"I was reborn from a year into the apocalypse. I spent a year living through it," Jiang Yu stated.
Those words instantly made Hao Jingye sit up straight.
On the other side of the camera, in a professional conference room, countless people turned solemn, their eyes fixed on Jiang Yu on the big screen.
Even Sheng An's gaze sharpened.
Jiang Yu still had no idea how many people were studying her.
She looked toward Sheng An without really focusing, as though lost in her own thoughts, and her voice grew distant.
"Actually, I'm not sure it was a full year, because every day felt like a year."
"The meteorites arrived twenty-one days from now. At least ninety percent of the world's population vanished that day, and countless coastal countries were swallowed by the tsunamis the impacts caused... Our country was instantly reduced to scorched earth, too. It was no different from countless atomic bombs going off."
"Jing City wasn't directly hit. Almost every city that took a direct hit disappeared entirely. Jing City only suffered the aftereffects, but it was still like being struck by a magnitude-eight earthquake. Countless residential complexes collapsed. Ours was relatively lucky and remained standing, but it became unsafe to live in."
"Back then, every residential complex was unsafe."
Sheng An rubbed her fingers against the sofa as she listened intently. Her phone lit up, and she picked it up for a glance.
[Old Zhang: Ask her about the nearest meteorite.]
Sheng An asked, "Jiang Yu, do you know where the nearest meteorite landed? Or any meteorites you remember?"
Jiang Yu thought for a moment, then answered with certainty:
"The nearest one was probably in Stone City... There were too many meteorites, landing all over the world. For a while back then, I heard people saying the largest one fell into the Pacific Ocean and flooded several surrounding countries. There were almost no survivors!"
She shuddered as she spoke.
Then Jiang Yu continued, "You think the biggest disaster comes twenty-one days from now? No, that was only the beginning. Everyone who died that day was lucky, because every day afterward was another disaster."
Her voice trembled, and she couldn't hide the fear on her face.
Sheng An poured her a cup of hot water and gently stroked her head to soothe her.
For some reason, Jiang Yu felt reassured. She smiled at Sheng An.
Sheng An sat back down.
She looked at her phone just as its screen lit up.
[Old Zhang: Academician Sun and the others just checked the calculations against our previous research findings. Jiang Yu... is right. Of the meteorite shower, the impact nearest Jing City will most likely be in Stone City. Everything she says may be true.]
Old Zhang and the other leaders were preparing for disaster while verifying her account.
Sheng An, however, already believed her completely.
Jiang Yu wasn't lying. Every action and expression was genuine.
She really had been reborn from a year in the future, and what she described was a genuine "prophecy."
Sheng An looked at her. "The meteorite impacts will inevitably bring further disasters. You're right. The doomsday twenty-one days from now is only the prologue to the apocalypse. The disasters will only just be beginning."
Hao Jingye nodded, his expression grave:
"Meteorites suddenly striking Earth would be no different from countless atomic bombs exploding. They'd inevitably cause tremendous tremors, and the earthquakes wouldn't end right away. The effects on tectonic plates would lead to frequent geological disasters afterward. With the plates shifting, there would be plenty of earthquakes alone."
"What's more, the impacts would generate intense heat and fire. With meteorites striking all over the world, even putting out the fires would become a pipe dream. The fires would leave the world devastated, destroying civilization in an instant."
"And destruction on that scale would certainly damage the ozone layer. The enormous clouds of smoke would cause extreme pollution. Even the air might become toxic, and acid rain would definitely become commonplace."
"Beyond that, the meteorites could bring other hazards, such as... radiation."
Every word he spoke in that calm voice shocked Jiang Yu.
Her eyes widened.
That's right!
All his deductions are right!
The meteorite impacts happened twenty-one days from now, but the endless disasters that followed never stopped.
Even when she died in her previous life, they still hadn't ended.
Seeing her distress, Sheng An smiled.
"Don't worry. Now that we know, we'll find ways to deal with it. The state apparatus can accomplish something. It won't be the same as your previous life. At least, not entirely."
But Jiang Yu's face remained pale.
She shivered, her voice hoarse and strained:
"That's only part of it, because a powerful Superpower Person can do a great deal. There's an even more terrifying threat..."
Sheng An's gaze sharpened.
She stared at Jiang Yu and leaned forward:
"The emergence of Superpower People is already an anomaly. A natural disaster definitely couldn't cause that. Was there something wrong with those meteorites?"
Once again, Jiang Yu marveled at how much more perceptive these people were than she had imagined.
She nodded and dropped a bombshell-
"The meteorites didn't just bring disasters. They also brought mutations.
"In my previous life, I heard people at the temporary base say that another base had studied the meteorites and confirmed they contained some kind of fragments. Those fragments could awaken abilities in certain people.
"No one knew how it worked, but apparently, ordinary people could become Superpower People by spending enough time near the fragments. Superpower People would also grow stronger if they stayed close to them."
"Everyone fought over the fragments in my previous life. I was just an ordinary person. I never saw one."
The room fell utterly silent.
Everyone waited for what she would say next. If the fragments could strengthen Superpower People, then what was the more terrifying threat?
"Otherkind." Jiang Yu took a deep breath and said slowly, "The fragments don't just create Superpower People. They can also create Otherkind."
"Zombies?" Hao Jingye asked, puzzled.
Jiang Yu shook her head. "No. They're another kind of powerful being. They look exactly like ordinary people, with human intelligence and human memories. Some are Superpower People, and some are ordinary people."
"But they kill people and eat them. They hide among humans and suddenly attack. They have no feelings, no humanity. Anyone human is a target, even their own parents and family."
The room grew even quieter.
Hao Jingye felt as though he had stopped breathing. Instinctively, he looked toward Sheng An.
Sheng An said nothing, either.
The greatest disaster in the world came not from outside, but from within.
Whatever the natural disaster, if humanity worked together, they could always find a way, always find a chance to survive.
But the threat posed by the Otherkind would destroy humanity's trust.
Who would still dare cooperate with anyone else?
Everyone would fear waking up to find the person beside them raising a blade against them.
Everyone would only dare struggle alone.
The Otherkind truly were humanity's greatest disaster, one capable of ending the world.
Sheng An briefly closed her eyes. When she opened them again, her gaze swept over the frightened Jiang Yu and Hao Jingye. Her eyes were unfathomable, gradually regaining their calm.
Her voice was cool. "No problem is unsolvable. We'll find a way to identify the Otherkind. Besides earthquakes, fires, toxic fog, acid rain, and everything else, we can add... a virus."
The Otherkind were a virus.
And as long as humanity wasn't all "infected" in an instant and turned into Otherkind, the problem wasn't unsolvable.
Sheng An's steady tone brought both Jiang Yu and Hao Jingye back to their senses.
Anxiety was useless, and they weren't going to lie down and wait to die.
Sheng An wasn't the only person who could remain this calm. Her phone lit up with a new message.
[Old Zhang: Continue.]
Sheng An looked at Jiang Yu. "All right. Now that we've covered the disasters of the apocalypse, let's talk about your space."
Before you continue