Chapter 1: Lu Yu’s Coldness (1)

The port city of Fangang was not illuminated in the dark night, its lights flickering like ghostly glimmers. The eerie glow made the pitch-black night even more chilling. The streets were deserted, filled only with a thick, suffocating stench of blood. On sidewalks, roads, and in dark alleys, human corpses lay scattered like trash—some with shattered skulls, some torn in half, others with hollowed-out chests where their hearts once were. There were no survivors, only lifeless bodies and blood-soaked earth. The carnage stretched across the streets, throughout the entire city… This place had become a living hell.

In this hellish landscape, Lu Yu dragged his battered body forward with heavy, labored steps, occasionally stumbling over corpses on the ground. His pace was slow because his injuries were severe. Across his chest and down to his abdomen were four deep gashes, as if raked by a beast’s claws. The wounds were grotesquely torn open, in some places deep enough to expose white bone. Even with his clothes pressed tightly against the wounds, they were already soaked red, dripping fresh blood with every step.

Lu Yu’s eyes showed no emotion; he was like a cold-blooded beast, wounded but still searching for shelter. Dozens, hundreds, even thousands of vehicles were crushed together along the streets, as if an indescribable catastrophe had engulfed the entire city. The acrid smell of gasoline and the stench of burnt interiors filled every corner.

He could sense no life left in this city—it felt as if the city itself had died.

“Half an hour until nightfall again,” Lu Yu muttered, glancing at his watch and then the sky, calculating the time until sunset. When darkness fell, this city would no longer belong to humans.

The night the catastrophe struck Fangang, communications were cut off, and the water supply ceased. No one knew what was happening beyond the city, or how other cities were faring. But Lu Yu guessed that other cities were probably in the same state. It had already been three days since the disaster, and there had been no rescue, no outside contact. Perhaps this was a nationwide calamity, and no one would notice this small coastal city, let alone come to save it.

Survival—depended only on oneself.

As Lu Yu walked on, he saw countless mangled cars crushed together. People who hadn’t escaped in time were crushed into pulp by subsequent collisions, leaving not even a shred of intact flesh—just piles of bloody mush. He had passed through this area every day for two days now, and the sight no longer shocked him.

As he finally approached a thirty-story commercial building, the sky had begun to darken. The city fell silent. From sewers, from the shadows, from ruined buildings, faint noises began to stir. With the setting sun, in the shaded corners, one by one, black figures over three meters tall crawled out of the darkness.

They were like ravenous beasts that had fasted all day, quickly grabbing corpses from the ground and devouring them—bones, flesh, and blood—chewing loudly. When others approached, they growled lowly, as a warning.

As the silver moon rose, deep growls echoed from all corners of the city. Thousands, tens of thousands—hundreds of thousands.

In the late autumn of 2015, the city had yet to awaken before it became the domain of beasts.

“I made it through another day,” Lu Yu muttered, leaning against a wall with a faint, weary smile on his face, slowly climbing toward the rooftop.

…

Two days earlier, just after midnight, Fangang had been peaceful. Lu Yu had suddenly woken from sleep, instantly wide awake, all drowsiness gone.

At that moment, a certain area of his brain seemed to activate all at once.

An endless stream of data surged from that region, reorganizing all the data in his mind.

He felt as if his brain had instantly transformed into a computer calculating at terrifying speed. For a second, his vision was filled with countless unrecognizable blue symbols.

Then lines of text and data flickered before his eyes, rearranging into rows of characters and words.

“Basic data reconstruction complete. Human body data digitization complete!”

“Basic data—Lu Yu: ordinary human; Life: 100 points; Maximum Life: 100 points; Attack: 100; Physical Strength: 100.”

“Brain domain seal released. Acquired the Slaughter Soul. Different from other souls, the Slaughter Soul can only evolve and grow stronger through combat and the use of special items.”

“Slaughter Soul is in its newborn state, 100% away from Level 1. Upon reaching Level 1, you will gain unimaginable rewards.”

“Acquired special ability—Slaughter Ascension! Slaughter Ascension—under the influence of the Slaughter Soul, any skill you possess will gain additional power boosts when upgraded.”

…

At the time, the continuous voice notifications left Lu Yu momentarily stunned. Who knew what was wrong with his brain? What was happening to him? This was a human brain, not a computer!

Lu Yu could feel a cold, eyeball-sized energy flow into his body as the text flashed, moving rapidly through his veins and rushing into his heart, settling there. The force was icy, like a sharp blade, filled with brutality and cruelty, almost tearing his body apart.

At the same time, the sealed area in his mind, like a stone door that had been shut for millennia, was pushed open. More memories surged forth.

It was as if these memories and powers had always existed deep in his brain, passed down through generations, waiting for this moment to awaken.

From the memories, Lu Yu learned that data reconstruction and digitization were all for the Soul. The evolution and growth of the Soul required human data digitization as support. Only after digitization could the human body fuse and utilize the Soul.

Basic data could be seen as mutated human abilities. Ordinary human training eventually reaches a limit. But after digitization, there were no limits. The Soul could continuously break through, surpassing limits to make humans stronger. All these changes were preparing for an imminent catastrophe.

Catastrophe? At first, Lu Yu thought it was a joke. 2012 had long passed—how could there be another catastrophe?

But within half a minute, everything changed.

Fangang experienced no earthquake, no signs of impending doom, not even the barking of dogs or chirping of insects. Everything happened suddenly.

The central few kilometers of Fangang, its most prosperous area, suddenly collapsed.

As if struck by some deadly weapon, the skyscrapers within a few kilometers vanished instantly, not even a wisp of smoke rising.

Not only the buildings—people in this area also disintegrated. The living first lost their flesh, then their marrow, and finally disappeared into nothingness.

Those disintegrating seemed to endure unbearable pain. The area became hell, filled with piercing screams and scattered bones.

At that moment, Lu Yu was standing at the edge of that zone. He narrowly escaped, finally understanding the true meaning of the word “catastrophe” in his mind.

This was indeed a catastrophe.

But as people stood in shock,

The ground in that area collapsed, and countless sands and soils vanished instantly. A giant abyss formed, dark and bottomless. Someone leaned over, suddenly hearing a monstrous roar from the pit.

Then, flying eagles emerged from the pit, followed by wolf-headed, human-bodied beasts wielding stone clubs… unimaginable creatures, ones never seen before, poured out by the thousands.

Fangang became the domain of fierce beasts. The entire city was engulfed by hundreds of thousands of monsters. People, stunned and unable to flee, were torn apart, carried into the sky by eagles and shredded, crushed by stone clubs, devoured by countless other monsters.

Humans became corpses on the streets, blood flowing like rivers.

The catastrophe had truly arrived—it was real.

Amidst the chaos, Lu Yu struggled with all his might, barely escaping and searching for shelter.

As panic subsided, people began to hide.

When dawn broke, the beasts retreated with the darkness.

Most survivors still dared not leave their homes, trembling as they watched the carnage on the streets.

A few moved cautiously through the city.

Including Lu Yu.

Now, just before nightfall, as he reached a hall on the top floor, he was surprised to find people inside.

The dozen or so people also saw Lu Yu. Seeing his injuries, they relaxed.

They had thought the footsteps belonged to a monster.

A severely wounded man posed no threat to them.

“Damn, a dying man still alive. Nearly gave me a heart attack,” a tall guy, seemingly a physical education student, spat on the ground, cursing.

Lu Yu looked at him, staring intently as if memorizing his face, then smiled.

“What are you looking at?” the big guy raised his eyebrows, snarling, “Got a problem?”

Lu Yu chuckled, lowering his head and leaning against the wall to rest. Yet his eyes gleamed dangerously, like a beast ready to kill.

Lu Yu had thick eyebrows and large eyes, not an unpleasant face. Standing nearly 1.78 meters tall, he wasn’t short, though slightly thin. His dark, deep eyes gave him a cold, distant aura.

A faint scar, an inch long, ran from the corner of his left eye, adding a touch of ruggedness.

Lu Yu was surprised because he had seen many groups of people, all devoured by the monsters on the streets.

Yet these people were unharmed, their faces only pale from fear, their clothes barely damaged.

A clever bunch.

No, at least led by someone clever.

But it had nothing to do with him.

Lu Yu took a backpack from a cabinet in the corner of the hall.

He had been hiding here for two days, and the food he brought was stored here. Obviously, these newcomers didn’t know survival skills, or they would have found the food already.

From the backpack, Lu Yu took out a can, tore it open, and began eating hungrily.

Climbing thirty-six floors with such severe injuries was no feat for an ordinary person.

But this was no longer an ordinary world.

Now, as night fell again, beastly roars echoed through the streets, suffocating and oppressive. The hall was silent, except for Lu Yu’s loud chewing.

The dozen or so people watched Lu Yu devour the canned food, unconsciously swallowing.

Each of them had barely eaten bread and water for two days, nearly forgetting the taste of meat. And since morning, they hadn’t even had a drop of water.

The big guy had just cursed Lu Yu, but now seeing him eating a can, his expression twitched slightly. Suddenly, he clenched his teeth and walked toward Lu Yu.

The other students didn’t know what he was doing, watching with wide eyes.

Lu Yu saw him approaching, put down the can, and stared.

“Damn it, I’m going to starve to death. Hey, give me some food. I’ll pay you back later.”

The big guy swaggered over, not even looking at Lu Yu, directly reaching for the backpack.

Earlier, when Lu Yu entered the hall, his movements had been slow, and the big guy seized on that, thinking Lu Yu was too weak to pose a threat.

But what he didn’t expect was that the wounded man suddenly pushed off the ground with both hands, leaping up and grabbing his wrist with lightning speed, twisting hard.

In this endless catastrophe, food was more precious than gold. How could Lu Yu allow someone to just take it?

“Crack!”

Before the big guy could react, his wrist twisted grotesquely, pain shooting through his bones.

“F*** you!” he shouted in shock, stunned that this young man, about his own age, would be so ruthless as to break his wrist immediately.

Lu Yu’s blood-streaked face twisted into a chilling smile as he stared at the big guy.

“This is just a punishment for your arrogance earlier. If you try to steal again, I’ll break all your limbs.”