Awakening and Beginning

The sky lacked sun and moon, and the earth lacked a constant state.

This was a space of eternal, silent darkness.

Within the darkness, there was neither sound nor any moving object.

Kangqiao's consciousness felt cold, so very cold. His memories were chaotic and muddled; the last remnant of warmth seemed to be from watching a movie titled Godzilla 4 in a theater, and then, there was nothing more.

What was a movie theater? And what was Godzilla?

Kangqiao could not remember, yet he wondered why he would think of such words.

Kangqiao could not continue to think, for he felt too cold.

So cold that his soul felt as if it were freezing, as if it were about to shatter.

He needed to rest.

However, at this very moment, within this eternal, silent darkness.

Somewhere, in an unknown direction and an unknown space, a cluster of dim, yellow primordial matter suddenly ignited.

The matter of origin birthed light, illuminating the entire darkness.

At this moment, even Kangqiao, who had fallen into a semi-dazed state, could feel it.

But soon, the entire world of eternal, silent darkness suddenly exploded.

The massive light of primordial matter shattered and burst, sweeping across the entire dark space.

And it was at this very moment that Kangqiao's consciousness was completely knocked unconscious.

When he awoke again, feeling as if he were in a dream, Kangqiao only felt incredibly, wonderfully comfortable.

It was a sensation like being wrapped in a hot spring on a cold winter day.

Time had no end, and the passage of years was unknown.

Amidst this complete immersion, one day, Kangqiao finally woke up.

Yet, the moment he awoke, he discovered he was floating on the surface of an apocalyptic sea.

With wide eyes, Kangqiao stared blankly at everything before him, feeling that it was all so unreal.

The sky was filled with dim, heavy clouds, and above the clouds, an endless eye of the storm ravaged the entire world.

The air was filled with sulfurous, sandy winds, and in the distance, pillars of fire erupted from the seabed from time to time.

Great waves swept across the ocean, and the sea itself appeared turbid and foul at this moment.

This was an unknown world, a terrifying, apocalyptic world.

Just by looking at the world before him, Kangqiao did not want to face reality.

Not to mention, his will remained in a state of having just woken up, completely unaware of why he was there.

Instinctively, subconsciously, Kangqiao struggled to flee this place.

He paddled his limbs, like a lizard.

No, Kangqiao's current form was that of a lizard.

A strange little creature capable of swimming through the sea, unafraid even of boiling water.

His skin was rocky gray, with a long tail and short limbs; his entire body resembled a lizard that had just broken out of its shell.

But for such a seemingly ordinary and tiny Water Lizard to be born into this apocalyptic world—perhaps this was a miracle?

On the seabed, he could maintain his vital signs without ever needing to surface. Even if an undersea volcano erupted beside him, he would at most experience the thrill of being tossed high into the air before falling back into the sea, completely unharmed.

The high temperature of the undersea volcanoes felt like a wonderful, warm bath to Kangqiao.

This warmth made his body feel exceptionally comfortable. Occasionally, seeing the fiery red lava erupting from an island, Kangqiao even felt an urge to approach it and sleep within it.

Kangqiao's consciousness was very lost; a voice and a different instinct drove him to discard the temptations of his current body's instincts and flee these "apocalyptic dangers" frantically.

And so, he swam, observing as he went.

When tired, he drifted with the waves and the wind; when awake, he continued to swim aimlessly through areas filled with apocalyptic sights.

Time, at this point, had lost all meaning.

Finally, Kangqiao was completely exhausted.

Like a fallen gecko, his belly facing the sky, he drifted through this apocalyptic world.

Unknown to him, one day, Kangqiao finally woke up again.

But this time, upon waking, Kangqiao's muddled consciousness suddenly cleared.

He knew his past as a human, and he knew the memories of becoming a lizard and witnessing this apocalyptic land.

Coming to his senses, he poked his head out of the silt on the seabed. Kangqiao turned his head to look at his body and limbs, suddenly feeling inexplicably melancholy.

"Have I turned into a lizard?"

No need to breathe air, and no fear of high temperatures? What kind of lizard was he, exactly?

These inexplicable thoughts only lasted for a moment before Kangqiao stopped thinking about them.

Kangqiao felt incredibly hungry at this moment.

He was so hungry that his entire body, down to every single cell, was urging him to find food immediately.

It was at this very instant that Kangqiao began to survey his surroundings.

Unlike the hazy memories from his last awakening, the once murky and turbulent sea had become crystal clear.

Looking up toward the surface, Kangqiao could even see sunlight piercing through the water, illuminating the entire area.

Kangqiao understood that his current position was likely not far from the surface.

He thought about heading up to take a look, but just then, he spotted a group of crustacean-like creatures crawling across the seabed that resembled horseshoe crabs.

However, unlike the horseshoe crabs in his memories, these fellows had many pairs of legs on their undersides.

Furthermore, they had two long antennae on their heads.

They didn't look like horseshoe crabs; instead, they looked a bit like cockroaches.

What on earth are these strange things? They aren't poisonous, are they?

Kangqiao hesitated for only a brief moment before he ran out of room for any further thought.

He was simply too hungry.

He was so hungry that his remaining sliver of reason was quickly overwhelmed.

Reason was something that only gathered when he was full.

Therefore, as a rather unique lizard, Kangqiao charged straight at them.

Kangqiao's size was at least several times larger than these strange creatures.

It was roughly the difference between an adult and a child.

Hunting these slow-moving creatures was far too easy.

The sharp claws on his limbs tore through the armor of these crustaceans, and blue blood instantly dispersed throughout the sea.

Kangqiao's feeding frenzy was incredibly brutal and bloody.

A single one wasn't even enough to get between his teeth; he had to hunt down over a dozen of the crustaceans before he finally felt some relief from his hunger.

As for the meat beneath their shells, how should he put it?

It wasn't very tasty; at least to Kangqiao's current palate, it was full of a fishy, foul stench.

Yet, his body's reaction did not reject this stench.

He didn't feel any urge to vomit, though he wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing.

"Well, it is what it is."

Looking at the mess left behind, Kangqiao smacked his lips, feeling no particular sentiment.

He wanted to know what the outside of this world looked like now.

With that in mind, he cast his gaze toward the sea surface once more.

He tucked his limbs against his sides and swayed his tail, moving with a speed that rivaled even the swiftest fish.

Finally, after spending only a short amount of time, Kangqiao broke through the surface. Amidst the splashing water, he finally laid eyes on the long-lost sun.