High Wall 1 is a gritty, realistic post-apocalyptic novel combining a great flood, class conflict, and Lovecraftian suspense. Extreme climate change causes global sea levels to surge. The cities of the old world sink beneath the waves, and an invisible wall cleaves human civilization in two. The elite at the top occupy Cloudhaven, a refuge high above the clouds, enjoying technology, resources, and eternal comfort as they indulge in nightly revels. The masses below are trapped in muddy, damp coastal shantytowns, risking their lives to dive into the ruins beneath the sea and salvage scrap metal, all for a meager living.
Chen Fei was once a prodigy at strategy. After the apocalypse, he becomes a lowly salvage diver, struggling on the brink of death. The deep sea is riddled not only with deadly currents and ruined structures, but also with eerie sea monsters that mimic human voices to lure divers to their deaths, an ancient civilization sleeping beneath the waves for tens of thousands of years, and traces of unknown evil gods. Sun Ping, a reporter with ideals of justice, ventures alone into the upper classes, hoping to expose the dark truth behind the capitalist wall.
The story follows two parallel threads, setting the extravagance of the upper classes against the suffering of those below in stark contrast. It depicts the struggle of human nature, the contest of desires, and the shackles of class amid disaster. There are no mindless power fantasies. With its gripping atmosphere, suspense, and realistic depth, the novel portrays ordinary people fighting to break through and survive, and the fiery humanity with which they resist injustice against the despairing backdrop of a flood-ravaged world.
