Day thirty-one of the apocalypse, the first day after some of the suppression was lifted.
Within the sewers of Bangkou City.
A group of survivors slowly awoke, each wearing dark red storage rings on their hands.
What is this... where are we?
The sewers? But these sewers seem a bit clean, a bit different!
Soul Devourer? Where is the Soul Devourer? Let's run!
Don't make a sound, there's no Soul Devourer. It seems we're not in the world we were just in!
A group of survivors spoke amongst themselves.
Their clothes were so old their colors were indistinguishable, tattered and barely covering their bodies.
Everyone's hair and beards had grown long, making it difficult to tell men from women at first glance, like a group of primitives.
A slightly braver survivor secretly pried open a gap in the manhole cover above, but before he could look out, he was immediately pulled back by others.
Are you crazy? Don't you want to live?
If those people above see you opening the manhole cover without permission, we'll all suffer!
The survivor was pulled down, and the group remained hidden in the sewers.
After more than ten minutes, there was no sound.
It seems no one is outside!
No one?
The brave survivor, named Zuo Nan, this time pried the manhole cover open a half-foot wide gap and looked out.
Tall buildings in good condition, clean and tidy streets.
The shops on both sides of the road were still lit.
It really seemed like no one was here!
Zuo Nan shouted excitedly, then darted out of the sewers.
The others still didn't move. They waited in the sewers for another ten minutes, feeling like there was no abnormality, and then hesitantly climbed out of the sewers.
As soon as they emerged, they desperately breathed in the fresh air.
Some even cried with excitement.
We're free, we're finally free!
Food, quickly, food!
Prompted, these survivors rushed into nearby supermarkets and malls, beginning to scavenge everything they could see.
Some were so hungry they tore open packaging and ate ravenously, while still stuffing supplies into their storage rings.
When tired from scavenging, they collapsed and slept, then woke up and moved to another location to continue scavenging.
Everything usable they saw was collected into their storage rings.
This scavenging lasted for three full days.
By the fourth day, the survivors' frenzy had calmed down a bit.
They began to shower, change clothes, and get haircuts, making themselves look brand new.
After reorganizing, the survivors seemed to have returned to modern society from a primitive one.
They all looked at themselves and the other survivors who had escaped with them in astonishment, their faces showing disbelief.
Some were even mistaken for men, only to find out now that they were women...
The survivors celebrated their regained freedom with wild revelry!
With food and clothing secured, some men and women naturally experienced some wonderful biochemical reactions...
On the fifth day of the apocalypse, Zuo Nan gathered the more intelligent survivors.
He wanted to figure out what had happened and what would happen next.
Do you remember the last thing we did before we fell asleep?
Zuo Nan asked.
Everyone looked at each other, their faces blank.
There seemed to be some memory loss.
After a long while, someone hesitantly said:
I remember we were locked in the sewers, and then a prompt popped up on the system interface saying a new round of reincarnation had begun, and then I don't remember anymore!
Reminded by him, several others also recalled and agreed:
Yes, yes, that's what happened. I was curious what reincarnation meant at the time, and then I fell asleep!
Reincarnation saved my life. I saw a Soul Devourer rush into the sewers before and thought I was dead, but thankfully reincarnation started, and I'm alive, but the Soul Devourer is gone!
It's strange, wasn't this city long occupied by the Soul Organization? Shouldn't there be no supplies left in the buildings, so why are the supplies back now?
Before I was locked into the sewers, I clearly remembered that the top of the building by the roadside was scorched by the Crimson Flame Bird, but now it's intact again! What's going on?
Does reincarnation mean we've returned to the past?
Everyone looked at each other, uncertain.
Zuo Nan frowned and said:
I have a bold guess, I don't know if it's right!
Everyone knew Zuo Nan was the bravest and smartest.
When they were trapped in the sewers before, his cunning might have gotten everyone killed.
But now that everyone was free, they urgently needed such a smart person to lead them, so they hurriedly said:
Quickly tell us your thoughts!
Zuo Nan pondered for a moment and said:
The system prompt about the start of reincarnation... I think this reincarnation refers to the process of our entire journey from transmigration, with the apocalypse's suppression gradually lifting layer by layer!
Everyone should remember that when we first transmigrated, we were ordinary people, and the enemies were zombies. At that time, supplies were most abundant!
Then came the second stage of the apocalypse. Our strength increased, and the monsters' strength also increased, but supplies became scarce, and buildings became dilapidated...
Then came the third stage, the fourth stage...
Zuo Nan spoke quietly, as if talking to himself, reorganizing the logical sequence.
After a while, his analysis entered the main point:
If we look at the situation with supplies, we should be in the first stage now, possibly the second stage.
However, if we correspond this to the improvement of our strength...
Zuo Nan suddenly asked:
Who is the weakest here?
Everyone looked at each other and remained silent.
The long years of living in the apocalypse had instilled in them a habit of being low-key.
Besides, being the weakest wasn't a good thing, who would willingly admit that?
Zuo Nan quickly realized his question was flawed and added:
Does anyone here still remain at the Awakened stage? You must tell the truth, this is very important for our future survival!
Everyone shook their heads.
No one remained at the Awakened stage, meaning the weakest among the awakened survivors was at least at the first stage of the Minor Transmutation stage.
Then... are there any strong individuals who have advanced to the Evolutionary stage?
Zuo Nan asked again.
Everyone shook their heads again.
The higher the level, the more advanced spirit cores were needed, and the monsters became more monstrous. Everyone present was trapped at the Transmutation stage.
To break through this stage, one could only actively kill mutated creatures, and even then, in large numbers.
A slight hint of world-weariness or a颓废 mindset would delay progress and ultimately lead to being eliminated by the mainstream powerful individuals.
Before, they hadn't realized the tragic fate of being eliminated by the mainstream powerful.
But now, they understood.
If heaven were to give them another chance to start over, they would definitely pull themselves together and strive to become stronger!