D is something to look at, but I'm wondering if the opportunity passed it by and it has become almost as wide/complex as C++. I never quite understood why D didn't go more heavily into application development, like Object Pascal, as a lane it could make more of a name for itself. Hard to be kind of similar to C++, going for same usage, and then to displace it. C++ is just so established and people so invested in it.
In the case of Zig, Vlang, or Odin, these are clearly more about being a step higher than C, but ease of use as well.
That is very unfortunate.
I have been looking into Zig since you and a few other people have suggested it. It is looking more promising the more I look into it. It looks like a pretty robust language with an active community.
Comptime feature is unmatched, it's not something weird as macro, you don't need to learn a new language on top of the language itself, it is zig code
You can crosscompile with EASE to what ever target you want
My 2nd choice would be D
Rust? you'll cry when you'll have to wait 10+ minutes to compile a single line change, and the code becomes quickly unmanageable, the community is sectarian, elitist, and will hate you for criticizing their "god" language
Go? best language for servers, not so good for anything that require low level