Chapter 1: Transmigrated

“Holy crap! How did I end up in a coffin?”

“Uncle Qin, damn you! Didn’t you say tomb raiding was perfectly safe and that ghosts and spirits were nothing but superstition?”

Bang! Bang! Bang!

“Is anyone there? A kind ghost would do too! Let me out—I’m freezing to death. Clatter, clatter, clatter!”

Lin Xinghai’s teeth chattered violently from the cold. The coffin felt as though it were made of ice, and the chill radiating from it seeped straight into his bones.

He should never have been tempted by that bit of money. Uncle Qin had said that any one of the antiques in this ancient tomb could fetch hundreds of thousands.

But was he really the kind of person who would throw away his life for such a small sum?

If he were given another chance, he would definitely…

Bring along an expert tomb raider!

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Lin Xinghai struck the coffin walls in despair. He knew perfectly well that it was useless, but compared with simply waiting to die…

Creak!

The coffin lid suddenly opened!

The light outside was painfully bright, making it impossible for him to see what had opened the lid. But he heard a voice, and it exploded beside his ears like thunder.

“Damn it, the cryogenic system hasn’t even fully disengaged yet, and you’re already in such a hurry to be reborn?”

Lin Xinghai was utterly bewildered.

Standing before him was a fully armed… soldier?

Impossible. Soldiers were supposed to be strong, resolute, and dependable.

Yet this one looked like a street thug. And what was with that expression on his face—the one that plainly said, “I want to hit you”?

His attention was soon drawn to the surroundings. He discovered that he had not been sleeping inside a cold coffin at all, but rather…

What the hell was this thing? It looked incredibly high-tech!

And those things flying through the sky—were they drones? But why was there a person standing on one?

Suddenly, heavy footsteps sounded nearby.

With some difficulty, he turned his head and saw a metallic construct pass beside his “coffin.”

Was this… a miniature Gundam?

“Pain!”

There was far too much information to process. While Lin Xinghai was still dazed, a sudden, piercing pain shot through his right arm.

At some point, the high-tech metal “coffin” had extended a syringe, which had been inserted into his arm and was injecting some kind of red liquid.

As the red liquid entered his body, the cold rapidly receded.

“Lin Xinghai. Earth Federation, Huaxia Region, Linghai City resident. Entered Shelter Number 83 in the year 2200. In the year 2210, when the shelter’s energy reserves were nearly exhausted, entered collective hibernation.”

“Age at the time of hibernation: twenty-one. Genetic assessment: Grade B. Possesses considerable potential for cultivation.”

The device on the “soldier’s” wrist projected a translucent screen as he quietly read Lin Xinghai’s information.

“Oh? A Grade B genetic assessment. Kid, how about joining our mercenary corps as cannon fodder—cough, I mean, as a warrior? My name’s Roger. Once you join, I’ll look after you.”

Roger spoke with an enthusiastic smile.

“Hah! Don’t think I didn’t hear what you really said.”

Lin Xinghai instinctively grumbled, but his attention was entirely focused on the other man’s words.

Was this my information? Other than my name, not a single detail was correct.

Wait…

Had I traveled through time?

Was it two hundred years later?

Lin Xinghai felt as though his mind had turned to mush. He had no idea how he had gotten up. He only vaguely remembered opening his eyes and seeing a vast number of coffins—or rather, hibernation pods.

After that, he followed the mercenary named Roger onto an armored troop carrier with thick metal plating.

As more people climbed aboard, the vehicle soon filled to capacity.

The heavy metal doors closed. The lights inside came on, then converged on Roger.

After bringing Lin Xinghai aboard, Roger had not left. He was the only mercenary in the vehicle.

“You white pigs, introduce yourselves first. My name is Roger. We’re about to leave Shelter Number 83. Before that, I’ll give you an overview of the situation outside.”

“Who are you calling white pigs?”

Someone immediately took offense. A muscular man nearly two meters tall rose to his feet and glared furiously at Roger.

Roger took two steps forward, drew the pistol from his waist, and patted the man’s face with it.

“You. And everyone else in this vehicle is a white pig. Do you have a problem with that?”

The burly man was humiliated and enraged, but the cold touch of the gun made him too afraid to say a word.

Roger swept his gaze across everyone in the vehicle before slowly continuing.

“This isn’t a personal insult from me. It’s what all the wasteland survivors outside call people like you who’ve been asleep this whole time.”

At the mention of the wasteland, many faces changed.

“Has the great disaster still not ended? Didn’t the Earth Federation send you to rescue us?”

Someone finally spoke, their unsteady voice revealing their agitation.

“The Earth Federation has fallen apart.”

Roger’s single sentence triggered a wave of startled cries throughout the vehicle, while Lin Xinghai continued to stare in confusion.

What was the Earth Federation?

“The great disaster is over. A year ago, the temperature on Earth’s surface returned to normal, and the floodwaters receded. But Earth’s ecosystem has completely collapsed. More importantly, countless man-eating monsters have appeared. We call them zombies.”

As Roger explained, Lin Xinghai gradually came to understand what had happened before and after the apocalypse.

In the year 2200, Earth’s population continued to grow, while its resources rapidly dwindled. Social tensions intensified, and covert friction between nations became increasingly frequent.

This nearly led to the outbreak of the Third World War.

Fortunately, the leaders of every country exercised considerable restraint. After sitting down for negotiations, they ultimately established the Earth Federation.

To resolve the conflicts between nations—and with warp-drive technology having reached maturity—they turned their attention to habitable planets in other star systems.

But this great migration, which was destined to be recorded in human history, never took place, because the apocalypse erupted first.

No one knew what had happened. A sudden meteor storm immediately reduced Earth’s population by ten percent.

Yet that was only the beginning of the disaster. The ice at both poles melted, seawater surged inland, and nearly every low-lying city was submerged.

Then endless tornadoes swept across the globe, followed by a frigid period that lasted for more than a decade.

That was the great disaster.

Such natural calamities were nearly impossible for humanity to resist, so people fled into underground shelters.

That was everything the people of Shelter Number 83 knew about the outside world.

Three days after Shelter Number 83 was sealed, a previously undocumented life-form suddenly appeared and spread across the globe.

The monsters seemed to be made of blood and were virtually impossible to kill. Even when blown to pieces, they could rapidly reassemble themselves.

More terrifying still, they carried a deadly virus. Every living creature infected by the virus was transformed into something resembling a walking corpse.

Those were the zombies!

“That’s the situation outside. Of course, listening to me describe it makes it difficult for you to gain any real sense of what it’s like. But don’t worry. We still have a long journey ahead of us before we reach Starshield Shelter—more than enough time for you white pigs to find out what the outside world is really like.”

As Roger spoke, a mocking smile tugged at the corners of his mouth.