The young scholar was already preparing to pack up and leave.
“Wait. I saw it clearly. I can draw it,” Li Yiyi suddenly said.
“Who are you? How did you get in?” The old professor narrowed his eyes.
“Professor Su, long time no see. This is my wife, Li Yiyi. We just came back from the polar region.” Fu Sizhe introduced her.
The old professor immediately changed his expression, smiling so broadly that the corners of his eyes crinkled. “President Fu, what brings you here? Please, have a seat. You came to see Xiao Jiang, right? He already took the flight this morning.”
He then turned to Li Yiyi. “Mrs. Fu, you said just now that you can draw it?”
Li Yiyi nodded.
In the real world, she worked in design and often spent days and nights drawing.
“Let me borrow these.”
She picked up the paper and pen from the table and immediately began drawing.
Before long, the giant krill wrapped around the fishing boat appeared vividly on the paper, down to every tiny red spot on its upper body.
“This is what we saw on our way back from the polar region.”
Another heated discussion broke out among the people at the base.
Fu Sizhe sat beside her. “Did you study this before? I never heard your parents mention it.”
“It’s just a hobby of mine,” she replied quickly.
Fu Sizhe did not ask any further.
He had never really known much about his nominal wife to begin with.
Finally, the scholars reached a conclusion.
At this rate of expansion, within three days, seawater would submerge every continent, and human civilization on Earth would cease to exist.
The young scholar with glasses gave a bitter smile. “There’s no point running anymore. There’s nowhere to go.”
“If the krill are already this large, the whales and mollusks beneath the sea will only become even larger.”
Li Yiyi knew that things would not unfold this way.
In the original book, Fu Sizhe had returned to Beijing with Jiang Jibai, and everything had happened on land in Beijing.
So what had gone wrong?
If the sea was filled with krill, then…
“I know!” Li Yiyi said excitedly. “The krill population is enormous now. As the enlarged krill fill the ocean, they’ll block the oxygen supply. The larger marine organisms, on the other hand, won’t mutate.”
Everyone stared blankly at her after she finished speaking.
The young scholar said, “What you said makes sense, but krill have extremely strict living conditions. They can only survive at temperatures between 0.8 and 1.5°C.”
“Let’s discuss this further.”
Since Jiang Jibai had already left, there was no point in staying here any longer.
After leaving the research base, Li Yiyi heard a notification.
Ding!
A message from Jiang Jibai.
【Return to Beijing as soon as possible. Nars433. Animal mutations.】
Not long ago, the space agency had detected a meteorite heading toward Earth. If it struck the planet, it would be completely destroyed.
As a result, countries around the world had jointly established the Nars433 Plan and launched missiles to destroy the meteorite.
The asteroid had been destroyed, but the radioactive elements left behind by the missile explosion remained for a long time in the outer layers of Earth’s atmosphere and in space.
Li Yiyi opened the news.
There was still nothing.
Even the reports about the “Sea of Fire” had been deleted.
All flights had been suspended.
Fu Sizhe made a call.
“Nanxi Research Station. Yes, come over as soon as possible.”
His lips were tightly pressed together.
Animal mutations, rising temperatures, rapidly rising sea levels…
Who knew what else awaited them in the future?
Gurgle.
Li Yiyi was hungry.
She had eaten only one tuna sandwich since morning.
The two of them walked across the extremely thick layer of ice covering Antarctica.
There was no one around.
Every now and then, a penguin would dart past them, flapping its wings as it ran at full speed. It looked extremely hungry.
As they continued walking, they were surrounded by penguins.
The penguins had not grown larger, but there were too many of them. They spread their wings and stretched out their short beaks, preparing to peck at them.
Li Yiyi was puzzled.
Wasn’t it said that penguins did not attack humans?
“They’re too hungry.” Fu Sizhe pulled her behind him. “There are too many of them. In a moment, I’ll hold these penguins off. You run north first.”
Under these circumstances, she could only follow his instructions so she would not become a burden.
Fu Sizhe took off his heavy windbreaker and loosened up his limbs.
He kicked away several penguins that tried to peck at him, then gave Li Yiyi a push.
“Run!”
Compared with this tall human, the smaller human clearly had less ability to fight back.
Many of the penguins avoided Fu Sizhe and chased after Li Yiyi instead.
Li Yiyi ran for her life.
She did not want to become the first human to die at the hands of penguins.
She knew Fu Sizhe had called in a private aircraft. As long as she held on until it arrived, she would be fine.
Once the danger had passed, she would definitely train properly.
In this Apocalypse, there would probably be plenty more situations where she had to run for her life.
She hid behind a large rock.
She really could not run anymore.
After sending Fu Sizhe her location, she opened the original owner’s phone.
Jiang Jibai was pinned at the top.
The original Li Yiyi had sent Professor Jiang numerous flirtatious poems and explicit messages.
Apart from one reply saying, 【Please show some restraint.】 Jiang Jibai had never responded to her again.
Li Yiyi was surprised to discover that the original owner had not been pursuing Jiang Jibai alone.
She seemed particularly fond of those aloof, distinguished prodigies who stood at the top of the social hierarchy.
She pursued them relentlessly and boldly confessed her feelings.
Yet men with that kind of personality were all reserved and, without exception, disliked her.
The ice reflected Li Yiyi’s image.
After running for so long, she looked rather disheveled. Her hair had come loose, and she was covered in sweat.
Even so, she was still strikingly beautiful, like a brilliant peony blooming in the icy wilderness.
She opened the news.
Someone had posted, “Abnormally Rising Sea Levels in Antarctica.”
The official explanation claimed that experiments were being conducted.
Disappointed, she closed her phone.
She decided to make a post herself.
She uploaded a picture of the krill and described the biological mutations.
Her phone was almost out of battery.
After finishing everything, she leaned against the rock and rested for a few minutes.
Ring! Ring!
Who would call her at a time like this?
Mom?
It really was her mother.
A penguin suddenly appeared from the side and lunged at Li Yiyi with its beak.
She quickly silenced the ringtone and punched the penguin in the face.
The punch had little power, but it successfully enraged the penguin.
It let out a low hiss and summoned a large wave of penguins, all of which rushed over to peck at her.
Li Yiyi continued running for her life.
Finally, she saw the butler who always wore a tailcoat.
She had made it.
Butler Zhao looked at her with an indifferent expression.
“Madam is back. Go inside first.”
“Is Fu Sizhe back? How is he? Is he injured?”
The butler scrutinized her.
He had been by Fu Sizhe’s side since childhood and knew that this Madam was selfish and mean. She was constantly making trouble behind their backs and did not even like President Fu.
“President Fu went to look for you.”
What?
Then why hadn’t she run into him?
She wanted to call him, but she was afraid he might be surrounded by penguins.
He was so capable that he definitely would not get into trouble.
She went inside the helicopter and waited for Fu Sizhe.
She had known from reading the book that the Fu Family was extremely wealthy, but arranging a flight route and dispatching a helicopter so quickly was still outrageous.
She sat in the back.
The white leather sofa was soft, and there were fruits and snacks beside her.
After filling her stomach, drowsiness washed over her.
She soon fell into a deep sleep.
Even in her dreams, she was being attacked by penguins.
Fu Sizhe and Butler Zhao entered and saw Li Yiyi sleeping soundly, even snoring softly.
“I knew Madam was heartless. President Fu, you still went looking for her.”
Butler Zhao had advised President Fu that morning to stop bothering with this woman and leave first.
He had never expected President Fu not only to refuse but also to insist on looking for her.
And this woman had the nerve to come back and immediately fall asleep so peacefully, without caring in the slightest whether President Fu was alive or dead.
Fu Sizhe lowered his eyes.
“She’s exhausted. Let’s return to Beijing first.”
Butler Zhao was astonished.
Why did President Fu seem to be defending this woman a little after going out?
It must have been an illusion.