Doomsday Cognition Guide

The sky had just darkened when the troops withdrew to the temporary command post.

Old Ma leaned his shield against the supply crate, plopped down on it, and gulped down water. The dried blood and new scratches on the shield were still there, untouched. Xiao Zhou squatted on the ground, cleaning his gun, his movements slower than usual, his fingers trembling slightly. When he reached the barrel, he paused, stared at his hand for two seconds, and then continued. Xiao Liu leaned against a tent pole, resting with his eyes closed. A little blood seeped from the bandage on his leg—a cut from broken glass during the retreat, which he had cleaned with iodine and then wrapped up.

Li Xuan sat in the shadows outside the tent, disassembling the spear into three pieces and wiping it inch by inch with a cloth dampened with water. The dark bloodstains on the spear tip had dried and could only be scraped off gently with a fingernail. Fourth Uncle wiped the bloodstains off the thickened Tang sword, smoothed out the several chipped spots on the blade with his supernatural ability, and then sat down and lit a cigarette.

Xiao Zhou finished cleaning his gun, pulled the bolt to check its status, stood up, and walked towards his armed police squadron. Xiao Liu unwrapped the bandage on his leg, glanced at it, rewrapped it, and also stood up, walking towards the area where the police were gathered. Reporting the combat situation to their direct superiors immediately upon returning to their unit is standard procedure and requires no reminder from anyone.

Old Ma watched their retreating figures, took another sip of water, and remained silent.

When Xiao Zhou found Company Commander Zhao, Zhao was squatting next to the supply crates, sorting out the ammunition consumption list. Xiao Zhou gave a brief report on today's battle, then paused.

"Regarding Li Xuan, an unofficial member, there are situations that need to be reported separately. During the retreat, the team was blocked by a horde of zombies inside a residential building. Li Xuan stood guard at the entrance of the building alone, blocking the entire horde of zombies by himself. Xiao Liu and I witnessed the whole thing. I have never seen anyone else match his marksmanship, strength control, and body coordination—he's like a martial arts master from TV."

Old Zhao was silent for a few seconds, put the list aside, and nodded. "Understood. You go eat first, I'll go find Deputy Secretary Zhang."

On the other side, Xiao Liu stood in front of Lao Zhou, who was leading the team. Lao Zhou was the deputy captain of the county public security brigade, with short-shaved hair and an old scar on his face. Xiao Liu wasn't very good at using formal reporting language, but he recounted everything he had seen.

"Li Xuan single-handedly blocked over a hundred zombies with a single shot. That's not something an ordinary person could do. If we could have asked him to teach us, our combat skills would have improved significantly, and so many comrades wouldn't have had to sacrifice themselves."

After listening, Lao Zhou remained silent for a moment, then stood up and walked towards the tent of the county party committee command headquarters.

Deputy Secretary Zhang was sitting in the tent organizing the day's battle results. Old Zhao came in first, followed by Old Zhou. The two reported different things, but pointed to the same conclusion: if it weren't for Li Xuan and Li Lei, the team might have perished in that alley today.

After listening, Deputy Secretary Zhang took off his glasses and slowly wiped them with the corner of his clothes.

"I'll go check on them."

Shortly after dinner, Deputy Secretary Zhang lifted the tent flap and walked into the area where Li Xuan and his fourth uncle were resting. Li Xuan was putting the cleaned gun barrel back into its holster, while his fourth uncle sat on the ground, leaning against a supply box, a nearly burnt-out cigarette between his fingers.

"Comrade Li Xuan, Comrade Li Lei," Deputy Secretary Zhang's voice was a little hoarse, but his tone was gentle, "You've worked hard today. Are you injured? I had someone bring some medicine over; use it anytime if needed."

Uncle stubbed out his cigarette and stood up. "It's nothing, just a bit tiring."

Li Xuan also stood up: "It's just a few scrapes, nothing serious."

"That's good." Deputy Secretary Zhang breathed a sigh of relief, his gaze lingering on Li Xuan for a moment to confirm he was alright before continuing, "Today's situation was indeed sudden; no one expected to encounter such a large horde of corpses. This is the most dangerous situation we've faced since the start of this search and rescue operation. To be honest, I was on tenterhooks when I received the news."

He paused, his tone becoming more serious.

"Old Zhao and Old Zhou just reported the situation to me. Under those circumstances, you not only held your own but also brought everyone back safely without any casualties. That's no easy feat. On behalf of the county party committee, I would like to express my gratitude to you."

Fourth Uncle nodded slightly but didn't say anything.

Li Xuan said, "It wasn't just our achievement. Lao Ma held the line, Xiao Liu provided flank support, and Xiao Zhou provided timely follow-up shots. Without them, I couldn't have handled it alone."

Deputy Secretary Zhang glanced at him and nodded. He remained silent for a moment, seemingly considering his words, before speaking.

"Comrade Li Xuan, there's something else I'd like to discuss with you. Xiao Zhou and Xiao Liu both mentioned your skills in their reports." His tone was tactful, not commanding, but rather consultative. "Everyone knows that guns and ammunition will become increasingly difficult to replenish, and zombies are constantly evolving, making melee weapons increasingly important. Our armed police and regular police are all good marksmen, but they are indeed a significant weakness in close combat. I'd like to ask you to take some time to give everyone some practical tips—how to generate power, how to move, and how to kill with a single blow at close range. Don't teach them from scratch, just the most practical techniques."

Li Xuan didn't answer immediately. He had anticipated this question long ago. From the first time he fought the horde of zombies alone at the stairwell entrance, he knew this day would come.

"Deputy Secretary Zhang, I've loved traditional Chinese martial arts since I was a child. When I was in the army, I even studied with a veteran, and I haven't given it up since I retired. It's just that the effects weren't very noticeable before—in peacetime, practicing these things was mostly just for improving physical fitness. But after the apocalypse, I've noticed that my physical strength is increasing, and the training is much more effective than before. I speculate that the red mist isn't just creating superhumans, it's also slowly transforming everyone's bodies. Even if you don't awaken superhuman abilities, your physical strength will still be enhanced to some extent."

He paused.

Deep down, he knew that statement was only half true. He had loved martial arts since childhood, but he truly mastered its training methods systematically on a different timeline—after leaving the county town, he went to a large base, joined the army, and met a veteran who had retired from the special forces. That man broke down the power generation system of martial arts into a standardized training method, which he taught him from scratch. What he was teaching these people now was what that man had taught him back then. But there was no need to elaborate on that.

Deputy Secretary Zhang took off his glasses and slowly wiped them with the corner of his shirt. He didn't say anything immediately, but the way he wiped his glasses was slower than usual.

"I will report what you said to my superiors." He put on his glasses, his tone returning to its usual calm. "You should rest well first. We'll make specific arrangements after the search and rescue mission is over."

Li Xuan nodded.

Deputy Secretary Zhang didn't say anything more, patted Li Xuan on the shoulder, and turned to walk out of the tent.

Uncle Si watched from the side, lit another cigarette, took a puff, and the smoke slowly dissipated in the dim light.

As he lay in bed at night, he would reflect on the day's battles. This was also his habit; he would review everything that had happened that day before falling asleep. He reminded himself that he had overdone it today. Although he had achieved this seemingly impossible feat by utilizing the results of his recent training and his divine state, the energy expenditure was beyond his expectations. The divine state consumed far more energy than he had anticipated. He had previously believed that the divine state would erode humanity, and thus maintained a sense of fear towards it. But based on today's experience, that wasn't entirely true. It seemed that the divine state mobilized all of the brain's computational power, suppressing all other emotions.

The ability to take on a hundred zombies single-handedly is due to two factors: firstly, the overloaded operation of both the brain and body, and secondly, the fact that zombies are at their weakest point at this stage. During this phase, due to bodily decay, the zombie's strength, speed, and bone density all decrease significantly. When the decay reaches a point where it threatens the virus's survival, the virus will completely fuse with the cells to form a new life form.

However, the divine state still cannot coordinate with others in battle, and can easily lead to the opponent's demise. It's also uncertain whether there are any other side effects, so it's best to avoid using it unless absolutely necessary.

The team assembled in the parking lot early the next morning.

When Li Xuan and his fourth uncle approached, Xiao Liu, who had been squatting on the ground checking his equipment, was the first to stand up. Old Ma picked up his shield from the ground, slung it over his shoulder, and nodded to Li Xuan—a gesture he used to make to his fourth uncle, but today he made it to Li Xuan. Xiao Zhou was adjusting his aim; seeing Li Xuan approach, he instinctively lowered the muzzle of his gun by half an inch before continuing to adjust it.

Fourth Uncle glanced around the line and frowned.

"Where's Lao He?"

Deputy Secretary Zhang walked over from the tent, holding a registration book in his hand.

"Old He has quit. He told me this morning that he wants to go back to the construction team. After all, he wasn't originally a frontline worker, and we never planned to let him join the team when we signed him up."

No one spoke. The silence lasted for a few seconds.

Old Ma snorted through his nose: "He's not very useful even when he's around. His early warning system is unreliable, he runs faster than anyone else, and sometimes he even gets in the way."

Deputy Secretary Zhang glanced at him, smiled, and didn't reply. Fourth Uncle didn't say anything either, folded the map, stuffed it into his pocket, and shouldered his thickened Tang sword.

"Set off."

Today we didn't encounter the massive zombie horde like yesterday. The zombie density on the streets was significantly lower than in previous days. A few scattered zombies darted out from alleyways and broken windows, held off by Lao Ma, with Xiao Zhou providing pinpoint fire and Xiao Liu offering flanking support—the coordination no longer required Uncle Si's orders. They began to find their own positions, judge opportunities, and fill in for their teammates' gaps.

Li Xuan didn't make many moves. He was observing. These people were progressing faster than he had expected—after experiencing that massive wave, ordinary zombies were no longer enough to frighten them. The fear was fading, and when a person is no longer afraid, their eyes can see more, and their hands can perform more precise movements.

When the team was wrapping up at dusk, Deputy Secretary Zhang tallied up the results: more people were rescued today than in the previous two days combined.

Over the next two days, the team encountered two more small-scale zombie hordes. One was a few dozen that poured out of the mall's underground parking garage, and the other was more than seventy that blocked an intersection. Compared to the initial attack of several hundred, these were nothing.

No one panicked. Old Ma held his shield high, facing the enemy head-on, Xiao Zhou provided burst fire, and Xiao Liu provided support. Li Xuan charged ahead, his short gun weaving through the horde of zombies like a silver thread, while the others followed up to finish them off. Both zombie hordes, from the initial encounter to their complete elimination, took no more than twenty minutes each.

The entire main road has been completely opened up. The county town is divided into north and south sections by this safe corridor—the trapped people in the southern half can be quickly evacuated through this passage, and the zombies in the northern half have been cut into isolated small groups, which will greatly reduce the pressure of subsequent cleanup.

On the last day of the search and rescue operation, the team advanced to the vicinity of the substation.

This was the core area of ​​the county's power grid, with transformers and transmission towers casting crooked shadows under the hazy sky. A faint smell of ozone filled the air, and several charred zombie corpses lay on the ground, their skin carbonized and bones exposed.

As soon as Li Xuan stepped through the gap in the substation's perimeter wall, he sensed something was wrong. The faint ozone smell in the air wasn't leaking from the equipment—those devices had long been de-energized. The smell was fresh, produced by the flow of electricity through the air.

He raised his hand, signaling the group to stop.

Deep within the substation, a zombie stood beneath a half-collapsed transmission tower. It was unlike any zombie they had ever seen before. Faint blue arcs of electricity crackled around its body, each muscle twitch accompanied by a crackling sound. Its eyes weren't the cloudy white of ordinary zombies, but a blinding bright blue, almost like the filament of a burning light bulb before it burns out.

A lightning-powered zombie. It is only in the initial stage of awakening and cannot release lightning, but its burst speed and power are several times that of an ordinary zombie.

It turned its head, its bright blue eyes locking onto the old horse at the front of the group.

Then it moved. Not with the staggering sprint of an ordinary zombie, but with an almost catapult-like burst of energy. Blue arcs of electricity exploded between the muscle fibers of its legs, propelling its entire body like a cannonball straight at Old Horse.

Old Ma raised his shield, planted his feet firmly, and lowered his center of gravity. The moment the shield collided with the zombie, a dull thud resounded, and Old Ma, shield and all, was sent flying, his back slamming heavily against the wall behind him. He coughed up blood, and the metal dents on the shield were still emitting wisps of smoke.

Xiao Liu slashed from the side, striking the zombie's shoulder with his blade. The blade barely penetrated two inches before getting stuck in the muscle. The zombie swung its claw back, and Xiao Liu parried with the back of his blade, his wrist going numb from the impact, almost dropping the knife.

It turned to pounce again. But its attack route was straight—the substation was narrow, with concrete bases of transformers and collapsed steel frames on both sides, making it unable to turn flexibly and only able to charge straight ahead.

Li Xuan seized the moment. In the brief instant it turned, he stepped forward, the tip of his spear precisely piercing behind its knee joint, twisting it horizontally. The sound of breaking bone was unusually crisp in the confined space. One of the zombie's legs lost its support, and its speed suddenly decreased.

It was still struggling. Blue arcs of electricity pulsed more violently across its body. It tried to leap with its other leg, but its speed was now less than half as fast as before. Li Xuan circled around it, avoiding direct confrontation with its charges and instead using his movement to wear it down. Each time it attempted to pounce with its remaining strength, the tip of his spear would strike its point of leverage beforehand, disrupting its rhythm.

Two minutes later, the zombie finally exhausted its last strength and collapsed to the ground. The blue arc of electricity flickered one last time before going out. Li Xuan pierced its ear from the side with a single shot, ending the battle.

He wiped the blood off the tip of his gun onto the zombie's clothes, then crouched down and used the tip of his knife to pry open the back of its head. Embedded above the brainstem was a translucent granule, larger than any crystal core he had ever seen before, and very soft in texture; a faint electric current could be felt when he pinched it between his fingertips.

A lightning-powered crystal core that has not yet fully awakened.

He put the crystal core into his pocket and stood up.

Old Ma leaned against the wall, wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth with his sleeve, his voice muffled: "Shouldn't I reinforce this shield?"

Uncle Si walked over, pulled him up from the ground, and bent down to pick up the shield with a deep dent. He activated his supernatural ability, and the dented metal slowly smoothed out. "I'll reinforce it for you when we get back tonight."

Xiao Liu walked over, rubbing his wrist. He glanced at the zombie corpse on the ground, then at Li Xuan. "Brother Li, could you teach me your stealthy movement technique?"

Li Xuan glanced at him. The young policeman almost slipped and fell on broken glass when he ran too fast during his first encounter with zombies, and he was almost tackled by a zombie that circled around him the second time. Now he said he wanted to learn how to move around.

"After we get back," Li Xuan said.

Xiao Liu nodded and gripped the knife handle tightly.

The setting sun painted the clouds on the opposite mountain ridge a hazy orange. Old Ma carried the newly reinforced shield at the head of the group, while Xiao Zhou counted spent shell casings as he walked. Xiao Liu followed behind Li Xuan, his steps more steady than before.

The group walked back along the newly cleared safety corridor. This street, which runs through the center of the county town, is now blocked off on both sides by armed police with sandbags. Occasionally, survivors can be seen leaning out of the residential buildings along the street to wave to them.

Fourth Uncle walked at the very back of the group. He glanced back at the substation, then looked away and caught up with the group.

Li Xuan walked in the middle of the group. His pistol had been disassembled into three pieces and put into a holster, while his Tang sword was tucked into his waistband. The lightning crystal core swayed gently with each step in his pocket, and he could still feel a faint, lingering electric current tingling at his fingertips. With this, perhaps he could test some of his ideas.