Apocalyptic Gratitude Duck - Chapter 1

Ten years into the apocalypse, Earth’s largest safety base was reduced to rubble overnight.

Amidst the ruins, the grotesquely mutated Call Duck loomed, its massive, ashen wings riddled with bullet holes. Yet it remained a formidable force, leading countless advanced mutated creatures in relentless assaults on the base. Mountains of human corpses piled up, but even these could not halt its advance.

The duck’s webbed foot crushed the last flagpole of the safety base, leaving another layer of dust on its already grimy foot. Kexin glanced down, and her master’s voice suddenly echoed in her mind:

Kexin is the cutest duck in the world, and her feet must always be clean.

Tears streamed down Kexin’s face. Her master was gone; no one would wipe her feet anymore.

The relentless march finally halted. She surveyed the wreckage, her gaze settling on the battered protective barrier. With a sudden, frenzied impulse, she charged toward it, her mangled wings flapping wildly as she cleared the collapsed defensive structures. She began digging frantically at the frozen earth beneath the barrier, clawing through the ice and snow. After what felt like an eternity, her claws finally brushed against a familiar fabric.

The digging slowed to a gentle, painstaking pace as Kexin carefully excavated the frozen soil covering the corpse. Finally, the face of the frozen young woman was revealed.

Kexin let out a hoarse cry, barely audible, and nestled her head against her owner’s chest. She wrapped her wings protectively around her owner’s ice-cold body, radiating dependence.

Her dirty paws curled up as Kexin blissfully narrowed her eyes. She gave her owner’s palm one last nuzzle before closing her eyes.

An eternity passed, so long that Kexin felt she had already gone to Duck Star. Suddenly, a ding echoed in her empty mind, like a heartbeat.

Kexin opened her eyes, her body enveloped in warmth like sunlight, brimming with energy.

She lay in a warm yellow duck nest, cushioned by a soft pad sewn by her owner, still carrying the lingering scent of her owner’s body heat. Before her were two custom-made bowls, each adorned with a gold-plated duck emblem.

The bathroom door creaked open, and Kexin’s gaze fell upon a pair of familiar yellow duck slippers. Looking up, she saw a woman with chestnut-colored, slightly curled hair, clad in a white nightgown. Her long, fair legs were visible as she dried her hair with a towel, the damp strands still carrying a hint of warmth.

Her demeanor was gentle and serene, her features bright and lovely. Her peach blossom eyes curved slightly upward, her lips held an alluring color, and even when she wasn’t speaking, a soft smile always lingered on her face. Noticing Kexin staring at her with adoration, her lovely eyes curved into crescents as she beckoned Kexin with a crooked finger.

Kexin’s eyes stung with emotion. She hopped off the small cushion, her wings flapping as she shot like a little cannonball to her owner’s feet.

Qiao Yanyu set down the towel in her hand and picked up Kexin with the other. “Feeling better today, Kexin?”

Kexin narrowed her eyes, letting out a contented quack: “Quack!” The warmth of the moment suddenly brought tears to her eyes, and she nuzzled Qiao Yanyu’s chin with an insatiable longing.

Kexin had hatched from a tiny duck egg that Qiao Yanyu had incubated in a temperature-controlled box. As a youngster, she loved to play hide-and-seek by squeezing into tight crevices. Before Qiao Yanyu settled on a name for her, she would call out “Duckie!” to coax her out, and over time, Kexin learned to respond with a simple “Quack!”

Qiao Yanyu stroked Kexin’s fluffy little head and casually tore open a packet of dried fish snacks from the table. “Want a little snack?”

Kexin pressed her round little head against Qiao Yanyu’s palm, savoring the warm, familiar scent of her owner. It was her absolute favorite.

Qiao Yanyu felt a tickle in her palm from Kexin’s movements, and she smiled softly, lips pursed. She poured all the dried fish into Kexin’s food bowl, then turned to grab the pitcher of cold water from the table and filled the water dish. “Come and eat.”

Kexin sniffed the air, the aroma of the dried fish tantalizing her. It had been so long since she’d had any, she wanted to save it for later.

But her duck beak opened wide, unable to resist the temptation. In one gulp, she swallowed the entire bowl of dried fish, her cheeks puffing out comically. Then she froze, as if choking.

Qiao Yanyu gasped, quickly patting Kexin’s back and prying open her beak. “Kexin, spit it out quickly!”

She managed to pry open a tiny gap, only to find Kexin’s beak completely empty. She chuckled in disbelief, pinching Kexin’s little beak. “What’s the rush?”

Kexin’s eyes widened in confusion, her mind going blank. Her dried fish was gone—vanished the moment she swallowed it!

Kexin jumped up and down in place, searching in circles for her fish treats but couldn’t find any. She looked at Qiao Yanyu, looking pitiful.

My little fish treats are all gone! I can’t find them!

Qiao Yanyu was momentarily startled, but as an amateur duck language expert of level ten, with years of duck-raising experience, she quickly understood the meaning behind Kexin’s cries.

She’s looking for food, but didn’t she just finish a whole pack of fish treats?

Their puzzled gazes met. Suddenly, as if struck by divine inspiration, a fish treat rolled out from somewhere with a clunk, and Kexin’s cheeks puffed up again.

It was as if a 20-square-meter storage unit had materialized inside her body. The fish treat had emerged from this hidden space. With a thought, Kexin sent it back. She repeated this several times, thoroughly enjoying herself.

With this space, she could store both her own and her master’s food. In her previous life, without such a space, many stored foods had been ruined by mutated animals. This time, she and her master would live well, never going hungry or struggling to sleep from hunger again.

Seeing that Kexin had stopped fussing, Qiao Yanyu rubbed her head. Suddenly, a phone on the sofa rang. She walked over, answered the call, and put it on speaker.

“Little Yanyu, has Kexin’s cold improved?”

“Kexin took her medicine yesterday, and she seems much better today. Have you and Brother-in-law arrived home yet?”

“That’s good. We just got home, and the weather forecast just announced a once-in-a-millennium meteor shower tonight. It should be quite a spectacle. Remember to make plans with your friends to watch it.”

Hearing the words “meteor shower,” Kexin’s pupils contracted. She followed Qiao Yanyu to the balcony, and when she looked up, she saw the sky filled with blood-red clouds, and dazzling meteors streaking across the sky, creating a spectacular meteor shower.

But before long, this meteor shower would become humanity’s nightmare. This was the opening act of the apocalypse. Southern China suffered widespread meteorite impacts. The substances released by the exploding meteors altered the physiological functions of plants, animals, and humans. No one escaped unscathed.

The blinding white light grew closer. Kexin quickly clamped her duck bill around Qiao Yanyu’s pant leg and yanked her forcefully back into the room. The force of Kexin’s tug caused Qiao Yanyu to stumble, forcing her to grab onto the glass door of the balcony to steady herself.

Just as she was surprised by Kexin’s strength, a sharp pain like a needle pricking her brain struck her. Her face paled, her fingers lost their grip, and she collapsed to the floor with a thud.

Kexin’s feathers bristled in anxiety, puffing out into a ball. She cautiously perched on Qiao Yanyu’s chest, listening for a steady heartbeat. Only when she heard the strong, rhythmic beats did her fluffy feathers relax in relief.

The surrounding area was now completely engulfed in the white light, making it impossible to see anything. All that remained was the soft pitter-patter of raindrops falling with the wind. Kexin’s duck feet felt weak, and she felt unsteady, knowing the mutation was about to begin. Ignoring her wobbly legs, she painfully plucked a feather from her own body. For a brief moment, her consciousness sharpened. Seizing the opportunity, she dragged her owner onto the carpet.

Guided by memory, Kexin staggered and stumbled toward the door and windows. When she heard the crisp clicks of the doors and windows slamming shut, she suddenly lost consciousness, her body collapsing to the floor.

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