Doomsday Rebirth: Global Domination

"Ao Weiwei, even if I die, I will curse you to a wretched end!!"

In Room 444 of the Kyoto Wanli staff dormitory, a bizarre roar suddenly exploded.

Su Bai jolted upright in bed, his eyes bloodshot, his expression ferocious and terrifying—as if he were staring at a lifelong enemy he wished to tear apart and devour.

“No… how am I still alive? Where is this?”

His face pale, Su Bai swept his gaze across the room.

A shabby, dim space. Four bare beds. One guy sat with his back to him, wearing headphones, lost in a game.

Su Bai lifted his hand. The fingers were long, callused only lightly at the joints—no hideous cracks or scars.

A jolt like electricity shot through his body, and a wild idea flashed in his mind.

“I… was reborn?”

He studied the room again. The memories surfaced, faint but familiar. Even the gamer—his name was Wang… Wang something.

This was the Wanli factory dormitory, the very place he’d lived right before the apocalypse began.

The long-lost memories sharpened, crystal-clear.

“Yes, this is my dorm. My bed beneath me. And that stuffed toy—”

“It’s all right. It’s all right!!”

He covered his face, a grin stretching until it nearly split his ears. At last he couldn’t contain the excitement and burst into wild laughter.

“HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!”

“I’m back. Everything is back.”

“Ao Weiwei! Wang Zibo!”

“HAHAHA!!”

Even Wang Yiyuan, headphones on, heard the laughter. When he pulled them off, the sound only grew louder.

“Su Bai, what’s gotten into you? What ‘I’m back’—did you dream of the Dragon King’s return?”

Su Bai ignored him, slapped himself once to smother the laughter, and rolled off the bed.

In the adjoining bathroom he scooped a handful of cold water and splashed it over his face.

Only when the chill bit his skin did his heart steady.

“No rush, no rush… none of you will escape. Heh…”

He looked up at the mirror. Wet bangs clung to his forehead, revealing a handsome face.

For a moment he froze. He hadn’t seen this face in three years. That accursed monster had ruined everything—half the skin flayed from his cheek, leaving hideous scars that never truly healed.

After that, he never dared look in a mirror again.

“It’s beautiful…” he whispered.

Back on his bed, he dug the phone from under his pillow and unlocked it.

His fingers were clumsy; this was the first electronic device they’d touched in three years. What they had held most was his knife.

He opened the calendar.

【Planet Aqua, June 30 2044】

【7:22 a.m.】

Today. At exactly five this afternoon, that grotesque crimson sun would tear open the sky and rain down endless disasters and monsters.

He’d survived three years in that hell, on the verge of advancing to Ninth Rank, about to become humanity’s fourth pillar—when Ao Weiwei, the girlfriend who’d stayed with him for four years, suddenly led the siege against him.

…

“Su Bai, did you really think I could ever love you? Let me be kind and tell you the truth.”

“Actually, Wang Zibo and I were already together before the apocalypse—while you were working overtime to buy me that ring, silly boy.”

“Next to him, you’re nothing.”

“Your ugly face makes me sick!”

“After you die, your body won’t go to waste. You’ll become the cultivation resource for Zibo.”

“You’ll still accompany me in another form—be grateful, hahaha!”

…

Ao Weiwei’s hideous sneer was still vivid, every word ringing in his ears.

Never had he imagined that the “flower” he’d so carefully nurtured in the apocalypse had never belonged to him from the start.

Ao Weiwei!

Even thinking the name now made rage surge in his chest like molten lava, threatening to burn a hole straight through.

Before the apocalypse she had been his girlfriend—the icy, untouchable goddess of the Kyoto University department.

He’d been proud to have her, and until the moment he died he’d believed she loved him.

“Disgusting trash…”

The phone creaked in his tightening grip; he forced himself to relax.

A long breath. Calm.

He had no thought of stockpiling supplies or making preparations—only one thought blazed brighter and brighter.

I’ve been reborn.

The phone held Ao Weiwei’s contact. He could settle this early.

The idea alone made his hands tremble with excitement.

“Phone… the phone.”

Su Bai fumbled through the phone until he found the “Contacts” icon. Three years away from technology had wiped her number from his memory, but it had to be in there.

“The summer wind—I’ll always remember~”

“How clearly it said you loved me…”

The ringtone burst out, the screen flashing four big characters: 【Sweetie Wei~】

Ao Weiwei was calling him.

Su Bai exhaled slowly and tapped “Accept.”

Ao Weiwei’s cloying voice oozed through the speaker.

“Su Bai, I have to say sorry first. Today’s your birthday, but I probably can’t come. My advisor needs me for field study…”

All syrupy contrition, as if she had no choice.

A cold smile tugged at Su Bai’s lips.

Advisor? More like she’s going to be “tutored” by Wang Zibo.

Yet his voice stayed calm. “No problem. Do you have time right now? I earned some overtime pay and bought you a necklace.”

“A-hem—my advisor just stepped away, so I’ve got a little while. Where are you?”

“Meet me at the abandoned warehouse beside Jiangyang Bridge,” Su Bai answered after a moment.

“Okay~ But why there?”

Because it’s convenient for taking your life.

“It’s closer to my shift. Hurry—the necklace cost tens of thousands.”

There was a brief pause on her end, then the sound of slipping into shoes.

Su Bai killed the call, his face blank, only his eyes still blazing with hate no water could wash away.

He stuffed a clean change of clothes into a backpack, opened the dorm door, and stepped out.

By seven a.m. the hallways were already loud with smokers and storytellers of every stripe. Su Bai wore a gentle smile; nothing about him said “future killer.” He made an excuse to the gate guard, left the factory, and headed for the nearest shop.

From the knife display he picked the most expensive Western-style chef’s knife, added some high-calorie snacks and bottled water, paid, and hailed a cab straight to the warehouse.

He remembered the place because, after the apocalypse began, a Mythic-Grade loot chest would spawn inside.

【Chests】 were side-products of the cataclysm, yielding treasures, weapons, armor, spirit fruits…

Tonight, every survivor would awaken a unique talent and start cultivating life energy. Human ranks ran from First to Ninth Order.

Chest grades: White, Green, Blue, Purple, Gold, Mythic, Radiant.

A Mythic chest was sixth-tier—one in ten million odds.

In the previous timeline, it had gone to Ninth-Order War God and humanity’s second pillar, Wen Renlei. The “Mythic-chest start” became a legend in his rise, and that legend served Su Bai now.

“This time Ao Weiwei dies, and the chest is mine.”

The cab dropped him at the warehouse road. Su Bai climbed out and tossed the driver a red hundred-yuan note.

The driver snatched it and drove off as if ghosts were chasing him.

“Damn, that pretty boy’s eyes were scary…”

The warehouse, aside from thrill-seeking couples, saw almost no traffic.

“Perfect. I’m here for thrills too.”

Su Bai didn’t bother checking for onlookers. A quick scan, then he walked in.

The moment he stepped inside, he saw the figure he’d burned to meet in hell—Ao Weiwei.

In his last life he’d been an Eighth-Order War Sovereign, standing above millions, mind and talent unmatched—yet he’d fallen over a petty woman. Seeing her again, he almost laughed at himself.

Love really had blinded him; he’d never noticed her head-to-toe designer labels, the luxury bags. Any single item cost more than an average family earned in a year—far beyond what her supposed “ordinary” background could afford.

Ao Weiwei stood in the open space. When Su Bai appeared, mockery and delight flashed in her eyes.

A necklace worth tens of thousands? Barely acceptable—enough to let him touch her hand, maybe.

“Bai-Bai baby~ you’re here!”

“Mm.” Su Bai showed a gentle smile. “I’m here.”

“Where’s my gift? My advisor’s waiting.” She slipped her hand into his, coquettish.

“Wait. I want to see my birthday present first,” Su Bai said with a grin.

“Uh…” Ao Weiwei froze; she hadn’t prepared anything.

In fact, during their entire year together, she had never once given Su Bai a gift—only taken.

“Aiya~ I’m already your girlfriend. Isn’t that gift enough?” She recovered instantly, pouting.

“Really? You’re already mine?”

“Of course… but that still has to wait till we’re married…”

“It’s fine. Having you is enough.” Su Bai’s hand slid to the back of her head.

Ao Weiwei was still puzzling over his words when a glint of cold light flashed at the edge of her vision.

SHHK!

SPURT!

Ao Weiwei’s eyes went vacant. Blood sprayed from the slit across her throat, drenching Su Bai from collar to cuffs, white cloth turned crimson.

“Thank you for the birthday present—I truly love it.” Su Bai’s whisper drifted down as he let her fall, then threw his head back and laughed.

“HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!”

“Hk… ghh…”

Still faintly conscious, Ao Weiwei collapsed, blood bubbling from her lips, staring up at the man coated in her life. Terror filled her eyes.