Noi Ha City - Night.
Wind shrieked atop the Housing Tower, whipping icy gusts against the face of the young man sprawled on the raw concrete floor. The howling through the rusted iron gates sounded like the laments of restless spirits.
Ly Thien Anh lay there, bleeding into the darkness. Nearly thirty, gaunt, with eyes as murky as stagnant pools reflecting the pitch-black sky. Beside him, a custom-built sniper rifle lay silent, radiating the cold aura of a reaper.
He wasn't the glamorous hitman seen in cinema. He was a lab-reject, a piece of biological scrap trying to finish one last contract to trade for a few pounds of fresh meat for the only two "kin" waiting at home.
"Static… Buzz…"
A faint pulse of electricity flickered against his temple, followed by the grating interference of a comms-piece wedged deep in his ear.
"Five minutes to target intercept."
The voice was mechanical, void of emotion, as blunt as a hammer striking an anvil. No feeling, only command.
Thien Anh didn't answer. A calloused finger traced the cold curve of the trigger. His silence was the ultimate response.
"In position." The soulless voice commanded again.
Thien Anh pressed his eye to the optical lens. The cacophony of the world vanished, leaving only the circle of death within the glass.
Two miles below, the low growl of V8 engines drifted up, faint but distinct. A convoy of obsidian luxury cars crawled through the hotel gates like a swarm of steel dung beetles. Above them, the whirr of drone blades sliced the air, a persistent, nauseating buzz like hungry flies.
"Click."
The door of the armored vehicle in the center swung open. Leather soles struck the pavement with a sharp, rhythmic clack.
The target stepped out. Ai Dan. Through the high-definition lens, Thien Anh could see every arrogant wrinkle on his forehead, his bespoke suit pressed to a flawless edge. He stood there, flanked by guards, savoring his absolute power over the Linh Nam region.
The red reticle drifted. It slid over the shoulder, across the neck, and locked onto the left chest. Thump… Thump… Thien Anh's own heartbeat echoed in his chest, slow and steady.
Just one light squeeze.
But…
As his finger began to add pressure, a silver flash from Ai Dan's hand pierced his eye.
An old silver ring. Intricately carved with twin-fish patterns.
"What…"
Thien Anh's breath hitched. The wind in his ears seemed to die. That ring… it was his brother's inseparable possession. The brother who had vanished years ago. Why was it on this man's finger?
His finger trembled on the trigger. A violent conflict erupted in his mind. To shoot or not? If the man died, the only lead to his brother would vanish like smoke.
"BANG!"
A dry crack tore through the silent night. But… Thien Anh's trigger hadn't moved. Not me!
"Screeeech—" The earpiece let out a piercing squeal before going dead. "Phut! Phut!" Two sharp, muffled pops came from 3 o'clock and 9 o'clock. Suppressed gunfire. His associates were down.
It was a trap. Survival instinct screamed. Thien Anh threw himself to the right, his clothes rasping loudly against the concrete.
But his "reject" body was a heartbeat slower than the scythe of death.
"Thwack!" The sound of a bullet tearing through soft flesh was sickening. It shattered his scope and buried itself into his right cheek.
"Urgh!" He was thrown back like a puppet with cut strings. A blinding pain seared through his skull, followed by a numbing sensation spreading down his throat like injected acid. Neurotoxin.
Thien Anh convulsed, foamy bile gurgling from his throat as his nails clawed at the concrete, leaving long streaks of blood. The wound on his cheek began to blacken, the stench of charred meat wafting into his nostrils.
"Sizzle… sizzle…"
The cells in his body began to revolt. The sound of flesh regenerating was like fat spitting on a hot pan. They multiplied violently, frantically purging the toxin. White smoke billowed from the wound. It was an agony ten thousand times worse than death.
Before he could even draw a breath, a low rumble vibrated from deep within the earth.
"Voom… Voom… Voom…" Then the ground shook violently. "Rumble… Crash…" The water glass beside his rifle tipped and shattered. The entire building groaned, the reinforced concrete shrieking in a twisted, mournful metallic wail. Thien Anh forced himself up, his bloodshot eyes staring at the sky.
The sky… was falling. The air was being ripped apart, creating high-pitched, piercing shrieks. Dozens of massive fireballs punched through the clouds, glowing like miniature suns, hurtling toward the city.
"You've got to be kidding me…"
"BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!"
Meteorites struck the earth. The world-shattering explosions made Thien Anh's eardrums throb. A shockwave swept through, blowing out every window in the vicinity. Crash! Shatter! Shards of glass fell like rain.
A skyscraper in the distance was struck, snapping like a chocolate bar and collapsing onto the streets below. Twisted metal, crumbling masonry, blaring sirens, and desperate screams… all merged into a chaotic symphony of death.
"Ki! Moc!"
Two names flashed in Thien Anh's mind, dragging him out of his daze. He had to get home. At any cost.
He discarded the sniper rifle and stumbled toward the edge of the roof. The Housing Tower was tilting. Below him lay a whistling abyss of wind.
Thien Anh gritted his teeth and threw himself off. The wind lashed his face. Target: the canopy of the ancient tree below.
"Crack!"
The first branch shattered under his weight. Thien Anh didn't panic. His bare hands clawed at anything he could grasp. Crack! Snap! It broke. He grabbed another. Broken. Another. The rough bark shredded the skin of his hands; the sound of tearing flesh was audible over the chaos, fresh blood staining the leaves red.
"Thunk!"
He unsheathed the dagger at his hip and drove it into the trunk to slow his fall. The steel blade shrieked against the wood—*screee—*then Snap! It broke in half.
"Thud!"
Thien Anh hit the ground hard. The impact of his ankle bones echoed with a sickening clunk. Pain shot up to his brain. He scrambled up, his breath wheezing like a bellows. He limped toward a heavy-duty motorcycle lying on its side nearby.
No key. Thien Anh reached down, ripping the plastic cover under the handlebars with a sharp crack. He stripped two wires and sparked them together.
"Zip! Zap!"
Blue sparks flickered. "Vroom… Vroom… Roar…" The engine growled like a wounded beast waking up.
Thien Anh revved the throttle. The bike lunged forward, bolting away and leaving behind the acrid stench of burning rubber—skreeee.
Just as he sped away, a flaming meteor slammed into the roof of the Housing Tower.
"KABOOM!!!"
The massive structure collapsed, grinding the spot where he had just lain into ash. The old era ended in a deafening roar. The age of chaos had begun.