Haze

Li Gang adjusted his glasses, a smile gracing his lips.

“Of course,” he said.

“Please eat first; there’s no need to rush. I’ll simply wait here beside you.”

‘How could he possibly not feel rushed with someone waiting?’ Chi Bai mused, ravenously slurping down the noodles in a few swift gulps.

He paused, a brief hesitation, before taking three large gulps of the remaining soup.

Only then did he set down the instant noodle container, promptly discarding it into the sizable trash bin conveniently located next to the restroom.

Upon his return, he addressed the boss and their companions.

“I’ll go and scout ahead,” he announced, “and we can converse further upon my return.”

He cast a brief glance at Tang Hao before departing, trailing after Li Gang.

From behind, the boss and their companions observed Chi Bai’s receding figure.

“Remarkable speed,” the boss marveled.

“They’re already commencing the establishment of a base.”

The others readily nodded in assent.

“Quite so,” one chimed in.

“Yet, isn’t it only natural? Had we remained confined to our homes, we would have been utterly oblivious to our demise, especially if confronted by the very horde of zombies that pursued us this morning.”

The zombies within the supermarket that morning had devoured an exorbitant number of individuals; it was impossible to fathom the extent of their evolution.

Regardless, they distinctly differed from the stair-averse zombies found near Chi Bai’s residence; at the very least, their movements had become considerably more fluid.

At that precise moment, a sudden cry erupted, urging everyone to glance at the forum hall.

The bewildered crowd, uncertain of the cause, promptly opened their panels to access the forum.

What greeted them was a stark contrast to the relatively tranquil hall of the morning: several videos had been uploaded.

The sender’s region was identified as the “no idle people” state within E-Merica (TL Note: A phonetic transliteration of America in Chinese, implying a fictionalized or slightly distorted version).

The video content depicted newly awakened ability users unleashing wanton destruction across the streets, freely deploying their formidable powers with the clear intent of showcasing their might.

Even the police, firing their weapons in an attempt to suppress them, proved utterly ineffective; heavy weaponry could not be summoned swiftly enough, and the ability users’ powers were simply too overwhelming.

They wielded abilities ranging from freezing and fire-breathing to wind blades, proving themselves omnipotent and leaving the police forces utterly decimated.

The uploader of the video, harboring clear malicious intent, stood before the camera, openly calling upon other ability users to join their faction, openly endeavoring to forge a new world order.

Society had, until now, maintained its stability under the unwavering hand of ironclad laws; the zombie outbreak, however, had irrevocably shattered this delicate equilibrium.

As they watched these harrowing videos, a profound sense of foreboding seemed to descend upon everyone’s hearts, cloaking their vision of the future in an impenetrable haze.

Yet, before long, fresh videos surfaced within the hall.

It seemed that for every ability user bent on wreaking havoc, there was another resolute in protecting the populace.

The two factions immediately clashed, unleashing a dazzling, bewildering array of formidable abilities upon one another, swiftly blurring into an indistinguishable maelstrom.

This particular video, however, offered a slight reprieve from the pervasive tension.

It was a small comfort that some individuals were still willing to stand their ground and resist.

The hall soon became awash with more messages, echoing the familiar calls for both ability users and ordinary citizens.

These were the same tired appeals to establish personal bases, complete with grand assurances of protection for all who joined.

Should the state fail to intervene in this escalating situation, their collective strength would swiftly dissipate, leading inevitably to a fragmented landscape dominated by warring factions.

Yet, their customary tool of suppression, the ability to silence dissent, proved utterly ineffective in this realm.

They were left with no recourse but to permit the situation to escalate further, allowing public discourse to descend into a cacophony of clamor.