A strange phenomenon fell down from the sky and aliens came over Earth.
Office nerd Fu Shiwu’s life was turned upside down, but luckily for him, Tang Xuhai, his fierce and powerful neighbour whom he wasn’t exactly on good terms with, took him on a journey to escape.
But Fu Shiwu could never imagine that halfway through the escape, this unbreakable man turned out to carry a steel plate in his body, which brought on an infection and sent him into a deadly fever.
In order to save him, Fu Shiwu, a white-collar elite who couldn’t even restrain a chicken, had to bite the bullet and go all out on the unknown terror waiting outside.
In this
apocalypse, people survived with all sorts of tricks.
By having IQ, having muscles, or hugging the right thighs!
In order to compete for resources and talents, they also had to exhibit their character, flaunt their morals and push their very limits.
Fu Shiwu and Tang Xuhai’s team would like to implicitly express that: They definitely had all the above “virtues”.
This is a story with zero rebirth, zero transmigration, zero system, but still the right amount of golden fingers to pave a new way for humanity.
--------------------
When that day arrived, Fu Shiwu was sound asleep.
After three consecutive days of overtime, anyone would return home and fall into a deep sleep, impervious to most noises unless it endangered life itself, triggering the automatic response known as animal instinct.
Fu Shiwu's abrupt awakening left him utterly startled. However, his dazed expression lasted only a few seconds before he hastily reached for his glasses on the bedside table. In an instant, his once vacant and easy-to-bully demeanor transformed into a sharp and alert look of an elite.
As his vision cleared, his pupils shrank abruptly. Half the sky outside the window was ablaze in fiery red. Fu Shiwu felt a chill run down his spine, his heart pounding with fear.
Springing out of bed, he disregarded his usual habit of changing from his summer pajamas to a shirt and dashed out, ignoring the need for slippers, and fiercely pounded on the door across the hall.
The occupant of the adjacent room, Mr. Wen, lived as a single man like Fu Shiwu. However, due to a disability, Fu Shiwu didn't expect him to respond swiftly. Thus, he shouted loudly, "Fire!!!," before running to the next door.
He knocked on the doors of several other neighboring units on the same floor, but instead of gratitude, Fu Shiwu was met with loud rebukes.
Curses accusing him of disturbing peaceful slumber echoed one after another, some even insulting his entire family.
His good intentions were met with ingratitude, and Fu Shiwu, not being a saint who turned the other cheek, considered his duty fulfilled. He turned to head downstairs through the emergency exit, but the door of the last unit at the end of the corridor swung open.
A man emerged, wearing beach shorts and only a tank top on top, scanning the area with a vigilant gaze. Spotting Fu Shiwu, his furrowed brows and tight-lipped expression relaxed into a mocking grin.
Fu Shiwu froze in place, resembling a small, defenseless animal targeted by a natural predator, his eyebrows raised in alarm.
Leaning against the doorframe, Tang Xuhai yawned lazily. As he opened his mouth, the muscles of his well-built chest rose with each breath.
"Not sleeping at this hour. What's the commotion? Don't you know disturbing the peace is illegal?" His words were sharp, accompanied by an air of amusement.
Even though Fu Shiwu had a tense relationship with Tang Xuhai on normal days, he felt a sense of urgency now. Unpleasantly, he retorted, "What are you doing here, lazing around? Can't you see there's a fire? If you don't want to die, start evacuating!"
Their residence was on the 18th floor of Tianjing Gardens, a 32-story high-rise. Considering how the flames were already visible outside his window, it was likely to spread quickly. Being midway up the building, neither too high to reach the sky nor low enough to touch the ground, it was a precarious place to evacuate from.
Fu Shiwu knew absolutely that using the elevator during a fire was a big no. He intended to run down the stairs.
Tang Xuhai regarded him with an odd look, then suddenly chuckled, "Hah!"
This clear sneer irked Fu Shiwu, who attempted to bypass Tang Xuhai's doorway and proceed forward.
Seeing Fu Shiwu's stern expression, Tang Xuhai spoke, "Don't act foolish. If there were a fire, by now, you'd smell smoke or see it. This building has fire alarms. Did you hear them?"
Fu Shiwu paused. After Tang Xuhai finished speaking, the entire corridor fell into silence. The chaos he had created seemed to have subsided.
He hadn't heard any fire alarms nor caught a whiff of smoke.
"But I clearly saw the window outside glowing red," Fu Shiwu argued.
"Are you still half-asleep?" Tang Xuhai sneered at him. "Didn't watch the news tonight? Experts said it's a celestial spectacle, a natural phenomenon, harmless to humans."
Now completely baffled, Fu Shiwu's face reddened instantly.
He had misunderstood, feeling embarrassed and awkward. Worse, he had been mocked by this adversary. He wished the ground would open up and swallow him whole to escape the situation.
"You're way too easy to panic, for a knowledgeable person," Tang Xuhai shook his head, sighing as he delivered the final blow to Fu Shiwu.
Covering his face in embarrassment, Fu Shiwu hurriedly fled, darting back into his own apartment.
As he entered, the door opposite his opened.
Mr. Wen sat in his electric wheelchair, his expression indifferent, his eyes questioning Fu Shiwu's actions.
"Sorry for waking you up. I was too tired after work, went straight to sleep, and didn't watch the news. I saw the sky was so red on the window and thought there was a fire," Fu Shiwu pushed his sliding glasses up and apologized to Mr. Wen.
Mr. Wen wasn't angry, merely nodded faintly to show his understanding, then closed the door.
Listening to the quietness, the sound of the electric wheelchair fading away through the security door grew fainter, leaving Fu Shiwu feeling even more disheartened.
What a foolish thing he had done! He'd been completely confused.
Fu Shiwu buried his head into the sofa's cushion, trying to suffocate himself in frustration, but eventually, he sat up, his hair even more tousled.
Then, he recalled Tang Xuhai's disdainful expression. Fu Shiwu puffed his cheeks, wanting to be angry but feeling like he had no grounds for it.
He lowered his head, pulling at the neckline of his pajamas, looking at his chest. Although he had some flesh, compared to Tang Xuhai's solid muscles, it was all soft tissue.
Raising his arms, clenching his fists, his biceps, weak as a rat's, seemed to mock him.
"Ah..." Fu Shiwu felt lost again due to this stark contrast. He consoled himself, saying that the other guy might be well-built physically but mentally, he was superior.
Between him and Tang Xuhai, living on the same floor, there was no deep-seated enmity, but they had never seen eye to eye.
The reason was simple: they saw their own deficiencies mirrored in the other while the other seemed to excel in all the areas where they fell short.
Tang Xuhai, reportedly, hadn't even finished high school before joining the army, making mocking remarks about Fu Shiwu, who had completed both college and postgraduate studies.
Tang Xuhai was easygoing, while Fu Shiwu was refined. One sentence, and their energies clashed.
After feeling disheartened, Fu Shiwu looked up at the still red sky outside and hastily stood up, entering his study to open his computer and catch up on the news he had missed.
Meanwhile, Tang Xuhai, seeing Fu Shiwu enter his apartment, closed the door behind him.
He walked into his room but didn't go to sleep. Instead, he sat on the windowsill, gazing intently at the crimson glow on the horizon. While half the sky remained dark, that red glow tinted the entire cityscape below.
Seeing that ominous sight, Tang Xuhai sneered coldly, refusing to believe the calming words of the calm experts on television.
He lowered his head, clenched his fist, and sighed in resignation.
Not believing didn't change the fact that he had no way to access the most authentic information at the moment.
After a while, he remembered Fu Shiwu. After almost two years of being neighbors, it was the first time he had seen this homely side of him. Clad in a silk pajama set, with disheveled hair.
He chuckled. If this neighbor, who buttoned up every single button, knew how he had looked earlier, he would be mortified.
Unfortunately, Tang Xuhai hadn't taken a picture on his phone for future teasing purposes. He regretted this.
Unaware of the neighbor's mischievous thoughts, Fu Shiwu was browsing the news and videos about the crimson glow on his computer.
This crimson glow appeared an hour after dark, around 9 p.m.
At that time, Fu Shiwu was sleeping and naturally missed this awe-inspiring moment.
However, the news on the internet spread rapidly. A search using the search engine showed a screen full of videos and images.
Fu Shiwu was astonished and clicked on the one with the most views.
The video was shaky at first, accompanied by some people either frightened or excited, shouting, "What's going on?" "Is there a fire?" "Call the fire brigade!" Someone even shouted, "Look! UFO!!"
Eventually, the footage stabilized, showing a red line on the horizon, glaringly red.
This red line expanded gradually. Because this transformation took a while, Fu Shiwu had to scroll quickly through the video, finally seeing the red line gradually turning into a crimson glow amid various debates.
After watching this, Fu Shiwu clicked on other videos. Aside from different angles, they all showed similar scenes.
The comments below were varied, filled with guesses. Initially, some thought it was a prank. But as similar videos from different angles surfaced, the voices calling it a hoax diminished.
So, he turned to see what the TV news had to say.
Fu Shiwu was watching a live stream online. By now, the chaotic stage had passed. In the studio, experts were explaining various astronomical terms that were hard to comprehend.
Fu Shiwu was completely baffled by their explanations. Finally, he vaguely understood that perhaps, possibly, this crimson glow was some kind of refractive phenomenon, similar to the aurora?
Those who loved excitement were out on the streets witnessing the phenomenon live. The rest, pacified by the experts, settled down, doing whatever they were supposed to. After all, these people had work and family to take care of the next day.
Like Fu Shiwu, who had work the next day, after being completely baffled, he shut down the computer, climbed into bed, and faced the window casting the red light before rolling over and falling asleep.
After all, if the sky fell, there was someone taller to bear it.
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