Leanna-Chapter 255: [LEANNA] 3

Year 2470

Hundred years after the catastrophic event, which led to the death of almost ninety percent of the world’s population.

After mother natures’ wrath shook the earth bringing devastation in its wake. With science and modern technology and mostly from the human’s insurmountable will to survive, they built a tower just in time that the earth took back everything that the humans borrowed.

Heaven’s Tower. Some would call it. A world-breaking two-thousand-meter high plate which spanned hundreds of kilometers with jaw-dropping ten-kilometer radius columns supporting it from the earth’s crust.

A total of Four Heaven’s Towers where built, one in the north, one in the south, and one in the east and west.

A testament to human’s will to survive.

But even before they could build more to accommodate as many people as they could, the tragedy occurred, surprising everyone. Volcanoes erupted one after the other, causing chains of earthquakes around the globe. The glaciers in the north and south trembled and fell apart in the ocean, and the water level rose exponentially. From the tremors and earthquakes alone, almost half of the population depleted. Not before long, the ocean’s wrath gained momentum, unleashing itself in the mortal realm –– promising death to all.

The government didn’t have any choice. It was either save the few or nothing at all. But Heaven’s Tower, even with all its modern state of the art technologies, it had its capacity.

With an iron will and heavy heart, those who could be saved were saved. But those who couldn’t be saved were left to die on the surface with nowhere to retreat but to the safety of the mountains –– hoping with all hope that the water wouldn’t reach them.

But the tragedy didn’t stop there.

The devastation caused the earth’s atmosphere and climate to change. Dark clouds like smug constantly covered the sky, blocking the sun from shining down the earth. Rain’s like toxic water plunged the surface, which burned the ground, the trees, the grass, every life it could touch. All the wastes and oils and toxics spilled in the rivers, lakes, seas, and all kinds of chemicals mixed into poison. And with all the infestation, new types of diseases were introduced left and right, which ate half of what remained of the population.

Without the trees to filter, the air turned poisonous.

Without the sun to nourish life, all rot, and decay.

Without water to spring back life, all was lost.

And so, even after years, no man from Heaven’s Tower dared to venture into the surface. With all hope lost and the verdict to abandoned the people, they chose to start a new.

Heaven’s Tower was surrounded by invincible barriers that protected the people inside from the harmful climate and weather. Even with the little light from the sun could be converted to energy. With the barriers filtering the poisoned air and rain –– life, although not easy, made bearable.

With the help of technology and science, the people in the tower started a new age of civilization.

Alas, Heaven’s Tower was still in its initial stages before the tragedy struck. Even with all the computations and careful meticulous planning, there were still unforeseen circumstances.

People were not built the same.

After some time, almost fifty percent of the public showed symptoms of a new kind of disease. Their bodies couldn’t adapt to the sudden changes in the new environment. The artificial light the barrier provided made their skin fester and rot. Even with the filtered water coming from the rain and the surface, there were still some who were poisoned.

One after another, people where dying left and right for the simple reason, their body couldn’t adapt. Leaving almost four percent of the remaining population.

For those who survived, they started to notice the changes in their bodies. Their hair and skin all changed to sparkling white. And teetered at the brink of extinction, the remaining humans yet made another difficult decision that could very well question the very fabric of what was human and not.

Organs were replaced by machines that helped the human body resist the artificial environment that the natural organs couldn’t do.

Years of painful years of research and experimentations, a new generation of half humans-half machines were born.

The mutation didn’t just happen in Heaven’s Tower.

On the surface, incredible adaptation was happening all in the name of survival. Few people lived the first wave of mother nature’s wrath, the second wave of the waters furry, the third wave of the poisonous climate, and the fourth wave of the deadly plaque.

Difficult was an easy word to describe survival on the surface.

Besides that, humans have to survive the harsh surroundings, battling each other for meager scraps of food. They also had to protect themselves against humans and animals alike.

From the thousands who survived, only a few hundred remained. For these hundreds were already tested and proven. To exist together with the harsh environment, their skin turned brown to black, almost scaly like a reptile to protect them against poisonous air and rain. Their pupils narrowed, sharp and slit-like of a snake to see amidst the dark –– their teeth, sharp and deadly. Their joints and bones, long, hard, and flexible for running, defending, and attacking.

But what was stunning amongst these champions were their nose and muscles –– nose, sharp, and proud to accommodate one additional organ. Tiny fine hairs, filtering poisonous air.

Every tissue and muscle was developed to filter and adapt to the varying climate. With their long, and flexible joints and with their slimy, scaly hard skin and lean muscles, they almost look like an entirely different creature altogether.

With that, the gap between Heaven’s Tower and the surface only grew wider. It was like two different realms existing in a single world.

With each passing year, as humans finally halted their evolution –– a new era was born.

The new generation of people living in Heaven’s Tower, they forgot all about the people they abandoned on the surface. Disregarded them as nothing but ’Kunks’ who lived for scraps. Uncivilized and dangerous. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

For the people who lived on the surface, none of them forgot the hatred and abandonment they felt to those living above. Promising revenge one day.

For now, to live, they swallowed their hatred and pride for those measly scraps of foods that were dumped in the dirt by those ’Snobs’ in the sky.

In the underground of desolate earth, where the temperature reached terrifying degrees, where lava spurted out as hot air burst in an unpredicted manner –– cheers and screams boomed, vibrating in every corner of the cave.

If those hot air hit normal humans, they would melt like butter, dissolving even the bones.

But these were mutated humans. Their skins have long gone transfigured, protecting them from extreme weather conditions. Even the lava couldn’t scrap their flesh –– in this case, their scales, much less the hot air.

KILL!

KILL!

KILL!

The loud rumbling cheers made the ground quivered.

At the center of the compressed space sundered by dozens of people in deterrent faces with only their dark slimy-scaly skin, sharp teeth, and nose, and tall, lean physiques were common –– lauding and cursing and cheering like wild animals at the two modified creatures on the center, fighting each other to the death.

A ’match’ in the bygone days. But now, it was an everyday occurrence in the underground to past the time.

The prize.

A piece of bread dumped from Heaven’s Tower.

A man, three meters tall with spiky green hair glistening like metal spikes on his head, was standing straight, legs apart, and claws extending in a fighting position at the center of the wild, rowdy crowds. His lips were black as his skin with the occasional poison greenish blood dripping from his mouth. His teeth were sharp and deadly with traces of fresh poison blood from his previous kill. His face was warped in a menacing grin. His sharp slit eyes locked on his prey.

Opposite him was a young-looking youth about two and a half meters tall with silver metallic hair and dark scaly skin. A breathtaking contrast against his frosty aquamarine eyes.

Though he was young, no one could deny the fact that he was deadly, and the best there was when it came to fighting and slaughter.

The undefeated champion in the underground world.

Sin

An ironic name fitting for a sinner like him. A reminder of all the sins he committed in the past.

Sin swept his opponent with his slit eyes. He had been in this battleground, fighting each day ever since he was twelve so he could eat and live.

So he could survive.

Survive until I see her again.

On the surface, children already knew how to fight and stay alive, but Sin was different. Mainly because he remembered his previous lives. And two of his past life, he specializes in war and assassination. Coupled by the mutation, enhancing the bones and muscles, he was unbeatable –– at least in the surface world.