Chapter 1: Desperate Situation
“Bam! Bam bam!” The terrifying pounding shook the entire girls’ dormitory, sending the zombies inside into a frenzied roar…
Jiang Yi with his face ashen, pressed his back tightly against the dormitory door that was being slammed by the zombies, using all his strength to restrain the vibrations of the wooden door behind him…
“Bastards! Damn bastards!” Jiang Yi roared in fury as he desperately held the door, never imagining that a routine supply run would lead to betrayal by his companions!
Even now, his mind replayed the scene from just minutes ago: receiving a sudden impact against his back during the moment they encountered the zombies.
Sprawled on the ground, Jiang Yi stared in terror at the mocking sneer on his “companion’s” face before the man coldly abandoned him to the zombies and disappeared down the hallway without a backward glance…
Jiang Yi glanced at his arm that was stained crimson with blood. Although he had managed to escape into an empty dorm room before being torn apart by several “beautiful” female zombies, his arm had still been scratched by their dark nails, leaving two bloody scars.
Stimulated by the fresh blood, the zombies outside the door grew increasingly excited, tirelessly slamming against the already flimsy wooden door…
Panic and blood loss sapped Jiang Yi’s strength. Summoning his last ounce of energy, he finally managed to slide the bolt shut before the zombies could break through. His legs slipped and he slumped beside the door, watching with a bitter smile as dark blood dripped from his fingertips.
“Damn this apocalypse… Why did it have to come to this…” Shivering from a sudden chill—whether real or imagined—Jiang Yi curled in on himself…
The origin of this horror traced back to ten days ago, it was a sunny, utterly ordinary day.
Having stayed up late gaming with his roommate, Jiang Yi overslept and stood up his girlfriend, Chen Jiazhi, for their shopping date. It wasn’t until noon that Jiazhi, who was drenched from the rain, dragged him out of bed!
Only then did he learn that Longcheng, which should have been clear and sunny, had been hit by a sudden, cloudless downpour.
The rain had arrived too abruptly. Later, campus gossip and online rumors claimed it was just like a giant showerhead had been positioned above the entire Earth, drenching the rotating planet in a thorough cleanse!
The sudden rainfall had occurred worldwide, even over major deserts. Though unexpected, it hadn’t caused much trouble—it passed too quickly to even properly wet the ground. At most, it caught outdoor pedestrians off guard, giving them an unplanned free shower.
Jiang Yi, blamed by his girlfriend, had no choice but to agree to several “unequal treaties” to placate her.
The incident seemed to pass, leaving behind only a fresh topic for online chatter.
But to Jiang Yi’s surprise, the next day, Chen Jiazhi came down with a fever! It wasn’t just her. Nearly one-third of the students at Longcheng University of Technology had suddenly fallen ill with high fevers.
As news spread online, everyone realized this fever was a global phenomenon! By the time Jiang Yi tried to take Chen Jiazhi to the hospital, it was already overflowing with patients and refusing new admissions.
Yet, the strength of a great nation shone through. The capital issued various disease control directives at the very first moment, mobilizing all medical resources to their fullest.
Fortunately, test results weren’t overly alarming. The fevers were caused by a common influenza virus triggering immune responses. Except for a small number of severe cases, most patients could recover with rest at home. After taking flu medication, they typically recovered within about three days.
Strangely, all those affected are the groups that had been caught in the rain that day! People like Jiang Yi, who hadn’t been exposed to the rainwater, showed no signs of infection even after close contact with patients.
This discovery reassured people worldwide. But it also fueled speculation about the mysterious rain. Unfortunately, the downpour had been too brief, leaving almost no samples for analysis. The only known fact was that the rainwater was highly acidic which is an extremely rare instance of intense acid rain…
Suspicions arose online! Some claimed it was a strategic biochemical weapon secretly deployed by a foreign power. Others blamed anti-human retaliation by terrorist organizations, even some leaders of those organizations publicly claiming responsibility!
In China and several other strongly religious countries, some proclaimed the rain a divine warning to humanity or even a omen of the apocalypse…
Jiang Yi didn’t pay much attention to these rumors. He spent three days and nights tirelessly caring for Chen Jiazhi. While his feverish girlfriend showed no signs of exhaustion, Jiang Yi himself grew visibly haggard and thin.
Just as Jiazhi began to improve, news broke worldwide: huge numbers of flu patients in hospitals died suddenly!
The deaths were sudden and inexplicable. Patients who had been stable moments before were dying, often without even giving doctors time to attempt rescue… It was a catastrophic disaster. Preliminary statistics showed that in Longcheng Province alone, the death toll reached a terrifying millions in a single day.
This sudden catastrophe was too immense for even powerful nations to conceal. Panic swept the globe, nearly all industries ground to a halt as survivors frantically hoarded supplies, leading to chaos and riots in some areas.
Jiang Yi didn’t know about other countries, but fortunately China’s response was swift and effective. The government quickly reassured the public and implemented various measures, barely stabilizing public sentiment…
But clearly, this was only the beginning. Before the nation could catch its breath, another horrifying event unfolded, one that left even the most powerful forces helpless.
The zombie outbreak began!!!
Nearly one-tenth of the global population who had died from the flu suddenly revived within 12 hours of death. Their first act upon resurrection was to attack the living around them! There was no time for anyone to react. The world plunged into a terrifying apocalypse.
Jiang Yi was relatively lucky. Because his girlfriend was recovering, they had gone to the cafeteria to eat and became trapped there when the outbreak began, thus avoiding the initial wave.
The cafeteria had ample food supplies. Besides those already there, other survivors from the university gradually gathered there in the following days. At this moment, among all the survivors, people made a shocking discovery! Some individuals had awakened supernatural abilities!
Yes, the kind of powerful superpowers found in apocalyptic fiction! Out of roughly a thousand people in the cafeteria, over a hundred had developed strange abilities!
However, unlike the elemental control that many imagined, most abilities involved greatly enhanced strength or speed. Only a few possessed truly supernatural powers!
Jiang Yi felt highly excited as his girlfriend Chen Jiazhi awakened a water-based ability, allowing her to create fresh, clean water out of thin air! This ability made Jiazhi stand out among the survivors and earned Jiang Yi, as her boyfriend, some preferential treatment.
Remembering this, Jiang Yi endured the pain in his arm and pulled a quail egg-sized, crystalline object from his inner pocket, his expression grim. It was a pure, translucent pearl-like object—extracted from a zombie’s head.
As people with abilities emerged, the imaginative university students naturally wondered if zombies might also contain the kind of absorbable crystal cores mentioned in fiction.
Initially, bold individuals dissected several zombie corpses but found nothing, gradually dashing those hopes.Few days ago, when another group of surviving students broke into the cafeteria, attracting zombies, a battle ensued. While moving bodies afterward, Jiang Yi, being an ability-less ordinary person, found this crystal core that had fallen from a smashed zombie head.
Jiang Yi wasn’t foolish. He secretly pocketed it without letting others notice. For certain reasons, he hadn’t even told Chen Jiazhi that her boyfriend possessed a precious zombie core!
Ignoring the violent impacts against the door, Jiang Yi stared intently at the core in his hand, his face tense. As more survivors gathered in the cafeteria, the existence of zombie cores became known, and even methods for using them were devised!
Zombie cores were the energy source of zombies. Ordinary, newly-turned zombies didn’t possess them. Only the evolved, first-order zombies did. Thus, even after ten days into the apocalypse, the cafeteria survivors had acquired fewer than ten cores.
Their function was simple: to enhance the abilities of those who possessed them! However, if an ordinary person swallowed a core, the result was singular: death, followed by resurgence as a zombie!
Jiang Yi had originally planned to clean this core and give it to Chen Jiazhi, but in the end, he never did.
Now, feeling the numbness spreading through his arm, Jiang Yi smiled bitterly, a sinister glint flashing in his eyes. “Shen Tong, Wang Hai! If I survive this, just you wait. I’ll tear you both to pieces, so utterly that you won’t even get to become zombies!” After venting his venomous hatred, Jiang Yi swallowed the zombie core in one gulp.
The supposedly hard core melted instantly in his mouth! A cool liquid slid down his throat into his stomach. Immediately, a wave of heat spread through his body, emanating from his abdomen and flowing along some mysterious pathways throughout his limbs.
Just as Jiang Yi began to feel a sense of relief, the warmth erupted into a terrifying wave of heat! A powerful energy burst forth, tearing through him as if his very skin couldn’t contain it, beginning to split open!
“Ahhh!” Jiang Yi screamed, collapsing to the floor and writhing in agony. The pain from his skin was bearable, but the sensation of countless sharp blades scraping against his blood vessels and meridians from within was utterly unbearable…
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