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Chapter 26 - 24: Competing in Mediocrity is Indeed the Norm in this World
Chapter 26 - 24: Competing in Mediocrity is Indeed the Norm in this World
Chapter 26: Chapter 24: Competing in Mediocrity is Indeed the Norm in this World
Unlike the public's reaction, the upper echelons of the 17 human cities communicated and shared information with one another at an unprecedented speed.
The more they knew, the more they realized they didn't know.
It really was possible for humans to become extinct!
"Mr. Li, this is the meteorite that fell from the sky... it has been in my research center for a full 10 years,"
Since ten years ago, when meteorites fell from the sky, they had initiated the Supernatural Era.
It was from that day that a large number of superpower users were born.
But in fact, these meteorites were not ordinary meteorites, but creations of technology!
The governments of the world had unanimously chosen to hide the truth.
Now, the experts in the research institute had sufficient reason to suspect that these meteorites were connected to the Pangu Continent to some degree.
The top leader of Yunhai City, Li Chunhong, was incredibly busy, but he still took some time to visit the Supernatural Research Institute.
The person in charge of the Supernatural Research Institute, named Zhang Hui, 42 years old, had been researching supernatural phenomena since superpower users appeared on Earth ten years ago.
"The composition of this metal ball is actually quite ordinary, just iron, aluminum, copper, rhenium, and a portion of titanium,"
"But its manufacturing process is quite special, possibly utilizing supernatural phenomena that we currently can't understand."
This meteorite looked like a round, spherical iron ball, with a diameter of about 1 meter and a mass of around 2 tons.
Its surface was inlaid with crystal-like structures, which looked like blocks of screens.
On the metal ball, there were 20 such screens.
Next to the crystal screens, there were some button-like objects.
Li Chunhong said somewhat meaningfully, "Do you mean to say, this meteorite brought our city to the Pangu Continent?"
"We don't know yet," Professor Zhang explained. "Over 300 meteorites have fallen from the sky, scattered all over the world, but only 17 cities have undergone the transition."
"So there isn't enough evidence to believe that these extraterrestrial creations are the sufficient condition for our transition."
"However, it seems to be a device for communicating with civilizations, capable of helping us connect with other human civilization branches."
Zhang Hui pressed several buttons on the large iron ball.
The crystal-like screens suddenly displayed a video call interface!
The text within was miraculous as well, although not in Chinese, it could still be understood, implying it might be some kind of supernatural effect beyond human comprehension.
[Detecting the civilization you belong to... Human Civilization First Branch...]
[The civilization you are attempting to communicate with... Human Civilization Sixth Branch...]
[Beep, connection successful!]
"Oh, my goodness... Professor Zhang, my heavens! You've been transported here too!" said Mr. Edward from M Country, a renowned supernatural professor, on the screen.
The blonde elder squeezed out a smile: "As the proverb in your Great Dong Country goes, 'We share our blessings and shoulder our misfortunes together.' Are there any chaotic situations in your cities?"
Zhang Hui's eyebrows twitched as he faintly heard the sound of gunfire in the background of the video.
"It's chaotic, all in chaos! Thankfully we have military protection, otherwise robbers would be storming our homes right now!" Professor Zhang responded in a hurry.
"Ah, seems like everyone is in the same boat... But isn't gun control strict where you are?" the blonde elder sighed with regret.
"It's strict on guns, but we don't control axes..."
Li Chunhong, standing to the side, almost couldn't hold back his inexplicable joy.
Worrying all day, the best news he had heard turned out to be that his fellow humans were in more chaos than himself!
Even more astonishing was that he felt a bit of schadenfreude...
The world truly was a case of comparing who had it worse.
"Cough cough! Let's contact the other cities," Li Chunhong cleared his throat heavily and took a sip of water, trying to keep a straight face.
Owing to the urgency of the situation, most city leaders joined the meeting remotely.
Two cities were even unreachable! Most likely because they didn't even know how to use this extraterrestrial artifact.
After a few pleasantries, the meeting officially began.
"Ladies and gentlemen, please remain calm."
"First, let us understand what exactly has happened to our world." In front of the screen, Professor Edward from M Country presented his latest findings... Well, it might not exactly be called research findings, rather just a little sharing."
"Since ten years ago, superpower users have appeared on Earth, and the origin of these superpowers has remained a mystery with slow research progress."
"Only today, with the actual appearance of the Pangu Continent, have we glimpsed a small corner."
"God... of course, we could also use another name, 'It'."
"'It' spent a full ten years planning this supernatural event, pulling all civilizations in the universe into the Pangu Continent."
What followed was a segment of video played on the big screen.
It was footage shot from space during the "Wandering City" period.
"Our city, its crust has an average thickness of 20-40 kilometers. These crustal fragments were all brought from Earth."
"That is to say, this unknown powerful entity, cleverly extracted our cities along with the crust from the surface of Earth and skillfully embedded them into the Pangu Continent."
"As for the size of the Pangu Continent, it is currently impossible to measure. The part captured from space is already over a billion square kilometers..."
This space-roaming footage truly shook everyone to the core. What immense power could peel away Earth's crust?
Most critically, the humans living in the cities only experienced minor tremors, and there were not many casualties... Only some dilapidated dangerous buildings collapsed, but most of everything else remained intact, even the streets.
If terms like 'universe' and 'dimension' are too far removed from everyday life for people to conceive concrete concepts,
the terrifying fact that the crust was extracted and embedded into the Pangu Continent at one fell swoop, left the conference room engulfed in shock.
"Professor Edward, where has Earth gone?"
"I'm sorry, but I do not know. Earth may be in another dimension, or it might have... simply ceased to exist... You understand what I mean, right? We are either unlucky or fortunate."
"Although many relatives have been left on Earth, we must accept reality and think positively. Maybe Earth still exists, right?"
Everyone fell silent.
The internationally renowned professor pondered for a moment before continuing, "Next, let me talk about the distribution of our 17 cities. From the previous space footage, the cities are spread out over distances of more than ten thousand kilometers."
"Friends, take care of yourselves. We can't help each other; at most, we can only share some information."
"But the management of the cities must be done by ourselves..."
This professor was quite internationalist indeed...
Upon hearing this, Li Chunhong sighed deeply.
Yunhai City, how should I put it...
Although there was some chaos initially, at least social order is slowly being restored.
In the midst of incomprehensible panic, the demands of the people were very simple.
First, to have food to eat, enough to avoid starving to death.
Second, to know the approximate truth.
The most panic-inducing thing in the world is the unknown; as long as the unknown becomes known, the panic diminishes.
As long as these two points can be met, the general populace tends to be cooperative.
But what about the other cities?
In Professor Edward's place, one could faintly hear gunfire.
In his New York City, a significant number of shooting incidents were occurring.
There were also cities with strong religious sentiment experiencing looting and riotous end-of-the-world revelries.
And in some cities, it was a time for the oppressed to rise against their oppressors, repaying past grievances.
This indeed was the ultimate moment to test the nature of a nation and its civilization.
But there was no choice; Yunhai City could only take care of itself!
...
(PS: I will update one Chapter early this morning and another in the evening. During the new book period, I'm unable to update much. Hope you all understand.)
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