My name is Zhang Cheng, and I was born in an ordinary working-class family.
When I was sixteen, I fell in love with a girl.
Since I was a child, I have believed that only hard work will bring rewards, and I have always believed that I am never worse than anyone else. I always believed that no one is born with superhuman talents, until that day I met her.
Her smile was so bright, like the warm winter sun hanging high in the sky. It made me feel the beating of my heart for the first time after being trapped in an "ice cellar" for many years. Her beauty, her intelligence, everything about her made me feel ashamed.
Once upon a time, I was also a proud child in the eyes of my peers. I was recommended, skipped grades, exempted from tuition, published papers, and became what adults call "other people's children." I have never doubted that I was embarking on a great exploration that could change the world and rewrite human history.
But compared with the achievements she has already achieved, these seem to have lost some luster.
Research without results is nothing. Throughout the ages, countless theories and hypotheses have been put forward by people, and have been argued and rejected one by one. In the end, they have become only a few truths. What I do is more like a long-distance race, where the runner is nothing until he reaches the finish line before everyone else.
Before success, working hard day and night means nothing.
I can feel that she is the kind of person who is destined to stand at the top. She was born with a halo above her head, and the divine light protects her all the way. Whether it is learning or life, to a certain extent, it is more like a simple and relaxing game to her.
I don’t have a distinguished family background like hers, I only have more than ten years of continuous hard work. Over the years, my family not only failed to provide me with support, but it seemed to have become a taboo that I could not mention to others.
I often tell people that my dad was an alcoholic and would have died a long time ago.
In fact, the situation is even worse. He is a terrorist criminal who was sentenced to two years of suspended death. The crime is endangering public safety by dangerous means. From the day he was taken away by the armed police, I never saw him again.
Forty years ago, he was a well-known child prodigy in our area. At the age of 18, he was hired by the National University as an assistant professor in the Department of Physics. People say that as long as he is willing to study hard, he will only have a period of experience and time before becoming a "tenured professor".
Unfortunately, he always seems to have a habit of not letting those around him get what they want.
I heard from people around me that after I was born, my father’s personality became increasingly weird. It was not until I was five years old that my mother died of a sudden illness, and his condition became more and more obvious. He quickly resigned that year and returned to the countryside with his only salary and allowance. Afterwards, he secretly published papers, organized rallies, and even secretly encouraged those who believed in him to engage in small-scale terrorist attacks. Until he was arrested by the police, many supporters still spoke for him and called him an "anti-technology" fighter.
However, the final result has not changed. When dealing with ordinary people, laws and judgments are always impartial.
Seriously disrupting social order, violently injuring innocent people, and publishing behaviors and remarks that violate human ethics. The three main points accounted for two and a half. The father's "anti-social crime" charge was naturally certain.
Before that, he was a sociologist. For ten years before and after I was born, he played the role of researcher intently and almost obsessively. I was studying in a boarding school in the town at that time. Whenever I returned to the countryside after school at the end of the month, I would always see him locking himself in the small house in his hometown.
He stayed away from home for months and months, reading a large number of books and newspapers, and conducting research that only he himself could understand. According to him, this is a way of observing and analyzing society, which can explain the society we live in more profoundly to people.
But what is so difficult to understand about this society? At that time, I had no clue at all.
In the words of his father's former friends, others join terrorist organizations and cults to endanger social security, but he himself is a cult. Looking back now, when those people said this, they seemed to have some fear on their faces.
They were my father's friends during his tenure at the university, and they were both well-known and decent scholars. After seeing the circulated papers, even they had to admit that their father's articles and theories were logically rigorous and extremely provocative. Because most of them are telling the truth, or facts or principles that are very close to the truth.
In other words, it is difficult to refute.
I also read those articles of his before the manuscripts were burned. In those lengthy arguments, two words appeared repeatedly - "system" and "revolution." In my father's opinion, the three industrial revolutions seemed to have brought greater disasters to mankind.
Electric power technology and assembly lines have achieved important changes from traditional agricultural society to modern industrial society. They have also accelerated the process of urbanization, exacerbating industrial pollution and the gap between rich and poor. The information revolution and the development of bioengineering have caused the population to skyrocket, but more people cannot find jobs. Technology has solved countless problems, but it has also created more problems than ever before. There has never been an era in which conflicts and class antagonisms have intensified as much as now.
Since the Industrial Revolution, not only has thousands of years of natural selection been artificially broken, but it has also affected human lifestyles and ways of thinking. He predicted: In this slow-moving social machine, individuals will completely lose their autonomy and become parts lacking ideas. The world is tending to become a whole, and once something goes wrong in one part, there will be a chain reaction of collapse.
The root of this whole is the "industrial-technical" system. Human beings shape technology into a god, trust the gods to make decisions for them, and accept the system to push society towards an unpredictable future. And if the system eventually collapses, it will be an unprecedented disaster for mankind. Because the world's population has become so over-expanded that it cannot feed itself without advanced technology. And if we want to avoid this disaster, humans must destroy the "system" before it takes shape on a large scale and becomes deeply rooted, and we must launch a bottom-up reform.
"This society is sick and moldy, and it needs to take a few steps back to get some sunshine." These were the original words written by my father in the manuscript.
All parts of the social system are related, and one move affects the whole body. His method is more ruthless than scraping bones to treat poison. It is not just cleaning, but subversion, and it is a complete elimination of the industrial technology that has given mankind enough sweetness. I sometimes think that maybe it cannot be said that my father is wrong, but his actions are too extreme and are destined not to be allowed by modern society.
After my father was imprisoned, several of his former friends used their connections to transfer me to another school and left my original city. During his studies, his father's fanatical supporters continued to travel to many places and secretly sent him various financial aids.
Without these things, I would not be able to complete my studies and do what I love to the best of my ability. I have to be grateful for these favors and my father and his supporters who brought them. But sometimes I want to draw a clear line between the past and my father, so as not to let myself live in its shadow forever.
It is said that a son will inherit part of his personality traits from his father. And I heard from them that the way I was thinking hard when I was a child was very much like my dead father...
Section 2
On November 29, 2275 AD, the weather was sunny in downtown Shasha. The afternoon sun penetrated the dark fog and shone on the side wall of Candy KTV. The bright light passed through the rusty metal fence, forming a parallelogram light spot with blurred edges in the center of the floor of the storage room.
Most of the people in the storage room were not sleeping. They were just sitting in the corner, staring at the light spots in a daze. Zhang Cheng was half-sitting and leaning against the wall, taking a nap, while Anyang would look at the small window on the wall from time to time.
It's not that they don't want to sleep, but they are unbearably hungry. People in this state won't be able to sleep for long and will wake up very quickly.
In the first few days after the disaster broke out, they had seen what kind of tragedy was happening in the outside world through the bars and windows raised above the ground. Therefore, they did not dare to even think about escaping.
Having said that, although the current state is painful, it is precisely because I have not died that I can experience this pain. Hunger and death hang overhead like the sword of Damocles, making everyone nervous.
"Clang!"
Suddenly, a loud noise interrupted Zhang Cheng and others' random thoughts.
The door of the storage room was suddenly knocked open, and then a man fell to the ground and shouted without looking back: "Close the door quickly, the black corpse is following me!"
"Black Corpse!"
These two words made everyone tremble.
Sure enough, the next second there was a burst of chaotic footsteps in the corridor. The roar of "ho ho ho" came from far away, and people quickly stood up and wanted to close the door.
"Crack!"
The door is not closed! The black corpse was one step faster. In the blink of an eye, he had already squeezed into the door and was about to rush in the next second!
"Close the door, close the door! Don't let them in!"
"No, they are too strong!"
"Push harder, push harder! If the black corpse comes in, we will all be dead!"
"The arm...the black corpse's arm is pinned!"
"It's over, it's all over."
"Why are you crying? Push the door quickly and squeeze this corpse hand out!"
People crowded behind the door and became a mess. Suddenly, a man snatched the fruit knife from Guo Qi's hand.
"I come!"
Before he finished speaking, he slashed at the bony arm that had transformed into a corpse. Because men are big-bodied and round-waisted, and are also powerful evolvers, the power of this sword should not be underestimated.
With one knife, the blade cut open the muscles, revealing the white fascia; with two knifes, white bone stubble flew everywhere, and blood spattered everywhere; with three knifes, four knifes...seven knifes, the corpse's hand broke and fell to the ground.
With a "clang", the door was finally closed. People ignored the scratching sounds of nails behind the door and slumped on the ground with a long sigh of relief. Only the man holding the knife still had a sense of anger and kicked Guo Qi to the ground.
"Fuck, you want to kill us all?"
This man's name is Li Li. His level of evolution is no lower than Guo Qi's, but his personality is relatively conservative. He doesn't dare to go far away to find food like Guo Qi. Li Li's face was now covered with specks of blood, and he was holding a murder weapon in his hand. Even Guo Qi seemed too frightened to speak.
He had gained justice by grabbing the knife, and now he seemed justified when he got angry. Anyang couldn't help but think at this moment - maybe this knife will change hands in the future. She looked at Zhang Cheng to ask for proof, but saw him frowning and staring at Guo Qi, who was shivering on the ground.
"There's a problem." Zhang Cheng shook his head slightly.
Li Li also saw something was wrong. He stepped forward and tugged on Guo Qi's clothes. Although the opponent dodged, he still pulled off one sleeve.
"Hiss." Li Li took a step back and happened to get out of sight, exposing the bone-deep wound on the opponent's shoulder to everyone. There was a circle of inconspicuous tooth marks on the edge of the wound, as if a large piece of flesh had been bitten by some wild beast. I really don’t know how he escaped from the claws and fangs of the zombies. Of course, his life will not last long, maybe four hours, two hours, or less...
"Damn it, Guo Qi, you were bitten by a black corpse!"
One stone stirred up thousands of waves, and Li Li's words instantly excited people's emotions.
"Why did you come back after you were bitten?"
"Yes, you brought back so many black corpses, do you want to kill us all together?"
"How come you weren't bitten to death?"
"If you want to die, you can die outside. Why are you dragging us along?"
"I told you that it's too dangerous to go far away. Take a look..."
The other party seemed to understand his fate, so he trembled subconsciously. Without the high-pressure environment when escaping, Guo Qi's teeth chattered and he couldn't even speak a word.
That night, Guo Qi died, stabbed through his throat in the dark. Because he was bitten by a black corpse and was "contaminated", everyone chose to turn a blind eye to the murder...
Section 3
On the morning of the 25th day after Advent, light rain fell in the Shashi area. In the storage room, Zhang Cheng carved a knife on the ground with a stone, perfecting the fifth word "正" written on the ground.
When Wang Hu saw it, he couldn't help but wonder: "Chengzi, are you counting the time?"
Before the master could answer, others rushed to speak.
"It's really stupid. Isn't it good to use a mobile phone to check the date?"
"Why do you care so much? Maybe people are starving their brains and think of themselves as primitive people."
"Haha, that makes sense."
"You guys!" These people were attacking Zhang Cheng with guns and sticks, making Wang Hu unable to help but get angry.
"There will always be times when the phone runs out of battery, and there are times when the brain is starved and dizzy." Zhang Cheng's tone became colder and colder, "I know you have complaints, and you feel that I brought you to this dead end."
"But you must be more aware that if it weren't for me, you would have died a long time ago." He then put down the stone and picked up the knife. "If you don't believe it, you can try it!"
Since Guo Qi's death, several other men couldn't help but be ready to take action. Zhang Cheng's sword and Anyang's graceful body are all the objects they covet. They couldn't figure out Zhang Cheng's details, so they didn't dare to act rashly, but they always looked at Zhang Cheng, as if they were unwilling to give up.
Zhang Cheng leaned against the wall with a floor-to-ceiling window, and behind him was Anyang squatting in the corner.
There was a creamy-yellow striped kitten in front of Anyang. The cat was soaked all over, and it took a lot of effort for Anyang to dry it off. At this time, the cat was huddled in a small circle and snoring. After being awakened by the quarrel, it opened its black jewel-like eyes to secretly observe its surroundings.
It was just a stray cat named Orange. It was abandoned in a garbage dump near the KTV in the summer and survived by luck. Before the disaster, Anyang and several girls used to feed Orange the kitten. So today, after seeing the kitten soaked in the rain from a distance outside the window, Anyang couldn't help but call it in.
Compared to Orange's ignorance, Anyang seemed to have understood something, and his eyes suddenly turned frightened when he looked at the others.
Sure enough, those people spoke.
"Zhang Cheng, you are right. But I have been starving for many days, so you must make some compensation. I think the cat in the arms of that slut Anyang is pretty good..."
"Yeah, I heard that cat meat is sour, but it's better than melon seeds and drinks."
"That's right, no matter how small a mosquito is, it's just a piece of meat."
"What are you going to do! We don't owe you anything at all!" Anyang was completely panicked. She didn't expect that her kind act would actually bring death to this cute little creature.
"It's up to you to decide whether I owe you or not! You bitch!" Li Li, the leader, stared, and the others stood behind him. It was obvious what their opinions were.
Zhang Cheng shook his head and said: "There is too little meat on this cat. With so many people here, wouldn't one of us starve to death after just one bite? I don't know how much you, Li Li, can leave for others after you eat it up and wipe it clean." Where’s the soup?”
Upon hearing this, the crowd suddenly became a little commotion, but Li Li suppressed the discussion and said with a pinched neck: "Don't talk nonsense, we just don't want to starve to death now."
"Don't want to starve to death? It's easy." Zhang Cheng laughed, making everyone look at him. "Remember Guo Qi's body in the utility room? It shouldn't be too smelly now. If you want to eat meat, you have to do it early."
"Zhang Cheng, what do you mean?" Li Li felt humiliated in these words.
"What do you mean? What I mean is very simple. Your faces are extremely ugly now. You are like a group of hungry scavengers. I am quite disgusted by the sight of you!"
"Zhang Cheng, we can split the money equally," Li Li said.
Someone immediately behind him said dissatisfiedly: "Brother Li, this is not fair! We have too many people."
However, Li Li remained stubborn. He looked at Zhang Cheng, with a hint of expectation in his eyes: "Zhang Cheng, what do you think?"
"Throw the cat out." Zhang Cheng said without looking back.
"Zhang Cheng?" Anyang almost thought he heard wrongly.
"Do as I say!"
"Zhang Cheng, how dare you!" Li Li looked anxious.
Zhang Cheng sneered: "Why don't I dare?"
"Kill him. He has gone out so many times. Who dares to say that he didn't hide anything to eat?" Someone in the crowd booed at the right time. "We can survive by robbing his private goods!"
Anyang couldn't help but his eyes turned red with anger and said: "What are you doing? Now that Li Li can kill us, you will be next. Do you think he will obediently share the results of the battle with you?"
She had driven away the orange and now picked up the iron pipe and returned to Zhang Cheng.
"Bitch!" Li Li yelled, interrupting the other party, "Here, take down Zhang Cheng. I swear we will share the food this time. Whoever takes down Zhang Cheng, that bitch from Anyang will give in Who takes the lead!"
A man rushed up and quickly flew back the way he came. Before he even touched Zhang Cheng, he was kicked in the stomach.
"What? Do you want to die in the same way as Guo Qi?" Zhang Cheng waved a sword with one hand and stopped in front of several people. "Who wants to taste what it feels like to have a knife blade driven from the jaw into the brain?"
"It was you who did it!" Li Li was shocked. Before the catastrophe, they were ordinary people. There were rare moments of fierce fighting in life, and they did not dare to take action before Guo Qi's corpse transformed. Therefore, it has always been a mystery who killed Guo Qi first at night, and they were also wary of each other.
"Yes, it's me. Does anyone else want to try it now?"
Zhang Cheng looked around. At this time, Wang Hu also picked up the iron rod and stood with him. His fat body looked powerful, and his momentum vaguely overwhelmed the opponent.
…
That night, Anyang whispered to Zhang Cheng in the darkness: "Is it worth offending those people for me and a cat?"
"Don't think too much about what you've already done." Zhang Cheng turned his head in time, as if he could see the guilt on the other person's face through the darkness. "I think the effect of a mutated creature is definitely much stronger than a pile of sour meat stuffed between the teeth."
Hearing this answer, Anyang was in a daze for a long time, and finally fell asleep on Zhang Cheng's shoulder.
