Parallel Worldlines, Era of Mist (Part 1)

Natural History, while having an internal logic and connections between its knowledge points, isn't absolutely rigid in its structure. It's a subject that emphasizes the accumulation of experience. Even if you don't start from the very beginning, as long as you can read and understand, you can still acquire later knowledge points.

These knowledge points don't necessarily have to come from secret manuals; ordinary life experiences, reading newspapers, or books can all increase one's Natural History cultivation. This is why, even though Shi Tiexin was terrible at other subjects, he excelled in Natural History, achieving a "Good" rating.

Today, Shi Tiexin would search the history and geography textbooks for the answers he sought.

He first opened the history and geography textbook, scanning through it at lightning speed, looking for the information he wanted.

Nothing...

Nothing...

Nothing...

He flipped through the entire book, and there was absolutely nothing!

This geography book only recorded the geography and landforms of Donghua Nation, perhaps with some additions about the Pacific Ocean's hydrology and climate characteristics, but not a single description of other planets in the solar system.

This was impossible in Shi Tiexin's world!

How could one study geography without learning about Saturn's geography? How could one not talk about Saturn's rings and moons? This geography book described Earth's geography in great detail, meticulously and intricately, but it said nothing about the other planets in the solar system. There were only two possible explanations for this situation.

Either this world, this place, this region of Fengming First High School in Southern Zhili, had isolated and blocked information about other planets in the solar system, completely preventing ordinary students from accessing it.

Or, this world's exploration of other planets in the solar system was not profound at all. Even if they had some knowledge, they wouldn't make it public, or at least wouldn't put it into high school geography textbooks, or into secret manuals at the "Basic Natural History Third Level."

In Shi Tiexin's opinion, the latter possibility was more likely.

And if it were indeed the latter possibility, it would also indicate that the people here had likely not yet left Earth. The place he was currently in was not somewhere else, but precisely on Earth, in the central star of humanity's habitable zone!

So, the white jade disc he saw last night was actually the legendary moon?

It was said that these were views that only the important figures of the Central Star could enjoy.

The Central Star...

The lifelong aspiration of so many people!

Shi Tiexin's emotions surged, and he stood there in a daze for an unknown amount of time.

"Brother Shi, your, uh, homework, could you look at it..." Zhao Qingmiao's voice sounded from beside him. Shi Tiexin snapped back to reality, realizing it was almost time for morning reading. Zhao Qingmiao had come to collect homework as usual.

Shi Tiexin, as usual, replied, "Didn't do it."

"Oh, oh, okay, uh... I won't disturb you then." Zhao Qingmiao retreated without another word, showing none of the attitude a class monitor should have when facing a delinquent student who didn't do their homework.

Brought back to his senses by Zhao Qingmiao, Shi Tiexin finally set aside his wandering thoughts, composed himself, and reopened the history book. The Central Star was the Central Star, and while the fact that he was on the Central Star shocked him, it wasn't the most shocking or unacceptable thing among his many observations last night.

What truly stunned him were the stars.

Shi Tiexin flipped through the book rapidly, scanning line by line, constantly searching.

Ming Dynasty history, no.

Qing Dynasty history, no.

Late Qing, modern history, yes, this was it!

Shi Tiexin meticulously searched the historical records from the late Qing period onwards. He read it forwards, nothing. He read it backward, nothing. He carefully and diligently studied this period in the early 20th century of the Western calendar, scrutinizing every word, to the point where his progress in Natural History cultivation improved by several notches, yet he still couldn't find what he was looking for.

There was really nothing!

Shi Tiexin stared blankly for a long time, then flipped backward again. After modern history, it discussed the founding of Donghua Nation and the revival of the Hua ethnic group. It was all written out expansively, but there were still no records of what Shi Tiexin was looking for.

Finally, Shi Tiexin snapped the book shut.

Combining his observations from the past two days, the records in the books, and the sporadic messages from the dissolving consciousness in his spiritual domain, Shi Tiexin had basically confirmed that this world and his own world must be inextricably linked.

Looking at both worlds, their astronomical conditions and historical records were almost completely identical. Shi Tiexin had once thought he had transmigrated to another world, or to some colony planet, but he ultimately discovered that he had arrived on Earth.

The history recorded in the books, despite differences in detail, was no different from the history he knew. There were the same Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, the same Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, the same Tang, Song, Yuan, and Ming dynasties, the same Opium Wars; they were all the same.

Other aspects like language, writing, culture, customs, and even food, showed considerable consistency. If both worlds didn't have steamed buns, how could Shi Tiexin have called out the name of the big bun as soon as he entered the cafeteria?

And then there was himself.

The body he was currently in was also called Shi Tiexin. Not only was the name the same, but his appearance was also the same. He was a bit shorter, weighed less, and his physical fitness was much weaker, but these were all due to acquired factors like nutrition, development, and training, not innate issues.

He was almost certain that the body he had descended into had a high degree of connection with his counterpart in the other world.

It could be said that, for a considerable historical period, there were no discernible differences between this world and his original world that Shi Tiexin could see. With his knowledge base, these two worlds were almost identical.

However!

From a certain point in time, the two worlds diverged significantly.

That point in time was the year 1919 of the Western calendar.

Shi Tiexin pinched the bridge of his nose, closed his eyes, and began to carefully recall the knowledge recorded in the Natural History secret manual.

January 21, 1919, of the Western calendar, was a day that would go down in history. This day was also known as Mist Eve. On this day, the former United States across the Pacific discovered an astronomical phenomenon that shocked all of humanity. That was—

In front of Earth, there appeared a vast, incomprehensible mist.

Specifically, Earth and the other planets in the solar system were all moving forward through the universe along with the Sun. Ordinary humans could hardly perceive this change, but the solar system was indeed charging forward at an incredible speed. Since humanity began recording history, there had never been a single exception, nor a single accident.

But on January 21, 1919, astronomers discovered a colossal mist region on the solar system's trajectory, so vast that it was immeasurable, unimaginable, and incomprehensible.

Humanity saw it but could do nothing. Humanity knew, yet could not resist.

Around 5 AM on January 22, 1919, Central Star's East Eighth Time Zone, as if by fate, as if by destiny, the entire solar system plunged into the mist region in a completely irreversible manner.