Wukong stared at the screen, his trembling hands gripping the glass of coffee so tightly that his knuckles turned white. The broadcast played on every channel, hijacking the airwaves like a grim harbinger of doom. The voice was cold, mechanical, devoid of empathy—yet chillingly final.
"Citizens of Earth and its Hunters," the Fatek Lord's voice echoed, its tone dripping with arrogance, "We are not here to prolong a war or anything."
The image on the screen shifted, showing massive Fatek ships hovering above a land that had once been a bustling country. Now it was silent, overrun by alien forces. The sheer scale of the invasion was terrifying. It felt like the world itself had stopped spinning.
"Give up your foolish resistance," the voice continued, "and come forward to die a glorious death if you wish to serve as test subjects to our cause."
Wukong's pulse quickened, his heart pounding in his chest as he watched the footage. He could hardly believe what he was seeing. **This couldn't be real**. And yet, it was happening right in front of his eyes, broadcasted globally.
"Do not shy away from your fate," the Fatek Lord taunted, its voice chilling and unyielding, "There is nothing you can do. After all, your abilities are all gone. This is the Fatek Lord. Submit to our forces, or... face death."
The words hung in the air like a death sentence. Every television, every smartphone, every radio echoed the same message across the globe. A single, united threat—inescapable, suffocating.
Wukong's grip on the glass tightened as he stared at the broadcast in disbelief. The footage showed the massive portal, so vast it covered the sky, a swirling void of darkness from which thousands of Fatek ships descended. They poured into the atmosphere like locusts, descending upon the country below.
The country was Toram, a powerful nation. One that had once boasted the world's strongest military forces and a legion of hunters renowned for their abilities. And yet, Toram had fallen. In less than a day, they were overrun by the alien invaders.
"What the hell is this?" Wukong muttered under his breath, feeling his throat go dry. "How could they take an entire country so quickly?"
His mind raced, trying to piece together how something like this could have happened without any prior warning. **Where were the military defenses? The hunters? The technology meant to detect threats like this?**
"We've been outwitted and subdued," Seo said softly. "This isn't a war anymore. It's an execution."
Wukong squeezed his eyes shut, trying to push down the rising panic. **Was this really how it was going to end?**
"What do we do next, Seo?" he asked, his voice barely a whisper.
Another long pause followed, and Wukong could hear Seo gulp on the other end of the line.
"Suicides," Seo finally said, his voice hollow. "The president and the house of representatives... they've all killed themselves. In Toram, over three hundred people have already taken their own lives. They know what's coming. The Fatek's technology has evolved beyond anything we have, beyond even nuclear warheads. There's nothing left for us but to decide how we want to die."
Wukong inhaled sharply, biting his lip hard enough to taste blood. **This couldn't be happening.** It felt like a nightmare—a replay of history's darkest moments, only worse.
"So... why did you bother calling me?" Wukong asked, his voice cracking.
Seo let out a bitter laugh, the sound tinged with despair. "I thought... I thought maybe we could at least go out on our own terms. I wanted to invite you and the others for a drink. Let's get drunk before we die."
Wukong stared at the phone, his mind spinning. A drink. A final toast before the end of the world. He could hear the resignation in Seo's voice, the acceptance of a fate they could not change.
"Yeah," Wukong whispered, his voice barely audible. "Let's do that."
He hung up the phone, staring at the dark screen for a moment before finally setting it down. His hands were shaking, his heart heavy with the weight of everything that had just unfolded. The world was ending, and there was nothing they could do to stop it.