The soldiers ran toward the forest, only to be surprised by a robot slightly larger than the others emerging from between the trees. The soldiers froze in place, their eyes wide in their sockets, and they felt as if time had stopped for a moment. Its entire body was covered in chrome silver metal, and in the middle of its face was a single eye that shone with a blue light. Beside it were two robotic hounds. One was red with some black on its sides and had three eyes on one level that shone with a blue light. The other was blue, with three eyes that shone with a red light, and they were tied at the neck by two chains, held by the huge robot. Suddenly, he unleashed the two hounds on them, and they charged quickly toward the stunned soldiers. The soldiers woke up from their daydream and fired at the two robotic hounds, but they were surprised by the speed with which they dodged their shots and by their immense velocity. With the robots pressing them from the right, the injuries and casualties began to increase, and they felt that this was their end.

The creature kept mumbling strange words and looking at Eyad—a shiver running through his body from what he saw—with a look that expressed anger and pity for the soldiers. It pointed him to the forest as it mumbled. Eyad didn't understand what it was saying, as usual, but he realized that he had nothing to lose by freeing it. They would both be eliminated if a miracle didn't happen. So Eyad released the creature. The creature asked him with its hand to follow it and ran into the forest. Eyad followed it, looking with sorrow and sadness at his friends and hearing their screams and cries for help. He said to himself with grief, tears streaming down his cheeks, "I'll try to get help. Just wait a little. But... I don't know if this thing is deceiving me or not!"

Eyad followed the creature, which was running at a great speed through the forest, cutting through it, until they were in another large clearing with blue grass, which was revealed in a wonderful and breathtaking view with the moonlight. For the first time, Eyad looked at the moon in the sky and found it to be very large. The creature kept running toward the middle of the clearing, turning to signal for Eyad to hurry up. Eyad followed it cautiously and expectantly, many strange and frightening thoughts jumping into his head. He tried to push them away, but he couldn't.

Suddenly, the creature stopped in the middle of the blue clearing. It mumbled some strange words, holding its palms together as if it were praying, its eyes closed. Eyad watched it, not understanding what was happening. Suddenly, the grass began to retreat and move away, and the earth's crust began to break apart and crumble, forming a black circle under the creature. Inside it appeared the vastness of space, the stars, galaxies, and planets. Eyad gasped at what he saw and remembered the passage they had crossed when they came here. The creature opened its eyes and extended its hand to Eyad. He hesitated for a moment, then extended his hand to it. The creature grabbed it, and then they disappeared inside the passage. The passage disappeared, and the earth's crust and the grass returned to cover it again as if it had never been.

[12]

Akira woke up to Yousef's shaking of his body. He slowly opened his eyes to see Yousef's pale face and terrified features. He yawned and didn't remember where he was at first. Then his memory began to gradually return to him, and as soon as he remembered everything, he was overcome with a deep turmoil. He sat up quickly, saying, "Where are we?"

"We are in one of the prisons in the robot city," Yousef said, feeling relieved that his companion had woken up.

"Really! Did those bastards catch us?!"

"Don't you remember anything?"

"I remember that I was furious, and after that, I didn't know what happened. I felt my consciousness slipping away from me. And I have a severe headache now."

"We were captured and brought here. But you won't believe what I saw."

"What did you see?"

"This city... it's strange... it's wonderful. It's like a city from ancient legends. I can't believe they built a city like this. But that's not the strangest thing. The strangest thing is... that the machines live their lives here... as if they were alive."

Akira's last sentence was said in a strange way, which sent a small shiver through Akira's body. He, in turn, looked outside to explore his surroundings. He saw that they were in a medium-sized cage, with electric bars that shone with a bright, milky blue color. Outside the cage, it looked as if they were in some kind of tunnel, illuminated by flying white cubes, like the ones they had seen when they crossed the passage.

"Is this the tunnel we crossed through to get here?" Akira asked quickly.

"No, definitely not. This tunnel is completely different. The walls are white, and it looks like some kind of prison or mental asylum, I don't know."

Akira scanned the place with his eyes and tried to see the end of it. He saw a large, circular door on his left, a few meters away. When he looked to the right, he saw another door, which increased his confusion. "How are we going to get out of here?"

Yousef was silent for a moment, then sighed in despair. "I don't know. I tried several tools to get out, but it seemed impossible. These bars burn anything that touches them. I tried to grab them, and it completely burned the suit's hand. And it's my good fortune that I pulled my hand away at the right moment, or we would have been eating my hand for breakfast."

He said it jokingly, but Akira did not respond. His head was buzzing with all kinds of thoughts and turmoil. Suddenly, the sound of the door creaking as it opened cut off his train of thought. Their eyes turned toward the door to see two of the robots they had fought before advancing toward them with dead features and frightening looks. Yousef retreated in anxiety, while Akira felt a great anger, and his heart rate increased. The two robots approached, and one of them pressed a few buttons on his hand to lower something like a large container onto the cage. Darkness fell on Akira and Yousef. Then they felt the cage rising up, which increased their suspicion.

"Where are they taking us?" Yousef muttered.

"I don't know. I really don't know! But we'll find out soon enough."

After a few minutes of the cage moving up and then to the left, as it continued to move for a long time in this direction, the cage was lowered to settle in some place. The container was lifted from it, and the light once again streamed into their eyes. They put their hands over them until they got used to the light. They removed their hands and began to receive the light all at once. When they looked around them, they were shocked by what they saw, so much so that Akira retreated until he almost touched the electric bars.

The robotic hounds were jumping on the soldiers, tearing them to shreds with their sharp tails, as they ran quickly and changed direction even faster. The soldiers began to retreat, and their numbers began to decrease until there were only twenty-five soldiers left. The robots continued to press them from the right while the two hounds were in front, moving between them with speed, dodging the gunshots, and pouncing on anyone they found in front of them to kill them with their iron teeth and sharp tails that looked like a saw, cutting everything they touched. The soldiers scattered and ran everywhere in a chaotic attempt to survive. Li Kang stood, sweat pouring from him from what was happening. He looked around him and saw his comrades running in despair, the war machines being destroyed one after another, and the soldiers falling like birds one after another. He fell to his knees and looked at the ground in despair and frustration. He said to himself, "This is the end, I think. What will happen to my family now? And to everyone in Atlantis? We were the last hope for humanity!"

Li Kang remembered his promise to his ten-year-old son.

Li Kang stood in front of his door, saying goodbye to his wife and son to go to the army. His child cried as he said goodbye. Li Kang sat on his feet and wiped his little son's eyes, saying with a radiant smile, "Don't be afraid, my little one. I will definitely be back. This is for a better future for all of us. Don't you want to see your hero father come back victorious so you can be proud of him in front of everyone?"

Li Kang raised his arm high, sarcastically flexing his muscles. The child smiled, tears streaming down his cheeks. He muttered, the words mixing with his crying, "But I... don't want you... to die... like what happened to my brother."

"I won't die. Don't you know my nickname? I am Li Kang the Immortal."

Li Kang began to tickle his son to get him out of his crying state. The boy laughed and began to writhe his body, trying to avoid his tickling. Li Kang hugged him, saying, "I promise I will come back, and I will have a lot of exciting stories to tell you."

"Okay, I believe you, Dad. Take this with you to protect you on your way."

The child gave him a good luck charm with some words engraved on it in their language. Li Kang hung it around his neck, hugged his son again, then moved away from the house, saying goodbye to them with a bright smile that might be his last.

Li Kang felt the charm around his neck and looked at it to read for the first time the phrase that was engraved on it: The darkest hour of the night is the one that precedes the sunrise.

He smiled, tears streaming from his eyes. He remembered Noor, whom he had lost to in the death race, and he remembered his ability to shoot rays, which had been taken from him after he lost to Noor in the final test. He said to himself, "Where are you, boy? If you were in my place, you would have found a solution to this predicament. You are the smartest person I have ever met in my life."

He was annoyed that he no longer had his power and wished it were still with him; it would have gotten them out of this predicament. He looked around and saw the soldiers falling and the robots closing in on them. He gathered his courage and felt a sudden enthusiasm run through his veins with a glimmer of hope. He stood up, drew his energy sword, and shouted in a loud voice that echoed throughout the square, "Meeeen! Gather up! Who will fight with me to the last breath? Victory for Atlantis!"

One of the hounds and some of the other robots turned their attention to his voice and aimed their fire at him, while the hound charged across the square toward him at its usual speed. Li Kang looked at it, sparks flying from his eyes, and raised his sword in a cutting position. When the hound got close, it leaped high, pouncing on Li Kang, who ducked his body and raised his sword upward to split the hound in half. He then quickly turned, crossing his arms to form an energy shield in front of him, blocking all the incoming bullets and projectiles. He began to move forward toward the robots, which numbered about twenty. When the soldiers saw this, they felt some hope and enthusiasm course through them. They drew their swords and cheered as they cut their way together toward the robots, while the three remaining war machines began to fire their guns and launchers at them.

The second hound ran toward the soldiers to pounce on one of them, but he activated his shield, and the hound collided with it and fell to the ground. One of the soldiers took this opportunity, jumped on the robotic hound, and stabbed it with his sword. The hound shut down and did not move. The soldiers advanced quickly to aid their comrade who was fighting alone. The machines began to aim their fire at them, and they blocked it with their shields as they charged toward them until they clashed with the machines and began to cut and stab them with their swords. Li Kang leaped among the machines, swinging his sword to cut off the necks of two and stab another. But he noticed something frightening coming. The robot that had been holding the two hounds at the beginning began to cut its way toward them from behind, holding two energy swords.

Li Kang headed toward it alone, trying to block it from his comrades, because victory was near. The robot raised its sword and clashed with Li Kang, continuing to rain down a series of blows on him with its two swords. Kang grabbed the hilt of his sword with both hands and began to block the blows one after another with agility, but he felt his bones were being crushed by its heavy blows and that he would not be able to take much more if the situation continued as it was. He retreated a few steps back and began to think of a way to break through its defense. He took out a smoke bomb and threw it at the robot. The air was filled with smoke, completely covering the robot's body. Kang ran in a circle until he was behind the robot and charged forward with his sword to stab it. But he found himself flying high in the air out of nowhere. He looked at his foot and saw an energy rope holding it. The source of the rope was coming from inside the smoke. Suddenly, the rope pulled Kang's leg violently, throwing him to the ground with great force. His head hit the ground hard, and he felt as if his skull had been broken from the impact. The smoke cleared, and the robot appeared, holding two light whips. Kang's eyes widened in surprise, and he understood what had happened. He plunged his sword into the ground and pressed on it with his hand to help him stand up. He felt pain all over his body and the effects of fractures that would not heal anytime soon. He pushed his body, screaming in pain to stand, until he was able to stand after agony and struggle. He saw the robot turning the two whips back into swords, then began to spin them in a showy way as it slowly approached the staggering Li Kang.

Kang took a deep breath and looked at his comrades, who were fighting with bravery and determination against the machines. He pushed every bone in his body, raised his sword in the air, and shouted, "Victory for humanity, you damned machine!"

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.