Chosen: Beyond Fate

As the mountains trembled, huge amounts of mud and shattered rock cascaded down from the summit. Ancient trees crashed to the ground amid the deafening rumble. In the raging torrent of mud, the earth split apart, and from directly ahead of them, a long, razor-sharp leg slowly emerged.

Then came a second, a third, and a fourth. Amid piercing screeches and swirling dust, an enormous silhouette appeared in front of the convoy.

It looked like a bizarre stick insect, except magnified thousands upon thousands of times, so immense that a single leg stretched for hundreds of meters. Its entire body was covered in a hard carapace, while antenna-like tendrils writhed chaotically around its head. One by one, its legs slammed into the ground, gouging deep trenches into the earth. As though enraged, it lashed out at every living thing within sight.

“A beast of doom?” Ji Jue leaned out of the driver’s window, binoculars in hand, trying to get a better look at the colossal creature in the distance.

If only Xiao Jiu were here, he thought. Then I could just borrow her eyes.

Unfortunately, aside from sharing vision, Xiao Jiu wasn’t particularly useful in combat. Mercury’s precious little daughter hardly looked like she could fight anyone. She couldn’t even win a tug-of-war over the remote control with Horsey. Since Ji Jue didn’t want to risk some horror lurking in the underground caverns swallowing her in a single gulp, he’d left her behind at the workshop, where she could supervise Ye Chun and make sure she studied hard and worked diligently on her thesis.

As Ji Jue adjusted the focus on the binoculars, the gigantic creature in the distance gradually became clearer, but he quickly realized he didn’t even need the binoculars anymore. The enraged beast of doom was charging toward them, its countless legs moving in a blur.

A violent gust rushed forth, carrying a faint, putrid stench. One of the creature’s writhing, mouth-like tentacles suddenly shot forward. It wrapped around half of a cargo truck and yanked it into its maw, where it was crushed apart with a sickening crunch.

This was a beast of doom, a genuine beast of doom.

These days, natural disasters ran rampant in the wilderness. People had no choice but to gather and live within cities. Between every major city and small town lay vast stretches of untamed land, where earthquakes and storms struck frequently. But even more terrifying than those disasters were monsters like this one, creatures that existed entirely outside normal standards.

Sometimes, the greatest threat was an endless tide of beasts stretching beyond the horizon. Other times, it was predators like this, following in the wake of those beastly tides, ravenous and never satisfied.

Humans could become Chosen Ones through chance encounters. Likewise, in the perilous wilderness, under the influence of Supreme Resonance or aberrant corruption, there was no telling when some horrifying monstrosity would suddenly come into existence. If an ordinary person encountered one, their only real option was to run as fast as they could and pray the creature wasn’t particularly hungry that day.

But, this was a military convoy. The moment Ji Jue grasped the situation, he wasn’t worried in the slightest. If anything, he briefly wondered whether he could take advantage of the chaos to harvest a few materials. After all, for something to grow this gigantic, it could possess a Supreme Benevolence blessing or some other precious organs.

Before he could act, however, he saw a metallic gleam burst forth from the rapidly descending airship. With a thunderous roar, it plunged from the sky.

What dropped were not missiles; they were far more terrifying than missiles. They were genuine military-grade powered exosuits.

Ji Jue nearly started drooling. They’re the real thing. These are real military-grade powered exosuits!

Even the oldest, most battered, most worthless powered exosuit was still classified as Grade A in the military arsenal, a level of hardware that someone like Ji Jue had absolutely no authority to access.

As for the military’s frontline models, or the specially customized units, those didn’t even show up in the database. They were so highly classified that you couldn’t find a single trace of them. The moment you hit Enter on the search bar, a warning message popped up immediately.

Six armored figures dropped from the sky in formation. It was a standard rapid response unit for catastrophic threats, including two Qiongqi[1] units, two Tiangou[2] units, one White Tiger unit[3], and one Chongming[4] unit.

One after another, the towering exosuits, each over three meters tall, slammed onto the ground amid blazing exhaust flames. The moment they landed, they raised their absurdly large autocannons and opened fire. Streams of bullets swept across the battlefield like flaming whips, instantly carving deep cracks into the hardened carapace and sending foul bodily fluids gushing out.

Despite the tremendous recoil of their oversized weapons, the armored soldiers continued charging forward with effortless ease.

Meanwhile, the Chongming unit, still suspended in midair, had already begun designating targets. In less than half a minute, missiles launched from the Cliff City garrison base came screaming across the sky and slammed straight into the beast of doom’s face. The blast wave swept outward, and a violent storm exploded across the battlefield. Its rancid blood erupted like a torrential downpour.

Every aspect of the soldiers’ combat abilities—strength, speed, reaction time, and firepower—had been elevated to an unbelievable level by their powered exosuit.

What fascinated Ji Jue the most was the White Tiger unit. From beginning to end, it remained in front of the convoy, guarding the vehicles behind it without making a move. Bathed in the glow of blood and fire, the fluctuations of spirit matter around it never wavered, staying as steady as a mountain. The pure aura of the Swarm contained not the slightest flaw.

That was a Chosen One cultivated by the military!

Under the overwhelming barrage of firepower and coordinated assault, the once-invincible beast of doom rapidly had one limb after another blown apart. Its body was severed cleanly at the waist, and its foul stench spread across the battlefield.

Yet its vitality was outrageously tenacious. The monster continued thrashing frantically, its shattered jaws opening and closing in a desperate attempt to tear apart everything before it.

Then, at last, countless blue-violet arcs of lightning danced across the sky. Amid the flickering sea of lightning, the Chosen One, who had apparently been charging the attack for quite some time, rose higher into the air. With a single downward gesture, the blazing electrical energy condensed into a single dazzling beam and lanced straight down toward the earth.

A pillar of lightning, so immense it seemed to connect heaven and earth, became the final straw that broke the camel’s back. As the dying screech faded away and the colossal beast collapsed to the ground, the acrid stench of burnt flesh spread across the battlefield.

High above, the Chosen One looked down at the destruction he had wrought, the corner of his mouth curling into a contemptuous smile. It’s just a mere beast of doom. Nothing special.

From his aerial vantage point, he caught sight of a face that seemed strangely familiar. He paused and looked again, and the smile on his face froze as his face twitched uncontrollably.

***

Inside the convoy, Ji Jue lowered his binoculars. No wonder the whole scene had felt so familiar. It was an old acquaintance.

“Oh?” he murmured quietly. “Isn’t that Mr. Yu? Long time no see.”

It was Yu Hanguang, the Chief of Second Division of the Cliff City Security Bureau, the person in charge of the Gracefield District, the backing behind Jiang Jin’s group, the Entropy Chosen One who had once nearly killed him in a single strike out of sheer rage.

Ji Jue turned his head and looked toward the self-propelled artillery vehicle at the rear of the convoy. What a rare opportunity... Maybe I should “accidentally” fire off a round?

Unfortunately, the self-propelled artillery said it wasn’t feeling well today, and nothing was fired.

The main problem was that there were simply too many witnesses. Who knew how many people were watching? Plus, the effects of Deus Ex Machina weren’t exactly hard to trace. If he made a move now, even if Yu Hanguang dropped dead on the spot, there would be no way to erase the evidence afterward.

Sitting in his vehicle, Ji Jue pondered for a long while. He could only hope that this time, Yu Hanguang wasn’t just responsible for escorting the convoy, but would also be involved in sealing off the underground ruins. That way, there might be a chance for him to “commit suicide” with a dozen shots to the back.

Still, the odds weren’t great. He’d have to wait a bit longer. He had already burned through a batch of Corruption Bullets inside the Time Ruin, and his supply was running low. Later, he’d have to capture a couple more Swarm Path targets and cultivate new ammunition.

1. Qiongqi is a mythical creature mentioned in the Chinese classics. Along with Hundun, Taowu, and Taotie, it is one of the Four Perils. Qiongqi (窮奇) literally means "exhaustively strange." Here’s a picture for your reference.

Translator’s Thoughts: Qiongqi is mentioned in the Records of the Grand Historian as Shaohao's failed child, devoid of ability, who would act in bad faith, decry loyalty, and would speak only lies. Causing chaos across the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors period, he would eventually be banished by Emperor Shun of the Youyu clan to the far reaches of the region. In the biographies, he also writes that it resides in a place called Yunmeng (雲夢) in the State of Chu. The Zuo Zhuan speaks to similar effect, but goes further, stating that the Qiongqi elevated lies, spread false accusations, and would stay quiet before slandering people. ☜

2. The Tiangou (Heavenly Dog) is a creature from Chinese folklore. Its earliest recorded appearance is in the Classic of Mountains and Seas, which describes it as an animal resembling a civet with a white head and considers it an auspicious beast that wards off misfortune. It may have been inspired by a real ancient mammal that once existed. Here is an image for your reference.

However, by the time of the Records of the Grand Historian, the Tiangou had evolved into a dog-like creature that resembled a streak of fire and emitted a barking sound. It was used to describe comets and meteors, which ancient Chinese regarded as highly ominous celestial events. As a result, the Tiangou also came to be associated with ill-omened stars and calamity. ☜

3. The White Tiger (Baihu) is one of the Four Divine Beasts of Chinese mythology and Daoist cosmology. It represents the West, autumn, and the metal element, and is regarded as a symbol of military might, courage, justice, and protection against evil. Often paired with the Azure Dragon, the White Tiger is known as a God of War and Slaughter with the power to ward off disasters and punish wrongdoing. Revered since ancient times as the king of beasts, it became an enduring symbol of authority, exorcism, and righteous strength in Chinese culture, appearing in military insignia, feng shui traditions, and protective imagery. ☜

4. The Chongming Bird is a divine bird from ancient Chinese mythology. It resembles a chicken but has a cry like that of a phoenix. Each of its eyes contains two pupils, which is why it is called the Chongming Bird ("Double-Pupiled Bird"), also known as the Double-Eyed Bird. It possesses immense strength and is capable of fighting and driving away fierce beasts. It is believed to ward off dangerous creatures, demons, and other calamities. In Chinese folk tradition, the custom of pasting images of roosters on doors and windows during the New Year is considered a legacy of the Chongming Bird's protective symbolism. Here is a picture for your reference. ☜