The dawn broke grey and uneasy over Last Light Valley.
The encounter with the Zombie Lord had left a psychic scar on the landscape. The livestock wouldn't stop braying; the crops seemed to droop, their leaves curling inward as if protecting themselves from a frost that hadn't arrived. Even the Mist outside the barrier seemed thicker, clotting around the perimeter like clotting blood.
I stood in the command center, staring at the holographic map. My head still throbbed with a phantom pressure, a dull reminder of the Lord's intrusion.
"The scans are clear," Alex said, his voice rough from lack of sleep. He had been up all night, his Tactical Perception strained to its limit trying to pierce the gloom beyond the walls. "No movement on the ridge. He withdrew."
"He didn't withdraw," I corrected, sipping water that tasted like metal. "He relocated. He's watching from somewhere we can't see. He's playing with us."
Liang slammed a fist onto the table. "Then we reinforce. We have the titanium plates. We have the ironwood saplings. We can make this place a fortress."
"Fortresses can be sieged," Marcus pointed out, scrolling through a tablet. "Our food production is stable, but if he cuts off our water or contaminates the river, we're dead in a week. If he brings a horde of Stage Fours... our walls won't hold."
I looked at the Spirit Stones we had traded for in the Cultivation World. They sat on the table, pulsing with a rhythmic, blue light.
"We need to stop thinking like survivors," I said, my voice gaining strength. "We need to start thinking like rulers. The Lord sees us as a farm. He wants to harvest us when we're ripe. We need to make sure we're poisonous."
I pointed to the Base Core interface.
"System, initiate integration of Spirit Stones."
[INTEGRATION INITIATED]
[BASE CORE ENERGY SURGE: 150%]
[UNLOCKING: BARRIER FIELD LV.2]
[BARRIER INTEGRITY: REINFORCING...]
A low hum vibrated through the floorboards. Outside, the shimmering dome around the valley flickered, shifting from a faint soap-bubble sheen to a harder, crystalline distortion. The air inside felt suddenly pressurized, cleaner.
"It's not just a filter anymore," Dr. Okoye murmured, looking at her sensors. "It's a hard-light reinforcement. Physical projectiles will have trouble penetrating. Even low-level mist creatures will bounce off."
"It's a start," I said. "But it won't stop a Lord. We need teeth."
I turned to Ryan and Lily, who were sitting in the corner, listening with wide eyes.
"Kids," I said. "Training starts in ten minutes. No holding back."