The chaotic sound of running feet.
People screaming in panic.
The violent staccato of gunfire.
...
The tranquil space of consciousness was filled with noise.
Realizing something was wrong, Zhou Tianming tried to calm his mind through meditation, but the sounds flooding his ears kept disrupting him.
His meditation was highly ineffective.
Calm down!
Calm down!
The external noises gradually diminished.
With the disturbances gone, Zhou Tianming's meditation gradually improved, yet an ominous feeling grew in his heart.
Calculating the time from when the sounds began to when they weakened—it had only been five or six minutes.
Blue Cosmos' killing efficiency was alarmingly fast.
Hurry!
Faster!
...
Outside the consciousness space, the brainwave monitor by the bedside showed increasingly volatile readings.
At first, the peaks and troughs intensified, the intervals between them becoming extremely short until the undulating line filled the entire display.
Then the brainwaves surged to their highest point and remained there, flatlining.
Suddenly, Zhou Tianming's fingers twitched—his previously motionless body now trembling violently, his eyeballs darting rapidly beneath closed eyelids.
The next second, Zhou Tianming abruptly sat up in bed, the thin blanket sliding down to reveal his bare torso.
His eyes snapped open, revealing deep brown irises—his pupils first dilating, then contracting as they gradually focused.
Squinting, Zhou Tianming found his vision blurred as if he had 500-degree myopia.
The harsh fluorescent light stung his eyes, forcing tears to spill down his cheeks.
After several minutes, his vision gradually cleared.
His head throbbed as if it were a balloon overinflated to the point of bursting.
Clutching his head, he surveyed his surroundings.
A windowless, cramped room—so sparse it lacked even a desk.
To the left stood medical equipment, to the right a single metal-framed bed, the narrow aisle between them barely wider than an adult's forearm.
A wave of bitterness rose in Zhou Tianming's chest, but he suppressed it with a sniff.
Attempting to throw off the blanket, he found his arms lacked strength—even bending his knees couldn't lift the lightweight covering.
The situation was worse than anticipated—five years of complete immobility since birth had left his body severely weakened.
Examining his arms, he was surprised they weren't skeletal.
Though slender, they had definition, and he could feel muscles contracting when he clenched his fists.
Looking down at his bare chest dotted with circular sensors, he saw a lean but evenly muscled frame.
The corners of his mouth lifted as his eyes softened into a warm smile. "Thank you."
Exhaling deeply, Zhou Tianming began moving his body.
At first his motions were clumsy and weak—his raised arms flopping limply—but with repeated fist-clenching, arm-flexing and chest-expanding...
The muscles dormant for five years were rapidly awakening—the physical gifts of an Ultimate Coordinator were extraordinary.
Pushing aside the blanket revealed loose, light-colored pants covering his lower body.
Twisting at the waist, Zhou Tianming swung his bare feet onto the floor.
First wiggling toes, then ankles, calf muscles, knees...
Finally bracing against the heart monitor, he shakily rose to his feet.
Within a minute, Zhou Tianming could perform all basic movements at normal speed.
Then his stomach growled loudly—hunger striking hard enough to make him swallow reflexively.
Scanning the room revealed no food—his stomach, inactive for five years, now churned emptily.
Clutching his stomach, Zhou Tianming felt miserable from hunger. His gaze wandered until it followed the tube on his arm and finally settled on the IV bag hanging from a metal stand nearby.
Standing on tiptoe on the bed, the slightly frail Zhou Tianming—only 0.9 meters tall—stretched his arms to retrieve the transparent-packaged IV fluid.
He took a look.
His face darkened. The packaging was entirely in English, and having never passed an English exam in his previous life, he couldn't understand a word.
Fortunately, he had once seen a news report about a doctor drinking glucose to replenish energy and had specifically looked up what glucose looked like.
His new brain recalled it clearly with just a slight effort.
After comparing the names, he found that one of the bags indeed contained glucose.
Eagerly, he tore open a corner, licked it first, and his eyes lit up.
He took a gulp.
It was faintly sweet, not overly so.
Unexpectedly delicious.
As the glucose entered his stomach, the hollow emptiness of his gut gained substance, and his stomach began digesting at full capacity.
Like water sprinkled on a desert, his body greedily broke down the glucose into energy to replenish his entire being.
About half an hour had passed since he woke up. The commotion outside had nearly died down, with only the occasional distant gunshot audible.
The gunfire was no longer as continuous as before but rather sporadic, with long intervals between each shot.
Zhou Tianming deduced that the Blue Cosmos operatives had entered the search phase, and it was only a matter of time before they discovered this place.
He peeled off the IV needle on the back of his hand, along with the sensors on his temples and chest.
Freed from these restraints, he was about to move toward the door to investigate when the heart monitor and Brainwave machine beside him suddenly emitted a sharp alarm.
Startled!
He frantically tried to turn off the alarm but couldn't find the switch anywhere.
The shrill alarm ringing in his ears only worsened the throbbing pain in his already aching head.
Unable to locate the machine's power button, he spotted the plug instead and yanked it out.
The alarm ceased abruptly.
The echoes lingered in his ears.
Tap-tap—!
Faint footsteps seemed to approach from outside the door.
Zhou Tianming whipped his head around to stare at the door, muscles tensing as he slowly retreated, though there was nowhere to hide.
Holding his breath, he listened carefully. The footsteps might have been an illusion—outside, it was eerily quiet.
1 minute…
2 minutes…
He exhaled softly and breathed slowly.
...
5 minutes…
Nothing happened. Zhou Tianming's tense body relaxed.
Bang-bang-bang—!
Gunfire erupted abruptly, dozens of bullets tearing through the door and spraying into the room.
The largest machines—the Brainwave monitor and heart monitor—were instantly shredded, their casings, circuit boards, and electronic components scattering everywhere.
The bullets swept across the room from right to left.
Zhou Tianming was the second target. Even though he saw the bullets coming, he couldn't dodge them.
In the space between life and death, time seemed to slow.
The gunfire faded, replaced by the deafening thud of his own heart pounding in his ears, drowning out everything else.
His pupils contracted. His painfully swollen head felt like it was exploding.
The congested Mental Power surged like a tsunami breaking through a dam, flooding toward the glowing orb deep within his consciousness.
[Concentration]
A word flashed through his mind. Zhou Tianming grasped something—with a thought, the bullets speeding toward him seemed to slow, crawling forward like turtles.
Not enough!
Though slower, he still couldn't evade them.
[Sure-hit Dodge]
Each bullet glowed red, emitting crimson rays—these were their trajectories.
Six bullets in total were aimed at Zhou Tianming's chest and abdomen. When the Mental Command "Sure-hit Dodge" projected their paths onto his body, it also illuminated his internal organs and skeletal structure in outline.
The bullet advanced slowly, but Zhou Tianming's body still couldn't keep up with the speed of his thoughts—seeing it didn't mean he could dodge it.
There was no time to think. His survival instincts screamed wildly, telling him what to do.
[Overdrive]
His heart pounded violently, each beat forceful enough to ache.
In a flash, Zhou Tianming's entire body flushed red, burning as it accelerated to its limits.
A sidestep, a retreat, then a lunge.
Within the cramped space, he dodged three bullets aimed at his body.
But three more were already unavoidable.
Just as he was about to activate [Iron Wall] or [Unyielding] to endure the hits, his gaze swept over the shattered door.
In that split-second decision, Zhou Tianming didn't use a [Mental Command]. Instead, he stepped forward, meeting the bullets head-on.
The next instant, he was struck in the left arm, abdomen, and chest.
But thanks to [Sure-hit Dodge] and his brain's rapid calculations, he completely avoided his bones, organs, and arteries.
The bullets tore through his body, splattering bright red blood against the wall, leaving behind a gruesome hole.
The impact sent Zhou Tianming flying backward, slamming him hard against the edge of the metal-framed bed before he collapsed to the floor.
Blood seeped from his wounds, spreading slowly.
The effect of [Concentration] faded, and Zhou Tianming's razor-sharp focus began to scatter. The gunshot wounds, which had felt bearable moments ago, now sent waves of pain shuddering through his body.
Gritting his teeth, he forced himself to stay still despite the agony.
BANG!
At the doorway, a heavy boot smashed through the bullet-riddled, tattered door.
Outside, two men in casual clothes, rifles in hand and faces twisted with malice, peered through the broken door.