Chapter Four: Two Worlds

Rebuilding civilization without a trace—Xie Han felt his scalp explode. Though Zhou Ruomeng had merely spoken in numbers, Xie Han could imagine the crowds surging in the town just now, and that was only thirty thousand people. Nearly 7.3 billion zombies—what sort of concept was that? It was far beyond what any single human could bear.

These numbers filled Xie Han with despair. He couldn’t understand why he had come to this place, or whether his own world would look like this decades from now. The thought of time struck him and he realized something, so he asked, “Are you saying the XR virus broke out globally on December 20, 2055?” Pointing to his watch, he continued, “Does this time match up, too?”

Zhou Ruomeng smiled and replied, “The time on your temporal watch is set to China’s time zone. So yes, it’s completely accurate. Right now, the XR virus has been raging for three years and seven months.” Xie Han could scarcely believe it. If the XR virus had been spreading for three years and seven months, could there still be any humans left alive on Earth? The power of the zombies was unquestionable; if their brains weren’t struck, they couldn’t be killed.

“So what’s going on with me? Damn it, don’t tell me I slept for decades.” At this, Xie Han was furious. Having just escaped death in the town, the memory still made him tremble.

Zhou Ruomeng replied, “Of course it wasn’t a decades-long sleep. In fact, just yesterday you were living in 2009. You were simply transmitted to this future world when the Matrix opened the temporal gate.”

Xie Han interrupted, “Wait, you just mentioned the Matrix. What is that?”

Zhou Ruomeng shook her head flirtatiously, saying, “Insufficient data access, unable to answer.”

Xie Han frowned, “Are you saying I was transported from 2009 to 2059?”

“Yes. Your current mission is to activate the gene mutation upgrade within you, gaining more data access. Only with enough access can you understand the origins of the XR virus, and what you must accomplish.” Without giving him a chance to speak, Zhou Ruomeng continued, “Your body was already subjected to gene stimulation by the Matrix before transmission. Data access is divided into ten levels; at your current level one gene status, you can only access level one data.”

Xie Han, baffled at being sent here by this so-called Matrix, was already brimming with rage. In this place, death could come at any moment. He snarled, “I don’t care about your damned data access! I just want to go back to my original world, not stay in this cursed, zombie-infested apocalypse.”

Despite Xie Han’s fury, Zhou Ruomeng remained smiling, saying, “The main function of your temporal watch is transmission. If you wish, you can return to your original world at any time.”

Xie Han was overjoyed, exclaiming, “What are we waiting for? Send me back, I want to leave this wretched place immediately!”

Zhou Ruomeng smiled, “Although you can return to your former world, the temporal watch permits only one transmission per day, with each lasting three hours. After three hours, regardless of your wishes, the watch will forcibly bring you back to this future world. You are destined to face twenty-one hours of danger here.”

Xie Han was stunned, and then his anger flared even more. He shouted, “So I’m basically doomed to stay in this hell forever? Why does the Matrix do this? What does it want from me?”

Zhou Ruomeng gave an apologetic smile, “There’s no answer to that in the level one data archive. But from the current situation, what you need most is to strengthen yourself and unlock level two data access. Maybe then you’ll learn the Matrix’s purpose.”

“Why me, out of more than five billion people on Earth?” Xie Han was still furious. Anyone thrust into such a future world would struggle to remain calm.

A file appeared in Zhou Ruomeng’s hands. She placed it on a virtual desk, opened the folder, and after a moment, said, “Actually, you should feel honored. Out of over five billion people on Earth, only you possess the gene type suitable for the Matrix.”

Xie Han glanced at his own thin body, miserable. “So should I thank the Matrix for this opportunity?” Then he roared, “But can my frail body really have a powerful gene type? That’s nonsense! What about those athletes—are they not considered human?”

Faced with his outburst, Zhou Ruomeng covered her mouth and laughed charmingly, explaining, “Gene strength isn’t calculated that way. Haven’t you noticed your current strength and speed have already surpassed ordinary people? A level one gene status has five times the strength of a normal person, with one hundred as the baseline.”

Xie Han felt as if he’d fallen into a science fiction world. He asked, “So my strength is now five times a normal person—meaning my value is five hundred?”

Zhou Ruomeng nodded, “Correct. But this value will increase with your evolution. When your strength reaches five times that of your current level, your gene level will rise. Note that before your gene level successfully upgrades, though you possess a strength of twenty-five hundred, you can only use half of it.”

“So only after successfully upgrading my gene level can I wield my full power?” Xie Han, no fool, quickly understood the crux of the matter.

Zhou Ruomeng replied, “Yes. And a reminder: as your gene level rises, your storage space expands, doubling with each level.”

Intrigued by the newly mentioned storage space, Xie Han’s interest was piqued. Since his fate was now sealed, he figured it was best to learn more about his temporal watch, to prolong his survival in this apocalypse. He asked, “What is this storage space?”

With a wave of her hand, Zhou Ruomeng revealed that Xie Han’s consciousness now contained a one-cubic-meter space—pristine and empty. “This is your storage space. With your current gene level, you only have the initial one cubic meter. The temporal watch connects to your brain. To activate your storage space, just call it up mentally, and you can open it. The transmission function works the same way.”

As Zhou Ruomeng explained, Xie Han suddenly thought of something. “You mean this storage space can be opened at any time—even in two different worlds?”

Zhou Ruomeng, whose intelligence surpassed most people’s, seemed to guess Xie Han’s intention. “Yes. You can transfer items from the apocalypse to your original world, or from your world to the apocalypse. The condition is that what you carry must be non-living and within the storage space’s capacity.”

Her explanation made the whole situation suddenly interesting to Xie Han. Not only did he have the right to return to his original world for three hours each day, he could also transfer items between the two worlds. That meant all he had to do was survive twenty-one hours here as safely as possible. He regretted not picking up the banknotes off the street in the town—one cubic meter would have made him a millionaire.

But regret was useless now. He was only five times stronger than a normal person, still no match for the zombies. If they so much as scratched him, he’d become one of them.

(P.S.: If there are typos or missing words, please point them out in the reviews and I’ll reward them with highlights. Thank you all!)