Chapter Thirty-Three: Entering the Barrier

Memory bias—Gu Sha immediately dismissed this possibility. He didn’t believe he could misremember something so significant. In his previous life, the early days of the apocalypse were excruciating; each day felt endless, a torment without respite. Because of that, the events of those first days were etched deeply in his memory.

As for the butterfly effect, he doubted it as well. Though he hadn’t followed the exact trajectory of his past life, the changes he made couldn’t possibly have altered the course of natural disasters, much less influenced the passage of history.

Yet now, the acid rain had arrived a month early.

Suddenly, a sense of urgency welled up in Gu Sha’s heart. History had shifted; he could no longer predict how much more would change.

“Get stronger. Become even stronger!” Gu Sha clenched his fists tightly. No matter how this apocalypse evolved, there was only one path forward: to become stronger.

He took a deep breath and stood silently, gazing out at the torrential rain. A few zombies wandered in the acid downpour.

These zombies possessed no intelligence—only instinct.

In the future, many zombies would rot from prolonged exposure to acid rain, turning utterly grotesque, while others would become even more terrifying, gaining corrosive abilities.

Humanity truly felt abandoned; survival grew increasingly difficult in this world.

A zombie noticed Gu Sha and lunged at him, roaring.

Gu Sha raised his knife and fought. He hacked away for hours, as zombies continued to find and attack him.

By the end, he had killed seven zombies of rank, collecting seven first-tier zombie cores.

His backpack now held more than forty first-tier zombie cores and two second-tier cores.

Although the Global Barrier Alliance would eventually introduce apocalypse currency, the most valuable items remained zombie cores—everyone needed them.

As the rain gradually stopped, Gu Sha stood amid a pile of corpses, checked his watch—half an hour left—and the Scarlet would soon descend.

Gu Sha stacked cement blocks to seal his position, hoping to avoid infection from the Scarlet.

Yet, an inexplicable emotion gnawed at him—a foreboding sense of unease.

Time ticked away, minute by minute, until finally, noon arrived.

But his premonition proved true: the Scarlet did not descend!

At that moment, Gu Sha’s heart tightened. Whatever he feared most had come to pass.

From the earthquake to the acid rain, his greatest worry had materialized. The Scarlet, which was supposed to arrive today, did not. It meant he had not misremembered, nor was it a memory bias; history itself had changed.

Perhaps he had misremembered the earthquake, or even the acid rain—after all, in his previous life, he hadn’t come to City C at this time. But the second Scarlet, appearing at noon for three consecutive days, was something he could not have forgotten. He had experienced it firsthand, and for twenty years afterward, both authorities and the public had studied and speculated about this event.

Gu Sha waited longer, until three in the afternoon, but the third day’s Scarlet never arrived. Without the Scarlet, there would be no source pearls descending on the third day.

“To the Barrier!” Gu Sha was not one to dither or wallow in indecision. Though the changes in history would affect him, he remained clear-minded: in this apocalypse, his greatest reliance would always be his own strength.

To grow stronger was the true path.

Now, with the Scarlet absent on the third day, he needed to execute his next plan: head to the City C Barrier.

In his previous life, after the second Scarlet ended, a worldwide wave of zombies and mutated beasts would sweep across the globe, wiping out many independent continents under the federal governments.

The ten greatest barriers of Dragon Continent were established in the aftermath of that wave.

Facing this crisis, all continents united in their response—scorched earth bombardment; afterward, a new order and power structure would be set.

Gu Sha was unsure whether this tide, which shaped the future of the apocalypse, would appear, but it didn’t affect his determination to reach the barrier.

After the second Scarlet, nearly all early opportunities in the apocalypse revolved around the barriers.

...

The earthquake had turned City C upside down, leaving it in ruins. Shelter was scarce; unlike before, you couldn’t simply escape by jumping from a building when encountering zombie hordes.

Now, any encounter with zombies would be far more troublesome.

Thus, Gu Sha chose the most remote routes. The more secluded the area, the less crowded it had been before the apocalypse, and the fewer zombies now.

It took him most of the day to cover the dozen kilometers—despite being a formidable Tier Eight warrior. Night was nearly falling when he reached the City C Barrier.

Standing before the barrier, Gu Sha felt a surge of emotion.

Now, the barrier was beginning to resemble the one where he’d spent over a decade in his previous life.

Compared to the later, fully developed steel fortress, this barrier was crude yet strong; the power of the authorities should never be underestimated.

The current barrier had been erected in just one month, expanded and refurbished atop an ancient city. Unlike the futuristic steel fortresses of later years, this barrier was somewhat retro, a temporary city built with cement and bricks.

On the walls, solemn soldiers patrolled with live ammunition. Below, every entrance was guarded, with soldiers inspecting and registering all who came and went.

There was a huge flow of people: soldiers leaving for missions, refugees seeking shelter, and military units escorting survivors.

Gu Sha approached one of the entrances, where doctors in protective suits gave him a thorough examination. Once they confirmed he was uninfected, they led him to a registration tent. After registering, he was assigned to wait in a large truck.

In the early days, it was easy to enter the barrier. Many believed you needed connections—like the man Gu Sha had killed yesterday, Zhang Chuping, who exploited that assumption to deceive others.

In truth, entry required no special conditions: as long as you weren’t infected, you could enter. Not until later, when barriers dwindled and the apocalypse order formed, did status and identity matter, making entry a luxury.

People began to fill the truck—various sorts, from social elites to second-generation heirs, migrant workers, children, and elderly. More than twenty squeezed in.

Just as they were about to depart, a man with a sharp chin and monkey-like features sidled up to Gu Sha and whispered, “Young man, I’ll give you ten thousand yuan if you sell me half the food in your bag. What do you say?”

Gu Sha glanced at his bag and realized that during the outside inspection, when the city guards confiscated his Tang blade, he hadn’t closed his backpack properly, leaving a gap that revealed his food to the man.

Gu Sha knew food was scarce in the barrier, so he’d packed two large bags.

The city guards were not yet the corrupt forces controlled by aristocratic families as in later years. They still strictly adhered to military discipline. Though Gu Sha carried two bags of valuable food, they entertained no ulterior motives, merely confiscating his blade as per regulations.

Gu Sha cast an indifferent glance at the grinning man, slowly zipped up his backpack, then shot him a look of utter contempt.

Money was as worthless as wastepaper in the apocalypse.

The man’s face stiffened, but he persisted. “Young man, my brother works in the barrier as a community manager. If you give me a bag of food, I’ll get you a good place to stay—and he’ll look out for you!”

“I’m not interested. Leave me alone, or I’ll deal with you!” Gu Sha replied coldly.

The man eyed Gu Sha—young and fresh-faced, but robust and spirited. He realized he couldn’t win, so he smiled awkwardly and turned away.

Suddenly, his eyes lit up. He pointed at Gu Sha and shouted, “City Guard! City Guard! There’s someone infected here!”

(End of chapter)