The weather forecast had never predicted rain; in fact, the next few days were supposed to be completely dry.
Yet this rain had arrived, exactly as it had in Fu Qingdai's dream.
Su Jin's Adam's apple bobbed. He closed his eyes, a dull ache throbbing in his chest.
This world was supposed to have had a bright future.
Its people lived and worked in peace, their customs simple and honest.
Perhaps in another decade or two, it would have stepped into the information age and enjoyed a life just like Earth's.
Yet now, everything was ruined...
When he opened his eyes, Su Jin let out a long sigh, lowered his head, and mechanically continued wiping down the silver spear with trembling hands.
Only such numbing motions could temporarily suppress the terror in his heart.
The night slipped away in silence, the downpour raging the entire time.
The sun rose as usual, but the world was now dyed in shades of dark gray.
Having sat motionless through the night, Su Jin finally stirred. He dragged his heavy legs over to the window, staring outside in disbelief.
His mouth, tightly shut all night, fell open in shock.
It wasn't the sky that was dark gray—it was the rain!
In the dark, he had only been able to tell it was heavy rain, but now that daylight had come, he could finally see what it really looked like.
Sheets of torrential rain plunged like gray veils toward the earth, drifting like mist through the rippling puddles once they struck the ground.
Seeing this, Su Jin jolted!
*Wait, this is a good thing!*
He turned, sprinted out the door, and banged hard on Fu Qingdai's front door.
"Qingdai! Are you there?!"
"Brother, I'm here!"
Fu Qingdai, who had been curled up sleepless on the sofa all night, leaped to the door at once.
Leaning against the door, she asked worriedly, "Brother, what's wrong?"
"Did you see the rain?"
"I did. What about it?"
"What color is it?"
"Just normal. I don't see anything unusual about it. Is something wrong?"
"...Nothing. Just be careful. Whatever you do, don't touch the rainwater. I'm heading back."
"Brother!" Across the door, Fu Qingdai hesitated.
"What is it?"
"Nothing. You be careful too... and don't put too much pressure on yourself."
Su Jin gave an affirmative grunt and trudged back to his apartment, crestfallen.
The rain was gray—an anomaly visible to the naked eye. Even without a warning, ordinary people would never touch water like that.
That way, the risk of people getting infected and turning into zombies would drop dramatically, and state authorities would respond with the highest level of alert.
Yet while he could see how bizarre the rain was, nobody else could tell at all. It didn't improve the situation in the slightest.
As for why he could see it, it could only be explained as the Company working behind the scenes, or perhaps the power of the mask.
He had gotten ahead of himself—it was all rejoicing over nothing...
Back inside, Su Jin walked over to the dining table and stared at the rat cage sitting on it.
The cage full of rats had settled down considerably, now crouching inside to rest.
The anomalous weather outside hadn't alerted the animals either.
Still, that was within his expectations; these animals were meant for experiments.
If the rain could infect animals as well, survival in the wild would be virtually impossible.
The nocturnal instincts of wild animals far surpassed those of humans.
His primary goal was to test the physical performance and lifespan of creatures after zombification.
But now was not the time. He had to wait until his mindset was reset and his energy was fully restored before conducting such an experiment.
At the thought, Su Jin let out a bitter, self-deprecating smile.
A humanities graduate who went straight into sales after college—who would have thought that one day he'd be setting up control groups for biological experiments?
Looking away, he found his binoculars and walked to the window to observe.
Heavy as the rain was, it still couldn't stop the dedicated workers from marching dutifully forward.
Inside the residential complex, people could already be seen walking through the downpour in raincoats or under umbrellas.
Dark gray raindrops struck their bodies, eerily melting into their flesh and vanishing without a trace.
As for the passersby who came into contact with the eerie rainwater, for now they showed no abnormal reactions.
Worried, Su Jin lowered the binoculars and stood there, lost in thought for a while.
He opened the window, picked up the long-handled water ladle he had placed beneath the sill beforehand, and reached it outside.
After catching a shallow layer of rainwater, he tapped the ladle against the edge of the balcony to knock off any stray droplets on the outside, then pulled it back in.
The liquid in the ladle was just like the rain, a deep gray.
He carefully carried it into the kitchen.
Only after donning multiple layers of masks and a motorcycle helmet did Su Jin dare to switch on the stove and range hood, beginning to heat the rainwater over low heat.
In less than a minute, the thin layer of water boiled and evaporated.
The gray substance didn't rise with the steam; instead, like smoke, it settled and accumulated at the bottom.
With the slightest movement, the gray haze rippled within the ladle.
Staring at the gray mist, Su Jin's thoughts churned.
He had no way of knowing what this substance was, or if it could even be called matter.
However, for now, it seemed this thing didn't rely entirely on water as a carrier. High temperatures had no effect on it, it could be contained in a vessel, and it was still subject to gravity.
After some thought, Su Jin backed out of the kitchen and grabbed another ladle, along with two glass jars.
Scooping a bit of water with the ladle, he poured it slowly down the inner rim of the ladle containing the gray mist.
Seeing the gray mist dissolve back into the water, he breathed a sigh of relief.
That gaseous state was too dangerous and could disperse far too easily. Keeping it in water felt much safer and more controllable for observation.
He divided the gray water between the two glass jars and wrapped them tightly in plastic wrap to seal them completely.
One jar was placed on the balcony where direct sunlight could reach it, while the other was set in a shaded spot.
With all that done, a wave of exhaustion washed over him.
Checking his security measures and making sure he hadn't overlooked anything, Su Jin returned to the bedroom.
Lying on his side in bed, gazing at the heavy rain outside, his thoughts drifted.
Having stayed awake all night on edge, it was time to get some rest; otherwise, if an emergency arose, he wouldn't be able to handle it.
Upstairs and downstairs, people seemed to be shouting curses.
He didn't know how far this rain reached. He could only hope that places spared from the storm would realize the danger early and send rescue as soon as possible...
Exhausted, Su Jin rested his head against his spear and slowly drifted to sleep.
On the bedside table in the bedroom sat two radios.
One was an ordinary radio, and the other was also an ordinary radio.
Except one was preset to the FM band, and the other to the AM band.
At that moment, the radio preset to the FM band let out the static sizzle of low-frequency radio waves.
"This is... the Cen... Broadcas... Station..."
Jolting awake from his half-sleep, Su Jin bolted upright and grabbed the radio.
Fighting through the burning ache in his eyes, he began turning the dial.
With a few quick turns, the voice from the radio became clear.
"According to the latest bulletin from the Meteorological Bureau and the Global Environmental Monitoring Center: As of early this morning, abnormal rainfall of uniform intensity has been reported worldwide. Current preliminary assessments indicate that this precipitation event is widespread. Its duration and specific causes remain under investigation and analysis.
"...The scientific community is conducting a joint investigation into the causes, and there is no definitive conclusion at this time. The public is advised to stay tuned to authoritative official information.
"To safeguard personal safety and public order, the following precautions are advised: please ensure you carry rain gear when going outside, and ensure proper sealing... All follow-up developments will be broadcast simultaneously via radio and online platforms at the earliest opportunity. Citizens are urged to remain calm, respond rationally, and refrain from fabricating, believing, or spreading rumors."
"Ugh..." Su Jin clutched his head, feeling a needle-sharp throbbing in his temples.
It was actually... global rain... Nowhere to run?
Chapter 22