By the time they arrived in City A, it was already dark. After getting off the plane, the group immediately boarded a special vehicle heading straight to Central Command. Everyone knew time was tight, so during the flight, they had only eaten a simple meal—food that Mother Mo had prepared earlier that morning and stored in her spatial space.
Mo Chengyu and his superior were already used to such things. After all, they had witnessed so much along the way—their worldview had collapsed, been rebuilt, and collapsed again—until they eventually grew numb to it.
As they neared their destination, they could already see from afar an elderly man with a head full of white hair standing at the entrance to the command center, still upright and full of spirit. This was the elder whom Mo Chengyu’s superior had contacted—Elder Luo.
Mo Xiaobai didn’t know much about Elder Luo’s achievements due to her young age, but her parents certainly did.
Along the way, they told her about him: Elder Luo had an illustrious military career, his son had sacrificed his life during a classified mission, and his daughter-in-law had later died in a car accident. Now, only Elder Luo and his eldest grandson, Luo Yifan, remained of the Luo family.
As for Luo Yifan, his name matched his reputation—handsome and extraordinary. As the Luo family’s eldest grandson, he had grown up in the military and was now the youngest major general in Huaguo.
Elder Luo himself had largely retired from active duty. Mo Chengyu’s superior, Qin Chuan, originally hadn’t wanted to disturb him, but the matter at hand was far too serious—he had no choice.
Seeing Elder Luo waiting personally at the entrance of Central Command left the Mo family both flattered and nervous.
After a brief exchange, Elder Luo personally led the family of five into a conference room that had already been prepared.
Inside sat another elder, upright and dignified—Elder Long.
“Welcome,” Elder Long greeted. “This young lady must be the comrade who provided the information—Comrade Mo, correct? Excellent! If what you say about the apocalypse is true, then not just Huaguo, but the entire planet owes you gratitude.”
Though Elder Long’s tone was kind and unassuming, his very presence carried an unmistakable air of authority that made others instinctively respectful.
“Hello, Elder Long,” Mo Xiaobai said earnestly. “Yes, I’m Mo Xiaobai. These are my family members. Everything I’ve said is true. If it’s convenient, I can demonstrate my ability now—then you’ll understand.”
Her small face was serious, her posture straight, her eyes bright and firm.
“Very good! You’ve worked hard. Please, demonstrate again for me and Elder Luo,” Elder Long said approvingly. “Our young generation truly makes the nation proud.”
So once again, the Mo family performed their demonstrations. Mo Chengyu stood quietly to the side, pride shining in his eyes as he watched his family.
Elder Long and Elder Luo both maintained calm expressions, though the flicker in their eyes betrayed their shock and disbelief.
“Abilities… truly incredible,” Elder Luo murmured, awe and sorrow mingling in his voice.
Mo Xiaobai then quickly explained how she had foreseen the coming apocalypse and obtained the system, before handing over the documents she had compiled during the flight—information about the zombie virus, ability classifications, the merit-based resource exchange system, and the formula for the basic gene serum.
For a long while, the only sounds in the room were the rustling of papers being turned. Eventually, Elder Luo began to ask pointed questions—about the strength and range of the tsunami, where the first zombie attacks had occurred, and whether there were ways to detect infection by the zombie virus.
Mo Xiaobai wasn’t an expert, but she described the scenes she had witnessed in her prophetic dreams as best as she could.
“Based on my observations,” she explained, “the sea where the ‘Seed of Civilization’ fell should be the Central Sea. So all coastal cities near that area were affected, and the islands within it were completely submerged.
“In our coastal regions, the most heavily damaged cities are L City and Y City—both entirely submerged. Other coastal cities suffered partial flooding—about half of each city on average.”
That was as precise as she could be. Fortunately, her A-level precognition ability, enhanced by the basic gene serum, seemed to grant her photographic memory—perhaps because she had absorbed the serum perfectly. Without that, it would have been impossible to recall such details clearly.
The room grew heavy with tension. Such devastation could only be mitigated by mass evacuations of coastal populations.
Yet the logistics of such a move were staggering—and even after evacuation, the coming zombie virus outbreak would cause new chaos. Moreover, if things were this bad on land, what about the ocean? The sea was a realm humans had never fully explored.
It truly was the end of the world.
“We can’t save everyone,” Elder Luo said gravely. “All we can do is minimize the losses.”
“As for the first zombie attacks,” Mo Xiaobai added, “there didn’t seem to be much of a pattern. But I noticed something—the earliest infected people who attacked others were all survivors fleeing from coastal cities. In my vision, they all had black mourning bands on their arms and visible wounds on their bodies.”
She paused, realization dawning. “They must’ve been injured while escaping the tsunami. Since the ‘Seed of Civilization’ carrying the zombie virus landed in the Central Sea, the seawater was the first to be contaminated. Those wounded by debris or saltwater would have been infected the fastest.”
Father Mo nodded in agreement, his expression thoughtful. “That makes sense.”
The others around the table agreed with the analysis.
“Alright,” Elder Long said after a deep breath, “the situation is critical. Elder Luo, please transmit my orders—initiate a Level-One National Alert.”
“Yes,” Elder Luo replied, rising immediately. “We’ve reached the moment of life and death.” He left the room at once.
Elder Long turned back to Mo Xiaobai. “Comrade Mo, on behalf of the people of Huaguo, I thank you for your selfless contribution. The information you’ve provided is of immeasurable importance.” He bowed deeply to her.
“Please don’t, Elder Long!” Mo Xiaobai exclaimed, jumping up in alarm and helping him straighten. “This is just what I should do. I’m a citizen of Huaguo too!”
“Comrade Mo,” Elder Long said seriously, “if everyone were to take the basic gene serum, could they resist the zombie virus?”
“Elder Long, please just call me Xiaobai,” she said respectfully. “And no—the serum doesn’t provide full resistance. The system explained that while the gene serum enhances the body and unlocks potential, the zombie virus is extremely resilient and mutates rapidly. Unless one’s genes reach a state of perfection, complete resistance isn’t possible.”
Though everyone had anticipated that answer, disappointment still filled the room.
“However,” she continued, “taking the serum does increase resistance to some extent. The problem is that once someone infected turns into a zombie, they become even harder to kill. Only those who awaken abilities can completely avoid zombification—unless they’re directly bitten or the virus enters their bloodstream.”
In other words, the zombie virus was essentially unsolvable—at least for an unprepared civilization.
Perhaps in the future, Huaguo would develop a cure or defense mechanism—but for now, there was none.
At that moment, a knock sounded at the door.