Thanks for your hard work today, my generous patrons. Leave your brains here to rest. If I get writer's block, I'll randomly munch on a couple to test the flavor and replenish myself.
2027, Great Xia, Northern Bell City.
Outdoor temperature: 55 degrees Celsius.
The sun had already set, yet shimmering heat waves still baked the asphalt into soft, gooey toffee.
Braving temperatures hot enough to steam a person alive, Lin Mo rushed straight toward the gates of a military base built against a mountainside.
The sweat on his forehead evaporated as soon as it appeared, leaving only a white crust of salt.
Yet his gaze was unusually resolute.
"Halt! This is a restricted military area! Stop approaching immediately!"
Seeing someone rushing toward him, the fully armed sentry instantly went on alert. He stepped out of the guard booth and shouted a stern warning.
He leveled his rifle, its dark muzzle pointing straight at the approaching man.
My generous patrons, add this book to your library.
Ever since Blue Star's rotation had slowed and its magnetic field had developed problems, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, tsunamis, and other natural disasters had struck relentlessly. The loss of its atmosphere had even sent the global climate hurtling toward doomsday!
In just two and a half years, far too many people had been driven mad by the struggle to survive.
Every day, people tried to storm military bases and seize places in the underground cities.
The sentries had long since developed a conditioned reflex: treat any unidentified person approaching as a threat first.
"Don't shoot! I have something important to report!"
Lin Mo immediately stopped and shouted:
"I've discovered another world! A new world that can save lives!"
The sentry's expression did not change in the slightest.
He had heard that sort of thing so often his ears were practically callused.
Just last week, an old man had rushed over claiming to be the reincarnation of the Jade Emperor, saying he would summon heavenly troops and generals to save humanity.
"Final warning! Back away immediately, or face the consequences!"
Lin Mo gritted his teeth, burning with anxiety.
He knew how absurd his words sounded to other people, but what he held in his hand was enough to prove everything!
He was desperate to prove himself.
Without thinking, he took another step forward.
Bang!
A deafening gunshot rang out in every direction.
Without hesitation, the sentry fired a warning shot into the air, then trained his muzzle on Lin Mo's head again. His eyes were so cold it was as though he were looking at a dead man.
Lin Mo jumped in fright. One glance at the rifle in the sentry's hands sent cold sweat pouring down his body.
He really would shoot!
He immediately froze in place and raised both hands, not even daring to breathe heavily.
The gunshot alerted those inside the base.
Amid a jumble of footsteps and clattering metal, several soldiers carrying loaded weapons hurried out through the gates, escorting a field-grade officer.
"What happened?" the officer asked, his brows tightly knitted and his gaze sharp as a blade.
"Reporting, sir!" The sentry stood at attention and saluted, his voice ringing out.
"An unidentified individual approached the defensive perimeter despite warnings. I fired a warning shot!"
The officer looked Lin Mo up and down.
In his wrinkled T-shirt, which still carried a sour stink, he looked like nothing more than an utterly ordinary civilian.
Frowning, the officer said:
"Name? Take out your ID slowly."
Using two fingers, Lin Mo carefully pulled his identity card from his pocket and handed it over.
"Comrade, my name is Lin Mo. I'm not crazy. I really did discover another world!"
"That world has elves, magic, and an enormous World Tree!"
The officer's hand stopped in midair, still holding the identity card.
He pinched the bridge of his nose and let out a long sigh.
These goddamn times really were driving people into every kind of delusion imaginable.
"Enough. Spare me your crazy talk." The officer could not even be bothered to check the ID anymore. He casually tossed it back to Lin Mo and waved a hand as though shooing away a fly.
"Get the hell out of here! This is a military installation, not somewhere for a lunatic like you to run wild!"
With that, he turned to leave.
"Wait! I'm really not crazy!"
Now completely desperate, Lin Mo gritted his teeth, reached into his pocket, pulled something out, and held it high.
"This gemstone is something I brought back from the other world!"
"It's definitely not a substance found on Blue Star. If you don't believe me, you can have it tested right now!"
In the lingering twilight, an emerald-green gemstone the size of a quail egg rested quietly in Lin Mo's palm.
It was crystal clear, with a smooth, lustrous texture.
But what truly made everyone's pupils contract was the eerie fluorescent green glow it emitted all on its own.
The officer, who had already turned to leave, stopped in his tracks.
He had been thinking irritably that he might as well have this lunatic arrested and beaten into behaving, rather than let him keep making a scene here. What would it look like if his superiors noticed?
Then he saw the gemstone...
His eyes went from confused to wide open in an instant. Like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, he felt his scalp practically explode with alarm!
Anyone who had completed nine years of compulsory education knew this.
In nature, an unidentified mineral that emitted such intense fluorescence on its own most likely meant one thing:
Lethally high radioactivity.
Radium-226, polonium-210, strontium-90...
Every one of them was deadly. It was no exaggeration to say that a piece of radioactive material this size, no bigger than a pigeon egg, could cripple an entire city and cause countless casualties!
And this walking nightmare had actually stuffed something like that into his pocket and brought it to a military base!
Was he trying to wipe out the entire base?!!
"Drop it now!!!" The officer's face went deathly pale with fright, and he immediately shouted,
"Chemical defense troops! Get the chemical defense troops!!!"
Lin Mo: "???"
Before Lin Mo could understand what had happened, two soldiers lunged at him as though facing a mortal threat.
They pinned him firmly against the scorching asphalt. His cheek pressed against the burning ground, and the pain made him suck in a sharp breath.
The gemstone rolled out of his hand and bounced twice on the ground with a crisp clinking sound.
Pinned down so hard he could barely breathe, his arm throbbing with pain, Lin Mo could only shout desperately,
"Ow, ow! It hurts! That's just a gemstone!"
The officer ignored him and swiftly issued orders:
"Notify the chemical defense team to come test it. Don't let him move!"
Lin Mo was utterly bewildered.
He had considered every possibility: being mistaken for a lunatic, even being mistaken for a spy. The one thing he had never imagined was being mistaken for a human dirty bomb.
This was one hell of a misunderstanding!
After putting himself in the officer's shoes, Lin Mo could now understand his reaction somewhat.
If he were an ordinary person and saw some poor guy charging toward a military base with a stone that glowed on its own, he would have lost his mind too.
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