Yin Lie had been lying low for three days, moving through the city's pulse like a ghost.
Like wounded prey, he kept to his sanctuary—a converted industrial loft in a forgotten district. Outside, Nocturnal Shadows City continued its vibrant, neon-drenched life as if the blood and ice of the docks had never stained its streets. But inside him, the war raged on.
His fingertips touched a glass, and a thin layer of frost silently spread. His night vision painted the world in monochrome, the red outline of his neighbor's beating heart visible through the wall. The power was now his shadow, but it felt more like a cage. Online news about the "harbor gas explosion" had grown cold, but in several encrypted forums—data streams flowing like hidden rivers—whispers of "silver pupils" were gaining traction.
[Data Fragment 1: User [Shadow-Prowler]: Energy readings confirm, not any registered known lineage. Damage pattern shows cryogenic and physical tearing coexisting. Unprecedented.]
[Data Fragment 2: User [Crowfeather]: Eyewitness report reliability B+. Silver pupils, highly suspected hybrid traits. Did anyone 'lose' important cargo at the Old Docks? The wind is tight.]
[Data Fragment 3: User [Rust-Chain]: Whoever he is, the Special Affairs hounds have their noses to the ground. Newcomer, learn to hide or prepare to be torn apart.]
Hide... Yin Lie shut off the screen, plunging the room into darkness. How long can I hide? This power is eating me from the inside out.
On the fourth night, following instructions from an anonymous source, he found himself outside an antique bookstore at the edge of the city's historic district—"Echoes Books." The shop was narrow, its windows crowded with dust-laden tombs, the wooden sign creaking faintly in the evening breeze, an anachronism against the trendy surroundings.
A bell chimed as he entered. An old man behind the counter, repairing a parchment volume, looked up through thick glasses. His eyes were cloudy, his movements slow.
"Looking for something, young man?"
"I'm looking for... 'calm.'" Yin Lie uttered the code phrase, his voice rough.
The old man paused in cleaning his glasses. His milky eyes scanned Yin Lie, lingering on his deliberately downcast gaze.
"In the back. Third shelf, Evolution of Urban Architecture. Press the hidden switch on the left spine."
The back of the store was deeper than it appeared. Behind a false bookcase, a descending passage smelled of damp and old paper. It led to a surprisingly spacious basement.
This was no training ground. It was a strange gallery. One wall held massive screens streaming city surveillance and data feeds. The other displayed an assortment of cold weapons, peculiar minerals, and sculptures of various non-human forms. The air hung thick with ozone, medicinal herbs, and the faint, metallic tang of blood.
A man stood there, dressed in a high-collared black jacket, his hair steel-gray, his build compact and tough as nails. He looked to be in his fifties, with eyes that seemed to pierce through flesh and bone.
"Yin Lie." His voice was level, carrying undeniable authority. "I am Chen Gu. You may call me Instructor Chen, or Old Chen."
He offered no pleasantries, gesturing instead to a nondescript metal disc etched with complex patterns at the room's center. "Stand on it."
Yin Lie complied. The disc instantly glowed with a soft blue light, the patterns swirling as if alive. Chen Gu watched the data cascading down a nearby screen, his brow furrowing slightly.
"Energy spectrum is chaotic. Strong lupine foundation, but overlaid with... a highly ordered cryogenic, entropy-reducing effect. Contradictory, yet paradoxically coexistent. Your lineage is more complex than I imagined." He shut off the screen, his gaze sharpening on Yin Lie. "The docks... you were lucky. You didn't die, and you weren't captured. Luck doesn't last. Until you learn full control, the two forces inside you could erupt again at any moment. Turn you into a pile of frozen shards, or a mindless beast that knows only slaughter."
He's right. Yin Lie clenched his fist. That feeling of losing control... I never want to experience it again.
"Control begins with awareness." Chen Gu walked to a display shelf, retrieved a dark blue crystal, and tossed it to Yin Lie. "Hold it. Feel your 'ice' aspect. Guide it. Imagine it coalescing in your palm, not rampaging through your veins."
The crystal was piercingly cold. Yin Lie closed his eyes, focusing his will on his hand. At first, the cold energy leaked out uncontrollably, frosting the nearby table. Under Chen Gu's stern commands and precise guidance, he gradually grasped that slender, cold "thread," learning to pull it, to wind it.
Meanwhile, in a penthouse apartment across the city.
Su Li stood before the floor-to-ceiling window, looking down at the glittering river of lights below. Dressed in a silk robe, a glass of red wine in her hand, her reflection seemed both elegant and solitary. On the desk behind her lay detailed reports of the harbor incident, including several blurred but recognizable surveillance captures of Yin Lie's profile.
A holographic projection flickered to life beside her, revealing the face of a serious-looking man with gold-rimmed glasses.
"Ms. Su, the loss of the target at the docks has disrupted our plans. The 'Keystone' is missing."
"Acknowledged, Ling." Su Li took a sip of wine, her gaze still fixed on the city lights. "Damage assessment?"
"Three field operatives lost. 'The Nail' is confirmed dead. The raiders' identity is untraceable; their equipment was advanced, their tactics unlike any known local faction. More troubling is this sudden 'Silver Pupil.' He's a stone thrown into a pond already swirling with undercurrents."
"Find him," Su Li turned, her eyes sharp. "Before they do, or before Qi Yan's people get to him."
"Understood. Also, movement from Qi Yan's side. He's absorbed the Blackwater Gang's territory in the docklands. Swift action, no survivors left. He seems to be... consolidating resources, faster than we anticipated."
"The speed of ambition often outstrips the growth of real power." Su Li set down her glass. "Alert the Guardians. Heighten vigilance. The cracks are showing. The storm is coming."
The hologram vanished. Su Li walked to the desk, her finger tracing the words "Silver Pupil" in the report. "A new variable..." she murmured to herself. "Will you be the catalyst that shatters the balance, or the disaster that accelerates our ruin?"
Back in the basement of Echoes Books.
Yin Lie was drenched in sweat, but the crystal in his palm was now coated in a uniform, stable layer of frost, no longer leaking chaotic cold. He felt an unprecedented exhaustion, but also a faint, newfound sense of mastery.
"Basic mental guidance. A far cry from true control," Chen Gu stated impassively. "Your lupine blood gives you immense vitality and physical strength—a perfect vessel for the ice. But their natures conflict. The wolf-blood seeks release, wildness, heat. The ice seeks restraint, order, absolute zero. You must find the balance point. Let them achieve dynamic stability through conflict, not let one consume the other, or... annihilate each other."
He paused, his tone grave. "Regarding your bloodline, I've found fragmented old records. 'Frost Wolf,' they sometimes called such hybrids. But it's no blessing. It's more of a 'Curse' that accompanies the power. Each use may pull you a step deeper into the abyss of the non-human, until you're utterly lost to the wildness and the cold, stripped of all human emotion and reason."
Frost Wolf... Curse... Yin Lie's heart sank. It confirmed his deepest fear.
Just then, a low hum came from one of Chen Gu's alert systems. He moved swiftly to the main screen. The display showed a real-time feed—a squad of figures in black uniforms, moving with ghostly efficiency, conducting a grid search a few blocks away. Their instruments glowed with an ominous red light.
"Special Affairs Purge Squad." Chen Gu's face darkened. "They've caught the scent. We can't stay here."
He swiftly pressed a micro-data chip into Yin Lie's hand. "Locations for temporary safe houses and new contact protocols. Remember, trust is a luxury we cannot afford now. Go!"
Yin Lie slipped out the back door and melted into the night. He glanced back just as Chen Gu calmly activated several devices. The lights of Echoes Books winked out, as if it had never existed.
Walking the cold streets, he felt the ice and fire within him temporarily subdued by the external pressure. But the feeling of being rootless, hunted by multiple forces, wrapped around his heart like cold, creeping vines.
Cracks had appeared—not just within the society of variants, but deep within his own soul. His choices now seemed destined to shape the future of Nocturnal Shadows City itself.