Chapter 4

Lieutenant Captain Ruddley stood in his empty Chambers passively, surveying the new room he was given as a temporary office.

Just hours ago he was behind a desk going through semi important documents on the statistical decline in enlisted officers in the military.

And like the next moment , told through gathering extensive eye witness accounts, 2:48 pm the earth opened up forming rifts .

And from these rifts emerged the harbinger of the end . The scientists amidst them named it 'megalopterus aggressivus' long for what the military now referred to as 'melovus'.

It had hardly been a day and the destruction had superseded anything all of humanity had ever witnessed. It happened everywhere rich areas , poor areas remote and urban areas , every county in every state had the same level of destruction or more . And it wasn't limited to the United States.Mexico ,Brazil Canada ,Argentina, Ghana ,Nigeria ,kenya , south Africa,England, France, Germany, Russia ,Japan, China , India. UAE , Saudi Arabia, Egypt.

And these were the major nations in all four corners of the world . No where was free . No where was safe.

Lieutenant Captain Ruddley was brought out of thought when second lieutenant Smith barged into his quarters/ office.

"Captain you need to see this!"

Lieutenant Captain Ruddley made his way into the infirmary, now a makeshift laboratory there sat professor Stanley or someone who resembled him.

The professor he knew was a scrawny man hunched back from bad posture , disheveled hair , and dark circles under his sagging eye bags.it wasn't a stretch to say he had the least attractive features out of all those currently present under his command.

But what stood before him merely resemble him.

It was a 3meter tall(9 feet 10 inches) slender looking mechanical puppet. No it wasn't mechanical. It just looked soo symmetrically proportioned that heassumed it was mechanical. He or it had a hard looking dark (blue black ) shell or exoskeleton. And most of all he /it? Had six long arms that extended into thin long fingers that looked like it could perform delicate/ dexterous work with higher precision than an automated factory machine.

" It's really me lieutenant Captain. Professor Stanley , physics professor and novel peace award winner.

Lieutenant Captain Ruddley remained silent, but kept his guard up.

" What happened to you? "

Professor Stanley looked at him strangely.

"I'm guessing the same thing that did you."

Lieutenant Captain Ruddley's eyes widened. He hadn't informed anyone about what happened to him. How could Stanley already know?.

Second lieutenant Smith looked between the two, not understanding exactly was being said.

" I guess there is no point in hiding it any longer" Ruddley chuckled self depreciatingly.

Soon second lieutenant Smith watched as his superior and friend slowly disintegrated into flying particles of sand and hovered at one stationary point .

" The new era of human evolution seems to have come"professor Stanley exclaimed with fanatism In his eyes.

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Daniel was sweating buckets his battery life hung at 3% and he wasn't done with all the information he'd sourced from the net. Was it important to him now? Maybe. He didn't want to loose access to it while he had the chance.he just hoped he could get it all done with .

Jay and Eric in the meantime still went out to 'hunt ' bugs . Daniel figured Eric had successfully steered Jays mind from thinking about his family. Or Jay was not aware that not everyone was gifted with his abilities. While he might not be in danger, everyone else was!

Daniel was battling whether or not to inform Jay about his blunder.in the end though he traded using his last battery for science to call his mother.

But she didn't answer . Last he called the same happened, he called his sister and she said they were in the community shelter.

Due to the call his battery died faster and switched off

Honestly he believed his parents were dead . It's just that he had hope . And till he meets them spirit and body or only body , he'd continue to have hope .

His mood however was sour . Daniel watched from the corner of his eye seeing how far Luke was unmaking his restraints bit by bit.

Should he let him be? Or restrain him again?

Why was this even a question? Daniel had no idea . Anyway with all that he'd learnt , he knew exactly what his following progression plan was , he has to come up with a name for this plan . After a thought he found one it suited him perfectly!

[Perfecting oneself ]

But as soon as he named it, another connection was made!

[Perfecting oneself] was supposed to be a step by step change of himself, to become what his ideal self should look like.

[ Cultivation] by xianxia definition was a stage by stage elevation of a cultivator from one life level into the next.

There were similarities between these two separate concepts. It was amazing.

But while perfecting oneself used the study of biological sciences , and ordinary materials to develop a higher grade body

Cultivation by xianxia definition used higher dimensional energies called spirit qi to refine ones spirit and body in chronological order to ascend into a higher lifeform .

His progression might be inferior to cultivation in novels, but his existed and xianxia cultivation didn't or at least he thought so. But who knows .

[Perfecting oneself]

* Utilize all the advantages of the human body and leave nothing unturned.

* Utilize all present and future knowledge to come up with a better version of himself.

* Utilize all advantages of the developed version of himself.

* Utilize all future research knowledge to make a better version than before .

And he'd repeat that cycle until he reaches his limit or dies .

That was a very solid plan!

Suddenly a knife came for his throat, but he responded quickly stabbing a pressure point in the inner wrist leaving it immobile.

Daniel directed a pointed stare at Luke.but said nothing.and got back to his thoughts.

Luke was petrified. His plan was to stab Daniel , his students neck and make a run in the opposite direction they were traveling. By doing that he believed to supper powered two would prioritize trying to find him medical help than to come after him .

A simple plan really, though he'd have to attempt murder. But his life was worth more to him than anyone else's. He believed that as a norm , he held the advantage over Daniel in element of surprise and possession of a bladed weapon. And in his execution he didn't hesitate. His heart beat steadily, his arms didn't falter and his target was in place.

But even while in deep thoughts for the last four or so hours, in the last second or so , just when the blade got close , about to stab , in lightening quickness Daniel had incapacitated his wrist.

He was in shock , and when that wore off he was paralyzed in fear as Daniels dark brown eyes stared right at his, through him , as though looking at his soul.

Then he remembered something Daniel had said to Jay before their trip.

[ " The state may dissolve in a month , a week or even today , but for now the central government is still in operation. It means one must still abide by the rule of law. And who said I'm helpless? At this exact moment Mavis , Eric , Kayden and you are the only humans I can't kill in this room ."]

At that point he thought Daniel was just bluffing, but what if it was actually true . Everyone knew who Daniel was , he was no nonsense, difficult to persuade into doing anything he didn't want to and brutally honest. Normally such a person would be a loner. But he was friends with the social butterfly Jay , and he wasn't exactly mean , just honest.

That was why Luke was now scared petrified. But his mind drifted . why was Kayden placed in the same category as the superhumans? With such reaction speed and quick movements , couldn't he dispatch anyone, no matter whether they were mascular or not.

Luke tried to say something, but gave up .

At that point the two superhumans came back in the car.

" Your hostage tried to escape" Daniel said nonchalantly causing both front seater to look back.tgey saw the blade and the cut rope.

" Why didn't you tie him back up?" Eric asked

" Daniel are you alright?" Jay asked

" I'm good thanks. Oh I don't take care of others baggages" Daniels retort to Eric's question caused Eric to scowl and Jay to chuckle.

" Guys guys , it's literally the end of the world, we can't be at each other's throats ." Jay calmed down and said seriously.

" Tell his baggage , it tried to gut me " Daniel wasn't having it .

" And it failed" Eric gave Luke a glare.

It has finally reached the point that Luke was stripped clean of his human status into becoming an object (it).

" You better feed it to a monster before we get to the shelter. I'm not sure they'll allow you to keep it when they find out what you want to use it for"

Daniel said cooly like it was totally something normal to say . But internally he felt a bit disgusted with himself. He didn't like lying, and he wasn't. This was an objective decision, and the power to decide wasn't in his hands ,so why feel guilty. If Luke their perverted homeroom teacher was to die it would be on Eric .

" Why are you talking like Mr Luke isn't a person , do you two hear yourself? You are treating him like an object with no feelings!"

As said before Jay and Daniel weren't killers . Jay being him tried to do as little damage to society as possible. It wasn't that Luke's life mattered to him , but he spoke out of principle.

Luke had been thoroughly drained of lifeforce listening to how his status went from person to animal to object. While beside him they(That being Daniel and Eric ) spoke like he didn't matter. But when Jay spoke out , berating them , a small spark of hope ignited within him.

" Jay , had I not been quicker , he would be escaping, and I'd be dying. Forgive me when I can't see my attempted murderer as nothing more than an object " Daniel said seething with sarcasm.

" 'Say no to immediate justice' were you not an advocate for this" Jay quoted Daniel from two or so years ago.

" Are you really trying to tie those together ? " Eric said in amazement.

" How about this let him go "

Daniel stared straight into Jay's eyes with a stern expression, only to smirk evily and laugh .

" You twisted mother fucker!"

Eric was confused, but realization soon came .

"Sure I don't mind, we can stably kill a bug each now , I was worried before about them grouping, but they don't seem so smart."

Hope came to Luke . Could he be free? But what was the catch. It just seemed to come too easily .

Luke was tossed out with Eric's telekinetic abilities, and the three young men drove away. And that's when Luke realized something. Till then the only thing preventing his death were the two super humans!

"WAIT WAIT DONT LEAVE ME HERE !!!! COME BACK ! COME VACK HERE YOU LITTLE SHITS! AAAAAAAH"

Daniel roared in laughter.

" I was right to trust in you . I thought you pitied him for a moment." Eric snickered

" His death shouldn't be on any of our hands, not even suggestively " Jay said while driving.

"That's unless he can survive , like a 2nd class villain" Daniel wiped the non-existent tears off his face .

" Wouldn't that make one of us the protagonist?" Jay rhetorically asked out loud.

" One of us already acts like one " Daniel said with a bit of sarcasm while looking at Eric.

The three let loose a bit and spoke like friends , but in reality they each knew the other was hiding some scheme up their sleeve Jay and Daniel had it better though as they knew even if they each schemed the other will be the least affected amongst them.

It didn't take long for them the see the underground shelter entrance. It's just that their hearts dropped into their stomachs and was stirred like stew.

They finally saw a rift. With how novels went with extraterrestrial invaders Daniel had thought a rift as the internet had come to call it would be suggestive , relating to a gap between dimensions. A swirling blue haze that the creatures walked out of . But no.

No it wasn't like that . Firstly the rift wasn't vertically upright , it wasn't a hazy blue , however it was a crack large enough to fit a train trailer in the ground . And all around it were hundreds of corpses of the insectoid bugs they had killed , and a larger bug , one they hadn't seen yet .

This one's corpse was 10 meters tall in height , 6 meters wide in breadth , it was coated in blood , red blood . Bugs didn't have red blood , theirs was yellow and gave off a pungent odor . This blood reeked of rusted metal.

Daniel saw soldiers and a few civilians in grief , there was almost no child or elderly in the midst of those present.

The three youngmen had varying expressions, but they were all silent . It seemed not everyone has it as easy as them