The air in the garden was biting, a December chill that promised snow, but inside the perimeter of the Whispervine, it was silent.

  I was pruning the tomatoes—Tim was sleeping, or whatever vegetables did during the winter cycle—when my phone buzzed on the patio table.

  [Emergency Broadcast System: State of the City Address]

  I wiped the dirt from my hands and propped the phone up against a watering can.

  The screen came to life. It was broadcasting live from the podium of Detroit City Hall. The backdrop was the seal of the city, as well as armed guards in grey uniforms.

  Two people stood at the podium.

  To the left was Governor Cedric Killstone. He looked like a man who was trying very hard to smile while wearing a suit that was slightly too tight. I pulled up a tabloid article on my laptop while the stream buffered.

  Killstone Relocates to Barton Hills. Governor cites "Security Concerns" for move from Lansing.

  "Coward," I said. Barton Hills was a gated fortress community in Bloomfield Hills. He was hiding in the most expensive bunker in the state while claiming to lead.

  To the right stood Mayor Vicky Holson.

  She was different. She stood tall, wearing a sharp charcoal blazer. Her eyes were scanning the camera lens. She hadn't fled. She lived in City Hall, turning the government seat into a personal fortress.

  "Citizens of the Safe Zone," Holson began. "Today marks ten months since the Awakening Event. We have stabilized the core. We have restored power. We have brought order to chaos."

  "Our patrols have pushed back the encroachment in Sector 5," she continued. "We are reclaiming blocks every day. The government is advancing."

  I narrowed my eyes. "Liar."

  I knew the maps. The government held Downtown (Sector 5). That was it. Everything else was Faction territory. She was painting a picture of a unified front, pretending that Eden, White Hill, The Cove and Seaside were just deputized branches of her authority.

  It was a necessary illusion. If the people realized the government was just another gang with better PR, the city would collapse into total anarchy.

  Holson stepped back, gesturing to Killstone. "Governor?"

  Killstone stepped up. He wiped sweat from his upper lip.

  "Thank you, Mayor," Killstone said. "We are... uh... securing funding for new infrastructure. However, we are facing challenges with the... the aggressive expansion in the north."

  He looked nervous. He went off script.

  "The White Hill paramilitary group has repeatedly violated the jurisdictional boundaries of Sector 3," Killstone stammered. "We cannot allow warlords to dictate terms to the state. If Axehill continues to—"

  Holson stepped forward, placing a hand on Killstone’s shoulder. It looked supportive to the audience, but I saw her fingers dig into his suit jacket.

  "The Governor is passionate about law and order," Holson interrupted. "But he is tired from his travels. We will address the northern disputes internally."

  She physically steered him away from the podium. Killstone looked relieved to be manhandled.

  The feed cut to the City Seal.

  I leaned back in my chair.

  "Killstone is a puppet," I whispered. "Holson is the hand."

  She was the threat. She allowed the factions to exist because they were useful, but she was watching us. She was waiting for us to slip.

  I closed the stream. Politics was a game for people who couldn't grow power. I had work to do.

  I opened the real estate portal on my laptop.

  I pulled up the deed for the massive lot in Midtown—Sector 2. My territory.

  It was an entire city block of industrial wasteland. To turn that into what I envisioned—a Supermarket that would make pre-Collapse Supercenters look like lemonade stands—required immense resources.

  I tallied the costs.

  Land acquisition (buying out the lingering liens): 40 Million.

  Materials (Black steel, reinforced glass, foundations): 50 Million.

  Initial Inventory (Stocking shelves with non magical goods to fill the space): 30 Million.

  Total Project Cost: 120,000,000 Spirit Stones.

  "Damn," I said.

  I checked Eden’s accounts. We had generated good revenue from the tea and the restaurant, but after expenses and payroll, we were sitting on maybe 10 million.

  "Midtown is expensive," I noted. Even though it was my territory, the property values were inflated because it was the buffer zone between the chaos of the north and the wealth of the river.

  This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  If I built this in Southfield, it would cost a tenth of that. But Southfield was technically White Hill jurisdiction. I wasn't ready to start a war with Axehill today.

  I picked up my phone and dialed Grace.

  "Kaz?" she answered on the first ring.

  "I need money," I said bluntly.

  "Hello to you too," Grace sighed. "How much?"

  "A hundred and ten million stones."

  There was a long silence on the other end of the line.

  "Grace?"

  "I'm here," she said. "I'm just... processing. You know the family fortune is… hurting, Kaz. That's five percent of our total net worth on a single project."

  "It's a Supermarket," I said. "It's the heart of the empire. It will pay for itself in six months."

  "I trust you," she said. "I'll liquidate the remaining offshore trusts. You'll have the funds within the hour."

  "Thanks, partner."

  I hung up and called Sal.

  "Sal," I said. "I'm sending you the deed to the Midtown Lot."

  "The big one?" Sal whistled. "What's the plan?"

  "Super Center," I said. "Eden Style. Bioluminescence everywhere. Secure parking. A pharmacy, a hardware section, a grocery section. Everything."

  "That's a massive job, Boss," Sal said. "Even with my guys working 24/7..."

  "How long?"

  "One month," Sal said. "Give me one month, and I'll give you a palace."

  "One month is fine," I said. "Do it."

  I closed the laptop.

  One month.

  The construction was out of my hands. The colony in Adam was running under Mayah’s supervision. The restaurant was on autopilot with Aiya.

  For the first time since the apocalypse began, I had nothing to do.

  "Cultivation," I whispered.

  I walked to the center of the Spirit Soil. I sat down in the lotus position. The winter wind bit at my face, but I didn't feel it.

  I closed my eyes.

  I wanted to see the root of the world.

  I sank deep. Deeper than I had ever gone.

  Hours passed. Days passed.

  My consciousness drifted away from the cold backyard in Southfield.

  The transition was seamless.

  One moment I was looking at the back of my eyelids; the next, I was looking at a garden.

  But it wasn't my garden.

  The colors were violent. The green of the leaves was so vibrant it hurt to look at. The sky was gold. The air smelled of petrichor.

  I tried to step forward but I couldn't.

  I looked down. I didn't have legs or a body. I was just a point of view, a floating consciousness fixed in space.

  I could only look.

  I saw a man and a woman walking in the distance. They were naked, their skin glowing with a light.

  I saw creatures that defied biology. Wheels of fire covered in eyes spinning in the air. Four faces with wings.

  I watched for what felt like eons. It was paradise and terrifyingly perfect.

  The grass rustled and a snake slithered into my field of view.

  It stopped and looked directly at me before it hissed.

  I tried to look away, but I couldn't move.

  My gaze was drawn past the snake, to the center of the garden.

  There was a tree stump there. It looked scorched, as if lightning had struck it a thousand times.

  Sitting on the stump was a figure.

  He sat with his back to me. He wore simple robes and looked human, but the shadow he cast stretched out for miles, darkening the grass.

  I felt a pressure.

  The figure’s shoulders shifted.

  He began to turn his head. He knew I was there and he was going to look at me.

  Panic flooded my mind. I screamed without a mouth.

  Wake up! Wake up!

  My eyes blew open.

  I gasped, sucking in air like a drowning man.

  My body was drenched in sweat and my heart was hammering against my ribs so hard it hurt.

  I fell backward into the dirt, my limbs shaking uncontrollably.

  "What..." I wheezed. "What was that?"

  The image of the figure on the stump was burned into my mind and the dread was still there, lingering in my chest.

  I lay there for a long time, watching the clouds move across the winter sky.

  Eventually, the shaking stopped.

  I sat up. I reached for my phone on the patio table. It was dead.

  I plugged it into the portable charger I kept outside. It booted up.

  December 31, 2024.

  I stared at the date.

  "A month," I whispered. "I was there for a month."

  I stood up. My legs felt like jelly, but as I straightened, I felt a surge of power that nearly knocked me back down.

  I checked my status.

  [Cultivation Realm: Seed (Stage 3)]

  [Spirit Soil Upgrade: Grade 5]

  [Qi Capacity: 250]

  The breakthrough was massive. My capacity had doubled. My soil was now Grade 5.

  But I felt haunted.

  "The Snake," I muttered, rubbing my face. "Was it a warning? Or was it showing me the source?"

  I shook my head. I couldn't dwell on dreams. Tomorrow was January 1st. The Supermarket opened tomorrow.

  I looked at the garden. It had survived the month without me, thanks to Tim and the automated systems.

  I walked to the perimeter. The Heavenly Moss looked dim compared to my new energy.

  "Upgrade," I commanded.

  I dumped energy into the system.

  [Heavenly Moss (Spirit Grade 5)]

  [Generation: 12.4 Qi / Hour]

  12.4. That was staggering. I was a walking reactor.

  I went to the rack. My Grade 4 Spirit Bamboo Sword and Armor were waiting.

  I placed my hands on them.

  [Consuming 100 Qi...]

  [Consuming 100 Qi...]

  [Spirit Bamboo Gear (Grade 5)]

  I strapped the armor on. It felt indestructible. I sheathed the sword.

  I walked to the driveway. The Terramotta was covered in a thin layer of snow. I brushed it off the windshield and climbed inside.

  I was groggy. My head was still spinning from the month long coma. But I couldn't rest.

  "The Colony," I said, starting the engine.

  I needed to see Adam. I needed to see what the sisters had done with my fortress before I put on a suit and played CEO tomorrow.

  I backed out of the driveway, the tires crunching on the ice, and headed toward the horizon of Adam.