March 21st, 2:54 PM — Longwan Mall Rooftop
John Wang POV
—
I didn't hear the alert. I felt it.
A weight settling in the air. Like every breath took longer. Like the rooftop suddenly tilted underfoot, pulling my thoughts in one direction and refusing to let go.
Mu Qinglan turned toward me, sensing the shift. Her eyes locked on mine. "What is it?"
I didn't answer right away. My system window glowed against my retina, text forming quietly, as if afraid of being seen. I scanned it, my jaw tightening with each line.
Not a Ghoul.
A horde.
And not just random shamblers or Crawlers. Stage 2 variants. Clustered. Moving in waves.
And something worse was guiding them.
I closed the window.
"Everyone," I said, voice low. "Get over here. Now."
The others stirred slowly—Yifei stood first, followed by Roulan, then Chen Xun and Liang Qiu. Zhou Xue stepped away from the edge. Even Deng Hua sat up straighter, eyebrows furrowing.
When they reached me, I tapped the side of my neckpiece.
