A desolate landscape stretched out, riddled with countless cracks. Black smoke choked the fading sunset, and on the muddy roads, countless people struggled to walk, their faces etched with despair and terror. Every now and then someone would stumble and fall, cries of anguish echoing ceaselessly.

A queue stretching for tens of thousands of people snaked its way forward. Along both sides, at intervals, stood augmented warriors known as Evolveds, providing protection.

Since a cataclysmic event struck the Earth half a year ago, Evolved humans have been appearing.

At the rear of the squad, Lu raised his head to look into the distance. He heard a bone-chilling chewing sound in his ear. With a roar, a mutated dog with crimson eyes and a height of two meters burst out from behind the burning tree, its horns dripping with water as it charged towards the team.

The survivors of the squad stared in horror. Their eyes widened, and one by one drew out strange weapons from their waists. They looked like iron, but with one side sharpened to a blade-like edge.

Lu jumped up and slashed down with one hand, effortlessly cleaving through the mutated dog's skull. Water sprayed onto the ground, staining the grass red.

Seeing the mutated dog die, the team finally fell silent, fear propelling them forward.

Land retracted the iron, looked at it, and saw a few cracks on it. "It seems it won't last long," he said.

As the sun set in the west, darkness fell upon the land. All the Evolvers lit fires, spreading them along the line of the marching group, hoping to drive back the mutations with this light. The group stopped moving.

To go to a strange place in the dark is equivalent to courting death.

A raspy electrical hum filled the air, and a voice crackled through Lu's walkie-talkie. “Evolved with tail number three, search for food within a one kilometer radius.”

Lu's evolution code is 103. He raised his head, looked at the slain mutant dog, picked it up and tossed it in front of the team. "Eat," he said.

The team erupted in cheers, then several men stepped forward to settle the commotion. They were used to this sort of thing, even if the mutated dog's horns still bore fragments of human bone.

A mutated dog, large enough to feed over twenty people, was slain. Lu walked out of the fire, grasped his iron weapon, and walked away into the distance.

The sound of chewing never stopped near his ear. In the darkness, pairs of green eyes stared at Lu. These were mutant rats, their appearance was hideous, but the meat was edible.

Lu threw up his iron and smashed to death more than ten mutated rats. He heaved them towards the squad, "I'm good over here."

Suddenly, a scream pierced the air. Lu Bu didn't need to look to know that an Evolutee had died. He wasn't planning on going to help anyway. Who knew what had attacked the Evolutee? Perhaps a venomous snake, blood-sucking mosquitoes, or a powerful mutant rat capable of biting through steel. These kinds of creatures weren't uncommon in the wild.

The team was very silent, everyone huddled behind the flames as if a thin layer of fire could truly protect them.

Lu Lian looked at these people with pity, then raised her head towards the sky. The stars were so brilliant and bright. The air, once polluted, had been completely restored half a year ago. Along with it came countless mutations, including those of humankind itself.

No one knew what caused the mutation. It was as if overnight, life became terrifying, and many people became walkers, devoid of reason, driven to consume the living. These people were called the Infected.

The remaining survivors all grew stronger, although the changes weren't drastic. They could become stronger by consuming the crystal shards of mutated creatures, this is how Evokers came to be.

The Earth overnight seemed to have reverted to the ancient era, a time of predator and prey. The vast arsenals that once ruled the planet were nearly destroyed. Lu personally witnessed his city's arsenal explode, as if these modern weapons were out of place in this new reality.

A gust of wind swept across the ground, sending papers scattered about with stones, rustling loudly.

Lu picked up the newspaper and read the headline 'February 3, 2200, a day that will go down in history, on that day, the Chinese spacecraft Wuhao landed on Neptune. Bai Xian became the first astronaut from Earth to explore Neptune. Neptune is a gaseous planet, that day...' Lu threw away the newspaper and a child carefully handed him a piece of roasted .

Lu took it and said with a faint smile, "Thank you."

The child smiled shyly and ran back to the group.

It was really bland, even with the seasoning it was still very unappetizing. However, Lu seemed very satisfied eating it, and claimed it gave him the energy he needed after being full.

The flame rippled suddenly, Lu leaped out with a vicious swing of his iron blade, crushing a mutated mantis that had pierced through the flames. Once these mutated mantises charge into a squad, they cause terrible casualties. That blade was honed to a razor's edge, red from use, no less sharp than Lu's own iron.

For a whole night, Lu only slept for two hours. During that time, he killed over ten mutated creatures that tried to attack the team.

There were no casualties on his side, but other areas were different. In one section, dozens of survivors, including evolvers, were killed by a giant mutated boar. The mutated boar could grow razor-sharp bristles that could take lives with every attack. If it hadn't been for the intervention of several powerful evolvers, the casualties would have been even greater.

As dawn broke, the team continued their southward journey towards Jinling, the largest gathering place in Su province, where there was an army, many evolved individuals, and Zhou Shan, known as the Executioner of China.

The cataclysm at the end of half a year gave birth to non-evolved beings, and also to the ultimate powerhouses known as the Seven Saints.

Though information isn't flowing freely, we can still get in touch. Not long ago, Evolvers were officially classified into different tiers: there are basic Evolvers who have just ingested crystals, then there are Human-level powerhouses who can crush ordinary Evolvers, and above them are the Earth-shaking level, or Earth-level powerhouses who possess the strength to devastate entire cities.

At the very top are the Heavenly Soaring experts. As their name suggests, they can fly and are also known as Heavenly Rank experts. The Seven Saints of China are seven Heavenly Rank experts.

Half a year after the apocalypse, this is how we can only divide it. Perhaps in time there will be a more systematic division, but those seven powerful beings who can fly to heaven will remain at the top forever as long as they don't die. This is also the origin of the word "Saint." Perhaps it is also the countless survivors who hope for their protection and call them Saints.

The Jinling Gatherings had a Saint, the Martial Saint Zhou Shan.

The team continued their march. They still had over a hundred kilometers to go before reaching Jinling, a journey that would take only a few hours in peacetime. Now, it would take several days.

From within the long lines of the squad, countless figures sluggishly approach, as if smelling the scent of life.

On both sides of the team, evolvers stood on guard. The non-evolvers all looked terrified. These zombies may not be fast, but they were incredibly strong and carried a potent poison. Even if an evolver was hit, their skin would fester and rot until their mind went blank, leaving them just like the zombies. That's what truly terrifying about them.

Land squinted his eyes, gripped the iron, fighting with the Infected wasn't difficult, they always stayed the same, unlike the Evolved who could grow stronger. This was something countless survivors were grateful for; if the Infected could also evolve, they truly wouldn't have a way to survive.

The greatest enemy of the survivors currently is mutation.

Just as Lu and the others were preparing to fight against Group One, those zombies suddenly stopped, then turned and walked away. Lu's heart skipped a beat, and a sense of foreboding arose in him.

The ground suddenly shook. Before the team, a giant vine rose from the earth, its branches and leaves seeming to come alive, grabbing those who were unfortunate enough to be caught. With desperate screams, all those seized were crushed and watered, their remains fertilizing the soil where the vine was rooted.

All survivors were terrified to flee, even the non-evolved.

Lu's eyelid twitched, this mutated vine had definitely reached the level of a terrestrial-grade creature. It was beyond the reach of ordinary evolvers, even with a powerhouse on their team.

The Evolved beings in the squad never intended to fight; they all retreated backward, avoiding the range of the vines.

>After a while, the vines seemed to have eaten their fill and retreated back into the ground.

Countless survivors wept, their desperate cries echoing through the ravaged landscape. In such an environment, many people would succumb to madness, even some of the evolved ones.

Soon, a raspy static sound came through, and from the walkie-talkie on his waist, a voice spoke, "Rest in place, Captain Xing Sheng will come to pick us up personally."

Upon hearing this news, countless people cheered. To the survivors of today, Heaven-Tier experts were like gods, as if the appearance of a Heaven-Tier expert could solve anything.

Land ridicule, holy? He covered his left arm with one hand, until now, half of him was still in pain, a piercing pain, as if it reminded him of that night forever.

An entire city was abandoned, all the undamaged heavy weapons were unleashed upon it. The screams echoed everywhere, I saw half of myself burning, and when I turned back, I saw those eyes staring down at me from above, piercing gold.

Liu Ge would never forget the man called a saint, one of the Seven Sages, who had inflicted upon him the ultimate pain. This pain, Lu vowed to repay tenfold.

As the flames rose, the sky darkened. Lu was preparing to rest when sharp and crying sounds came from afar.

Lu frowned and turned his head. A hundred meters away, several children were surrounded by over a dozen evolved individuals, who jeered at them wantonly. Several of the children had only scraps of clothing left and were weeping silently.

This scene is not unfamiliar, the apocalypse, human depravity, quite normal. Lu has seen this many times. How to say it, in such an environment, wanting protection without paying a price is impossible.

Li closed his eyes, his expression slightly relaxed.

Far away, a sharp shout was met with a slap to the ground, "Damn it, I risked my life protecting you guys. What's wrong with having some fun? Don't be shameless. The other day there was even a little celebrity that I played with, now they beg me to play and I won't even bother. Get up."

Glaring hatefully at the Evoker, his eyes bloodshot.

The surrounding Evolvers roared with laughter, they loved this era, where they could run wild and have fun, no one could stop them.

A gust of wind swept past, and an extra person appeared before the Evolvers' eyes. It was Lu. At this moment, Lu held a metal frame against the Evolver's neck and said faintly, "Scram."

All around was a deathly silence, broken only by the stifled sobs of those few who wept.

The evolved one threatened by Lu had a very ugly face, gritted his teeth and said, "Lu, this has nothing to do with you, I will protect them."

"You woke me up," Lu said lightly, and with a flash of her blade, the evolutionist's skin split open, blood flowing along the metal.

The Evoker was taken aback, "Alright, alright, you're ruthless. We surrender to you. I won't hold back anymore."

Lu Qi put away his iron and walked back to his original position, expressionless. The team stood silently watching this scene, they were used to it already. Even though those few who had just been killed weren't helped, no one spoke up. In their eyes, Lu appeared strange.

Those dozen or so evolved beings glared at each other in anger, but they didn't dare act rashly. Lu was very strong; that much they knew.

Those few who ran to the mainland wanted to say something, but Lu closed his eyes and ignored them. They could only watch Lu nervously and cautiously sat down.

Not long after, a handsome young man with fiery eyes grinned and strolled up to the shore. His sharp gaze swept over the men, causing them to recoil in fear and cower in terror.

Yàn Lìzi was satisfied now. She sat beside Lù and whispered in his ear.

Lu raised his hand to choke the child's neck, opened his eyes wide and said in a cold voice, "One more time, you're dead."

Her beautiful eyes were cold, she managed a smile and said, "You're still so clueless."

Lu let go of his hand and stared coldly at Zi, "What's the matter?"

He choked him and glared at Lu, "Do you know who you offended?"

Land did not answer.

"The child continued, 'Zhang Tong and his men are plotting against you. There are more than ten evolutionists among them, while you're alone. You won't be able to handle them. Be careful.'"

"Thank you," Lu Dandan replied faintly.

(Editor in charge:11/22/63 a novel)