Zooommmm!
A bright blue flash.
The space rippled, and the earth thrumd.
Kai found himself standing on a rocky terrain, surrounded by thin greenery and dry scrubland. He slled water.
Thinking nothing, as these habits were rooted in his bones, Kai threw himself into the cover of bushes under a rather large boulder.
anwhile, with only a few dozen feet of running, he also got a good asure of his strength.
The dry leaves and branches at the top of the bush cracked as Kai threw himself under them. Only then did he take another breath.
In his previous life, Kai had spent months in the jungle, alone.
That jungle terrain contained the most absurd monsters one could imagine.
Kai had survived there.
He would survive now.
Kai clenched and unclenched his fingers and nodded to himself.
He could feel his power.
Not that bad, I guess, Kai thought, not making unnecessary movents. I still have my Abilities, and they will let overpower anyone at my power level at least.
The surroundings were buzzing with the call of birds, insects, and the rustling of leaves as the dry wind scraped the drier trees.
Kai listened to these noises for half an hour, trying to hear any unnatural sound; a sound of intelligence.
None.
Kai took a relieving breath.
"Where am I?" he asked, bringing the Smartwatch up to his face. "Show the full extent of terrain and all data covered by maps."
Beep!
The Smartwatch beeped, but Kai noticed it had only occurred in his head.
That was sothing to be relieved about, too, for he got to know that the light and flash of projection coming out of the Smartwatch was only for his eyes, then.
...
[
Welco to Island X, Red.
I am your AI helper for the 3rd Stage.
Let first show you the full aerial view accessible to you. This is the general view of Island X from an altitude of 3000 km.
You must keep in mind that the map you will see now doesn't show real-ti imagery.
However, you can know your real-ti location and you can also place labels on it.
]
...
The projection shook and an island took shape in front of Kai's eyes that looked like an inverted form of the Greek letter — Beta.
A tiny, red dot was flashing on the island's western side, near the coastline.
The AI's voice appeared in Kai's head, then.
...
[
Island X has an area of 592,800 square kiloters.
Along the length of the eastern coast, runs a narrow and steep escarpnt containing much of the island's remaining tropical lowland rainforest.
To the west of the rainforest lies the Central Highlands, with valleys lying between grassy hills and patches of subhumid forests.
To the west of the highlands, the increasingly arid terrain gradually slopes down to the Mozambique Channel and mangrove swamps along the coast.
The western and southern sides of Island X, which lie in the rain shadow of the central highlands, are ho to dry deciduous forests, spiny forests, and deserts and xeric shrublands.
Your current location is Lake Andranona, north of the river Mania, and near the western coast of Island X.
Would you like to have a closer look?
]
...
"Zoom In."
Kai couldn't help but feel that Island X was just too big.
At least it was way bigger than the island of the 1st Stage of the Tournant of Worth where he had survived, and ultimately killed, both Xenomorphs and Yautjas.
The projection shook and a circular map appeared over the Smartwatch, a red dot flashing on it, dead center.
...
[
Under the altitude of 3000 km, I can only access a circular area with a 50 km radius around you.
As you Rank up, this area will increase accordingly.
]
...
"Can you Zoom In on any location within this area?" Kai asked, narrowing his eyes.
...
[
No. I can only Zoom In on you.
]
...
With that, the Smartwatch zood in but the circle around the red dot kept becoming shorter as if that dot was a constraint over its capabilities.
Kai could now see an outline of the lake and the general topography near it.
Better than nothing, Kai evaluated.
"OK, now tell who these soldiers are so that I can plan early."
...
[
I have no such data, Red.
I, too, ca into being with your arrival on the Island. You must search for the answers by yourself.
However, you can use to put labels and know the Rank and general information about any soldier within the spherical radius of 1000 ters around you, if encountered.
You can monitor labeled lifeforms within the 50 km area available to you on the maps.
Moreover, such labels will not disappear with ti, which ans even if you were to lose the tracks of the labeled lifeform, it would appear automatically on the map, once entered.
]
...
Kai frowned, still not understanding what enemy he would face, and disappeared on hearing the monitor radius.
This indeed was a great function.
Suddenly, Kai's throat felt dry.
The heat was scorching and his hiding place assisted him no better, either.
Not to ntion, the lake was just behind the boulder.
He couldn't just keep sitting here, could he?
Kai took a deep breath and peeked out from the bushes.
When he saw no sign of movent, he hurriedly slithered into the shade of the bushes.
A low cliff was sloping down to the lake's banks, he noticed.
Before heading down, Kai picked up a branch.
At the sa ti, three bars appeared over the Smartwatch, glowing with red, blue, and yellow colors, representing Life, Mana, and Breath.
Then Kai snapped his fingers.
Click!
Click!
Click!!
After three tis, the branch finally transfigured into a plastic bottle.
The MP bar had lost 30 points by then.
Kai still didn't jump down, though.
He picked up an ordinary stone and threw it away from his location into the lake.
The stone fell with a resounding splash, the noise echoing far into the distance.
Kai waited over 20 minutes to get a response.
Nothing.
With a powerful lunge, Kai jumped down the slope and began filling the bottle, determined to not stay in the open before knowing the enemy in and out.
It was then the first noise entered his ears.
It was then a cry bood in his mind.
Cryyyyyy!!!
Kai snapped his head up, his feet already shifting back.
But then he suddenly paused, his eyes widening.
At first, Kai felt like it was a massive bird. But the more the silhouette closed on him, descending from the sky, the more recognized it.
It was not a bird...
Yes, it had a vulture-like neck, with broad and powerful brown wings.
Yes, it had cream-colored feathers and a red coxcomb on its head.
And, yes, it had a long, pointed, pink beak.
But it wasn't a bird.
Not a normal one, at least.
This? Kai wondered, now running at full speed. This is...
***************
AN: Now you can access OVER 60 Chapters (across 4 Tiers) of Chaos and Order ahead of Webnovel on Patre0n ( at least 80 monthly Chapters). If you would like to access the exclusive content, while simultaneously supporting the fanfic, then do consider becoming a Patron
Bonus Chapter Deal - 50 Power Stones: 1 Bonus Chapter and 1 Bonus Chapter for every 10 Power Stones above that
[All images, including the maps are available on Patre0n.]
User Comments
0 comments from readers