Parallel world, Donghai City.
Huff—huff—
In a fifty-square-meter apartment in Osmanthus Residential Complex, a young man of about twenty-two or twenty-three suddenly sat bolt upright in bed, gasping for air.
"Hadn't I been killed by the Skrull? How could this..."
Looking at the familiar surroundings, Su Yu hurriedly reached for the phone by his bed.
"May 29, 2120. This... I've been reborn?! And I came back to before the upheaval began?"
Su Yu stared at the date displayed on his phone, unable to believe it.
According to his memories, on June 1—three days from now—the Skrull would invade Blue Star.
The Skrull Star was a civilization somewhat more advanced than Blue Star, capable of exterminating Blue Star Humanity and completely occupying the planet within a month.
However, according to the game rules established by the universe's god-tier civilization—the Singer Civilization:
When an advanced civilization invaded a weaker one, the Singers would grant the weaker civilization a period of protection, along with a certain means of self-defense.
Thus, the Skrull's full-scale invasion was delayed for one year, until June 1, 2121.
At the same time, the Singer Civilization provided Blue Star Humanity with two means of self-defense.
First, Psionic Revival.
At that time, the psionic energy stored deep within the mantle would be fully activated, enhancing the strength of every Blue Star Human.
Second, a game with 100% realism—"Evolution."
Once Blue Star Humans reached Level 50 in "Evolution," they could manifest their in-game strength in the real world.
Unfortunately, when the upheaval first began in Su Yu's previous life, governments around the world did not know that "Evolution" could manifest one's strength.
By the time countries began taking it seriously and encouraging everyone to enter the game and explore, half a year had passed. The Third Expansion Pack had opened, and players had already reached Level 50.
One step behind, always behind.
On June 1, 2121, the fully prepared Skrull launched a massive invasion, wave after wave of attacks crashing down upon Blue Star Humanity.
And Su Yu had died in the battle against the Skrull.
Su Yu stared stiffly at the date on his phone screen, unable to speak for a long time.
Only after quite a while did he finally come back to his senses:
"'Evolution' should launch in three days. I have to buy a Game Helmet within these three days!"
"Also, when I log into the game for the first time, the Game Helmet will absorb all psionic energy within a five-kilometer radius. I'd better bring it near a Psionic Spring."
Muttering softly to himself, Su Yu began taking action and called the hotline to purchase a Game Helmet.
He was not the kind of person to sit around and wait for death.
As for whether his rebirth would trigger a butterfly effect and affect the fate of all humanity, he was not sure either.
No matter what, he would do all he could and leave the rest to fate!
Three days later, at 7:30 in the morning, Su Yu drove his beat-up little car to a secluded hill on the outskirts of Donghai City.
"Yunlu Mountain. This is the place."
Su Yu picked up the Game Helmet from the back seat and began climbing the mountain on foot.
The "Evolution" Game Helmet cost thirty thousand yuan, nearly draining all the savings he had accumulated during his year of work after graduation, but Su Yu did not care in the slightest.
Humanity was about to be destroyed. What use was money?
Carrying the helmet to the mountaintop, Su Yu looked out over the magnificent landscape and felt deeply moved.
At present, almost no one in the country knew of this obscure little mountain called Yunlu Mountain. But half a year later, its name would spread across the nation.
Due to Psionic Revival, twenty-four giant, 108 large, and 3,600 small Psionic Springs would open around the world, spraying psionic energy outward.
And the "Yunlu Mountain Psionic Spring" was the largest one in the world!
Time passed second by second.
"It's eight o'clock! It's time for 'Evolution' to launch. The upheaval is about to begin!" Su Yu's expression turned solemn.
Soon, the earth began to tremble violently.
The ground roughly two kilometers north of the mountaintop suddenly split open, revealing a bottomless chasm!
At the same time, immense amounts of milky-white and pale-purple psionic energy gushed from the opening, spreading in all directions as a torrent of psionic energy shot into the sky.
"How beautiful!" Su Yu narrowed his eyes as he watched the "pillar of psionic energy" that had already taken on physical form.
The Psionic Spring appeared to be a gift from Blue Star to humanity, capable of enhancing everyone's strength. But Su Yu knew that it was also one of the roots of humanity's suffering.
In about an hour, a Skrull spaceship would arrive here, seize the Psionic Spring, and build a base.
Not only would humanity fail to enjoy any benefits from the Psionic Spring, but the Skrull would use the energy within it to create vast numbers of terrifying monsters, bringing humanity enormous trouble.
For that very reason, having the helmet absorb the psionic energy here would not harm humanity at all. Instead, it would weaken the Skrull.
It was killing two birds with one stone!
As soon as he saw the psionic energy erupting from underground, Su Yu quickly put on the Game Helmet.
"Enter the game!"
"Loading 'Evolution'..."
The familiar game prompt sounded in his ears. Su Yu's consciousness connected to the helmet, entering the deeper world of the game.
"Ding! Psionic matter detected nearby. Absorb it?"
"Yes!"
"Beginning absorption. Please wait."
Outside, the massive psionic energy shooting into the clouds seemed to be drawn by an invisible force, all of it surging toward Su Yu on the mountaintop.
Endless psionic energy wrapped around him layer upon layer before being absorbed by the helmet.
Within the game, the Psionic Value on Su Yu's status panel also began skyrocketing!
One hundred thousand!
One million!
Ten million!
One hundred million!
In the end, his Psionic Value stopped at ten billion.
Su Yu could not help clicking his tongue.
Before his rebirth, he had entered the game half a year later. Back then, he had only obtained 11 Psionic Value.
But now, ten billion!
"Psionic Value absorption has reached the limit. Enter the game?"
"Don't enter. Exit the game!" Su Yu made his decision quickly.
An hour later, the Skrull spaceship would arrive here. He had no intention of becoming the first human captured alive by the Skrull.
After exiting the game, Su Yu removed the helmet.
Because the helmet had absorbed almost all the psionic energy in the area, the Yunlu Mountain Spring to the north had become feeble and listless, completely lacking the majestic force with which it had erupted moments ago.
Su Yu had no time to worry about that. Clutching the Game Helmet, he hurried down the mountain.
At the road at the foot of the mountain, Su Yu got into his beat-up little car, floored the accelerator, and drove away from Yunlu Mountain.
An hour later, a rift several kilometers wide tore open above Yunlu Mountain.
A brownish-gray spaceship two hundred meters long descended onto the summit of Yunlu Mountain.
Inside the ship, a female Skrull pilot with light-green skin reported to her superior:
"Commander, No. 001 Giant Psionic Spring has developed an anomaly. Its output is only equivalent to that of a small Psionic Spring."
"How is that possible?" The male Skrull commander seated in the main control room looked astonished. "Could we have landed in the wrong place?"
"No, sir. The coordinate data is completely normal."
"Then we'll land here. Follow headquarters' orders in all things," the Skrull commander said.
"Yes, sir."
Before you continue