Chapter 28: Echoes of War

Sairi walked a great distance along the road stretching before him and noticed smoke rising on the horizon, which increased his confusion. He wondered if it might be a fire or something else. He continued walking until he found a house beside the road, remembering this simple farmer from whom he occasionally purchased supplies for the temple. The farmer’s children usually played around the house, running and shouting everywhere, but today he didn’t see them. Puzzled, he approached the house and began knocking on the door. Several seconds passed with no answer, so he knocked harder, "Is anyone here? It’s me, Sairi."But there was no response. He pushed the door open and began walking through the house, finding it filled with dust as if abandoned for several months.

His confusion deepened, and he said to himself, "Did something happen here that made people leave this place? And why has this strange tower replaced the temple? Did that stranger train me in these abilities so I could fight something that might have invaded the city? But what is it? And why didn’t he tell me anything? I no longer understand anything, and this increases my frustration."

Sairi left the house and continued his journey. Suddenly, he felt someone watching him from among the trees.

***

Ares emerged from the White Tower with his beard and mustache grown considerably, feeling as if he had been asleep for a long time. He found himself in the city’s outskirts.

He walked vast distances on foot, contemplating everything that had happened to him. The situation was truly remarkable—he hadn’t expected all these strange events, and now he had awakened to a voice calling him "Sample Number Six." His training in this tower and the strange competition were what truly intrigued him. He hadn’t known that an ability like changing his shape and color had been developed, nor when it had been implanted within him. All he knew was that somehow it was now his. Googlᴇ search ????????????????????✶????????????????✶????????????

After being sent as a spy from the European United Nations to investigate the weapon of mass destruction that Egypt had secretly manufactured—one that could wipe out the United Nations entirely—he found himself in this place instead. At first, he felt they had uncovered his identity, but the situation became stranger when they gave him such an ability and let him go without arresting him. Only then did he become certain they hadn’t discovered his true purpose—for who would give such power to their worst enemy? He should have been tortured for information instead.

What astonished Ares was the mysterious disappearance of people in the area. When he looked toward the horizon, he saw the destruction that had befallen the city, leaving smoke rising above its buildings, with much debris and rubble as if a war had passed through. Yet the part where he was walking remained intact, untouched by war. Since walking through the city’s outskirts, he noticed it was completely empty of any sign of life. However, he was drawn to the sound of gunfire in its quarters—a very distant sound. He realized someone else was here besides him, which made him feel slightly reassured yet suspicious at the same time.

He headed toward the sound, hoping not to find something strange that couldn’t be dealt with. He had seen those films about cities overrun by zombie creatures devouring humans completely, where people flee the city leaving only a few who couldn’t escape to fight the zombies for survival. But he felt the idea was absurd—he hadn’t found any trace of blood yet, or any creature around him despite having traveled a great distance. Still, taking precautions was necessary. Ares passed by a weapons store and took a pistol and an M4A1 rifle, hoping he wouldn’t need to use them.

He was surprised to find this weapon despite its extinction long ago, and he acquired some new clothes to dress himself.

During his walk, he felt he was being watched several times, but he didn’t let this bother him. Perhaps it was mere imagination; he hadn’t seen anyone in the area at all, which made him imagine being watched because of the suspicious atmosphere around him.

The houses and streets were filled with dust, as if abandoned for months. He continued walking until he climbed a high hill among trees, unsure whether he was walking through a forest or just an orchard. Since entering this place filled with trees, he had been walking without stopping amid green trees with intertwined branches, birds singing above him, some animals running here and there, and winds caressing the tree leaves, making them dance in perfect harmony.

Ares stepped on something he didn’t notice, and the object began emitting a red light that then extinguished, buried under the soil in the forest. It was a small alarm device buried underground, specifically designed to catch intruders.

Suddenly, Ares heard the sound of approaching footsteps.

Some soldiers ran in their official uniforms embroidered with the Egyptian army flag, holding weapons of strange character—long rifles like automatic machine guns, except they were divided into two parts, upper and lower, with a gap between them. In the middle of this gap was a spherical component containing a glowing blue body that continuously rotated rapidly inside the spherical glass, which appeared like an atom’s nucleus.

The soldiers continued moving in formation, one after another, using military techniques of movement and positioning to penetrate the forest with extreme caution. When they approached the signal location, one of the soldiers—they were five soldiers plus the captain—said, "Sir, the signal came from here. That’s what the 3D map shows me. Shall we attack now?"

The captain was positioned behind the trees, observing the situation carefully. He said, gesturing to the soldiers to attack, "Alright, move now."

The soldiers rushed forward one after another in perfect formation. They found a person wearing white clothes like a patient who had escaped from a hospital, holding some weapons. For his part, he was astonished when he saw them rushing toward him, so he raised his hand in surrender, with the rifle hanging from his neck and dangling to his chest, "Oh boy, here comes trouble".