In the world after nuclear winter, only rust-colored winds and ruins that devour people remain. Lin Mo scrapes by among the ruins of Yunzhou with a half-crippled body. His only wish is to keep his sister, who coughs up blood, alive. Desperate to trade for a dose of antibiotics, he takes a dangerous chance, only to find a girl who shouldn't exist in the trunk of an abandoned SUV: a white dress like a dream from long ago, pupils of molten gold, and a blue glow on her wrist like a dying star.
The moment she opens her eyes, alarms ring across the wasteland. The marauders' off-road vehicles churn through the dust, the roars of mutants pierce the thick fog, and even secrets buried deep underground begin to tremble. Only then does Lin Mo realize that this girl isn't salvation, but Pandora's box. Her memories hold the truth behind the old world's destruction, the key to fighting the Corruptors, and the coveted "Spark Project" of a certain faction.
With the Vulture Gang's blade at his throat, his sister's breathing growing weaker, and the blue glow on the girl's wrist illuminating the resolve in Lin Mo's eyes, the scavenger who only wanted to survive finally grips his rusty rifle. He will take his two "troubles" and break through the encirclement, even if the darkness ahead is deeper still. After all, in this scorched land, those who survive must be more ferocious than monsters and more tenacious than secrets.
And the past buried beneath the dust will, at last, bare its bloodstained fangs in the rusted dawn, reflected in the girl's golden eyes.
