Several dozen minutes later, Kael and Jonas walked out of D&W Luxe.
The dusty, battle-worn appearance Kael had carried into the store was nowhere to be seen. After a quick shower and a change of clothes, he looked like an entirely different person. His messy hair had been washed clean and neatly combed back, while the faint traces of soot and dried blood had disappeared from his skin.
His outfit, however, remained as simple as ever.
A fitted black shirt.
Plain dark trousers.
A pair of polished black boots.
There wasn’t a single flashy accessory on him, nor any extravagant embroidery or luxurious patterns. Compared to the countless premium outfits the manager had enthusiastically recommended, the one Kael chose was almost painfully ordinary.
He liked it that way.
Simple.
Comfortable.
Practical.
The manager had insisted on giving him the clothes free of charge, repeatedly claiming it was an apology for the unpleasant experience downstairs. Kael hadn’t argued. Refusing would only waste everyone’s time, and besides, he genuinely didn’t care enough about the earlier incident to hold a grudge.
People judged others by appearance.
That was simply reality.
The phrase don’t judge a book by its cover sounded nice, but in practice it was probably one of the least followed pieces of advice in human history. Whether consciously or unconsciously, everyone formed first impressions based on what they saw.
He wasn’t naïve enough to expect every stranger to treat him with respect.
Besides...
Respect wasn’t a reward he could multiply so he had absolutely no use for it.
With those thoughts pushed aside, he and Jonas climbed back into the luxury sedan.
The vehicle pulled away from D&W Luxe, silently gliding through the immaculate streets of the Zero Tier District once again.
Neither of them spoke.
Kael quietly looked out the window while Jonas rested comfortably against his seat, seemingly organizing his thoughts. The silence between them wasn’t awkward. If anything, it felt deliberate, as though both men understood that the real conversation had yet to begin.
After nearly twenty minutes of driving, the sedan gradually slowed before stopping outside another magnificent building.
This time, it was a restaurant.
Its architecture was elegant without being excessive, polished stone pillars supporting an enormous glass façade through which warm golden lights spilled onto the street outside. Luxury vehicles were parked neatly around the entrance, while formally dressed attendants welcomed guests with practiced smiles.
One of the guards stepped forward and opened the rear door.
Jonas climbed out first.
"Come."
Kael silently followed.
The moment they stepped inside, a graceful middle-aged woman approached with a warm smile already on her face.
"Vice President Jonas."
"Your private room has been prepared."
She bowed politely before leading them deeper into the restaurant. They passed several dining halls where wealthy patrons quietly enjoyed their meals before finally arriving at a secluded private room overlooking a beautifully maintained garden.
The woman carefully closed the door behind them.
Only then did Jonas take his seat.
Surprisingly, he didn’t immediately bring up whatever business he had with Kael.
Instead, he simply smiled.
"Let’s eat first."
Kael didn’t object.
A waiter soon arrived with several menus before respectfully placing them on the table.
After briefly looking through the menu, Kael simply picked several dishes that sounded interesting.
The restaurant worked with astonishing efficiency.
It wasn’t long before one exquisite dish after another began arriving at their table. Steaming steaks, seafood prepared with meticulous precision, fragrant rice dishes, rich soups, beautifully plated desserts, and drinks Kael couldn’t even pronounce quickly filled nearly every inch of the large dining table.
For a moment...
Kael wondered if the two of them could even finish everything.
It turned out he had underestimated himself.
The exhausting battle against Scarlet Fist had consumed far more energy than he initially realized. The moment he started eating, his body seemed to remember just how hungry it actually was.
Meanwhile, Jonas barely touched his own food.
He occasionally picked up his utensils and took a few bites, but most of his attention remained on the young man sitting across from him.
Before long, several empty plates had already accumulated near Kael.
Only after satisfying the hunger gnawing at his stomach did he finally lean back slightly in his chair.
Jonas glanced toward the empty dishes before asking,
"Should I order more?"
Kael shook his head.
"No."
"I’m good."
Silence settled over the room once again.
The sounds of utensils gently meeting porcelain echoed softly before even those gradually disappeared.
Kael finally set his utensils down.
He looked directly at Jonas.
"So..."
"You said there was something you wanted to discuss with me."
Jonas didn’t answer immediately.
He quietly placed his utensils onto the table before leaning back in his chair. The relaxed expression he had maintained throughout the meal slowly disappeared, replaced by something noticeably more serious.
For several seconds, he simply studied Kael.
Then he asked,
"Tell me."
"How much do you know about the world and the Safe Zones?"
Kael frowned.
"Safe Zones?"
The term sounded completely unfamiliar.
Seeing the confusion on his face, Jonas already knew the answer.
"Never heard of them?"
Kael slowly shook his head.
"Honestly... Yes"
Jonas nodded as though he had expected exactly that response.
"Then I’ll start from the beginning."
His voice became calm, almost like that of a teacher explaining history to a student.
"Fifty years ago, before the first Rift appeared, the world wasn’t like it is today."
"There were five continents separated by vast oceans. Humanity was scattered across those continents, divided by countries, languages, cultures, and political ideologies. We had conflicts, naturally, but communication between nations was commonplace. Ships crossed the oceans every day. Aircraft connected one side of the world to the other within hours."
He paused briefly before continuing.
"Then the Apocalypse arrived."
Kael unconsciously straightened in his seat.
"The first Rifts appeared without warning."
"Along with them came a strange energy that flooded the entire planet."
Jonas’ gaze drifted toward the window beside them, as though looking beyond the restaurant itself.
"That energy didn’t simply awaken humanity."
"It reshaped the world."
"The land expanded by countless times its original size."
"Mountains rose where none had existed before."
"Entire forests appeared overnight."
"Rivers changed course."
"The oceans themselves shifted."
"And perhaps the greatest change of all..."
"The five continents were no longer separated."
"They fused into one unimaginably vast landmass."
Kael’s pupils narrowed.
"What?"
Jonas nodded.
"It sounds impossible."
"It wasn’t."
"The geography of the planet changed almost overnight."
"Cities disappeared."
"Countries collapsed."
"Communication networks failed."
"Humanity lost contact with itself."
His voice remained steady, yet Kael could almost picture the chaos through those simple words.
"Then came the monsters."
"They poured out from the Rifts endlessly."
"The survivors gathered together however they could."
"They fought."
"They retreated."
"They built walls."
"They defended every inch of land they managed to reclaim."
"Years passed before humanity finally stabilized."
"When enough territory had been secured, each surviving civilization established what we now call Safe Zones."
Kael listened without interrupting.
His expression gradually became more serious with every sentence Jonas spoke.
"At first," Jonas continued, "none of those survivor groups even knew the others still existed. They believed they were the last remnants of humanity."
"It wasn’t until much later, after exploration resumed, that contact was re-established."
He raised four fingers.
"As of today, humanity has officially discovered four major Safe Zones."
"The Eastern Safe Zone."
"The Western Safe Zone."
"The Northern Safe Zone."
"And the Southern Safe Zone."
He lowered his hand.
"The place we’ve lived our entire lives..."
"...is the Eastern Safe Zone."
Silence returned to the room.
Kael remained seated, his brows tightly furrowed as he slowly processed everything he had just heard.
To him, the Eastern Safe Zone had always been the world.
Everything beyond it was simply unexplored wilderness filled with monsters and Rifts.
He had never imagined there were other surviving civilizations.
Nor had he known the world had once been divided into continents before being reshaped by the Apocalypse itself.
It was the first time anyone had told him what humanity’s past actually looked like.
And for the first time since meeting Jonas, Kael realized that whatever this conversation was leading toward... it was far bigger than he had originally imagined.
# #
Three Chapters would be posted soon.