Apocalypse: I Raised the Ultimate Antagonist from Scratch

The Sector 4 Pass was a barren, razor-thin tear through the granite mountains. The wind howled through the high rocks, carrying a bitter chill that bit through heavy layers. Below, the canyon floor narrowed to less than twelve meters wide, shadowed by sheer cliff faces that blotted out the pale winter sky.

Han Zheng stood near the edge of the western ridge, peering down through the light drift of falling snow. Besid side him, Lin Qing adjusted the small electronic scanner mounted to her wrist, its screen flickering with static as she calibrated the signal frequency.

"The canyon layout is perfect," Lin Qing said quietly, her voice barely carrying over the wind. "The vanguard won’t have room to maneuver once they enter the bend. If we seal both ends, they’ll be completely trapped."

A light crunch of gravel announced Ye Lin’s approach. He scrambled up the steep rock incline, accompanied by two of his soldiers carrying a heavy metal case.

"We’re setting up the high-gain jamming array on the peak fifty meters above your sniper position," Ye Lin reported, nodding toward Old Wang, who was already lying prone near a jagged outcropping, his rifle resting on a low tripod. "The moment the convoy enters the canyon, we’ll flood the satellite link. Their automated emergency distress beacon won’t even reach the upper atmosphere."

"How much time do we have?" Han Zheng asked, his gaze remaining fixed on the empty canyon floor below.

Ye Lin checked his watch. "According to the VER-7 routing schedule, fifteen minutes. Apex logistics runs are automated down to the second. They won’t be late."

"Get your men into position," Han Zheng said.

Ye Lin nodded sharply, gesturing for his squad to move higher up the ridge toward the primary transmitter point.

Lin Qing tapped her wrist unit, opening a secure, short-range channel to the ambush team scattered across the canyon floor and ridges. "All units, check in."

"Front line in position," Xiao Li’s voice came through the comms, quiet and grounded. He was crouching behind a massive boulder at the tightest bend of the pass alongside Guo Jian. "Guo Jian and I are ready to raise the earth barrier the second you detonate the primary charges."

"Eastern ridge clear," Ah Hua reported from the opposite cliff face, where he and Lieutenant Chen had set up heavy fire support behind a low rock lip. "Thermal charges are armed and ready to melt secondary plating."

"Western perch locked in," Old Wang added smoothly from his prone position a few meters away from Lin Qing. "Driver seats and heavy turrets are targeted."

"Lu Feng and I will take the rear as soon as the trap springs," Han Zheng said into his channel. "Lin Qing holds the detonator. Nobody fires until the vanguard crosses the trip-wire."

A quiet fell over the pass. The seconds ticked by slowly, marked only by the whistle of the mountain wind and the rhythmic hum of Ye Lin’s signal jammer warming up on the peak above.

Ten minutes later, the ground began to vibrate.

It started as a low, subterranean tremor—a rhythmic thrum that echoed off the high granite walls before any sound reached their ears. Small pebbles rattled down the slope near Old Wang’s boots.

"Visual contact," Old Wang murmured, his eye pressed tightly against his long-range optic. "Three vehicles. Lead transport is an Apex Class-3 Heavy Vanguard. Reinforced ramming grill, dual auto-turrets on the roof, and active energy shielding."

Lin Qing looked through her handheld optics. Approaching from the northern mouth of the pass was a massive, dark-grey armored vehicle, easily twice the size of a standard military transport. A translucent blue dome of light hummed visibly around its heavy chassis—the dual-layer energy shield Director Chen had warned them about. Behind the lead vanguard rolled two heavy supply trucks, their cargo bays sealed with high-grade alloy plating, followed by a lighter armored escort vehicle at the rear.

"The shields are double-layered," Lin Qing noted calmly, her thumb hovering over the remote detonator switch. "The dampener charges along the canyon walls will strip the primary layer, but the secondary burst needs to hit before the vehicle momentum breaks the charges."

"Ye Lin, status?" Han Zheng asked softly.

"Signal array locked on," Ye Lin’s voice crackled through the ear-piece from the high peak. "The moment you trigger the pulse, we block their frequencies."

The convoy rolled deeper into the narrow corridor. The lead vanguard transport pushed through the snow, its heavy treaded tires crunching ice into powder. The hum of its energy shields echoed loudly between the cliff faces, completely unaware of the charges embedded in the rock walls just meters above its roof line.

Ten meters from the trip-wire. Eight meters. Five.

"Now," Lin Qing whispered, pressing the heavy switch on her console.

A high-pitched hum tore through the canyon, followed instantly by three muffled explosions along the granite walls. Bright pulses of blue electromagnetic energy erupted from the hidden charges, cascading downward in a blinding sheet of light.

The lead vanguard transport’s blue shield dome flared violently, flickering with jagged white arcs of static before shattering into harmless energy sparks. The heavy vehicle lurched as its primary power grid suffered a massive surge, its exterior lights dying instantly.

At the exact same moment, high above on the peak, Ye Lin’s team activated the high-gain array. A silent wall of garbage data flooded the local spectrum, completely smothering the automated emergency distress beacon that fired off from the transport’s roof array.

"Shields are down!" Lin Qing called out. "Jamming confirmed!"

"Xiao Li, Guo Jian! Block them!" Han Zheng ordered.

At the canyon floor, Xiao Li stepped directly into the path of the speeding transport. A dark, rocky sheen swept across his skin as his Earth Hardening activated, encasing his entire frame in a thick layer of dense, stone-like armor.

Beside him, Guo Jian dropped into his vanguard stance, locking his posture like an anchor into the frozen ground.

Together, the two of them planted their feet and caught the crushed front bumper of the lead vehicle head-on.

The heavy vehicle slammed into their combined defense with a catastrophic metal crunch. The sheer impact shattered the transport’s windshield armor and brought the entire multi-ton convoy to a dead halt in the narrow pass, Xiao Li’s hardened body taking the brunt of the kinetic blow without breaking a single bone.

"Open fire!" Lu Feng shouted.

From the eastern ridge, Ah Hua unleashed a terrifying hail of heavy suppressive fire, his heavy caliber rounds tearing into the secondary armor plating of the middle supply trucks. Beside him, Lieutenant Chen channeled a continuous stream of intense thermal fire, heating the alloy armor of the middle vehicles to a glowing red until the metal began to warp and soften.

High on the western peak, Old Wang fired his rifle with practiced rhythm. ’THUM-THUM.’ The heavy armor-piercing rounds shattered the reinforced glass of the rear escort vehicle, taking out the driver and turret operator before they could bring their heavy guns to bear.

"Rear team, move!" Han Zheng commanded.

Han Zheng vaulted over the edge of the low ridge, landing heavily on the canyon floor near the back of the trapped convoy. Lu Feng followed closely behind, weapon drawn, as they swept around the rear escort vehicle.

Inside the convoy, sirens were blaring, though no sound escaped to the outside world beyond the localized gunfire and rockfalls. The rear doors of the middle supply transport burst open, and four Apex security guards in heavy composite armor dropped to the ground, weapons raised to establish a defensive perimeter.

Han Zheng didn’t give them time to organize. He thrust his right hand forward, unleashing a concentrated shockwave of kinetic force. The blast slammed into the lead security guard, launching him back against the side of the truck with enough force to dent the heavy alloy side panel.

Lu Feng moved smoothly beside him, dropping the second guard with two precise shots to the neck joint where the armor plating met the collar.

"Clear the driver!" Lu Feng called out, moving toward the cab of the second transport.

"Hold!" Lin Qing’s voice cut through the comms. "Han Zheng, the lead vanguard vehicle—its secondary power array is coming back online!"

At the front of the bottleneck, the crushed front hood of the vanguard transport began to glow with an ominous purple light.

The driver’s hatch blew outward, flying twenty feet into the air. A tall, heavily armored figure stepped out from the smoking cab of the lead vehicle. He wore no standard Apex military gear; instead, his chest piece was inlaid with deep energy channels that glowed with volatile purple power.

"High-tier kinetic awakened!" Xiao Li shouted from the canyon floor. "He’s trying to break the chokepoint!"

The Apex defender looked around at the trapped convoy, his expression cold and unbothered by the chaos around him. He raised a hand toward Xiao Li, a massive wave of dense, purple kinetic force gathering around his palm.

Before he could release the strike, a sudden kinetic burst slammed into his shoulder, throwing his aim wildly off target. The purple energy blast veered sideways, detonating harmlessly against the granite cliff wall and showering the canyon floor with burning rock fragments.

Han Zheng stepped out from the shadow of the middle transport, his hands humming with active force fields.

"Lin Qing, get the rear cargo doors open," Han Zheng said calmly, his eyes locked onto the high-tier defender ahead. "Lu Feng, cover the ridge. This one is mine."

The Apex defender turned his head slowly toward Han Zheng, a dark smirk touching his lips as purple energy crackled along his arms. "A high tier power user," the man said, his voice echoing with layered kinetic force. "I was hoping it’d be fun here."

Han Zheng didn’t waste breath on a response. He closed his fingers into a tight fist, the kinetic dampeners in his sleeves whistling as he stepped into the fight.

---

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!