73: Chapter 73 Look! His arm!

The phone kept ringing; it seemed everyone had already woken up.

Xu Wanning got up and went downstairs, delivering boxed meals to each room one by one.

When she reached Lu Chengyue's room last, the door opened, and Lu Chengyue reached out and hugged her. "Ningning."

"What's wrong?" Xu Wanning soothingly rubbed his back.

"Nothing, I'm just scared." Once the Acid Rain fell, it meant The Apocalypse had truly arrived. Just because he hadn't mutated into a zombie in his previous life didn't mean he wouldn't change in this one.

What if... what if? Thinking about that possibility made him incredibly anxious.

"A-Yue, don't worry, we will definitely make it through."

Xu Wanning hugged his waist tightly. She was also very worried. Among the people currently in the villa, apart from those she knew for sure hadn't mutated into zombies in her previous life, she was also terrified for the others. She was terrified that when they woke up tomorrow, they would have turned into zombies.

She prayed to the heavens to keep them all safe. It didn't matter if they remained ordinary people, as long as they didn't turn into zombies.

"I'm going back now." The 7:55 AM alarm rang, and Xu Wanning let him go. "I'll start a group chat in a bit, and we'll all video call together."

"Okay." Lu Chengyue lowered his head and kissed her before letting her go.

Xu Wanning quickly went upstairs, returned to her room, closed the door, and started the group video call.

The moment the video connected, the originally sunny sky outside was instantly swallowed by a layer of dark red.

A scarlet color seeped out from the gaps in the clouds, staining and spreading until the entire sky turned an unsettling dark red.

"My god." Xu Yu shouted. "Did you guys see it? Outside, the sky has changed color. It's really going to rain Acid Rain."

"We see it." Everyone walked to the windows to look. The Acid Rain was coming; their last shred of hope was completely shattered. The Apocalypse had arrived.

Xu Wanning walked to the window, resting her hands on the sill to look out. Because it was dark, the streetlights had turned on automatically. The pale light looked greenish against the red curtain pressing down from the sky.

The tall buildings in the distance were covered in a layer of oppressive grayish-yellow, and the trees stood motionless, not even a leaf stirring.

A broadcast sounded from the television.

"Attention all citizens, Acid Rain is about to fall. According to experts' calculations, this Acid Rain carries a large amount of virus. Citizens who have not yet separated and quarantined, please do so immediately. This virus is very aggressive; being bitten or scratched by an infected person will also cause infection, turning one into a living dead, commonly known as a zombie!"

At eight o'clock sharp, something fell from the sky. The first drop of Acid Rain hit the window glass; there was no familiar patter, just a sticky sound, leaving a pale red water streak on the glass.

Then came the second, the third. The window glass was soon covered in red rainwater, the color like blood—turbid and dull.

With a crash, Xu Wanning looked at her phone. Xu Yu was clutching his lower leg; he must have been startled by the sudden sight of the Acid Rain and backed into something. "The Acid Rain is really here, The Apocalypse is really here."

Xu Wanning pulled the curtains shut and quickly returned to her bed. "Everyone get into bed now, pull the curtains, and no matter what you hear, do not leave your room."

Everyone followed suit; they were about to fall into a coma soon, so it was better to be in bed.

The television showed new footage, filmed through a window. The sky in the camera lens was a suffocating dark red. The cameraman's voice trembled. "Everyone must close their doors and windows tightly. Do not go out under any circumstances."

His words were cut off by a scream. He quickly turned the camera, and on the road not far away, a woman was walking back with an umbrella.

Under the onslaught of the Acid Rain, the umbrella had already begun to deform, its edges curling up.

Beside her, a middle-aged man was frantically pulling at his jacket. White smoke was rising from the parts of the jacket soaked by the raindrops—smoke from the corrosion.

Soon, holes were corroded into the jacket, and Acid Rain dripped onto his arm. His arm was quickly burned, and several red patches appeared.

"Look, his arm! Everyone, absolutely do not go out!" The cameraman's voice came from the television.

He zoomed in with the camera. The red patches on the man's arm spread at a visible speed; his skin began to blister, the white blisters growing larger and larger, with dark red liquid oozing from the edges.

The man looked down at his arm, his face filled with a dazed expression, unable to process what was happening.

About two or three seconds passed before the pain registered. He opened his mouth in a scream, collapsed to the ground, and braced himself with his hands.

Rainwater flowed from the back of his head down to his neck, and the skin on the back of his neck also quickly began to blister and fester.

The woman beside him was so scared she took off running, having no intention of saving him. However, after running only a few steps, she also collapsed to the ground, her body beginning to blister and fester.

Even though she had experienced it once before, seeing such a scene still made her heart feel heavy, blood rushing to her head, her temples throbbing.

Chaotic sounds came from the television. The cameraman's voice was completely out of control, the professional tone he had been trying to maintain having completely collapsed.

Then the signal began to falter. After the image shook violently a few times, it was gone completely. The television was left with only static, the sizzling, crackling noise causing a ringing in the ears.

A few seconds later, the image returned, but the camera seemed to have fallen onto the windowsill, the angle was strange.

But one could still see the situation outside: the wet ground, where dark red blood mixed with rain into thin rivulets, flowing and spreading along the road.

The scene suddenly cut back to the studio. The female anchor was still sitting there, but not a trace of a professional smile could be seen on her face.

She opened her mouth to speak, her lips trembling several times, and finally, she only managed to utter an incomplete sentence: "Please, all..." The voice cut off, the image froze, and then it went completely black.

The moment the television screen went black, a final notification sound came from Xu Wanning's phone—a text message from the carrier. The time displayed 8:43 AM. [Dear user, due to weather conditions, communication services may be interrupted. We apologize for the inconvenience.]

Xu Wanning stared at the message. Before long, the signal bars in the top left corner of the screen began to drop: full bars, three bars, two bars, one bar, and then it changed to "No Service."

The group video call was interrupted at the same time, and she also instantly collapsed onto the bed.

A cold sensation began to crawl up from the soles of her feet, as if she had been suddenly thrown into an ice cellar. The chill seeped in through her skin and spread outward from inside her body.

Her fingertips went numb. Her calves, knees, thighs—the chill drilled into the gaps between her bones, worming its way into her pelvis, abdominal cavity, chest cavity, and finally wrapping around her heart.

She could feel her heartbeat slowing down—thump, thump—becoming heavier and duller.

She unconsciously wrapped herself up tightly. Her teeth began to chatter, the clattering sound appearing exceptionally clear in the bedroom.

She had experienced the same situation in her previous life; it seemed she still had an Ice Ability in this life. Her consciousness snapped and vanished. She couldn't feel anything; her whole being kept sinking, sinking, sinking.

When she opened her eyes again, the first thing Xu Wanning saw was the curtain.

The white curtain, penetrated by light, revealed a grayish-white.

Her eyes hurt. She blinked several times, barely managing to focus, and propped up her sore, weak body to sit up. "The Apocalypse... has arrived."