The Folded Road Home

On the day Zhang Cheng was diagnosed with ALS, he tucked the medical report into a hidden compartment and decided to climb an unknown peak to end his life. He had done the math: treatment was neither necessary nor possible. However, the appearance of a crashed alien warship interrupted his plans. Blue light devoured everything. When Zhang Cheng awoke again, three years had passed, and the world had changed beyond recognition. An unfamiliar celestial body had replaced the sun, and Earth was packed with dozens of alien civilizations. The terminal of the alien warship brought him back to life and offered him a choice: recover the “information nodes” scattered across Earth by the warship in exchange for a chance to be completely cured of his illness. He agreed. But Zhang Cheng had not expected the journey to be so difficult. Each time he recovered an “information node,” the mutations in his body grew more severe. Until, at the end of his return journey, Zhang Cheng stood before his final choice: What was it that he truly sought?