1: Chapter 1 The Sequence Master System

Two months ago, on the first day of April, 2066, in the dead of night.

A blood moon hung in the sky, eerie and red, as if a platter of fresh blood had been splashed across it, staining the entire world with a towering, malevolent aura.

Without the slightest omen, without a shred of warning, a cataclysm crashed directly down upon all of humanity.

All thermal weapons were rendered completely useless.

Firearms were ineffective against the weird creatures, artillery shells became toys, and tanks and planes were nothing more than piles of scrap metal; the military reliance humanity had clutched for centuries vanished in an instant.

Immediately after, the weird creatures arrived.

Those things had no fixed shape; they crept out from the darkness, sinister and unreasonable, feeding on humans, gnawing on flesh and blood, and devouring life force.

In a short span of time, the world completely devolved into purgatory.

The global population of ten billion plummeted off a cliff; streets and buildings were filled with severed limbs and broken arms everywhere, living people became the most precious commodity, and wailing and roaring became the only sounds in the world.

In this desperate situation, only a tiny minority forcibly awakened their Sequence power on the brink of life and death.

Relying on this Transcendent power, they were barely able to resist the encroachment of the weird creatures and hang on to their lives.

As for ordinary people?

Facing those man-eating weird creatures, apart from running for their lives, there was simply no other path.

Fleeing became the destiny of all humanity.

Zhou Che was just one among these countless fugitives.

He had been fleeing in a sorry state for a while now, covered in wounds, his clothes in tatters, so exhausted his lungs felt like they were about to explode. Several times, he had nearly lost his life while being pursued by the weird creatures, and it looked like he wouldn't be able to hold on much longer, destined to become nourishment for the weird creatures.

At this very moment of life and death!

"Ding! Host detected on the verge of death, binding conditions met!"

"Sequence Master System, officially activated!"

A cold, mechanical voice exploded directly in Zhou Che's mind.

The next second, a system interface appeared clearly before his eyes, and two lines of core functions instantly made Zhou Che's blood boil, overriding all fear and exhaustion!

"Can devour others' awakened Sequences, directly converting them for personal use, infinitely strengthening one's own Sequence power!"

"Can autonomously grant Sequence power to others; the power can be stripped from the recipient at any time!"

Others have to struggle with their lives just to awaken a sliver of Sequence power to barely save themselves.

And he? He directly awakened a heaven-defying system, capable of both devouring others' Sequences to get stronger and casually granting others Sequence awakenings, holding the power to dominate Sequences!

Zhou Che cursed silently in his heart: "So what if I just awakened the system?"

Right now, there isn't even a single strand of Sequence energy to absorb, and the weird creature behind is chasing tight; one step slower and he'll be gnawed until not even a scrap is left.

He didn't dare to delay, gathering all his strength to sprint wildly toward the village entrance, not even caring about the pain as his soles scraped against the gravel.

Just as he rushed past a broken wall, he spotted a figure fighting ahead—it was a Transcendent from The Convoy, currently brawling with a weird creature and steadily holding the upper hand.

Zhou Che's eyes lit up instantly, and crooked thoughts immediately emerged.

He deliberately slowed down half a step, leading the weird creature chasing him toward that side, muttering to himself: "Sorry, brother, sorry!"

Yet he felt not a shred of guilt, instead justifying it to himself with righteous indignation: "You are a Transcendent, your strength is greater than mine, so you should protect me; otherwise, what's the use of you!"

Once he lured the weird creature to the Transcendent, both things were instantly attracted by the Transcendent aura and lunged forward together.

Zhou Che seized the opportunity, hunched over and darted behind a nearby broken wall, hiding tightly, not daring to even breathe hard.

The Transcendent over there was completely stunned.

It was originally an easy solo kill against one weird creature, a guaranteed win, but suddenly another one appeared, instantly maxing out the pressure, and his moves became half-disorganized.

He gritted his teeth in anger, wanting to withdraw and run, but the two weird creatures were entangled with him tightly, their sharp claws and chilling aura attacking in turns, leaving not a shred of space to escape.

Zhou Che hid in the shadows, his heart in his throat, his hands clenched until they were white, praying incessantly in his heart.

"You must kill these two damn things! If you die, they will turn around and come for me, and I won't survive either!"

This battle only lasted a minute, but in Zhou Che's eyes, it felt as long as a century.

Just when he thought it was all over, the Transcendent suddenly erupted with blinding red light, his aura surging!

In an instant, both weird creatures were defeated, dissipating into a pool of black blood.

Zhou Che watched, dumbstruck, inwardly exclaiming in awe: "This guy is actually this strong?"

He recognized this person; he was the notorious bully in The Convoy, usually arrogant and domineering, committing all kinds of evil, spending his days plotting to seize the captain's position and trample everyone under his feet.

In his eyes, ordinary people were just tools, playthings.

The bully had just caught his breath when he turned and caught sight of Zhou Che, his face instantly turning livid as he opened his mouth to curse:

"You piece of dog shit! If it weren't for you luring that other weird creature, would I be in such a sorry state?"

"Get over here! Carry my supplies and follow me back to The Convoy!"

Zhou Che's heart sank, and he instantly felt half-chilled.

He had just awakened the system and hadn't had a chance to enjoy it before being targeted by this bully; it looked like he was done for.

But strangely, although the bully was furious, he didn't make a move on the spot.

Zhou Che took one look and realized the reason—the bully had just erupted with power, was drenched in cold sweat, and his aura was extremely unstable; he was clearly exhausted, struggling even to stand, and had no strength left to deal with him.

Zhou Che's gaze instantly turned cold.

Strike while he's sick, take his life!

This world is fundamentally a kill-or-be-killed place. This bully had often oppressed ordinary people; keeping him alive would only be a disaster. Furthermore, he had a system; only by devouring his Sequence could he truly survive!

He suppressed his viciousness, putting on a look of cowardice and submissiveness, and slowly walked toward the bully, pretending to be about to carry the supplies.

His hand hidden behind his back, however, was gripping the knife handle tightly, his knuckles white, his footsteps extremely light.

The bully had always treated unawakened ordinary people as ants, used to bossing them around, and didn't put Zhou Che in his eyes at all, having not a shred of caution.

The moment he got close, Zhou Che's eyes turned sharp. Without the slightest hesitation, he drew his knife with a backhand motion and hacked fiercely at the bully's neck!

Puchi—

The blade entered flesh, and blood instantly spurted out, flowing wildly down the bully's neck.

The bully's pupils contracted sharply, his face full of disbelief, staring fixedly at Zhou Che.

He couldn't understand no matter what; a bottom-feeding waste he could manipulate at will, a poor wretch without even a Sequence, had actually dared to lay a hand on him! Dared to take advantage of his weakness and deal a fatal blow!

He opened his mouth, but couldn't spit out even half a word before falling straight to the ground, completely devoid of breath.

Just then, the system voice sounded again:

"Transcendent remains detected, containing Sequence energy. Absorb?"

"Absorbable Sequence: Lord of the Blood Moon"

"Absorbable Sequence: Mechanic"

Zhou Che was ecstatic on the spot and couldn't help but curse: "Good heavens! This guy was actually a dual-Sequence Transcendent! No wonder he was so arrogant, even daring to covet the captain's position!"

He didn't delay at all, shouting wildly in his heart: "Absorb! Absorb everything!"

"Starting to absorb Sequence: Lord of the Blood Moon..."

"Starting to absorb Sequence: Mechanic..."

"Sequence absorption complete!"

A powerful force instantly surged through his entire body; Zhou Che felt so good he almost groaned aloud, his eyes filled with satisfaction.

He looked down at the corpse, the corners of his mouth curling into a cold, chilling smile.

"Don't blame me for being ruthless; if you want to blame someone, blame yourself for being too arrogant and falling into this state."

"Now, your Sequence is mine, and your supplies are all mine too!"