Sarah snorted at Juliya's remark. "You don't have to worry about us, lovely. You know I only have eyes for you." She added a sly wink.
David blinked rapidly and shook the sight of that exchange out of his head.
"Right… anyway," he said, lifting the Teacher's Pen in front of him, "this little treasure is what you saw. It can temporarily fix damaged meridians with edits I choose. I'm still a little confused on exactly how to do it, but I just altered Sarah's meridians like my English teacher would do my essays in high-school"
Both Juliya and Sarah froze, eyes widening.
"That's what you were doing?" Juliya asked, staring at him like he had three heads.
David gave her a sheepish shrug. "I mean, I didn't know what I was doing at first. But yeah, pretty much."
Juliya was in a daze at this information.
Sarah, meanwhile, was already analyzing.
"That's incredible," she said, brow furrowed. "But... it looks like you can't maintain it for long. That pen nearly drained you dry."
David nodded, grimacing as the exhaustion rolled over him again. "Yeah… I think I got a little overzealous. Next time, I should probably stick to a smaller section." He looked at Sarah with a slight frown. "And not your entire meridian system."
Juliya raised an eyebrow. "And maybe wait until your middle dantian is actually healed?"
David dropped his head with a sigh and tapped the tip of his nose. "Yeah, that too."
Sarah's voice cut through the couple's exchange with curiosity and just a touch of pain. "Wait, so if I become one of your sect 'employees', you'll be doing that for me every day?"
Her hand moved instinctively to her stomach as the familiar Perma Period reared its head once again.
She winced. "Not a bad deal," she muttered, almost to herself.
David looked up from where he'd slouched, sighing.
"We're going to have to figure out which meridians cause you the most discomfort with the least Qi drain on my end. It's not a permanent fix, but it's something."
He pushed himself upright and shuffled over to the cracked mirror on the wall. His reflection stared back. No longer covered in ash due to a lovely sponge bath he gave himself, but still tired looking and running on fumes.
"But yeah," he said, voice quiet but steady. "That would be your salary. At least until we find the right time to restart your cultivation properly."
He turned back to Sarah and held out his hand. "So what do you say?" A smile creeping across his face. "Do we have a deal?"
With a slight hesitation Sarah stood up and took his hand. "As long as Juli is there when you're editing my meridians then I'm all for it."
Juliya clapped her hands together, breaking the moment. "Alright! That's sorted. Can we please get out of this smelly bathroom?"
David and Sarah both laughed.
"Yeah, let's get out of here, lovely," Sarah said, flashing a smile. "We can talk details later, when there's less mold involved."
David nodded and started moving toward the door, then froze, remembering the actual reason they'd come looking for Sarah in the first place.
"Oh, right. Sarah, what's going on with that Rayner guy? Are we really about to be attacked?"
Sarah's smile vanished instantly.
"The details are scarce right now," she said, reaching for the door. She cracked it open and stepped into the tunnel beyond, visibly relieved by the comparably fresher air.
"But what I do know is that we lost the Aquarium FOB. And HQ's orders are to make a stand here at State."
Juliya rushed up behind her as the three of them stepped back onto the platform.
"Then what are we doing here?" she said, voice rising. "Shouldn't we be getting somewhere safe?"
Sarah snorted. "You want me to abandon a triage center full of injured patients? Now that's a joke."
A beat later she added almost offhandedly, "But I may have something in mind if shit hits the fan."
David frowned. "Actually about that… I think Juliya and I ran into an EPS patrol on the way here."
Sarah stopped midstride. Her eyes snapped to him, narrowing with sharp intensity.
"Excuse me?"
Her voice wasn't raised but it didn't have to be. Juliya and David both suddenly found the surrounding tunnel very interesting.
David rubbed the back of his neck. "I mean… my wife was bleeding out and then fell unconscious, so it kinda wasn't top of mind to report it."
Sarah grumbled something unintelligible under her breath and rubbed her forehead with the palm of her hand.
"Okay. It's fine. It's fine. But we need to find Rayner and report this. Any detail could make a difference."
They found Rayner quickly. He had already relocated to the Blue Line platform, where preparations for the impending invasion were well underway.
"Inner Resident Rayner!" Sarah called out, raising a hand to flag him down.
The imposing man turned slightly at the sound of her voice. Around him, soldiers moved with purpose, stacking crates and reviewing maps. Despite the chaos, his presence cut through everything like a blade.
"These two have information that may be helpful to you," Sarah added, gesturing toward David and Juliya, who stood nearby, both suddenly very interested in the floor.
Inner Residents of the NLS were as close to nobility as most Outer Residents would ever see - second only to members of the main Family. Deference wasn't just polite. It was expected.
Rayner finished a clipped exchange with two uniformed soldiers. They saluted and quickly moved off.
He turned toward them, his voice calm but unmistakably authoritative.
"Outer Resident Powers," he said as he approached. "I was under the impression you'd already transferred all relevant intel upon my arrival."
Sarah saluted crisply, her expression unreadable. "They only just recovered from their injuries, sir. The information comes from an encounter they had roughly ten hours ago."
Rayner's expression barely shifted, but his irritation was clear.
"If I wanted a report on a lone EPS scout, I'd ask one of the drone operators."
David stepped forward quickly, bowing with practiced haste.
"My name is Outer Resident David Hatter," he said. "My wife and I didn't run into a scout, we saw an armored convoy traveling north, between Downtown Crossing and State Station."
That caught Rayner's attention.
The faint edge of condescension disappeared from his eyes. He studied David closely now, his posture subtly shifting.
"Convoy?" he asked, voice quieter but heavier. "Describe it. Every detail."
David bowed once again, fist cupped in his opposite palm. He swallowed hard and began recounting everything he could remember.
The vehicles, their formation, the voices he'd overheard, the conversation about innocent people having "nothing to do with the NLS." The woman's soft but final response about everyone downtown having "directly benefited from exploitation."
"Once they passed, I dug my wife out from the rubble she'd hidden under," he said, gesturing toward Juliya. "She was going into some kind of shock from the unstable Qi in the area. I splinted her broken arm as best I could and brought her here for proper treatment."
His mind was racing the entire time he spoke. He had to be careful. No mention of the system, nothing about forcefully circulating her Qi to stabilize her condition. But Rayner's presence was weighing down on him like a physical force.
It felt almost like there was a stone pressing against his chest, making each word harder to speak, pressuring him to be completely honest.
He could feel sweat forming on his forehead despite the cool underground air.
Rayner paused for a moment, digesting everything David had just told him.
David searched the man's face for any hint of what he was thinking, but found nothing. It was like staring at a statue. Old, immovable, and utterly unreadable.
A beat later, Rayner spoke.
"Based on what you've told me, the journey from Downtown Crossing to here took you roughly two hours." His voice remained level, but there was something sharper in his tone now. "How exactly did you manage to survive that long in the Qi chaos above ground, Outer Resident Hatter?"
David's blood went cold.
In all his panic over Juliya's condition, over the convoy, over everything that had happened, he'd completely overlooked the most obvious question. Anyone else would've collapsed within the hour. Most would've been dead within two.
His mouth went dry as he scrambled for an answer.
"My meridians have always been... more stable than most people's," he stammered, the words tumbling out faster than he could think them through. "The awakening didn't hit me as hard as everyone else, I guess."
The lie weighed heavily on his tongue. Lying through omission was one thing and he'd been doing that all day. But this was a bold-faced lie, spoken directly to an Inner Resident's face.
His heart hammered against his ribs as sweat began to bead on his forehead despite the cool underground air.
Rayner squinted at David, then let out a short, barking laugh.
"Understandable then, Outer Resident Hatter." He grabbed David's shoulder and leaned in close. "Some of us just got luckier than others."
David smiled sheepishly and quickly averted his eyes.
Rayner turned to Sarah, his expression shifting back to professional authority. "Thank you for bringing this to my attention, Outer Resident Powers."
His eyes took on a distant, calculating look. As if he was thinking of something else entirely.
"We'll move forward from here with that knowledge."
He scanned the whole group once more, his gaze lingering on David for just a beat too long.
"I want the three of you to head up the evacuation of injured back to HQ."
The three of them looked at each other in astonishment. This responsibility was enormous, and completely out of character for the burly Inner Resident who had just been preaching to the troops about holding their ground.
In the confused silence that followed, Sarah spoke up.
"Based on what David and Juliya described, we have no way of getting there safely. All the roads are blocked by debris, and the injured can't handle prolonged exposure to the chaotic Qi."
Rayner nodded sagely, as if he'd been expecting this exact concern.
"The group will traverse the Orange Line tunnel toward Downtown Crossing. We just finished clearing the route ourselves, so it should be safe."
He turned to David, a sly smile spreading across his face.
"And once you reach the surface, our lucky man here will be driving the truck, waiting for you at Downtown Crossing, that takes everyone back to HQ."
David shifted uncomfortably under the man's gaze once again. The oppressive weight that always seemed to surround Rayner felt amplified whenever those cold eyes fixed on him. It was supremely uncomfortable.
David bowed quickly, not wanting to meet Rayner's stare any longer than he had to.
Juliya and Sarah followed suit.
"Alright," Rayner barked. "I want you three down in the Orange Line tunnel with the injured in two hours. Dismissed."
With that, he turned and went back to his duties preparing for the attack.
David was puzzled by Rayner's intentions in letting the injured escape, but he was just thankful they wouldn't have to be here for the upcoming combat. Between himself and Juliya, they had the combat effectiveness of a child at the moment.
Due to their combat ineffectiveness, his mind began racing about the implications of using the Teacher's Pen during the mission. Would this enable him to give allies temporary boosts? Would he be able to help the injured in the caravan they were about to be part of? Could he trust the wounded enough to even use this ability on them without them reporting it to the NLS?
David didn't know the protocol surrounding what to do if you found a treasure on Earth. In the Portal Realms, if they found a treasure they reported it to the scout leader, who more often than not was an Inner Resident. And that was the end of it.
There had never been any thought in David's mind to steal one if he found it there either. This was because when they left Portal Realms they turned in their weapons and had their bags searched.
Now David was in a situation where he had a tool that could solve humanity's problems, but he felt paralyzed by his own fear of discovery.
Juliya tapped him on the shoulder, jolting him out of his stupor.
"We need to get going -" She saw his face and her eyebrows furrowed in concern. "Are you alright, sweetheart? I thought you'd be excited that we could leave. I know I am."
Sarah cut in as well, with a relieved smile. "I know I'm excited! I was fully prepared to sneak out with the injured without orders. I'm glad the plans I made in advance can actually be used without punishment now."
Juliya looked at Sarah with a cocked eyebrow, but Sarah just smirked.
David, still half-bowed, straightened his back and looked at the two of them.
"I want to help these people, but everything you two know, you only know because I trust you. If anyone else learned the things I've told you, we'd all be in serious trouble."
Juliya grimaced. This had been weighing on her mind as well, but she was of the opinion that they had to survive first before they could afford to worry about things like that.
She looked at David with a soft, reassuring smile. "We're going to be fine. And apparently Sarah already had plans for this. You may not have to reveal any of your secrets."
Sarah gave a knowing smirk. "Oh yeah, we're going to get out of here just fine."
---
Two hours later, the three of them stood at the mouth of the Orange Line tunnel leading toward Forest Hills. Behind them stretched a veritable parade of wheelchairs and people leaning heavily various cobbled together crutches. Two armed soldiers took position on each side of the convoy.
It seemed Rayner's trust in their abilities only went so far.
With the three of them included, the convoy numbered thirty people total, twenty-three injured being escorted to safety.
Earlier, Sarah had let Juliya and David in on her preparations. She'd convinced two Array Smiths to create Qi-stabilizing formations that could be attached to a person or vehicle. The personal arrays had a radius of only around five feet, but when the larger array was attached to the transport vehicle, it would create a fifty-foot protective zone around it.
This revelation put David immediately at ease. He wouldn't have to reveal his new treasure, and all he'd have to worry about was scouting ahead in the turbulent Qi, something his years of Portal Realm scouting had prepared him for.
The convoy moved through the Orange Line tunnel at a steady but cautious pace. The arrays let out a soft blue glow around them, creating pockets of calm in the chaotic energy that still seeped through cracked ceilings.
David ranged ahead with his Qi sense extended, checking for threats while the injured made their slow progress behind him.
They had been walking for nearly an hour when David raised his hand for the convoy to stop.
The soldiers seemed annoyed, and you could overhear them whispering about how Rayner had already cleared this tunnel and David was just wasting time.
David paid them no mind. He'd learned a lot in the Portal Realms, but the main thing he'd learned was to never let his guard down.
With that determination filling his mind, he rounded a corner with his eyes closed. However, he could see everything as he sent out a pulse of sensing Qi.
What he was looking for were disturbances caused by cracks in the ceiling leaking chaotic Qi from above.
The last thing he wanted was to send a group of injured under a downspout of Qi radiation.
Instead what he found instead was at ground level. Fifteen large Qi disturbances clustered together around a hundred feet ahead of him.
They seemed like the complete opposite of the Qi-stabilizing arrays. Instead of pockets of peace, the disturbances ahead were pockets of violence. And they were seemingly pacing in circles.
David took a deep breath, his heart rate spiking. He couldn't see anything in the darkness beyond the vague outlines in his Qi sense, but he knew this was bad news. Moving as quietly as possible, he began stepping backward, planning to retreat to the convoy and formulate a strategy.
As he carefully placed one foot behind the other, a piece of twisted rebar jutting from the broken concrete caught his ankle. He stumbled, letting out an involuntary grunt of pain. He quickly tried to cover his mouth, but that small sound was enough.
Every single Qi signature ahead of him stopped moving.
Then they all turned toward him.
David cursed under his breath and spun around, shouting at the top of his lungs, "PREPARE FOR COMBAT!" Then he began sprinting back toward the convoy as fast as his legs could carry him.
The soldiers, who had decided David's scouting missions were a perfect time to sit and rest their legs, were slow to draw their weapons. When they finally looked up from their relaxation, they saw David's panicked figure racing toward them. And behind him, emerging from the tunnel's darkness, came the fifteen predators.
But instead of Environmental Protection Sect members, it was something far more sinister.
What had once been regular dogs were now monstrosities twisted by long exposure to the chaotic Qi. Each beast was the size of a small car, their bodies grotesquely swollen with unnatural muscle that bulged beneath matted, ash-covered fur. Their eyes burned with an eerie blue light and wisps of violent energy leaked from their forms like steam.
Blood and saliva dripped from elongated maws filled with fangs that had grown too large for their skulls. Large tusks appeared from each of their muzzles in a haphazard appearance. Their claws, now hardened by the accidental infusion of Qi, scraped sparks from the concrete as they bounded forward with impossible speed. The very air around them shimmered with an evil energy, and the sound they made - part howl, part roar - reverberated through the tunnel like a war cry.
These weren't just predators anymore. They were living weapons, forged by the chaos above and driven by an insatiable hunger for violence.
And a buffet of humans lay right in front of them.