Chapter: Chapter 122 A Slow ChangeThe silence in the mansion was a physical presence, thick and cold as morning fog. Imran sat at the vast dining table, a single place setting before him, the polished wood stretching endlessly in both directions. Across from him, Bassam hunched over his own plate, eating mechanically, his eyes fixed on some middle distance that had nothing to do with the room around him.A servant had placed their breakfast—fresh bread, cheese, olives, eggs—and retreated to the kitchen. The clink of cutlery against porcelain was the only sound.Imran watched Bassam for a long moment. He thought about last night—the stadium, the shawarma, the way Zaid had thrown an arm around his shoulders like it was nothing. The way Khamees had ruffled his hair and called him annoying but theirs. The way he had felt, for a few hours, like a person instead of a project.He looked at Bassam, who lived in the same house but might as well have been on another planet."The eggs are good this morning," Imran said.Bassam g
Last Updated: 2026-02-24
Chapter: Chapter 121 Late Night ShawrmaThe stadium lights were fading behind them, the roar of the crowd now a distant memory replaced by the quiet hum of the city at night. The game had been everything they'd hoped for—Al-Qadisiya had won in the final minutes, the stadium had exploded, and for two glorious hours, nothing had mattered except the ball and the goal and the shared joy of thousands of strangers becoming one voice.Now, the group was dispersing. Hosam and Karam had peeled off towards their own dorms, still arguing about a controversial offside call. Bassam had quietly slipped away with a wave, his usual reserve intact but a genuine smile lingering on his face. That left Zaid, Khamees, and Imran walking together through the quiet streets towards their building.The night was cool, carrying the first hints of autumn. Imran walked slightly apart from them, his hands in his pockets, his face tilted up towards the stars. He hadn't spoken much since leaving the stadium, but there was something different in his silenc
Last Updated: 2026-02-23
Chapter: Chapter 120 The Little Boss Comes AroundThe week had been brutal. Three shoots, two video edits, and a system quest that had required Zaid to learn the basics of financial literacy in seventy-two hours—Imran's idea of "character development." By Friday afternoon, Zaid was running on caffeine and desperation, his only solace the bright orange ticket burning a hole in his pocket.The final match. Al-Qadisiya vs. Al-Arabi. The biggest game of the season. Everyone was going—Bassam, Hosam, Karam, even Fares (though they'd agreed to sit on opposite sides of the stadium to avoid drama). It was going to be perfect.Except for one small problem."We're not going." Imran's voice was flat, final, as he studied his tablet in Khamees's room. "We have the sponsorship proposal for the sports drink brand due Monday. The preliminary cut needs to be reviewed. And the analytics from the desert vlog require a full breakdown before the next content meeting."Khamees's face went through several shades of red. "The game is tomorrow. The proposal
Last Updated: 2026-02-22
Chapter: Chapter 119 The Scariest Monster Is Human.The desert at night was a different creature entirely. During the day, it had been beautiful—golden dunes, endless sky, the romantic allure of ancient stories. But now, under a cold moon and a blanket of stars that felt too close, it was terrifying. Every shadow seemed to move. Every sound—the scuttle of a beetle, the whisper of wind—felt like a warning.They had set up camp near Abu Rashed's territory, with his permission, to film a "desert survival" vlog. The concept was simple: Zaid would attempt to start a fire without matches, navigate by the stars, and generally look rugged and capable. Imran had calculated that the "man vs. wild" genre had high engagement rates among their demographic. Khamees had agreed, reluctantly, because the numbers made sense.But none of them had accounted for the lingering terror of the old man's stories.The fire crackled weakly, struggling against the night breeze. Zaid sat cross-legged on a blanket, his eyes darting towards the darkness beyond the fi
Last Updated: 2026-02-19
Chapter: Chapter 118 Sweet MomentsThe afternoon sun was warm on their shoulders as Zaid and his mother walked through the old market, the kind of aimless weekend stroll they hadn't shared in months. She had wanted to get out of the apartment, to breathe air that didn't smell like cleaning supplies and worry. Zaid had cleared his entire schedule over Imran's mild objections—to make it happen.They wandered past spice stalls and fabric shops, past the scent of spices and the sound of merchants hawking their wares. His mother paused at a jewelry stall, admiring silver Bedouin pieces, and Zaid felt a warmth in his chest that had nothing to do with the sun. This was what mattered. This was the point of everything.Then she stopped in front of a sweet shop.The window display was a masterpiece of temptation, golden kunafa glistening with syrup, basbousa soaked in rose water, baklava layered in perfect, flaky sheets. His mother's eyes widened with a longing so pure, so childlike, that Zaid almost laughed."Look at that kunaf
Last Updated: 2026-02-17
Chapter: Chapter 117 Stories In ClayThe pottery studio was a hidden gem tucked away in the oldest part of the city, where modern life faded into the dust and silence of history. Abu Rashed, the master potter, was a man whose face was a map of wrinkles, each line telling a story of decades spent shaping clay under the desert sun. His hands, gnarled and strong, moved with a grace that made the spinning wheel seem alive.Zaid sat across from him, his own hands covered in wet clay, attempting to shape a simple bowl. It was going badly. The clay kept collapsing, spinning into lopsided lumps that bore no resemblance to pottery.Abu Rashed laughed, a dry, crackling sound like wind over sand. "You fight it, boy. The clay is not your enemy. It is your partner. You must listen to it.""I'm trying," Zaid grunted, rescuing another collapsing mess. "It's not very talkative."Khamees circled them with the camera, capturing every angle. Imran sat in the corner, tablet in hand, monitoring the footage on a secondary screen, occasionally
Last Updated: 2026-02-16
The Awakening Of The Last Knight.
In an alternative universe wars are taking place between humans and ghouls.
A thousand years ago, humans built a siege to keep the ghouls trapped inside and stop them from attacking human villages. Fifty years ago, the siege cracked, and ghouls flooded the human world, destroying many cities.
They disguise themselves as humans or animals when they infiltrate cities. Then, they reveal their true forms, attack, and burn everything to the ground.
Scientists built a barrier system to keep ghouls out, and governments trained warriors to use high-tech devices to fight them. The strongest group of warriors, who fought bravely for the last decade, are called the Knights of Askalan. They fought the battle that took place ten years ago, protecting their city from ghouls, and are now the heroes and protectors of the city.
Ali is a 21-year-old fresh graduate. On the day of his graduation, he was having fun with his friends and taking pictures during the ceremony when ghouls attacked from the sea. Somehow they broke the barrier.
His friends were killed while trying to escape. He went to check on his family, but two of his brothers had been killed while defending his mother and younger sister, and his father was injured. He tried to get them to safety amid the chaos, but they were trapped. So, he decided to sacrifice himself, leading the ghouls away from his family. The ghouls surrounded him and attacked one by one. Just as he thought he was finished, a system screen appeared, giving him a choice: start over the day with new armor or carry on and die.
Read
Chapter: Chapter 391 The Loudest SilenceThe hospital room was quiet except for the steady beep of monitors and the soft whisper of the ventilation system. Ghassan lay in his bed, his face pale against the white pillow, his eyes fixed on Ali with an intensity that belied his weakened state.Ali had come alone this time. He pulled the chair close to the bed and sat down heavily, the weight of the past few days evident in every line of his face."I talked to someone," Ali began quietly. "Someone who knows things about Ghouls. About what might be happening to you."Ghassan's eyes widened slightly, but he said nothing."His name is Abu Jumana. He's... he's not well. He's in prison. But he knows more about Ghouls than almost anyone alive." Ali chose his words carefully. "He read ancient texts. Ghoul texts. And he said something important.""What?" Ghassan's voice was a whisper."He said the Ghouls don't transform humans. They don't want to. They think we're beneath them." Ali leaned forward, holding the boy's gaze. "The voice you
Last Updated: 2026-02-23
Chapter: Chapter 390 The MadmanAli's footsteps echoed through the sterile corridors of Ali's company as he made his way to Professor Riyad's office. The old professor was exactly where Ali expected to find him—hunched over a stack of papers, his thick glasses perched on his nose, a cup of tea growing cold at his elbow."Ali." Riyad looked up as Ali entered, his eyes sharp despite his age. "You look terrible. What happened?"Ali collapsed into the chair across from Riyad's desk and told him everything—Ghassan's condition, the voice in his head, the visit to George, the talk about the Bridge between human and Ghoul natures. Riyad listened without interrupting, his expression growing more serious with each word.When Ali finished, the professor was quiet for a long moment. Then he leaned back in his chair and removed his glasses, polishing them slowly."George gave you legends and rumors," Riyad said. "You need facts. Historical records. Original texts.""I've read everything we have on Ghoul biology," Ali said tiredl
Last Updated: 2026-02-22
Chapter: Chapter 389 Fragile HopeThe fluorescent lights of the hospital ceiling hummed overhead, a steady, mechanical drone that seemed to pulse in time with the throbbing agony in Ghassan's shoulder. He drifted in and out of consciousness, the boundaries between waking and dreaming blurred by pain and whatever drugs the doctors had pumped into his system.When he woke fully, he saw nothing but darkness.The room was dim, lit only by the soft glow of monitors tracking his vitals. His shoulder screamed with every heartbeat, a deep, burning pain that radiated down his arm and across his chest. He tried to move, to cry out, but his body felt weighted down, unresponsive.Then he heard the voice."Run."It wasn't a sound. It was more like a thought inserted directly into his mind, cold and slithering, ancient and wrong."Run, little human. They will make you a lab rat."Ghassan's eyes darted around the room, searching for the source. There was nothing, only shadows, the sounds of machines and the faint outline of the door
Last Updated: 2026-02-19
Chapter: Chapter 388 The Brave foolSamir and Sami were walking toward school, backpacks slung over one shoulder, moving with the particular lazy gait of teenagers who had already mentally checked out of the academic day ahead. The streets were busy with the usual morning chaos, vendors setting up their stalls, mothers herding smaller children, the distant honk of traffic.As they rounded the corner near the market, they spotted a group of their schoolmates gathered near a juice stand. The group was larger than usual, and at its center, holding court with theatrical gestures, was Ghassan.Sami and Samir exchanged glances. Ghassan was known for many things—loudness, boastfulness, and an uncanny ability to insert himself into any conversation, but he was not known for honesty." and then I grabbed him by the throat!" Ghassan was saying, his voice carrying across the square. His audience, a mix of younger students and a few curious adults, leaned in. "The Ghoul thought he could take me, but I've been training for years. Y
Last Updated: 2026-02-17
Chapter: Chapter 387 Best BrosAli was deeply focused on a microscopic component, tweezers in hand, when the door burst open with enough force to rattle the schematics pinned to the walls."Traitor!" Laith's voice thundered through the room.Ali nearly dropped the component. He spun around, tweezers still raised defensively, to find Laith standing in the doorway with his arms crossed and a theatrical scowl on his face. Behind him, two junior Knights who had clearly followed him out of curiosity peeked around the doorframe before quickly disappearing when Ali caught their eye."What?" Ali demanded, lowering the tweezers. "What did I do?"Laith strode into the room, his movements carrying that particular fluid grace that came from years of martial training combined with natural athleticism. He stopped directly in front of Ali's desk, looming impressively despite the fact that Ali was still seated."I heard," Laith announced dramatically, "that you're making new armor for everyone. Everyone except me. You forgot I exi
Last Updated: 2026-02-16
Chapter: Chapter 386 A Strong FaithAli's office was a sanctuary of precision and order. Schematics lined the walls, pinned to corkboards with color-coded markers. Prototype components sat in labeled trays on a long workbench. The computer monitors displayed complex 3D models rotating in slow, silent simulation. Everything was exactly where it belonged, organized and controlled.Everything except Ali's mind.He sat in his chair, staring at the ceiling, the third cup of cold coffee untouched on his desk. Outside the floor-to-ceiling windows, the city sparkled with the million lights of late night—or early morning, depending on perspective. He had lost track hours ago. The digital clock on his monitor read 3:47 AM.Marwan's words echoed in his skull like stones dropped into a deep well, the ripples spreading endlessly."You're building crutches. You're building suits so powerful, so automated, that the person inside stops being the fighter.""Whose hands do these suits end up in? Eventually, one of them will end up with s
Last Updated: 2026-02-15
Chapter: Chapter 73 A Devil's BargainThe satellite phone's chirp was a sound that always sent a jolt through Shihab, a tether to the most precious part of his heart that was far away. He answered it in the quiet of his quarters, his voice softening instantly. "Ayham?""Hey, brother," Ayham's voice came through, clearer and stronger than it had been in months. The background noise was the gentle crash of waves, a sound unimaginable in the dust of the city. "Just checking in. How's the empire building?"A genuine smile spread across Shihab's face. For the next half-hour, he talked. He didn't give a leader's report; he gave a brother's story. He told him about the wall, stone by backbreaking stone. He described Ibtihal and her tech, the clash and eventual fusion. He talked about the near-disaster at the landfill, leaving out no detail of his own foolishness, and the humbling rescue. He told him about Zayn and Layan, about Dr. Sami and the clay filters, about the football games in the dust. He painted a picture not just of s
Last Updated: 2025-12-15
Chapter: Chapter 72 A Real Team The journey back from the landfill was a somber affair, but the silence was soon broken by Karam. Leaning against the seat in the truck, he let out an exaggerated sigh.“You know,” he began, his voice carrying through the cabin, “I’ve seen some crazy plans. The bus jump. The fire extinguisher on the roof. But trying to bury a thousand zombies under a mountain of garbage by yourself? That’s a new level of… let’s call it ‘creative problem-solving.’”A low chuckle rippled through the others. Ibtihal, her face still smudged with gunpowder residue, shook her head with a wry smile. “Statistically, it was an intriguing model. The funneling theory was sound. The failure point was the reliance on a single-point detonation trigger without a redundant backup. A rookie mistake, really.”“A rookie mistake from our fearless leader,” Jalal added, his tone dry but not unkind. “Next time you decide to single-handedly re-engineer the local topography, maybe run the wiring diagram by the class first?”S
Last Updated: 2025-12-13
Chapter: Chapter 71 Saving The HeroThe pre-dawn air was cold and still, thick with the smell of damp earth and decay from the landfill bowl below. Shihab moved like a specter, placing Ibtihal’s acoustic emitters along the access road. Each one was set to activate in a staggered sequence, creating a piercing, irresistible siren song that would lead the dead on a forced march into his trap. In the narrow throat of the central trench, he and Jawad had spent the previous night secretly laying the electrostatic nets, their wires hidden under filth, connected to a single remote trigger in Shihab’s hand.He stood now on the northern rim, looking down at the silent pit. The zip-line was anchored behind him, its cable a faint glint in the gloom, leading to the safety of the opposite ridge where Jawad was supposedly positioned with a rifle. Shihab’s heart hammered against his ribs, a frantic drumbeat of fear and grim determination.“It’s time,” he whispered to himself, and pressed the first button on his makeshift controller.
Last Updated: 2025-12-10
Chapter: Chapter 70 A Crazy Plan.The decision was made, the contract rejected. Yet, like a ghost, it lingered. It haunted Shihab in the quiet moments. As he walked the rising wall at dawn, the rhythmic clink of trowels on stone seemed to whisper a thousand, a thousand, a thousand. When he reviewed their ledgers with Ibtihal in the evenings, the columns of scarcity screamed for a solution the gold mine promised.He began a silent, obsessive study. He pored over their inventory lists—ammunition counts, fuel reserves, medical supplies dwindling faster than they could scavenge. He listened intently to the reports from the port traders, men who sailed between fledgling sanctuaries on Al Noor Island and elsewhere. They spoke of a new economy emerging from the ruins, one running on bullets, antibiotics, fuel, and precious metals. A single gold coin, one trader claimed with a glint in his eye, could buy a crate of penicillin or a ton of seed grain from the agricultural communes springing up in the south.He watched the child
Last Updated: 2025-12-09
Chapter: Chapter 69 The Tough Choice The afternoon sun was warm, and the shouts of laughter were a medicine more potent than anything in the hospital. Shihab was in the middle of the dusty field that served as their football pitch, expertly dodging Zayn’s attempt to tackle him before passing the ball to a squealing Layan. The weight of command, the endless logistics of the wall, the silent pressure of a hundred lives depending on him—it all melted away in the simple, joyful chaos of the game. For a few precious minutes, he was just a big brother playing with the kids.Then, the world fractured at the edges. A familiar, cold blue light flickered, intruding upon the golden sunlight. The laughter, the shouts, the thud of the ball—all of it receded into a muffled hum as the translucent screen materialized directly in his line of sight.[New Contractual Proposal Generated]Objective: Eliminate one thousand (1000) zombies. Hostiles must be terminated within a 72-hour window following contract acceptance. Area of engagement is
Last Updated: 2025-12-08
Chapter: Chapter 68 The Safe Zone The northern reservoir mission had been more than a success; it had been a fusion. The clean water flowing into the hideout's storage tanks symbolized something purer than hydration, it was the lifeblood of a newly unified community. No longer the "Peace Seekers" and "Team X," they were now one entity, with a shared purpose that demanded a monumental new task: not just defending a hideout, but securing a future.Standing on the roof of their headquarters, now buzzing with coordinated activity, Shihab addressed the assembled group. Over a hundred faces looked back at him, seasoned fighters, brilliant engineers, hardened scavengers, and hopeful newcomers. The scale of what he was about to propose was written in the weary but determined lines of their faces."We have water," Shihab began, his voice carrying easily in the quiet morning air. "We have food growing. We have skills, and now, we have true strength in numbers. But we are still just an island in a sea of chaos. The hordes grow,
Last Updated: 2025-12-07
