Oliver runs like crazy, his mind feeling a bit dizzy due to lack of oxygen. The green trees on both sides keep receding in his vision. Oliver stops when his limbs are completely drained of strength. This place is probably two or three kilometers away from the town. A small river flows by the roadside, winding its way into the distance.
Oliver collapses by the roadside. He looks at the deserted fields where the people who were once busy here have vanished without a trace. The scarecrow on the ridge has toppled over into the field, and the tattered cloak is thrown aside. The entire land seems to have lost all its vitality. Now, Oliver not thinks he's in the middle of a movie shoot. Because there's no way such a realistic scene could exist in a film.
"What on earth has happened to the world?" Oliver roars frantically in his heart. The run has made his chest heave violently, and his eyes have turned blood - red due to lack of oxygen. The ordinary life of yesterday has turned into an apocalypse after he woke up. Oliver doesn't know if he has only slept for one night or for many years. He can't explain why he is here.
As Oliver ponders, his watch starts making a "beep... beep" sound. The watch face, which was black, turns dark green. The watch face brightens up, and a row of time numbers appears on it.
13:27:56, July 19th, 2079.
The line of time digits causes Oliver to freeze. He looks at the time on the watch, and the situation seems to have rendered him unable to think.
"No！This can't be real..." Oliver don't cares if he'll attract the zombies. He springs up from the ground, roaring desperately like a gambler who has lost everything.Oliver clearly remembers that the date he's in is July 18th, 2024. After work, he had dinner at a fast - food restaurant. When he got home, he plunged into online games and played for at least five or six hours. He quit and went to sleep when he felt sleepy. He remembers that it definitely wasn't past 1 a.m. at that time.
Could I be dreaming? Oliver plucks out a hair, and a sharp pain shoots through, proving that he isn't dreaming. Oliver is panicking. It's as if he has fallen into a thick fog and can't make sense of anything. If this isn't a dream, could the time on the watch be the real time?
As Oliver is lost and helpless, the watch emits light once again. The light projects into the air and slowly forms a beautiful figure with a voluptuous figure. The light turns into seven colors, and the projection finally becomes a beautiful, sexy and alluring woman.
Oliver looks at the beautiful woman, asks in disbelief, "Isabella?" Oliver is certain he isn't mistaking. This is the senior he's had a crush on since college, Isabella Rose Montgomery. He recalls being smitten the instant he first saw her. Sadly, Oliver's kind of introverted, so he hasn't got the guts to spill his feelings. After Isabella graduated from college and headed to another city for work, Oliver only run into her online once in a while.
The girl he has been secretly in love with is now right in front of him. Why wouldn't Oliver be over the moon?
The figure in the air seems to come to life. She giggles and says in a voice full of endless allure, "Isabella? My name is indeed Isabella, but I'm not the Isabella you have a crush on. I'm just an imitation created by an intelligent program."
Hearing Isabella's voice, Oliver feels as if he's been transported back to the college campus. He walked with her along the leafy campus paths. The moment she smiled at him, it's that same voice. But what Isabella said is hard for Oliver to believe. "An intelligent program? How could there be such an advanced intelligent program already?" Suddenly, he realizes it's 2079, fifty years from his own time. Developing a highly human - like intelligent program in this time span isn't difficult. Thinking about his current plight, Oliver hastily asks, "Where is this? And what are they?"
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Isabella stretches lazily.Oliver notices that Isabella is wearing a sexy lace nightgown. The low - cut collar reveals half of her breasts. Although this is a digital figure projected by light, in Oliver's eyes, she's indistinguishable from a real person.
Oliver can't bring himself to look directly at Isabella, even though in his dreams, he has fantasized countless times about her appearing before him in such a way.
Isabella giggles again. She waves her hand, and in an instant, the background changes to a living room, while the lace nightgown she was wearing turns into a purple dress. She sits on the sofa, takes a sip of the steaming hot milk, and then says slowly, "So, how was it? Was I really alluring just now?"
Oliver nods, then shakes his head. His reaction makes Isabella laughing again, so much so that she spits out the milk. A bit annoyed, Oliver says, "I don't care if you're the real Isabella or not. What is going on? How did I end up here? Has the world been destroyed?"
Isabella switches from her purple dress to a black professional suit and says gravely, "From the moment of my successful creation, my purpose has been to serve you. First of all, this is indeed Earth, and the year is precisely as shown on the watch. On December 3rd, 2075, the Coalition Government launched the space shuttle 'Rescuer' to carry out a nuclear attack on a massive meteorite located 77.61 million kilometers away from Earth. Based on the velocities of the meteorite and the space shuttle, it was predicted that they would encounter each other at 15:22 on December 10th."
Isabella continued, "The nuclear blast was extremely successful. The meteorite was shattered into innumerable fragments. Although a minuscule portion still continued hurtling towards Earth, it could no longer imperil the planet." Oliver relaxed a little, believing that Earth had managed to avert a catastrophe.
"Owing to the power of the nuclear bomb, the velocity of meteorite fragments increased. At 17:05 on December 14th, 2075, the first batch of meteorite fragments entered the atmosphere. Two - thirds of them were incinerated by the atmosphere, while the remaining one - third, numbering around sixteen thousand, were scattered across Asia and the Americas. The second batch arrived 13 hours after the first one. There were approximately twenty - four thousand fragments, predominantly distributed in Europe and Africa."
"At 13:22 p.m. on December 15, 2075, the Coalition Government discovered that the meteorite fragments were carrying radioactive substances. Since it was first detected in City X, this type of radiation was named X - ray. In the early morning of December 16, before the Coalition Government could figure out the impact of the X - ray, it erupted, generating the super virus XR. By December 20, the XR virus had spread worldwide through the air. 85% of the global population of 8 billion was infected. On December 21, the Coalition Government collapsed, and the vast majority of cities around the world descended into a state of disorganization."
Just moments ago, Oliver had thought the Earth had dodged a bullet. However, Isabella's words completely shattered his illusions. He suddenly became aware of the sheer horror of this global XR virus crisis. In just a few short days, the global death toll had reached 6.8 billion. Oliver could well imagine that even for those who had survived, when confronted with countless zombies, the number of people who could actually pull through would surely be far less than 1.2 billion.
Just moments ago, Oliver had thought the Earth had dodged a bullet. However, Isabella's words completely shattered his illusions. He suddenly become aware of the \ horror of XR virus crisis. In just a few short days, the global death toll had reached 6.8 billion. Oliver could well imagine that even for those who had survived, when confronted with countless zombies, the number of people who could actually pull through would surely be far less than 1.2 billion.
Isabella showed no emotional fluctuations and still said coldly, "Based on the calculation of the digital model, there are currently fewer than 700 million humans on Earth. More than 500 million people had already died either at the hands of zombies or other humans, and this death toll was still slowly increasing."