Meteor Shower in Daylight

Born's eyes widened.

Seeing meteors in the night sky wasn't unusual, but it was daytime now.

Moreover, these meteors had bright fiery tails, indicating they had already entered the atmosphere.

Emerson ran in, holding a radio communication device.

"Listen!"

Emerson's face was grim.

From the radio came a serious voice.

"This is the military headquarters, Upper City shelter. We have discovered that global satellites have suffered an unexpected electronic pulse attack, causing damage to ninety percent of the world's satellites."

"The disabled satellites, influenced by gravity, are about to crash. Survivors outside need to be cautious of the hazards posed by falling satellites."

"Finally, this winter, extreme cold weather has emerged. The temperature in Upper City has dropped to minus 10°C, and in some northern cities that were already cold, temperatures will drop even lower, with no exclusion of further decreases."

"To all survivors out there, protect yourselves and keep warm. Currently, there are 11 shelters, with specific locations to be announced soon. In this apocalypse, our only hope is to survive."

"We wish you all a safe winter. See you in spring."

The radio communication from Upper City ended there.

The tone of the speaker was extremely grave, tinged with sadness.

Rapidly dropping temperatures and ubiquitous zombies were undoubtedly a huge test for survivors.

"So, you can still contact the military?" Born suddenly asked coldly.

Emerson scratched his head, but since he was already shaved bald, the scene looked a bit comical.

He thought for a moment and then smiled, "Yes, I can, but the connection is intermittent. I reported the 11 shelters back to them, including the Dover City shelter."

Born narrowed his eyes, staring at Emerson silently.

Feeling a bit awkward, Emerson took out a new tablet and said, "Information sharing, information sharing."

Born took the tablet and saw a video playing on it.

In the video, a man in a white lab coat was sitting.

"The gods are about to appear. The enhancement of abilities and physical fitness—will it be good or bad for all of humanity?"

The screen abruptly shifted.

The once-prosperous city was now overgrown with vine-like plants, and large patches of weeds covered the ground.

"See that?"

"Humans have polluted the Earth. The gods have brought this opportunity for evolution to remind humanity and lead the Earth to a more prosperous future."

"Those who have awakened abilities will become stronger, even to the point of ignoring thermal weapons. You are the new humans."

Born snorted and turned off the video.

He didn't understand why Emerson suddenly showed him this.

"See that? A bunch of lunatics. Do you know what the Starry Night Laboratory did?"

"They're promoting a plan—a new human evolution plan. Their goal is to eliminate the weak old humans. Frankly, with these videos as evidence, the Starry Night Laboratory is undoubtedly the mastermind behind this apocalyptic disaster."

Emerson's eyes flashed with anger as he punched the table.

Born continued to watch Emerson quietly, saying nothing.

After a while, the anger on Emerson's face completely disappeared.

Feeling somewhat embarrassed, Emerson scratched his head and asked again, "Don't these things stir any emotions in you?"

Born laughed.

The fate of all humanity, the mastermind behind the apocalypse?

What did it have to do with him?

He admitted that he had once been curious, but as the survival environment worsened, how much more could he think about?

He needed to take care of his own legion.

The 47 maids who risked their lives for him.

As for others, he couldn't worry about them.

"The apocalypse has only one main theme for me: survival," Born said calmly, tossing the tablet back to Emerson.

Emerson sat there silently.

After a long while, Born stood up to leave.

At that moment, Emerson murmured, "This base will be yours. If you manage it well, the higher-ups will grant you a military position. You'll be the master of the Dover City shelter."

"I need to take my team to the Starry Night Laboratory again. I must retrieve some information about the virus and bring back a high-ranking member of the Starry Night Laboratory to the military."

Born paused, then quickened his pace and left.

Emerson sat for a long time, looking out the window and sighing.

...

Born walked through the exhibition hall.

Now, there was an additional outer wall reinforced with steel, so there was no need to stay confined inside the hall; they could move around the outer perimeter.

Lane had just returned with her team. Seeing Born, she gave him a sweet smile and then led her team away.

Born headed to the factory.

Though it was called a factory, it was more like a small workshop.

In the absence of gunpowder, this small workshop primarily produced bolts for automatic crossbows.

The automatic crossbow had become the main combat weapon of the base, with eighty percent of the people proficient in its use.

As for materials, most came from the abandoned cars on the roads.

What used to cost tens of thousands to buy was now just a heap of metal.

Behind the exhibition hall were several vegetable plots, not yet planted. They would sow seeds in the spring and harvest crops.

Born made a round and returned to the front of the exhibition hall.

Electricity crackled around his hand and shot out in an instant.

Zombies on the perimeter fell to the ground, their bodies charred.

"Meow!"

Three zombie cats darted toward him, and Born glanced at them sideways.

Electricity arced out, splitting into three streams, striking the zombie cats. After two consecutive hits, the zombie cats were immobilized.

Immediately, someone jumped over the wall, and under the cover of others, retrieved the evolution cores and handed them to Born.

"Haven't seen you out here killing zombies for a while," said one of Emerson's squad leaders. Over time, they had all grown familiar with each other.

Born nodded and smiled, not taking the evolution cores.

"You and your teammates haven't awakened any abilities yet, right? Absorb them and see what abilities you might awaken," Born said, then turned and walked away.

The squad leader was overjoyed and eagerly took the evolution cores to show off to his teammates.

Born walked for a while, then looked back at the scene, a smile on his face.

"Starry Night Laboratory, virus data, it's still a threat. Survive?"

"If the Starry Night Laboratory really is the mastermind, letting them develop for a while could turn me into just another target for them," Born muttered.

He gazed into the distance, in the direction of the Starry Night Laboratory.

If he wanted to help, he needed to give himself a reason.

After walking around, he had found his reason.

"Let's go take a look, just a look!"