The world was quiet.Too quiet.
A low, metallic hum buzzed faintly in the distance, drowned beneath layers of concrete and shattered glass. Dust floated through the air like ashes in a ruined cathedral. Amidst this silence, a figure lay motionless beneath a collapsed support beam, blood long dried along his temple.
Then—
[FORGEMIND SYSTEM BOOTING...]Initializing neural sync...Decomposition Core: Level 1Crafting Matrix: Level 1Vault Storage Capacity: 1.00m³-- Core Integrity: Stable --Welcome, Lu Zhen.
The man stirred.
His eyes fluttered open, vision blurry, head pounding. He tried to sit up, groaning as his muscles screamed in protest. Rubble shifted as he pushed a broken chair off his chest.
"Where… am I?"
Memories flashed in fragments: the red sky, the panic on the news, the rumble from underground… then nothing. Blackout.
[Vital scan complete. Coma duration: 3 days]Neural sync achieved due to unknown dimensional interference.Current anomaly: overlapping spatial distortions detected.
He blinked. The blue-tinted HUD hovered in his vision, crisp and silent. No voice, no instructions. Just data. Just a cold, passive system... waiting.
Lu Zhen looked around. The street outside his apartment window was unrecognizable—cracked roads, abandoned cars, bodies, and flickering street lamps that shouldn't be working.
He slowly stood up, nearly tripping over a corpse.
A police officer, slumped against the door, helmet cracked. Lu Zhen hesitated... then crouched. His hands trembled as he reached down, finding a compact 9mm pistol still in the dead man's grip.
[SCAN INITIATED... Object identified: Standard Sidearm (Type-B)]Material Match: Iron Alloy, Composite Polymer, Gunpowder TraceDecomposition possible: YESCraft Blueprint Access: Locked (Craft Lv.2 required)Status: Stored blueprint previewEstimated scan duration: 18 secondsMental Load: MildBegin scan?
"No," Lu Zhen muttered. "Not yet."
He tucked the gun into his waistband and moved to the wall—an old radio blinked dimly on the shelf. He pressed the power button, hoping.
Crkkk… fzzt…
"…If you're hearing this, this is Base Tianlei of the Eastern Human Federation. We are calling all survivors. Repeat—Base Tianlei is active. Coordinates—H12 sector, Beijing perimeter…"
He exhaled sharply. Humanity still existed.
[Warning: Metal fatigue detected. Vault nearing half capacity]Current Vault: 0.48m³ / 1.00m³Recommend sorting before further extraction.
His mind reeled. Questions buzzed in his head.
Why did I survive?What is this system?Why... me?
He stepped outside. The wind carried a strange scent—iron and ozone. The sky above shimmered faintly, like cracked glass barely holding reality together.
He spotted the broken remains of a police drone in the street, unmoving. A prime target. His hand reached for it.
[SCAN AVAILABLE – Complex Mechanism Detected]Tier: 2Required: Physical contact, object must remain stillEstimated scan duration: 87 secondsDecomposition time: 94 secondsMental Load: HighWarning: Proceeding without adequate focus may lead to system failure or neural backlash.
Lu Zhen hesitated. He clenched his fists.Not yet.Not until he understood more.
[Note: Current crafting level insufficient to recreate scanned structures]Blueprints will be stored but cannot be used until requirement met.
He looked at his hands. No glowing magic, no fireballs. Just trembling fingers… and the quiet thrum of a system that didn't guide him—only enabled him.
No voice told him to move. No AI gave him orders.
Everything he built from now on—would be his own.
He turned toward the direction of the transmission.Toward Base Tianlei.Toward answers.
And behind his eyes, a new line appeared:
[PATH UNLOCKED – FORGEMIND PROTOCOL ACTIVE]"Survive. Adapt. Build."