Forecasting Natural Disasters for Novel Natives - Chapter 14
Peng Lan knew this “Pickup” system had no bottom line, but he didn’t expect it to assign him such a socially disastrous task right off the bat.
He raised his hand, gesturing for pen and paper. Someone immediately provided them. With difficulty but speed, he wrote down the task content. The person who received it glanced at it and promptly took it out to show the leaders outside.
Meanwhile, Peng Lan conversed with the system. “System, you did this on purpose, didn’t you?”
The system replied coldly: “Please complete the task, Host.”
Peng Lan: “You assigned many tasks to Shi Feizhai, but not one had such explicit and precise requirements for the female party’s reaction. After all, no one can predict what a woman will say or do.”
For instance, Shi Feizhai’s first task was to compliment Jiang Ying and receive praise from her in return. There were no specific requirements for Jiang Ying’s lines.
The system remained icy: “Countdown remaining: two minutes.”
Peng Lan continued, “Life isn’t an idol drama. If I actually said something like ‘You smell so nice’ to a girl, it would most likely be considered sexual harassment. She might become angry and humiliated, think I’m a pervert, call the police, or even hit me directly. The only reaction that wouldn’t happen is her saying the line you require.”
Lying in bed, he looked at the ceiling, his expression calm and assured. “Not to mention the task time limit is only three minutes. Normally, this is an impossible task. So, there are only two possibilities:
“First, you never intended for me to succeed and just want an excuse to eliminate me. Second, you tacitly allow me to cheat.”
Even though it wasn’t human, the system seemed momentarily stumped. Then it coldly announced the time again: “Countdown: one minute.”
A capable-looking, handsome short-haired woman with sharp, cool eyes entered and looked at Peng Lan.
Peng Lan immediately knew she was a soldier, and probably of considerable rank.
If the cost of developing this system required women to play such embarrassing roles, society would likely gradually become distorted.
Peng Lan asked the system, “Do you want me dead, or do you want me to put on a performance?”
The system’s voice seemed to become somewhat frantic: “Countdown: thirty seconds.”
Peng Lan smiled and said to the woman before him: “Just read the lines directly.”
The female officer showed a hint of confusion. She had seen the task requirements; it seemed she was supposed to act shy and coquettish, which was a bit difficult for her. She had been mentally rehearsing.
If they hadn’t been pressed for time and couldn’t find a good actress quickly, she wouldn’t have been pulled in to fill the role.
Peng Lan saw her hesitation. “Trust me.”
The female officer hesitated no longer. The system was in Peng Lan’s head; he understood it better than anyone now. If he said so, there must be a reason.
“Countdown 20, 18, 16…”
The system counted down coldly, like an earthquake warning.
Peng Lan propped himself up, opened his arms, and the female officer stepped forward to hug him.
Peng Lan: “You smell so good.”
Female Officer: “Oh, you awful flirt!”
After delivering the line stiffly, both shuddered simultaneously, thoroughly disgusted with themselves.
The countdown ended.
Peng Lan seemed to hear the system’s heavy breathing. Then it shouted frantically: “Task completion quality extremely poor! No real emotion at all! Failure! You’re even worse than Shi Feizhai!”
Peng Lan released her and lay back down, composed and at ease. “Low quality or not, it’s still completed, isn’t it?”
System: “So what if it’s completed! No reward! Low quality means no reward!”
Peng Lan fell into thought. The female officer stood by. Seeing the three minutes were up and the person before her was still fine, she said, “It seems it’s completed.”
Peng Lan thanked her. “My apologies for the offense.”
“It’s fine, it’s all for the mission.” This level was still acceptable.
The leaders outside came in. “Peng Lan, how are you feeling?”
Peng Lan tried to get up, but the leaders told him to keep lying down. Nevertheless, Peng Lan sat up and said, “That beginner task just now was completed, but the quality was low, so there’s no reward. However, the good news is, the system should be formally bound to me now.”
The leader nodded. “What are your plans next?”
Peng Lan said, “To achieve a high completion rate and get the acid-resistant materials, genuine emotional investment is needed, especially from the female party.”
He wrote a few words on the notepad.
The leaders looked; it read: Recruit subordinates. Find real couples to do the tasks.
The leaders pondered. Indeed. They couldn’t really have Peng Lan hit on many female comrades—how would that be different from Shi Feizhai?
Having real couples perform tasks had several advantages: First, it eliminated ethical and moral problems. Second, genuine emotions would lead to higher task quality. Third, with more participants, efficiency would increase.
There was another benefit: This way, with more participants, Peng Lan would no longer be the task executor but rather a strategist and coordinator, a bridge between humanity and the system.
The leaders also needed to plan ahead and limit Peng Lan’s capabilities to prevent the eventual emergence of an autocratic “City Lord.”
The female officer glanced at Peng Lan. This guy was probably going to be living like a monk for a long time to come. The leaders likely wouldn’t allow any women near him. Things like 24/7 close protection (surveillance) would be standard procedure.
Soon, everyone left to hold a meeting and discuss how to implement this matter. Peng Lan was transferred to a regular ward; he still needed to rest in bed for a while longer.
Peng Lan looked at the sky outside. “How long was I unconscious?”
The special agent assigned for his close protection replied, “Two days.”
Two days, plus the previous three days, made five full days.
“Has the Sky Screen not appeared again?”
The special agent shook his head. “Haven’t heard about it.”
Peng Lan frowned slightly. Previously, the Sky Screen appeared every three days. Now it’s been five days. Would it never appear again?
Special Agent: “However, yesterday our city did experience an acid rain shower. pH was around 2.7. Fortunately, it only lasted two hours before stopping.”
Upon hearing this, Peng Lan laboriously got out of bed and went to the window. He saw the buildings and ground outside were indeed pitted and scarred. The trees had almost no green left, just charred black.
People outside were all wearing respirators and protective suits.
Time was truly running short. Less than two-thirds of the one-month deadline remained.
Just then, a large hole suddenly appeared in the gray sky, emitting light.
Peng Lan’s eyes lit up, and he leaned closer to the window.
The Sky Screen was here!
[Hello everyone… The world you are in is about to experience a zombie crisis.]
Had it switched to another world this time?
A zombie world. I wonder which one has a higher survival difficulty compared to our acid rain world.
Peng Lan stared intently at the Sky Screen, watching the scenery of another new world.
[From the start, at least one-tenth of the population will be randomly infected and turn into zombies…]
Peng Lan: “…”
At the start, a “zombie starter pack” wipes out ten percent of the people in one strike. That seemed even more tragic than our Acid Rain World.
At that moment, the 715 people in A City who could see the Sky Screen sighed with the same sense of relief.
Thankfully, they didn’t live in the zombie world. After all, who could guarantee they wouldn’t be the randomly chosen unlucky one?
*
「Zombie World」
3:00 AM was when most people were in deep sleep, though, of course, some places in the city were still active.
On the highways, trucks carried goods over long distances; 24-hour convenience stores on the streets were brightly lit; doctors and nurses on duty in hospitals were still writing medical records; cleaners were tidying up the night market garbage; breakfast shops had already opened and were preparing for the day.
These awake people were also the first to discover the Sky Screen.
The sky suddenly tore open a large hole, light spilled down. They looked up and saw their own Yongcheng City appearing in the sky.
Except the city in the sky was in daylight.
“Ah! What is that!”
“Am I seeing things from staying up too late?”
“Did the sky suddenly get bright?”
Everyone was stunned. Hearing the voice from the Sky Screen, they were too dumbfounded to react.
What zombie crisis? What one-tenth? Is this a movie?
Or did someone project a short video made by apocalypse enthusiasts onto the sky?
The Sky Screen didn’t stop just because they were confused. Weizi’s voice continued.
[August 7th, if I’m not mistaken, is two days from now in your world. Around 10:00 AM or so, all of humanity will experience a collective, unexplained coma, lasting approximately three to five minutes. It is this very coma that causes one-tenth of humanity to turn into zombies.]
[However, even before turning into zombies, this coma itself brings immense loss and suffering to all of humanity. Later generations came to call it: The Prelude of Despair.]
On the Sky Screen, at a little past 10 AM, the streets were busy with traffic. Suddenly, people collapsed without warning.
Pedestrians crossing the street, traffic officers directing traffic, people waiting at bus stops, children eating ice cream on the sidewalk, shop employees peeling sugarcane in front of fruit stores, customers eating noodles in noodle shops, delivery guys…
Everyone fell down.
Drivers also instantly lost consciousness. Cars swerved erratically, causing chain collisions or crashing into buildings by the roadside. People lying on the road were run over while unconscious, blood spraying.
“Aiyo!”
People watching this scene screamed in shock, covering their mouths. Those who had been staying up felt their hearts could stop from fright.
“Such a sin! Just running people over like that?”
“Why did everyone suddenly collapse? What happened?”
“Oh my god, who filmed this? It’s so realistic!”
But it wasn’t over. The scene shifted, showing multiple split screens.
On a construction site, workers operating machinery fell from height due to the coma, becoming a bloody mess on the spot.
In a hospital, a surgeon performing an operation collapsed. The patient on the table, unable to receive timely hemostasis, bled out wildly while unconscious.
In a factory, workers’ comas led to machinery swallowing people.
At an airport, a landing plane, having lost control from the unconscious pilots, crashed directly, exploding and affecting other planes.
In a mall, people on escalators fell en masse, those at the bottom getting caught in the machinery.
At home, a parent bathing an infant lost consciousness, causing the child to submerge completely underwater.
In a kitchen, a chef frying chicken fell straight into the vat, his entire head plunging into the scalding hot oil.
Scene after scene was horrifying, making people’s scalps tingle and blood run cold. Some even vomited, rushing aside to retch.
For a time, screams, curses, angry shouts, and calls to the police were constant.
The sleeping people in the city gradually woke up from the noise.
“What’s all that noise outside? Who are they yelling at?”
“Calling so late? What? Look at the sky?”
“What’s in the sky? Oh my god, what is that!”
A chef who had just gone to sleep not long ago had his phone ring. He answered irritably: “I just got to sleep after a long day, this better be important! What? My head got fried? Your head got fried! And there’s video proof? Try messing with me again!”
He hung up. His friend actually sent a video. Impatiently, he clicked it open and was instantly scared awake from head to toe.
“Oh my ancestors!”
He bolted upright. Seeing this clearly shaky video, he saw himself frying chicken, then suddenly passing out and plunging headfirst into a whole vat of hot oil.
The chef shuddered violently, feeling a sharp pain in his face and head.
His friend called again, urgent and panicked. “Is that you in the video? It looks so much like you!”
Looks so much like him? It was undoubtedly him! How could he not recognize himself?
But this never happened to him!
“You there? Still busy? Whatever, just look at the sky!”
The chef, dazed, ran to the balcony and looked up. His legs went weak immediately. Good heavens! A giant TV screen!
On the “TV” were all sorts of deaths, comparable to torture methods. And he was in an inconspicuous corner, still being fried!
The entire city gradually erupted. One person called another, noise woke more people. More and more were roused to see the Sky Screen, only to be met with a brutal shock. Some even fainted on the spot.
This bloody compilation of eighteen cruel ways to die lasted at least half a minute, as if to make sure people saw it clearly enough.
Then, Weizi slowly said:
[Feeling overwhelmed? But what comes next is even more cruel. Those who feel their mental fortitude is relatively weak can look away now. Of course, if afterward there’s no one who can explain the video content to you, it’s best to keep one ear listening.]
[So next, let’s get to the main subject.]
The small split screens disappeared. The scene returned to the initial street, where people lay unconscious everywhere and cars were crashed in piles.
Suddenly, a person on the ground moved, then staggered to their feet.
Their movements were strange, body contorted, walking with a limp.
But after a heavy fall, injuring oneself and moving like that was understandable.
However, what happened next far exceeded people’s expectations.
The person in the scene walked towards the nearest person still lying on the ground and stiffly crouched down.
Just as people thought they were going to help the person up, their mouth suddenly opened abnormally wide, teeth sharp like fangs, and they bit down.
Then, with a fierce tear.. Half the face was ripped off. Blood splattered across the entire screen.
Beneath the Sky Screen, people screamed in horror:
“Ahhhh!”