Chapter 1: Foreseeing the Future, Foreseeing the Apocalypse

Houston, Texas, USA.

The scorching summer heat sent waves of shimmering air rippling across the remote interstate highway.

A tall, handsome young man standing two meters tall with a muscular frame was vigorously sipping from a large cup of ice-cold cola. A few cigarette butts lay scattered on the ground around him, his gaze distant and unfocused.

Leaning back against his car, Yang Jie looked dazed, lost in a sudden rush of memories.

Ever since he was a child, he knew he was different from others—he possessed the ability to foresee the future. And every time he had a premonition, he would gain specific abilities to cope with the impending crisis.

His first premonition had occurred back in middle school. Because of his good looks, he had caught the attention of the school bully, who gathered four or five guys to beat him up after class. When Yang Jie woke up the next morning, his physical strength had doubled. Of course, he didn't actually fight them. Instead, when the time came, he slipped away down another street. He didn't know how to fight, and even with his newly acquired strength, he chose to play it safe once he realized he was outnumbered.

Two days ago, Yang Jie had bolted awake from a nightmare, his sheets drenched and his body dripping with sweat as if he had just been pulled from a river. In the past, every premonition had brought him joy, but predicting the apocalypse was a different story entirely. He had even slapped himself twice upon waking just to make sure it wasn't a normal dream. It was real: the end of the world was coming.

In his vision, a meteor—one so insignificant it wouldn't even trend on social media—suddenly plummeted from the sky and slammed into Yellowstone National Park. In an instant, the supervolcano system, dormant for hundreds of thousands of years, erupted in a chaotic frenzy. The earth tore open, the sky churned, and massive plumes of volcanic ash billowed into the atmosphere, blotting out the sun.

Perhaps the meteor carried some extraterrestrial pathogen, because following the impact, Earth's native flora, fauna, and insects underwent bizarre mutations. Coupled with a rapid rise in global temperatures, ancient viruses released from the melting polar ice caps swept through ocean currents, eventually mixing with the radioactive wastewater near Japan. Instantly, the planet descended into madness, morphing into a waking Cthulhu-esque nightmare.

The onslaught of monstrous creatures and rising temperatures devastated the militaries of every nation. Left with no other choice, governments began constructing massive shelters to withstand the invasions. Before things spun completely out of control, world leaders engaged in a frantic blame game. Some accused Japan of causing the mutations with their nuclear wastewater, while others blamed India's poor sanitation, joking that their mutated pests had grown larger than humans. But as time wore on, the environment deteriorated, and the monsters grew stronger. Humanity finally realized, too late, that the world had truly changed forever.

In his vision of the future, Yang Jie saw that his family barely survived for a little over a year before they all perished. Even after two days of processing the shock, the memory still made his heart hammer against his ribs. He had to act. He couldn't just sit and wait for death. In just forty-eight hours, he had formulated a plan.

"Hey, hey, hey!"

A sudden voice crackled through his earpiece, snapping Yang Jie out of his reverie. Snapping to attention, he pressed his finger to the receiver.

"I'm at the designated location. Are they here yet?"

The voice of his wife, Li Siyao, came through. "Headcount is about twenty. Two SUVs, ten shipping containers. I don't know their exact loadout, but their firepower shouldn't be too heavy. They're about half an hour away from your position."

"Copy that," Yang Jie replied, a cold, vengeful grin spreading across his face.

Once he realized the apocalypse was imminent, Yang Jie had immediately laid everything bare to Li Siyao and Zhao Baitong. Having known each other for a decade and faced life-and-death situations together, the two women were well aware of his unique abilities. Outlandish as it sounded, they believed him almost immediately.

After reviewing the timeline, the three of them concluded that their family's tragic end in the future was due to a lack of early preparation and a severe shortage of weapons. In the post-apocalyptic world, humans were just as dangerous as the monsters—especially in a place like America, where gun ownership was ubiquitous and society would quickly devolve into a real-life battle royale.

And the culprit behind their initial disadvantage was Paul. Paul was Yang Jie's business partner. As fellow private military contractors, it was common for them to trade inventory. But that bastard Paul, drowning in debt, had swindled Yang Jie out of all his weapons and gear before skipping town, leaving Yang Jie waiting like a fool for a shipment that would never arrive. Yang Jie only found out about the betrayal later from an acquaintance, who happened to be another victim of Paul's scams.

Over the last two days, Yang Jie had not only had to compose himself and recruit his former team members, but also plan a trap to catch Paul. The first step was to reclaim all his weapons and squeeze whatever valuable information he could out of Paul. After all, Paul was the bagman for Commissioner Smith, who in turn was the bagman for General Wilson. Paul was bound to know the locations of several military depots.

As a mid-level officer in the Houston Police Department, Li Siyao had easily assisted Yang Jie in tracking Paul's transport route. Having learned of her own gruesome death in the future timeline, she was fueled by a quiet rage, eager to settle the score with Paul today.

Yang Jie tapped on the car door, which swung open to reveal three women of vastly different styles.

First was Sharapova, a blonde, blue-eyed petite girl barely 1.5 meters tall. She looked exceptionally cute, though her voluptuous figure proved that good things indeed came in small packages.

Following her was an Asian woman with a gentle yet profound aura. Her features were delicate but carried a hint of heroic spirit, her legs shapely and well-proportioned. With her warm, gentle smile, she looked like the friendly sister next door, though in reality, her daughter was already in high school.

The last woman was Sophia. Standing at 188 centimeters, her high-bridged nose carved a perfect profile, and her striking, hourglass figure made her look every bit like a top-tier Victoria's Secret angel.

Popping the trunk, the four of them practicedly slipped into body armor and grabbed their respective weapons, ready to move out.

"Yang Jie, the target vehicles are fifteen minutes away from the bypass!" the voice in the earpiece reported.

"Copy that."

The four quickly laid down camouflaged spike strips and concealed themselves on both sides of the road. Sharapova, carrying a massive sniper rifle almost as tall as she was, scrambled up a nearby hill like an agile monkey and began calibrating her scope.

"Calling Tongtong. The targets have entered a blind spot in the surveillance. Estimated time to the bypass is five minutes."

"Understood."

Inside the car, the cold and elegant Zhao Baitong's fingers flew across her keyboard in a blur. The moment the targets entered the bypass, she slammed the enter key.

Instantly, at both ends of the bypass, two "Road Work Ahead" signs rose from the dirt.

Inside the lead SUV, Paul had his arm around a scantily clad woman, surrounded by heavily armed bodyguards.

Paul kissed the beauty in his arms, his face flushed with arrogance. "This is the last shipment. Once we liquidate it in the Middle East, we'll head to Europe. We'll lie low for a few years, change our identities, and then come back!"

The woman giggled coyly. "You're so clever. Those defense contractors are nothing but fat sheep waiting to be sheared!"

Paul's smile faded slightly as he sighed inwardly. Truth be told, being a military contractor was highly lucrative, but he had lost too much in Las Vegas. After struggling with mounting debts for years, he was completely bankrupt. Otherwise, he wouldn't have resorted to running away. By fleeing, the reputation and trust he had built over the last decade were completely destroyed. And none of the people he had crossed were pushovers.

Just as the two were dreaming of their bright future, a loud hiss echoed. The SUV swayed violently from side to side. Despite the driver's experience, the vehicle veered off course and crashed headfirst into the roadside brush.

Before anyone could react, a barrage of heavy gunfire erupted.

*Rat-tat-tat! Rat-tat-tat!*

Dazed from the sudden impact, Paul's vision blurred. He looked up to see his bodyguards jerking violently like they were suffering from electric shocks.

But his training kicked in. Paul clamped his hand over his earpiece and screamed, "Ambush! Dammit, we're under attack! Return fire, return fire!"