Chapter 1: Rebirth

“Die!”

At the moment the Bloodthirsty Insectoid’s cold, hard fangs deeply pierced into Xu Feng’s body, Xu Feng’s one-foot-long Dark Gold Grade short sword, Insect Edge Bloody Fangs, also stabbed into the seam of the Bloodthirsty Insectoid’s neck armor. Purple-red blood splattered all over Xu Feng’s head and face.

The Bloodthirsty Insectoid’s movements suddenly became jerky, its body starting to twitch uncontrollably.

“Die, die!” Xu Feng roared wildly, his short sword gleaming with a Dark Gold sheen. He kept pulling it out, stabbing it in, pulling it out, stabbing it in…

Finally, the Bloodthirsty Insectoid’s crimson glowing eyes grew dim. Its ferocious face stiffened, its head drooping to rest against Xu Feng’s chest, unmoving.

Pfft!

At the same moment he killed the Bloodthirsty Insectoid, Xu Feng couldn’t help spitting out a mouthful of blood. By now, his Health Points had dropped to single digits, and the Status Bar showed the “Bleeding” debuff. All the healing items in his backpack had been used up…

“Could it be… I’m going to die here? Heh…” Xu Feng coughed softly, blood frothing at the corners of his mouth. He felt his body growing colder and colder.

“Ten years… fought these invaders for ten years… I… I’m tired too. A-Feng, Xiaolin… wait for me… cough, cough…”

“Hiss~ Hiss~ Blood, blood, the smell of fresh blood~” Not far away, a tall, dark shadow slowly emerged from the jungle. It growled lowly, lifted its head and sniffed the air forcefully. Its crimson eyes shone with a bloodthirsty light.

Xu Feng felt weak all over, blood gushing from his wounds. By now, he could no longer feel the pain in his abdominal injury. Watching the Bloodthirsty Insectoid pounce toward him, Xu Feng’s lips curled slightly. He weakly closed his eyes, quietly waiting for death to come.

…

“Hey, wake up! We’ve reached the final stop!”

While in a deep sleep, Xu Feng felt someone gently push his shoulder. Instinctively, his right hand shot out toward the source of the voice. Ten years of life-and-death battles against alien insect races, mutated monsters, and even his own kind – humans. Every time, Xu Feng had survived trials of life and death, clinging to life amidst bloodshed and slaughter. Over these ten years, his body had developed conditioned reflexes. Any creature trying to get close to him would first face his thunderous strike.

“Ah~!” A girl’s sharp scream rang out.

Xu Feng opened his eyes. His right hand was already gripping a girl’s neck. The girl grabbed onto Xu Feng’s arm with both hands, her eyes filled with terror.

“This… where is this? The Bloodthirsty Insectoid? I… I didn’t die after all…” Confusion showed in Xu Feng’s eyes. He released his right hand and lifted the T-shirt he was wearing, wanting to check the chest wound where the Insect Human had pierced him. However, he found nothing. His chest was pale and smooth, without a single scar.

“Not even a wound!” Stroking his own chest, Xu Feng’s face showed a mix of shock and delight.

Wang Ying trembled all over, her gaze toward Xu Feng full of fear. Seeing the boy across from her weirdly lift his own clothes, stroking his chest while making a “perverted” expression, Wang Ying slowly backed away. Putting some distance between them and seeing that he wasn’t going to chase and grab her, she quickly covered her mouth, turned around, and fled from the train carriage.

“Dear passengers, hello. The subway has now arrived at its final stop – Qixin Station. The train will remain here for thirty minutes before starting its return journey. Passengers who have reached their stop, please leave the carriage immediately. Thank you for your cooperation!” At this moment, an announcement sounded in the subway carriage, urging passengers who hadn’t left yet to exit.

“This… this is…” Xu Feng looked out the train window. The station was very crowded, with most people hurriedly heading toward the subway exit.

He looked up at the electronic clock in the carriage: September 28, 2032, 19:36.

“This… this is ten years ago. I… I just got off work and was taking the subway home?” A fragment of memory flashed in Xu Feng’s mind. He seemed to remember something.

“This is ten years ago!” Xu Feng’s face was full of excitement. He suddenly roared in his heart: “I… I have been reborn!”

“Young man, this is the final stop. Are you getting off or not? Did you miss your stop and plan to ride back?” A woman in her forties wearing a uniform, holding a broom and dustbin, glanced at the excited Xu Feng and asked.

“No, no, this is my stop!” Xu Feng suppressed his excitement, smiling as he nodded to the woman.

“Psycho!” The woman glanced at Xu Feng rushing away and muttered under her breath, then began cleaning the carriage.

…

“Damn it, since it’s a rebirth, why didn’t it let me go back a bit earlier in time!” Checking his watch, Xu Feng suddenly grew tense.

“Isn’t today the day the Earth’s apocalypse begins? The great disaster started at exactly 20:00 on September 28, 2032. Now there are only about twenty-something minutes left until the Earth’s end, and I’m still in the station with the highest passenger flow!” Xu Feng wore an expression of annoyance. He glanced back at the subway train whose doors had already closed, wishing he could hide inside it right now.

“A hotel! Right, there’s a five-star hotel outside Qixin Station!” Xu Feng’s eyes lit up.

“The first day the apocalypse begins, it’s the invasion of the alien Void Insectoid Race. They can parasitize any living creature on Earth, even plants. They can parasitize them, turning them into terrifying monsters.” Xu Feng showed a recalling expression. “But I remember at the very beginning of the apocalypse, it was only the invasion of the Insect Race larvae. At that time, we just needed to avoid confrontation, find a place to hide. At most half an hour, a turning point would appear.”

“Right now, the safest place around here is that five-star hotel!” Thinking of this, Xu Feng immediately ran toward the five-star hotel from his memory.

Hailan Hotel was one of the few five-star hotels in Linhai City. There weren’t many people in the hotel at the moment, even fewer coming in to book rooms. The receptionist at the front desk, seeing a man walking over quickly, promptly stood up, placed her hands folded over her abdomen, bent slightly and said: “Welcome to Hailan. How may I assist you?”

The front desk receptionist of a five-star hotel naturally had outstanding looks. Especially the uniform she wore, seemingly designed specifically to be slim-fit, tightly wrapping her chest, making it look very full and quite alluring.

“Please get me a standard room.” Xu Feng handed over his ID card. This was a race against time. Xu Feng’s gaze didn’t linger on the receptionist for even a moment.

The hotel front desk receptionist smiled slightly, accepted Xu Feng’s ID card with both hands, and said: “Hello, sir. The standard room costs one thousand six hundred and sixty yuan per night. Timing starts from your check-in until 2:00 PM tomorrow noon. May I ask how long you plan to stay, sir?”

“One night.”

“Alright, the deposit is five hundred.”

Xu Feng opened his wallet, pulled out a bank card and handed it over. He looked up at the clock hanging at the hotel front desk: 19:50. Ten minutes left.

“Please hurry a bit.” Xu Feng frowned slightly.

“Okay, the procedures are completed. Your room is 3206. Sir, please take your ID card and bank card. This is the room key.”

Xu Feng grabbed the items and headed toward the elevator. There was still plenty of time; it should be enough. Xu Feng felt a bit nervous.

Arriving at the room, Xu Feng had just closed the door and was about to draw the curtains when he heard a loud boom outside, like a thunderclap from a clear sky. It shook the entire building slightly.

“It’s started. Earth’s disaster.” Xu Feng stood by the window, lifted a corner of the curtain, and looked outside.

“The first to invade Earth are the Black Armored Beetles of the alien Void Insectoid Race. They aren’t very strong. Ordinary people, if careful, can easily deal with two or three of them. However, their numbers… are truly massive…” Xu Feng sighed while looking up at the sky.

The azure blue sky above now looked like a giant mirror. But cracks began to appear on this mirror surface, line after line. These cracks seemed to tear the sky apart, each at least several kilometers long.

Behind the cracks was an endless, deep void. Soon, when the cracks stabilized somewhat, countless black insects flew out from those void rifts. Like dark clouds, like tornadoes, they pounced toward the living creatures on Earth.

“Disaster. These alien creatures are nothing short of a catastrophe for Earth! But for those alien races, it’s a feast. The first invaders, the Void Insectoid Race, and later, other alien races will join the feast to compete for Earth’s resources. They will successively join in devouring Earth in this feast, until all of Earth’s resources are exhausted, or… until we drive all these alien races out.”

Watching the panicked, screaming humans outside running for cover, a complex expression flashed in Xu Feng’s eyes. In his previous life, dozens of alien races discovered Earth’s coordinates and invaded. Humans, as Earth’s creatures, fought desperately. But before Xu Feng died, they still hadn’t driven these star races out. If not for these alien races fighting among themselves, Earth would likely have been conquered long ago.

Xu Feng saw, out on the street, a burly strong man wielding a baseball bat. He roared loudly while swinging the bat, smashing fist-sized Black Armored Beetles into green paste. In just three or four minutes, this strong man had already killed over a dozen Black Armored Beetles. But his actions attracted the attention of other Black Armored Beetles. Soon, a cloud-like swarm of Black Armored Beetles rushed toward him, completely enveloping him from head to toe. The strong man let out piercing screams, struggled fiercely, but his movements slowed more and more. Finally, the baseball bat in his hand fell to the ground.

The Black Armored Beetles covering his body surface all flew away with a whoosh, heading for the next target. Only the strong man remained standing there, face blank. Soon, a layer of shiny black armor appeared on his body surface. His two arms turned into Bone Blades, his legs transformed into the form of arthropod limbs. A thin layer of fine, fragmented armor appeared on his face, gleaming black and shiny. His mouth also turned into an insect-like mouthpart…

The same scene was playing out simultaneously. Earth had become a slaughterhouse themed on killing.