The scenes unfolding before my eyes seemed quite normal.

But soon, Lin Zichen noticed something amiss.

How come there were so few casualties in the city center after such a major accident had occurred?

What was going on?

Lin Zichen found this completely baffling.

...

Meanwhile, in the city center.

The Mechanically Modified Humans responsible for the rescue operation were also perplexed.

How could the area under the Scarlet Giant Tree, the most severely damaged region, have so few casualties?

This was indeed a bit eerie.

But odd as it was, the Mechanically Modified Humans did not dwell too much on this issue.

Instead, they were busy evacuating the citizens from the city center to prevent further casualties should the Scarlet Sky-Scraping Giant Tree show any more activity.

"How much longer until Professor Huang, the Exotic Botanist, arrives?"

A male Mechanically Modified Human leading the rescue team asked the female Mechanically Modified Human beside him.

The female Mechanically Modified Human answered, "He should be here in about 10 minutes!"

"What about the military support?"

"They will arrive in no more than 5 minutes!"

"How many mechs can the military deploy?"

"The Qianzhen, Changzhou, Nanguan, Daoshan, Haiyuan, and Zhanhai, a total of six mechs, can all be deployed and are rapidly approaching the city center from the Provincial Military District Headquarters!"

The female Mechanically Modified Human responded with precision.

The male Mechanically Modified Human nodded and then led a group of Mechanically Modified Humans to immediately carry out the rescue efforts.

...

All the scenes playing out in the city center and all the sounds were seen and heard by Lin Zichen from his family's apartment block at Shanhai University.

But he wasn't focused on that at all.

At the moment, his attention was entirely on the towering Scarlet Giant Tree.

The height of the Scarlet Giant Tree was immense, exceeding a kilometer by estimations.

It was twice the height of the "Xiaomanyao" high tower in Changzhou City.

With a diameter close to a hundred meters and covering an area almost equivalent to a standard four-hundred-meter track, it was utterly awe-inspiring.

The leaf coverage area above stretched to a thousand times the tree's footprint, encompassing 10 million square meters, casting the entire city center under a strange scarlet shadow.

It obscured the sky.

Leaving a creepy darkness.

It made one feel extremely uneasy.

Lin Zichen, gazing at the Scarlet Sky-Scraping Giant Tree in the distant city center, had a very solemn expression on his face.

Just one tree was capable of overshadowing the entire city center.

In his nineteen years as a human being, he had never seen such an exaggerated behemoth.

Even the Kunpeng from myth, whose size was said to obscure the sky and sun, could at best only be as large as this.

"Lin Zi, that tree in the city center is huge, what Biological Level must it be?"

Shen Qinghan frowned slightly, feeling very uneasy.

After speaking, she hesitated for a moment, then very irresponsibly suggested, "I think we can't stay in Shanhai City anymore. Should we take Mom and Dad and leave?"

Lin Zichen shook his head and said, "You can run for a while, but not forever."

"If Shanhai City is breached, other places will soon be breached as well."

"Rather than clinging to that bit of extra time, it's better to stay and defend Shanhai City and face the major disaster that might erupt."

He had no intention of leaving Shanhai City and wanted to stay and advance and retreat together with it.

Or more precisely, he wanted to acquire Evolution Resources during the upcoming disaster to accelerate his own evolution.

Shen Qinghan pursed her lips and said, "But... I feel like clinging to life for a bit longer is better than going to the battlefield now and facing almost certain death."

Lin Zichen disagreed, saying, "A disaster is both a risk and an opportunity."

"The Evolution Resources on Earth are too poor to satisfy the evolutionary needs of the two of us."

"If we want to accelerate our evolution, we need to take on challenges, embrace risks, and kill Exotic Beasts and Exotic Plants to obtain Evolution Resources."

The appearance of the Scarlet Giant Tree made him relate it to the previous sudden occurrences of numerous Exotic Plants and Exotic Beasts in Shanhai City, making him suspect that all three incidents were orchestrated by the Divine Plant Cult.

He had a premonition that a multitude of Exotic Beasts and Exotic Plants would soon be pouring out of the city center, encroaching on Shanhai City.

And these beasts and plants would become the nourishment for his evolution.

"But I think it's better to be steady, there's no need to blindly pursue the speed of evolution..."

Shen Qinghan thought about Lin Zichen's words, but still felt unconvinced and could only weakly reply.

She didn't want to take risks; she simply wanted to live well with the people that mattered.

Lin Zichen patiently explained to her, "You have to understand that time waits for no one."

"The current situation on Earth is visibly bad."

"If we don't evolve into higher-level beings within the limited time, the day Earth completely falls, we will have no means to protect ourselves and can only wait to die."

"In order to have the strength to protect ourselves when that day comes, we need to accelerate our evolution every second, take a bit more risk, and be a bit more aggressive."

No sooner had he finished speaking than his phone in his pocket started to vibrate violently.

Lin Zichen took out his phone and saw a notification from the school app.

[Emergency Notification!]

[Students with a Biological Level of Ordinary Fifth Order or above, please gather at the gymnasium immediately for instructions to proceed to the city center for rescue operations!]

[Absence without valid reason will be dealt with severely!]

[Minor cases will be disciplined, severe cases expelled, and the most severe cases imprisoned!]

After reading these four notifications, Lin Zichen raised his eyebrows in surprise.

He hadn't expected going to the city center for support to be mandatory.

This was almost like conscripting able-bodied men to the battlefield during a war.

It seemed that the sudden appearance of the Scarlet Giant Tree had a more serious impact than imagined.

The human higher-ups must know something.

"Lin Zi, this seems more serious than we thought..."

Shen Qinghan also saw the notification on the school app, feeling very uneasy.

Lin Zichen didn't say much, just said, "Let's go, we'll head over to the gymnasium to gather."

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"Okay."

Shen Qinghan nodded her head.

Soon, the two left the rooftop, ready to head to the gymnasium.

Before leaving, they went home to bid farewell to their parents and let them know what they were about to undertake.

Both sets of parents became extremely worried upon hearing that their children were to assist in the city center and asked if it was possible not to go.

Without a doubt, the answer they all got was that there was no choice and no escape.

Xu Meng walked up to Lin Zichen with a worried face and stopped in front of him, pleading in almost a begging tone,

"Xiao Chen, Han Han is the only daughter of Meng Auntie and Uncle Shen; you must protect her for us and keep her safe."

"Rest assured, Auntie Meng, I will definitely protect Han Han."

Lin Zichen said with certainty.

Having said that, he and Shen Qinghan no longer wasted time and quickly left home to head for the gymnasium.

On the way,

Shen Qinghan said earnestly, "Lin Zi, if the Divine Plant Cult's traitors capture you, I'll follow, I'll beg them to take me too."

"Okay."

Lin Zichen didn't offer comfort, only responding with that single word.

He thought, if he were really captured by the Divine Plant Cult, it would be good to have Shen Qinghan captured as well.

Honestly, he was not at ease letting Shen Qinghan live alone; rather than having her live a solitary existence, it would be better for both of them to survive together in the Divine Plant Cult.

Even within the Divine Plant Cult, as long as he was there, he could ensure Shen Qinghan would be unharmed.

...

Twenty-some seconds later,

The two arrived at the gymnasium.

Upon entering, they found it eerily empty, with only a few people around.

Only the members of the student council had arrived in full.

Obviously, Lin Zichen and Shen Qinghan were among the early arrivals.

"Let's go over there and wait."

Lin Zichen scanned the gymnasium, pointed to a spot by the window, and said.

Just as he was about to lead Shen Qinghan over there.

Suddenly, the ground began to shake violently!

...

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Source: Webnovel.com, updated by Aunomay Read