Chapter 95—Spatial Blades

New Era Calender—May 3rd 22 years after the Fall

by Bocchan13

Song Yu was the one making the weapon, so all Xiao Zi and Lan Zhou had to do was guide him in the right direction. Song Yu had slept a little better thanks to Lan Zhou, making his spiritual powers abundant enough for this exercise.

Hands outstretched, he felt his fingers tingling as he distorted the space. He could feel the resistance as the walls warbled. Cold sweat dripped down the sides of his face. Before he stopped, he saw a small spark of the familiar blue aura.

“Gasp! I was almost there!”

“Good job!” Lan Zhou happily chimed in as he wiped his face gently. Song Yu grinned brilliantly in response. 

“Thank you!”

Xiao Zi also saw that small spark and could only sigh in relief.

“How is your spiritual power? Does it feel like you’ve used it up?”

Song Yu clasped and unclasped his hands, feeling the energy as it surged within his palms, something he had never experienced before.

“It feels…like I can still do it more. I just exerted a little too much at first, so if I do it a little more slowly, I can figure it out.”

Xiao Zi nodded.

“Okay. Please be careful and stop if you feel too tired.”

“Allright.”

Song Yu once again outstretched his hands out, feeling the space bend in his mind. He pressed lightly at first, not trying too hard to tame it, until the space manifested, turning corporeal.

Lan Zhou and Xiao Zi sensed it instantly. The space surrounding them…had somehow shifted. 

Song Yu still had his eyes closed and deeply embedded the spatial object in his mind. At first, he had no clue what he was making, but like a blacksmith forging a sword, he could vividly feel the space transforming. More sweat slid down his cheeks as heat infiltrated the space. 

A small spark escaped his fingertips, glowing bright like fire. Song Yu continued to hammer the space, each beat of the hammer creating something deep within his subconciousness. 

“I see it…”

Song Yu smiled.

Like fireworks, bright blue light ignited the room.

 Lan Zhou could only stare as clutched between Song Yu’s hands were shining spatial blades. Sharp and precise, the space warbled like a mirage, creating something completely alive. The blue surrounding Song Yu was the same blue that shone when he purified, but you could tell that the spatial blades held no such purity. It was pure space held into solidity. 

You could not image how much power it could hold. 

Song Yu stared in awe ad his hand held the hilt. It felt completely solid. Like a real object. But he could also feel the pulsing of the space as it circulated throughout the blade. It felt powerful. 

“WOWWWWW! Oh my GOD! I’m a superhero!”

Song Yu waved the blades around, watching the blue zigzag around him. 

“HAHAHAHA! Lan Zhou! Do you see that? It’s so freaking cool!!!”

Lan Zhou clapped in happiness.

“Are you tired? Can you keep it up?”

“Yes! My spiritual powers don’t feel too exhausted. I don’t know how long I can maintain it, but if I don’t exert too much I should be okay.”

Xiao Zi came up behind him suddenly and grabbed his wrist. 

“Let me see how it’s connected to you.”

Song Yu obediently let Xiao Zi experiment while still smiling. Lan Zhou pet him on his head and laughed.

“Good job.”

“Mn!”

After five minutes, Song Yu had to stop since he was tired.  However, the feeling of euphoria never dissipated. He felt more energized than he had ever been at 30, heck even 25. 

“Redistribution worked. It seems that the key to cure ability fatigue seems to be its usage distribution. On one hand, having a variant ability is a two edged sword. If one is used too much, the energy circulation is disrupted, causing leakage and loss of energy quicker. We just assumed variant abilities were an addition to the core, rather than a separate energ altogether.”

Xiao Zi kept on muttering as Lan Zhou tucked Song Yu back into the bed.

“Tired?”

“No,” Song Yu smiled happily. “I feel so refreshed for some reason. Like…i now have power over myself more.”

Lan Zhou smiled and patted his head.

 Song Yu felt that familiar palm and didn't shy away from it, instead smiling even brighter.

“Thank you so much, Lan Zhou. I would have never done it without the two of you.”

Lan Zhou immediately felt jittery in his heart, the monkey in his brain dancing a jig. He grinned charmingly and kissed his forehead.

“Why are you too cute?”

Song Yu blushed and disregarded the statement. What ‘cute’? Is a 44 year old sleepyhead considered cute? No way!

Lan Zhou could see the ironic veneer in his mind, but wisely chose to ignore it. 

“We’ve been meaning to ask you something, but you were always exhausted. Are you okay to talk right now, or do you want to rest?”

Song Yu turned his head, “What do you need from me? Do you need help purifying the formula? Did Xiao Zi make it already?”

Shaking his head, Lan Zhou blushed a little. “I wanted to ask you…if you could come with us. We will be leaving soon, going back to the Military Base. But, we…no, I want to take you away.”

Looking at this bleak bunker, with no sunlight, no fresh air…nothing, “I want to bring you out of here. You need to be free.”

Song Yu followed Lan Zhou’s gaze to this place he called home. The pervading darkness…the damp air suffocating him, the extreme loneliness…and the relentless feeling of fatigue. 

He was turning 45 soon and already on the brink of collapse. 

“But…but I’m the leader of Paradise. People need me. Ye Zhou needs me.”

Lan Zhou bit his lips.

“That man…is just using you. Do you remember what we told you about how we got here? That man with the yellow eyes…he’s still trying to find us. On the surface, everything is fine, but we’ve noticed a few people lurking around the bunker the past few days while you were away. He’s over-exhausting you for a reason. So that Xiao Zi and I can’t find you.”

“No…Ye Zhou wouldn't do that.”

“I can’t change your mind…but think about it, have you ever been made to do something that felt off?”

Song Yu pursed his lips. The old pipes that were just a bit rusty, but Ye Zhou said that they HAD to be fixed. Taking into account the amount of houses he had gone to the past few days…and the two people who were zombified, the corpses that he tried to purify had long been dead. Why did Ye Zhou make him do that?

“I…don’t know.”

Lan Zhou kneeled down in front of Song Yu. 

“I want to take you away. Not as the pure ability user. Just as Song Yu. We don’t have to go to the Military Base. We can slowly take our time with the vaccine, someone is bound to figure it out without you. We can find a small farm somewhere and settle down.”

“You deserve to be free.”

Lan Zhou let Song Yu sleep without answering. Song Yu drowsily closed his eyes, the pervading thought in his head going over everything he had done in his life.

He suffered from his family.He suffered from B Base. He suffered from his friends. He suffered from overusing his abilities. 

When has he not suffered?

…

In his dreams, Song Yu was a young man. No more than 24 or 25, relaxing on a large porch on the 2nd story, the breeze tickling his hair as he looked down into a beautiful yard full of trees filled with colorful fruits. On the outskirts of his vision, he could see a small field already filled with vegetables. He heard a small bark in the distance and the sound of laughter. 

Song Yu in the dream grinned widely as the door to the veranda opened revealing a young man. His dark black hair and kind eyes lovingly saw Song Yu’s figure. as he approached, he poked Song Yu’s forehead.

“Missing out on work today?”

“Hahahaha, I just wanted to feel a little bit lazy,” 

The young man grinned and kissed his lips gently, holding his waist in comfort. The Song Yu in the dream snuggled in the man's embrace and sighed, 

“It's such a wonderful day, it would be a shame to waste it.”

The young man hugged him from behind as they silently watched the beautiful scenery. In the distance, Song Yu could see people walking with their hoes, toting such lazy visages. Like they were living in Paradise.

The young man kissed his head and sighed.

“Wake up Song Yu.” Song Yu froze.

The voice wasn't the same. He turned around and saw brilliant amber eyes staring at him. Song Yu took a few steps away, caution pervading his entire body.

Ye Zhou smiled as he came closer.

“Song Yu, you will never leave here. This is where you belong.” Song Yu hurriedly looked around. The beautiful veranda was gone, the sunlight was gone. His back hit the pitch black pillar of stone, the cold rushing to his bones.

“Don’t you like it? We made it for YOU. Everything we have done was for you.”

Shaking his head, Song Yu blinked back tears.

“No, it wasn't for me. You just want to control me.” 

Ye Zhou approached step by step, the slithering of a snake approaching its prey.

“You just want power. Paradise Base was built on my blood. Without me, it's nothing.”

“You’re right.” Ye Zhou slammed his palm next to Song Yu’s head, his glowing eyes freezing him in place.

“But if I can’t have you, no one can.”