Heaven and Earth Net Bureau

"Li Moxiao, listen to the second question!"

"Mm!"

"Question: If you were walking down the road and found something ahead that looked a lot like a pile of shit, what would you do?

A: It looks like shit, so hurry and walk around it.

B: Step on it with your foot. It's slippery and sticky, so it might be shit.

C: Lean over and smell it. It stinks, so it really is shit.

D: Dip a finger in it and taste it. Mm! It's definitely shit!"

Li Moxiao felt as if her intelligence had been ground into the dirt. Her forehead throbbed as she roared, "I choose D. I'll taste it, okay?!"

Shen Jin looked at Li Moxiao as if he had known it all along.

"I could tell long ago that something was wrong with you! See? My test exposed you, didn't it?"

Li Moxiao rolled her eyes and directly ended today's question-and-answer session.

Shen Jin refused to let it go from behind her. "You haven't even heard my third question yet!"

"Go die!"

Seeing that Li Moxiao absolutely refused to answer any more questions, Shen Jin was baffled.

"Today's lesson didn't go very smoothly. Were my questions not rigorous enough?"

Shen Jin decided to read more novels and improve his question bank. To understand his little niece's personality, the necessary psychological tests could not be skipped.

At ten o'clock that night, Li Moxiao turned on the radio right on time.

The same action was taking place simultaneously across China.

Listening to the radio at noon and ten at night had become a daily habit for most surviving Chinese people.

"Crackle, crackle."

After another burst of static, a pleasant male voice came through the radio, deeply reassuring to hear:

"Dear listeners, welcome to the China government's exclusive channel and tonight's daily news program."

"The zombie virus is still spreading. According to reliable satellite observations, zombies have already begun showing signs of evolution. Through live zombie research, experts have discovered that most zombies exposed to sunlight have evolved a layer of green moss-like skin tissue capable of photosynthesis. When daylight is abundant, it can replenish the energy consumed by their movements. This is both good news and bad news.

"The good news is that zombies have not escaped the law of conservation of energy. They need to replenish energy in order to survive.

"The bad news is that after absorbing enough energy, future zombies will become even more active, and more of them will undergo mutation and evolution!"

No wonder the zombies' activity had not decreased after all this time. They had learned photosynthesis. Shen Jin recalled that most of the zombies he had seen today had already evolved dark-green skin tissue.

"Now, let us welcome Professor Liu to bring everyone today's science lesson."

"Hello, everyone. I'm Liu Mang. Let's continue discussing the social and ethical classification of zombies. Before exploring this issue, the first thing everyone must understand is that zombies are not human. Even if they retain their former human appearance, the brain cells of those fully infected with the zombie virus have completely died. Biologically and ethically, they no longer belong to humanity."

"Finally, we invite Hu Shou, Director Hu of the Heaven and Earth Net Bureau, to explain survival skills and combat knowledge."

The Heaven and Earth Net Bureau??? Why had he never heard of it before? And this was probably Hu Shou's first time speaking on the government channel, right? Since the apocalypse descended, Shen Jin had barely gone out. He had listened to every government broadcast and kept recordings of them all.

A deep, booming male voice came from the radio:

"I am Hu Shou. Today, I will not teach survival knowledge. Instead, I will reveal a top-secret government file to every Chinese citizen still alive. Its name is 'Superhuman.'"

Superhuman?

Shen Jin was startled. Could there be people like him who had gained the power of a system?

Had they been recruited by the government?

Superhuman?

Li Moxiao was startled as well. Did her ability to eat an absurd amount after the apocalypse count as being Superhuman?

And she got hungry ridiculously easily, too.

"Research into Superhuman abilities was established twenty years ago and classified as top secret. The Heaven and Earth Net Bureau was formed specifically to investigate all kinds of mysterious incidents and Superhuman abilities. By rights, this information should not have been released for another thirty years. But now, disaster has fallen from the sky. I hope the small amount of experience we have accumulated over the years can help our compatriots survive!"

"Setting aside a few coincidental false alarms, nearly every event discovered by the Heaven and Earth Net Bureau over the past twenty years that exceeded human understanding has been related to humans themselves."

"An elderly woman who lifted a two-ton car with her bare hands to save her grandson; a mother who saw her child fall from a building and instantly burst forth with a speed far beyond the fastest human running speed; a young man who fell from the sixth floor without losing a single hair.

"All of these incidents left the Heaven and Earth Net Bureau utterly baffled, impossible to explain through common sense. An ordinary person without training could instantly surpass athletes who had trained for decades, even exceed the limits of human ability.

"But when we went to investigate, apart from that young man, every one of them died of organ failure. Forensic examiners found massive amounts of adrenaline and trace hormones highly toxic to humans in their bodies. Their genetic chains had also completely collapsed."

"After years of exploration and summary, the Heaven and Earth Net Bureau believes that humans possess a certain limitless potential that has simply never been activated, hidden deep within our genes. When faced with a life-or-death crisis, powerful willpower can briefly activate this potential and unlock certain genes. However, excessive adrenaline and toxic hormones then cause the genetic chains throughout the body to collapse."

"We call this state unlocking the Gene Lock!"

"After years of searching and research into the young man who survived back then, the Heaven and Earth Net Bureau has preliminarily grasped the secret to unlocking the Gene Lock. It requires extraordinary willpower and an incomparably firm, pure conviction. It can only be unlocked at the brink of life and death. Afterward, one needs a strong body or a massive intake of energy to ensure the body's genes do not collapse.

"And humans who unlock the Gene Lock and still survive, we call Superhuman!"

Shen Jin and Li Moxiao listened, utterly absorbed. They had never expected Superhuman powers to have existed in this world long ago.

You can only break through at the brink of life and death? Forget it. Looks like I can't unlock the Gene Lock. Shen Jin secretly shook his head.

Another useless piece of knowledge acquired.

Li Moxiao, meanwhile, nodded solemnly and said seriously to Shen Jin, "Shen Jin, I think I have a chance of unlocking the Gene Lock."

"Are you sure?"

No matter how Shen Jin looked at her, she did not seem like someone with extraordinary willpower and conviction.

Li Moxiao stared into Shen Jin's eyes. "I'm often on the brink of life and death, like tonight."

Shen Jin frowned and warily swept his gaze around the basement. "You mean... there's something here tonight that threatens your life?"

Li Moxiao shook her head. "No. If you had come any later tonight, I would have starved to death!"

(°ー°〃)

I fucking almost believed that—damn it!

The radio fell silent for a moment before Hu Shou's deep voice rang out again:

"Zombies are constantly evolving, while the firearms humanity has relied on most over the past century have all failed. The only thing we can rely on is ourselves."

"Finally, I want to say one thing to all Chinese citizens: When facing a life-or-death crisis, focus your willpower, awaken the battle genes in your body, unlock the Gene Lock, and use this Superhuman power that belongs to humanity to save yourselves and save humankind!"

"That concludes tonight's broadcast. Please remember that the China government's only radio signal is 66.6. Tomorrow at noon, we will continue bringing everyone the latest news."

"Please keep yourselves safe."

The host paused for a moment, seemingly having received instructions from some leader, then added:

"Unless necessary, do not attempt to unlock the Gene Lock lightly. Wait for government rescue!"

"Crackle, crackle."