Epoch of Twilight

Huang Yuying had no idea of what was going on but she felt chills down her spine when she saw the uneasiness on Luo Yuan’s face. She hurriedly followed them without a second thought.

Luo Yuan forced his way outwards pulling the two girls along. He felt increasingly oppressed, and the anxieties in his heart made him want to scream and shout. He pushed forcefully through the crowd and received verbal abuse from others there though he seemed not to hear any of it.

He quickly crossed to the side of the street and observed his surroundings. In a second, he sprinted towards the front of a shopping mall. Big buildings like this would normally be built with an underground parking lot, but before he could reach it his body began to tremble.

Not only was he shaking, the whole world seemed to be shaking as well!

The noise on the street quickly died away as the crowd became silent. Everybody stood still as they tried to look in the distance. The expressions on their faces quickly changed and their jaws dropped from the absolute horror!!!

Luo Yuan and his companions could not help but stop and cast their gaze towards the distance as well. An enormous sun with a blinding glow gradually rose in the distance, quickly diminishing the darkness.

“Atom...Bomb!!!” Luo Yuan screamed even though he initially struggled to get the words out through his parched lips.

It was difficult to describe the scene. It was so magnificent and dazzling, yet Luo Yuan only felt more distressed and worried.

The light quickly diminished as the “sun” rose thousands of meters high. An unexpected yet familiar mushroom shaped cloud formed in the sky, as fissile products which amassed from the detonation poured down heavily. Then suddenly within seconds, Boom! A deafening sound struck like a violent thunder.

The whole city continued to shake, as the earth was trembling and engulfing the damaged buildings to the ground.

Strong winds swept throughout the city, filling their vision with only dirt and dust. Shortly after, the people came to their senses on what had just taken place. Screams filled the air and they began to run for their lives in every direction. The crowd pushed and pulled, hastily trying to escape by stepping over each other causing those who had fallen to perish.

A picture of pure chaos could be painted from the screams for help alone and the fear of despair that filled the city.

Luckily, Luo Yuan and his companions hid by the side of the streets, safe from the riot that had just broke out.

Just as Luo Yuan felt fortunate that the atomic detonation did not bring too much damage other than the panic from the crowd (as it occurred several dozen kilometres away), he saw another star falling...followed by a third.

Three mushroom clouds dominated the dark sky like three giant fists.

Wang Shishi hid behind Luo Yuan shaking in fear, the high spirits she had from before had vanished. Huang Jiahui was no better; she was also trembling in fear as she held on to Luo Yuan’s hands tightly. As for Huang Yuying, she would have certainly collapsed to the floor if not for her body leaning against the wall.

“The radiation has already reached us. Quickly, get inside.” Huang Jiahui suddenly cried out.

Luo Yuan mumbled, “Radiation? What about radiation? Even if genetic deterioration occurs, it’s in the future!”

Huang Jiahui was stunned for a second but later began to relax. It was true, what about radiation. People living in this apocalyptic era could not afford to be this fragile. It was fortunate enough to not have died immediately from the atomic detonation. As for the future, they would just have to deal with it what lies ahead. She then asked, “So are we still headed to the basement?”

“Yes, since we’re already here, we should just go and check it out!” Luo Yuan sighed as he spoke.

The sound of diesel engines could be heard from afar, at this instant most the crowd had already retreated to the sides of the street. Armored vehicles and transport trucks sped pass one after another. None of these vehicles were intact, in fact one of the tanks even had a footprint several dozen centimetres deep.

An army of soldiers were seen sitting on the transport truck. They were motionless, with a grim expression. It was difficult to imagine what they had just been through.

The streets had been covered with bodies from the stampede yet these vehicles showed no signs of stopping. Perhaps these soldiers could no longer feel remorse towards the bodies that lay before them anymore. These men had probably seen hundreds or even a thousand times more corpses and had become numb.

The vehicles drove over the bodies, further crushing them into splatters of crimson red.

Huang Jiahui and the other two ladies turned away and puked from the sight before them. Luo Yuan was not looking any better but he realized that the soldiers looked indifferent, unaffected even.

He could notice that they were no longer the troops during the peaceful period. Compared to the first time he had saw them in Donghu City, they had become much more terrifying. Their willpower would have probably surpassed those who had experienced WWII, as their enemy was far more frightening and cruel than any human being.

These soldiers were cold like machines, indifferent towards life and death. Perhaps their frightened expressions would only surface the moment death came upon them.

The row of vehicles had come and passed after ten minutes.

The crowd in front suddenly began to scramble.

“The doors are opened!”

“The doors are finally opened! So many soldiers have come out!”

Luo Yuan stood on tiptoe but still could not see what was happening near the gate as it was swarmed with people in front.

The crowd was at a standstill as if some problems were occurring ahead of them. Suddenly, a cheer could be heard in front after two hours had passed and the crowd began moving slowly.

Luo Yuan let out a sigh of relief, squeezing through the crowd while pulling along the other two girls. It involved a lot of effort as the girls were also holding onto their luggage. If it were not for both the woman’s considerable strength, they probably could not even move an inch forward. Just a few minutes later, they were already sweating profusely.

Luo Yuan turned and realized that they had lost Huang Yuying, who was possibly squeezed away by the crowd.

He apologised in his heart and continued pushing forward. Huang Jiahui and Wang Shishi made no sound even as Luo Yuan had gripped their arms with force as they both understood that one misstep could mean death.

The city was filled with radiation. In addition to the mutated beasts attacks, staying here would certainly lead to their deaths.

Cries from the mutated beasts could be heard outside as screams began to burst from the people at the back. Luo Yuan felt himself being pushed towards the front forcefully.

“Ah!!!” Wang Shishi screamed as she was shoved to the ground. The horror had unleashed all of her telekinetic powers but it was small in comparison to the massive crowd.

Suddenly, a blue ray could be seen! Blood spurted as a person’s leg was severed. He fell to the ground and countless of feet then stepped on him.

Luo Yuan immediately pulled Wang Shishi up and took her luggage as he reminded her, “Be careful, don’t fall again.”

“Mm, mm!” Wang Shishi was terrified, nodding and grabbing onto Luo Yuan.

“You didn’t get stepped on, did you?” Huang Jiahui looked at Wang Shishi and asked.

“No, Brother Luo pulled me up just in time,” Wang Shishi said as she shook her head.

As they spoke, the beast’s growls grew nearer and the horrified screams from the crowd grew louder. Suddenly, something splashed onto the back of Luo Yuan’s neck prompting him to check it with his hand. He quickly glanced at his palm and it was filled with blood.

Some hundreds of meters away, a 3-story tall dinosaur-like mutated beast was running among the sea of people. Even though it seemed that it had no intention of killing, each step it took squashed the tightly knitted sea of people into mud pies.

Perhaps it was too excited from seeing so much food. It looked more like it was playing than hunting a prey.

A few minutes had passed and it got bored of playing and stopped to chomp down a human.

A woman who was right next to the unfortunate victim was petrified, frozen on the spot as the people around her ran for their lives.

With the appearance of this beast, more beasts approached within minutes.

Screams and cries could be heard all around, the strong copper stench of blood made the place seem like a slaughterhouse!