Dominion's End

V3C3: MORC

Dominion's End Volume 3: Ice-Bound Splendor and Majesty

Original novel in Chinese by: 御 我 (Yu Wo)

Chapter 3: MORC—translated by Elkin

Shuyu, I don't know where you are. We've searched everywhere, but we couldn't find anything to go on...

Of course, it'd be weird if people chasing a person who had been snatched away by a bird had something to go on. The snatched person might have been splattered into goo in a fall or eaten clean by the aberrant—so you'd have to travel from the lands of the living to the dead to find that person!

I hope that the fact that the guard tower has become a refugee site wouldn't create too many variables.

There's something fishy going on here. Every time people are let into the military zone, some number will disappear. But whoever is doing this is being very subtle. Given the state of the world and the harsh reality that no one looks out for others anymore, if not for the fact that we were thoroughly investigating the place to look for you, we probably wouldn't have noticed the disappearances either.

If you are here, you must be careful. Leave ASAP and find us. We will now head eastwards toward Old Town, which is next to "Lan City." There's a famous clock tower there, and unless we find some hard evidence on the way or if something goes wrong, it will be the base for our search for you for some time. We will change our scouting pattern to expand radially outward from that spot.

Shuyu, come back as fast as you can. Recently, Shujun refuses to stop practicing her special abilities and has fainted a few times. She keeps blaming herself for not being strong enough, for allowing you to get snatched away because you had to protect her, she... In any case, come back soon.

From your gē,

Shutian

"Junjun! My silly mèimei, what if you hurt your health!"

I was so worried that I wanted to tear down a wall to vent my frustration, but unfortunately for me, there wasn't a single wall around me, so I could only grab the tip of the tower and shake it furiously. I really wanted to rip the tower apart.

"Lan City"? Jiang Xiaotian frowned.

Lan City sounded very familiar—it was one of Meisia's three largest cities, but I didn't remember anything about Old Town. In any case, I'd find out where it was soon enough once I checked the map.

I scanned the words carved on the ball a few more times before reluctantly climbing down the tower. When I looked down to survey the situation, my expression sank.

The situation was worsening. As more and more aberrants slipped through the blockade—evidence that the military's firepower was slowly losing its effect—the experiments would sneak an occasional attack from behind them, making it impossible for the soldiers to focus on just one side. They had to be constantly vigilant about their surroundings, because the moment they slipped up, they'd be jumped on by the experiments and end up resting in pieces.

A chill gripped my heart as I watched. Are Chen Yanqing and Guo Hong down there? And that group of soldiers who joked around with me—Ah Nuo, Fatty, Blackie, the Lieutenant... But given the situation, I wasn't quite sure I dared to go help them.

Although a lot of the aberrants looked like they had evolved erratically, they were remarkably powerful and hard to take down—they were probably even on par with tier one aberrants. And not to mention their astounding numbers, with yet more pouring from the door. There was no way of knowing how many of them there were.