BOOOOM!An explosion of dark, heavy red light filled his entire brain. In the real world, lying on the cold black metal floor, Jonah’s giant body violently arched upward."Dad!" Kevin yelled, jumping backward.Jonah’s eyes snapped open.But his eyes were not normal. The dark brown color of his eyes was completely gone. His eyes were glowing with a fierce, deep crimson light, mixed with rings of pure gold. They looked like the center of a dying volcano."He is moving!" Elena cried out. She held the small silver lighter high. Her hands shook violently. "His eyes! Look at his eyes!"Jonah let out a loud, terrifying roar.It was not a roar of pain. It was a roar of overwhelming, impossible power.The new System upgrade was rushing through his veins. The magic was not healing him perfectly like before. It was not making his skin smooth and clean. It was doing something much more brutal.Jonah looked down at his massive, bleeding stomach.The blood stopped flowing.It did not just stop. The

The cavern was freezing cold, but Jonah felt like a burning furnace. Hundreds of mechanical knights charged across the smooth, black metal floor. They were the Network Guardians. Their bodies were made of twisting black wires and sharp, rusted iron. Their heads were smooth silver domes. Inside their heads, sick yellow lights glowed like evil eyes.Their heavy metal feet hit the ground at the exact same time. It sounded like a massive, terrible heartbeat.Jonah stood perfectly still in the dark. He held Lisa tightly against his chest with his left arm. She was so light, but her life was so fragile.Lisa breathed in. A tiny, wet gasp. Lisa breathed out. The dirt walls far behind them flashed with a weak, sick red light."Stay exactly behind me," Jonah whispered to Kevin, Elena, and Marcus. His deep voice did not shake.The first wave of mechanical monsters reached him. They were incredibly fast. They raised their arms. Their hands were long, jagged swords made of sharp, rusted metal.

Instead of hands, the Juggernaut had two massive, spinning circular saw blades. The blades were four feet wide, covered in dry black blood and rust.WHIRRRRRRR!The giant saw blades spun faster and faster. The sound was deafening. It hurt their teeth."Oh, my God," Kevin whispered. He raised his shotgun with his one good hand. He aimed it at the giant machine."Do not shoot!" Jonah ordered loudly. He was breathing heavily. His voice sounded exhausted."Dad, you cannot fight that thing!" Kevin yelled back. "You only have one hand! You are holding Lisa! It will cut you in half!"Jonah stared at the twelve-foot-tall metal giant. He looked at his own system.[ENERGY RESERVES: 5%.]His power was almost gone. If he punched that massive machine right now, he would just break his own hand. The Juggernaut’s armor was too thick.He needed a massive burst of energy. He needed a huge amount of fuel to generate a shockwave big enough to destroy the Juggernaut and clear the rest of the army.Jonah

"It is a womb," Jonah whispered. Jonah looked at the pulsing red veins on the floor."The virus is not dead," Jonah explained. "It is alive. It is a living, thinking entity. When it crashed the System here, it did not just leave an empty hole. It started to rebuild the world. It is taking the metal, the dirt, the dead bodies, and the computer code, and it is melting them all together. It is creating a brand-new ecosystem."Kevin stared at the fleshy walls. "It is a transforming world.""Yes," Jonah nodded. "And it is reacting to us."Jonah looked down at his own body.His new System, the Adaptive Reward Conversion, was a massive source of raw energy. When he had taken the hit from the giant saw blade, he had exploded with incredible power. His glowing iron scars were still radiating heat.A drop of hot, dark red blood fell from Jonah’s torn shirt. It dripped off his stomach.Plop.The drop of blood hit the spongy, fleshy floor.Instantly, the floor reacted.The ground around the drop

The massive, jagged bone spine tore through the ceiling of the underground world. It rose into the dark sky like a monument to the end of the world. The terrible roar of the breaking earth shook the giant cavern.RUUUUUMMMMBBBBLLLLLE!Huge pieces of gray rock and black metal fell from the high ceiling. They crashed onto the spongy, fleshy floor. Dust filled the cold air.On the clean white stone platform, Jonah sat on his knees. He ignored the falling rocks. He ignored the giant bone spine in the distance. He only looked down at his arms.Lisa was not breathing. Her small, broken body was completely still."No," Jonah whispered. His deep voice was completely empty. "No. No. No."Tears ran down Kevin’s face. Elena covered her eyes and sobbed. Even old man Marcus stood quietly, looking down at the brave mechanic who had died for them.The dark yellow fog swirled around the platform. The corrupted red light of the Dead Zone was gone. The shockwave of glitching energy had left Lisa’s body