Chapter 1 – Part 3: Signal and Shadow
Wei Lian didn't waste time. The SpiriPhone's warning still glowed ominously on the screen:
> [Unauthorized signal detected. Firewall Cloak active. Time remaining: 1 minute 52 seconds.]
His mind raced. The old Wei Lian might have panicked—might've curled up and hoped the world ignored him. But now, the rush of energy from Lightning Palm still crackled faintly through his limbs. He had power. A flicker, yes, but power nonetheless.
And power meant choice.
He grabbed a tattered cloth and wrapped the Thunder Storage Ring tightly around his left wrist, concealing it beneath his sleeve. The SpiriPhone, still hovering slightly, dimmed its glow, sensing his intent. It shifted to Night Mode automatically.
> [Evasion protocol initiated. Mapping escape routes... 3 nearby exits found. Closest viable path: North-east drainage tunnel, 312 meters. Estimated traversal time: 4 minutes.]
"Four minutes... and the cloak only lasts two," Wei Lian muttered. "I'll have to move fast. Or smart."
He peeked through a crack in the sky carriage's rusted door. The shadows beyond flickered with artificial light. Something was approaching—the mechanical hum of levitation, punctuated by periodic sensor beeps. A Hunter-Class drone. Maybe more.
He tucked the SpiriPhone inside his robe, and for the first time noticed a thin slot had opened on its side:
> [Spirit Print Identification: Insert DNA artifact or bind via Will imprint.]
With no time to waste, Wei Lian bit down hard on his thumb. A bead of blood welled up, and he pressed it to the glowing slot.
> [Imprint accepted. Biometric lock enabled. Owner: Wei Lian.]
Suddenly, the SpiriPhone shimmered and folded itself into a slim bracelet that wrapped around his right wrist, vanishing beneath the skin like a ghost tattoo. He staggered back.
"What the...?"
> [SpiriPhone hidden mode activated. Bracelet interface online. Speak command or tap wrist to reactivate.]
So it wasn't just a relic—it was alive, reactive, intuitive.
But no time to marvel.
The wall to his left exploded.
Chunks of rusted alloy sprayed like shrapnel. Wei Lian ducked, shielding his face. The air grew hot, humming with electromagnetic pulses.
A drone hovered just outside, red sensors scanning, its cylindrical body bristling with weapon nodes. Its metallic voice crackled:
> "UNREGISTERED SPIRIT-TECH ACTIVITY DETECTED. SURRENDER THE RELIC."
Wei Lian didn't wait.
He leaped out the opposite side of the carriage, tumbling hard into the ash-drenched soil of the Scrap Abyss. His body screamed in protest. He rolled, came up running.
The SpiriPhone pulsed at his wrist.
> [Adrenaline Surge detected. Activating Speed Boost Protocol. Estimated duration: 11 seconds.]
Wei Lian's body jolted. His limbs felt lighter. His feet barely touched the ground. The world became a blur as he darted between ruined columns, crashed starships, and sunken relic engines.
Behind him, the drone gave chase.
> [Locking target. Arming net cannon.]
Wei Lian veered hard left, scrambling through a gap beneath a collapsed mech frame. Sparks burst above his head as the drone fired. The net tangled in the wreckage, delaying it only briefly.
He reached the drainage tunnel entrance—a curved pipe with just enough room for him to slide through. He dove headfirst.
> [Cloak timer expired. Signal exposed.]
No... not now!
Inside the tunnel, darkness pressed around him. He tapped his wrist. "Light."
A soft glow pulsed from the SpiriPhone-bracelet, illuminating his path.
He crawled through the sludge and broken cables, heart pounding. Every breath felt like fire. But he kept moving.
> [Safe zone proximity: 120 meters. Distance from drone: 53 meters and closing.]
Not fast enough.
Then, another interface popped up on the SpiriPhone:
> [Emergency Defense: Quantum Shard Deployable. Caution: Single-use only. Estimated damage radius: 10 meters. Use now?]
Wei Lian paused. A trap, maybe? No—he didn't have time to second-guess.
"Yes," he whispered.
A small compartment opened in the bracelet. A marble-sized shard floated up into his palm, humming with compressed energy.
He placed it at the tunnel entrance behind him, then resumed crawling.
Ten seconds later, light filled the tunnel—bright, white, blinding. The drone's scream was mechanical but unmistakably pained.
Silence followed.
Wei Lian collapsed onto a stone platform at the end of the tunnel, gasping. Above him, an opening led into a forgotten sector of the city—somewhere the signal wouldn't reach.
He lay there, shaking.
The SpiriPhone buzzed softly.
> [Host survival confirmed. Welcome to Day One.]
Wei Lian stared at the glowing text.
Day One of what?
He didn't know yet.
But whatever was coming, it had already begun.
And he wasn't running anymore.
Not without answers.
Not without fighting back.