Reborn One Week Before the Apocalypse

Chapter 282: Chapter 272: Cruel Reality

”These images are just projections. They’re meant to create a prosperous and harmonious atmosphere because the authorities are afraid empty streets would affect public morale. If the radar hadn’t detected a strange plant at this location, do you really think we’d be out here wasting our energy instead of staying comfortably at home? Technology is so advanced these days, there’s absolutely no reason to go outside.”

The men’s gazes on Tang Mo slowly filled with pity. ’How pitiful. There must be something wrong with this woman’s head for her to ask such a stupid question.’

In this world of high-tech and new energy, AI could handle most jobs. Humanity had long been freed from arduous labor and was now simply enjoying life.

The issue of environmental pollution had also been solved long ago. With the advent of new energy, many former problems were no longer problems at all.

Humans no longer needed to work. AI production and service protocols were pre-programmed for centuries in advance, allowing people to just sit back and enjoy a comfortable life.

As for things like plants and animals, which held no specific value or meaning, they had long since been purged to simplify the world’s systems.

The only species that remained were those that could be consumed by humans, and they were no longer seen in daily life.

This world, a world where even the concept of a pet no longer existed, felt cold and desolate. Tang Mo stared with a sense of loss at the small sapling clutched in the man’s hand, its roots still caked with soil.

Remembering the small, battered dog she had seen on the street earlier, a wave of desolation washed over her heart.

’Humans are so selfish. They’ve forced their way into becoming masters of the Earth, turning every other form of Life into an existence that merely serves them.’

’It’s as if any Life form that humans dislike must unconditionally vanish from the world.’

’But should it really be this way?’

’And do humans really hold such a high status on Earth as they imagine?’

Tang Mo watched as the men tossed the sapling into a bag like garbage, then quickly hopped into a new-energy car and sped off.

Soon, the men’s figures vanished down the street. The bustling crowds reappeared on the once-empty road, but this time, Tang Mo knew they were all projections, not real people.

Tang Mo saw the small, battered dog again. It was hiding in a corner behind the trash can next to her, tail drooping, curled into a ball as it licked its wounds.

Tang Mo knelt, gazing into the puppy’s wet, pathetic eyes. She couldn’t stop herself from reaching out to touch its blood-matted fur.

But as expected, her hand passed right through.

After licking the bleeding spots on its body, the puppy tucked its front paws under itself, curling into a tiny ball for warmth.

But the weather seemed freezing, and the ground was just as cold. Whether from the chill or from fear, the puppy’s body trembled uncontrollably, unable to stop.

Tang Mo remained kneeling there for a long, long time.

She was someone who had lived through two apocalypses. She had seen too much blood and far too many corpses.

She had killed countless mutant beasts and even many people.

And yet, even for Tang Mo, whose hands were long stained with blood, her heart couldn’t help but soften for this little puppy from a parallel dimension.

As Tang Mo watched the trembling puppy, her eyes began to well up with tears.

’In the peaceful world she came from, scenes like this must have been common.’

’Back then, people took their prosperous era for granted. They recklessly cut down green Life, drove these furry little creatures to extinction, and trampled them underfoot without a second thought.’

’At the time, people felt everything was as it should be, that they were destined to be the masters of the world.’

’No one recognized that humanity’s way was wrong. Or maybe many did, but to protect their own interests, they all silently became accomplices.’

Tang Mo thought of the wildly growing trees and plants of the apocalypse, of the mutant beasts that had become incomparably ferocious and filled with hatred for humanity.

It felt like she suddenly understood something.

People always regarded the apocalypse with fear, believing the rampaging plants and mutant beasts to be terrifying things.

But they never considered that the roles had simply been reversed. What humanity was experiencing now was nothing more than the life those plants and animals had once endured.

Tang Mo even felt that Heaven had been merciful enough, granting humans five physical attributes to help them survive the sudden, cruel environment of the apocalypse.

’In the world before, those plants and animals had no power to fight back. Their fates were decided by humans’ whims, and they didn’t even have the right to resist.’

’Perhaps this apocalypse exists to make people understand this. To make them understand what unforgivable mistakes they made in the past, and how they should coexist with Earth’s other living creatures in the future.’

’Perhaps, if humanity could one day realize all this and reconcile with the other Life on Earth, only then would the apocalypse truly end.’

Tang Mo looked at the fragile, vulnerable Life before her and suddenly felt that this apocalypse was not entirely without meaning.

’Even though she was human, that didn’t mean she unconditionally believed every decision humanity made was correct.’

Without her realizing it, a tear slipped from the corner of Tang Mo’s eye and landed squarely on the little dog.

It was clearly just a projection, yet Tang Mo clearly saw the tear strike the puppy, darkening a small patch of its fur.

Before Tang Mo could figure out what was happening, the puppy seemed to feel something land on it. It lifted its head and looked around.

Then, the puppy’s gaze locked onto something.

Tang Mo sensed it clearly: the little dog had definitely seen her. Her own reflection was visible in its pupils.

She didn’t know why, but at that moment, Tang Mo knew she and the puppy existed in the same space.

Seeing Tang Mo, the puppy got up and trotted over to her feet on its little legs, sniffing left and right.

This human was different from the ones who had bullied it. The puppy didn’t smell any danger on Tang Mo; instead, it felt a sense of warmth.

Tang Mo carefully extended her hand again. The puppy gently licked her fingertips, a gesture of trust and friendship.

Even after suffering so much, this tiny Life was still willing to trust a human. Tang Mo’s already tear-filled eyes grew even redder.

The moment Tang Mo felt that warm, wet sensation, the world before her eyes slowly began to blur.

Tang Mo knew she was about to emerge from this Illusion Realm.

In the final moment, she waved to the little dog.

”I’m sorry. I’m really sorry.”