Biochemical Dynasty

Biochemical Dynasty is a long post-apocalyptic science-fiction novel by the web author Dreamcatcher, first published on Zongheng Chinese Network. It runs about 1.45 million characters over more than 550 chapters and is complete; no officially published print edition is currently known. The story opens with a biochemical disaster sweeping the globe: a lab leak and the spread of a virus reduce cities to ruins, and human society collapses amid hunger, fear, and despair. The protagonist, Li Lang, was originally a university student; he dies in the disaster but awakens as a zombie that retains its self-awareness—he "no longer has a heart," yet still has desires, memories, and obsessions. In the wasteland he discovers he can evolve by devouring his own kind and mutated creatures, and the bony armor that grows from his left arm, "White Feather," possesses the ability to compute and replicate, becoming his capital for survival. The work unfolds as a survival narrative from a zombie's perspective: evolved zombies of various factions hold their own territories in the city districts, human fortresses are rigidly stratified and twisted in their humanity, and the Survivors' Alliance, the Pioneers, the Corpse King Society, the insect swarm, and secret experiment sites appear in turn. Torn between hunger and reason, Li Lang continually makes moral choices and forms complex relationships with Tan Kai, Wu Tian, Su Yu, and others—loyalty and protection alongside betrayal and scheming. As the plot advances, the scope expands from wasteland survival to fortress warfare, corpse-tide offensives, and even cosmic-scale civilizations and star-tier systems, ultimately leading to layer upon layer of questioning about "what it means to be human."