Chapter 1

"Lost contact with the Future, attempting to re-establish connection, lost contact with the Future, attempting to re-establish connection. Warning, warning, system unable to connect to the Future..."

The mechanical electronic voice repeated, and the laboratory was filled with a shrill alarm. Lu Shui stood expressionless, staring blankly at the screen in front of her. There should have been a spacecraft there, with someone she cared about on board, but now there was nothing. The final burst of flames told Lu Shui that the man who had promised to return to her alive would never come back.

Lu Shui wanted to cry, but she couldn't.

It turned out that the deepest sorrow wasn't crying, but the sting of not even being able to shed a tear, as if the tears were mocking her pain.

"Dr. Lu Shui." A colonel sighed and gently placed his hand on Lu Shui's shoulder. "I'm very sorry about Li Mu... He was a hero."

Lu Shui still showed no reaction. The colonel gave a signal to a nearby soldier, and someone immediately stepped forward to inject Lu Shui with a sedative...

In the year 2046 AD, a small asteroid suddenly deviated from its orbit and headed towards Earth. After emergency consultations, China and the United States quickly organized a force to use spacecraft carrying large nuclear warheads to attempt to destroy the asteroid in outer space.

Colonel Li Mu, responsible for the mission, detonated the nuclear warhead at the last moment, destroying the asteroid. The mission was a complete success, but this was just the beginning.

An hour after the asteroid was destroyed, a terrifying direct death virus erupted on Earth, instantly destroying the ecosystem. Eight billion humans and countless animals and plants underwent irreversible mutations due to the virus.

Survivors referred to these mutated humans and animals as... zombies!

In July, three months after the outbreak of the direct death virus, in Australia.

On the highway, various cars were scattered in a chaotic mess, with the remaining gasoline emitting a pungent smell under the scorching sun, causing irritability.

Fortunately, there was another, more intense smell that permeated every inch of the air, masking the pungent odor. It was the smell of blood and decaying flesh, so strong that it seemed a brutal massacre had taken place on the entire highway.

And in fact, it was. The highway was covered with traces of dried blood, and desiccated bones and corpses were scattered everywhere, attracting a group of red-eyed, terrifying crows that lingered for a long time.

These crows had been staying in the area for a long time, using it as their hunting ground. They preyed not only on living humans but also on the zombie-like creatures.

"Caw!"

A few crows called out, and a crow as large as a basin landed on the ground. Its black-gray claws easily pierced the car door, making a screeching sound. This immediately startled the dried-up zombie inside the car. The zombie, with only the whites of its eyes visible, had no time to react before the crow pecked out its eyeball.

The crow's action immediately drew the attention of other crows. A group of crows as large as basins quickly descended from the sky, pouncing on each car. Their mutated claws and beaks were as strong as steel, easily cutting through the vehicles. Even luxury cars like BMWs and Mercedes-Benzes were as fragile as foam in front of these crows.

A feast for the crows began instantly. The zombies trapped in the cars, having not eaten for three months, were like mummies and could not resist the crows' attacks.

One crow seemed to have found something interesting and cawed, and a few nearby crows quickly flew over.

It was a large pit that should not have been on the highway. A few crows entered the pit, and their sharp claws and beaks allowed them to easily penetrate the debris. Soon, a few crows found a partially destroyed escape pod.

Inside the escape pod was a dried-up zombie, with its legs below the knees destroyed along with the pod. A large hole in its chest and abdomen exposed its dried-up, damaged internal organs.

The zombie's hands, blackened and devoid of nails, were clasped in front of its chest. Its eyes, with only the whites visible, moved slightly, indicating that even though it had suffered unimaginable injuries, it was still alive due to the direct death virus.

Of course, this was from the perspective of the zombies. For the surviving humans, the moment these people became zombies, they were already dead. What remained were just bodies controlled by the direct death virus, feeding on flesh, and no longer human.

They were zombies, living dead, undead, monsters... whatever you wanted to call them. Their bodies were still alive, but their souls were dead.

A few crows immediately gathered around, skillfully pecking at the dried-up zombie's flesh. Compared to human zombies who preferred to eat living humans, these zombie crows had a much broader diet, preying on both zombies and living creatures without discrimination.

Soon, the crows had almost finished eating the flesh on the zombie's arms. One crow used its sharp claws to easily cut off the zombie's right hand and pecked at its chest with its beak, which was covered in decaying flesh.

A light clink sounded as the crow's beak failed to penetrate the zombie's chest and was blocked by a necklace. The necklace broke, and a heart-shaped pendant fell to the ground with a clatter, suddenly flashing.

The 3D projection of light startled the crows, and they quickly retreated.

"Lu Shui, will you marry me?"

In a corner of a café, a man knelt on the ground, smiling as he held up a ring. The woman in front of him could not contain her excitement and stood up, tears of joy streaming down her face.

"Say yes. Say yes."

The crowd around them began to applaud and cheer.

"Li Mu, I... I thought the surprise you were giving me would be something else, like a trip or something. But I never expected..."

The woman, with tears in her eyes, smiled with joy.

"Are you unwilling?"

"No, I am willing. I am willing."

The 3D projection's blue light flickered in the deep cave, but its audience was only a few zombie crows and a half-dead, dried-up zombie.

Then a soft melody began to play, "Just because I took one more look at you in the crowd, I can never forget your face..."

The half-dead, dried-up zombie slowly turned its head, its eyes, now only whites, fixed on the blue 3D projection, listening to the melody repeat over and over.

After a brief shock, the crows began to caw and attack the 3D projection, passing through the blue light without effect, causing them to caw in confusion.

After several failed attempts, the crows stopped attacking the 3D projection and turned their attention back to the half-dead, dried-up zombie. One crow, as usual, pecked at the zombie, but the zombie suddenly moved, not with its hands but by opening its mouth. The half-dead, dried-up zombie, with its teeth still strong, viciously bit the crow.

Dark crow blood dripped from the zombie's mouth, but it did not let go, swallowing the blood. The sudden change from prey to predator startled the other crows, causing them to fly away in panic.

The half-dead zombie ignored them, tearing into the crow with its mouth, its eyes fixed on the beautiful woman in the 3D projection. With each glance, it bit harder. The crow, as large as a basin, was devoured in just a few minutes.

Blood and feathers clung to the zombie's mouth, making its already terrifying face even more fearsome. Its exposed, shriveled stomach quickly swelled and then rapidly digested the meal.

The half-dead zombie's body began to change. The broken right hand, now just a white bone, began to sprout disgusting flesh, gradually covering the front. The pale bone seemed to grow longer.

The half-dead zombie paid no attention to the changes in its body, only tilting its head and greedily watching the figure in the blue light, over and over.

The woman's voice and the soft melody in the 3D projection repeated, so out of place in the silent highway that the crows, which had just been startled, soon flew back, cawing.

The half-dead zombie continued to hunt and eat the crows that flew in, using a simple and efficient method. The crows, with their simple brains, could not understand why the prey that had been motionless and easy to peck at suddenly opened its mouth and killed them.

The highway gradually became quiet. The crows, either extremely stupid or controlled by the direct death virus, had only the instincts to hunt and eat, forgetting the concept of danger.

One by one, the crows flew into the pit, becoming flesh and blood, which the dried-up zombie devoured one by one. No blood was left behind; even a single drop would be greedily licked up by the zombie.

When the battery in the pendant ran out, the 3D projection's blue light flickered and went out, leaving the pit in complete darkness. The half-dead zombie, now with new legs, a gray-white, twisted body, and a right hand covered in a smooth, mirror-like bone, stood up.

More shockingly, the zombie's shoulder blades had pierced through the skin, exposing pale bones, as if something was about to grow out.

The direct death virus had given the zombies an unimaginable vitality but had also twisted their souls. As the survivors said, some people were still alive, but they were already dead. PS: New book, please add to your collection and recommend!

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