Storm
Rustle rustle——
Under the dark night, the rice paddies rustled in the wind. In this pitch-black world resembling ink, only two beams of headlights cut through the silence like swords.
Through the rearview mirror, 【Yang Xiao】 witnessed the entire process of Chen Ling changing his face. Seeing that familiar face under the dim light, his heart seemed to skip a beat!
"...It's you?" 【Yang Xiao】 unconsciously gripped his seatbelt tightly, his brows locked together in a frown. "What do you want?"
"Dr. 【Yang Xiao】, I mean no harm."
Chen Ling's gaze met 【Yang Xiao】's through the rearview mirror. "I'm here to protect you."
"Protect me?"
【Yang Xiao】 froze. He subconsciously recalled the scene in 【Shennongjia】 where Chen Ling led him to safety from the numerous 【Calamity】 entities. His slightly nervous heart gradually relaxed... Just as 【Lu Xun】 had said, Chen Ling bore no ill will towards him. Otherwise, they would have died hundreds of times over in 【Shennongjia】.
"No, what's even more terrifying than the 【Calamity】 is the human heart."
Chen Ling unbuckled his seatbelt and rolled down the window. The cool night wind blew into the car, ruffling the tips of his hair... He gazed at the ink-like night outside and slowly spoke, "Dr. 【Yang Xiao】, do you believe that science can regress?"
"Science regressing? How could science regress?"
"To be precise, it's humanity's material civilization. Over a long period of time, the towering edifice of material civilization that humanity built up grain by grain, like sand, will one day collapse. The era will uncontrollably regress, and disasters will descend with it."
Chen Ling sat in the car, and amidst the wind pouring in through the window, he calmly and briefly narrated everything.
This included the world war, the descent of the 【Gray World】, humanity teetering on the brink of extinction, the subsequent birth of the nine 【Realm】s, the legend of the 【Nine Monarchs】, and the 【Fourteen Divine Paths】... By the time he finished, it was already the early hours of the morning. The world was so quiet that only the hum of the car engine remained.
【Yang Xiao】 stared blankly for a long time, then shook his head and said, "This is too sci-fi... No, it's too magical."
"But it did happen. I think you've already felt some of the changes happening to your own body... haven't you? That extra knowledge in your mind, your resonance with the magnetic field itself, and that absolute authority that is gradually surfacing..."
Chen Ling raised his hand and pointed at his head. "You are step by step becoming the 【Lord of the Aurora】."
【Yang Xiao】 froze.
Indeed, ever since he woke up from his coma, things had been constantly surfacing in his mind. He originally thought he might just be too tired, but his body's reactions wouldn't lie... He could sense other things in the empty air. However, at that time, he hadn't realized what he was sensing. With Chen Ling's reminder, it was as if he had just awakened from a dream!
Magnetic fields... he could actually vaguely sense magnetic fields?!
"If you still don't believe it, I can prove it to you..." Chen Ling took a flip phone out of his pocket and said calmly,
"Are you ready to witness a storm?"
Storm?
【Yang Xiao】 didn't understand Chen Ling's meaning. But the moment Chen Ling pressed the "call" button, a sudden change occurred!
The electromagnetic signals dispersing in the air seemed to be guided at this moment, simultaneously converging towards the commercial vehicle. In the blink of an eye, they crossed space, like a sweeping sandstorm surging in the sky above the rice paddy!
The flip phone in Chen Ling's hand acted like a core stirring up everything. Endless electromagnetic signals began to tumble, resembling a massive tornado over a vast desert, slowly descending towards the commercial vehicle, like a pure electromagnetic waterspout!
【Yang Xiao】's pupils contracted sharply. He could now feel the existence of these electromagnetic signals. The originally calm sea of signals was being manipulated by Chen Ling, frantically gathering here. In his eyes, he could see endless information wrapping around the commercial vehicle. The position they were in was exactly the "eye of the storm"!
Thump—— thump—— thump——
The city lights in the distance went out one by one, as if swept up by the aftermath of this storm, instantly severing all communication signals and power. Everything as far as the eye could see plunged into darkness...
Only around the commercial vehicle was there a roar like thunder in a gale!
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[...]
Countless messages and electrical signals swept through the storm, completely drowning out everything in the surroundings. 【Yang Xiao】 watched all this in shock and dismay, his hands gripping the door handle tightly, as if terrified that he would be swept away by this horrifying storm!
This was a storm of "nothingness," a storm that only Chen Ling and 【Yang Xiao】 could "see" in this world!
The storm lasted for a full several dozen seconds. When Chen Ling pressed the "hang up" button, the surrounding information instantly vanished. The electromagnetic turbulence sweeping around the commercial vehicle gradually dissipated, returning to its normal trajectory.
【Yang Xiao】 clung tightly to the car handle, his entire body finally relaxing. He lay weakly on the back seat. Through the car window, he could see the city lights in the distance relighting, illuminating the distant night sky bit by bit...
It took a long time before he finally calmed down and spoke hoarsely:
"You... why did you choose me?"
"Because I've met you in another era, and you are worthy of trust." Chen Ling answered calmly, "Of course, you can also pretend nothing happened, ignore the power growing daily within you, go back to your lab, study science that will cease to exist shortly, and quietly await the arrival of the apocalypse...
Or, you can explore the secrets hidden within this alongside me. Perhaps one day, we can personally 【Reverse the Era】 and prevent this tragedy from happening."
【Yang Xiao】 leaned against the back seat, his eyes full of exhaustion and complexity. He slightly turned his head and looked out the window. The city lights were like the distant 【Torchlight】 of civilization, silently illuminating the long night.
The 【Crimson Meteor】 tearing through the sky, the mysterious world brushing past Earth, and the bizarre monsters appearing deep within 【Shennongjia】... This world was no longer the one he knew. He was also no longer that ordinary Dr. 【Yang Xiao】. Even if he covered his ears and immersed himself back into that secluded laboratory, pretending nothing had happened, he would just be deceiving himself.
"Knowledge is power."
With the city lights reflecting in his eyes, 【Yang Xiao】 slowly spoke,
"If the knowledge I've studied my whole life can make a small contribution to humanity... then I will have no regrets."
Hearing these words, Chen Ling froze. A figure in white amidst the shattered 【Aurora City】 suddenly surfaced in his mind... The 【Lord of the Aurora】 who, supporting his broken body, fought alone against the 【Forbidden Sea】 and turned everything into an eternal aurora.
He looked at 【Yang Xiao】 through the rearview mirror. That familiar face perfectly overlapped with the face of the 【Lord of the Aurora】. His expression suddenly became somewhat complex...
After a long silence, Chen Ling turned sideways towards the back seat and extended a hand:
"Welcome to the team, Dr. 【Yang Xiao】."