Tian Le had finished reading “Research Report on the Beginning and End of the Apocalypse Era on Ancient Earth” with great satisfaction.
This report was an officially certified version. He had waited a long time for its final conclusions, and they matched most closely with the content he had previously studied and the theories he had in mind.
After turning off his optical brain, Tutu, he lay down in a good mood. He planned to sleep well—tomorrow would be another pleasant day.
After he fell asleep, in the darkness of the night, a few streaks of electric current flickered across Tutu’s interface. But the blankets were too comfortable, and immersed in his dreams, he saw nothing at all.
The moment Tian Le opened his eyes, he saw a ceiling so white it reflected light. There was also a pale blue mosquito net. Beneath his hand was the soft texture of a Simmons mattress.
“What the hell? I’m actually seeing so many antiques at once. These are all things only described in ancient texts.”
Startled, he sat up abruptly and looked around. He was both nervous and excited.
He opened his eyes, closed them, then opened them again—repeating it several times.
“This realistic scene and feeling… I… I couldn’t have transmigrated, right?”
“Oh my god, did I transmigrate to the Ancient Earth era?”
“Although I occasionally had such thoughts, they were just fantasies.”
“Besides, did the Transmigration Alliance even pay me? And they just sent me here to work?”
“Damn it! The first thing I’ll do when I get back is file a complaint against them.”
“For now, I’d better figure out what’s going on.”
Tian Le moved closer to the zipper of the mosquito net and carefully pulled it open, treating it like some priceless treasure.
“Hiss… this is an antique. Even the Interstellar Museum only has one set left on display.”
Relying on muscle memory, he put on his slippers and walked out of the room.
What came into view was a two-bedroom, one-living-room apartment of nearly ninety square meters. The furniture was simple, clean, and tidy, but there was little sense of daily life. Still, all he wanted right now was to go to the bathroom and check his face.
“Phew… that’s a relief.”
Looking at the young man in the mirror—identical to his original appearance—Tian Le adapted quickly.
As he saw more items in the apartment, it felt as though a document had been copied and pasted into his mind. Memories that did not belong to him flashed rapidly, forcibly pouring into his brain.
Tian Le, male, 25 years old, one of the assistants in the secretary team under Ji Heng, the president of Ji Corporation. After graduating, he had started working at Ji Corporation and had become a typical corporate slave.
He had taken sick leave due to a high fever. The hospital was overcrowded, so he stayed home, took some spare fever medicine, and fell into a deep sleep—until he woke up in this body.
His parents were alive and well, running a small supermarket in B City. They lived cheerful and leisurely lives, simply hoping that their son Tian Le would one day make something of himself. Even if he didn’t, getting married early and having a child would be acceptable.
This apartment had been purchased by his parents when he first started working. It had only been a short time since he moved in after the renovations were completed.
“No wonder it feels a bit cold and empty.”
As Tian Le toured the apartment, he took a bottle of carbonated drink from the fridge and started drinking.
To keep him close to his workplace and allow him to work well at the well-known Ji Corporation, his parents had really spent a lot.
Now that he had transmigrated, he was certain there was no second soul in this body. So where had the original Tian Le gone?
While pondering this, he picked up the antique phone on the table. He had seen tech enthusiasts restore this kind of phone on the Interstellar Forum before. Aside from being slightly more troublesome to operate than an optical brain, it was still easy to use.
February 22, 2222.
“Ah? Ahhh!”
He checked again. It was indeed this date!
“I’m done for. I’m completely screwed. I just transmigrated on my first day, and it’s already the apocalypse?”
Tian Le stared at the date on the phone in disbelief. He no longer had the mood to think about anything else and quickly went to the kitchen to check. There were indeed some dry food supplies.
He wondered if he should go down to the supermarket now and stock up on more supplies—any amount would help.
“Right, I should notify my parents too.”
Since he had accepted Tian Le’s identity and the life that was about to come, it was necessary to at least give his parents a warning.
Tian Le suddenly remembered this and slapped his forehead hard.
“Beep~ Optical brain Tutu, serial number XJGN008, has successfully powered on.”
“Master, I am Tutu. I am happy to serve you. How may I assist you?”
“Is it really you, Tutu? Are you serious?”
“Yes.”
“So you transmigrated with me?”
“Transmigration? After you rested last night, I suddenly malfunctioned and shut down automatically.”
“Alright. Then you should scan the surrounding environment first.”
Tian Le felt a bit happy. With Tutu here, he thought he could immediately contact the Transmigration Alliance and get himself sent back.
Ever since he realized this was the day the apocalypse began, the air here seemed filled with danger. He was afraid he wouldn’t survive even a single episode as a weakling.
“According to analysis, this is a parallel space-time of the Ancient Earth apocalypse era. Strictly speaking, the apocalypse has just begun.”
“Master, Tutu believes you urgently need to file a complaint with the Transmigration Alliance.”
“Then go ahead and follow the procedure.”
“Tutu has already done so, but for some reason, it cannot be sent. It is likely that the signal channels are incompatible.”
“Sigh… in the end, I have to bear everything alone. I should just focus on surviving.”
“Don’t worry, Master. Tutu will always accompany you—until your death.”
Tian Le felt not comforted at all. In fact, he felt even worse.
He hoped that Senior Chu from the Interstellar Research Institute would notice something unusual about him soon and come check on him.
And hopefully, for the sake of him being a junior, save his life.
Meanwhile, in Ji Heng’s office at the Ji Corporation building—
“President Ji, should we suspend the recent outdoor cooperation projects for now?” Shen Xu asked after finishing his report.
“Suspend them for now. Issue benefits to all employees under Ji Corporation according to the Spring Festival standard.”
Ji Heng frowned as he instructed Secretary Shen to quickly arrange the tasks.
“Also, inform all employees to take leave at home starting tomorrow until further notice.”
“Understood, President Ji.”
Hearing this arrangement, Secretary Shen breathed a sigh of relief and hurried off to carry it out.
Even if operations were not halted, there were already very few people who could come to work normally. Most were either in the hospital or lying at home.
Over the past half year, A City had been extremely abnormal. And it wasn’t just A City—the entire world was the same.
The weather had gone completely erratic, swinging to extremes for the past six months.
It was either freezing cold or unbearably hot, accompanied by various forms of natural disasters occurring one after another across the globe.
Just as one place experienced a disaster and received aid from another city, before the supplies could even arrive, the assisting city would suffer its own disaster.
At first, people helped each other constantly. But eventually, it became too exhausting. Instead of rushing to help others, they simply stayed home to defend themselves.
Many people fell ill due to the environmental conditions. The flu virus mutated daily, and hospitals were overcrowded.
Online, people discussed the situation constantly, and more and more apocalyptic theories emerged. Anxiety spread among the population, and fear grew in people’s hearts.
Ji Heng could feel the unease within himself becoming more and more apparent.
Ji Corporation had many industries under its umbrella. Half a year ago, when he noticed these global abnormalities, he had already arranged for large amounts of supplies to be stored at home, in addition to sending aid to various places.
No one knew when disaster would strike.