Wasteland

(Sorry, this novel is on hiatus for now. I'm truly sorry to everyone who likes it, but I got caught up in contradictions with myself over how to set up some of the later plot developments, and I can't continue. My apologies again.)

[Content warnings at the end. Be sure to read them all.]

[Blurb One]

Desolation and contamination, chaos and absurdity: these are the dominant tones of the wasteland.

Amid mutation, transformation, and the collapse of order, amid countless fanatical beliefs, someone will surely step forward, pass through the mist, and break free of their chains.

Bring back the light.

Pass humanity's dawn on to the future.

[Blurb Two]

An octopus, a sword cultivator, running fast, running fast.

One has no tentacles, one has no body. How strange, how strange.

“Test subject S-47 has mutated. Proceed with destruction.”

The laser tore it apart. High heat and flames vaporized its flesh, and the remaining scraps were discarded. Mutation saved its life and brought it back to the world of the living.

47 led the contaminants in crushing every surviving base, then fell into a deep sleep amid humanity's screams and cries of agony.

When it opened its eyes again, it had returned to the time before it hatched. An invisible speck of light appeared before it. “Hey, cutie, awake now?”

It had a new “friend.”

They escaped the laboratory, met all kinds of people, and found companions they could depend on.

At last, 47 understood what feelings were, and what it meant to be inseparable.

In the warped curtain of rain, beneath flashes of silver lightning, 47 held the person before him close. The faint stirrings in his heart swelled like ocean waves, drowning out the thunder.

“This is love.”

Reader's guide:

1. Carefree, easygoing top x cute, naturally dark bottom. The bottom isn't human. This may be an unconventional raising-and-growing-up story. Both have human forms.

2. The plot involves mutation, the wasteland, contamination, supernatural abilities, unconventional redemption, all kinds of rambling beliefs, mechanical ascension, ascension through supernatural abilities, and saving the world.

3. A serious yet absurd wasteland story with an unconventional supernatural power system. There may be a little angst, probably just a little.

4. The protagonists have a team. It's not a farming story, and leans toward exploration. There are painful moments, but they're not about romance.

5. Team members have no assigned pairings. Passersby can be of any orientation.

[The characters' statements do not reflect the author's views.]

[For the record, the author is only into nonhuman characters and has no other preferences. Please don't make assumptions or leave malicious comments. They will be deleted.]

Theme: As long as life goes on, love never ends