Tianhai City. Inside a run-down, musty rental room.
The sound of running water echoed faintly.
Splash.
Ice-cold water poured down like a slap across the face. Samuel Carter opened his eyes slowly, breath steady, gaze deep.
He had just turned twenty—but those eyes? Too calm, too heavy. Like they’d watched a lifetime already.
“Hah…” He exhaled, pupils shimmering.
Memories surged—messy, vivid, sharp.
They weren’t dreams. They were real. As if they had just happened.
He shut off the water, wiped himself dry, dressed in plain clothes, and lay back down on the creaky bed.
Next to him, the old fuzzy television blared with the day’s news.
“Breaking News—In the Linyun Forest, Nan’yun City, an extinct creature, the Boer Lion, has reportedly been spotted...”
“Experts are en route...”
“A strange purple mist has been sighted over Kunwu Mountain recently.”
“Meteorologists believe it may be an undiscovered natural phenomenon…”
“Long-term exposure could promote longevity…”
“Reports from Tianhai say a surge of local strays has begun attacking civilians—”
“Possible carriers of disease—capture and extermination efforts underway. Animal welfare groups are protesting fiercely—”
“Flash floods hit Siru County—emergency aid requested from regional forces...”
“Lastly, a reminder: on November 23rd at noon, the final daytime meteor shower of the year will light up the skies. Perfect moment to celebrate with loved ones.”
…
Samuel listened in silence, lying on the stiff mattress.
He muttered.
“Exactly the same…”
“Every word... just like before.”
Whoosh—
He jerked upright and grabbed the phone by his side.
[2049/11/20 12:08:56]
Samuel stared at the screen. Then grinned.
A shiver ran through his frame.
And then—
Laughter broke out. Low at first. Then loud. Wild.
His youthful face twisted, eyes lit with madness.
Killing intent poured out from him like smoke rising off a battlefield.
Right now, Samuel wasn’t human. He was a wraith. One who’d clawed his way back from the depths of hell.
“I really came back… I actually f*cking reborn!”
Fifteen years. He’d crawled and bled through fifteen years of the apocalypse.
And at the end? Jason Linwood—spawn of a top warzone officer—framed him. Set him up.
Threw him into a death mission: an SSS-tier target.
A twisted god—a damn abomination.
And Natalie… she’d died right there. Right in front of him.
That battle? Sixth warzone lost tens of thousands.
Jason? Jailed for a month. Then walked free.
That... that thing, that god-wretch, he hated it.
But Jason Linwood?
He hated him even more.
“Jason… you killed Natalie. You made me live through that.”
“Now it’s your turn.”
“I want you broken. I want you to feel your limbs torn off by a god’s jaws… I want you begging to die.”
No one knew how long he sat there, breathing hard, eyes glinting cold and sharp.
Finally, his crazed look faded.
Clear-headed now.
He muttered.
“Three days…”
Three days left.Because on November 23rd, 2049, at exactly 12:00, the world will flip upside down.
The sky will be torn apart by blood-red meteors. What used to be cities will turn into endless wastelands.
The Yellow River and Yangtze? They'll twist into monstrous dragons big enough to swallow the sky.
Old gods, long buried beneath the earth or sealed in sacred grounds, will break free.
And that’s still not the worst of it.
When the apocalypse hits, every living thing—humans included—will undergo horrifying changes.
Ninety percent of the population will become aberrations—mutated monsters.
The ones who survive... some will awaken powers no different from the gods themselves.
This time, he wasn’t planning to just survive.
He was going to turn it all upside down—take control. Of everything.
Samuel Carter lifted his right hand, eyes locked on the faint black mark etched into the back of it. It looked like a birthmark, but it pulsed with power.
An Awakened Sigil.
In his last life, he’d made it to Tier Six. But for the first three years? He was just another powerless man.
Until he met Natalie Thomas. Her gift of faint essence let him awaken for the first time—with nothing more than a B-level [Mind Disruption].
The earlier the sigil appears, the stronger the ability.
And now, before the world even breaks, the sigil was already here.
There was another mark on his left hand too.
"Not just reborn," Samuel muttered.
"Even my abilities... they’ve changed."
He didn’t say more.
Just pulled on the old jacket draped over the chair, tugged it tight, then stepped through the door without a sound.
...
Samuel had no intention of building some safe haven.
By the mid-apocalypse, gods would awake. Beasts straight out of legend and twisted aberrations would roam unchecked.
Even the so-called sanctuaries built by world leaders with blood and steel weren’t truly safe.
And Tianhai?
It was doomed from the start.
Because sleeping deep beneath it...
...was one of their kind.
Codename 18: Feaster God.
Samuel stood in Tianhai’s city center.
The streets were packed. Office workers, students, couples—alive, chatting, smiling. It looked peaceful. Almost beautiful.
Too familiar.
Too far gone.
“Fifteen years…” he murmured under his breath. “Feels like another life.”
“Peace. Huh.”
But he knew—all of this would shatter in just three days.
As his boots touched the ground, a deep, slow thudding echoed by his ears—steady and pounding, like a heartbeat in the earth.
Thump. Thump.
He clenched his fists unconsciously. The sound made the hairs on his arms rise.
None of the passersby noticed. They kept laughing, walking, talking like nothing was wrong.
They couldn’t hear it.
Samuel’s gaze dropped to the ground beneath his feet, eyes narrowing with cold disgust.
In his mind, the memory was clear as daylight—that colossal, pulsing mass of flesh buried beneath the city... towering twenty, thirty meters high...
A mountain of meat waiting to awaken."This is where the Feaster God lies dormant..."
"A god..." A flicker of hate flashed through Samuel Carter’s eyes.
In the early days of the apocalypse, these resurrected gods were untouchable, even by the most powerful weapons. Even one as lowly as the Feaster God couldn’t be brought down by human firepower.
...
Samuel stepped into a large supermarket. With the New Year approaching, the place was packed. Most people wore masks, eyes bloodshot and faces drawn, coughing constantly.
“Cough... cough…”
He didn’t spare them a glance.
These were the first infected. Soon, they’d turn into powerful mutated undead. Highly contagious too.
Samuel had already awakened his ability and gained basic immunity. Still, better to steer clear if possible.
He grabbed food easy to store and carry—compressed biscuits, canned goods, bread—and most importantly, water. These would be worth more than lives when hell broke loose.
In the early chaos, food and water were as good as currency. A piece of bread could cost a man his life.
Because in times like that, your next meal? Usually the guy next to you.
Samuel also picked up a massive backpack, loaded everything into carts, and rolled them to checkout.
Dozens of carts stacked high and barrels of water on the floor drew every eye. Bystanders and even the cashier stared in disbelief.
“What... is he fleeing a famine?” someone muttered.
“Holy hell, that's a lot of food. You sure you can eat all that, kid?"
Even the cashier couldn’t hold back, triple-checking his intent.
“Sir, are you sure you want to buy this much?”
Samuel nodded, didn’t even blink. Voice flat.
“Ring it up.”
“You do home delivery?”
“Uh... yeah!” The cashier snapped out of her daze and smiled. “Of course, sir. Just leave your address and we’ll get it to you.”
“That’ll be 23,433.5 yuan.”
Samuel tapped his card.
[Ding!]
[Account ending in 324*—Transaction: -23,433.5. Remaining balance: 13,510.5.]
Guy was broke. Not kinda broke. Real broke.
He looked at the stack of supplies behind him.
Should last him a while.
The beginning of the end was when hunting mutated beasts for purple crystals paid off the most.
He planned to stay in Tianhai a while, then head to Huabei City. But first, two things needed handling.
One, that roaming apex predator in Tianhai—codename 46. The beast that eventually swallowed even the Feaster God.
Tangy the Cat.
