A rich, spicy broth bubbled in the pot, its scalding steam flowing from her nose all the way down to her stomach. She eagerly picked up a slice of premium fatty beef, swished it in the broth, and scooped it out with some just-cooked vegetables into her dipping bowl. Her mouth opened, anticipating the heart-pounding delight of the first bite...
Chen Xing swallowed hard and her eyes fluttered open.
Gazing up at the red light tubes more than ten meters above and the surroundings cast in a dim, crimson glow, her mind suddenly cleared.
’She was reborn!’
This large, reinforced concrete pit, this smell... she was all too familiar with it. This was the place where she had woken up in her past life.
Above the pit, she could faintly make out several figures collapsed on the floor, all of them wearing white lab coats.
At this moment, everyone across the world was in a state of suspended animation.
She didn’t know the exact details of what caused this state, only that a toxic element had briefly appeared in the atmosphere, causing the entire world’s population to fall into suspended animation for one hour.
After that hour, a portion of the population would die and turn into zombies. The rest, who woke up, would be attacked by these zombies before they even knew what was happening.
Among the survivors, most would awaken superpowers.
But having a superpower didn’t guarantee an easy life.
First, zombie attacks could happen at any moment, and they would evolve alongside humanity’s own advancements.
Second, there was the problem of food shortages.
Humans could no longer produce food as they once had, relying almost entirely on pre-existing supplies.
Furthermore, six months later, the weather would become erratic. Sometimes, in a single day, the temperature would plunge from sweltering heat to below freezing several times. The outdoors became completely unsuitable for growing any fruits or vegetables, and even livestock struggled to adapt, gradually going extinct.
Third, cannibals appeared. One moment of carelessness, and you could become someone else’s next meal.
Therefore, you needed to enhance your superpower. The higher your superpower level, the less of a threat your enemies would be.
!!!!!!!!!!!
’Then... right now, shouldn’t I be lying on a pile of corpses?’
Sure enough, looking around in the red light, she saw bodies clad in uniform white hospital gowns. What else could they be but corpses?
’This is bad!’
Though she hadn’t fully adapted to this clumsy body, she still used every ounce of her strength to get to her feet.
If her memory served her right, this pit was about to be purged. A corrosive fluid would spray from small holes in the walls, instantly dissolving the bodies.
It was an automatic disposal system. As soon as it detected bodies, it would activate its destruction mode.
’How did she know this?’
Heh... After surviving the apocalypse for so long, there were always certain people who would force you to see reality for what it was.
After that, she learned that she was nothing more than a lab rat in this research facility, a test subject for the researchers. Once she was no longer useful, she was tossed into a pit of the dead.
In her past life, she had escaped by a stroke of luck.
Back then, she had just woken up with no memory, so terrified that her only thought was to escape. Just as she climbed out, she saw the liquid spray out below, reducing hundreds of corpses to bare bones in an instant.
’She didn’t want to be reduced to bones!’
’And she certainly didn’t want her second chance at life to be game over before it even began.’
Once on her feet, she couldn’t afford to be squeamish about the bodies. She ran toward the edge, trampling over them as she went.
The pit was over three meters high. Before her rebirth, she could have leaped out in a single bound. But in this body, she could barely even run, driven only by her survival instinct.
There was clearly not enough time to build a ladder out of corpses.
Just like in her past life, a necktie dangled over the edge.
She grabbed it and yanked, hoisting her body up. Seizing the moment, she kicked off the wall and hooked her hands over the top.
It took every last ounce of her strength, but she finally scrambled out.
When she looked back down, the lab staff member attached to the tie had been dragged into the pit.
Before Chen Xing could react, she sensed heavy panting.
’That panting wasn’t human!’
For Chen Xing, who had survived in the apocalypse for ten years, distinguishing between humans and monsters wasn’t difficult.
’But... in her past life, she had escaped the Research Institute without a problem. She never encountered anything strange.’
Following the sound of the panting, she saw a pair of blood-red eyes in the crimson gloom, watching her with a terrifying and bizarre aura.
The creature didn’t attack her immediately. Like a predator savoring its prey, it approached her slowly... extremely slowly.
As it got closer, she could see it clearly. It was the size of a full-grown golden retriever, but it looked more like a wolf than a dog.
Its head was unnaturally large, more than three times the size of a normal dog’s.
Chen Xing drew a sharp breath.
’From the looks of it, it’s already infected with the zombie virus. But the apocalypse isn’t supposed to start for another hour. How could a zombie dog appear here so early? And... it’s not completely mindless.’
Not only was she in terrible physical condition, but she didn’t even have a weapon to kill it with.
As if sensing her fear, it lunged, mouth agape, splattering her with its saliva.
Chen Xing had been lying still, hoping not to provoke it, but its sudden lunge forced her to roll aside. As she scrambled to her feet, she landed a vicious kick on its backside.
The force of the kick, combined with the zombie dog’s own momentum, sent it tumbling into the pit.
Unfortunately, by the time the zombie dog fell, the white corrosive fluid had already begun to spray out. The corpses instantly began to dissolve as if oxidizing, turning to bone in the blink of an eye.
The zombie dog’s paws were corroded down to the bone, but feeling no pain, it simply used the skeletal remains as a foothold and leaped back out.
Chen Xing jumped up, snatched an access card from one of the comatose researchers, and bolted for the door.
But her movements were too slow. In an instant, the zombie dog was right behind her.
’Dammit!’
’If only I had a stick.’
It was nearly impossible to beat a zombie dog to death with your bare fists, but her fists were all she had.
A wave of ruthlessness washed over Chen Xing. She twisted her body to dodge the zombie dog’s attack, grabbed its head, and began smashing it against the wall again and again.
After three hits, the zombie dog’s head was a bloody mess, but it still bared its fangs, trying to bite Chen Xing.
As if Chen Xing would give it the chance.
After a dozen more smashes, the zombie dog finally stopped moving, its fangs still bared. A glittering object was sparkling in its head.
A Crystal Core...
’So the zombie virus really did start early.’
’Does this mean the apocalypse starting in an hour isn’t just a coincidence?’
Regardless, a Crystal Core was a valuable thing. Not only could it be traded for food, but consuming it could also enhance one’s superpower.
After taking the Crystal Core, she didn’t linger. She swiped the card and got into the elevator.
She didn’t have much time; there were things she needed to do.
In her past life, she hadn’t had time to think, rushing to escape the Research Institute.
It wasn’t until two years later that she learned from a certain someone that the basement of the Research Institute was filled with supplies.
In this life, she had no intention of running away first.
In an hour, there would be zombies everywhere. Since there were supplies here, she was going to take as much as she could carry.
With some time to spare, she didn’t rush for the supplies. Instead, she took the elevator to the director’s office on the top floor.
’Time to get some revenge first!’
The director’s secretary on the top floor, Cheng Fang, had used her power and connections not only to bully and isolate her, but had also framed her for the murder of the Crescent Island prime minister. This led to her being hunted by the Crescent Island Superpower Group for a full five years.
In the end, that same Cheng Fang had deliberately lured her into a zombie horde, causing her to die a gruesome death.
And the ’certain someone’ who told her about the supplies in the Research Institute was, of course, Cheng Fang. It wasn’t an act of kindness, but a way for her to flaunt her superiority.
’I don’t care if Cheng Fang was the protagonist in the last life. In this one, she won’t even get to be an extra. It’s game over for her, right from the start.’