Age of Beasts

Age of Beasts is the third sci-fi apocalyptic novel by web novelist Yushui, following Rebuilding Civilization and The Post-Apocalyptic Super Merchant. About 1.16 million Chinese characters long and completed on Qidian, it opens with a global catastrophe: on June 1, 2013, a meteorite belt carrying unknown mutated genes passes through the atmosphere and falls into the four oceans, combining with marine organisms to generate hundreds of millions of black spheres within a very short time. Inside the spheres grow fierce beasts of varied forms and extreme aggression. Just seven days later, the monsters break out and begin landing along the coasts from the Indian Ocean; cities descend into chaos, and humanity faces a species-level survival crisis caught off guard. The protagonist, Zhou Liming, is an orphaned high school sophomore, withdrawn and insecure. After the catastrophe he is swept into the tide of flight and survival, meets An Xiaowei, Huang Dazhuang, and others, gradually awakens the special ability of a "gene inheritor," and grows stronger through real combat. As the situation escalates, human society regroups from defeat; the military forms Team X for a counteroffensive, and technological means such as nuclear strikes and railguns collide head-on with the beasts' physical power. Centered on the image of the "hunting ground," the book depicts Earth as a vast battlefield where humans and beasts are each other's prey, advancing through survival, development, and confrontation toward the ultimate question of who will be Earth's final overlord. It continues the author's post-apocalyptic wasteland tone, balancing power systems, factional conflict, and survival detail.