Darkseekers

Biodata

Origin and Transformation

Darkseekers emerge from a minority of people infected with the KV Virus. Zhang Tianyuan gives the transformation rate as approximately 9.8%, compared with 0.2% natural immunity; the remaining infected people die. Under those proportions, a city of ten million could produce roughly 980,000 Darkseekers but leave only 20,000 immune survivors 11.

By October 9, 2010, ten months after the outbreak, Darkseekers have established themselves throughout the Imperial Capital. The surviving population largely avoids the city at night, while Darkseekers use its dark buildings as daytime shelters 14 16 18.

Medical Findings

Appearance

• Ashen-gray skin and faces, resulting from virus-induced pigmentation 14.
• Bald heads and extensive hair loss, caused by infection 14 30.
• Muscular builds, described as physically superior to Zhang Tianyuan before his expedition training 13.
• Large hands and bare feet; their habit of going barefoot later becomes a vulnerability exploited by defenders 14 42.

Behavior and Habitat

Nocturnal Routine

• Daytime shelter: Darkseekers require complete darkness during the day and avoid rooms with glass windows. Even weakened winter ultraviolet light keeps them indoors 16 40.
• Sleeping posture: Researchers observe them huddling together or facing walls while sleeping standing up 40.
• Nighttime activity: They emerge to forage at dusk and continue hunting even on freezing winter nights 40 41.
• Urban concentration: Large cities provide abundant shelter. Zhang Tianyuan and Instructor Yin estimate that major cities can contain hundreds of thousands or more than a million Darkseekers 15 22.
• Limited equipment damage: Their daytime inactivity leaves many facilities intact. Zhang Tianyuan notes that they generally cause little damage unless a location contains substantial food 40.

The expedition considers open grasslands and deserts poor habitats for Darkseekers because they offer little shelter from sunlight. Bai Xu also suggests that the plateau's stronger ultraviolet radiation could make survival difficult even indoors; these are the team's assessments when choosing a survivor destination 16.

Feeding and Aggression

• Darkseekers hunt humans and animals, searching buildings and animal hiding places for food 14.
• They recognize humans inside vehicles as prey and attack in large packs 14.
• Human remains in occupied buildings bear deep tooth marks and signs of being torn apart. A He's husband is dragged away by Darkseekers while searching for supplies 17 19.
• Missing cured and vacuum-packed meat, alongside untouched rice, snacks, and canned food, leads expedition members to suspect that Darkseekers have become entirely carnivorous 17.

Group Behavior

Darkseekers are described as having lost their reason, but their attacks still display collective behavior. They climb over companions, approach from multiple directions, and leap from buildings onto vehicle roofs 2 14.

Zhang Tianyuan's recollection of I Am Legend specifically identifies an emerging group identity: a group pursues the film's protagonist after he captures a female Darkseeker for experiments 8. During the expedition's own operations, Darkseekers also anticipate the convoy's route and jump onto an elevated roadway to intercept it 41.

Abilities & Skills

Physical Strength and Mobility

• Their strength makes close physical confrontation dangerous, prompting the advance team to train in endurance, speed, obstacle clearance, and escape 13.
• They sprint after prey, leap onto vehicles, and use other Darkseekers' shoulders to gain height 14.
• They can seize people from shadowed areas, making unlit rooms hazardous even during daytime supply runs 16 19.

Night Vision and Scent Tracking

• Virus-altered eyes allow them to see clearly at night and immediately identify people inside the newly arrived convoy 14.
• They use their noses to search buildings for edible prey 14.

Weaknesses and Countermeasures

Ultraviolet Light

Ultraviolet exposure rapidly burns and destroys Darkseeker flesh, making it the Mutual Aid Society's principal weapon against them 14 40.

Direct rays from the setting sun remain dangerous, but fading daylight otherwise allows Darkseekers to begin emerging from buildings 41.

Fire, Barriers, and Bait

• Fire traps: Yin Hongda spreads combustible old gasoline around a bucket of animal blood, then ignites the area after Darkseekers enter 42.
• Sharp ground barriers: Nails and glass shards embedded in a cement perimeter exploit their bare feet to protect Station 897 42.
• Food and sound lures: Food, animal blood, and loud music draw Darkseekers into prepared killing grounds 42.
• Armored vehicles: Darkseekers attempting to block the convoy are struck by its armored front vehicles 41.

Story Role / Major Arcs

First Expedition to Legend World

Darkseekers attack the 0808 Task Force immediately after its arrival in the Imperial Capital. Modified ultraviolet headlights defeat the attackers, but the possibility of a much larger gathering persuades the expedition to leave the city 14 15.

The team subsequently conducts daylight supply runs and survivor searches. Darkseeker feeding sites expose the scale of the catastrophe, while ultraviolet-protected rooftop signals help the society gather sixty-two survivors before departing north 17 20.

Interworld Reconstruction Agreement

Darkseeker occupation prevents survivors from reclaiming the industrial resources needed to manufacture effective defenses. The grassland settlement regards even a restored flashlight production line as sufficient to begin taking cities back, but lacks the manpower and industry to establish one 22.

The agreement between No. 1 and No. 2 Spacetime makes eliminating Darkseekers and restoring production central aid commitments. Tong Wenshi later announces a promise to drive them out and restore national order within a year 31 37.

Imperial Capital Clearance

Zhang Tianyuan returns with a five-hundred-person expedition to replace Station 897's emergency broadcast. Cable-controlled vehicles equipped with powerful ultraviolet lights eliminate every Darkseeker in its main control building in less than an hour 39 40.

After replacing the recording, the expedition clears the remaining station buildings, fortifies the perimeter, and spends five days using ultraviolet ambushes and fire traps against nearby groups. These operations make the surrounding blocks safer for arriving survivors and supply teams 41 42.