New Department

In his communications with Caesar these past few days, the prince from another world had clearly pointed out that the Pro Gods had meticulously prepared a large number of monsters to release onto Earth.

Especially a creature known as the Klo Demon.

This creature was not aggressive, nor was it poisonous or harmful, but its reproductive ability exceeded the bounds of normal species.

Klo Demons would have an enormous impact on the food chains of normal ecosystems. Many places in Pro World had once been devastated on a massive scale by Klo Demons, and none of the existing spell systems had an effective means of countering their invasion.

Caesar was deeply worried about whether Earth, which lacked magic, could withstand the Klo Demons' first wave of attack before its ecosystem completely collapsed.

Xu Nan had been led astray by his pessimistic warning.

Now, he suddenly wondered whether His Highness Caesar had some misunderstanding about the term "large number"!

At the same time, the Appraisal Technique results came out.

Meticulously Cooked Klo Demon

Species: God-Created Creature

Xu Nan chuckled. Just as he had expected.

He searched it up and discovered that Green-Skinned Lobsters had indeed appeared three years ago.

They were mainly found in the lakes and rivers of China's southeastern provinces, especially in the neighboring province.

When they first appeared, no one paid them much attention, because they looked far too much like ordinary lobsters. Only their shells turned a slightly different color after cooking, but otherwise, they were basically lobsters.

The neighboring province had always been known for its fierce folkways, its people good at eating and fighting. When someone tasted what might have been a new species of lobster, they found it exceptionally delicious, tender, and fresh.

Someone sent one to a laboratory for testing and discovered that it was harmless, with quite a high protein content.

Then came the hype from merchants and the momentum stirred up by Weibo marketing accounts. For a time, a craze for eating Green-Skinned Lobsters swept across the entire country!

In just three years, people had nearly eaten the things into extinction!

The merchants had not even figured out how to farm this new species of lobster yet.

Some people called on Weibo for everyone to restrain themselves and pursue sustainable development instead of eating Green-Skinned Lobsters into extinction.

It had to be said that when it came to eating, the Chinese people were still pretty savage.

When Xu Nan read those reports, he found them utterly ridiculous, yet everything made perfect sense.

There were also photos and warnings on Weibo about certain remote rural villages being attacked.

But such posts had all been drowned out by the lobster craze.

Some people had even started arguing over whether Green-Skinned Lobsters tasted better with thirteen spices or with the newly invented method of steaming them and pouring white vinegar over them.

A bunch of people with way too much time on their hands.

Xu Nan silently put away his phone. He had basically figured out the situation.

The future he had seen still contained uncertainties. Earth would indeed suffer many wounds when facing Pro World's invasion, but perhaps not now.

At the very least, during their first invasion, the Pro Gods had not figured out what kind of civilization they were dealing with.

According to Caesar's description, Pro World's main plane might not even have a hundred million people.

Even if the heroic spirits of World God Kingdom and the Birdmen were included, their population probably still could not match Earth's. Only by counting the cannon-fodder creatures crowding the Abyss and Hell would the two sides have enough numbers to put up a fight.

What they considered a large number might be nothing more than a piece of cake to Earth.

Especially China.

The monsters released on the First Day could not possibly have been very high-level. Xu Nan suspected that most of them were fierce beasts like wild boars, wolverines, and tigers, or monsters with a small number of supernatural abilities.

But those monsters would have had an especially limited impact on China.

After all, urbanization was severe now. Other than a few remote rural villages, such creatures appearing in major cities would have been little more than a drizzle.

Especially for the people in the neighboring province, when they discovered signs of wild beasts appearing in the mountains, most people's first reaction was not to run, but to grab their gear and head up the mountain to hunt.

Although the forestry authorities issued several ambiguous warnings, they still could not stop everyone's enthusiasm for heading into the mountains to eat game.

As long as Earth's physical laws had not changed and modern firearms could still be used, the Pro Gods would find it difficult to bite through the hard bone that was Earth.

Xu Nan guessed that the Pro Gods had probably begun using divine arts to alter Earth's laws across planes later on because they had encountered some trouble in the early stages.

Thinking of this, Xu Nan relaxed considerably.

The crisis might come, but at least not now.

After all, in a sense, the future he had seen was still reliable.

The Second Day was about a month away. Xu Nan still had enough time to grow stronger.

"What are you spacing out for? Come eat with us!"

Lü Junyi warmly called out, "I think your information might be wrong. In a few days, once things quiet down, I'll use my connections to find out whether there's really anything to this."

"For now, let's just enjoy some lobster together!"

Xu Nan tossed his worries and concerns aside and joined everyone in devouring the food ravenously.

That night, they ate a full thirty jin of Green-Skinned Lobsters.

Tang alone ate fifteen jin.

The next day, everyone came to Xu Nan one after another and said that the situation did not seem so dangerous after all. Everyone had their own matters to attend to, so they might as well split up and investigate the situation separately.

Xu Nan knew that the first wave of crisis had already passed, so naturally he did not object.

Lü Junyi and Shi Fanglin were the first to leave. These past few days, in order to make Shi Fanglin become a classholder, Lü Junyi had exhausted every idea, from clipping his nails and cutting his hair to piercing his ears and getting tattoos. The next step might really be removing his appendix!

Xu Nan also found it strange. Why had Shi Fanglin not become a classholder?

Gu Xiaomeng probably knew, but her condition was too harsh. She insisted that Xu Nan date her first, and Xu Nan had no intention of dating someone on his own team.

Letting her stay here, feeding and housing her, and even giving her lobster was already because her healing output was pretty good!

Dating? Not happening!

Qin Lele was the second to leave. The reason was unknown, but she said she would return soon.

Xu Nan figured her family was probably worried about her too, so he generously gave her leave.

Xin'er, on the other hand, seemed to have completely lost track of home after Shi Fanglin secretly hooked her up with an internet connection these past few days.

Maybe for her, as long as she had a room, air conditioning, and internet access, everything was about the same.

Xu Nan also found some time to go home.

He mainly wanted to find out what exactly had come during the first invasion.

The person he sought out was still Zhang Yingluo.

There was no helping it. The only person from the authorities he knew was his senior. Besides, Zhang Yingluo had messaged him over the past few days, telling him that he had better stay home and not run around.

It seemed that the Thousand Rays Society knew something.

It was still the café on Xin Kou Street.

Zhang Yingluo looked full of energy and carried herself with a valiant air. It seemed that the monster invasion these past few days had not caused the Thousand Rays Society much trouble.

"Have you been alright these past few days? As for the information you want, I can only give you a vague answer. I sent the specifics to your email. But the higher-ups won't keep it hidden for much longer."

Zhang Yingluo explained, "After all, the Thousand Rays Society is about to step out from behind the scenes and into the public eye. The reason everyone has still been hesitating these past few days is the name of the new department."

Xu Nan was shocked. "A new department?"

Zhang Yingluo nodded. "Originally, a nationwide classholder registration process was supposed to begin this Monday, along with the disclosure of some information about the other world. But because of the naming issue, the big shots argued for ages and wasted a lot of preparation time."

"How should I put it... The Thousand Rays Society was originally a makeshift group established by civilian experts. Although people with military backgrounds joined later, the big shots were still those who had returned from Pro World first. Their views differ somewhat."

"Some think Thousand Rays Society is fine, while others think it isn't formal enough and sounds a little small-time. Since we're stepping forward, we need a more imposing name!"

Xu Nan felt a little awkward. The reason he had not joined the Thousand Rays Society was that this name did not exist in the future, so he had assumed it was some cannon-fodder organization.

What if the new department changed its name and turned out to be an incredibly powerful force in the future? Wouldn't he have nearly missed the chance to latch onto a powerful backer!?

He hurriedly asked, "So has it been decided now?"

Zhang Yingluo revealed a trace of embarrassment. "It has."

"What name?"

Zhang Yingluo struggled for a moment, then said in a very, very soft voice:

"China Dragon Group."

"What the hell?"

"...China. Dragon. Dragon Group." Even a generous girl like Zhang Yingluo blushed a little!

"What kind of name is that?! The cringe level is completely off the charts!" Xu Nan mocked it with relief, because there had been no China Dragon Group in the future he had seen either.

Zhang Yingluo also had a headache. "I heard that some truly important big shot stood up and made the final decision after everyone had argued about the name for half the day."

"Rumor has it that the big shot randomly grabbed an internet novel from the early 2000s and chose the name while flipping through it..."

Xu Nan fell silent.

"Junior Xu Nan, the Thousand Rays Society has just changed its name and is expanding recruitment. We need people right now. Since you're a registered member, you can come help out too. The benefits for joining early are very good."

Zhang Yingluo began persuading him again. "Aren't you a Bard? I recently became an official member, so I can introduce you to a few Bard mentors."

"They have all been to the other world and returned alive. They're veteran soldiers from the East Bay Military Region engineering corps, and they're very formidable!"

Xu Nan thought it over and did not refuse. "Alright. I'll go take a look when I have time."

He also wanted to interact with other classholders.

After bidding farewell to Zhang Yingluo, Xu Nan went to the school and inadvertently drew plenty of attention.

After all, the vocabulary-memorization event he had held last time had made many couples remember Xu Nan's name.

Now that the monthly event had ended, Xu Nan had gained a large number of points and no longer picked on couples, but many people still held grudges.

Xu Nan did not dare linger. After checking on the recent progress of his coursework, he prepared to slip away.

At that moment.

Song Cheng emerged from some corner, looking utterly haggard.

He grabbed Xu Nan, his voice low.

"Dad."

"I want to talk to you about my mom."