There's a widely circulated theory from the previous world—that something went wrong with the Earth's magnetic field and gravity.
This anomaly triggered the initial meteor shower, followed by days of relentless heat.
The scorching temperatures not only evaporated vast amounts of seawater but also melted the polar ice caps, which in turn caused endless torrential rains.
Sea levels rose, submerging huge stretches of land.
And as the ice caps melted, the ancient virus trapped within them spread worldwide through the planet's water cycle.
Almost every human being was infected by this ancient virus.
At first, the infection showed no immediate symptoms.
Only after a person died would the ancient virus take control of their body, turning them into the zombies we see in movies.
These zombies had no consciousness—only a bloodthirsty instinct to attack humans.
If someone was bitten, the virus would activate inside their body anywhere from one or two hours to two or three days later, transforming them into one of these creatures.
Physically, these zombies weren't insanely strong—just about 10 to 30 percent stronger than a normal human.
By themselves, ordinary people or even elite special forces like the Black Watch could easily take them down.
But the real problem was this: after enduring scorching heat, relentless storms, and bitter cold, society had already collapsed, and over thirty percent of the world's population had perished.
There were simply too many zombies for the scattered survivors to hold back.
To survive, the remaining humans built high walls and formed survivor cities.
During this time, many scientists tried to uncover the truth behind the apocalypse, hoping to restore the world to what it was before the end.
But with the world plunged into chaos and survivor leaders scheming against each other for resources, those efforts ultimately came to nothing.
What's strange is that, logically, these infected corpses should only reanimate near the end of the extreme cold.
So why did they wake up so much earlier?
Su Chen stroked his chin, studying Zhou Shixian and the others in front of him.
Then suddenly, he slapped his forehead in realization.
Normally, the dead survivors were either buried in graves or just tossed out into the wilderness.
But in every case, they were covered by thick snow.
An icy, snowy world was basically a giant freezer.
The bodies of the survivors, along with the ancient virus inside them, were frozen solid.
The zombies would only activate once the extreme cold began to thaw and temperatures slowly rose.
Su Chen had thrown Zhou Shixian and the others' bodies into the warehouse and assigned Li Dong and others to keep watch.
The goal was to get early warnings the moment the zombies revived.
But what he overlooked was that the temperature inside the warehouse was much warmer than outside.
That was why the ancient virus had woken up prematurely!
"Boss Su, what… what should we do with these… zombies?"
Although Li Dong had watched plenty of zombie movies before the apocalypse, seeing them in real life was an entirely different matter!
Watching those zombies constantly screaming and trying to bite him, Li Dong was so terrified his legs turned to jelly—he was afraid the nylon ropes wouldn't hold.
If Su Chen hadn't been there, he would've bolted already.
"You—go call Brother He and the others here."
Su Chen thought for a moment, then gave the order.
"Yes, sir!"
Without hesitation, Li Dong turned and dashed off.
Before long, He Wang, Sun Yuan, and the others arrived after hearing the news.
Their faces instantly changed when they saw zombies—something they'd only seen in movies!
"Boss Su, what… what's going on here?"
"Are these things really zombies?"
"They don't look that tough!"
"Not tough? How about you loosen the ropes and try again?"
At first, everyone was scared stiff, but after seeing the zombies tied up tight, unable to move, they gradually calmed down.
Su Chen gave them a quick rundown on the zombies' nature.
"…I called you all here to warn you: from today on, you have to watch out not just for other survivors, but also these zombies."
"How do we deal with these zombies?"
Someone couldn't help but ask.
"Brother Sun, give me a hand."
Su Chen signaled to Sun Yuan.
Together, they dragged out the zombie that used to be Song Shuai.
Once infected by the ancient virus, Song Shuai had lost all personal consciousness.
He struggled wildly, shaking his head and snapping his jaws, trying to bite Su Chen and Sun Yuan.
"These zombies are pretty much like the ones in movies."
"They have average eyesight but extremely keen hearing."
"They can't smell humans, but are hypersensitive to the scent of blood."
"Besides that, they feel no pain—only an insatiable hunger for flesh."
Su Chen raised his baseball bat and slammed it into Song Shuai's face.
The blow was heavy and powerful, breaking his nose.
But Song Shuai showed no sign of pain—he just kept craning his neck, trying to bite Su Chen.
Su Chen then grabbed a knife and chopped off one of Song Shuai's hands.
Having been dead for so long in freezing temperatures, Song Shuai's blood had already congealed—no fresh blood spilled out.
Next, Su Chen hacked off his leg and pierced his heart.
Still, Song Shuai didn't react—he only kept trying to bite Su Chen.
"The only way to kill them is to aim for the head and blow their brains out!"
As soon as Su Chen finished speaking, he swung his knife, cleaving Song Shuai's head in two.
The brain was destroyed, and Song Shuai froze in place like he'd been paralyzed.
Seeing Song Shuai truly dead, everyone finally breathed a sigh of relief.
They weren't afraid of the zombies' toughness—they feared they might be unkillable!
But since their weakness was their heads, that made things easier.
"Alright, everyone head back for now. Watch out for Abiao and his gang sneaking up on us."
After the briefing, Su Chen waved them off, telling everyone to return to their hotels.
"Boss Su, what about the rest of these zombies? Should we just off them all?"
He Wang glanced at Zhou Shixian and the others, then asked.
Having seen enough zombie movies, he knew leaving these zombies around was like having a ticking time bomb.
If they ever got loose, it'd be a disaster.
"Why kill them outright?"
Su Chen smiled coldly.
"If used properly, they could be powerful weapons."
He Wang and Sun Yuan exchanged looks, immediately understanding Su Chen's meaning.
After a brief whispered discussion, they hesitated but eventually nodded, then left first.
Soon, the warehouse was empty except for Su Chen.
"Huh?"
Just as he was about to leave, a glance caught something unexpected.