Silas Kapito crouched on the edge of a broken highway bridge. The dark sky hung over the ruins like a heavy blanket. After the terrible fight at the Broadcast Tower, Silas knew he had to change his plan. They had escaped General Krov's Titan-Walkers, but Silas learned a hard lesson. If he woke the sleeping Dregs today, the Chrome Council would just poison them again tomorrow. He had to stop the poison at its source before he sent the signal.Silas looked down at the muddy road below. His solid black eyes glowed softly. He opened his "Kinetic Vision." The world instantly turned into a bright, beautiful map of flowing energy. He watched five heavy armored transports driving away from the Academy ruins. To a normal person, they looked like military tanks carrying missiles. But Silas saw the truth."They are not carrying weapons," Silas whispered to his pack. Ren, Elara, Anya, and Julius crouched behind him. Julius looked massive now. His skin shone with a faint, polished metallic ligh

The factory exploded in a storm of green poison and red fire. General Krov’s Titan-Walker fired its massive cannons, but Silas Kapito did not blink.Silas released a shockwave of "Absolute Zero" cold. The freezing air hit the hot plasma. The thermal shock was so violent it shattered the concrete walls of the factory. Minister Varick, the spider-machine, was crushed under a falling roof. In the chaos, the frozen poison gas stopped working. Ren woke up, coughing loudly. Elara grabbed the boy. Silas broke through the back wall, leading them out into the dark mud. They escaped the factory, leaving Krov trapped in the freezing rubble. Now, they walked through the deepest, darkest part of the Ash-Lands. The journey was long and quiet. Silas walked in front. His marble-white skin was dirty, and his left arm was still broken, but he moved with the heavy, unstoppable steps of a King. Elara floated next to Ren. Her silver eyes glowed softly in the dark, acting like a warm lantern. Ren shive

The pitch-black service shaft was filled with the terrifying sound of wet, clicking claws. A massive, multi-legged shadow leaped out of the dark, flying straight at Silas Kapito’s face. Silas did not panic. His 0.08-second reflexes fired. He could not use his right hand because he was holding the magnetic rail. His left arm was broken. But Silas was the Ash-King. He did not need hands to fight. Silas swung his heavy, tungsten-dense right leg. His heavy boot kicked the creature square in the chest in mid-air. The impact was brutal. The creature let out a high-pitched, clicking scream and flew backward, falling deep into the black abyss below. "What was that?!" Ren yelled, holding tightly to Silas’s neck. "I do not know," Silas said, his voice cold and flat. "But there are more coming. We have to move." Silas let go of the rail. He did not climb anymore. He dropped into

The dark maintenance shaft was suddenly filled with dozens of bright red laser dots. The automated turrets locked onto Silas’s glowing orange chest. High above them, Julian smiled down from the open blue doors. "Fire!" Julian commanded. But Silas did not look up. The blinding rage in his heart was completely focused on the pale, off-white wall beside him. Just before the turrets fired, Silas’s "Kinetic Vision" caught a tiny, almost invisible glint of metal hidden deep inside the bone-concrete wall. It was buried three inches deep into the crushed remains of his people. Silas ignored the deadly red lasers. He ignored the Golden Boy’s laughing voice. He pulled his glowing hot right fist back. He did not use a gentle "Vibration Tap." He used pure, brutal, tungsten-dense anger. Silas punched the wall with all his strength. His fist hit the pale bone-concrete with the force of an exploding bom

The explosion from Silas’s massive upward strike shattered the top of the service shaft. The heavy steel archway was gone. Dust and thick smoke filled the clean white marble hallway of the Upper Citadel. Silas Kapito stepped out of the smoke. His heavy, tungsten-dense boots hit the smooth, expensive floor. Julian, the Golden Boy, lay on his back in the dust. The heavily armored guards groaned on the floor, their weapons broken. But Silas did not look at them. He stood perfectly still. He was holding the small, blackened Dog Tag in his right hand. [Soldier 0912 - Aris.] The horrifying truth burned inside Silas’s mind. He remembered the pale, off-white wall inside the giant pillar. He remembered Elara’s handheld scanner flashing with green text: [Calcium-Carbon Lattice. Ground human bone.] Silas realized the absolute, terrifying truth. The four massive, three-mile-wide pillars holding up th