Volume 2, Chapter 44: The Quiet Infection
The Academy cafeteria smelled like floor wax and overboiled cabbage.
It was a comforting smell, in a weird way. It meant I was back in a place where the biggest threat was a senior student cutting in line, not a 200,000-year-old beast trying to turn my brain into a freezer. I sat at a corner table with a tray of braised pork and rice. My muscles felt like lead, and every time I moved my shoulder, I could feel the new density of my bones.
I picked up a steamed bun. It was fluffy and warm.
"Too soft," a voice rumbled in the back of my skull. It was Ah Tai. "Why are humans so obsessed with eating clouds? Where is the bone? Where is the grit?"
I'm trying to enjoy my lunch, Ah Tai, I thought back, leaning my head on my hand. And keep your voice down. You're making my teeth ache.
"I can taste the salt," the Titan continued, sounding fascinated. "The salt is good. But it needs more fat. Buy the one with the brown sauce. The one the girl over there is eating. Now."
I sighed. Sharing a soul link with a giant ape was going to be a long-term problem for my wallet.
"Yuhao!"
The voice was high and sharp. I looked up just in time to see a blur of blue hair. Tang Ya slammed into the bench opposite me, her eyes wide. Bei Bei followed close behind, looking like he hadn't slept in three days. He looked at me with a mix of relief and genuine anger.
"Where were you?" Tang Ya demanded. She didn't wait for an answer. She grabbed my arm, checking for bruises. "We checked the infirmary. We checked the library. We even asked Professor Lakas, but he just told us you went on a 'long walk' to clear your head. A walk? For a week?"
"I needed to train," I said. It wasn't a total lie. "I found a place in the North. It was quiet."
"The North?" Bei Bei sat down, his face tight. "Yuhao, the North is a death trap right now. The Federation has closed the rail lines. There are reports of… things happening up there."
"I'm fine, Bei Bei. Really." I took a bite of the pork, trying to look casual.
But Tang Ya wasn't looking at my face anymore. Her gaze had dropped to my waist. Her pupils dilated, and I saw her Blue Silver Grass flicker briefly around her wrists. She was sensitive to life energy — it was the core of her soul.
She reached out, her fingers hovering over the hilt of the Life Guardian Blade.
"What is that?" she whispered. Her voice had lost its edge. It sounded hollow, almost hungry. "It… it feels like spring. No, it feels like the moment a seed breaks the dirt. I can smell the rain just looking at it."
"It's a tool," I said. I placed the dagger on the table. The green jade-like blade caught the overhead lights, casting a soft, pulsing glow onto the plastic tray. "Professor Lakas gave it to me. It's for… stabilization."
Tang Ya reached out and touched the hilt.
The moment her skin met the wood, she let out a long, shaky breath. Her eyes fluttered shut. For a second, the air around our table seemed to clear. The smell of the cafeteria disappeared, replaced by the scent of crushed mint and damp earth.
"The girl is wilting," Electrolux's voice drifted from within the blade. He sounded clinical, like a doctor looking at a fascinating rash. "There is a shadow in her heart, Yuhao. It is not an infection of the world, but an infection of the self. Her Blue Silver Grass is starving for something her soul cannot provide."
I looked at Tang Ya. I could see the faint, dark circles under her eyes that makeup couldn't hide. The pressure of being a Star Pupil in the Hall of Execution, the weight of living up to Bibi Dong's legacy, and the constant expectations placed on her by the Academy — it all seemed to be pushing her toward the edge. She was one of the brightest talents in the Hall of Execution, competing alongside Bei Bei for the title of Abyssal Arbitrator-in-Training. Her Blue Silver Grass, enhanced by the Baybayin marking ᜉ (Pa), had the potential to grow with radiant, purifying attributes. But I could sense the darkness inside her, whispering that she wasn't enough.
"Yuhao," she said, her voice barely a murmur. "Can you… can you do it again? Whatever the blade is doing. It's making the noise stop."
"The noise?" Bei Bei asked, leaning in, his brow furrowed. "Ya-ya, what noise?"
"Just… the thoughts," she said, pulling her hand back and rubbing her temples. She laughed, but it was a brittle, fake sound. "You know how it is. Stress. The tournament. I'm just tired."
But she looked at me with a silent, desperate plea. She knew I could see it.
I looked at the blade. Lakas had called it a "Life Guardian." He hadn't just given it to me to house Electrolux. He'd given it to me to fix things.
"Stay still," I told her.
I picked up the dagger. I didn't draw the blade. I just held the hilt against her forehead. I focused on the Baybayin marking etched into the wood — ᜄ (Ga) for Ginhawa.
Breathe, I thought. Ease.
I didn't use my soul power. I used the "Life Gold" energy inside the tool. A thin, hair-like thread of emerald light flowed from the hilt into Tang Ya's skin. It didn't fight her. It just moved through her, like a gardener pruning dead leaves from a vine.
I saw the gray smog in her mind twist and shrivel. It didn't disappear — you can't just delete someone's trauma — but it retreated. It went dormant.
Tang Ya's shoulders dropped. The tension in her neck vanished. She looked like someone who had been holding a heavy box for ten years and had finally been allowed to put it down.
"Oh," she breathed. "That's… better."
Bei Bei watched us, his expression unreadable. He knew something was wrong, but he didn't have the words for it. He just reached over and squeezed Tang Ya's hand.
"Eat your lunch, Ya-ya," he said softly. "You need the energy."
••••
The peace didn't last long.
Halfway through the meal, the large screens mounted on the cafeteria walls flickered. The usual highlights of the Soul Dueling tournament were replaced by a news bulletin. The "Breaking News" banner was a jagged, alarming red.
A reporter stood in front of a small village. The buildings weren't destroyed. There were no fires. There was no blood.
But it was terrifying.
The villagers were just… standing there. Some were in the middle of the street. Some were sitting on their porches. They weren't moving. They weren't talking. They were staring into space with empty, glassy eyes.
"Reports are coming in from the Northern Border," the reporter said, her voice shaking. "Local authorities are calling it The Silence. It appeared three days ago in the village of Blue Creek. There is no sign of physical struggle, but the inhabitants have entered a state of total catatonia. Medical teams have confirmed that their soul power has been completely drained. Not just used — erased."
The camera panned to a young girl sitting in the dirt, clutching a wooden doll. She didn't blink when the camera passed her. She looked like a statue made of flesh.
"The Federation has quarantined the area," the reporter continued. "But travelers report similar incidents appearing further south. It's moving. And it's moving fast."
The cafeteria went dead silent. Hundreds of students stared at the screen.
"That's not a virus," Ah Tai growled in my head. All the humor was gone from his voice. "I know that smell. It's the Void. It's the same thing that lives in the Abyss. Someone has opened a door, kid."
Chen Feng, I thought.
He hadn't just taken the silence from the Citadel to use as a weapon. He had turned it into an infection. It was a self-replicating drain. Each person it affected became a battery, feeding the source. And the source was likely Chen Feng himself.
"It's happening," Bei Bei whispered, staring at the screen. "Just like the old prophecies said. When the balance breaks, the world stops singing."
"We have to do something," Tang Ya said, her voice regaining some of its old fire. She looked at me. "Yuhao, you were just up there. Did you see anything?"
"I saw the cold," I said, my voice flat. "And I saw things that don't belong in the sun."
I looked down at my plate. I wasn't hungry anymore.
The world was playing a dangerous game. It thought it could just let someone like Chen Feng run loose. It thought it could just fix things later if they got out of hand. But it didn't understand humans. It didn't understand that when you give a man the power to silence everything, he isn't going to stop until there's nothing left to hear.
I stood up, grabbing my tray.
"Where are you going?" Bei Bei asked.
"To find Professor Lakas," I said. "The tournament starts tomorrow, but I don't think we're fighting for a trophy anymore."
I walked through the crowded halls, my mind racing.
"Kid," Ah Tai's voice came back, sounding uncharacteristically hesitant. "Before you go save the world… can we talk about that brown sauce pork again?"
Not now, Ah Tai.
"Listen, I've been a giant ape for two hundred thousand years. I've eaten raw fish, frozen deer, and the occasional mountain goat. But that smell… that salty, sweet, fatty smell? It's calling to me. If I'm going to be stuck in this library, I want a tribute."
You don't even have a stomach!
"I have your stomach! We're roommates now! If you eat it, I taste it! It's the law of the link!"
I rolled my eyes, bumping into a freshman who scrambled to get out of my way. Fine. I'll buy a bowl of braised pork to go. But you have to promise to be quiet while I talk to the Professor.
"Deal. And get the extra spice. I want to feel something."
I walked toward the Origin Branch, weaving through the groups of panicked students. The atmosphere in the Academy had shifted. The excitement of the tournament had been replaced by a low, buzzing dread.
People were starting to realize that the new, easy way to gain power might have a hidden cost.
•••••
I reached Lakas's office. I didn't knock. I just pushed the door open.
Lakas was standing by the window, looking out over the city. The sun was setting, casting long, orange shadows across the skyscrapers. He didn't turn around.
"I saw the news," I said.
"It's efficient," Lakas replied. He sounded tired. Not the 'I need coffee' tired, but the 'I've seen this movie before' tired. "Chen Feng is using that power to harvest the unused energy of the masses. He thinks he's just taking what they don't need. He doesn't realize that the unused energy is what keeps them human."
"How do we stop it?"
Lakas turned around. He looked at the bowl of pork in my hand and raised an eyebrow.
"Is that for me?"
"It's for the Titan," I said, feeling ridiculous. "He's demanding tribute."
Lakas laughed, a short, dry bark. He walked over to his desk and sat down. "At least someone has their priorities straight. You want to stop the Silence? You can't. Not yet. It's too widespread. You have to kill the source."
"Chen Feng."
"The finals of the tournament," Lakas said. "He'll be there. That's when he'll be most vulnerable. When he thinks he's already won."
Lakas leaned forward, his eyes turning a dark, dangerous gold.
"Tomorrow, Yuhao, you aren't just a student. You're a surgeon. And that green blade at your waist? That's your scalpel. You're going to cut the infection out of this world, or you're going to die trying."
I looked at the Life Guardian Blade. I felt the weight of it. I felt the Titan's hunger and the Necromancer's logic.
"I'm ready," I said.
"Good," Lakas said. "Now feed that ape before he starts eating the furniture in your head. We have work to do."
End of Volume 2, Chapter 44