Chapter Seventy-Two: Crisis Descends

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Brazil, a small seaside town near the South Atlantic. Owing to its remote location and inconvenient transport, the locals had little in the way of entertainment; each day, they either went out to sea to fish or gathered at the town’s only tavern to drink cheap beer. When night fell, most residents would retire early to bed.

But tonight was different. The townspeople—adults and children alike—had all gathered by the shore, dancing and singing around blazing bonfires. Today marked a local festival, unrecognized not only internationally but even by Brazil itself.

Yet none of this dampened the townsfolk’s enthusiasm. Every household had brought out their carefully hoarded wine and some meat to roast over the flames.

Perhaps it was the warmth of the fire, or perhaps the region’s perpetually high temperatures, but no one noticed the steadily rising heat in the air, growing increasingly abnormal. Not far offshore, countless dead fish floated to the surface.

“Mom! Mom! The water’s burning hot!” Suddenly, a group of children ran over, complaining to their parents about their experience. They’d been playing in the shallows when, all at once, the sea became scalding, and in pain, they rushed back to shore.

“Are you kidding? How could the sea be hot?” The adults scolded them with good humor.

“It’s true! And there are so many dead fish!” the children insisted stubbornly, pointing toward the water.

“Dead fish?” At that, the adults’ interest was piqued. Dead fish on the surface usually meant they’d only just died and were still fresh, as anything left too long would be devoured by other sea creatures. Since the catch from their fishing trips was either sold or cured into fish jerky, and with tonight’s celebration in need of more meat, the news of so many dead fish sent several people hurrying to the water’s edge.

But as they neared the shore, they realized something was wrong. The closer they got, the hotter the air became. The water was bubbling, and thick fog was rising in clouds.

By the bright and clear moonlight, they looked out through the mist and saw countless fish of all sizes floating lifelessly on the surface.

“Oh, God! What on earth is happening?” One man, after reaching the shore, dipped his hand into the water and jerked it back as if scalded.

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The children had been right—the water was indeed scalding, perhaps fifty or sixty degrees! But how could this be? This was the ocean!

What kind of force could possibly heat the entire shallows to such a temperature?

Soon enough, the answer revealed itself. The sea suddenly churned violently, and far out on the horizon, the water bulged upward as a colossal shape slowly rose from the depths.

Only then did the roaring of the ocean finally draw the attention of those reveling by the bonfire. They stopped in their tracks, staring in terror at the mysterious object emerging from the waves.

At last, as the water fell away, the truth was revealed: it was the head of a living creature. The townspeople were struck with horror at the sight of a monstrous head, crowned with four sharp horns and as large as a house.

They collapsed to the ground in terror, gazing at the enormous head—part tiger, part lizard, and all menace. Not a sound escaped them, especially when the creature’s icy gaze swept over them, releasing a suffocating pressure that drained every ounce of strength from their bodies. None could even muster the will to flee.

The monstrous beast ignored their fear and continued its slow ascent. Behind it, vast wings unfurled, blocking out the sky; the townsfolk could see clearly now that these wings bore no feathers but were entirely sheathed in cold, hard scales.

The creature fully emerged from the sea, defying every natural law as it hovered in midair with nothing to support it. Compared to its ship-sized body, the wisps of gray flame flickering from its fearsome eyes seemed insignificant, yet as the flames began to swirl around it, the temperature spiked still higher, and the already oppressive heat became unbearable.

It surveyed its surroundings with curiosity, and, becoming accustomed to this new environment, began to drift toward shore.

Then calamity struck. Apparently irritated by the shivering, feeble creatures on the beach, the monster casually pointed, and a thread of the gray flame detached and shot toward them.

No screams were heard. Even with dozens of meters still between them and the flame, those by the fire evaporated instantly, vanishing without a trace. Within seconds, the sand nearby had sunk and glowed red as if streams of lava flowed beneath.

All this made one thing clear: the gray flame’s temperature was unimaginably high.

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The monster did not linger; it continued flying forward, casting curious glances at the houses below. If a building displeased it, a gray flame would shoot forth, and in an instant, the house was reduced to ashes.

...

Thousands of miles away, on the opposite side of the ocean, Lantian sat in a conference hall, awaiting the arrival of a distinguished guest.

“Hahaha! Lantian, you’re really putting on airs today!” Suddenly, the door to the conference room swung open and in strode a spirited old man, laughing heartily. Behind him came two middle-aged men in suits, their bulging waists clearly hiding real weapons.

“Oh, sir, if you’d wanted to see me, a word would have sufficed. To have you arrive in Ning City unannounced is an unexpected honor!” Lantian quickly stood up to greet him with a smile. This old man was none other than the highest leader of Huaxia, whose face appeared daily on the national news.

“Haha, an unexpected honor, is it? I can’t see it on your face,” the leader teased, eyeing Lantian before taking the central seat at his invitation.

“Not at all, sir! You are the very symbol of Huaxia. If word got out that you’d personally visited our virtual network company, people all over the country would be green with envy!” Lantian laughed awkwardly. In truth, seeing him on video hadn’t felt special, but now, with the leader standing before him, he was far from calm.

“Hmph, don’t flatter me too much. Speaking of global influence, I daresay even I can’t match you these days.” The leader looked Lantian up and down, nodding approvingly. “Not bad! A true young talent. How about I give you my granddaughter’s contact—we can introduce you two?”

Lantian broke into a cold sweat, surprised by this unexpected side of the leader. It seemed he was quite hip for his age. Embarrassed, Lantian scratched his head. “Oh, please, sir, don’t tease me. Isn’t your granddaughter only about ten?”

“Haha, age is no matter! My granddaughter talks about your virtual network and your name all the time—she’s so dazzled by you that even I get jealous!” The leader roared with laughter.