CHAPTER 136: CHAPTER 136- REASON

In the stillness of the night, Julian fixed his eyes on Glain, his expression carrying both weariness and firmness. "Let me make this clear," Julian said quietly. "I won’t do anything troublesome anymore."

Glain raised a hand lightly, as though to ease the tension. "Relax. That’s not what I came for," he assured, his voice steady. Yet he fell silent for a moment, his gaze dropping slightly.

He knew how much Julian had already done for him, more than most men would ever dare.

Finally, Glain spoke again, his tone sharper this time. "What I want is for you to keep an eye on Leo’s movements."

Julian’s brow furrowed, but he didn’t look surprised. "I’ve been watching him since yesterday," he admitted, his voice edged with caution. "From the way he acts... he’s going to stir up chaos."

"Exactly," Glain replied, his eyes glinting. "That’s why I want you to monitor him closely. And when he makes his move, when he shows his tricks, I want you to kill him immediately."

Julian turned his head, his gaze narrowing into something colder. "That’s an unreasonable request," he said flatly. "If you already know what Leo is planning, why not confront him now? Kill him before he even has the chance. That would be far easier."

Glain let out a low breath, his tone shifting into something more solemn. "That’s a reasonable suggestion, Julian. But we don’t have much time. The Sky Whale is drawing closer with every passing day, and we must prepare ourselves to defeat it."

Julian’s eyes sharpened. "Even so," he countered, "it’s better to deal with the pests now rather than risk being attacked by them when our guard is down."

Glain shook his head firmly. "That’s not possible."

Julian frowned, confusion slipping into his voice. "Why not? What’s the real reason?"

Glain grew quiet for a moment, as though weighing how much truth he should reveal. Then, with a hint of heaviness in his tone, he said, "Before I explain why I can’t make such a decision, you should know my past."

Julian tilted his head slightly, listening with sharper focus.

"To be honest... back when the apocalypse began, I was nothing more than an ordinary apothecary. I spent years experimenting, trying countless methods, searching for a way to survive. And somewhere along that path, I met a man, a miner."

Glain’s voice grew distant, tinged with memory. "That miner was unlike anyone I’d ever met. He had vast knowledge of construction, and a mind sharp enough to devise ways of survival where none seemed possible. Together, he and I proposed something unthinkable at the time, to build a city where survivors could live safely. And the others... they supported us. That is how Meltdown City came to be."

"And from there," Glain continued, his eyes darkened by memory, "we grew stronger. The city expanded. People started to believe we had truly created a safe haven. But it didn’t last long... our resources began to dwindle, and desperation crept in."

He paused, his jaw tightening. "That was when my friend came up with a brilliant, yet dangerous, idea. He proposed turning zombie crystals into usable energy. It wasn’t some reckless gamble. No, he had a unique skill, one that allowed him to identify the true nature of those stones."

Julian leaned in slightly, curiosity flickering across his face. "And what did his skill reveal?"

For a brief moment, Glain’s expression hardened. He fell silent, as if the words themselves carried too much weight. Then, finally, he said in a low voice, "Those crystals... they are fragments of life itself. The very essence of existence."

Julian’s eyes widened as the realization struck him.

"That explains it," he murmured, half to himself.

’The crystals can be used as energy... but if that’s true, then the plague of zombies may not have been an accident at all. Someone could be trying to reshape the world, turn every living being into nothing but fuel.’

’Every zombie, every horde... they aren’t just mindless monsters. They gather human life force, consume it, and condense it into crystals. And now... that energy is what drives their evolution. They’re not just corpses anymore. They’re branching into something else.’

Glain said nothing at first. He only watched Julian in silence, his gaze unreadable, as though weighing memories too heavy to share. His lips pressed into a thin line, and for a long moment the air between them felt as cold and still as stone.

Finally, with a tone laced in quiet nostalgia, Glain spoke.

"...My friend reacted the same way when he uncovered the truth. When he realized what those crystals truly were, he fell into silence, just like you now. I still remember the look in his eyes... as if the world itself had betrayed him."

Julian drew in a sharp breath, his mind stitching the pieces together.

"So that’s why... all this time, those crystals have been storing fragments of life itself. That explains why the Sky Whale can sense us whenever we use them."

Glain gave a slow, deliberate nod. "Correct. Even I never imagined the crystals could be refined to the point of becoming a practical energy source. It was supposed to be our salvation. But..." His voice trailed, and a shadow passed over his face before he forced himself to continue. "My friend, he wasn’t satisfied with simply powering the city. Once he succeeded in creating energy, he grew... restless. He wanted to push further. To see if that essence could be drawn directly into a human body."

Julian’s eyes narrowed. "You mean... he wanted people to absorb it? To take the crystal’s power for themselves?"

"Yes," Glain admitted, his tone heavy. "That was his dream. To see whether mankind could evolve using the same essence that kept the dead on their feet."

"And?" Julian pressed, leaning forward slightly, unable to hide his unease. "Did it work?"

Glain’s expression hardened, his gaze drifting away as though revisiting a memory he wished he could forget. Slowly, he shook his head.

"No. The experiment never reached its conclusion. Before we could see whether it was truly possible... someone appeared. Someone who changed everything."

Glain’s voice lowered, carrying a weight that made Julian’s chest tighten. His words came out like fragments of regret carved into stone.

"He was the one who broke my friend’s hope. That man appeared out of nowhere... and with him came an army, too large, too disciplined to have been gathered in mere months. Their numbers alone made us believe the city was already surrounded, already trapped in the palm of his hand."

Glain’s jaw tightened, his gaze distant. "His name was Darwin Clock. A man marked by a scar running across his forehead. I’ll never forget it. He walked into our midst with quiet arrogance, demanding the blueprint, plans for the device that could extract energy from the crystals."

Julian’s eyes sharpened, but he remained silent, letting the story unravel.

"My friend refused him," Glain continued. "Stood his ground at first. But then... Darwin changed. He looked at my friend, just one look. A gaze so hollow, so stripped of humanity that it froze the blood in our veins. And suddenly... my friend crumbled."

Glain clenched his fists, his words trembling between anger and helplessness. "It was as if all strength, all will to resist, had been drained from him. He collapsed to his knees like a frail insect before a predator. There was no fight left in him. Nothing. He just... lowered his head, powerless."

Julian frowned, unsettled. "What did he see in that man’s eyes?"

Glain’s lips pressed into a thin line, his silence betraying the memory’s sting. Then, almost in a whisper, he said, "Even I cannot say. But in that moment, it was as if my friend’s very spirit had been shattered. And when I stepped forward, ready to fight Darwin with everything I had, my friend... stopped me. He grabbed my arm and whispered, ’Let him have what he wants.’"

Glain exhaled, the sound brittle with defeat. "I wanted to protest. To strike him down, no matter the cost. But the terror etched on my friend’s face... it wasn’t something I could ignore. He had never looked that way before. Whatever he saw in Darwin Clock, it was enough to make him surrender his life’s work without another word."

Glain’s voice grew quieter, as though each memory was a burden he had carried for too long.

"So, I did as my friend asked. Against every instinct screaming inside me, I obeyed. I handed Darwin the blueprint."

He closed his eyes briefly, recalling the image burned into his mind.

"And that man... he smiled. Not with joy, not with kindness, but with the kind of satisfaction a predator shows after sinking its teeth into prey. A smile of conquest. Then he said it, calmly, almost mockingly said ’The blueprint is all I wanted.’ After that, he turned his back on us. Just like that. As if we were nothing more than discarded tools, no longer worth his gaze."

Julian’s brows furrowed. "He didn’t attack you?"

"No," Glain replied with a bitter laugh, void of humor. "That’s what made it worse. He showed no interest in destroying us, no interest in taking the city, no interest in anything except that blueprint. Once it was in his hands, he simply... left. Vanished with his forces as suddenly as he had arrived."

Glain’s eyes darkened, his tone shifting, heavy with unease. "But my friend... he was never the same. After that day, something in him had broken. He grew distant, erratic. At times he would stare at the crystals for hours without speaking. At other times, he would mumble words I couldn’t understand, as though he was hearing voices from within them. The man who once dreamed of building a haven for survivors... became a shadow of himself."