Chapter 1: Feeding and the System

The rot of rust and the foul smell of dust mixed together, violently assaulting his nostrils; a fit of tearing, lung‑ripping cough made Lin Yue struggle awake from his daze.

He opened his eyes, and after a while his blurry vision finally focused.

What met his eyes was not the stark white ceiling of a hospital, nor the rented room with yellowed wallpaper he called home.

It was the sky.

A expanse of gray, hazy sky.

"I… where am I?"

The voice that squeezed out of his throat was hoarse and dry, carrying a sense of unfamiliarity.

He tried to sit up, and the pain that spread through his whole body instantly felt like countless red‑hot steel needles, viciously piercing every inch of his nerves.

The last image in his memory was the sharp, piercing honk of a truck, the massive out‑of‑control vehicle lunging toward the sidewalk where a dazed little girl stood, and the sensation of his body being flung through the air when he lunged forward.

"So, am I dead?"

Lin Yue looked around.

Twisted rebar pierced the concrete walls, and the half‑collapsed pedestrian overpass lay like the carcass of a giant beast, stretched across the middle of the street.

Abandoned cars were piled on top of cars, forming cold metal graveyards.

There was not a trace of human activity to be seen anywhere.

As an office worker, Lin Yue's only hobby was reading web novels.

Rebirth, transmigration, systems, apocalypse—he had long been soaked in them until they were second nature.

The sight before him let him accept, in less than three seconds, the most bizarre yet also most reasonable explanation.

He had transmigrated.

But it seemed he had fallen from a peaceful world where he only needed to worry about KPIs and mortgage payments into a ruin that looked as if it had just endured a catastrophe.

"Damn, saving a person can even net me a transmigration achievement?"

Lin Yue cursed wryly, trying to suppress the fear in his heart with self‑mockery.

"Roar——"

A low, deep growl came from not far away, cutting off his wandering thoughts.

Lin Yue's body hair instantly stood on end.

He stiffly turned his head and saw a monster the size of an adult hyena slowly emerging from behind a pile of construction debris.

The creature still showed a canine outline, but its muscles were twisted into hard knots, its skin covered in scab‑like patches, the corners of its mouth split back to its ears, and yellow‑green saliva dripped from its interlocking fangs, splashing wet spots onto the dust‑covered ground.

Its eyes—those turbid, violent pupils—were locked firmly on Lin Yue.

That was the gaze of a hunter sizing up prey.

"Shit!"

The instinct to survive instantly overwhelmed his bodily pain,

"Damn it, I just got here and run into this—are you messing with me?!"

Lin Yue scrambled on hands and feet, lunging toward the nearest wrecked sedan.

The mutant dog's hind legs thrust hard, turning it into a black shadow that lunged at him viciously.

At the critical moment, Lin Yue dove headfirst under the car.

"Bang!"

A muffled boom exploded above his head, and the whole vehicle shuddered violently.

The mutant dog's claws scraped against the car door, emitting a series of piercing metallic screeches.

Lin Yue curled up in the narrow space under the car, his heart pounding as if it would burst from his throat.

He could clearly smell the monster's strong reek, and through the gap in the door he could feel its rough breathing mixed with a lust for killing.

He was trapped.

In this godforsaken place, unarmed, covered in wounds, and pinned under the car by a monster, what suspense could there possibly be about the outcome?

"Damn, no way? I'm not going to die like this, am I?"

Lin Yue cursed silently.

In his previous life he had been as plain as a cup of boiled water; he had finally done a good deed, only to end up transmigrating anyway.

Fine, let the transmigration happen!

At the very least, in return for saving someone in his past life, couldn't he have been given a better identity or a better start?

But what the hell is this situation?

Having just transmigrated and already facing this, he was so angry he wanted to curse his mother.

Suddenly, his fingertip touched something cold and rough.

He instinctively pulled his hand back, then, using the faint light leaking through the gap under the car, he made out what it was.

It was a turtle.

It was a palm‑sized little grass turtle, its shell covered in cracks, one hind leg crushed flat by a wheel, its flesh a bloody mess, its breath so faint it was barely perceptible.

It, too, was about to die.

Lin Yue froze.

"Little guy, looks like you're pretty unlucky too!"

If he wasn't mistaken, in this world the vast majority of people, animals, and plants have mutated.

Of course, this mutation comes in both good and bad forms.

The remaining tiny fraction are the unlucky ones who cannot mutate.

Now a small turtle that appears unmuted has appeared before him in this situation, and a feeling of absurd camaraderie welled up in his heart.

Perhaps it is true that when a person is about to die, their heart turns kind.

Or maybe he just didn't want to set out alone.

Lin Yue, as if possessed, patted his pocket.

"Looks like I'm not a soul transmigration, but a body transmigration!"

That was the last piece of cookie he bought before the crossing, to catch the subway, and he hadn't gotten to eat it yet.

In the tumbling just now, it had crumbled into crumbs, but that doesn't stop it from filling the stomach.

Lin Yue carefully pinched a bit of the largest crumbs, dipped his finger in a nearby puddle of rainwater of unknown cleanliness, trembling, and brought this morsel of "food" to the little grass turtle's mouth.

"Eat, little guy."

He said in a breathy voice,

"On the Yellow Springs Road, at least it's a companion."

The little grass turtle seemed to smell the food; its tightly closed eyes struggled to open a slit, it extended its withered head, using the last of its strength, and lightly licked the cookie crumbs on Lin Yue's fingertip.

Just as it was licking,

A cold, emotionless mechanical voice suddenly blasted in his mind without warning.

【Detected the host's first act of benevolent feeding……】

【Conditions met……】

【Pet Evolution System activating……10%……50%……100%……】

【Activation successful!】

【Bound initial pet: Mutant Grass Turtle (dying state)】

Lin Yue's mind went blank.

Immediately after, a virtual panel visible only to him, glowing faint blue, floated before his eyes.

The panel was overly simplistic.

【Host: Lin Yue】

【Bound pet: Mutant Grass Turtle】

【State: Dying (crushed rear leg fracture, multiple organ ruptures, vitality ebbing)】

【Evolution required: 10 Energy Points】

【Current Energy: 0/10】

【Note: First evolution can heal all pet injuries and unlock growth talent.】

System?

It really is a system!

Web novels really didn't lie to me!

A surge of ecstasy welled up in his heart.

Lin Yue almost burst out laughing.

"Hahaha! I knew it! Heaven never blocks a person's way!"

He desperately suppressed his voice, but his body trembled uncontrollably from excitement.

As long as there is a system, there is still hope for a comeback.

However, he hadn't even had a few seconds to be happy.

"Boom——!!"

A roar louder than any previous impact came, and the whole vehicle lurched forward several centimeters.

The mutant dog outside had exhausted its patience; it began to frantically ram this fragile metal coffin with its body.

The vehicle groaned under the strain, as if it could be overturned at any moment.

Lin Yue's face instantly turned deathly pale.

He stared fixedly at the bright red line on the panel: 【Evolution required: 10 Energy Points】.

"Holy shit! System big bro, where am I supposed to get 10 Energy Points right now? And most importantly, system big bro, at least tell me how to obtain Energy Points!!"

Other systems have a newbie gift pack or something, but this system gives nothing; most importantly, where am I supposed to get these 10 Energy Points now?

"Clang!!"

Another violent impact shattered the window glass, sending countless shards flying; one shard scraped Lin Yue's cheek, leaving a burning bloodstain.

He didn't even dare to reach out to wipe it.

"It's over, it's over! I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die! Worthless system, not reliable at all"

The whole wrecked car was shaking violently, as if it would be completely overturned any second.

By then, I truly would have no way to heaven and no door to earth.

Now, sitting and waiting for death is just a dead end.

"Calm… I must calm down!"

Lin Yue clenched his lower lip with his teeth, the pain forcing his chaotic brain to regain thought.

He focused all his attention on the faint blue virtual panel before him.

Finally, in the lower-right corner of the panel, he discovered a nearly negligible question-mark icon.

Lin Yue focused his intent on that question mark.

A line of new information appeared before his eyes.

【Energy Point Acquisition Instructions:】

【1. Any lifeform contains energy; the host can directly absorb the dissipated energy of dead lifeforms via the system.】

【2. Mutant organisms have a high probability to condense 'Energy Crystal'; absorbing Energy Crystal is the most efficient way to obtain it.】

【3. Energy Crystal level is linked to mutant organism level: 1st-level Energy Crystal = 10 Energy Points; 2nd-level = 20 Energy Points; 3rd-level = 40 Energy Points… energy increases exponentially with level.】

【4. Friendly reminder: Humans are also living beings.】

Lin Yue's breath caught sharply.

His gaze pierced through the gap under the car, once again looking at the frenzied mutant dog outside.

Those violent, eyes brimming with killing intent now, to him, seemed to have changed their flavor.