The ravaged land was crisscrossed with countless fissures. Black smoke obscured the slanting rays of the setting sun. On the muddy road, countless people struggled onward, their faces etched with despair and fear. Occasionally, someone would fall into a crevice, and the cries never ceased.
A procession of tens of thousands of people formed a long line. On either side, at regular intervals, stood a physically enhanced warrior providing protection. These individuals were known as evolved humans.
Since the sudden catastrophe on Earth half a year ago, evolved humans had gradually emerged.
At the rear of the procession, Lu Yin looked up towards the distance, his ears catching a chilling gnawing sound. With a roar, a two-meter long mutated dog with crimson eyes darted out from behind a burnt tree, blood dripping from its mouth as it snarled and charged towards the group.
Many survivors in the procession screamed in terror at the sight. Lu Yin's eyes hardened. He drew a strange weapon from his waist; it looked like an iron rod, but one side was sharpened like a blade.
Lu Yin leaped and swung the rod down with one hand, effortlessly severing the mutated dog's head. Blood spurted onto the ground, staining the weeds red.
Witnessing the mutated dog's death, the procession finally quieted down, continuing its fearful advance.
Lu Yin put away the iron rod, inspecting it. There were a few small cracks on it. "Looks like it won't last much longer."
As the sun set, the land plunged into darkness. All the evolved humans lit fires, which spread along the procession, attempting to ward off mutated beasts. The procession also halted its movement.
Traveling in the dark in an unfamiliar place was tantamount to suicide.
A crackling static sound emerged from Lu Yin's waist communicator: "Evolved humans with tail number three, seek food within a one-kilometer radius."
Lu Yin's evolved human designation was one-zero-three. He looked up at the recently slain mutated dog, picked it up, and threw it to the front of the procession. "Eat."
A commotion rippled through the ranks. Immediately, several men stepped forward to process it, clearly accustomed to the task, even though the mutated dog's mouth still had traces of human bones.
One mutated dog was only enough to feed about twenty people. Lu Yin walked away from the bonfire, clutching his iron rod, and headed into the distance.
The gnawing sounds in his ears never stopped. In the darkness, a pair of green eyes stared at Lu Yin—a mutated rat. Though its appearance was hideous, its meat was edible.
Lu Yin swung his iron rod, killing over a dozen mutated rats. He carried and tossed them towards the procession; he had enough for his side.
Suddenly, a scream ripped through the air. Lu Yin didn't even need to look to know an evolved human had died. He had no intention of saving them; who knew what had attacked the evolved human? Perhaps a highly venomous snake, a blood-sucking mosquito, or a powerful mutated rat capable of biting through steel. Such creatures were not uncommon in the wild.
The procession was quiet. Everyone huddled behind the flames, as if a thin layer of fire could truly protect them.
Lu Yin looked at these people with pity, then raised his head to the sky. The starry sky was so brilliant, so bright. The once polluted air had completely cleared half a year ago, accompanied by the emergence of countless mutated creatures, including humans themselves.
No one knew why that mutation occurred. It was as if overnight, creatures became terrifying, and many people turned into soulless shells, devoid of reason, devouring living things everywhere. These individuals were called Zombies.
The remaining survivors' bodies had all become somewhat stronger and sturdier. Although the change wasn't drastic, they could grow stronger by consuming crystals from mutated creatures. These were the evolved humans.
Earth, overnight, seemed to have returned to ancient times. The strong preyed on the weak. The enormous arsenal that once dominated the planet was almost entirely destroyed. Lu Yin personally witnessed the explosion of the arsenal in his city. It was as if those modern weapons were no longer allowed in this new era.
A strong wind blew through, and on the ground, blood-stained newspapers were held down by stones, rustling.
Lu Yin picked up a newspaper, looking at the headline: "February 3, 2200, a date recorded in history. On that day, China's Sky Number 5 landed on Neptune. Bai Qian became the first astronaut from Earth to explore Neptune. Neptune is a gas giant. On that day..." Lu Yin tossed the newspaper aside. A little girl cautiously offered him a roasted animal leg.
Lu Yin accepted the leg, smiling faintly, "Thank you."
The little girl smiled shyly and ran back into the procession.
The animal leg was tough to eat. Although seasoned, it was still incredibly unpalatable. But Lu Yin ate it with satisfaction; he needed energy to be strong.
The flames suddenly flickered. Lu Yin fiercely drew his iron rod and brought it down, killing a mutated praying mantis that had leaped through the flames. This type of mutated mantis, if it jumped into the procession, would cause massive casualties. Its reflective red blades were no less formidable than Lu Yin's iron rod.
Throughout the night, Lu Yin only rested for two hours. During that time, he killed over a dozen mutated creatures attempting to break into the procession.
His section had no casualties, but other areas were different. In one section, several dozen survivors, including evolved humans, were killed, massacred by a gigantic mutated wild boar. That mutated boar could launch hard bristles, and a single round of attacks could claim many lives. If not for a few relatively powerful evolved humans intervening, the casualties would have been even greater.
As the sun rose, the procession continued south. They were heading to Jinling, to the largest base in the Su Province region. There, there was the military, many evolved humans, and someone known as the Chinese Figure Saint, Zhou Shan.
In the half-year of the apocalypse, many evolved humans emerged, and even stronger individuals known as the Seven Saints, top-tier powerhouses, were born.
Although communication was difficult nowadays, contact could still be made. Not long ago, evolved humans were clearly categorized into ranks: ordinary evolved humans who had just consumed crystals, Human-level powerhouses who could crush ordinary evolved humans, and above them, those with the power to destroy cities, known as Earth-shaking level or Earth-level powerhouses.
The highest tier was the Sky-flying level, or Sky-level powerhouses, as the name suggested, capable of flight. The Seven Saints of China were these seven Sky-level powerhouses.
Half a year into the apocalypse, this was the only classification system. Perhaps in a short while, there would be a more systematic division, but these seven Sky-flying powerhouses, as long as they didn't die, would forever stand at the peak. This was also part of the reason for the word "Saint" in their title—perhaps it was also because countless survivors awaited their protection, hence the appellation "Saint."
The Jinling base possessed one such Saint, Figure Saint Zhou Shan.
The procession continued its journey. They were still over 100 kilometers from Jinling. A journey of a few hours in peaceful times now took at least several days.
A few miles from the procession, countless wandering Zombies slowly approached, as if smelling living things.
The evolved humans on both sides of the procession nervously guarded. Many evolved humans had fearful eyes. Although these Zombies weren't fast, they were incredibly strong, and their blood contained potent venom. Once touched, even evolved humans would suffer rotting skin, eventually losing their minds and becoming like them. This was the most terrifying aspect.
Lu Yin's eyes narrowed. He gripped his iron rod. Fighting Zombies wasn't difficult; they were always the same, unlike evolved humans who could grow stronger. This was also the luck of countless survivors. If Zombies could also grow stronger, they truly would have no way out.
Currently, the survivors' greatest enemy was mutated beasts.
Just as Lu Yin and the others were preparing for a battle with the horde of Zombies, the Zombies suddenly stopped, then turned and left. Lu Yin's heart leaped, and a bad premonition arose.
The ground suddenly trembled. At the front of the procession, a gigantic vine rose from underground. Its branches and leaves, as if sentient, grabbed many survivors. Amidst desperate screams, all the captured survivors were crushed into blood and poured into the soil where the vine was rooted.
All the survivors fled in terror, and even many evolved humans did the same.
Lu Yin's eyelids twitched. This mutated vine had definitely reached the Earth-level; it was not comparable to ordinary evolved humans, even if there were Human-level powerhouses in their group.
The evolved humans in the procession had no intention of fighting; they all fled backward, avoiding the vine's range.
After a long while, the vine finally retreated back into the ground, as if sated.
Countless survivors sobbed, screaming in despair. Many people would have a mental breakdown in such an environment, and some evolved humans were no different.
Soon, a crackling static sound came through. From his waist, the communicator relayed a message: "Rest on the spot. Figure Saint will personally come to pick us up."
Hearing this news, countless people cheered. For survivors today, Sky-level powerhouses were like gods. It was as if any problem could be solved as long as a Sky-level powerhouse appeared.
Lu Yin's face showed a hint of mockery. Saint? He covered his left arm with one hand. To this day, half his body still ached with bone-chilling pain, as if forever reminding him of the events of that night.
An entire city abandoned. All the un-destroyed hot weapons unleashed into the city. Screams echoed everywhere. Half his body was burned. Turning back, he saw those condescending eyes and dazzling golden light.
Liu Shaoge. He would never forget that man called the Light Saint, one of the Seven Saints, who had made him experience extreme pain. Lu Yin swore he would return that pain tenfold.
As the fires rose, the sky darkened. Lu Yin was about to rest when screams and cries erupted not far away.
Lu Yin frowned, turning to look. A hundred meters away, several girls were surrounded by over a dozen evolved humans, casually being teased. Several of the girls' clothes were barely hanging on, and they silently wept.
This scene was not unfamiliar. In the apocalypse, humanity's depravity was common. Lu Yin had seen it many times. How to put it, in this environment, to receive protection, it was impossible without paying a price.
Lu Yin closed his eyes, his mind slowing slightly.
In the distance, a young girl screamed and was slapped to the ground. "Damn it, I risked my life protecting you, so what's wrong with having some fun? Don't be so shameless. Two days ago, a small celebrity begged me to have fun with her, and now she's begging me to play, but I won't. Begin!"
The girl glared at the evolved human with hateful, bloodshot eyes.
The surrounding evolved humans grinned, laughing loudly. They loved this era, where they could do whatever they wanted, and no one could stop them.
A gust of wind blew past. A person appeared in front of the evolved human—it was Lu Yin. At this moment, Lu Yin's iron rod rested on the evolved human's neck. He said calmly, "Get lost."
The surroundings fell silent, only the faint sobs of the few girls could be heard.
The evolved human threatened by Lu Yin had an extremely ugly expression. He gritted his teeth and said, "Lu, this has nothing to do with you. They are under my protection."
"You're making noise near me," Lu Yin said indifferently. The sharp edge of the iron rod pressed down, and immediately, the evolved human's skin cracked, blood flowing from under the rod.
The evolved human panicked, "Okay, okay, you're strong. They're yours, I won't touch them."
Lu Yin withdrew his iron rod and coldly walked back to his spot. Many people in the procession quietly watched this scene. They were long accustomed to it; even if those few girls had been killed just now, no one would have helped. Lu Yin seemed very strange to them.
The dozen or so evolved humans glared at each other furiously but didn't dare to act rashly. Lu Yin was very strong; they knew that.
The few girls ran behind Lu Yin, wanting to say something, but Lu Yin closed his eyes and didn't respond to them. They could only look at Lu Yin gratefully and cautiously sit down.
Not long after, a beautiful young woman in revealing clothes walked to Lu Yin's side, smiling. Her sharp gaze swept over the few girls, scaring them into immediately backing away and lowering their heads in fear.
The beautiful woman was then satisfied. She sat down next to Lu Yin and blew a breath into his ear.
Lu Yin reached out and grabbed the woman's neck, opening his eyes and saying coldly, "Next time, you die."
The beautiful woman's eyes were cold, but she forced out a captivating smile. "You're still so heartless."
Lu Yin released her hand, staring coldly at the woman. "What do you want?"
The woman rubbed her neck, glaring at Lu Yin. "Don't you know you've offended someone?"
Lu Yin didn't reply.
The woman continued, "Zhang Tong and those guys are plotting against you. They have over a dozen evolved humans, and you're alone. You can't fight them off, be careful."
"Thanks," Lu Yin replied indifferently.