Chapter 1: Shi Yue Bai

Shi Yue Bai was awakened by the sound of a child crying.

She opened her eyes and looked at her own filthy, fan-sized, enormously fat hands.

Fan-sized... In that moment, a flood of memories not her own surged into her mind.

Coupled with the cries of infants rising and falling around her, Shi Yue Bai’s head felt as if it would explode.

She realized she had transmigrated into a post-catastrophe wasteland.

Here, everything—humans, animals, even plants—mutated without exception.

Even she herself, under the effects of mutative radiation, had undergone a transformation: from a delicate beauty into a 750-pound mountain of flesh.

For a moment, Shi Yue Bai wished for death.

She lay on the ground, struggling to sit up, but her immense bulk made movement nearly impossible.

Let alone getting up from the ground.

Someone beside her sighed.

“Yue Bai, you’re already like this. Don’t move around anymore,” a voice said.

“If you can’t breathe, there’s no way we can find a second dose of the strengthening agent to save you.”

Shi Yue Bai forced her heavy, flesh-laden chin up and turned her head toward the speaker.

By the flickering flames of a fire, a woman sat—a woman whose eyes were pure white, with no pupils.

Memory told Shi Yue Bai that this was her second sister-in-law.

Radiation had mutated all life on the planet, and humans were no exception.

Ordinary bodies were twisted into grotesque forms by the radiation: like Shi Yue Bai, now weighing 750 pounds, and her sister-in-law, whose eyes had been rendered blind.

And then there was the little niece in her sister-in-law’s arms, snot streaming down her face, her head disproportionately large to her frail body, a mess of short, tangled hair—her intelligence clearly stunted.

Shi Yue Bai was currently beneath an abandoned overpass.

After the cataclysm that nearly ended the world, the survivors of the Shi family lost their home.

Along with other survivors, they huddled beneath derelict structures, using scavenged tarps to create shelter.

During the day, those still able would venture out in search of food.

At night, everyone banded together to guard the perimeter of the overpass.

For in this wasteland, many mutated beasts had become ferocious, feeding on the few human survivors left after the disaster.

They prowled at night, hunting the defenseless.

Human authorities had not been entirely unprepared for this disaster.

Long before the catastrophe, two kinds of serums had been developed.

One could purify radiation.

The other could enhance the human body.

But after the total destruction of the factories, both serums became rare, reserved for mercenary groups and those at the top of the pyramid.

For a family like the Shi’s, to obtain even one was a miracle after unthinkable trials.

This time, Shi Yue Bai’s massive body had compressed her internal organs.

She suffocated, nearly dying on the ground.

The Shi family exhausted their only strengthening serum, injecting it into her.

The original Shi Yue Bai never woke again.

Instead, she—the present Shi Yue Bai—awakened in her place.

Shi Yue Bai sighed internally.

She had once been the high priestess of the Wu clan, battling for leadership.

Carelessness cost her everything; betrayed and killed by her own people.

Death was one thing, but to wake in this world and in this grotesquely bloated body?

What cruel fate was this?

Frustrated, Shi Yue Bai rolled off the pile of rocks she’d been lying on, her basin-sized face slamming into the stones.

Her sister-in-law, startled, quickly released her daughter and groped toward Shi Yue Bai.

“Yue Bai, are you all right?”

Shi Yue Bai lifted her large, pancake-like face from the rocks, spitting out small stones in annoyance.

“I’m fine, don’t come over,” she snapped.

She could see her sister-in-law, barely able to care for herself, still worried and wanting to check on her.

“Take care of yourself. Don’t worry about me,” Shi Yue Bai said, irritation in her voice.

From memory, the original owner had been pampered since birth, the princess of the Shi family.

Naturally, this upbringing left her with a litany of flaws—selfishness, arrogance, and more.

After being irradiated, her weight had spiraled out of control; even drinking water made her gain pounds.

She couldn’t accept this, hounding her family for the purification serum.

Her parents, tormented by her demands, could only take Shi Yi and Shi Er—who, though physically able, had regressed to the intelligence of young children—out scavenging daily.

They hoped to trade what they found for points to buy the serum for Shi Yue Bai.

The strengthening serum used on Shi Yue Bai had been a gift from the local militia captain, back when Shi Da was still in his right mind.

But the world collapsed too quickly; the militia disbanded, leaving only mercenaries.

Shi Yue Bai clumsily raised her giant, fan-like hand to her nose.

Her pancake face was now streaming blood from where it had struck the ground.

Outside the tarpaulin shelter came several male voices.

“The woman in this family looks good. Even if she’s blind, it won’t get in the way of our fun,” one said.

“Most importantly, all the men are on duty tonight. Not a single one left,” another replied.

Shi Yue Bai turned to look at her sister-in-law.

The blind woman’s face had gone pale with terror.

Her daughter, who had been cradled in her arms, babbled unintelligibly.

She tried to stand, but her thin, malformed legs couldn’t support her.

Before Shi Yue Bai could react, several towering, heavily furred men tore away the ragged tarp.

Her sister-in-law shrank into a corner, clutching herself, shaking her head desperately.

“Don’t touch me! My husband will be back any minute!”

“Go away! Leave us alone!”

Among the survivors under the overpass, the Shi family was the most intact. Not a single member had perished in the disaster.

But while they’d escaped the cataclysm, they hadn’t escaped radiation.

All had been severely affected.

What was crueler still: Shi Yue Bai’s sister-in-law, though blind, was of sound mind.

Unlike other simple-minded girls who didn’t grasp the intentions of these ugly men—she knew.

It was precisely because she understood that she was so frightened and disgusted.

A scream broke out; the narrow tarp shelter was filled with the niece’s wailing cries.

Shi Yue Bai, lying on the ground like a mountain of flesh, frowned as the men advanced on her terrified sister-in-law, grinning wickedly.

Damn it, did they think she was dead just because she was so fat and motionless?