Intense pain radiated from his chest. Ye Chen forced his eyes open, only to see the world before him drenched in a bloody red haze. Beside the faint, almost excited, guttural roar of a beast, he could hear the horrifying sound of bone being chewed.

Was this death?

A touch of bitterness surfaced in Ye Chen’s mind. After struggling for ten years in the apocalypse—living every day with meticulous caution, sleeping with his weapon close by, startled by the slightest sound—he was finally tracked down by this Blood Horn Beast because of one careless omission: failing to erase the scent left from killing the Three-Headed Dog.

To feel his body slowly being torn apart, perhaps that wasn't such a bad way to go?

As this strange thought crossed Ye Chen’s mind, he couldn't help but offer a wry smile. Knowing that recovery was impossible, that all hope of survival was gone, a strange sense of relief washed over him.

In high school, his parents died in a car accident, leaving only his younger sister for him to rely on. But when the apocalypse struck, his sister ultimately succumbed to the venomous fangs of a zombie.

He didn't know why he was still alive.

Perhaps, like most people, he just kept living for the sake of living...

For the past decade, driven by the fear of death and an intense craving for life, he had stumbled along the razor's edge between life and death, struggling and gasping like a stray dog. At times, he even questioned if he was still human.

Death, perhaps, was a form of release.

As if a great burden had been lifted, Ye Chen felt a wave of lightness spread through his entire body, having finally accepted his fate.

Sister, I’m coming.

His consciousness faded into darkness, and he drifted into sleep.

...

"Brother, wake up."

A clear, sweet voice sounded beside his ear, immediately followed by the sensation of a small, icy hand pinching his nose. He jolted awake, instantly rolling over and instinctively leaping backward. However, halfway through the movement, he slammed hard into a wall, his spine protesting sharply.

What was happening?

As the fog cleared from his mind, Ye Chen realized he was no longer beneath the gaping maw of the Blood Horn Beast, but lying on a soft bed.

He looked up, and in that glance, he saw eternity.

Beside the bed, bathed in soft light, stood a delicate and lovely girl. Her eyelashes were long, her lips curved into a gentle smile, and her eyes sparkled with amusement. She was strikingly beautiful; when she smiled, her eyes curved into crescent moons, and faint dimples appeared on her exquisite cheeks. The very air around them seemed to hold its breath, and time itself stood still in that moment.

"Brother, what are you waiting for? Get up quickly. Today is your university graduation; it won't look good if you're late," the girl said, blinking her wide eyes and pouting slightly.

This familiar appearance, this familiar voice—they struck Ye Chen’s heart like raindrops, like silk threads. For a moment, he felt as if he were dreaming, barely daring to believe that his sister, who had perished at the hands of zombies at the very start of the apocalypse, was standing alive and well before him!

Wait!

University graduation?

Ye Chen’s heart jolted. If that were true, then today must be September 1st, 2013—the very day the apocalyptic disaster struck. Could it be that he had been reborn, sent back ten years?

Ye Chen looked around the room. The light was dim, and the space was not large. On the wall hung an old-fashioned clock, its pendulum swinging with a "dong-dong" sound, like a soul-chime. The faded yellow walls were adorned with several outdated posters and two old photographs—a young couple with kind, gentle smiles. In the distance was a desk piled high with books.

This was precisely the room he had occupied during his university years.

Ye Chen stared blankly for a long moment before finally confirming that he was not dreaming, but truly back ten years in the past! This bizarre event did not cause him panic; after a brief moment of confusion, he quickly calmed down. After a moment of silence, he stepped off the bed and said sternly to his sister, Ye Zhu, "Sister, take our bank card and withdraw every cent of our savings!"

Ye Zhu paused, puzzled. "Withdraw everything? What for?"

Ye Chen gently stroked her head, a flicker of doting love in his eyes. "Don't worry, big brother won't do anything foolish."

Ye Zhu gave him a suspicious glance but didn't press the matter. Since their parents died in the car crash, Ye Chen had raised her. All her tuition and living expenses were earned by him, working while attending school. She still remembered when she was in the third year of junior high, admiring a classmate’s nice leather wallet. Ye Chen, learning this, secretly snuck off to a construction site and worked as a laborer for a week, utterly exhausted, just to buy her an identical one.

To imagine a university student working construction—that was humiliation enough!

Because she was a girl and cared about appearances, Ye Chen would always wear slightly worse clothes and eat less, but he was never stingy with her. Whether it was clothing or jewelry, he always chose the nicest items, purely so she wouldn't lose face in front of her classmates.

Thinking of this, Ye Zhu’s nose tingled with emotion. She nodded softly, turned, and walked to the bedside. Under the bed, beneath a dusty wooden plank, she retrieved a rag and slowly lifted it. Wrapped inside was a pristine bank card. No thief breaking in would ever suspect Ye Chen hid his wallet so secretly.

"I’m going now," Ye Zhu said, carefully slipping the bank card into the pocket of her jeans, then brightening into a smile.

Ye Chen nodded. "Be careful on the road."

Ye Zhu gave a playful smile, her laughter like the trill of an oriole from a mountain valley, then turned and walked out.

Once Ye Zhu was gone, Ye Chen let his smile fade, returning to his usual detached demeanor. He walked over to the old clock and checked the time: 6:20 AM. If he remembered correctly, the apocalyptic disaster was set to strike around 7 PM. He had about twelve hours to prepare!

Ye Chen calmly calculated the immediate tasks ahead. Since he was reborn, he absolutely would not allow the tragedy to repeat itself!

In his previous life, it was because he attended the graduation ceremony, leaving his sister home alone, that she fell victim to the zombies.

On the desk, beneath the lamp, sat an old picture frame containing the family portrait: a young couple stood in the center, flanked by a boy of fifteen or sixteen and a girl of eleven or twelve.

"Dad, Mom," Ye Chen murmured, his eyes growing moist as he looked at the photo. "I will take good care of Xiao Zhu. I promise!"

He turned back to the bed and packed only the useful items. Once the apocalypse began, with 70% of the world’s population turned into zombies, this cheap rental apartment would offer no defense against their assault. He needed to find an absolutely secure location first.

A short while later, Ye Chen was finished packing. The combined luggage of both of them fit into a single suitcase, holding only a few changes of clothes. Most other things—like quilts or textbooks—were useless now.

Ye Chen walked to the desk and stared at the picture frame for a long moment before picking it up and placing it into the suitcase. He then sat on the bed, quietly planning his next moves.

This apocalypse was unlike any other. At 7 PM, a scientific research facility in North America would explode, releasing a virus that would instantly cover the entire globe at the speed of fiber optics, giving no warning whatsoever.

Under this virus, those with weak constitutions or serious underlying illnesses would instantaneously transform into terrifying zombies. These zombies weren't as fragile as those in movies; instead, they possessed astonishing strength, comparable to three adult men. A thin sheet of metal on a rental unit like this would be torn open in an instant!

Furthermore, apart from the zombies, all the world's animals would mutate simultaneously into savage, ferocious beasts, even more terrifying than the zombies!

As he was deep in thought, Ye Zhu soon returned. She rolled up the legs of her jeans, revealing an inner pocket stitched inside. The pocket was now bulging, stuffed full of cash.

"Brother, where are you going?" Ye Zhu noticed the suitcase sitting in the middle of the room right away.

Ye Chen took the money from her without counting it precisely. If his memory served him right, there should be about twelve thousand here—enough to stock up on some food supplies.

"Come with me, don't ask anything else. I will tell you when the time comes," Ye Chen stated with a solemn expression.

Ye Zhu paused, studying his stern face, and a subtle sense of foreboding crept into her heart. She asked no more questions. Her trust in Ye Chen was absolute, born from the depths of her heart.

No matter what he did, he was always her brother!

That was enough!

Ye Chen picked up the suitcase and led the way out. It was still morning, and few people were on the streets. Ye Chen walked straight toward the bus stop where he usually caught his ride to school, waiting quietly.

Ye Zhu merely followed behind him silently. Although her eyes were filled with questions, she did not voice them.

Soon, the bus arrived. Ye Chen calculated that taking the bus from here to the main terminal, and then another bus from the terminal to the city center, would take about four hours. This meant he had only eight hours left to prepare!

On the bus, Ye Chen paid for both of their fares and found a seat. Leaning by the window, he stared outside, lost in thought.

...

The downtown area of Hangzhou City was like a steel jungle, with towering skyscrapers, and the streets teeming with bustling crowds, vibrant and prosperous.

Ye Chen took Ye Zhu to a five-star hotel, securing the topmost suite—a four-bedroom, one-living-room apartment. After putting their luggage inside, they ate lunch. Then, leaving Ye Zhu at the hotel, Ye Chen went to the supermarket alone.

Ye Chen bypassed the produce section entirely, heading straight for the snack aisle. After a quick glance, he found two large bags and filled them completely with candy.

Candy contained rich calories and had a long shelf life, making it the best supplementary supply.

Ye Chen remembered that in the later stages of the apocalypse, a single piece of candy could be traded for a low-grade piece of leather armor—a testament to how precious candy was.

Besides candy, Ye Chen bought many eggs—about 1,000 in total. This scale of purchase drew gasps from the surrounding shoppers, and the supermarket staff were dumbfounded, retrieving eggs from the storage warehouse repeatedly until it was empty, managing only to barely gather 1,000 eggs.

...

The excitement is about to begin~~~ New book launch, any recommendation tickets, yes or no!! Yes or no!!