Chapter 2: Planning for the Apocalypse
“What is a deity?”
Lin Yu murmured to himself. In his previous life, during six years of the apocalypse, he had never heard of any deity.
“Is this a dream?”
“Or just an illusion?”
Scenes from the post-apocalyptic world flashed through his mind, but there was no trace of anything related to a deity.
“Forget it, for now I’ll just follow the plan.”
Lin Yu opened QTalk and sent a message to his sister: “Xiao You, do you trust me?”
“Brother, I trust you. No matter what you say, I believe you,” Lin Xiaoyou replied without hesitation, solemn and sincere.
They had both grown up in an orphanage, relying on each other since childhood, inseparable and unwavering.
In this world, her brother was the closest person to her, her only support.
Not by blood, but closer than kin.
Moreover, she had always remembered something her brother said when they were children.
Although it might have been just a child’s joke, she kept it close to her heart.
“I’ve arranged some food and supplies for you. The supermarket will deliver them to your school early tomorrow morning.”
“While everyone is in class, you go pick them up and hide everything under your dorm bed and in the cabinets. Don’t tell anyone!”
“Remember, there will be an unusual meteor shower tonight...”
“And at noon tomorrow, at exactly 12 o’clock, red rain will fall from the sky. You must go out and let the rain soak you as long as possible...”
Lin Yu spoke solemnly, offering no explanation, only emphasizing the key points.
He also messaged his closest childhood friend, Wang Ergou, saying much the same.
That guy, in the last life, had risked his life to save him.
Even at death, his hand gripped Xie Haoran’s foot tightly, buying time for Lin Yu to escape.
“This time, I will exterminate the enemies completely, so my brothers can live well.”
The meteor shower at midnight tonight would bring countless rare items and materials.
The red rain at noon tomorrow was a catalyst for awakening innate talents, equally important.
The more one absorbed, the easier it would be to awaken their powers.
Of course, if one had no hidden innate talent, the red rain would be useless.
Lin Yu recalled that atop West Yun Mountain in Kun City, a huge meteorite had crashed, scattering many precious treasures.
“I must obtain the Dragon’s Blood within.”
His eyes burned with determination.
In the previous life, the person who obtained it became Kun City’s first third-tier powerhouse, leading the path of evolution.
That person had an S-class talent: Ability Reception.
After acquiring the Dragon’s Blood, he used his talent to absorb its power, gaining the ability to transform both hands into dragon claws.
It was said that after his hands became dragon claws, his strength multiplied several times, easily tearing apart all kinds of zombies and beasts in the early days.
“My talent isn’t S-class Ability Reception, but absorbing the Dragon’s Fire will still help my talent evolve.”
Indeed, Lin Yu’s awakened talent in the last life was the weakest F-class talent: Flame.
At first, he could only produce small fireballs or fire snakes to burn enemies—pathetically weak.
However, his talent was more complex than it seemed; he could devour other fire-based energies to advance his talent.
No other fire talents could do this; among fire talents, he was unique.
“My talent isn’t elemental; it’s devouring.”
If all went as expected, his awakened talent this life would still be the F-class Flame.
But with experience from the last life, he was intimately familiar with his abilities.
First, he could devour various rare treasures containing fire attributes to advance his talent.
“This time, those so-called 3S or 6S talents are just illusions.”
“My goal is—”
“A 9S talent!!”
Lin Yu grinned.
He had discovered too late in the last life, mistakenly thinking he was an ordinary fire-element talent, wasting precious time.
From what he knew, everyone’s talent started at most at S-class when awakening; only extremely special individuals might awaken at SS.
But evolving from S-class to 9S was tremendously difficult.
It required profound insight into one’s talent plus certain opportunities to advance by a single rank.
In the last life, the strongest known figures only reached SSSS level after six years of apocalypse, showing how tough talent advancement was.
But for him, it seemed much simpler…
He only needed to find the terrifying flames he knew from before and devour them, allowing his talent to evolve continuously.
9S was no fantasy!
“When I reach 6S, even those strongest from the last life will probably still be struggling at SSS or SSSS,” Lin Yu thought silently.
Talent advancement grew harder with each step, and the differences became greater.
Though SSSS and double S were only two ranks apart, their gap was even wider than that between D and S ranks.
“Even terrifying talents like Time, Space, or Fate Causality are trash before my high-level fire path,” Lin Yu’s eyes sparked with immense confidence.
Moreover, he could eat fire.
Yes, literally eat fire.
Opening his mouth wide, he could absorb flames, devouring them to restore his stamina and mana.
His third ability was to cover every inch of his body with flames for offense or defense.
Enveloped in fire like a Super Saiyan.
In close combat, he was a flame warrior.
At range, a fire mage.
“Young man, we’ve arrived at West Yun Mountain.”
A voice interrupted Lin Yu’s thoughts.
“Thanks.”
He paid and got off the vehicle.
Checking his phone: Year 80 of the Great Xia Era, June 14th, 21:23.
“Time is tight.”
Lin Yu’s expression tightened. He found a small path and began the climb.
The West Yun Mountain scenic area closed at 5 PM, barring visitors. To avoid trouble, he took a shortcut up the mountain.
Two hours later, breathless, Lin Yu sat against a large rock.
“Luckily, I made it…”
He pulled out his phone; less than fifteen minutes remained until midnight.
He gazed down at Kun City below.
A dazzling tapestry of countless lights, peaceful and serene.
Alas, it would soon cease to exist.
Time ticked by, and suddenly, the night sky brightened.
Lin Yu rose excitedly, eyes wide.
The pitch-black sky suddenly lit up. Countless bright stars trailed long tails, streaking across the heavens, hurtling toward the earth.
Wave after wave of starlight scattered, illuminating the world like daylight.
“It’s coming!”
Before long, countless lights filled his view, growing larger.
Lin Yu’s excitement swelled as he saw many stars falling toward West Yun Mountain.
“There!”
He fixed his gaze on the largest glowing cluster flying overhead.
It passed above him, heading toward a distant mountain peak.
Lin Yu hurried to follow; fortunately, it wasn’t too far.
Half an hour later, he spotted the bright glow among shrubs ahead, alongside four or five other glowing clusters.
He dashed forward.
Seeing the glow, an uncontainable excitement spread across his face.
Within the cluster was a small porcelain vial, emanating a scorching heat that radiated even through the bottle.
Without hesitation, Lin Yu reached in and grabbed the vial.
“Too hot!”
A fierce burning sensation shot through his hand.
He quickly took out a prepared towel from his backpack, wrapped the vial, and stored it safely.
Finally, he exhaled deeply.
But it was not over yet.
Who knew how many rare treasures had fallen across West Yun Mountain, all wrapped in light like guiding beacons.
However, these lights would gradually dim with time, disappearing entirely after an hour.
The treasures inside would then scatter on the ground, some seeping underground, others absorbed by animals or plants, causing mutations.
This was the evolution of all species!
Lin Yu rushed to the dimming clusters, hastily grabbing the items and stashing them in his backpack.
Then on to the next.
He needed to collect as many treasures as possible within half an hour.
—
Meanwhile, in a hospital, Duan Yang, wrapped up like a bundle, kept vomiting uncontrollably.
“Doctor, doctor…”
“Judging by his symptoms, it looks like poisoning…”
In the ensuing chaos, Duan Yang was rushed into the examination room.