“Correct. All animals and plants in the world, including humans,” Su Ruanruan said calmly with her arms crossed as she looked out the window.
At this moment, she actually felt a trace of excitement and anticipation—this was the apocalypse she was familiar with.
But this time, she had a spatial storage, endless supplies, and powerful teammates.
She was no longer the Su Ruanruan who had been betrayed by her best friend and killed in her previous life.
“Humans will also mutate?” Lu An stared blankly at his own hands. There was no change at all. What exactly did mutation look like?
Su Ruanruan began to explain seriously—this was also a way for her to reorganize her thoughts.
“Mutants: if you actively consume a certain animal or plant and overcome its will, you can fully obtain its abilities, even transform into its form.”
“Evolvers: they evolve from level one to level ten, similar to cultivation novels. They absorb a certain substance in the air, and this substance only appears after global mutation.”
“Enhancers: mutations that only affect a specific body part—such as the brain, hands, feet, hair, vision, or smell.”
“Ability users: people with all kinds of strange abilities, like invisibility, turning into shadows, or tearing space, and so on…”
“And the last type—the rarest. There are only five in the entire world: elemental humans. Gold, wood, water, fire, earth—one for each element.”
“All of these are collectively called mutators.”
Lu An swallowed hard, clearly struggling to process all of this. “How do you know all this?”
Su Ruanruan raised an eyebrow. “I’m a one-of-a-kind prophet.”
Of course, that was a lie she made up on the spot. What nonsense “prophet.”
Lu An, who had already witnessed the extreme heat, extreme cold, and now animal mutation, easily accepted her explanation.
“Then we…” he sounded a little lost, as if the path ahead had turned into a fog.
“Head to the Imperial Capital,” Su Ruanruan said firmly.
They looked at each other. Lu An gradually calmed down.
With such a unique “prophet” as a teammate, no matter how uncertain the future was, what was there to fear? He still had to go to the Imperial Capital to find his sister!
“Alright! To the Imperial Capital!” Lu An agreed.
After a brief shock, he quickly adapted to this damn world.
That small incident also gave Su Ruanruan and Lu An a shared direction.
The Imperial Capital.
No one knew what would happen on the journey ahead.
At night, everyone leaned around bonfires, sleeping on thick grass mats.
For the next few days, it was still endless walking.
Walking until their feet blistered, until their minds went numb, until their spirits became dull.
If not for chatting and joking with Lu An to encourage each other, Su Ruanruan felt she might have gone insane.
Every day was either walking, sleeping, or sneaking into her space to eat.
Lu An still didn’t know about her space, and she didn’t plan to tell him yet.
A few days later, Su Ruanruan looked up and saw a highway sign.
Distance to Angang City: 34 km.
Cheering broke out among the crowd.
Everyone began to imagine—once they reached Angang City, would the extreme cold disappear?
Would it become warmer? Would there be a safe place with hot food?
Su Ruanruan didn’t have the heart to break their illusions.
But this disaster was not only in Huicheng—it was global.
Still… it was better to let them hold onto hope until Angang City.
And then… have it completely shattered.
From the moment they saw the sign, morale soared. Even half a meter of snow seemed irrelevant.
Just walk.
And so they walked.
The temperature kept dropping. The journey became harder and harder.
And fewer and fewer people remained in the group.
Finally, they stepped onto the highway.
Following this road, they would leave Huicheng within ten days and reach Angang City.
Hope felt just a little closer.
They rested twice before night fell.
At 10 p.m., they began clearing snow and set up campfires using the branches they had collected earlier.
Frozen solid.
Dozens of people sat in a circle, carefully lighting fires with lighters.
No one spoke. Everyone simply held their hands toward the flames, seeking warmth in the freezing night.
Firelight reflected on their faces like a warm sunset.
Hundreds of bonfires stretched along the highway, one after another.
Su Ruanruan sat next to Lu An, warming her hands near the fire.
Around them, many people scratched their hands violently, skin already torn open.
She looked away.
She didn’t have enough medicine for everyone.
Suddenly, commotion erupted in the distance.
A young woman was being dragged away by several strong men, struggling desperately.
Everyone watched silently, eyes full of mixed emotions—envy, jealousy, disdain, helplessness.
The leader sneered, claiming it was “orders from above” to train new helpers.
But everyone could tell exactly what was really going on.
No one dared to speak up.
Lu An clenched his fists tightly, eyes burning with rage.
Su Ruanruan nudged him and whispered, “Don’t be reckless.”
He slowly loosened his fists, eyes red.
He said quietly, “My sister is about the same age as her… she just started university…”
“She’s fine,” Su Ruanruan cut him off firmly.
The incident passed quickly, but it left a shared resolve between them.
To go to the Imperial Capital.
The next few days were the same—walking endlessly.
Until finally, they entered Angang City.
It looked no different from Huicheng.
White snow everywhere. Empty streets. Silent devastation.
No people. Only ruins and snow.
They found a small empty residential building and settled in for the night.
After cleaning up, Su Ruanruan changed her clothes and prepared to rest.
Lu An sat in the living room, eyes closed.
“Lu An,” she said casually, “have you noticed the plants growing bigger lately?”
“I didn’t pay attention,” he replied.
“…Then pay attention tomorrow. Something unusual is about to happen.”
“Also, don’t sleep too deeply. Meet me at 4:30 a.m.”
Lu An nodded.
That night, Su Ruanruan forced herself to sleep.
At 4:30 a.m., they gathered.
At 5:00 a.m., it began.
Plants outside started to grow wildly—branches twisting, trunks expanding at terrifying speed.
A small shrub shot up to the second floor in seconds.
A roadside tree grew taller than the building itself.
Lu An froze in shock.
“Global mutation,” Su Ruanruan said calmly.
Lu An repeated in disbelief: “Global… mutation?”