Chapter 1: Rebirth
Lin Po still remembered the sharp pain of the ice blade piercing his body. Upon contact with his flesh, the hard ice transformed into tiny needles that shredded his internal organs. Under the weight of such immense agony, Lin Po lost consciousness. Even if a healing-type ability user were by his side now, they wouldn’t be able to save him; such was the power of a Level 5 ability user.
The only reason Lin Po had been killed was for a bag of coarse wild vegetables hidden on his person. Before the apocalypse, a sheep wouldn’t have spared such a plant a second glance, yet now, Lin Po had paid for it with his life.
It was truly pathetic.
In the final moments of his life, Lin Po thought back to his childhood days in his old hometown. His grandmother had a vegetable garden where she grew cucumbers, tomatoes, and small muskmelons. Every afternoon, she would wash a basin of fruits and vegetables, and Lin Po would grab one every now and then. While they couldn’t compare to the sweetness of fruit from a store, they had a unique, fresh, and sweet flavor.
He remembered his former ambition: to lease a large plot of land after growing up and plant all sorts of vegetables and fruits. However, that wish could never be fulfilled now.
Lin Po slowly closed his eyes as his body grew cold. Unnoticed by him, the amber pendant hanging around his neck began to emit a green glow as it was stained by his blood.
As if he had been struck by a punch, Lin Po felt a headache so intense it felt like his skull might burst. His body stiffened, and he immediately sat up from the bed. Looking at his intact self, he was stunned. Even though he had evolved an ability, there was no way he could have survived the ice blade of a Level 5 ability user.
Yet now, he was lying perfectly fine in his bedroom, on his bed, from before the apocalypse. Was this a memory before death? But it felt far too real. Honestly, since the apocalypse began, he had been constantly running for his life, so suffocated by the pressure of death that he had long forgotten his quiet life from before.
But now, the deep blue sheets and duvet, the stack of manga on the desk, and even the fine dust motes floating in the sunlight were all too real.
Lin Po reached under his pillow, where he habitually kept his phone. When he pressed the screen to light it up, his eyes instantly widened. The time was actually one week before the arrival of the apocalypse!
He had been reborn?
Having endured the devastation of the apocalypse and the emergence of superpowers, Lin Po’s ability to accept the extraordinary had long since improved. Even if someone told him now that a version of himself from a parallel world had received a set of memories, he would be able to accept it.
His head still throbbed painfully, so he chose to remain lying on the bed, waiting for the headache to subside while making plans for what was to come.
Even if this was an incredibly realistic dream, Lin Po would not let it simply play out. Before he died, he had seen too many cruel and irreversible things. Even if everything now was fake, he was willing to live it over again in this dream.
Before the apocalypse broke out, Lin Po had just confessed to the person he liked. Before he could receive an answer, eerie changes occurred across the globe, and communications were cut off. Later, Lin Po was never able to find that person again.
Now that he had a second chance, he at least wanted to hear the answer.
After a while, the door creaked open. Lin Po looked up and saw his mother at the doorway. Seeing that Lin Po was awake, Mother Lin walked in, touched his forehead, and said, “Your fever has finally broken. You nearly scared your father and me to death. Come, take your medicine.”
Lin Po stared blankly at his mother, unable to look away. Before the apocalypse began, he had returned to school. By the time he broke out of the disaster-stricken campus and found his family’s small shop, the glass doors had been smashed to pieces, and dark bloodstains covered the floor. Lin Po hadn’t dared to think about what that meant. In the days that followed, he had never stopped searching for his parents.
Just like with Yun Zhuan, he had never seen them again.
Seeing his mother’s gentle face now, Lin Po’s eyes grew hot, and tears rolled down his cheeks.
Mother Lin couldn’t help but tease him, “How old are you now? Why are you crying just because you heard you have to take medicine?”
Lin Po took the cup and drained it in one gulp, mumbling, “It’s not because of that. I just missed you so much.”
Mother Lin patted his head and said, “In that case, don’t rush back to school. Stay home and relax for a few days.”
Lin Po held the candy his mother handed him in his mouth and remained silent. He still had to go to the school once, but there was no need to stay there. As for what to do next, he needed to make a solid plan.
After chatting with him for a bit, Mother Lin closed the door and left. Lin Po began to recall the events of the past.
The apocalypse had erupted because of a virus brought by a comet striking the Earth. However, at the same time, it brought a special kind of energy. According to the settings of post-apocalyptic novels, everyone referred to it as “evolution.”
There were seven main types of evolved individuals. Aside from the five elemental powers of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth, there were also a small number of spirit-type and healing-type users. Those who evolved abilities appeared first among physically strong people, and only later did they appear in those with average physical fitness.
This led to a serious phenomenon: many people who lived by their intellect often died at the very start of the apocalypse. After the chaos subsided and order was re-established, it was discovered that many talents had been lost.
In Lin Po’s memory, up until the moment he died, he had never heard of any relevant institution developing a vaccine that could prevent the zombie virus. Even for ability users, if a wound was contaminated by zombie fluids during combat, there was a high probability they would turn into a zombie unless treated by a high-level healing-type user.
Under such circumstances, everyone lived in constant fear. Some high-level ability users, relying on their own power, gradually established their own territories and built survival bases.
As for the state, due to the sudden nature of the disaster, government institutions were nearly paralyzed. Even when they reacted quickly later on, they still couldn’t provide rescue and control for the entire country.
Therefore, in the apocalypse, besides official survival bases, there were also many large and small bases formed by private groups.
In his search for his parents and Yun Zhuan, Lin Po had moved between several bases. After witnessing some dark realities, he chose to fight as a lone wolf. In the end, he died from a betrayal over a small amount of food.
Thinking of this, Lin Po’s body seemed to still feel that agonizing pain of being torn apart.
He curled his body up, as if doing so could make him feel a bit more comfortable.
In a half-dreaming, half-awake state, he felt a slight heat on his chest, like a spark scorching his skin. The groggy drowsiness was instantly driven away. He reached out to feel around and pulled out a pendant.
It was the amber he had worn since he was a child.
Lin Po held the pendant before his eyes and examined it closely. The amber had a translucent texture, with a swirl of green in the center like a shapeless cloud. Lin Po reached out to touch it, and suddenly his vision blurred. He entered a strange place.
It was an open space roughly the size of a football field, planted with all kinds of vegetation. Some were common, while others Lin Po couldn’t even name.
In the middle of the clearing sat a wooden box. It was smooth without any patterns or joints, appearing as a single, solid piece. Lin Po suspected it might not be a box at all, but rather a block of wood.
However, a strange thought surged in his mind: if he went up and touched the wooden box, he would know everything.
Lin Po thought he hadn’t fully woken up and was still in a dream, so he reached out and touched it without hesitation. In a flash of golden light, a curio shelf abruptly appeared. Neatly displayed upon it were rows of various plant seeds. An inscription was carved into the top of the shelf: Nurture all things, neutralize all poisons.
Lin Po: ???
Everything seemed to be heading in a fantasy direction, and this dream was far too realistic. He could even smell the fragrance of the mango trees growing in the clearing.
He couldn’t help but pinch himself. Hiss— it hurt. This wasn’t a dream; it was real.
So, not only had he been reborn, but he also had his own portable space?
Lin Po had read quite a few novels. The portable spaces of the protagonists in those stories usually contained spiritual springs or a powerful soul that helped them down the path of a “feel-good” story. His space, however, contained a bunch of plants and seeds. Was it because of his obsession with that bag of wild vegetables before he died?
Lin Po felt very bewildered.
But none of that was the most important thing. Since zombies and superpowers already existed in the world, a space wasn’t that big of a deal. He was grateful that, having a second chance, Heaven had actually granted him a “cheat.”
Whether it was a parallel world or time flowing backward, he had to seize this opportunity to protect his parents and protect Yun Zhuan.
After several attempts, Lin Po mastered the use of the amber space. As long as he thought of the pendant in his mind, he could enter at any time, and he could leave just by thinking about exiting.
During his final trip inside, Lin Po picked a few mangoes. He wanted to use this time to test if they could really “neutralize all poisons.”
The mangoes in the space were quite large. Lin Po weighed them; each was over a pound, and the fragrance was very strong and inviting.
Lin Po got out of bed and found a fruit knife to slice one open. He hesitated for a moment about whether to eat it directly. If there was something wrong with this thing, his life might not even last until the apocalypse arrived.
He searched the room and finally saw a live chicken in the kitchen, kept in a cage and not yet slaughtered. He used the knife to slice off a piece and fed it to the chicken. Knowing nothing, the chicken happily swallowed it. Lin Po watched for a while, and the chicken showed no problems at all.
Lin Po felt relieved; there shouldn’t be any issues.
He tapped the chicken’s cage and said, “Since you’ve helped me test for poison, I won’t eat you. When I get the chance, I’ll let you go. Whatever level of survival you achieve will be your own fate.”
Lin Po washed his hands in the bathroom and then sat at his desk to eat the mango. After finishing one, he was surprised to find that his headache had actually vanished.
The “neutralize all poisons” effect mentioned might not handle everything, but it was at least effective for something like a common cold. As for other effects, he would have to wait and test them later.
By the time everything was sorted out, it was already dark. Mother Lin came in to call him for dinner and checked his temperature again.
“That’s good, the fever is gone. I stir-fried some greens for tonight and didn’t make meat, fearing you might find it too greasy.”
Father Lin was a man of few words, but he looked up at him, his eyes filled with concern.