Prologue

Inside an empty lab, there was a woman in her fifties armed to teeth, which was a norm in the apocalypse era. Today, she looked sober and alert, which was unusual. There was no sign of a bottle of alcohol she usually had in hand, drinking to ease the tearing pain in her heart.

‘Time heals all wounds’ was a lie, for she still feels it after many years.

Someone entered the lab, but she did not raise her head, already knowing who it was. Steady footstep approached before stopping beside her. There was a scent of strong bathing perfume coming from the newcomer, doing so to remove the heavy scent of smoke from his heavy smoking.

“It’s ten years,” the low timber voice belonging to a man echoed in the silent laboratory.

Today was their daughter’s death anniversary, and also the day where their hard efforts for many years became futile.

Instead of the usual wine bottle, the woman was holding onto a faded picture of a family of three in her hand. Her finger rubbed the hole in her daughter’s face. “I tried, so damn hard, to remember her face, her voice… but I’m forgetting her.”

The man’s aged face softened at his wife’s hoarse voice, which was damaged from her heavy drinking. “Suzie…”

Both of them choose their own poison to bear with their loss, disregarding how damaging it was to their body. They did so as if it would help shorten the day to reunite with their daughter and cope with the loss.

The door to the lab opened again and a man with completely white hair, including his eyebrows, staggered into the room. His lab coat looked two sizes larger on his extremely thin frame and it was dirty, a violation of the lab rule. In this apocalypse era, being clean was a luxury.

The researcher moved at a turtle-like pace while his mouth was busy drinking the nutrient liquid packet to supply energy for himself. Food was scarce, and it had been a long time since anyone ever tasted real meat.

Not counting, some humans started hunting their own kind to eat.

Facing the couple, who were also among the best fighters that their remaining mankind would ever have, the researcher went straight to the point. “I don’t know if this will work, but we have to try. We received news that those normal humans in the winter countries got attacked at the same time. It’s unknown how many survivors there are, but we can guess the casualties are at a staggering amount. Humans are going to go extinct soon.”

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“We need to know who is behind all these and why.” Suzie Yap tapped her finger at the table, still irritated from the knowledge that they had been in someone’s control for over ten years without knowing.

“And then we will fuck up those motherfuckers, and make them regret being born,” cursed Charles Wong with a heavy tone.

The researcher laughed like a person who got released from a heavy burden for a long time. He resumes drinking the nasty tasting liquid in a better mood. “I don’t know how far I can send both of you back. No matter what time it is, please… get those sons of the bitches.” His word ended with a choked sob, which no one scorned him for. Everyone had lost too much on this doomsday.

What they needed was time to search for the one that caused this apocalypse to stop the problem from its roots. All this time, they had foolishly thought this was an act of unavoidable nature caused by human’s ignorance in experimenting with what they were not supposed to. It was until they caught a reformed rat that told them something which had them suspecting the true source of the virus.

They blindly believed their daughter’s death was predetermined, and they failed to change her fate. They believed the devil’s lies and even helped them.

“Try to get us back to ten years ago. It will be even better if it’s before the outbreak in Malaysia,” Suzie Yap requested.

The researcher shook his head at her impossible request. “I have just Awakened and have not even familiarised myself with my power. I could have sucked myself dry even before sending both of you back one minute to the past.”

“We will give you all our energy,” Charles Wong said. “Sending our mind back instead of our physical body should take less of a toll on you.”

The researcher was about to erupt at the second request which was even more impossible than the first.

“We are running out of time,” Charles Wong added. His piercing gaze challenged the young man to achieve this impossible achievement.

“... Okay.” The researcher relented. This was their last chance to change the tide.

Suzie Yap and Charles Wong placed their hand on the researcher’s chest and channelled their energy to him without holding back.

The researcher grunted in pain from channelling their raw power for his use. Taking a deep breath and clearing his mind from unnecessary thoughts, he sought his power that gave birth to this suicidal plan to rescue mankind. Placing each hand on their head, his body trembled from pulling out every drop of his power, and his body visibly grew thinner until his meatless skin stuck terrifyingly onto his bones.

It was painful, like a giant leech sucking out his flesh under his skin, but the researcher did not stop until he completely exhausted all his vitality. It was torture to feel his life being sucked away, but it was worth it.

If his younger brother… his father… his friends… if they have the chance to survive, sacrificing his life was worth it. Besides, his younger self will be with them.

A team member searched for them when they did not appear on time. The poor guy screamed when he saw two dead bodies that had lost all their flesh, along with a pile of ashes under the dirty lab coat.