The ruined city moaned beneath the pressure of war.
Sirens wailed faintly in the distance. Demonic screeches echoed through the skeletal buildings, punctuated by the crumbling of stone and the hiss of collapsing firelines. Blue Star wasn't just under siege — it was being **devoured**.
And now, Qin Yu was **being hunted**.
---
He moved quickly, leaping from rooftop to rooftop, shadows clinging to his heels. The mask-wearing Observer hadn't followed, but Qin Yu wasn't naïve. That kind of power didn't just vanish.
Zhao Yue had headed for the southern ridge. He'd watched until she disappeared behind a collapsed monorail bridge. Now, alone, he could test the system without risking a civilian.
His panel hovered beside him, glowing faintly.
---
**\[Gravitational Core Tree Updated]**
• Micro Singularity (Lv. 1)
• Gravitational Pulse (Lv. 1)
• New Skill Unlocked: *Dark Mass Core (Lv. 1)*
→ *Passive*: Enhances the density of the host's body by 20%. Slight resistance to physical and kinetic damage. Strength +2, Vitality +2.
---
Qin Yu exhaled slowly. He flexed his arm. His body *felt* heavier — not sluggish, but solid, like a steel beam wrapped in flesh.
"Let's try this."
He stepped to the edge of a seven-story ruin, then jumped.
The air screamed around him. But when he landed, the ground **shattered**, not him. Dust exploded outward in a wide circle.
**\[Dark Mass Core: Passive Active]**
He didn't even wince.
---
"Interesting," a voice whispered from the smoke.
Qin Yu spun — too late.
A blade of green plasma slashed toward his throat.
He twisted, barely dodging. The edge carved a burning line across his shoulder, and pain lit up his nerves like fire.
His attacker was **not a demon**. He was fast. Human-sized. Clad in flowing blue-gray combat robes with strange mechanical bindings around his arms. A red crystal glowed in his forehead like a third eye.
"Not bad for a fresh host," the stranger smirked. "But your reaction time is still meat-level."
Qin Yu gritted his teeth. "You one of them?"
"Call me a Collector," the man said, twirling the blade. "We find… unstable system carriers. Remove them before they evolve."
The blade pulsed again — and this time, the attack was faster.
But Qin Yu was **ready**.
"Gravitational Pulse!"
A burst of invisible force exploded from his body. The attacker staggered, thrown several meters back, slamming into a burnt-out bus.
Qin Yu didn't stop. He charged, summoned the **Micro Singularity**, and hurled it like a grenade.
The Collector's eyes widened as the black hole bloomed mid-air, tugging on the metal wreckage around him. He snarled and stabbed the blade into the ground, anchoring himself with force.
But he was still being pulled. Cracks formed in the ground beneath him. His armor creaked.
Qin Yu advanced, black tattoo glowing.
"One more second…"
The singularity imploded. The force vanished. The Collector collapsed, coughing violently.
"Not bad…" he wheezed, blood trailing from his mouth. "You'll evolve faster than predicted."
Qin Yu walked up, stepping on his chest. "Tell me who sent you."
The Collector looked up, grinning.
Then bit down on something hidden in his mouth.
**Boom.**
A flash of light. His body dissolved into smoke — no corpse. No blood.
Just a faint rune on the pavement, flickering once before fading.
---
**Ding!**
**Combat Data Assimilated. Skill Fragment Obtained.**
**New Skill Available: *Void Step (Lv.1)* — Allows short-range teleportation (up to 5 meters). Cooldown: 10 seconds.**
---
Qin Yu stood in silence.
First the Observer. Now a Collector.
"Someone's cleaning house," he muttered. "And I'm the loose end."
He glanced up at the blood-colored sky, eyes cold.
"Good luck with that."
End of Chapter 4