Fifteen hours after the major earthquake in the Sacred Landica.
In the Xiaweier Islands located in the central Pacific Ocean, people were watching the waves by the shore.
A tsunami warning had been issued here long ago, but since the islands were too far from Sacred Landica, many residents didn't take it seriously.
However, they soon paid the price for their actions. The first wave was just over a meter high, the second reached three to four meters, and subsequent waves surged to over ten or even twenty meters, swallowing all the coastal houses on the Xiaweier Islands.
The seawalls were breached, and the port was left in ruins.
The tsunami caused nearly a hundred casualties on the Xiaweier Islands.
Those who died were mostly tourists who refused to believe the warnings.
Most of the local residents had already evacuated to avoid the tsunami.
Soon, videos of the Xiaweier Islands being hit by the tsunami were uploaded to online platforms, drawing comments from netizens worldwide.
Some couldn't understand why people were still playing or watching the waves by the shore despite the early warning.
Wasn't that just asking for trouble?
With current human technology, natural disasters like earthquakes and tsunamis are virtually unstoppable once encountered.
Next, the west coast of the Far Star Union was also struck by the tsunami, resulting in losses of hundreds of millions of dollars—not even counting the damage to the Xiaweier Islands.
The economic losses for the Xiaweier Islands in this tsunami exceeded 500 million dollars.
At the exchange rate of 1:5 with the Great Xia Nation, the Far Star Union's losses surpassed 4 billion yuan.
Yet, the tsunami didn't end there.
It traversed the entire Pacific Ocean and reached the eastern coast.
By the time this tsunami, which had swept across the Pacific, arrived at the many island nations thousands of nautical miles east of the Great Xia Nation, the waves were still over ten meters high.
This caused severe damage to numerous island nations.
Over 50,000 houses were destroyed, thousands lost their lives, and economic losses exceeded 200 million dollars.
Even some island nations hundreds of nautical miles south of the Great Xia Nation's southernmost waters were affected by the tsunami, leading to widespread flooding.
Tens of thousands of houses were destroyed, directly displacing tens of thousands of people and triggering floods, mudslides, and other disasters, resulting in economic losses of 312 million dollars.
The affected areas were too numerous to list individually.
Some islands were completely submerged, with losses impossible to estimate.
The impact of this major earthquake didn't stop there—some volcanoes were also affected, either preparing to erupt or already erupting.
An undersea volcano might even unleash something massive.
Thanks to the protection of its many outlying islands and neighboring island nations, the Great Xia Nation remained completely unscathed by the tsunami.
...
In the doomsday shelter group chat.
The group used this major earthquake as a case study for heated debates and discussions.
Some members argued that since even an earthquake of this magnitude had occurred, the apocalypse was undoubtedly coming, and preparations needed to be made as soon as possible.
Others believed there was no need to rush, suggesting they should wait and observe further, as stockpiling supplies now might leave them vulnerable to price gouging by unscrupulous merchants.
Recently, the prices of some emergency food supplies had risen.
Most of the supplies stockpiled by group members were related to food—specifically, high-energy, long-lasting options.
High-Energy Food could provide crucial energy in emergencies, such as chocolate and nuts.
Shelf-stable foods like compressed biscuits and canned goods have long shelf lives and can be stored for extended periods.
Then there are ready-to-eat foods...
Recently, the climate on Blue Star has become increasingly erratic—extreme heat, typhoons, torrential rains, floods, earthquakes, tsunamis, you name it.
No wonder the group chat members were so fervently discussing it.
Moreover, the group members came from all over the country, all of them die-hard believers in the apocalypse. It'd be strange if they weren't fired up.
Soon, someone posted pictures.
"Check this out (pics, pics). How much supplies could this wall of canned goods trade for when the apocalypse hits?"
"That's nothing. Look at mine (pics, pics, pics). I've got a whole underground warehouse full of bullets and firearms. Who the hell would dare rob me? Without this stuff, hoarding supplies is pointless—no sense of security."
"Damn, you're next-level. Even got rocket launchers?"
"This? Just a small part of the collection."
This guy, whose location showed he was overseas, was flexing again.
But to be fair, having an underground arsenal abroad was indeed impressive. He often shared videos of his solo survival training in the wild, along with shooting clips.
In the apocalypse group chat, those who knew they lacked the financial means stayed silent.
Only the big shots dared to speak up now.
Meanwhile, Li Dong was at the Shelter construction site, thoroughly entertained by the chat.
He wanted to get his hands on a few high-powered, precision firearms from Far Star brands.
But unfortunately, firearms regulations in Great Xia were strict—just getting past customs was impossible.
Li Dong had a gun license and a few civilian-permitted firearms, but he wouldn't dare flaunt them online like this.
Great Xia's legal order was still intact, and so was its enforcement. Even with a license, you had to keep a low profile.
Otherwise, if the Great Xia Firearms Safety Bureau caught wind of it, his next license review might end in revocation.
"I'm posting a video in the group. Don't share it outside. No one saves it either. Admins, lock it down—no downloads allowed."
The big shot announced in the group, then @'d all the admins.
Every admin was immediately summoned.
This guy's full username was Hunter Zhang Ge. According to him, he currently lived in a small country within the Europa Federation.
"That secretive? What kind of video?"
"And no downloads. Admins delete it right after viewing."
"@everyone, come watch the video."
"What video? Some hot girls?"
"Don't interrupt. Read the chat."
About a minute later.
Hunter Zhang Ge finally posted: "It's up."
"[Video] File"
Li Dong clicked immediately. The footage was dark, but not due to poor filming.
Then he heard low, guttural growls and footsteps—not like those of tigers or leopards, but eerily human.
The kind of agonized, rasping groans that made your skin crawl.
The person filming kept moving forward. From the surroundings, it was clearly the wilderness.
No—more like a battlefield.
The surroundings were filled with abandoned houses, a wasteland as far as the eye could see, shrouded in the haze of gunpowder smoke.
Soon, the person filming the video entered an underground room and captured footage of someone strapped to a medical stretcher.
On the screen, the person on the stretcher didn't look human—more like a savage beast devoid of humanity. Part of their left face was severely decayed, with some teeth exposed.
Their pupils resembled dead fish eyes, yet they stared intently at the cameraperson. Their hands were grotesquely deformed, even thicker than a gorilla's arms.
Blue liquid continuously dripped from the corners of their mouth.
The figure struggled violently, clearly trying to attack the cameraperson, but the restraints were too strong to break free.
The video ended there.
After watching it, Li Dong exited only to find the video had already been deleted.
"What kind of video was that? A new zombie movie?"
One group member commented after viewing it.
Hunter Zhang Ge replied, "No. An old comrade sent this to me. He said it was filmed on the battlefield in the Death Zone of Kulantot. One side allegedly deployed some kind of virus—similar to the Biohazard Virus in movies. If bitten, there's a chance of infection."
"Huh?"
"Seriously? Zhang Ge, don't scare me like that!"
"It's over. The zombies are coming."