The Radiation Valley looked like a gaping wound on the Earth's surface. Here, remnants of fiber-optic cables sprawled like the roots of a dead tree, coiling around concrete pillars that had long since lost their shape. The air felt heavy, carrying a sharp metallic taste—the effect of residual magnetic fields that scrambled any digital signal. To an ordinary Heart Chip user, this place was death; their bandwidth would stutter, causing shortness of breath or even organ failure. But to Kenzo, this "filthy" air felt pure, free from the suffocating interference of corporate data.
"One more kilometer," Ling Er panted. Her usually bright face was covered in desert soot. She stared intently at her Black-Market Deck, its holographic screen flickering violently. "If the coordinates from Uncle Feng are right, the entrance is behind the ruins of this reactor."
Kenzo didn't answer. He adjusted Meixing's position on his back. His sister had regained consciousness briefly, but her temperature was rising again. Kenzo could feel her meridians suffering; without a proper supply of Qi-Essence, her small body was rejecting the synthetic energy forced into her by the cheap drugs from the slums.
Right beneath the shadow of a leaning cooling tower, a large steel plate—once looking like mere scrap—suddenly shifted. The screech of rusted metal broke the valley's silence.
"Get in quickly, before the Sentinel heat scanners pass by!" a hoarse voice commanded from the darkness of the hole.
They descended a long spiral staircase into the depths of the earth. Below, a contrasting sight greeted them. If the surface was a dead steel hell, then down here was a microscopic city pulsing with wild life.
This was Rust Haven.
Multi-colored cables hung like lianas in a tropical forest. The smell of engine oil mixed with the aroma of instant noodles cooking at roadside stalls. Dim neon lights flickered, illuminating the faces of people who had no place in the "Upper" world. They were the Outcasts—those whose heart chips were expired, broken, or intentionally ripped out.
"Ling Er! You're still alive, you brat!" A middle-aged man with a magnifying glass permanently fixed over his left eye walked toward them. His right arm was an ancient prosthetic powered by steam and small pistons, not a digital chip.
"Uncle Feng!" Ling Er nearly crashed into him for a hug. "Almost didn't make it. The Steel Axe Gang and the Sentinels... they really want us dead."
Uncle Feng shifted his gaze to Kenzo. His sharp, old eyes scanned the young man from head to toe. He paused for a long moment at Kenzo's wrist, which bore no Core-Link mark.
"So, this is him?" Uncle Feng whispered, his voice a mix of disbelief and hope. "The 'Zero' who dismantled the Sector 9 security system just by the presence of his energy?"
"He needs help, Uncle. His sister... Meixing," Ling Er pointed to Kenzo's back.
They were taken to a workshop that doubled as an emergency clinic. The place was filled with old tube monitors and glass vats containing glowing green liquid. Uncle Feng immediately prepared a bed for Meixing.
"Lay her here, son," Uncle Feng said gently. He began checking Meixing's pulse—not with digital medical tools, but by pressing his fingers to the girl's wrist, an ancient technique that was nearly extinct.
Uncle Feng's face suddenly turned grave. "Kenzo, do you know why Neo-Heaven's medicines never worked on your sister?"
Kenzo clenched his fists. "I know they manipulate the market, but there's more to it, isn't there?"
Uncle Feng sighed, a small puff of steam escaping the pistons in his arm. "Your sister isn't sick in the conventional medical sense. She possesses what are called Pure Spirit Veins. In the era of your ancestors, this was the greatest blessing—a body that could hold limitless natural energy. But in this era, where the air is thick with digital frequencies and synthetic Liquid Qi, her body treats that energy as poison."
"So all this time..." Kenzo's voice trembled with rage.
"Yes. Neo-Heaven intentionally gave her medicine containing low doses of synthetic Liquid Qi. It didn't heal her; it only 'numbed' her nerves so she wouldn't explode, while simultaneously making her dependent. They don't want any human processing natural Qi independently. It would destroy their monopoly."
"I told you, boy," Long Wei's voice echoed in Kenzo's mind, filled with cold loathing. "This empire was built on lies. They call it technology; I call it chains."
Uncle Feng walked toward an old safe in the corner. After dialing a manual code, he produced a small vial containing pale blue crystal beads.
"These are genuine Qi-Essence Beads. Not chip-converted, but manually refined from radiation zones. They are incredibly expensive on the black market, but for Meixing, they are the only way to neutralize the digital toxins in her body."
Uncle Feng began crushing the beads and mixing them with a herbal solution. As he worked, he glanced at Kenzo, who was staring out at the crowd of people outside the workshop.
"You know, Kenzo, your arrival in Rust Haven isn't just an escape. The people here... they've long heard the legends of the 'Zero.' The one who would come to bring back the ancient fire."
"I only want to save my sister, Uncle," Kenzo replied flatly.
"Of course. But to save her, you must destroy the system that hurts her. You can't do that alone." Uncle Feng handed the mixture to Kenzo. "Feed this to her slowly. And after that, we must discuss your new identity. You can't enter the Central City as a fugitive."
Kenzo dripped the liquid into Meixing's lips. Slowly, a flush of color returned to his sister's cheeks. Meixing's breath, which had been shallow and heavy, became long and rhythmic. Inside her, the pure energy from the beads began to war against the residual digital code.
That night in Rust Haven, Kenzo couldn't sleep. He sat on the roof of Uncle Feng's workshop, staring at the cave ceiling adorned with hanging lights that mimicked stars. Xiao Hei, now the size of a man's arm, coiled around his shoulders.
"You feel that?" Long Wei asked.
Yes, Kenzo answered internally. There is so much sorrow in this place.
"Not just sorrow, but potential. These people are those rejected by their digital 'heaven.' If you can teach them how to breathe without a chip, you will have an army that no firewall can stop."
Kenzo looked at his palm. Thin black aura danced there. "I'm still too weak. When I fought the Steel Axe Gang, I felt the limits of my Lower Dantian. If the Sentinels send a Tier 5 or 6, I'm not sure I can survive while protecting Meixing and Ling Er."
"That is why you need the Middle Dantian," Long Wei snorted. "And the key to opening it is in the Central City. Inside the research labs of Neo-Heaven Corp. Ironic, isn't it? Your clan's heritage is held by the very ones who betrayed you."
The next morning, Uncle Feng called Kenzo to a deeper basement. Ling Er was already waiting with several pieces of highly sophisticated hardware.
"Welcome to stage two of our plan," Ling Er smiled, though the dark circles under her eyes showed she hadn't slept all night. "Kenzo, meet your new identity: K. An independent chip technician who just moved from the Outer Sectors."
Ling Er handed him a fake Heart Chip made from an old metal frame. "This is a 'Blank' chip. No connection to ZenPay, no corporate GPS tracking. It's just a tool to fool the city gate sensors so you aren't detected as a 'Zero' or a fugitive."
"But what about NC (Neo-Credits)?" Kenzo asked. "Everything in the Central City requires digital payment."
Uncle Feng produced a small device shaped like a deck of cards. "This is a Black-Market Deck of my own modification. It has a 'Ghost Mode' system. You can perform transactions without leaving a data trail. But remember, never use it near Admin units or Tier 9s. They can sense the frequency distortion."
Kenzo took the deck. It felt cold and heavy. He realized that from this moment on, his life was a game of shadows. He was no longer a scavenger from the slums; he was an infiltrator in the heart of the enemy.
"Meixing will be safe here with Grandma Hua at the Rust Haven branch of the Alchemist Union," Uncle Feng patted Kenzo's shoulder. "Now, go. Central City is waiting for you. Find the truth about Lin Tian, your ancestor, and discover what they are hiding behind that 'Paywall'."
Kenzo nodded. He looked at Meixing one last time before he departed. In his eyes, there was no more doubt. Only a burning fire—the fire of an ancient dragon ready to burn the Iron City to ash.