"The Devil's Open Eyes"

The students around them finally understood, and their eyes widened. "You mean a spatial rift is going to appear in Donghai City?"

"That's right. Judging by what we've seen so far, a spatial rift could indeed appear in Donghai City."

"Doesn't that mean we're done for? My dad told me that ten years ago, a spatial rift appeared near a third-tier city. Hordes of Star Beasts poured out, and then that city was just gone," a girl said in alarm.

"I finally fucking get it. Several young masters from big families in my social circle transferred to the imperial capital. So Donghai is going under." A boy scratched his head, looking somewhat panicked.

"Then aren't we as good as dead? I heard spatial rifts are terrifying. Once one appears, everything within thousands of kilometers becomes a death zone," another student said, his face deathly pale.

Qiao Zeyu reassured them, "Don't panic yet. Donghai City has strong defenses. As long as the spatial rift doesn't appear in the city center, the threat won't be too great. Besides, Yang Yuping's laboratory team began researching how to seal off spatial rifts five years ago. I heard they came up with a feasible proposal recently. Although it's still at the laboratory stage, Donghai City has already decided to adopt it. If it succeeds, there's hope of preventing the spatial rift from appearing."

"How come there's nothing online about something this big?"

"Because everything online about a spatial rift in Donghai City has been deleted. To prevent panic in Donghai City, any post about a spatial rift here disappears within three seconds at most. Whoever posts it will also be invited for tea by the relevant authorities."

After saying that, Qiao Zeyu added, "I wasn't supposed to tell you any of this. But it isn't really a secret in the upper circles anymore. Everyone just keeps quiet about it. Since you know now, let me warn you: don't spread this around online. Otherwise, when the relevant authorities invite you for tea, don't say I didn't warn you."

This was Fang Yuan's first time hearing about it, and he rapidly analyzed the information he had just heard.

First, strong Star Power fluctuations had appeared around Donghai City, indicating that a spatial rift would appear in the surrounding area.

The appearance of these Star Power fluctuations had caused many animals to mutate.

According to what Beef Meatball had said earlier, his hamster had begun mutating during summer vacation.

In other words, the Star Power fluctuations had appeared at least two or three months ago.

Fang Yuan barely paid attention to his morning classes, thinking about spatial rifts and Star Power fluctuations the entire time.

After class, he went straight to the library to look for books about spatial rifts and mutated creatures.

While searching the shelves, he happened to reach for the same book as Han Youwei.

In fact, Fang Yuan had spotted Han Youwei as soon as he entered the library.

This girl spent a lot of time in the library, so seeing her here was no surprise at all.

The book Fang Yuan had his eye on was "The Devil's Opened Eyes: The Evolution of Spatial Rifts."

The book covered the entire process of a spatial rift's emergence and disappearance. It described spatial rifts as the devil's open eyes, bringing destruction and disaster.

"You want this one?" Han Youwei withdrew her hand and asked with a smile.

"Yes. I want to read it first." Fang Yuan had no intention of yielding.

"Then go ahead." Han Youwei let Fang Yuan have the book, but instead of looking for another one, she stayed where she was and watched.

Fang Yuan took the book down and flipped through it briefly to see whether its contents were what he wanted.

Standing beside him, Han Youwei asked with interest, "Starting to research spatial rifts?"

Fang Yuan glanced at her and asked, "You already knew about the spatial rift that's about to appear in Donghai City, didn't you?"

Given Han Youwei's family background, there was no way she wouldn't know this secret that was no secret in the upper circles.

Han Youwei didn't deny it. She shrugged and said, "It really isn't that scary. At least my family hasn't told me to transfer to another city. You, on the other hand-whenever you run into something difficult, your first reaction is to come to the library and look things up. If even you're this nervous, this news would definitely cause citywide panic if it got out."

Fang Yuan held up the book and asked, "Have you read this?"

"Not yet, but I found out about this during summer vacation. School hadn't started, so I couldn't get into the library. I have another book about spatial rifts at home, and I read a little of it over summer vacation," Han Youwei explained.

Fang Yuan knew that when she said she'd "read a little," she meant she'd "read it through once."

"Well, could you give me a brief explanation of how spatial rifts appear?"

"To put it simply, about thirty years ago, the Star Power Laboratory developed an instrument that could detect Star Power fluctuations. Over the next thirty years, observations gradually showed that Star Power fluctuations always preceded the appearance of spatial rifts." Han Youwei explained as she recalled what she had read.

Fang Yuan occasionally interjected with a question. "How far in advance can a spatial rift be predicted?"

"That's hard to say. It depends on the size of the spatial rift. If the rift is large, the Star Power seeping through is stronger and covers a wider area. The stronger the Star Power fluctuations, the earlier they can be detected," Han Youwei answered.

"For example?"

"According to the book, the spatial rift on the seabed of the Nanba Strait is the largest known spatial rift. Our country detected Star Power fluctuations three years before it appeared. Since it was out at sea, monitoring was extremely difficult, so we can infer that the Star Power fluctuations might have begun even earlier." As Han Youwei explained, she also added some insights of her own.

At this, Fang Yuan raised an eyebrow. "Then Star Power fluctuations might have appeared in Donghai City a long time ago?"

"Of course. I found out during summer vacation, so the laboratory probably detected the Star Power fluctuations long before that," Han Youwei answered.

"Then do you think it's possible the Star Power fluctuations appeared a year or two ago?" A conjecture arose in Fang Yuan's mind.

"I don't know about that, but it's certainly possible." Han Youwei wasn't very sure, so she began thinking it over too.

Seeing that she couldn't be certain when the Star Power fluctuations had appeared either, Fang Yuan raised "The Devil's Opened Eyes: The Evolution of Spatial Rifts" in his hand and said, "Then I'll take this back and read it first."

"Okay. Let me know when you return it. I'd like to read it too," Han Youwei replied.

Fang Yuan took out his student ID to check out the book and asked casually, "Are you still going to the martial arts gym tonight?"

Han Youwei said somewhat helplessly, "You seem to be in high demand. I was planning to go, but when I called the gym, the manager said someone had already booked a session with you."

"Oh, I see. Another day, then."

Fang Yuan waved to her, then turned to check out the book.