Doomsday Pillars

Dday +112

Hong Kong island

100 days had passed since the end of times started and 12 days after the Doomsday Pillar had descended. Christina hadn't realized she had spent 5 days in the Pillar's training hall cultivating the internal power skill, which was something new not only to her but to almost every person in the world.

This inner cultivation was divided into breathing, posture, meditation, and comprehension. Each step benefited each other like cogs in a clockwork.

During the 4 days that had passed, each comprehension she had gone through went smoothly but when she felt something akin to an obstacle, Christina would take the time to let go of her meditation and started practicing the sword art she had acquired. 

Finally, on the 5th day, Christina felt a breakthrough in her comprehension of the power in the spirit of fire. She noticed the lump of energy solidified in her inner heart and successfully created a tight network with the 12 meridians in her body.

[You have mastered the initial stage of fire energy spirit]

[Status Update]

[Christina]

[Female - 34 years]

[Earth realm level 1 - initial stage]

[Spirit energy - fire - intermediate stage]

[Spirit talent - level A]

Her previous status had labeled her spirit energy as initial stage but now it showed intermediate stage. Christina definitely agreed with that as she could tell her quality of control and the energy of coursing had significantly improved. She could feel she could transfer the power throughout her body or make it explode at will.

After her breakthrough, a new message appeared on her mind as she faced the cube in front of her.

[You can continue learning power in the next stage of fire spirit]

[Power manual in fire spirit - intermediate stage]

[500 spirit stones]

"..."

As much as Christina wanted to continue cultivating and feel the difference between the initial stage and the intermediate stage, right now, however, she didn't have that many spiritual stones. Hence, Christina regretfully refused the offer. But as soon as she pressed the close option, another message appeared.

[Initial stage fire spirit discovered]

[Skill library access renewed]

[Empty-handed Martial Arts]

[Martial arts weapons]

[Inner power manual]

[Initial stage Fire Arts]

"!!!"

[Fire Manipulation] - 50 spirit stones

[Fire Detection] - 50 spirit stones

[Heat Touch] - 50 spirit stones

[Heat Resistance] - 50 spirit stones

Four additional manuals were unlocked and based on the names, it seemed to be the basic functions she could do with her early-stage knowledge of the fire energy spirit. Again, however, all of these manuals needed spirit stones she currently didn't have. After all, the Firebirds had spent a lot of their saved spirit stones. 

She looked around to count the remaining Firebirds members accompanying her, previously there were several members, but as of the moment, only Corrie and two other members with C level talent were still practicing.

Christina felt she had already spent too long in the Doomsday Pillar and Hong Kong Island. She after all hadn't planned to stay here for a long time and began to miss her son, Caleb, with each passing day. It had been two months she had parted with him. 

She recalled Hong Kong's condition before she had entered here, and based on that, she thought she couldn't continue her mission further. She had already done her part here and wanted to consider her mission as a failure as long as she could be with her boy the sooner, she dared to take the consequences.

Not wanting to disturb Corrie and the others still practicing, Christina walked toward the cube, touched it, and returned to the first hall. She had already experienced it a few times but it was still unbelievable for her. 

When she returned to the main hall, Christina was taken aback. The room that was previously dark and mysterious had completely changed. Lamps had brightened the room and the hall was filled with several tables and fixtures. Dozens of people were moving around the room. 

An old man approached her with a smile. 

"Inspector Tang, this is—" Christina asked.

"Miss Christina. Finally, you're back. How's the training?"

"It went well. But what's happening here, Inspector Tang?"

"Ahh yes. In the past few days, we've gathered the remaining intellectuals from the survivors and asked them to help us learn as much as possible about the Doomsday Pillar."

Christina looked around and confirmed that indeed most people were studying the walls and were recording stuff on paper. 

"How about you, Miss Christina? Did you successfully complete the initial training of energy in the spirit?"

"Yes. I just finished."

"Good, good. 5 days and already finished. Good." Inspector Tang nodded thoughtfully.

"Have you found something, Inspector Tang?" Christina asked, raising her eyebrow.

"For the past 5 days, we've been busy exploring the secrets of this Pillar. We have had 100,000 Hong Kong survivors and 5,000 fighters to interact with the cube. Currently, there are only about 100 people who have talents in spiritual power. Out of the 100, only you and Nam have talent A, a few have talent B, and the rest, including myself, are C in the lowest talent category."

While Christina was drifting into thoughts on how people were divided into the talents, a sound erupted loud enough to startle her and Inspector Tang.

Bbbrrrrrbbb

Christina blushed because it was the sound of her stomach. She had only one meal throughout all the time she had been practicing.

"Hahahaha. Miss Christina. It seems you can help with this matter."

"?"

Inspector Tang grabbed a small box from the desk nearby and showed its content. Inside were objects smaller than a cherry.

"Is this?"

"Yes, it's the spirit fruit. As you know, 1 box is worth 100 spirit stones but it has 10 pieces inside. Please, give it a try."

"That's 10 spirit stones a piece..." she muttered to herself as she picked one of them. She lightly pinched the green-colored fruit and found it hard but after it had entered her mouth, the sweetness spread to her mouth and its sudden softness surprised her as it melted like a grape. 

She hadn't thought that a small fruit could produce such a taste and by the time she had finished it, she felt full. Still, for Christina, the price needed to be paid for each fruit wasn't worth it. Hence, Christina didn't know what to comment.

"Inspector Tang, do these fruits have other benefits? I feel like it's too much to spend 100 spirit stones for this just to fill an empty stomach."

"I had hoped there'll be something I can discover from you after eating it. But from what we've found so far, anyone who eats this fruit has not felt hungry. it's been 5 days.. Let see how long it would last.. Other than that, it seems there are no other benefits."

Inspector Tang then continued to remind Christina that the biggest crisis Hong Kong was facing right now was the lack of food. This spirit fruit could've been the solution, but he did agree it was too expensive to be a solution. After all, to feed the 100.000 survivors they would need 1 million spirit stones.

After seeing the facilities of the Doomsday Pillar, in the last few days, the fighters with their new powers decided to carry out special expeditions every day across to the city of Hong Kong to find food supplies and spirit stones.

After hearing the updates Inspector Tang had to offer, Christina decided to go outside and look for her sisters

"Miss Christina, if you meet Nam, I hope you can bring him here soon. I have something that I need to discuss with both of you."

"Ok, Inspector."

------------

On the banks of the river, three small boats were getting ready to leave the Victoria harbor. Each boat could accommodate a maximum of 10 people, and the boats were filled with a total of two dozen people. They were the Firebirds members.

They were about to untie the boats' rope on the harbor when a woman arrived.

"Is there room for one more?"

"!!!"

"Sister Christina! You're finally here, we missed you!"

Everyone's faces in the Firebirds lit up because Christina would be with them today. Jennie and Maxine were even more excited. Other than Corrie and the others who were still training, all 25 Firebirds members were here. This time, Lieutenant Choi again was left out to defend the headquarters with his Singapore soldiers.

The distance between Hong Kong Island and Hong Kong city was only about 800 meters. It took them less than an hour to row the boat across.

Their main goal was to loot the warehouses by the river. If they weren't careful, they could be surrounded by thousands of zombies. 

In the last few days, Jennie had been leading them with caution. Whenever she felt the situation becoming more tense, they immediately left. They had agreed to do the same today. 

This time, they docked at the jetty close to Kowloon Park. When they reached the other side, before they got off, Jennie handed Christina something.

It was the beautiful sword that Christina had tried in the Doomsday Pillar's store. Jennie may sometimes not look it, but she had been looking out for her sisters. 

"This..."

"I know you've had your heart set on it the moment you saw it. Anyway, you need a good sword to fight, I just hope this sword won't meet the same fate as the others."

Christina smiled and accepted the sword.

Everyone who had participated in this mission were all Earth Realm fighters. Today, they would fight alongside their leader. Christina then wondered how they had been faring against the zombies after they had upgraded.