Chapter 555

At first, everything went surprisingly smoothly. Mike and his team made steady progress as they advanced through the crystallized streets of Lastlight. The city itself was eerily quiet between battles, broken only by the crunch of boots against asphalt and the occasional distant shriek echoing somewhere among the towering buildings.

Here and there lay scattered pools of aether energy, but they were pretty rare and easy enough to bypass. They weren’t all that dangerous either. As long as you made sure not to step into them and enter the faint green mist hanging above them, you were fine. The pools remained perfectly still, but Mike had seen more than enough people lose limbs after carelessly brushing against them to know better than to underestimate them.

Green clusters of aether crystals were a different matter entirely, though. They were much more common, jutting not only from the ground but also clinging to the walls of high-rise buildings. They were far more dangerous than the pools of aether energy. It wasn’t enough to simply stay clear of them to avoid being attacked. A cluster of green crystals could launch bolts of pure energy with perfect accuracy even if you were dozens of yards away. The instant they detected movement, they never seemed to miss. They were definitely far more dangerous than the pools.

Since there were so many crystal clusters scattered throughout the city and their effective range was enormous, navigating through Lastlight had become a nightmare. Every route had to be planned carefully, with Mike constantly scanning streets, intersections, and the walls of nearby buildings for the telltale green glow of exposed crystals. Sometimes an entire street would have to be abandoned simply because a single crystal cluster overlooked it from somewhere high above.

Whenever Mike and his team needed to leave their hideout in one of the high-rise buildings and reach another part of the city, they not only had to fight their way through hordes of crystallized mutants but also constantly watch for crystal clusters, giving them a wide berth and making numerous detours instead of taking a direct route. A journey that should have taken ten minutes often stretched into an hour as they zigzagged through side streets, slipped through abandoned buildings, and doubled back whenever another cluster blocked their path. Even then, there was no guarantee they wouldn’t stumble into yet another cluster of glowing green crystals waiting farther ahead.

At least that had been the situation before they invented a special device using the fabricator in their hideout. After several failed prototypes and more wasted resources than Mike cared to remember, they had finally managed to produce something that actually worked.

The device had a disguising function, essentially making its wearer and anyone nearby untargetable by the aether crystals. Rather than shielding them outright, it somehow concealed their presence from the crystal clusters, causing them to behave as though no one was there at all. So as long as Mike had it on him, he and his people were safe. The crystal clusters wouldn’t fire bolts of aether energy at them as they passed, even if they walked within what should have been their lethal range.

As long as the device, which was called the aether nullifier, had enough charge to function, they could navigate through Lastlight without fear of being attacked by the green crystals. It had completely changed the way they moved through the city. Streets that had once been impossible to cross were now open to them, and entire sections of Lastlight that had previously been cut off were finally within reach.

They still had to watch out for the pools of aether energy, though, since the device offered no protection against them. Luckily, those pools were far less common than the crystal clusters, making them much easier to avoid as long as everyone paid attention to where they stepped.

The aether nullifier itself wasn’t very large. It was roughly the size of a pocket watch, with a dull metallic casing that concealed its inner workings. Mike wore it strapped to his wrist like a watch, secured with a leather strap they had fashioned specifically for it. That way he could check its remaining charge with nothing more than a quick glance, without ever having to take his eyes off the dangers lurking around them for long.

As Mike led his team through the crystallized streets of Lastlight, he kept a close eye on the device strapped to his wrist, carefully monitoring its remaining charge. Every few minutes, his gaze flicked down to the small display before returning to the streets ahead. He knew that missing the moment it ran out would be a fatal mistake, one that could easily cost his people their lives. The instant the aether nullifier lost power, every crystal cluster within range would detect them, and there would be little chance of escaping the barrage of energy bolts that would follow.

Whenever the battery started running low, Mike would immediately lead his team into one of the nearby buildings where they could hide from the crystal clusters. For whatever reason, the System hadn’t bothered to spawn crystals indoors, leaving the interior of every building in the city completely devoid of them.

Whether it was an intentional design choice or simply some strange quirk of the System, Mike had no idea. He only knew he was grateful for it. It gave them somewhere to take shelter whenever necessary. As long as they stayed out of the crystals’ line of sight and remained inside a building, the clusters couldn’t target them. They would continue glowing silently outside, their emerald light spilling through shattered windows, but they never fired into the buildings themselves.

The crystallized mutants, however, had no such reservations about entering buildings. Many wandered in and out freely, and some even seemed to nest inside abandoned offices, apartment complexes, and shopping centers.

By that point, Mike and his people were more than accustomed to dealing with them, though. Clearing out any mutants lurking inside a building had become almost routine, and it rarely posed much danger to the team. Once the area was secure, they would barricade the entrances as best they could and settle in for a short rest while the nullifier slowly recharged. Sometimes they used the downtime to eat, patch up minor injuries, refill magazines, or simply catch their breath before venturing back into the deadly streets of Lastlight once more.

Mike and his people had invented the disguising device only a few days earlier, and they had been making full use of it ever since. Before that, they had been confined to a relatively small section of the city, unable to venture very far because the crystal clusters blocked every route out. Every attempt to push beyond the boundaries of their territory had eventually ended the same way, with impassable clusters of glowing green crystals forcing them to turn back. Over time, they had learned every street, every alleyway, and every building within their little corner of Lastlight. It had become both their refuge and their prison.

Now, however, they could roam Lastlight freely, and they intended to take full advantage of that newfound freedom. Roads that had once been death traps were now open to them, allowing them to explore districts they had only ever seen from a distance. For the first time since the city had become overrun by crystals, it felt as though Lastlight had finally begun to open up again.

They knew they weren’t the only group of survivors in Lastlight. Numerous others were scattered across different parts of the city, but like Mike’s team, they had been trapped within isolated pockets, unable to travel far from their respective safe zones. They had occasionally spotted smoke rising from distant rooftops or caught faint flashes of gunfire echoing through the city, clear signs that others were still alive somewhere out there. But reaching them had always been impossible with the crystal clusters cutting off every path.

Now that they possessed the aether nullifier, their goal was to find those other survivor groups and bring them together. A single isolated group could only accomplish so much, but united, they would stand a far better chance of surviving the crystallized dangers of Lastlight and whatever the System threw at them next.

They had been searching for several days, methodically sweeping through district after district, but so far they hadn’t found anyone. Plenty of abandoned shelters and signs that people had once been there but no actual survivors.

Mike refused to let that discourage him, though. After all, Lastlight was a massive city. He had expected the search to take time. Eventually, they would find other survivors. They simply had to keep looking, one district at a time.

So they continued moving through Lastlight, fighting their way through one group of crystallized mutants after another. The battles came one after another with barely a moment to catch their breath. Every intersection seemed to hold another pack of mutants drawn by the sounds of combat, forcing Mike’s team to stop, fight, and then press onward once more. Their progress slowed to a crawl.

And he could see his people growing tired. Their breathing had become heavier, their movements less sharp than they had been earlier in the day, and more than one of them was nursing minor injuries sustained during the constant fighting.

The aether nullifier was steadily running out of charge as well. Every time Mike glanced at the display on his wrist, the remaining battery seemed lower than before. Soon they would have to head indoors and wait for it to recharge.

He just wanted to push a little farther. Just a little farther. Maybe the next district would reveal another survivor group. Maybe they would find a clue that someone else had passed through recently. Turning back now felt like giving up when they had already come so far.

And then they got surrounded. Mike wasn’t even sure how it had happened. One moment they had been advancing down a broad avenue, and the next, crystallized mutants were pouring out from every direction: side streets, shattered storefronts, alleyways, even the lobbies of nearby buildings.

He realized that though he refused to admit it, he was exhausted, both physically and mentally, and that exhaustion had dulled his awareness. He had become too focused on the crystals directly ahead of them and on the steadily draining charge of the aether nullifier, failing to properly watch the streets around them. He should have led his people to safety much earlier.

But what was done was done. Now all they could do was hold off the attacking mutants long enough to break through their ranks before even more of them arrived. The situation wasn’t all that bad. At least not yet.

After all, every single member of Mike’s team was an experienced survivor. Each of them had endured countless trials: the desperate struggle to survive in the immediate aftermath of the Collapse, the brutal faction war, the Ravage Contamination, the devastating war against the Borgs, and finally life in this nightmarish green crystallized world. Anyone who had made it through all of that was exceptionally tough, disciplined, and battle-hardened.

Mike was confident they would escape this predicament without too much trouble. They had fought their way out of situations that had looked far worse than this before, and he had no reason to believe today would be any different.

And at first, they actually managed to hold the crystallized mutants at bay, refusing to let them close the distance. Rifles barked in steady succession, muzzle flashes briefly illuminating the crystal-covered street as mutant after mutant fell beneath the team’s concentrated fire. The front ranks crumbled before they could reach them, forcing those behind to climb over shattered bodies.

For a moment, it looked as though Mike’s team would carve themselves a path out just as they always had. But then their luck ran out. Several shamblers joined the fray, and the tide turned.

Shamblers were usually rare and tended to wander alone. Encountering even one of them was uncommon enough. This time, however, not one or two but several appeared at once, lumbering out from different directions as though drawn by the noise of the battle. Towering over the ordinary crystallized mutants, they forced their way through the horde without slowing down, shoving lesser mutants aside as they advanced.

They were far tougher and more durable than ordinary crystallized mutants, making them much harder to kill. Shots that would have shattered regular mutants only blasted chunks from the shamblers’ crystal-covered bodies, barely slowing their advance. Having to fight several simultaneously was a serious problem.

The shamblers smashed through their defensive formation with sheer brute force, forcing Mike’s people to scatter in every direction. One survivor was knocked off his feet by a powerful swing, while another barely managed to dive aside before a massive crystal-covered fist crashed into the pavement where she had been standing. The carefully maintained firing line collapsed almost instantly as everyone was forced to fend for themselves.

It was bad. Real bad. Together, they could concentrate their fire and overwhelm even powerful enemies. That had always been their greatest strength. Separated, however, each of them was at a significant disadvantage, forced to fight multiple opponents without anyone covering their flanks. The crystallized mutants immediately took advantage of the opening, swarming after the isolated survivors from every direction.

Mike shouted for everyone to regroup, his voice carrying above the gunfire and the guttural screeches of the mutants, but it was no use. Every attempt to reach one another was cut off by another wave of enemies. He could see they were on the verge of being overwhelmed. If things continued like this for even another minute, everyone was going to die.

Then something strange happened. Out of the corner of his eye, Mike caught a flicker of movement. He instinctively spun toward it, expecting another crystallized mutant charging from the side. Instead, he saw the air ripple and distort as though something invisible had just pushed off the wall of a nearby high-rise.

A split second later, it launched itself through the air. Mid-flight, the figure suddenly became visible, and Mike was startled to realize it was some kind of humanoid mutant.

It shot across the street with incredible speed before hurtling downward right atop one of the crystallized mutants. The impact was tremendous. The unfortunate mutant was driven straight into the asphalt with enough force to crack the pavement beneath it, while green crystal fragments erupted in every direction like shrapnel. The sound echoed through the street, loud enough to momentarily drown out even the gunfire.

Mike just stared. He had never seen a mutant like this before. It was pitch-black from head to toe, its body seemingly encased in textured, obsidian-like armor that reflected almost no light. Unlike the jagged crystalline growths covering the other mutants, its armor looked natural, as though it had grown that way rather than been corrupted.

For a brief moment, the creature remained perfectly still, resting on one knee with one hand pressed against the cracked asphalt and its head lowered. Tiny fragments of shattered green crystals slid from its shoulders and arms, clattering softly onto the street.

Then it slowly rose. Its movements were fluid and controlled, almost unnervingly so. There was none of the jerky, animalistic behavior Mike had come to expect from crystallized mutants. It stood upright, and as it lifted its head, Mike caught sight of a pair of large blue emotionless eyes stretching toward the sides of its head.

For a brief moment, neither of them moved.

“What the hell are you?” Mike muttered under his breath as he and the pitch-black mutant locked eyes.