little. The last vessel stopped seeing them as warnings. Started seeing them as progress.”

I ran my fingers over the new scars on my arms. They burned under my touch. “I didn’t ask for this. I was just trying to keep those people alive. The mother, the kid… they were scared, Scar. I couldn’t just walk away.”

“And now ten more people are dead because of it,” he said quietly. No anger in his voice. Just tired fact. “You weren’t you out there. Moved different. Fought different. Knew things about their veins I’ve never seen a scavenger know. Whatever’s inside you is learning how to use your body better than you do.”

I laughed, but it came out broken. “Great. So I’m a hero and a monster in the same night. Story of my damn life.” I looked at him then, really looked. The way he held that axe. The way he hadn’t relaxed once since I woke up. “You thought about killing me while I was out, didn’t you?”

Scar didn’t deny it. “Had the axe raised twice. Put it down both times. You still come back, kid. Still you when you wake up. For now.”

The words hung between us. I flexed my scarred arms, feeling the new power still humming underneath the exhaustion. Stronger. Much stronger. But the cost was written in blood I couldn’t remember spilling.

Outside the cave, distant horns echoed again. Hunters still searching. The safe zone might have been saved, but the target on my back had only grown bigger.

Scar watched me, axe still ready across his knees. “Next blackout might be longer. And when you wake up from that one… I might not put the axe down.”

I met his stare, chest tight, the Emperor’s quiet satisfaction still pulsing like a second heartbeat inside me.

“Yeah,” I said softly. “I know.”