Lin Shi pedaled the bicycle, which was normally limited to twenty kilometers per hour, at a speed of forty to fifty kilometers per hour. "Stop! It's dangerous!" shouted a traffic officer behind him, but Lin Shi paid no heed.
After riding for a while, Lin Shi noticed that all the advertisements and LED lights on the nearby buildings were unlit. Even the usually bright city center billboards and 24-hour LED displays were now dark. The hospital had just had power; could it be that there was a sudden blackout? This thought flashed through Lin Shi's mind, but he didn't dwell on it. He continued to pedal with all his might, finally making it back to the mountain in the last minute.
[The first wave of danger will arrive in 31 seconds. Please prepare.]
He discarded the shared bicycle and quickly walked to the door, unlocking it as fast as he could. After entering, he locked the door and removed the surveillance camera facing the entrance, storing it in his spatial pocket.
[The first wave of danger will arrive in 5 seconds. Please prepare.]
Lin Shi quickly inserted the key into the second door. Click, the door opened.
[The first wave of danger will arrive in 3 seconds. Please prepare.]
He stepped inside, closing the door firmly behind him and collapsing into the lazy sofa.
[The first wave of danger will arrive in 1 second. Please prepare.]
[The solar storm has arrived, and a geomagnetic storm is forming. "Origin" material is rapidly generating.]
As everything went black, Lin Shi wondered, "Origin material? What is that?"
...
At the same time, an invisible solar storm swept across the planet. Over a thousand satellites, both large and small, exploded in a spectacular display of sparks, like a grand fireworks show. All the satellites were destroyed, and even those that didn't explode ceased to function. The debris from the explosions rained down on manned spacecrafts, causing screens in space stations to go black, followed by bursts of electricity and sparks. Astronauts working in the space stations were the first to face the destruction. Even though they had received warnings about the solar storm the previous night, they had no chance to return home.
All devices on the planet suddenly lost their signals. But this was only the beginning. The powerful electromagnetic pulse (EMP) from the solar storm swept across the entire planet, instantly destroying all electronic equipment with circuits. The EMP not only destroyed active devices but also damaged inactive ones. In this technologically advanced era, almost everything contained circuits. Planes in flight plummeted straight down, and ships, aircraft carriers, and submarines turned into scrap metal. Home appliances suddenly sparked, some smoking, others catching fire. People fled their homes in panic, but some, like Lin Shi, fell unconscious due to the geomagnetic storm.
People near transformers were horrified to find a burning smell emanating from them, and the wires connected to the transformers began to catch fire. Every power station, whether hydroelectric or nuclear, experienced overloads and failures. Fuses burned out, and some nuclear plants even exploded, annihilating hundreds of kilometers around them. The world plunged into darkness, and the half of the planet that was in nighttime was instantly enveloped in darkness. Countless people in hospitals, dependent on life-support machines, died in their comas. And this was not the end. All vehicles, including cars, electric vehicles, and scooters, malfunctioned, leading to numerous chain collisions on the streets. When people tried to seek help, they found their phones either overheated and burned out or simply went black. They couldn't contact anyone and received no aid, forced to flee the spreading fires in despair. In just a few minutes, the entire planet was engulfed in flames!
If someone could observe from outer space, they would witness the end of the technological era on the blue planet. The fruits of centuries of human technological advancement were brought to an abrupt halt. Lin Shi had experienced all of this in his previous life. Now, like many who were sensitive to the magnetic field, he had fallen unconscious due to the drastic changes in the Earth's magnetic field. Since he had no power on and all electronics were stored in his spatial pocket, this disaster had no effect on him. Unbeknownst to him, his warning had led the entire country of Xia to shut down its power supply in the morning. While Xia also suffered casualties, the number was significantly reduced compared to other countries. The butterfly effect caused by his rebirth began to change the future from this moment on.
In his unconscious state, Lin Shi couldn't see the changes happening on the treasure basin interface.
[This reboot is generating a large amount of "Origin," accelerating the evolution of all life on the blue planet.]
[Detected that the main body is in a safe environment. Absorb "Origin" to complete evolution.]
[Detected that the main body has lost consciousness. Auxiliary program activated.]
[The treasure basin is autonomously starting. Starting... Start complete.]
[Beginning to absorb "Origin"...]
Lin Shi's closed eyes emitted a faint golden light. Invisible, tiny particles gathered around his body, merging into his cells and genes. If observed, one would see his genetic chains rapidly absorbing this substance, breaking and reassembling at an incredible speed. This process was similar to unlocking gene locks, but the reassembly speed was much faster than usual, so the unconscious Lin Shi felt no pain.
Meanwhile, other living beings on the planet were also unconsciously absorbing the "Origin." Animals absorbed it the fastest, followed by plants, and then humans. There were individual differences among humans, but even the strongest animals absorbed far less than Lin Shi did. After a day and a night, the geomagnetic storm was nearing its end, and the generation of "Origin" in the air slowed down. People who had been unconscious or experiencing discomfort due to the magnetic field changes gradually returned to normal. The golden light on Lin Shi's forehead slowly faded.
A new prompt appeared on the treasure basin interface:
[The apocalypse has officially begun. Countdown to the next wave of danger will start within 72 hours.]
Before long, Lin Shi's eyelids fluttered, and he woke up.