"A ten-thousand-rupiah duty stamp?" Dr. Arini stared at Mr. Hendra with a murderous gaze she usually reserved for failed mutant specimens. Her white lab coat, splattered with black blood, was a stark contrast to her rigid expression. "The world has ended, you old bureaucrat. Where am I supposed to find a tiny piece of tax paper? In the pocket of the monster's corpse at your feet?" Mr. Hendra didn't flinch. He tapped his clipboard with a marker. "That's not my concern, Doctor. You can barter for it with sardines in the Blok M black market, or search for it in the drawer of a destroyed post office. Without the stamp, this report is not legally valid in the eyes of the Cakra Biru Republic." Before Arini could throw a beaker at Mr. Hendra's head, the sound of slow footsteps echoed from the basement hallway. Gramps Constantin walked in. Behind him, three young civilians followed with hesitant steps. Budi, Siti, and Tono. Thei

The sun was directly overhead, baking the Monas courtyard until the asphalt seemed to radiate heat waves that blurred the vision. However, it wasn't the air temperature that made cold sweat drip down Elian's temples. In front of the post guarded by Lina, a skinny woman in tattered clothes sat trembling on a plastic chair. She tightly hugged her baby, who was crying restlessly. The woman's left arm was held out in resignation over the table. The veins on her neck were already starting to show a deep purple hue, a sign that the Vespera parasite was counting down her sanity. Siti, the former dental nurse who was now Dr. Arini's forced assistant, stood beside the woman. Her hand, wrapped in a rubber glove, trembled violently as she held a syringe filled with the golden-green liquid, the Phoenix Serum v2.0. Budi stood next to her, holding a cotton ball soaked in alcohol with a face as pale as paper. They were both still deepl

One week passed. Seven days that felt like seven centuries for the people in the inner circle of the Cakra Biru Republic. On the Monas courtyard, the production of salvation proceeded with a terrifying efficiency. The line of citizens never broke, from morning until midnight. Thousands of starving people willingly offered their arms to be injected with the Phoenix Serum in exchange for Lina's food coupons. Every day, hundreds of thousands of people were successfully vaccinated. Cheers of joy, tears of relief, and praises for the Cakra Biru Republic were heard in every corner of the refugee tents. Baskara and his opposition faction had been completely crushed, drowned by a wave of real hope that was being distributed for free. However, the price of the euphoria and safety on the surface was paid in full with blood and suffering underground. In the basement lab, the sound of the ex

The afternoon sun baked the courtyard of Jakarta's City Hall, drying the last of the mud and blood that clung to the asphalt. The atmosphere outside the makeshift government building was still busy, but no longer with vaccination lines or riots. People were sitting calmly, enjoying their sardines with a lingering sense of relief after being freed from the curse of the Vespera parasite. In a corner of the courtyard, far from the center of attention, a very different scene was taking place. Baskara, the former politician who just a few days ago had stood on the roof of a bus like a revolutionary prophet, was now collapsed in the dusty ground. His safari shirt was torn and dirty with shoe prints. His face was battered and bruised, with a dark purple bruise on his temple and a split lip. His own fanatical followers had given him that "gift" before they abandoned him to fight for sardine coupons. The man crawled on his knees,

That morning, the Jakarta sun felt sharper than usual. Inside the makeshift City Hall bathroom, its mirror cracked in two, Elian stood frozen, staring at his own reflection. His white shirt had been replaced with a black tactical jacket. However, it wasn't his clothes that made the young man pause. His hair was now a completely pale, metallic silver. When he opened his eyelids, his irises were no longer black, but glowed with a pure golden ring that spun slowly. It wasn't just a cosmetic change. Since his Ascension evolution was complete, Elian radiated a Divine Aura, a cosmic gravitational pressure that was absolutely overwhelming. Last night, when he walked past the guard post, two City Guard soldiers had fainted from shortness of breath and nosebleeds just from being within a three-meter radius of him. The mortal bodies of ordinary humans weren't designed to withstand the presence of a god. "Damn it. I really can't go