Chapter 300

300. Chapter 297 Global Changes

In fact, not only ordinary citizens were worried, but many senior officials of Great Xia also had solemn expressions!

As the early morning hours approached, normally most people would have already left work at this time, but all relevant departments across the country were brightly lit!

All civil servants and staff on duty were stationed at their respective posts.

Countless officials had not even gone to sleep!

They stood before their respective desks, directing and dispatching, ready at any moment to deal with any sudden situation.

Longyuan Mountain had given a specific time for the heaven-and-earth cataclysm, but the content of the cataclysm was uncertain; the Earth's magnetic field was in disorder, and various disasters would erupt one after another. Ye Qin could not even say what the first descending disaster would be.

Personnel from the Great Xia Capital, assassins also stood in their respective office buildings; they held a video conference, and on the huge screen appeared dozens of figures, the top experts of Great Xia.

The venerable chief spoke in a low voice, carrying an aura of imposing authority without anger, 'Everyone, are you ready?'

"Don't worry, chief, everything is more or less ready."

"The elixirs aided by the Longyuan Mountain Range have all been distributed, right?"

Hua Tiancheng showed a feeling of emotion, 'They have already been sent out; it's hard to imagine, but such a small sachet can actually hold so much.'

Originally, the Longyuan Mountain Range gave them not only basic cultivation methods but also some elixirs, weapon forging, and formations; however, they haven't even fully grasped the cultivation methods, let alone these things.

Moreover, time was pressing, so they haven't studied them carefully yet.

Thinking of this, Hua Tiancheng couldn't help but sigh, 'If we were given a little more time, we could certainly prepare better.'

The venerable chief's thoughts were no different: 'It's a pity time waits for no one; no matter what, everything must be prepared, for this battle we face is unimaginably tough.'

"This battle, we must win! Absolutely cannot retreat; this is our responsibility on our shoulders."

"Our Great Xia's 1.4 billion people."

"Not a single one can be missing!"

Among the senior officials of Great Xia, they were discussing many matters, and throughout Great Xia, the military had also sprung into action!

They were stationed in all eight directions, their whole presence awe-inspiring, and their gazes even more resolute.

And in Wu Du Cultivation Academy, those over a hundred genius members also had bright eyes.

After this period of study, they had shed their immaturity and innocence; at first glance they seemed just newly adult, yet the aura they unintentionally exuded gave off an intangible pressure.

In the Magic Capital, the youth selling roasted sweet potatoes flipped through the ancient texts Ye Qin had left for him; his whole body was surrounded by light, filled with a faint, elusive charm, and occasionally a streak of light would flash across the depths of his pupils!

Within Great Xia, all detection equipment operated at full capacity; countless instruments shone with dazzling light, as if the stars in the sky were twinkling.

Everyone here was waiting and preparing, ready to welcome the arrival of the heaven-and-earth cataclysm.

Great Xia can be said to be fully armed, standing ready in strict formation!

Whether it be the government or the Transverse Mountain Range, they have already made thorough preparations.

Even Mount Hua, Mount Changbai, Mount Tai, Mount Song, and Penglai, in order to cope with all this, the Holy Prince and others boldly activated the enormous formation completely.

Tens of millions of mysterious patterns roamed across the vast mountains and rivers, like several vigorous swimming dragons, coiling upon this ancient land.

Unlike Great Xia's solemn readiness, other countries all took a gawking attitude.

They looked at the intelligence coming from below, the reports from numerous scouts about Great Xia, and all of them snorted in contempt.

"This country is completely hopeless; the superiors have gone mad, and a bunch of the common folk below have gone mad too!"

"It's unbelievable that everything on the streets has been completely cleared out!"

"What on earth is Great Xia up to? They're even doing coastal relocation, which is utterly absurd!"

Faced with such a massive move by Daxia, even though we know there's nothing going on and it can't be true, among the many nations it's inevitable that someone will start to doubt.

"Could there really be some disaster?"

"Daxia has no brains; do you also have no brains? Now the world is peaceful, where would a disaster come from?"

They seriously observed and calculated, yet discovered that across the entire Earth, there was absolutely no sign of any disaster about to erupt!

"Daxia is just spreading doomsday, creating panic; they are simply a bunch of foolish lunatics."

Across the ocean, Miguo.

Today's Miguo was especially lively, welcoming the annual Christmas, comparable to Daxia's Spring Festival; one could see crowds shoulder to shoulder on the streets, the streets hung with red five-pointed stars, candies, gift boxes, and various decorations.

A huge Christmas tree stood in the center of the street; in the most prosperous area, colorful neon lights sparkled among the green branches. Red stockings hung from it, and beside it stood a white-bearded Santa Claus handing out candies to children.

Everyone's face beamed with happy smiles, accompanied by the jingling melody of bells, and even their steps were light.

In the official department building of Miguo's aviation and aerospace, the Christmas spirit also filled the air, with holiday decorations visible everywhere.

Each employee had placed a potted miniature Christmas tree on their work desk today.

"Oh God, such a grand holiday, and I'm actually working here."

In Miguo's aviation and aerospace monitoring hall, a blond, blue-eyed youth stared at the enormous satellite cloud map before him and couldn't help but complain.

"Such a life is truly miserable; I should be at home preparing for the holiday, not sitting here looking at an unchanging satellite cloud map."

"Others are simply outrageous; I wish God would punish them and give them a proper lesson—our entire department has dwindled to just the two of us, just two people!"

The blond, blue-eyed youth sighed, his face full of sorrow.

Beside him was his colleague James; though they were about the same age, his gaze was somewhat steadier, as he calmly drank coffee while handling numerous tasks at the workstation.

"Tom, stop complaining; who made us the newcomers? With this time we'd be better off processing the data early—maybe you could get off work early and catch a bit of the Christmas festivities."

Hearing this, he instantly sat up straight: "I came because I heard that in recent years the aviation and aerospace department has been the most sought-after, the most promising job."

"Who would have thought it would turn out like this? I don't even know if it's still possible to transfer to another department now."

James couldn't help but roll his eyes at this: "Getting into this place is hard, and getting out is even harder; since you're already here, just do your job well—given time, you might naturally get a chance to be promoted."

"Oh no!" Upon hearing this, Tom, somewhat despondent, got up and vigorously shook the other's shoulder.

"Please, James, listen to what you're saying—we just graduated; couldn't you be a bit more lively? This tone is practically like my father."

"There's already a nagging gentleman at home; I don't want another one at work—that would be utterly horrifying, leaving no glimpse of a future."

Watching Tom's exaggerated expression and words, James smiled and said, "Understood."

Because it was a holiday, their work wasn't as busy as usual; they chatted about everything and soon talked about the recent hot-topic events.

By the way, what do you think about the Great Xia situation?

Tom spoke without hesitation: "I don't really think much; they must have gone crazy on a large scale, even closing off the country and claiming some disaster would strike—this sounds utterly absurd."

Those Great Xia fools, what are they still preparing? The Earth's originally shifted orbit has already returned to normal—where would any disaster come from? This is pure fearmongering.

This view actually coincided with James's.

Great Xia is indeed somewhat fanciful; now the entire Earth's ecosystem has trended toward balance, even unprecedented stability—how could any catastrophe occur?

Beep beep beep—

Just then, a notification tone sounded on the screen.

In the space satellite cloud map, such a tone always sounds, likely indicating an abnormal thundercloud cluster has formed somewhere; it will automatically dissipate after not too long.

Therefore, facing the alert, the two didn't take it to heart, merely continuing their conversation.

The two continued discussing various matters about Great Xia, occasionally bursting into laughter; after a while, Tom got up to go to the restroom, and only then did James turn his gaze back to the screen, instantly freezing in place.

Gazing at the image called up on the screen, James instinctively widened his eyes: "What... what's going on?"

A huge satellite image appeared on the monitor; James's breathing grew somewhat rapid, his ten fingers flying as he swiftly manipulated the control panel.

At first there was nothing, but later James's complexion gradually began to change!

From the original stiffness, it turned into a dazed stupor, then gradually turned into horror!!

What... what's going on?!

When Tom returned from the restroom, what he saw was James sitting stiffly in his chair, the light from the screen casting on his face, which was deathly pale—a truly frightening sight.

Tom was bewildered; clearly everything had been perfectly normal just a moment ago, merely after using the restroom, how did it become like this?

"James, what's wrong with you? Are you feeling unwell?"

Hearing Tom's words, James finally came to his senses, urgently shouting: "Come over and take a look—does Earth's orbit seem a bit off?"

James's complexion grew worse: "The... Earth's orbit seems to have started shifting again!"

Tom's face full of disbelief, he moved closer to the screen: "What are you saying? Earth's orbit hasn't already returned to normal?"

After clearly seeing the screen's content, the next second he widened his eyes, his complexion suddenly changed, and he exclaimed in disbelief: "Wait! What's going on? Why does Earth's orbit show signs of shifting again?!"

James's complexion suddenly turned deathly pale; he went to the desk, frantically pounding the computer, countless formulas streaming wildly from his fingertips.

Soon he saw the result; the computer's simulation of future scenes evoked a tremendous surge in his heart.

How could this be?!

Tom's eyes lost focus, his whole body felt as if all strength had been drained, staring in disbelief at the scene before him.

Because in the simulation image before him, Earth's orbit was indeed undergoing a shift!

And it was an unimaginable large-scale shift!

The orbit that had returned to normal not only didn't stop, but instead overexerted, directly breaking through the past!

It's like a straight line that originally drifted slightly leftward, then, under the influence of a mysterious force, the force that had originally drifted leftward returned to its original course.

But after returning to its original course, this force did not disappear; instead, it became even more terrifying!

Carrying the already returned course, it suddenly veered rightward!

"How long has this alarm been sounding?!" James suddenly lifted his head to ask!

Tom replied in a trembling voice: "About twenty minutes."

Only twenty minutes! Yet it could produce such a huge orbital shift—this is truly terrifying; most importantly, the data sent back by the satellite cloud map shows the orbit still continuously shifting!

"Earth is now receding from the solar system at an extremely rapid speed; if it continues along this orbital shift, the consequences are simply unimaginable!"

"Although Earth will still be pulled back by the Sun's gravity, its original orbit will change from a slightly elliptical, nearly circular orbit into a huge ellipse!"

"By that time, the temperature on Earth will plummet suddenly to the extreme limit!!"

James suddenly began calculating, beads of sweat popping up on his forehead, his back completely drenched, his work clothes sticking directly to his body.

Yet at this moment he couldn't spare much thought; his pupils contracted sharply, and he uttered word by word: "If this is indeed the case, Earth will likely plunge into a months-long extreme cold era!"

His words struck Tom's heart like a heavy hammer, leaving him unable to recover.

Tom abruptly turned, grabbed the phone, his hand shaking violently: "Something's wrong—hurry, hurry and report this upward!"

Almost at the same time, or perhaps even earlier than in Miguo, countless countries around the world discovered this shocking news!

Countless scientists, looking at the results and images deduced on the computer, had faces grim to the extreme!

How did things develop into this!

Earth's orbit has actually shifted again!

Scientists from countless countries panicked, frantically calculating and deducing, trying to overturn this result, but no matter what, the final answer was always that the planet's orbit had changed!

Countless countries fell into a dazed stupor!

Only Great Xia's aerospace scientists, who had observed all this, swallowed hard and reported it upward!

"Okay, I understand."

In the Great Xia Council Hall, the elder chief hung up the phone calmly, as if he had long anticipated such an event.

The council continued; on the huge screen, countless officials from Great Xia's various regions appeared.

The atmosphere grew somewhat silent; no one spoke, they merely rose silently, standing before the huge floor-to-ceiling window, quietly gazing at the dark night outside.

As time passed second by second, not only the Great Xia authorities were waiting, but countless Great Xia citizens also held their breath, tense and almost frozen.

In the distant Longyuan Mountain Range, Ye Qin also temporarily halted his cultivation, gazing at the deep, dark sky above, his expression shifting inexplicably.

"The influence caused by the Cosmic Signal Tower has spread over…"

"But the Heavenly Sect hasn't yet relocated Earth, and its trajectory has already been altered; the energy of this signal tower is somewhat beyond imagination—no wonder it affects the entire cosmic fringe."

"But what is the purpose of their building the signal tower? And what is its function?"

Ye Qin had always been curious about what the signal tower's purpose actually was—could it be, like human signal towers, used for communication?

But Ye Qin felt that it probably wasn't that simple; this signal tower must have a major role for the Heavenly Sect, otherwise they wouldn't have gone to such trouble to develop the cosmic frontier, even relocating many planets.

……

But no matter what, at this moment, everyone in the Great Xia had the illusion that time had slowed down, each second's beat feeling as long as a year.

Only ten minutes remained until the dawn when the heaven‑earth catastrophe would arrive.

Within the Great Xia, countless televisions and computers lit up, and even mobile phones received signals sent by the state telecommunications department.

Everyone's phone and TV screens turned pure black, like a clock forged from starlight, its hands gently pressed onto the front.

'Tick‑tock, tick‑tock.'

Everyone stared at that black second hand, with fourteen billion pairs of eyes—men, women, old and young—focused on it.

The sky had been covered by dark clouds at some point, with no stars or moon, not a hint of light, giving a feeling that a storm was imminent, making people uneasy.

Although there was no wind blowing around, a piercing chill permeated the world and the ages.

An invisible force seemed to envelop the Earth; everyone in the Great Xia who had practiced the basic cultivation method felt their breathing stagnate, sensing an unprecedented weight pressing upon their hearts.

In the darkness they seemed to hear something shatter, as if they saw a void‑like wall gradually appearing between heaven and earth.

A crack appeared on the wall, and like a spiderweb it quickly spread, soon covering the entire wall!

In an instant it was as if raging waves surged, mountains and rivers churned, giving an endless feeling of trembling.

Even the senior leader narrowed his eyes slightly, feeling an unprecedented sense of crisis that kept growing, until it almost became tangible.

It was as if fourteen billion Swords of Damocles hovered above the heads of everyone in the Great Xia, and even infants seemed to sense something, stopping their crying.

Finally, only a few seconds remained; everyone stared fixedly at the screen, each beat making their pupils widen and their fists clench.

"Bang!"

At the instant the countdown reached zero, a clear sound seemed to echo throughout the world.

Around the globe, countless people and countless lives froze for a moment.

What just happened?

Did something break?

But soon their pupils contracted to pinpoints, because in everyone's sight a snowflake seemed to appear, drifting slowly down from the sky.

Not only the many in the Great Xia who practiced the basic cultivation method, but at this moment all the people of the Great Xia stared wide‑eyed in shock.

A piercing chill erupted in their hearts without warning.

Ye Qin gazed at the heavy snow falling in the sky, his verdant eyes seeming to flash with light.

"The heaven‑earth catastrophe has arrived." (End of chapter)