Four months ago, the world underwent a radical transformation.

The space for human survival continued to shrink, with more than half of the Earth being designated as quarantine zones, and many days have passed since then...

On that fateful night, on the other side of the Earth, an accident occurred unbeknownst to us.

Around the floor, you could still see many newspapers, but all their dates belonged to a time now past.

Everything seemed so powerless, yet the people staying in the safe zones remained unaware, as the darkness lurking deep within their hearts began to consume every corner of the world.

We didn’t know where those terrifying monsters came from, why they were slaughtering humans, and why the vast majority of people were being assimilated.

Once bustling human settlements now lay unrecognizable, transformed into lawless, chaotic wastelands devoid of civilization.

Year-round snow had replaced the natural cycle of the seasons, and the ice and snow intertwined with verdant weeds had buried the once-prosperous modern civilization of the cities.

Skyscrapers now stood in ruins, wide avenues were cracked and deteriorated, as if silently asking humanity: Is there still a chance? Or a choice?

If we were to put an end to this endless tragedy, would it truly come to an end?!

("Infection of the Twelfth Hour")

"Hey, listen to me explain, I really just came to hand in her homework this morning, you know," unintentionally, I followed Yukari into the forbidden territory of the male students' restroom!

"Ah! Ah! Ah!"

I let out a pig-like scream amidst the screams of the girls, and there, eleven-year-old Yuanhui, together with a group of close friends, tearfully exclaimed, "Sob... sob... sob, our great king is truly inspirational!"

Just thinking about it made my face twitch.

"Hehe, come on, it's been a while since big brother shared your pain, hasn’t it?"

"Haha, if it were the usual you and me, maybe I wouldn't stand a chance, but now, the pitiful you can’t win against me!"

Yuanhui deliberately emphasized each word as he flashed a powerful smile at my disheveled state.

Despite their rough play, the two of them were good brothers at heart, with Zhi Xiong knocking on his mouth and sighing deeply, "Tsk tsk, how can a nobleman's child do the work of a commoner?"

After a while of chaos, they returned to the topic at hand: how to deal with this Elena card?

"Hehe, this car only has an anti-theft device installed in the later stages of modification, so it must have a major flaw that modified cars tend to have!"

To play the role of a detective convincingly, I deliberately paused for a moment to create a mysterious atmosphere.

"Easy to dismantle!"

After some tapping and dismantling, I peeled off the tough shell of Elena, piece by piece falling to the ground. "Ha, now all we need to do is arm the sides and front of the truck with these carapaces!"

I boasted with satisfaction, while hitting the final piece of the car's shell onto the truck.

"Clap, clap!" Finally, after hammering the parts onto the truck, I nodded in contentment, "Everything is in order, it shouldn’t be a problem to help us escape from here."

Hmm, I started to feel a bit drowsy, and the excessive fatigue had put me in a state of exhaustion where my body was no longer listening to me, but the memories became clearer.

Suddenly widening my eyes, I wondered why my past always seemed like a hazy dream?

A wave of fear rushed over me as I sat behind the wheel.

"Huh... are you falling asleep just like that?"

He pushed my body slumped over the steering wheel, grumbling, "I... damn it, fainted just like that. Oh well, this guy probably hasn’t rested anyway."

The younger generation propped up my shoulders and forcefully pulled me onto the co-pilot seat, then plopped themselves down on the driver's seat, flashing a confident smile at the now dizzy me.

"Today, I'll let you witness the skills of the drifting prince."

Shifting gears, stepping on the gas, the car burst out of the wall at lightning speed! Not even bothering to make a turn...

"Oh my god, the speedometer is broken! The pointer is bent!"

"Oh my, God! We're about to overtake the high-speed train... Wow, wow, wow!"

In order to boost the engine, I actually removed the brakes! The truck driven by Zhixiong was already reaching high-speed train levels, with a speed of close to 300 kilometers!

He was so frightened by this unbelievably high speed that he couldn't even keep his eyes open. Elena's hard shell pierced through several thick layers of ice, depleting a whopping 28% of the core energy in just three minutes.

Seeing this scene while overwhelmed with fatigue, I calmly watched the terrified junior beside me and finally managed to squeeze out a sentence, "Clean up the mess for me! I'm dizzy~!" before collapsing back into the seat.

"..."

With the modified car's energy completely depleted, I and the junior sprang out of the front seat in one fluid motion, soared towards the back of the truck, and tumbled out of it.

The truck they were in crashed into the exact spot where they were sitting just moments ago, shattering it into pieces.

"Wow, that was too thrilling... Hey, weren't you unconscious just now?" The sudden leap into action by the me who had been unconscious and unresponsive in the car right before it hit the wall seemed suspicious.

"I've been alert all along. Besides, were you really prepared to rescue me just now? I was just trying to catch a quick nap, and I woke up early!" I retorted after realizing my lie had been exposed.

"Are you out of your mind?"

At that moment, we hadn't noticed that the big truck behind us had already started blazing.

"Is everything you said true?" The junior behind me called out, but it seemed like we were already trapped with no way out.

The pursuers behind us were closing in relentlessly. Fortunately, the thick snow slowed them down, their speed was no match for ours. But we were faced with a cliff ahead with no road in sight, just a deep slope.

There really was no turning back this time.

"I swear, there's no one trustworthy in the Alliance, not even me... nobody."

And the ground beneath our feet was the very land that had been abandoned.

"Bring them along."

"Yes."

"Hey, wait...!"

Before I could even speak, I felt a sharp jolt against my back, as if someone was prodding me with an electric shock!

"Zap zap zap!!!"

My vision suddenly blurred and darkened before everything turned black, except for the intermittent words of Edward still ringing in my ears.

"Take them both to Elena's main unit to rest, and one more thing..."

What were they saying? I couldn't hear anything, but I could recognize the voice of that man.

I, who had once glimpsed at the future, would never forget that man, who had always played the role of Yukari's father... Satan!

"Hey, shouldn't you be awake by now?"

"..."

"Don't pretend to be asleep. I know you're already awake, your brain waves tell me your consciousness has restored, so please do not insult our intelligence."

"Tch!"

Standing before me, the old man with circular glasses, dressed impeccably, seemed like a rather unassuming figure. I tried to move my body, feeling quite well overall.

Hehehe, this old guy might not necessarily be my match, but he does seem quite sturdy. I, on the other hand, shouldn't have a problem roughing him up a bit.

Facing the bewildered old man, little did he know that I had already begun to count on my own clever schemes.

"Hmph, I bid you farewell, old man." Just as I was about to make a swift exit, to my surprise, that old fella not only had quick eyes but swift hands too. In just a dodge, he blocked the exit and ruthlessly kneed me hard in the abdomen.

Pfft—! I nearly spewed out a mouthful of blood; that hit just now was... uh.

"Hehe, young man, you should rest more, it's good for your health."

As he spoke, I found myself back on the hospital bed, while the old man stood resolutely by my side, showing no signs of moving. It seemed like I wasn't getting out of here.

"Old man, you really are tough to deal with."

"The feeling is mutual; your reaction just now almost threw off this old bone of mine. It would have been disastrous if I couldn't keep up with the rhythm."

"...Disastrous," I couldn't help but swallow hard, then I struggled to recall the scenes from before in my mind.

"That's not true, is it?" Wait a minute?!

I was stunned as I gazed at him, still composed, looking every bit the kind and gentle old man. The moves of that old man just now were swift and clean, without a hint of breath revealing my whereabouts, leaving me completely exposed.

"What... what do you want?"

"Hehe, this young man really knows how to crack a joke. I was just observing your resting task and you react as if it's some earth-shattering conspiracy."

Uh, he's really not at ease after all. Moreover, with such a master protecting (monitoring) me now, it's inconvenient to make any moves. The only thing I could move were my eyes, glancing left and right.

"So, this sealed space has no windows at all. Is this really a hospital here?"

Helplessly, I shut my eyes again, placing my hands under my head, feigning a look of idleness.

Seeing me abandon my mischievous thoughts, the ugly old man chuckled twice.

"Hmph, it's good that you've had the resolve to give up. This is our Elena Military Headquarters. If I just let you roam around like that... Hmph!"

"What would happen?" I asked, opening one eye.

"What would happen? Of course, you'd be blasted to bits by the security defense system!"

"..."

Suddenly, from head to toe, I felt chills run down my spine. Military base? I think I just heard this term not long ago, when I... Oh no, where do I go from here?

Gazing around the spacious room, I was at a standstill, and in the corridors, surveillance cameras were everywhere...

Before I could wallow in despair in my mind, I heard the sound of something heavy passing in the hallway. This is too eerie, right?!

It used to be a scene only found in games, but now it's affecting my nerves in reality.

"Did you hear that?"

The old man was quite composed, not only that, upon hearing the sound, he became even more proud and adjusted his glasses to introduce me to their technological achievements.

"These are our Elena Heavy Armored Soldiers, with titanium alloy armor attached, featuring extremely powerful self-recovery functions," the old man introduced his old team, speaking incessantly.

His words were already exhausting me, so I said, "So what?"

"So? Don't think for a moment that you can just come and go as you please here!"

"Yes, yes!"

After saying that, I grabbed the cup and wrapped myself in the blanket at the head of the bed like a big zongzi, thinking to myself that since so much time had passed without any action, it must mean that they didn't intend to harm us.

It made sense upon reflection. If they wanted to kill us, they would have done it in the snowy field; there was no need for all this trouble.

He had a point. If their intention was to do us harm, I wouldn't have lived this long. So, it's better to be cautious.

"Is that so... No tricks, just straightforward dealings. No problem."

I shrugged my shoulders at him indifferently because I firmly believed that as long as I walked to the end of darkness... I could embrace the light!!

(Meanwhile, on the other side)

"It seems like another failure. The Mirage God still can't be used in real combat situations. Unless we can reduce the delay between brainwave and host connections... sigh, what's the synchronization rate?"

Vicorc slowly walked over to the exhausted Yukari and inquired.

But what he received was her disdainful gaze and a reluctant report.

"Sixty-seven percent, with an error margin of up to three seconds!"