Chapter 68: The fewer the words, the bigger the trouble

The disaster erupted with terrifying suddenness.

Close to the epicenter, no one cared about anything else, fleeing in a frantic rush. Seeing the mushroom cloud rising in the distance, the uninformed assumed someone had dropped the ultimate bomb.

Those with nowhere to go resorted to looting, smashing, and burning.

Countries far away from the epicenter adopted a somewhat indifferent attitude. Their primary concern was whether this was a natural disaster. If so, it was fine; if it was a man-made nuclear catastrophe, however, they needed to wait and see which side to support.

One thing was certain: they definitely wouldn't side with Italy!

Yet, nobody noticed that the ambient temperature was slowly rising. Above Yellowstone National Park, in particular, the sun was completely obscured.

Massive amounts of volcanic ash spewed into the sky as if it were worthless, entirely cutting off the ground from the sun.

Before the rest of the world could even react, the eruption of the volcanic cluster triggered a chain reaction. Almost all subterranean veins connected to the Yellowstone supervolcano began erupting simultaneously.

Tsunamis, gale-force winds, and earthquakes began to successively ravage the entire Blue Planet.

In a remarkably short span of time, the authorities of the Dragon Country issued a series of continuous announcements.

The general message was urging citizens not to panic. Domestic supplies were abundant, and people were advised to reinforce their residences. Those with the means could construct their own shelters, provided they registered them online.

To prevent waste and ensure that ordinary citizens—who might lack the means to stockpile—could still acquire perishable necessities like food, salt, and sugar, the government instituted rationing and purchase limits!

As soon as these official statements appeared, the internet instantly exploded.

"What? You've got to be kidding me! Purchase limits now? My family hasn't bought a single thing yet!"

"Yeah! I'm so exhausted from work every day that I only ever order takeout! I don't even have a grain of rice at home!"

"You're still eating takeout? Our company has a cafeteria!"

"To the person above, what time is it, and you're still showing off? Flexing @!#￥%#%…………"

Instantly, the two began hurling abuses at each other online.

Most people took one look, heaved sighs, but didn't take it seriously, assuming it was just another routine volcanic eruption.

However, many sharp-eyed observers turned pale after reading the notices.

Because these official statements were extremely brief. There was an unwritten rule in the domestic news: the shorter the news, the bigger the event. Furthermore, when reading official announcements, one had to scrutinize every single word and connect the context to decipher the true meaning.

The hearts of many perceptive individuals sank halfway. This crisis was far more severe than imagined—so severe that even the state was urging people to actively engage in self-rescue.

Inside an online chat group.

Qin Shihuang: Looking at the videos, it doesn't feel that serious. But this official statement seems a bit fishy. Telling us to apply for our own shelters—what is that supposed to mean?

Han Wudi: Kid, you're still too naive. I've carefully studied the official statements and the state's recent moves—this matter is no small affair!

Han Wudi @ Little Girl Selling Nukes: Give us a science lesson on the danger level of this incident. You should be much more reliable than Qin Shihuang!

Little Girl Selling Nukes: We are in deep trouble!

Qin Shihuang: What do you mean? Why are we in deep trouble? It feels like the impact area isn't that large!

Little Girl Selling Nukes: The Yellowstone volcanic cluster is the powder keg of the Blue Planet. Not only is its destructive power immense, but once it erupts, the lava, volcanic ash, and toxic gases will instantly engulf everything within a thousand-kilometer radius. It could even alter the environmental trajectory of the entire Blue Planet to a certain extent!

This time, it's even worse. The volcanic eruption isn't the main point; the key is the meteor impact. NASA just released the conclusions from their spectrometer scans—this meteor is five kilometers in diameter, making its severity far greater than a standalone volcanic eruption.

Qin Shihuang: Holy shit, i-is it that serious? Should I spend all my money and hoard supplies?

Little Girl Selling Nukes: Hoard. Stock up on as much water as you can. We don't have much impact here yet, but from messages sent by friends near the epicenter, the temperature has already risen by at least two degrees.

Cherry Maruko-douzi: Oh my god! Five kilometers in diameter? If I remember correctly, the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs was only ten kilometers across!

Little Girl Selling Nukes: Therefore, everyone should prepare early. Once supply chains break down, a catastrophe will truly happen.

Cherry Maruko-douzi: @Group Leader.

Big Boss Group Leader, is there any other inside information you can share?

Black Bear Spirit: Temperatures are likely to rise.

Cherry Maruko-douzi: Rise to how many degrees? It's not going to boil us alive, is it?

Black Bear Spirit: Boiling won't happen, but half-cooked is possible. Above 60 degrees Celsius!

Instantly, members of the group began to complain bitterly that they were doomed, yet not a single person questioned the group leader.

Faced with someone who could accurately predict the apocalypse with 100% precision, everyone wanted to ask: Is there anyone else?!

Looking at the chaotic messages scrolling below, Yang Jie directly activated the mute function, sent a dog-head meme, and began typing.

Black Bear Spirit: A piece of advice: if you notice your pets acting abnormally, you'd better put them down immediately. If you can't bear to do it, it proves you aren't fit to survive the days ahead. You might as well find a plot of land with good feng shui and lie straight inside.

After sending the message, he lifted the mute, and the group members' imaginations instantly ran wild. Several individuals even engaged in wild brainstorming, and remarkably, some of their guesses were already drawing very close to parts of the truth.

Yang Jie could make prophecies, but he couldn't describe every detail; otherwise, it wouldn't be called a prophecy—it would be called rebirth!

Meanwhile, Wang Nianwei had already taken time off work. Every day was spent either shopping or on the way to shop, while her eyes remained glued to her phone.

Sure enough, upon discovering major developments, she immediately forwarded the findings to her father.

Wang's father promptly relayed the group's intelligence to the higher authorities.

In truth, the higher-ups desperately wanted to join this bizarre doomsday survival chat group. Unfortunately, whenever they tried, the group leader and members either ignored them or rejected their friend requests.

The crucial issue was that the IP addresses of the group leader and moderator could never be tracked; they changed every five minutes. The moment they attempted to use a supercomputer to force-trace the IP, the other party would immediately smash their computer!

This forced the authorities to tread carefully, fearing the group might disband at any moment, which would leave them stranded without information.

Consequently, they had no choice but to appoint Wang Nianwei as the liaison officer. Not only did she have to upload the daily chat logs, but she also had to report emergency intelligence promptly.

One had to admit that, backed by the state apparatus, the think tank analyzed the information provided by Yang Jie within minutes. As for whether there were any countermeasures, that remained unknown for the time being.

Looking at the nine video feeds that had all turned into static snow, Yang Jie furrowed his brow. Such powerful electromagnetic pulses... To be honest, meteor impacts do generate electromagnetic pulses, but they are nowhere near this magnitude.

As expected, this was unlike any ordinary meteorite.

"Tongtong, can you access a portion of the satellite feeds for observation?"

Zhao Baitong clacked away at the keyboard for a moment and said, "Satellites from all over the world have rushed over there. Right now, the vast majority belong to the Great Beautiful Country."