Struck by Lightning...

Jiahao danced wildly in the rain, practically out of his mind.

The downpour seemed to have put him in his element. He paid no attention whatsoever to the looks around him that treated him like a lunatic.

He pointed one hand at the sky and declared grandly, "The whole world is drunk! The whole world is drunk..."

"Damn you, heavens! I command you! Make me Extraordinary!!!"

His clothes soaked through, Jiahao stared straight up, letting the rain pour over him as he stood utterly unmoving.

"Is there something wrong with that guy's head?"

"Man, look what the apocalypse has driven this kid to..."

"What are you talking about? Our school had plenty of Jiahaos before the apocalypse, too."

The survivors' comments pierced the downpour and echoed around his ears.

Jiahao's lips curled in contempt. They were nothing but a bunch of foolish mortals.

Boom!!!

As though even the heavens couldn't stand watching any longer, a thunderclap rang out, followed by a bolt of lightning as thick as an arm descending from the sky.

Boom!!!

The lightning struck squarely on top of Jiahao's head.

Before Jiahao could even react, his entire body was blasted black. He toppled stiffly to the ground, sending up splashes of water.

"Holy shit, he actually got struck by lightning!"

"Quick, quick! Go see if he can still be saved!"

Jiahao's companions had been disgusted by how embarrassing he was, but when they saw him actually get struck by lightning, they hurried into the rain toward him.

The surrounding gazes felt like needles in their backs, but the two young men still steeled themselves and dragged their good friend back to their vehicle.

They had shared a dorm room for four years, after all. They couldn't just leave their good friend without trying to save him, not knowing whether he was alive or dead...

As the two carried Jiahao back, they even felt the shame of being lumped into the same category as him.

The farce came and went quickly. Jiahao might have died, but he seemed to live on in everyone's minds.

Lin Qi had always thought Jiahao was just a campus legend. He hadn't expected to witness one in person today.

Rumble, rumble, rumble!

Rumble, rumble, rumble!

Before the amusement over Jiahao had faded, the ground began to shake without warning.

"An earthquake?"

Lin Qi turned to look at the ground. It had begun to tremble, and even the water pooled on the road shook with it.

He wasn't worried about an earthquake affecting him.

On this flat, open road, there would basically be no danger unless the earthquake actually tore the earth apart.

"Look! What's that!!!"

A survivor's cry drew his gaze back.

Puzzled, he looked in the direction the survivor was pointing.

His eyes focused, and at that moment, even his breathing seemed to stop!

"What... the fuck is that..."

Within sight, thousands of miles away-or perhaps right before their eyes.

Even through the curtain of rain, a terrifying silhouette remained visible, piercing the downpour to enter everyone's sight!

It was a giant.

A giant whose body pierced the heavens.

He had no head, and his entire body looked battered and broken. Thousands of miles away, every step he took made the earth tremble!

The survivors watched that figure. Apart from the first person's cry, no one made a sound. There was only the pattering downpour, as though it were beating against everyone's hearts.

"What has happened to the world?"

Wang Feng's sigh came over the radio.

No one answered.

Lin Qi stared at that figure. Compared with him, the entire convoy was as insignificant as ants.

The giant seemed to be wandering aimlessly. Thousands of miles away, he paid no heed to any of the eyes watching him.

No one knew how long they stared. Only after the giant disappeared and the earth grew still did they finally come back to their senses.

"What... was that?"

Even someone who could sleep as soundly as Xiao Wu had been awakened by the quake. Before he could react after waking, he saw the departing giant.

"It seems what we've glimpsed of the apocalypse is still only the tip of the iceberg."

Lin Qi sighed. Faced with the giant, that sense of helplessness was impossible to resist.

Xiao Wu was no longer sleepy.

The survivors, too, remained stunned by the giant's appearance for a long time.

Until the heavy truck's horn sounded.

"Everyone, because of that giant, something seems to be approaching us..."

"Keep your lights on full and don't fall behind! Don't fall behind!"

Liu Yan's voice roused everyone from their shock.

Without giving the survivors much time to linger at all, the convoy set off again.

But this time, the convoy was no longer led by the off-road vehicles. Instead, the modified heavy truck that had stayed behind them moved to the very front.

The heavy truck took over clearing the road, a task that had previously required the survivors. It bulldozed its way forward, and the convoy's speed increased considerably.

But this was not a good thing.

The convoy's urgency meant that danger was coming far faster than they had imagined.

"Lin Qi, Lin Qi, do you copy?"

Wang Feng's voice echoed through the vehicle over the radio.

Lin Qi picked up the radio. "What's wrong?"

"I'm running short on gasoline. Can I trade you for two cans?" Wang Feng sounded anxious. "I'd planned to get some along the way, but that's clearly impossible now!"

"Sure. Come get them."

Lin Qi had extorted five cans of gasoline from Scarface last time. Even after what he had used himself, trading away two cans was no problem.

The sedan ahead gradually slowed until it was driving alongside Lin Qi.

From the passenger seat, Wang Feng passed over a plastic bag filled with supplies. Lin Qi looked it over. Most of it was high-calorie food like chocolate bars, more than enough for two cans of gasoline.

Just as Lin Qi finished exchanging the supplies, he noticed something was off.

He looked ahead, a hint of puzzlement in his voice. "Wang Feng, have you noticed the Transcendent Squad speeding up?"

"Hmm..."

Wang Feng briefly studied them through the rain, his expression growing grave. "Looks like there's big trouble coming. Hurry and keep up. Don't fall behind!"

Lin Qi didn't hesitate for even a moment.

The convoy ahead had clearly stopped paying attention to road conditions. As though something were chasing them from behind, they were speeding forward like mad.

By the time the survivors reacted, they had already been left far behind!

The once relatively compact convoy became scattered in an instant.

Lin Qi floored the accelerator. He couldn't worry about the vehicle skidding now. If the Transcendent Squad left him behind, he would be in serious trouble!

Yet no matter how hard he chased, the vehicles ahead only went faster and faster...

"Crackle, crackle, crackle."

Just then, the car radio, which had been silent for a long time, suddenly sounded without warning.

First came noisy interference, followed by utter silence...