Chapter 7 Blood Rain

Kisha put everything they had in their apartment into her inventory. They each had a backpack that contained mineral water and bread for the appearance's sake. Of course, her family members understood this well, they couldn't blow their cover and let others scheme against them, could they?

It's already the middle of the night but the whole family doesn't seem to feel tired at all, they moved out silently, luckily, Kisha already rented an expensive SUV for a day so it would be easier for them to travel. Before they departed, she called Duke.

"It's me." His pleasantly cold voice resounded on the phone. "It feels like my ear might get pregnant listening to his voice." she thought.

"I'm on my way, please send the address to me. We'll go straight to the base."

His brows knitted. "It will be dangerous to operate separately. Everything's settled on my end. We'll go together."

Kisha nonchalantly answered. "It will be inconvenient to make big moves now. It will be easier for people to locate our base."

"I sent my people per batches, your worries are unfounded."

"And your family?"

"They'd been settled as well."

"No thank you. I prefer to go on my own."

He was displeased, he didn't like her acting cold and distant towards him. He can't say that he is interested in her romantically but he acknowledges her as his equal and she is now one of his people, so shouldn't she be happily protected under his wing? He thought.

Before he could continue, Kisha interjected. "Tomorrow, after the earthquake will be a blood rain." She arranged her thoughts and continued. "The blood rain can be considered both good and bad news at the same time."

Puzzled, he tilted his head to the side as he looked down the brightly lit city from his office on the top floor. "How?"

"As I've explained, the virus was from the melted ice up north. So if the ice melts, it will go to the ocean, be part of the vapor cycle, and will turn into rain clouds. That's the blood rain."

"But wasn't it a bad thing? How did it become good news?"

"For some yes, but for us, it's beneficial at some point." She looked out at the window and continued. "We just need to be drenched by the rain for 10 minutes. But of course, not everyone's bodies can accommodate the virus. Let's just say that we are doing this to make our bodies stronger."

"What will happen if the body can't fight and adjust to the virus? Will they die?"

"They would wish that they just died if their bodies can't go through it."

Duke emitted a strong oppressive aura in his anger and his voice turned a few degrees colder. "Kisha, I hope that you're not messing with me. They are my people!" 

"I know, that's why I'm sharing this with you." "You're someone I can trust my back with, so I hope you can do the same."

His anger turned into comfort. At least, she's not trying to do something shady. He did not know where his trust for her came from but there was a feeling of comfort as if he had known her for long.

She understood that his silence meant that his anger subsided so she continued to explain. "Although being drenched in the blood rain will not create an antibody in our bodies, it will still be beneficial for those who will survive, they will be the same people but." She doesn't know how to break the news without sounding like she doesn't care for his people.

Duke already feels that theirs a catch in this blood rain but they will still suffer some losses which doesn't sit to his liking. "But?"

"But if their bodies rejected the virus, they will start convulsing, they will bleed from seven orifices, and will start attacking and biting people. If that happens, I hope you can put them to rest." Her voice sounded solemn

"Is there any other way to deal with it?"

She shakes her head but remembers that he can't see her. "No, if they bit other people, others will turn like them. It was too late for them to go back to being humans. They will just be human-eating monsters for the rest of their lives."

An incredulous look appeared on his face. "The zombies that you mentioned?"

"I'm glad you know the term." She sounded mocking and teasing.

"Is this woman trying to get on my nerves? How would she know if I did or did not know things?" He thought and snorted. "Don't play with me now."

She chuckled. "I wasn't trying to. I'm telling the truth and it is up to you if you would gamble for future benefits but don't come crying to me once you realize what it does."

Although Kisha has already explained to Duke the general idea of what to come and expect, she did not explain most of the important details like the blood rain and how people turned into zombies, that's why she called to explain this important fact. She admits that it was her negligence because she was too focused on the big scenes like ability users and some of her previous experiences.

"Alright, I'll think about it."

"You better do, there's only one chance." She hung up the call and sent him a message urging him to send the address. Once she got it, she gave her phone to Keith to drive.

There's one thing she realized about the first blood rain in her repeated lives. Every time she got soaked in it, she would feel her awakened powers would be stronger and have more potential to grow and even her body was stronger compared to when she hid during the first blood rain. Her power would also awaken faster.

She conducted a survey, throughout her 99 lives when she realized this difference in her body. Even Duke was not an exemption.

He said that during his field trip to one of his newly acquired lands, the earthquake happened and was soon followed by a blood-colored rain. It was an unexpected rain so they were all soaked from head to toe.

He soon awakened his ability, not only was he a lightning user but he even awakened the rare mental type ability. He alone was a powerhouse and became the strongest. 

They were the first batch of superhumans, and those who awakened after them were not as powerful, they all thought that it was because they awakened first so they had time to strengthen themselves.

The scientist she knew was the one who confirmed her suspicions about the blood rain, he said that after the first blood rain, the virus seeped to the ground, and with the sun's heat it turned to vapor and part of it turned to gas, so through time, the virus will still slowly entered the body of the living. And every time it rains, there will be particles of the virus included so it will accumulate in a person's body and will give them a chance to awaken. 

But those who awakened like this have a small amount of virus in their body so their ability is a little weak unlike the first awakened that has a huge concentration build up in their body.

If it can be compared to medicine, the first dose would always have the strongest effect and if we use little dosage throughout time, that body will slowly adapt until the medicine slowly becomes useless. And that's how he explains the virus, all the living have a virus in their body as time passes but if they did not turn to zombies the first instance they got exposed to it, they will not turn, not unless they were bitten by the zombies. 

Kisha of course asked why would they still turn if they already had the virus running in their bloodstream. He answered that, as humans continue to adapt to the virus, the zombie continues to evolve with the help of the virus so of course they will become stronger and the virus in their body will be the evolved and stronger version. Only the superhumans will not turn after being bitten as the virus in their body also evolve along their powers.

008 once said that this virus's origin is from a different world that might have been accidentally brought to earth. But it was hard for them to investigate and know from which world it originated because it happened at the beginning of time, which means that's when the earth was formed. Earth was the youngest and is also the lowest world in all the parallel worlds. Worlds are classified to small realm, middle realm and high realm. The higher the realm the more the prosperous their worlds are.

So unlike other worlds where multiple systems would appear, on Earth, there was only one. Earth's resources are unpalatable for the other worlds, there were magic swords, medicine that could bring a person back to life, and many more but what Earth could offer that they don't have?

It could be said that 008 was demoted which was why it was sent to the lowest-ranking world to fend for itself. They rely on their host to be upgraded to open more functions and features which will allow them to connect to a higher realm for exchanging information and items. The better their sales channel the better their ranking.

But what could 008 sell from Earth? That's why they were so poor in her previous lives. No one wanted their things. 

But 008 was unresigned, he wanted to make a name for himself and be promoted, be one of those who sat at the top. Owning his own realm and territory with a wide channel. They called them constellations. Some call them Gods.

All the constellations started like 008, a system. After numerous upgrades, they will form their own consciousness, the higher they climb, the higher their ranking. The top-ranking systems will then gain an authority that is unique to them. And once they are well known in all realms, they will gain a follower, the more followers they have, the stronger their authority will become. Once their authority reaches a certain level, they can create their little system to send to the small realms to repeat the cycle.

The little systems are all connected to their own constellations but once they gain consciousness they could choose to separate themselves from their constellation or take over the constellation's position once they are powerful enough.