On the Throne
In the new world that emerged after the calamity, extraordinary beings rose swiftly to prominence. Beneath the fragile veneer of balance, darkness bred madness, and the enigmatic forces wove new disasters. The power of an individual could now rival that of entire civilizations. A great tide surged forth, engulfing heaven and earth. Amidst this overwhelming current, Mo De—suddenly bereft of all support—stood alone. Confronted with the relentless sweep of fate, where would he go, and what path would he choose?
On the Throne
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Night had fallen, the wind and rain swayed in uneasy tandem. The lighthouse’s sweeping beam cast its dim yellow glow over the rising waves far out at sea. Stacked containers at the port walled off the raucous lights of the nearby harbor town, creating a haven of shadowed tranquility. Three days before, a massive cargo fire had stilled the once-bustling port, leaving it hushed in the early autumn dusk by the bay.
“Surprised? Shocked?” A low, slightly hoarse voice sounded in the night wind. “Heh, I’m the traitor—cough, cough... didn’t see that coming, did you?” Laboriously, the man raised a hand to adjust his amber-tinted glasses, his tone ever buoyant and irreverent.
“Qin, I didn’t expect it would be you seeing me off in the end.” His flippant words could not mask the thick scent of blood; as he spoke, he coughed up a spatter of crimson. His labored breaths, ragged and drawn out, echoed with a tearing sound in the damp night breeze.
“...” Pressing pale, parched lips together, the youth standing before him, Mo De, remained silent.
“Ten years have slipped by in a blink, Qin—you’ve grown from a scrappy little kid into someone formidable. Time truly wields its butcher’s blade; the ancients did not lie.” The man propped himself up on an elbow, peering through the maze of containers toward the distant sea, drifting into rambling reminiscence. “The tides rise and fall, coming and going, each batch in turn. A good name, truly a good name. To think, it was the sound of that name that first drew me in...”
As blood pooled beneath him, s
