Epoch of Twilight

Luo Yuan jumped up, scurried towards Zhao Yali, and felt her burning hot forehead. He was shocked and delighted at the same time, but more shocked than the latter because evolution was nothing but a risky game. The winner triumphs, while the loser is left stuck in a form that was neither human nor beast, losing all senses and reasoning, before finally assimilating to a beast, like the misfortune that befell Chen Xianfeng. Besides, with the electromagnetic storm, now was not an ideal time, as it was not only threatening but had danger lurking behind every rock. If anything were to happen at all, the result would most likely be an unpredictable one.

Luo Yuan paced the floor, but since it had already occurred, there was nothing he could do about it. As she entered the stage of evolution, they can only surrender her to fate and wait patiently in silence.

Huang Jiahui, Huo Dong and the rest were feeling uneasy as they looked at the unconscious Zhao Yali. The feeling was indescribable, after all, their mental strength, ability and hard work were all far more superior than Zhao Yali’s, but she, who dared not even fire a gun, had the chance to evolve, while they were left behind. But alas, they were already used to such situations, and felt better as soon as they expressed their emotions.

“Don’t touch her, it’s dangerous, just lay her down onto the floor!” said Luo Yuan, when he realized that Wang Xiaguang was still holding on to Zhao Yali. “She is in the midst of evolving and may subconsciously attack any time. If you aren’t careful enough, you may risk danger yourself.”

Wang Xiaguang nodded in silence and laid her down on the floor gently.

“The static electricity seems stronger now!” Wang Shishi pressed her hair down and exclaimed. As her hands rubbed onto the strands of her hair, it ignited a series of fine sparks.

“What’s happening? Aren’t we already flying at lower elevation?” Lin Xiaoji asked nervously.

“This is probably an after-effect of the electromagnetic waves above, but we will be fine soon.” Huo Dong spoke a lot, but he could not help but to gulp a mouthful.

As time passed, the static electricity in the air grew stronger. Even the slightest movement that rubbed against their clothes, instigated a series of sparks on their skin, hurting them as a result. The lights that had already extinguished were now blinking, creating a mysterious atmosphere.

This tensed up the atmosphere further; even Luo Yuan looked rather glum.

Then, a sudden loud bang, accompanied by the sound of broken glass was heard before the transport plane jolted strongly. A few of them were even flung out of their spots by the enormous force, rolled a few rounds before they managed to hold onto the iron chains which were used to stabilize the goods, to stabilize themselves.

Then, they felt their body sinking, and their heart skipped a beat. Gloom and terror were plastered across their faces.

The transport plane was ascending!

Commander Xia staggered his way towards the cockpit, and Luo Yuan followed suit.

As they pushed open the door, a freezing cold wind whistled through the broken hole on the left side of the glass. The hole was about the size of a basketball and was framed by spiderweb-like cracks, with fresh blood and human remains scattered around.

“Close the door, hurry!” the co-pilot shouted nervously. His face appeared greenish, either due to the freezing cold or his immense fear. Streaming down his head was fresh blood, with lots of glass debris cutting into his scalp. Evidently, he was injured when the glass shattered to smithereens.

When Luo Yuan and Commander Xia saw that gaping hole, they were consumed with shock and shut the door behind them at once.

Luo Yuan was able to pick up a burnt odor permeating the air. The effect of the hole on the glass was a secondary issue, but primarily, the critical damage was quite obviously located at the head of the plane.

“What’s happening? What’s happening?” Commander Xia was shocked and frightened, “We will be arriving soon; what wicked idea do you have up your sleeves?

“You seek answers from me; whom should I seek answers from then?” the captain asked with a hint of sarcasm, while slamming onto the steering wheel angrily.

A shrill, inanimate voice resonated from the dashboard to warn them.

“Damn it, the gas tank is leaking.”

“What about the backup gas tank?” asked Commander Xia, stopping the argument in light of such a dangerous situation

“F*ck! From where would we have gotten the backup gas tank, we are certainly not flying around the globe! The original design had it, but it wasn’t deployed because they were f*cking saving on the manufacturing costs!” the captain shouted, consumed by anger and fear.

The plane kept ascending. As the altitude increased, the static electricity became stronger. The imperceptible electrical current spread to the wall, the glass, the dashboard and eventually filled the air with crackling sounds. If it was not for the circuits that had a strong ability to defend itself from the electromagnetic effects, it would have exploded by now.

Seeing what was happening had caused Luo Yuan’s hair to stand on its end. He then suddenly thought of something and shouted, “Don’t fly up any further, the static electricity would light up the gas tank and we’ll all die!”

Their face immediately paled to a ghastly white.

The pilot took a deep breath to calm his overwhelming emotions, trying hard to control the plane while it began to descend. Comparing to the possible attacks at a lower altitude, self-explosion was definitely more dangerous.

There was a pin-drop silence in the cockpit, with only whistling sounds gushing from the hole when the cold breeze blew in. The blood at the edge of the hole had begun to coagulate and freeze up.

Commander Xia consciously felt his chest where the picture of his wife and daughter was. He opened his mouth a few times but could articulate no words. It was only after a few attempts, he said in a brittle voice, “How far... can we fly? Are we able to arrive our destination with this amount of gas left?”

“The leakage is serious... we may not even be able to reach half of the distance!” the pilot looked at the amount of the petrol, kept silent for a while, before he shook his head in despair. “As the electromagnetic storm may strike anytime, it is very dangerous to fly in the air with this leakage. While the gas is still sufficient, I’ll try to look for a place for a forced landing later. Both of you can leave now!”

............

Both Luo Yuan and Commander Xia went back to the cabin with a heavy heart.

“What’s happening? I seemed to have heard you guys quarreling?” Huang Jiahui asked.

Luo Yuan shook his head and said, “We’ve got some bad news. Please prepare yourself. As we’re experiencing a serious case right now, we’ll have no choice but to conduct a forced landing soon.”

“Commander, is this true?” a soldier asked in disbelief.

Commander Xia nodded heavily while still feeling the picture on his chest, but could utter no words again.

All was silent!

The oppressing atmosphere left the passengers gasping.

Shortly after, a loud bang ensued, and the metal of the transport plane clinked loudly. Even the solid walls of the cabin suddenly curved in, causing the thick iron flooring to roll-up, revealing an inch-wide gap.

With a tremendous jolt, the iron chains that fastened the cargoes clanked and sparked.

Luo Yuan sprinted over and held onto Zhao Yali, just before they felt their bodies drop.

“Watch out!” he shouted nervously.

The plane continued to decrease in altitude in an abrupt manner, and the speed seemed to be faster, making them feel as if they were floating. An extreme fear had struck them and all their faces were ghastly pale.

The notion of time, especially at this moment, seemed to have slowed down.

The body of Luo Yuan was roped with thick veins, his hair were standing on its end and his mental wellbeing was strained, while waiting for the coming of the last moment. He also did his utmost best to sense his surroundings but he could sense only fierce wind.

Just when everyone was in a dire state of desperation, the sudden drops gradually stopped but but when they wanted to heave a sigh of relief, Luo Yuan suddenly shouted, “Hold on tight!”

They were jittery, but held onto the fixed iron chains tightly.

A loud bang soon ensued, followed by a continuous firework-like noise. The transport plane jolted, coupled with an overbearing squeaky noise, and some parts began to billow with thick smoke.

From Luo Yuan’s sensory perception, he found out that their transport plane was crashing and breaking through the trees of various sizes because of the effects of the strong inertia. The force of the landing made them feel like a giant metallic monster rampaging through the forest.

Everyone was holding onto the iron chains tightly, but they were still forcefully flung up and down violently, sustaining some injuries no less.

The transport plane rampaged through a distance of about 500 to 600 meters before the plane’s head crashed hard into a hill, and finally came to a halt!