Chapter 004: Li Gang

The World Federation Association.

An hour after the divine decree descended and vanished, the World Federation Association immediately issued a public statement, notifying the highest authorities of virtually every nation and deciding to convene a global summit on the matter three days later. Each country was required to send one or more representatives to attend.

The World Federation Association promised that, after the conference, the world would be given an explanation regarding this event.

Of course, before the official meeting notification was even dispatched, many countries had already reached out to the organization, as the impact of the event was simply too immense.

Every nation, without exception, either halted or slowed all pressing affairs to prioritize this issue. Even countries with adversarial relationships temporarily laid down their arms, expressing willingness to sit together and discuss how to confront the greatest crisis humanity had ever faced.

When all humankind is threatened with extinction in ten years, the grudges between nations suddenly seem far less important, and even deep-seated enmities become surmountable.

Three days passed quickly.

The global summit was convened on schedule.

Three days were sufficient for every world leader to arrive at the venue specified by the World Federation Association.

Three days were also enough for the world’s leaders and those in power to arrange and handle urgent matters, clearing their schedules.

No matter how important, nothing could outweigh the survival of the human race.

Moreover, three days were enough to address many other issues and to quell unrest.

This summit drew the attention of the entire world.

The conference was fully open to the public, allowing anyone to express their views.

Each nation was permitted to send journalists to the scene to broadcast the proceedings live. Journalists were also allowed to speak and ask questions.

To reassure their populations, governments made the meeting completely transparent, with everything taking place under the public eye.

Countless leading scientists from all fields attended, attempting to explain the event from a scientific perspective, interpreting it as a meticulously orchestrated act of terror.

Their reasoning was straightforward: gods could not possibly exist in this world. Atheism had been universally accepted as truth since the last century.

Yet, no matter what hypotheses or scientific conjectures they proposed, none could truly explain the essence of the divine decree’s proliferation, nor fully convince the public.

Televisions, computers, the internet, and mobile phones could be hacked, their programs briefly altered to display the same message everywhere at once.

But how to account for books, newspapers, even words carved into stone, all transforming into the divine decree?

No matter the page, every book repeated that divine message. Every newspaper article was replaced by it, as were the inscriptions on stone.

This, the scientists could not explain.

Fortunately, the phenomenon in books and newspapers lasted only briefly, eventually returning to normal, which gave the experts a sliver of room for argument.

They claimed that, in most regions, people had been hypnotized by terrorists using some special method, causing a visual hallucination.

Furthermore, they asserted that in many areas and among many people, there was no evidence of such an event occurring.

Some individuals were indeed found by the United Nations to testify to this.

Soon after, many others stood up to confirm that they had not witnessed any change in the text of books or newspapers.

Watching these scenes in the live global broadcast, the world’s unsettled populace gradually calmed.

The summit lasted a full ten days before it finally concluded.

Ten days of discussion yielded no definitive explanation for the divine decree.

However, through the efforts of the world’s top leaders, order was restored among the people.

Day by day, time passed. In the blink of an eye, a month had gone by since the day the decree descended.

The world seemed to return to its former peace and harmony. Though the events of a month earlier were still often mentioned, they were quickly diluted by the pressures of daily life and work.

Unrest that erupted in certain places was suppressed by governments and police.

But had the matter truly blown over?

Ten years later.

YD County, YC City, HB Province, Huaxia.

One morning.

It was just after seven, the sun shining brightly.

In a typical old six-story apartment block, in one of the rooms.

The twenty-square-meter room was simply furnished. A basic wooden bed, a handmade wooden bookshelf, a wooden desk, and a wooden wardrobe were all tightly fitted against the wall, forming a single unit.

Books of various kinds were neatly arranged on the shelves, mostly manga and light novels. Beside them stood a desk with a desktop computer, and above it hung a large Dragon Ball anime poster.

Directly in front of the desk was the room’s window, which at the moment was covered by drawn curtains.

The curtains were a pale beige, adorned with delicate patterns, made of sheer fabric. Through them, one could faintly make out the scene outside.

Sunlight filtered through the curtains, falling directly onto Li Gang’s face.

He frowned, muttered a few sounds of discontent, rolled over to face away from the light, and attempted to continue sleeping.

Outside the window, the distant chirring of cicadas and other insects could be heard.

In truth, he was already awake but did not want to get up.

Having graduated and currently jobless, his life mirrored his present state—drifting aimlessly.

He could sleep as long as he wished.

Knock, knock, knock.

After a few brisk, forceful knocks, the door swung open and a middle-aged woman appeared in the doorway, her expression distinctly displeased. She looked at Li Gang, who was still lying in bed with his eyes closed, her face full of anger.

“How long do you intend to sleep? All you do is play on your phone, play games, watch TV, and sleep all day.”

“I told you to study for the civil service exam and you refused. I told you to get a job and you quit after just a few days. What exactly do you—”

“You’re a grown man, and you don’t even think about—”

“Alright, I get it, I’m getting up, okay?”

Li Gang, bombarded by his mother’s incessant nagging, replied weakly, grimacing as he slowly climbed out of bed.

He yawned, picked up his phone, and squinted at the time.

7:26.

Instantly, he was tempted to lie back down, even though the day was already bright and sunlight was pouring through the curtains.

Glancing over at the curtains, he silently considered replacing them—they were useless against the summer sun at the start of the holiday season.

Did he go to bed at one in the morning yesterday? Or was it after two? He couldn’t remember. He only knew that he had been reading novels in bed, and at some point, had simply fallen asleep.

Since graduation, this had been his daily routine.

While his peers were out in the world striving for their futures, he had no idea where his own life was headed, nor did he have any motivation. He only wanted to laze around at home, idling his days away.

His greatest dream was to find a girl he liked who also liked him, so the two of them could idle their lives away together—until, decades later, they entered the grave side by side.