Chapter 134 System gone??

Chapter 134: Chapter 134 System gone??

The drive back home was surprisingly quiet. For once, there were no alarms blaring, no explosions in the distance, no monsters attacking the vehicle, and no desperate screaming from anyone. After everything they had just survived, the silence almost felt strange. Almost peaceful.

The amphibious vehicle moved steadily across the surface of the sea while everyone remained seated, recovering from the exhausting battle.

Ethan was seated close to Kai, who was still trying to adjust to being alive again. For several minutes, Ethan kept glancing at him. There was a question that had been bothering him ever since Kai returned. Eventually, he couldn’t hold it back anymore.

"You know you were out for quite some time, right?"

Kai turned his head.

Ethan looked curious. "So, did you notice anything?"

Kai frowned. "Anything?"

"Yeah." Ethan leaned closer. "Were you somewhere? Did you see anything? Maybe another place or some kind of world?"

The question sounded strange enough that Kai stared at him. He looked around the vehicle. Rowan was pretending not to listen, but it was obvious from the way his ears were practically pointed toward them that he was listening. He wanted to know too. Luna remained focused on driving, although Kai had a feeling she was listening as well.

Kai thought about the question. He tried to remember. He closed his eyes.

Nothing. There was nothing.

He couldn’t remember being anywhere. There hadn’t been a beautiful place. There hadn’t been some mysterious paradise. There hadn’t been a terrifying hell. There hadn’t even been a dream. As far as he could remember, there had simply been darkness. Complete darkness. Everything around him had turned black. Nothing more. Nothing less.

Kai shrugged. "If you’re asking whether I saw heaven or hell, dude, I don’t know."

Ethan raised an eyebrow.

"I didn’t see anything like that."

Ethan nodded, although his expression showed that he wasn’t exactly satisfied. He looked away and seemed to think about it for a moment.

Kai watched him. Then suddenly remembered something. "But..."

Ethan immediately turned back. "But what?"

Kai scratched his head. "I felt something."

"What?"

"It was strange." Kai frowned as he tried to explain. "It felt like something was sucking energy out of my body."

Ethan’s eyes widened. He immediately became invested. "What kind of energy?"

Kai noticed the intense curiosity on his face. The poor guy looked like he was about to start dissecting the experience in his head. Kai stared at him for a few seconds. Then he facepalmed.

"Kidding."

Ethan blinked.

"Gotcha!" Kai burst out laughing. He laughed so hard that he had to hold his stomach.

Ethan sighed. "You are unbelievable."

Kai grinned. "You should have seen your face."

Ethan shook his head and decided he was done questioning him. He turned away. Kai continued smiling to himself.

For a few minutes, everything returned to normal. But Luna hadn’t said a single word. She continued driving, her eyes fixed on the road ahead. Occasionally, she glanced at the rearview mirror. At first, it looked like she was simply checking on everyone. But Rowan noticed something else. Luna wasn’t really watching them. She was looking at him.

Their eyes met through the mirror. Rowan looked directly at her from the back. Luna stared back through the reflection. For a moment, neither of them looked away. There was something almost electric about the silence. Like a spark had appeared between them. Rowan’s eyes narrowed slightly. Luna’s expression remained unreadable.

Then—

"A jagged rock."

Adrian’s voice suddenly cut through the silence. Everyone turned.

Luna looked ahead. Her eyes widened. "What the—"

She immediately slammed on the brakes. The amphibious vehicle stopped just in time.

A massive iceberg-like formation stood directly ahead of them. It was jagged. Sharp. And enormous.

Luna’s heart jumped. If Adrian hadn’t warned them, they would have crashed directly into it. She stared at the strange formation. "What the hell is that?"

There shouldn’t have been an iceberg here. There were no glaciers around. Nothing that could naturally create something this large should have been anywhere near them.

Unless...

Luna’s eyes narrowed. Could an awakened have created it? Someone with an ice ability similar to Kai’s? It wasn’t impossible. Awakened were everywhere now. People were developing strange abilities every day.

But something else bothered Luna. Her system hadn’t warned her. Not even once.

She looked at the enormous formation again. Normally, her system would have detected an obstacle this large. It should have given her a warning. It should have marked the object as a potential threat. But nothing had happened.

Luna’s stomach tightened. "System?"

Silence.

Her fingers tightened around the controls. "Where are you?"

Nothing.

She waited. Still nothing.

"System!" Her voice rose. "Don’t do this to me."

Nothing happened. No notification. No panel. No warning. Nothing.

The entire vehicle suddenly fell into a deathly silence. Everyone looked at Luna.

Adrian immediately covered his mouth. "I’m sorry." He looked worried. "Was it my alert? Did I cause something?"

Luna shook her head. "No." She looked at him. "Nothing like that." Her voice softened. "Thank you, Adrian."

Adrian nodded and slowly leaned his head back against the seat.

Luna turned toward the iceberg again. But her mind was somewhere else. Her eyes moved constantly. Left. Right. Up. Down. She searched for something she couldn’t see. Something she couldn’t explain.

Rowan noticed. He had been watching Luna for long enough to recognize when something was wrong. Luna was confident. Sometimes too confident. She was the type of person who would walk directly toward danger if she believed she had calculated every possibility. Seeing her nervous was unusual. Seeing her shake was even more disturbing.

Rowan’s expression changed. "Luna."

She didn’t answer.

"Luna, what’s wrong?"

Still nothing.

Kai noticed too. He had always been observant, especially during dangerous encounters. He watched people’s movements. Their expressions. The smallest changes in their behavior. And right now, Luna Hart was slowly breaking down.

"Luna." Kai’s voice was more serious this time. "You should learn to share your worries with us." Luna finally looked at him. "You can’t always make everything go smoothly." Kai gestured around them. "That’s impossible, especially in a world like this. This world is already filled with impossible things."

Before Luna could answer, Kai reached toward one of the controls. He pressed a button. The entire amphibious vehicle immediately turned invisible.

Luna’s body began trembling.

Rowan’s eyes widened. "Oh God." He leaned closer. "You’re really shaking." His voice was filled with concern. "What’s happening?"

Ethan’s face became pale. Adrian stopped leaning against the armrest. Everyone was now watching Luna.

Her eyes became watery. She opened her mouth. "I..."

Her voice shook.

Kai’s expression softened. "It’s okay." He leaned closer. "It’s never that deep that we’re going to perish." He tried to smile. "We’ve gone through worse situations than this." He looked around. "So what’s this thing we can’t overcome?"

Luna’s lips trembled. Then she finally said it. "My system."

Everyone went quiet.

"I can’t find it anymore."

Kai’s smile disappeared. "What?"

"It vanished." Luna swallowed. "It’s similar to what happened near the place where the comet fell." She looked down at the controls. "But this time it’s different." Her voice became quieter. "Before, the system appeared like static before disappearing." She shook her head. "This time..." Her eyes filled with tears. "It’s like it was never there."

Silence. Nobody knew what to say.

The sea stretched endlessly around them. There was no visible road. No landmarks. No obvious direction. They were surrounded by nothing but water. It was like staring into an endless sky with no point of exit.

Luna’s breathing became uneven. "We’re lost."

Ethan immediately shook his head. "We’ll figure this out." He moved closer. "We always do." He smiled gently. "And we’ll keep figuring things out. Just don’t cry."

Luna shook her head. "There is nothing to figure out." Her voice cracked. "We are completely lost at sea." She wiped her eyes. "This is my fault."

Nobody interrupted.

"I’m such a fool." She looked at them. "Look at our lives." Her voice trembled harder. "Look at what I’ve put you guys through." She gripped the steering controls. "I knew this was dangerous. I knew it." She shook her head. "I should have stopped." Her breathing became heavier. "But I insisted on coming here even after all of you warned me." She looked down. "If we survive this and somehow reach the base, I’m not going to be stupid enough to ignore everyone’s advice again."

Rowan sighed. "This is what I was afraid of, Luna."

Luna looked at him.

"That same thing happened near the town." He gestured toward the endless sea. "Something interfered with the connectivity." His expression became serious. "And now it could happen again." He paused. "You said you had figured everything out."

Luna didn’t answer.

"You said the comet’s energy was what caused the system to crash." Rowan’s eyes narrowed. "It also affected our powers." He looked around. "But what is causing this?"

The question hung in the vehicle. Nobody had an answer.

The silence felt almost like an evil omen.

Then Adrian suddenly spoke. "At least our powers are still working." He looked at everyone. "Isn’t that a good thing?"

Luna didn’t get the chance to answer.

Kai’s eyes suddenly widened. His entire expression changed. He slowly turned toward the windshield.

"Wait."

Lu

na looked at him. "What?"

Kai pointed outside. "Oh shit." His voice became louder. "Shit, shit, shit!" Everyone immediately turned. "Look outside!" Kai’s face had gone pale. "Now!"