Chapter 1 Tokyo: Mutation in the Rain Curtain
In February 2026, Tokyo had been drenched by rain for a full week. Neon lights on Shinjuku's streets blurred into hazy patches in the mist. Kawasaki Heavy Industries' biological laboratory was hidden three floors underground in an unassuming office building in Shibuya Ward – here, regenerative medicine research codenamed "Hera" was underway, aiming to repair damaged nerves by modifying rabies virus genes.
Researcher Junpei Watanabe stared at the monitor as the virus strain in the petri dish suddenly began to multiply wildly, with fluorescently labeled protein chains reorganizing at a rate far exceeding theoretical projections. He was about to hit the alarm when the lab's automatic door burst open. Security Chief Sato stumbled in, covered in blood, his pupils dilated into murky gray-white orbs, his teeth chattering loudly as he snapped them together in the rain...
Fifteen minutes later, at the Shibuya Crossing pedestrian scramble, an office worker holding a black umbrella suddenly lunged at a girl beside him. The moment his sharp teeth tore through her carotid artery, droplets of blood mixed with rain splattered across the white stripes of the zebra crossing. As alarms blared from every corner of the city, more figures poured out of subway stations, convenience stores, and office buildings – their movements stiff yet incredibly powerful, their nails scraping against the asphalt with a jarring screech.
The Japan Self-Defense Forces moved immediately to seal off Tokyo's core districts, but the virus seeped into the groundwater system through rainwater. In less than half a day, infection reports came in one after another from water supply stations in Yokohama and Chiba. Before the emergency meeting at the Prime Minister's Official Residence could conclude, communication systems were overwhelmed by a flood of distress signals. The last image flickering on TV screens showed Tokyo Tower's lights gradually fading as swarms of dark figures climbed its structure.
Chapter 2 New York: Bloody Opening Bell on Wall Street
At the same moment in New York, it was the evening of February 26 local time. In front of the Wall Street Charging Bull statue, the NASDAQ screen still scrolled with global stock indices, yet a group of suited traders suddenly fled down the street, chased by their ashen-faced colleagues – they were part of a business delegation that had entered the country at JFK Airport and spent two hours at Tokyo's Haneda Airport before boarding their flight.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) emergency response team arrived on-site within thirty minutes, only to find that conventional quarantine measures were completely ineffective. Infected individuals spread the virus not just through bites, but also via bodily fluid contact and even airborne droplets, with the shortest incubation period lasting only three minutes. More terrifyingly, some variants exhibited enhanced muscle mass, capable of smashing through bank bulletproof glass with ease.
Manhattan Island quickly descended into chaos. Luxury stores on Fifth Avenue were ransacked, but looters barely had time to tally their spoils before being swarmed by hordes of the infected crawling out of subway tunnels. U.S. troops set up defensive lines at the Brooklyn Bridge and Queens Midtown Tunnel; the muzzle flashes of M4 rifles wove into a curtain of fire in the darkness, but fallen zombies were soon buried by the surging tide behind them. The tires of tracked armored vehicles skidded in pools of blood, eventually tipping over and being overturned.
At the top of the United Nations Headquarters building, the Secretary-General gazed out at the spreading flames, his finger hovering over the nuclear strike button – yet satellite imagery showed identical mutations had already appeared on the streets of London, Paris, and Berlin. This catastrophe was no longer something any single city or nation could face alone.
Chapter 3 Between Two Cities: Salvation Across the Pacific
In a Tokyo underground shelter, Junpei Watanabe was among the few uninfected researchers. Amid the lab's ruins, he recovered partial data: the mutation of the "Hera" strain was no accident – special segments had been implanted into its genetic sequence, intended to create controllable "biological weapons." As he tried to crack the code, an odd noise suddenly echoed from the shelter's ventilation ducts. A winged variant burst through the netting – it was a carrier pigeon modified by the virus, with a microchip strapped to its wing.
The chip contained a message from a private laboratory in New York, run by Japanese-American scientist Lindsay Miyamoto. In her video message, she explained that the virus's spread had a "critical point" – when infections reached 15% of the global population, the strain would enter its second phase of mutation, transforming all infected into far more aggressive "Predators." The only way to stop this was with "Antibody Keys" hidden separately in labs in Tokyo and New York; only by activating them simultaneously could a global neutralization program be initiated.
With the key data in hand, Junpei broke through to Tokyo Haneda Airport under cover from remnants of the Self-Defense Forces. Meanwhile, Lindsay piloted a modified helicopter taking off from Manhattan, with the spire of the Empire State Building behind her already covered by a horde of the infected – like a broken sword plunged into a mire of blood.
Above the Pacific Ocean, two aircraft carrying humanity's hope flew toward each other. Below, countless mutated marine creatures rammed against ship hulls, and in containers floating on the water, infected individuals in uniforms from various countries could be seen struggling...
Chapter 4 The Final Line: Siege and Counterattack
When Junpei's plane landed at New York's LaGuardia Airport, the entire city had been completely overrun by the zombie horde. After meeting up with Lindsay, they decided to head to the underground lab beneath Wall Street to activate the keys – it was the only node in North America still capable of connecting to the global network.
Yet the horde seemed to sense their purpose, with millions of infected converging on Wall Street from every corner of the city. No longer mindless walking corpses, they moved in "tactical formations" under some unknown signal: massive variants led the charge at the front, agile crawlers swooped down from high-rises, and some even learned to wield simple weapons.
The defensive line contracted step by step, with rear guard soldiers falling one after another. Junpei was scratched on his arm. Just as he thought all was lost, Lindsay suddenly activated the lab's emergency system – high-frequency sound waves emitted from the building's exterior walls temporarily disoriented the infected. Seizing the opportunity, the two rushed into the lab and inserted both keys into the console.
The progress bar on the screen inched forward slowly as the lab's doors shook violently from repeated impacts. When it reached 99%, a Predator broke through the defenses and lunged at the console. Junpei threw himself in front of it, taking the blow as the keys synchronized in the final second.
Across the globe, pale blue neutralizing mist was released from thousands of pre-positioned stations. The infected bodies began to soften gradually, their frenzied movements slowing to a halt. New York's horde receded like a retreating tide, scattering across the ground. Sunlight pierced through the clouds and shone on Wall Street's ruins, and faint cries for help drifted from the distance – the voices of surviving humans.
Junpei lay in Lindsay's arms, watching carrier pigeons fly across the sky, a faint smile touching his lips. He didn't know who was behind the disaster, nor was he certain humanity could ever restore its former order. But at the very least, they had held the line for hope.