A youngster in his mid-twenties walked along the desolate highway infested with weeds with a large army green backpack strapped to his back. He carried a sharp knife in one hand and a water bottle in the other.
Potentially due to lack of grooming over a long time, the youngster wore long and untidy hair. This was complemented with uneven patches of stubble around his lips.
He was not a particularly fast walker. He walked slightly slower than the average walking person. Each time he took a step, his eyes full of caution would dart across his surroundings.
With the given context, this was not a particularly peculiar behavior, just common practice of a scavenger in a wasteland. What was truly eye-catching was the macaw[1] the size of half a forearm perched on the youngster’s shoulder.
The macaw had bright red feathers that slowly transitioned to a blue tint when they met its wings. Its posture appeared extremely alert and no matter what movements the youngster made, it remained fixed on his shoulder. It looked very intelligent as well.
The young man lifted the water bottle and swallowed a mouthful of water from it, to which he let out a content sigh. After that, he glanced at his left shoulder and produced a cup which he poured half a cup of water into, which he then held up to the beak of the macaw.
The macaw immediately leaned over with its head and buried itself into the cup, glugging away at the water.
After the macaw on his shoulder had enough to drink, the youngster finished what was left in the cup before continuing onward.
Upon paying attention to the pattern of the youngster’s movements, it could be observed that he was largely sticking to the middle of the road as if instinctively keeping a distance from the dark buildings lined across both sides of the road.
As the youngster continued on his path, the macaw on his shoulder suddenly became restless and cried out in what sounded like a call for caution.
There was an immediate change of color on the youngster’s expression. He quickly shot a look at the macaw perched on his shoulder. He saw the macaw with its head turned to an elevated position behind him while it restlessly flapped its wings about.
Without sparing a moments’ hesitation, the youngster took a pronounced step and charged into a shop lot beside the highway.
“It seems the target noticed us.”
Meanwhile, several kilometers away, Chen Chen was just getting into the Bugatti Spaceship. X-112 immediately informed, “The parrot on the target’s shoulder appears to be extremely sharp.”
“No surprise there. Due to the need for climate-induced migration, birds had developed extreme sensitivity to magnetic and electric fields. It’s nothing out of the ordinary for them to detect the electromagnetic waves emitted by our drones.”
Chen Chen silently observed the display in front of him. The display had switched into thermal imaging mode so despite the youngster immediately retreating into the ruins, his position was still clear as day under the thermal imaging display.
“But I just noticed that this person seems to be making a conscious effort in sticking to the middle of the road without straying off the path. Is he abiding by some form of rule?”
Chen Chen suddenly mumbled to himself in a low tone. The way he saw it, if some sort of unknown object or beings were to strike the remaining surviving humans, walking on such a plain terrain was as good as asking for death.
Walking on such a path was exposing yourself to countless peering eyes from all directions. You would be better off using the intertwining alley roads and streets since it would be safer.
Unless…
“Unless, he believes there’s more danger lurking inside the buildings?”
Chen Chen turned into a frown. He suddenly remembered the apartment building he was in just now. If he were to encounter some sort of threat, it would certainly be more viable to make a quick escape in the wide-open roads.
Chen Chen was starting to feel the weight of the situation.
The Bugatti Spaceship continued gliding across the air, steadily approaching the survivor at the speed of 120 kilometers per hour.
Something to consider was that this was the first time Chen Chen found a living person in the alternate dimension. He had opened so many passages to different dimensions and each time, he was faced with a crumbled civilization where there was not a single survivor. At one point, Chen Chen was convinced that there was not a single living soul inside the dimensions accessed from the USB drive.
Or so he believed, until the youngster made his appearance and rekindled a new hope in Chen Chen.
Four minutes later, Chen Chen stealthily arrived in a location a short distance away from the youngster’s position. After the Bugatti Spaceship had descended, Chen Chen got off the aircraft with three Black Knights and they began heading toward the youngster’s location.
Even after several minutes, the young man still did not make any attempts to escape. He remained curled up under the counter inside a shop. If not for the thermal imaging device revealing the target’s position, Chen Chen may have thought that the youngster had silently snuck away.
Could this stealth tactic allow him to evade whatever or whoever was responsible for the destruction of this world?
Chen Chen found it rather curious. Still, his feet continued pressing forward toward the direction of the shop lot.
As Chen Chen and his crew pressed forward, they emanated steady rounds of footsteps which were further amplified in the idle, quiet street. From Chen Chen’s thermal imaging vision, he noticed the youngster trembling upon hearing their footsteps.
Surely enough, he was afraid.
Just as Chen Chen stepped foot into the shop lot decorated with shattered windows, the youngster finally made a move. He abruptly shot out from beneath the counter and darted further inside the building without so much as a glance at Chen Chen’s group!
In most cases, these street-side shop lots had a back entrance. The youngster knew that there was no way he could remain hidden and decided to escape using the back door.
“Can you get away?”
Chen Chen knitted his brows and motioned with his hand. One of the Black Knights immediately took a meteoric step forward which caused the tile under his feet to shatter with a sudden “crack”!
The Black Knight almost instantly vanished into an afterimage and launched himself forward like a bullet shot out of its chamber!
The youngster felt a strong gust of wind roaring from behind him. Before he could dodge, he felt a twitch of something grabbing him from behind!
“It’s over…”
The youngster felt a biting cold surge across his body. He instinctively grabbed the macaw perched on his shoulder and flung it in front of him. With all the strength he could muster, he yelled, “Run!”
“Chirp, chirp!”
Unprepared, the parrot flapped its wings frantically in the air before landing back on the ground and charged into the darkness behind.
The other two Black Knights did not try to stop it as Chen Chen had ordered them to capture the man, not the parrot.
The youngster felt a tremendous force propelling him. Before he could even react, he found himself suspended mid-air. With just one arm, the Black Knight had flung the youngster backward and viciously slammed him onto the floor.
“Ow!”
The youngster yelped terribly but got back up on his feet the very next second, like a carp cast out of the water. Without sparing a thought, he rocketed toward the main entrance!
However, just as he was trying to escape again, he met Chen Chen and the remaining two Black Knights head-on.
The youngster immediately halted his footsteps and fell into a daze.
[1] A species of parrot