Work Prophet

Taylor asked Li Yu, "You know humans haven't always been the masters of Earth, right? Many powerful creatures existed on this planet before us, but none survived ultimately."

"Are you talking about mass extinctions?"

"Exactly, there have been five major mass extinction events in Earth's history: in the Ordovician, Devonian, Permian, Triassic, and Cretaceous periods.

"And mammals, including our ancestors, only emerged onto the historical stage in the Tertiary period."

Taylor said, "Our evolution to the current civilization relied not only on our intelligence and effort but also on luck, with climate being a particularly crucial factor."

"Imagine if our ancestors had also been present during the previous five mass extinctions, with their fragile bodies, they too would not have survived the dramatic climate changes.

"In fact, even throughout the millions of years of human existence, our civilization has always been deeply influenced by climate."

"After the last glacial maximum, it was precisely the warming climate that enriched Earth's natural resources, allowing early humans, who relied on gathering and hunting, more leisure time to create language and symbols.

"Subsequently, the occasional small ice ages also accompanied the alternation of dynasties."

Li Yu wasn't sure why Taylor suddenly brought up climate issues, but he remained patient and did not interrupt.

Mr. Qin also poured Taylor a cup of tea. After taking a couple sips to moisten his throat, he continued.

"We had a long honeymoon period with Earth, but now that sweet relationship is coming to an end."

"Because of the greenhouse effect?" Li Yu asked.

"Yes, industrial activities driven primarily by fossil fuels do release CO2 emissions affecting the climate to some extent, and many environmentalists believe this would bring about our destruction. However, this impact is currently rather mild.

Taylor said, "In contrast, changes in Earth's orbit are the main driving force behind climate changes, a theory first proposed by the Yugoslavian astrophysicist Milankovitch in the early 20th century, hence called the Milankovitch cycles.

"Milankovitch believed that Earth's climate cycles between glacial and interglacial periods, and these changes are closely related to three orbital elements: eccentricity, axial tilt, and precession.

"But according to Milankovitch's theory, Earth's temperature should have already dropped, as none of the previous interglacial periods has maintained such a long high point like now."

"Our people took a century-long investigation to finally find the answer—because someone has artificially intervened in Earth's climate."

"You could also call it God, or an otherworldly visitor," Mr. Qin added.

"The belief-based technology they used is more advanced than ours by at least a hundredfold, capable of affecting a planet's climate through Divine Arts—simply unheard of."

Li Yu frowned, "Are you suggesting that some unknown existence visited Earth, just as we descend upon other planes?"

"Exactly, some of those deities in myth and legend indeed existed. The belief-based technology our company possesses also comes from this."

"Then what's the purpose of the otherworldly guest altering Earth's climate through Divine Arts?"

"Quite the contrary, it was a gift. It was this gift that protected us under Earth's malice, allowing our civilization to continue to this day."

Taylor sighed, "But this gift has a time limit, and what's worse, using Divine Arts to forcibly alter climate also brings new problems."

"What kind of problems?"

"Once the protection fails, the climate won't gradually change as before but will drastically worsen. In other words, Earth may drop from an average temperature of 15 degrees to minus 20 degrees in just two or three months."

"At that time, it will have devastating impacts on most species residing on this planet, which certainly includes humans."

"Once the ice age arrives, Earth will be frozen for at least a million years."

"So the countdown on the wall at the front desk is the time we have left?" Li Yu asked, "What can we do to prevent this disaster?"

Taylor nodded, then shook his head, "The countdown is our remaining time, but the destruction has already begun, and no one can stop it."

"Hmm?"

"This planet is no longer suitable for habitation," Taylor said, "The average temperature on Earth has already dropped to minus 15 degrees."

Li Yu instinctively glanced out the window upon hearing this. However, in June, even at night in City B, the temperature remained high, and through the window, the greenery in the courtyard below was still lush.

"What your eyes see isn't real," Taylor whispered softly.

"If you swallow the Red Pill, you'll stay in the Miracle Realm, and I'll show you how deep the Rabbit Hole goes."

"I remember this line. Xu Mengyuan, the HR, also told me this during my onboarding, and it's from The Matrix series of movies." Li Yu's pupils contracted sharply.

"Are we living in a virtual network now?"

"It's the perfect fusion of electronic information technology and belief-based technology," Mr. Qin boasted, "We mobilized the world's top scientists and theologians to realize this great vision.

"We call it the Xingtian Project, and China undertook the most challenging part of building the database."

Taylor praised as well, "It's not easy to create a database vast enough to accommodate the consciousness of all the global population, and from the perspective of social stability, we definitely don't want the doomsday news to be leaked early.

"Countries assessed the implementation difficulty, and only China's organizational and mobilization capabilities could complete the construction and keep it strictly confidential."

"Even so, we paid a great price to build the database," Mr. Qin said.

"Countless scientists and construction workers labored tirelessly day and night, even sacrificing their lives. Their sacrifice was for the survival of humanity and the continuation of civilization, not to fulfill your ridiculous fantasies."

Li Yu didn't refute this time, merely looked at Taylor again, "Is Bratis composed of countless codes too?"

"No," Taylor said, "Of course not. It's real, just like you and me, but situated on another plane, and it's where our hope lies."

"Hope?"

"Don't blame Mr. Qin for his harsh attitude towards you, because you are our captain, the Noah building the Ark, the Moses leading the Israelites out of Egypt. We need you to lead us through obstacles and reach our new home."