Redemption - Chapter 1 - Prelude

February 13, 1999

1:24 a.m. (local time)

Northern Africa, Sudania

15 kilometers from the headquarters of the anti-government militia in Gracuda

Breissel Company Underground Research Facility

“Why… why won’t Mom and Dad wake up? Hey, wake up! Please, wake up!”

Amidst a white world engulfed in raging flames, amidst a white world oozing with green liquid, amidst a white world littered with corpses, a little boy and a little girl dressed in tattered white hospital gowns were vigorously shaking a man and a woman clad in white lab coats. Yet, the pair lay still, as if in an eternal sleep, utterly unresponsive.

The little girl stood up and stared blankly into the distance. There was nothing left here-only stark, blinding whiteness, the cacophony of the disaster alarms blaring about the virus leak, lifeless bodies strewn haphazardly, shattered petri dishes, test tubes, measuring cups, alcohol lamps, and countless glass containers filled with brightly colored liquids. Other than that, there was… nothing. Quite literally, nothing.

“They’re all dead…” The little girl murmured to herself as she gazed vacantly at the scene. “Liars… they promised… they promised that once this was all over, they’d take us away from here… Liars…”

Large tears slid silently down the little girl’s cheeks, landing on her bare feet. They were cold, devoid of warmth.

This was the world. A world devoid of compassion, full of greed, cruelty, and heartlessness. A filthy world.

The little boy stood up quietly and said in a low voice, “Stop crying. They’re all dead… maybe that’s for the best. After all, they were just as greedy, cruel, and heartless as everyone else.”

The little girl stared at the boy in confusion. “Big brother… what are you saying?”

The boy bit his lip tightly and spoke in a low, venomous tone: “All people are monsters… every last one of them is selfish. But one day… yes, one day, I’ll wipe out people like Mom and Dad-those greedy, cruel, and heartless people. I’ll cleanse them all, like the tide washing over the sand, and erase their existence from the world completely. When that day comes, I’ll create a new world. A clean, beautiful, gentle world without even a trace of evil or filth. A world with only kind, perfect people. Sophia, I’ll create a world that treats you gently.”

The little girl stared at the boy, her voice trembling. “But… big brother… I love Mom and Dad…”

The boy stared coldly at the chaos around him, his gaze utterly detached. It was as if beneath the frail exterior of his young body lurked an unimaginably fearsome soul. With a tone devoid of warmth-piercing and far too cruel for a child his age-he spoke:

“You’re wrong. This world… this filthy world, this heartless, inhumane world-I’ll destroy it. And then, I’ll give you a new world, one a hundred times better than this one. Then, we can finally live happily together forever.”

The girl, clearly frightened by the boy’s chilling voice, asked timidly, “But… how will you destroy such a filthy world?”

The boy scanned the burning ruins around him, then shifted his cold gaze to the lifeless forms of the man and woman sprawled at his feet. His voice dropped to a chilling whisper: “Of course, by using the ‘gift’ Mom and Dad left for us…”

A soft breeze passed through the broken vents, sweeping across the sterile, white world. The boy’s head of silver hair danced in the wind. He clenched his fists tightly, his teeth gritting as he swore, “Sophia, believe me. One day, I’ll destroy this filthy world-wipe it out completely. And then, I’ll create a perfect world. A world made to treat you gently.”

Thirteen Years Later

April 3, 2012, 6:30 a.m.

Thirty-three hours until disaster strikes

The boy’s day began the same way it always did, with the grating sound of an alarm clock’s shrill ring.

Groggy with sleep, the boy reached out blindly, trying to silence the clock’s incessant noise. But after several unsuccessful attempts to hit the button, he gave up. With only an hour left before school, he decided it was better to get up and follow the same routine he’d mindlessly repeated a hundred times before.

However, as he prepared to carry out his mechanical routine, his body froze mid-motion as he sat up. It was because he saw…

Bathed in a shaft of warm morning sunlight streaming into the room through the partially drawn curtains was a slender, graceful girl. She stood there silently, her entire figure enveloped by a halo of soft, golden light, giving her an elegance and mystery that made her seem like an angel. The sight was breathtaking, awe-inspiring…

It was perfection, illusory and surreal-except for one glaring flaw.

She was standing right there, in real life.

Before the boy could snap out of his shock, the girl’s voice, clear and ethereal like the gentle burbling of a forest stream, filled the room:

“Zong Rui, it’s already late. You should get up.”

That was confirmation enough. This wasn’t a dream or some trick of his sleepy mind-it was real.

The boy, Zong Rui, shook his head to clear his thoughts. Propping himself up on his elbow, he asked wearily:

“How did you get in here?”

The girl didn’t answer his question. Instead, she stepped forward, out of the halo of sunlight, revealing her full appearance.

She was a strikingly beautiful young woman, with a crimson headband neatly set in her long, jet-black hair, which cascaded past her shoulders. She wore a black school uniform-complete with a blazer and a short skirt. Yet there was something about her, something intangible and almost untouchable, like the serene elegance of a lotus flower. Her aura was so poised and distant, it felt as though she was unreachable. At the same time, it carried an undercurrent of danger, an unspoken warning that kept anyone in her presence from entertaining improper thoughts.

Zong Rui frowned, his tone icy as he repeated, “Answer my question. How did you get in here? I’m certain I locked my bedroom door last night.”