1: Chapter 1 The Apocalypse Arrives

October 7, 2030, 19:47, Jiangdong City.

Wang Jie stared at the incoming attack on his computer screen, his fingers flying across the keyboard.

"Damn it, again?"

In the Red Alert 2 game on the screen, a squad of Apocalypse Tanks was advancing slowly, followed by a dense crowd of Conscripts. He maneuvered his Mirage Tank battalion, using the cover of the woods, preparing to ambush the opponent.

This was his tenth ranked match of the night. As a veteran player who had been in the Red Alert scene for eight years, Wang Jie was quite confident in his micromanagement and tactical awareness. People in the circle called him "God Jie," and although he felt the title was a bit of a middle-school phase, it did sound pretty cool.

Just as he was about to click the "Attack" button, the computer screen suddenly flickered.

It wasn't a normal flicker; it was as if the entire image had been distorted by something, the colors turning eerie before returning to normal. Wang Jie froze for a moment, thinking his graphics card was acting up. He reached out and touched the case—it was hot enough to fry an egg.

"Need to clean the dust again," he muttered, preparing to continue the game, when his phone suddenly began to vibrate frantically.

It wasn't a call; it was a continuous stream of push notifications.

Wang Jie picked up his phone, took one look, and his pupils suddenly constricted.

【Breaking: Reports of unexplained brain infection cases in multiple locations globally】

【Infected individuals rapidly lose sanity and attack others】

【Experts urge citizens to reduce outings and pay attention to protection】

【WHO: The mortality rate of this virus is over 90%】

Notification after notification almost filled the entire screen. Wang Jie swiped a few times, and when he saw the last notification, his fingers froze:

【Jiangdong City First People's Hospital reports the first infection case; the hospital has been locked down】

"Jiangdong City?"

Wang Jie stood up, walked to the window, and pulled back the curtain.

He lived in an old residential complex in the eastern part of Jiangdong City, on the twelfth floor, with a fairly open view. Usually at this hour, the office building opposite should be brightly lit, and the snack street below should be bustling with noise. But now—

The office building was mostly dark, with only a few scattered floors lit up. The snack street was in chaos; some people were running, some were screaming, and several people were lying on the ground, motionless.

Wang Jie stared downstairs for ten seconds, then saw one of the people lying on the ground suddenly stand up.

No.

Not "stand" up, but "crawl" up—the movement was extremely uncoordinated, like a child who had just learned to walk, or like a puppet pulled by strings. After that person stood up, he tilted his head, spun in place twice, and then lunged fiercely at a woman who was running away nearby.

The scream traveled up from the distance of the twelfth floor; it was muffled but sharp enough.

Wang Jie pulled the curtain shut, took two steps back, and bumped into the chair.

He stood there, panting heavily, his mind a blank slate.

The phone vibrated again.

This time it was a call. Caller ID: Mom.

He answered reflexively:

"Mom!"

"Little Jie! How are things over there?" His mother's voice carried trembling and anxiety. "The news says something happened where you are!"

"I'm fine, I'm at home. How about you guys?"

"Your dad and I are in our hometown; things are fine here, no reports of infection for now. You absolutely must not go out, do you hear me? Stock up on food and water, don't go out—"

A loud noise suddenly came from the other end of the phone, like the sound of a door being smashed open. Then his mother's scream, his father's roar, and then—

A busy signal.

"Mom? Mom!"

Wang Jie shouted at the phone several times, but there was no response from the other side. He frantically redialed, once, twice, three times—all busy signals.

He slumped into the chair, his hands still shaking.

The Red Alert game on the screen was still running; that squad of Apocalypse Tanks had wiped out all his Mirage Tanks while he was distracted. The word "DEFEAT" popped up in glaring red.

Wang Jie turned off the monitor.

He sat in the darkness, listening to the sounds outside the window—screams, shouts, the sound of something shattering, and a very strange sound, like a turbid low growl coming from a throat.

That night, he didn't sleep.

He locked the door, sealed all the windows, and placed the kitchen knife within reach. Every five minutes, he called his parents, but it was always a busy signal. He scrolled through the news on his phone, watching the numbers constantly rising: number of infections, number of deaths, locked-down areas.

At 3:00 AM, he saw a message:

【Jiangdong City has entered a state of emergency; citizens are requested to shelter in place and not go out】

Then one at 4:00 AM:

【Military and police have entered to maintain order; please cooperate, citizens】

At 5:00 AM, the sounds outside the window gradually quieted down.

At 6:00 AM, the sky brightened.

Wang Jie pulled the curtain open a crack and looked outside.

There were corpses everywhere on the street. Some were lying by the roadside, some were sprawled on the ground, and a few "people" were wandering among the corpses, their movements stiff and aimless. One of them suddenly raised its head and looked toward his direction.

Wang Jie saw that face clearly—gray-white, eyes without pupils, a trail of black liquid hanging from the corner of its mouth.

That thing looked at him for a few seconds, then lowered its head and continued to wander.

Wang Jie pulled the curtain shut, leaned against the wall, and slid to the floor.

He had lived for twenty-eight years and had never been this scared.

For the next few days, Wang Jie survived on the snacks and water he had stockpiled at home. Instant noodles, crackers, a few bottles of mineral water—he rationed them every day, two meals a day, half-full each time.

On the fourth day, the water ran out.

On the fifth day, the snacks were gone.

On the sixth day, he started drinking tap water, dividing the last half-pack of crackers into four portions, one for each day.

On the seventh day, dizzy with hunger, he looked at those "things" still wandering outside the window and made a decision:

He had to go out and find food.

The tenth day.

Wang Jie hadn't eaten for three days. He even ate the last bit of food in the house—half a tube of toothpaste. The taste made him want to vomit, but it was better than starving to death.

Those things were still wandering outside the window. They didn't seem to get hungry or tired; they just kept walking back and forth endlessly.

Wang Jie leaned against the wall, looking at the ceiling.

He thought of his parents, of the calls to his hometown that still wouldn't go through. He thought of his colleagues at the company, the front-desk girl who always brought him breakfast, the product manager who loved to argue with him during meetings. He thought of the dream he had last night where everything returned to normal, he went to work, and the boss sent a message in the group chat saying "We need to work hard on this month's KPI."

Then he woke up.

Woke up in the dark, hungry with stomach cramps, with zombies howling outside the window.

He suddenly wanted to laugh.

And he really did laugh.

As he laughed, tears streamed down.

He didn't know what he was crying for. Maybe it was hunger, maybe it was fear, maybe it was remembering the people he would never see again.

Just then, a voice rang out in his mind.

It wasn't heard by his ears, but a vibration that appeared directly in his consciousness:

【Compatible soul wave detected...】

【Performing genetic binding...】

【Binding successful】

【Congratulations, Commander. Red Alert Base System activated】

【Please confirm identity: Wang Jie, male, 28 years old, veteran Red Alert game player】

【After confirmation, you will receive a digitizable Construction Vehicle】

Wang Jie froze.

He thought he was hallucinating from hunger.

But the voice rang out again:

【Please confirm identity, Commander. This is the final prompt. After confirmation, the Construction Vehicle will descend at your chosen coordinates. If not confirmed, the system will automatically unbind in 30 seconds and search for the next host】

"Wait, wait, wait, wait—"

Wang Jie shouted out instinctively.

He steadied himself against the wall and stood up, his mind racing. Red Alert Base System? Digitizable Construction Vehicle? What was this? The game had become reality? Or had he gone crazy?

But whatever it was, he was willing to take a gamble.

Because he had nothing left to lose.

"I confirm."

As soon as he finished speaking, a translucent panel appeared before him—just like the UI interface in the game, hovering in the center of his field of vision. The panel displayed a few lines of text:

【Commander: Wang Jie】

【Current Funds: 30000】

【Construction Vehicle Status: Ready to descend】

【Please select descent coordinates】

Then a map appeared in his field of vision—it was a 3D structural diagram of the building he was in, along with a floor plan of the surrounding area. There was a blinking green dot on the map, marking his current location.

Wang Jie took a deep breath.

He walked to the window, pulled the curtain open a crack, and looked downstairs.

There were seven or eight zombies in the plaza, wandering aimlessly.

He needed to find a safe place to land the Construction Vehicle.

Wang Jie spent an hour familiarizing himself with the situation of the entire building.

The building he lived in had eighteen floors, and he was on the twelfth. There were zombies in the hallway; he could hear those low growls echoing in the stairwell. The basement level was an underground parking garage; he had looked down from the fire escape window, it was very dark, but it seemed there were no zombies.

The most crucial thing was that the underground parking garage had enough space.

Wang Jie returned to his room and stuffed everything he could carry into his backpack: a kitchen knife, a lighter, half a roll of duct tape, a screwdriver he found in his toolbox, and a thick jacket.

Before leaving, he looked back at the rented apartment where he had lived for three years.

Then he opened the door and stepped into the stairwell.

The stairwell was dark, with emergency lights emitting a faint green glow.

Wang Jie hugged the wall, walking down step by step.

He stopped to listen after every floor.

Eighteenth floor, clear.

Seventeenth floor, there was sound, in the corridor, not in the stairwell.

Sixteenth floor, clear.

Fifteenth floor—

Wang Jie stopped.

He heard that sound.

It was right behind the stairwell door, very close, and very clear—a guttural, low growl from a throat, accompanied by the harsh sound of fingernails scratching against the door panel.

He held his breath and slowly took a step down.

The thing behind the door seemed to have heard something, and the low growling stopped.

Wang Jie also stopped.

Man and zombie, separated by that door, froze for five seconds.

Then the low growling resumed, and the thing started scratching the door again.

Wang Jie slowly let out a breath and continued walking down.

Fourteen, thirteen, twelve—

His floor.

Wang Jie glanced at the stairwell door; it had a "12F" sign on it.

The door was ajar, and a little light shone through the crack.

He hesitated for a moment but did not push the door open.

He continued walking down.

Eleven, ten, nine—

With every floor he descended, the low growling grew further away.

But he knew there was more than one zombie in this stairwell.

He could hear sounds coming from upstairs, from downstairs, from all directions.

He could only bet that his luck was good enough.

Eight, seven, six—

Reaching the sixth floor, he suddenly heard a burst of rapid footsteps coming from below.

It wasn't the dragging footsteps of a zombie; it was the sound of a real human running.

Then he heard a scream:

"Help!"

Wang Jie instinctively rushed two steps down, then slammed on the brakes.

What was he doing?

He couldn't even protect himself, yet he wanted to save someone else?

But that voice rang out again—it was a girl, very young, her voice full of terror.

Wang Jie gritted his teeth and continued rushing down.

Fifth floor.

The stairwell door was burst open, and a girl in pajamas rushed out, pursued by three zombies.

She wasn't wearing shoes, running unsteadily, her face covered in tear tracks.

Seeing Wang Jie, as if she had seen a savior, she reached out and ran toward him.

But just as she reached the stairs, she slipped, fell forward, her head hitting the steps, and she stopped moving.

The three zombies pounced on her.

Wang Jie stood on the landing between the sixth and fifth floors, watching it happen.

He saw the girl being mauled, saw her struggle twice and then stop moving, saw those zombies crawling all over her—

He turned and ran.

He didn't know how he ran down the stairs.

He only remembered the sound of the wind and his own heartbeat in his ears, his feet constantly hitting the steps, nearly falling several times.

By the time he came to his senses, he was already standing at the entrance to the underground garage.

Behind him, the stairwell door was ajar, with no zombies chasing after him.

Wang Jie squatted on the ground, gasping for air, his whole body trembling.

He closed his eyes, his mind full of the girl's face.

The girl looked to be in her early twenties, perhaps even a student.

She was wearing pajamas, no shoes, likely having fled from her home.

She saw him and rushed over as if she had seen a savior—

Then she died.

Right before his eyes, bitten to death by zombies.

And he, he turned and ran.

Wang Jie squatted there, slamming his fist hard against his own thigh.

"Trash."

He gritted his teeth and cursed himself, "You trash."

But he also knew that even if he had rushed down, it wouldn't have changed anything.

He only had a kitchen knife in his hand; he couldn't possibly fight those three zombies.

He just couldn't save her.

He couldn't save anything.

After some time, he stood up and walked into the underground garage.

The garage was huge, with hundreds of cars parked, covered in dust.

A few emergency lights were still on, emitting a dim green glow.

The entire space was terrifyingly quiet, with only his own footsteps echoing.

Wang Jie walked to the center of the garage and found a relatively open area.

He took a deep breath and recited in his mind:

"Deploy Base Vehicle."

The next second, that semi-transparent system panel appeared before his eyes:

【Base Vehicle deploying...】

【Estimated time: 10 seconds】

Ten seconds later, the space in front of him began to distort.

Like a stone thrown into a calm surface of water, the air rippled.

Then, at the center of those ripples, a huge outline began to emerge—first a blurry phantom, then gradually solidifying, and finally, with a "bang," it landed heavily on the ground.

It was a giant silver-white truck, as big as half a basketball court.

Six pairs of heavy-duty tires, the body covered in various mechanical structures and sensors that Wang Jie couldn't understand.

On the roof, a red flag was waving without wind—it was the Soviet symbol.

Wang Jie stood frozen, staring at this behemoth.

Then the Base Vehicle began to transform.

The body unfolded to the sides, mechanical structures rearranged, tires retracted, tracks extended, and several antennas rose from the roof.

Three minutes later, it was no longer a truck, but a silver-white, high-tech building.

【Base Vehicle deployed】

【Current Base Status: Level 1】

【Power: 0 / 100】

【Available buildings: Barracks (requires 1000 Funds, 100 Power), Power Plant (requires 800 Funds)】

【Current Funds: 30000】

Wang Jie looked at this panel, and a thought suddenly flashed through his mind:

He wanted revenge.

Not for anyone else, but for those who had died before his eyes.

He needed soldiers.

He needed people who could fight.

"Construct Power Plant."

【Power Plant under construction... Remaining time: 30 seconds】

Thirty seconds later, a silver-white Power Plant rose from the ground next to the base.

【Power Plant construction complete. Current Power: 100 / 100】

"Construct another one."

A second Power Plant, thirty seconds.

【Current Power: 200 / 200】

【Current Funds: 28400】

"Construct Barracks."

This construction took longer than the Power Plant.

One minute.

Wang Jie stood there, listening to the movement from the direction of the underground garage entrance, his palms sweating.

But the Barracks were built.

It was a three-story gray building with metal exterior walls and a huge alloy door at the front.

On the door was a hammer and sickle emblem.

【Barracks construction complete】

【Currently trainable units: Conscript (requires 200 Funds, training time 15 seconds)】

Wang Jie stared at the "Conscript" option, silent for five seconds.

Then he said:

"Train Conscript."

The door opened.

When the first soldier walked out, Wang Jie couldn't help but step back.

It was a young soldier wearing a gray-green military uniform, a steel helmet, and holding a rifle.

He looked to be in his early twenties, but his gaze was very steady.

He walked up to Wang Jie, stood at attention, and saluted:

"Comrade Commander!"

Wang Jie opened his mouth, not knowing what to say.

The second soldier walked out.

The third.

The fourth.

Five minutes later, twenty Conscripts stood in neat formation before him.

Wang Jie looked at them and suddenly asked the first soldier:

"What is your name?"

The soldier paused slightly, then replied:

"Reporting, Commander, my designation is 01. You may call me Conscript No. 1."

"Are... are you human?"

No. 1's expression didn't change at all:

"I am your soldier, Comrade Commander."

Wang Jie was silent for a few seconds.

Then he asked the system:

"Do these soldiers have self-awareness?"

【Conscript: Basic artificial intelligence, possesses basic combat intelligence and obedience, can execute complex commands, no independent personality. Can be retrained in the Barracks after death, retaining some combat experience】

Wang Jie looked at the description "no independent personality," and a complex feeling welled up in his heart.

But he didn't have time to dwell on it.

He turned to the twenty Conscripts:

"There are zombies outside. I need you to clear a safe path to the surface."

No. 1 stood at attention:

"Yes, Comrade Commander!"

He turned and made a few hand signals to the team.

The twenty Conscripts immediately split into two groups, one in front and one behind, and advanced toward the exit of the underground garage.

Wang Jie followed behind them, still gripping the kitchen knife.

He knew this was just the beginning.

There were countless zombies waiting for him outside.

There were mutants waiting for him, hiding who knows where.

There was also that phone call that still wouldn't go through, and that elderly couple who he didn't know if they were still alive—

But his path, starting tonight, was different.

He walked to the exit of the underground garage and looked out through the crack in the ajar iron door.

Under the moonlight, in the residential complex square, those zombies were still wandering.

Wang Jie gripped the rifle in his hand—the one he had just gotten from No. 1.

He said softly:

"Come on."

The iron door was pushed open.

Gunshots exploded in the night sky.