Soul of Burning Steel

This is a story about a boy who happened a long time ago.

That year, the boy was fourteen years old. He wore black mourning clothes and dug a hole in the back mountain of his hometown. He put the remains of his parents inside, making their graves to accompany his sister's small grave, and the teenager prayed to the gods, and he prayed to the gods to reunite the three of them underground.

The boy is sad about the departure of his parents, but he is also glad that they can finally leave this world full of malice because of their disabled legs, but the boy is alone so far, and there is no warm thing in the world to miss.

This is the second year after the all-out war between the power users and the world government. After the radical power users launched suicide and destruction raids on major cities, many prosperous cities in the world of Siberia were destroyed. The world government thirty-seven Twenty-two of the Confederate capitals were destroyed, and more than 250 million people died in the first "Three Days of Darkness" of the war, and many times that number died in the chaos and small-scale attacks that followed. ——The two years of all-out war that followed caused the total population of the entire Siberian world to drop by one-third.

Radical superpowers believe that they represent the new human beings of the future, and mortals without superpowers are old species that should be eliminated, and these old species dare to plan to deprive them of superpowers, which is undoubtedly immortal Great enmity—these crazy superpowers use their abilities wantonly without any psychological burden, destroying everything they can see. They don't spare anyone, including the old and weak women and children, and even specifically target the old and weak women and children.

In fact, once the superpowers with small targets but great power set aside their moral bottom line and start indiscriminate attacks, there is almost nothing in this world that can stop them. On the frontal battlefield, the army of ordinary humans may still have the power to fight. However, no matter how you fight the security battle in the city, the world government will suffer more serious damage. Because it is difficult to prevent the destruction attack, the super cities with a population of more than 10 million in the past basically no longer exist, and the world government divides their big cities one by one. , and then built into a fortress to watch each other, but even so, it is impossible to defend against.

If it weren't for the fact that some superpowers subordinate to the world government can control and prevent radical attacks, the world order would have collapsed long ago, unlike what it is now, the world government still controls most of the world, and often sends mechanized troops to wipe out There are superpower clubs all over the world, and the reason why these superpowers are willing to stand in the same camp as the vast majority of ordinary people who are hostile or even hostile to superpowers is because everything they cherish is taken away by those radicals. destroyed by the attack.

The world calls these superpowers who hunt superpowers for revenge as 'hunters', and the boy is one of them.

Although he is one of the youngest hunters, the boy has already experienced many battles. At the beginning, he was still confused because of killing people, and even feared the blood in his hands, but when he thought that it was those radical superpowers who destroyed his home and killed his family, the boy never let his hands down again, he became Cold-blooded and cruel, he never forgives anyone.

The boy and several hunters formed a team to act together. They hunted down the lurking superpowers in the city, and fought with members of the radical super power club in the wilderness. With their own abilities, the boy wandered between life and death time and time again. Walking, defeating powerful enemies one by one, and because of this, he also realized the essence of his ability when he used his ability again and again.

That is 'stagnation'.

It's not the "self-acceleration" that the young man imagined before. On the contrary, the essence of his ability is to stagnate everything within a huge range centered on himself. And in this stagnant space, only he can move. In most cases, the boy is almost invincible during the duration of his ability, because no matter how fast the attack is, it will definitely be slowed down by him. Can dodge the point.

It sounds unbelievable, but for the Siberians, this is not something to be amazed by... because superpowers do not need to abide by any rules. This is the conclusion reached by the Siberian World Government after years of research.

The superpowers of superpowers are all kinds of strange, some are quite ordinary and can be explained by science, while some are completely against common sense, even ignoring various laws, even the awakening of superpowers-so far, no matter whether it is radical Neither Pai superpowers nor the World Government have found any rules for awakening. A person who awakens superpowers may have been a beggar on the street a day ago, and the descendants of the two superpowers may not be able to awaken superpowers for life.

Undoubtedly, there must be some kind of internal law, but because the Siberia Central Research Institute, which has the deepest research on this aspect, was destroyed by the most powerful power users at the very beginning of the war, so this law is still So far no one has found it.

Because of the boy's subconscious vigilance and deliberate concealment, almost everyone thinks that his superpower is teleportation. In terms of external performance, there seems to be no difference. In actual combat, stagnation may not be able to cause large-scale damage, but it is too convenient to target weak superpowers. In the past two years of hunting, the boy has killed more than 80 radicals with his own ability. Sending superpowers is almost as many as the entire team of other teams. Among these superpowers, there are many who are strong enough to defeat the army alone. The feats of youth.

In this way, two years passed in disputes. The world population continued to decrease, but the war situation gradually stabilized.

If the war continues like this, then the radical superpowers will inevitably be defeated—although they have the strongest superpowers with digital destructive power comparable to fusion bombs, not to mention the world government also has enough hunting Or, without the support of the population, they are rootless duckweed after all. Years of all-out war not only reduced the world's population by one-third, but also sharply reduced the number of radical power users. Today, except for the largest Outside of the dozen or so super power associations, most power user groups have been wiped out.

On the other hand, relying on the large number of awakened people brought by the huge population base, the world government has a steady stream of superpower soldiers, one ebbs and another, and the war does not seem to last long... In various fortresses, TV stations have begun to carry out comprehensive The countdown to the counterattack, exciting speeches are played on every broadcast, and the chaotic era of superpowers is coming to an end. Everyone believes that the dark days are about to pass and a new order is about to be established.

The young man was also one of them. He was seventeen years old at the time, and he had several hunter comrades who could rely on each other. Because of friendship and bondage, that cold heart regained its warmth. Start looking to the future—how should I live after the war? Are you looking for a cute girl to marry? If you want to get married, who will be invited to the dinner at the wedding? How many children will they have after marriage? What should the child do in the future?

The Siberians are like that, they like order, they like a predictable, controllable life. The young man is no exception. He has even started to prepare for raising children. He bought several pre-war baby-raising books in the flea market. He even started planning the decoration of his new home, waiting for the future mistress to come... Even if it is the kindness of his comrades Even the laughter can't stop him from thinking about all this, maybe that's the taste of happiness.

If only everything was as beautiful as imagined.

On a cold and humid autumn afternoon, light rain that seemed to be able to penetrate the bone marrow fell. Under this gloomy sky, the last few large-scale super energy collections were eradicated by the army of the Siberian World Government and hunters. There is no longer any large-scale radical power user group in the world, only illegal power users scattered all over the world.

A young man who has fought hard for many years——no, it should be said that he is a man now. The adult man gasped exhaustedly on the final battlefield full of gunpowder smoke. He used his ability time and time again to help his team out of danger and protect his comrades who had fought together for many years. Standing still in the space, the man felt that his ability was completely overloaded, but he didn't feel hard at all, because this was the last battle. After this war, the world will return to order, and the night of war is about to pass. The dawn of is near.

The man at this time is already one of the top hunters, and he has the strongest hunter squads. This time, in order to deal with the last and strongest group of crazy power users, the hunter Almost all out, but even so, this battle is extremely difficult.

Those power users who have survived the war until now are not weak, each has the power to fight against an entire army alone, they can call wind, rain, thunder, create tornadoes and earthquakes, some can absorb all physical shocks, some There are quite a few mind manipulators who can control the energy of entities, and even the hearts of people. If it weren't for the full support of the world government, it would be impossible to defeat the opponent with the power of the hunter alone. The casualties on both sides were extremely heavy, almost They died together, and several government legions completely lost their serial numbers.

But in the end, the hunter won. Among the most powerful members of the radical faction, one of the superpowers with fusion bomb-level destructive power was attacked and beheaded by a man, while the others are now being killed by Siberian aircraft and other hunters outside the atmosphere. Besieged by the strong, the man looked up at the cloudy sky, and he couldn't help laughing when he saw the flickering light behind the clouds.

The war was about to come to an end, and he even began to think about how he would hold a peace banquet tomorrow. The faces of the men and comrades in arms were filled with happiness, a smile that only those who have tomorrow and hope would show.

But the next moment, the happy smile froze.

Because the original ally, the army belonging to the Siberian World Government, suddenly turned against the hunters.

The ruthless bullets shot from the unsuspecting back. In an instant, one-third of the remaining hunters died on the spot. The remaining hunters were shocked and furious. They looked at the indifferent Siberia World Government army, Cursing loudly at the opponent's inexplicability, these experienced power users immediately began to prepare to counterattack, but before they could start releasing their super powers, a steel facility like a signal tower was erected from the army array, invisible The field spread, and almost all hunters lost their superpowers.

After many years, when all superpowers almost forgot about it, the anti-superpower interference field was successfully developed amid countless plausible rumors over the years, and their first target was actually a former comrade-in-arms.

"This world doesn't need superpowers."

The man could hear the ruthless voice, and he could see the comrades beside him fall one after another, the bullets pierced their brains, and the shrapnel from the bomb tore apart their bones and internal organs, the man looked around blankly, everything stagnated, Before the anti-super energy interference field could touch him, it was blocked by stagnant space, which allowed him to survive the unprepared surprise attack, but it also allowed him to witness his comrades 'gradually' dying in front of his eyes.

At this moment, the man felt that he had returned to the day when he was twelve years old. He once again witnessed the destruction of the things he cherished, and he could only sit back and watch everything happen—the difference was that the last time he shot was super Those who are capable bring bitterness called 'powerlessness', but this time, ordinary people bring the evil result called 'betrayal'.

Is this betrayal sudden? Actually no, before the incident happened, the man had actually noticed various omens—the hunter’s budget cuts, overt and covert propaganda campaigns, and the public opinion put all the faults on the 'super power', not simply The radical faction... When everyone is immersed in the anesthetic called victory, the world government has already prepared the butcher knife. As a high-level hunter, of course he can detect this. He has already expected that the hunter will face the possibility of disbanding after the war, but at that time he did not expect that the world government would be so decisive and merciless .

The man left the battlefield in a daze, and no one noticed his departure. After finishing the task, the world government army disposed of all the corpses of the power users, and then hurried back to their respective camps. They still have many tasks to do, annihilate The remnants of the hunters are just one of them, and they have to rush back to the fortress to capture all the superpowers living in the city.

The man who couldn't understand all this was extremely exhausted. When he was speeding all the way and lurking back to the fortress where he used to live, a riot was taking place in the fortress - countless ordinary people crazily stormed the houses of the superpowers living in the city , and then dragged out and killed these power users with little fighting ability... Powerful power users are either radicals or hunters, and the rest of them basically serve in the world government. After being wiped out, the rest are all weak superpowers who are basically useless.

These weak power users are powerless to resist, they don’t even know why their formerly kind neighbors would suddenly attack them, and some power users even call for everyone to stop, there must be some misunderstanding in it—their heads are without exception They were all mowed down as part of this carnival riot that took place everywhere in the world, without exception, from the high levels of government to the poor streets.

As for why...it's very simple, because people with super powers can receive far more subsidies than ordinary people, because people with super powers don't treat themselves as the same as ordinary people, because people with super powers always have a complacent look on their faces, as if he is the only one out of the ordinary. different.

Most importantly, because espers have superpowers, and they don't.

The man who sneaked back to the street where he lived could see that the cozy hut that had just been renovated for a few days had already been ignited with hot flames, and on the nearby streets, mutilated and headless corpses had been burned by high temperature. Smoked shrinkage.

Whose body is that?

who knows.

Looking at the raging fire that was almost the same as the day when his sister died and his parents lost their legs eight years ago, the man was silent and then laughed. He didn't know why he was smiling, but he laughed happily.

On this day, 90% of the superpowers in the world died. Both the radicals and the hunters were completely wiped out. Superpowers almost disappeared from the world of Siberia for a while. The lucky survivors were in panic all day long. They couldn't see the future, couldn't see hope, and even began to doubt the meaning of their own existence, while the patrols hunting the remaining superpowers searched in every corner of the world.

But the world that was left wasn't any better than the World Government had envisioned, in fact, it was a lot worse.

Because with the death of a large number of superpowers, various "mutations" occurred in the world.

——It is rumored that superpowers can devour each other's superpower essence for self-improvement.

But except for the most powerful power users, no one knows what the super power essence is. Even if those power users say that the entire world is filled with countless super power essences, others cannot see it, let alone Don't talk about devouring.

But there is no doubt that this essence exists, and it has a great connection with the awakening and birth of superpowers... The death of countless superpowers seems to have set off a wave of frenzy in the entire Siberian world, and the invisible frenzy is raging. However, those ordinary people who were crazy in the past were horrified to find that they seemed to have superpowers, and they seemed to have become one of the prey, and the speed of the birth of superpowers was ten times faster than before.

This is something the world government never expected.

The birth of superpowers was originally unpredictable, but at first the birth of superpowers was not fast, so there was a possibility of complete annihilation and suppression of their birth with the anti-superpower interference field. The world government believed that the whole world would be anti-superpower Under the influence of the position, it can return to its original appearance. But it is impossible to open the position 24 hours a day. Hunters, as powerful superpowers and heroes who can rival the radicals, will definitely become a new privileged class after the war, allowing superpowers to live with ordinary people on an equal footing? Even the superpowers themselves don't believe it.

Therefore, the world government, which stands on the side of ordinary people, will never sit back and watch the power of superpowers grow. The new order must be sacrificed with the blood of superpowers.

But now, when the contradictions between ordinary people and superpowers have intensified, and there is no room for relaxation and coexistence, the world government has found out in horror that their rule has begun to fall apart...Because of the greatly accelerated superpower diffusion, no one knows who they are. Will it become a superpower in the next moment, or will it become a prey? The superpower extermination plan that originally cheered everyone has become the source of the self-destruction of the world government, because the superpowers who first awakened naturally still prefer order Yes, but now, they are forced to become outright anti-social elements.

Try to think about it, if you suddenly have superpowers, the power to control the lives of ordinary people at will, the law cannot restrain you, but those ordinary people without superpowers are hostile or even hostile to you, and they want to deprive you all the time. Your super power wants to drive you and other super powers to death - what will you do?

Maybe some people will be slaughtered by others, but there will always be people who want to resist, even if they were the ones who wanted to drive out the superpowers before - the shift of human position is as fast as light.

So... order, broken.

Anyone can kill anyone, and no one can stop anyone. When the number of superpowers increases by an unimaginable number, the world falls into a cycle of faster and faster collapse... There are more and more types of superpowers, The abilities are becoming more and more powerful and peculiar. In order to protect themselves and not to be preempted by others, everyone fights with each other like crazy, destroying everything they can see, the world collapses into disarray, and the ecological cycle completely collapses. The earth turned into scorched earth, and the sky was pitch black. In this real doomsday, human beings are still fighting each other.

The man witnessed all this. He witnessed the collapse of civilization and turned into chaos. He finally understood that what can destroy order and happiness is never any super power, but the human heart.

Since this is the case... since the human heart is like this, the world is like this. That being the case, since that is the order.

So that's all.

The enlightened man finally made up his mind here. Since this world is so unbelievable, then let him completely transform this crazy world. Since the human heart is so dark and selfish, then let him be the most selfish one. Since the order is so fragile, then let him be the most selfish one. Create the most perfect and solid order.

Even if it takes ten years, twenty years, thirty years or even a lifetime, he will definitely do it.

Then, time flies, when the metal throne takes shape in the center of the world——

The order, as cold and solid as iron, was born in the hands of the strong.

The ripples of the power of steel spread, and information began to interact.

Joshua, who should have been turned back in time, watched all this. He stared at the dreamlike past. The warrior remained silent. He watched the man create a new order with his own power. He watched the man create the metal As his servant, he watched this man indifferently treat all things equally, forging souls into tools.

Joshua stared at the destruction and rebirth of the old Siberian world, staring.

He turned his head and looked at the man behind him who was watching all this with him.

"The three hundred and twentieth observation failed... This is the ending again."

The man murmured like this, he tilted his head slightly, and looked at Joshua, his eyes were indifferent, but not superior, the man just watched without any emotion, and then whispered: "The descendant."

"Leave my world."

Don't say it's impossible, this kind of thing has happened in reality, and Indonesia in 1998 is an example.

Originally this chapter was very dark, but was advised by a friend to make a big change...it became a bit half-baked