364: Chapter 364: My Brother's Gift to the World! (The End)

As Xiao Hei's voice faded, the eight people were instantly dumbfounded.

For a moment, they didn't know whether to look at the eerie Xiao Hei or Xiaoyu, who was slumped on the floor.

Soon, Ouyang Baili was the first to snap back to reality. He glanced at Xiao Hei, then at the slumped Xiaoyu, furrowed his brows, and walked over quickly.

"Xiaoyu, what's wrong? Why are you suddenly like this?"

Old Liu also came over and crouched down: "You were fine downstairs just a moment ago. Why are you so listless as soon as you came upstairs?"

Old Chen couldn't help but look around the master bedroom—the mahogany furniture, the dark gray curtains, and that high-tech-looking astronomical telescope standing quietly by the window.

He subconsciously asked: "Jiang Zhe's room is truly beautiful. Huh, where is Jiang Zhe?"

At this moment, everyone realized that Jiang Zhe was not in the room.

Old Chen said again: "That kid Jiang Zhe, it's almost midnight, why isn't he back for the New Year? He usually seems so reliable, why is he missing at such a critical moment? Could he have gone out to play cards with friends?"

Guan Jingming shook his head gently: "That's unlikely. Perhaps he bought something outside and is on his way home. After all, Jingan Manor is in the suburban villa area; it's normal for it to be a bit far."

As they were saying this, Xiaoyu finally raised her head, her expression somewhat dejected.

"Brother has left."

Ouyang Baili furrowed his brows: "What do you mean, left?"

"He left." Xiaoyu swallowed, replying somewhat hesitantly: "He left for good. I will never see Brother again."

Once these words were spoken, the eight people were stunned, their eyes filled with confusion.

Old Chen was about to crouch down to ask in detail, but he saw Ouyang Baili and Guan Jingming exchange a glance, both of their faces flashing with horror.

Their expressions changed too quickly—from confusion to shock, from shock to realization, all within a few seconds.

It was as if the two of them knew something about Jiang Zhe.

In an instant, Ouyang Baili's pupils constricted, "Xiaoyu, is… is it the 'left' that I understand?"

Xiaoyu nodded gently.

Ouyang Baili's legs went weak, and he slumped onto the floor on the spot.

His face was a whirlwind of emotions—smiling, surprised, regretful, and sorrowful.

The expression was so complex that everyone present couldn't quite understand it.

Professor Wang Shouren couldn't help but ask: "What on earth is going on, Professor Ouyang? I don't understand. What do you mean he left, he's not coming back? Why would Jiang Zhe abandon his home?"

Ouyang Baili sat on the floor, his chest heaving violently, his heart pounding rapidly.

He took a deep breath, his face full of fanaticism, "Parallel worlds."

These four words fell lightly.

The master bedroom was silent for a moment, and everyone looked at each other.

Then, an expression of disbelief spread across everyone's faces.

Old Chen looked terrified, his lips moving, but he couldn't speak.

He thought of Jiang Zhe's interdisciplinary insights—knowledge that shouldn't belong to this era.

If he came from another world, then everything made sense.

Old Qian's brows were tightly furrowed, his lips slightly parted.

He tried to use logic to refute it, but all the evidence in his mind pointed to the same answer: Ouyang was right.

Old Wu leaned against the wall, as if he had lost all his strength. So, everything Jiang Zhe said was true!!!

At this moment, no one asked: "On what basis do you judge that?"

Because in everyone's mind, the same thought flashed at the same moment: So that's it!

Xiaoyu sat by the bed, looking at Ouyang Baili, her expression shifting from dejection to a complex state of mind.

She seemed to finally understand why Brother always knew so much, and why his eyes always carried a sense of urgency, as if there wasn't much time left.

No wonder Brother didn't like going out at all, didn't make friends with anyone, and didn't even pay attention to the authorities.

Everything made sense!

Li Mo stood at the back, his mouth slightly open, unable to close it for a long time.

After a long while, he muttered: "So, he never belonged here in the first place!"

Just as the atmosphere in the room turned strange, the night sky outside suddenly flashed.

Everyone turned their gaze. A pillar of light shot across the horizon in the southeast, dyeing half the sky as bright as day.

Li Mo was the first to shout: "What is that? A meteorite?"

Ouyang Baili stood up abruptly, walked to the window, and squinted at the southeast.

The white light lasted for about ten seconds, then gradually dimmed, as if something had fallen from the sky into the sea.

After the white light disappeared, a slight tremor came from the floor beneath their feet, and the entire villa shook gently.

Guan Jingming held onto the wall, his expression changing instantly: "This is a seismic wave!"

"Yes, the direction is southeast." Ouyang Baili quickly took out his phone and opened professional software. On the screen was real-time data from the seismic network: "The epicenter is in the direction of the Neon Trench."

"How big must that meteorite be? Gusu is about a thousand kilometers from Neon, and the shock traveled that far!"

"I don't know. Let's wait for the news."

Xiaoyu stood by the window, watching the changes in the eerie night sky.

At this time, exclamations from neighbors kept coming from outside, and some even shouted through megaphones.

"Bosses of the villa area, what is that?"

"I don't know. Did something happen?"

"It looks like a meteorite."

"..."

One after another, the wealthy people who were celebrating the New Year at home walked out together. They gathered under the red lanterns by the camphor tree in front of Jiang Zhe's house. Their conversations carried far, and those on the second floor could hear them.

11:59 PM.

Old Wu took out his phone and checked the time: "It's almost midnight."

The fireworks outside gradually became denser, rising into the night sky one after another, then exploding, illuminating the entire night sky once more.

Midnight, the New Year had finally arrived!

The fireworks were at their loudest at this moment. Red, green, gold, yellow, and multi-colored fireworks exploded, lighting up the entire sky.

Before anyone could wish each other a Happy New Year, the nine people's phones in the room received a forceful, domineering live broadcast notification.

Official broadcast!

"An official broadcast, mandatory. It only appears when a world-shaking event happens." Ouyang Baili's face flashed with suspicion, thinking that a major disaster had occurred somewhere in the country!

In the video.

The male host in a suit sat at the desk, his chest heaving uncontrollably, his speech extremely fast!

"Dear viewers, Happy New Year!"

"We are now interrupting with an urgent news report. Just three minutes ago, an asteroid with a diameter of about 400 meters entered the atmosphere from the southeast at a speed of 22 kilometers per second, accurately hitting the sea area near 140 degrees east longitude and 35 degrees north latitude."

"The target impact point was the coast east of the country's Honshu Island!"

"According to the latest remote sensing data, the eastern coast of the island has suffered a devastating natural disaster!"

"Preliminary judgment: the country has disappeared from the map."

As soon as these words were spoken, the official live broadcast room was filled with question marks: "???????"

The live broadcast room was silent for less than 5 seconds. The male host pressed his earpiece, seemingly listening to instructions from the director.

Upon hearing this, his eyes widened even more!

"What?"

"Okay, I understand."

"Dear viewers, the strange thing is that due to the special angle of the asteroid impact and the buffering effect of the seabed topography, this disaster did not trigger a large-scale tsunami."

"Some areas along our southeast coast detected moderate tremors, and experts have confirmed that it will not pose any threat to the land!"

"Coastal residents, please do not panic."

After finishing this, he pressed his earpiece again.

This time, he listened to the director for a long time.

Then, he looked up, facing the camera directly, looking somewhat astonished.

"We have just received news, unconfirmed officially but verified by multiple international astronomical observatories—the orbital parameters, impact time, and landing accuracy of this asteroid have exceeded the scope of natural celestial body falls!"

He took a deep breath.

"Experts in the country have made a preliminary speculation that this is very likely—"

He paused for a moment, then revealed the ultimate truth: "Mr. Jiang Zhe's New Year's gift to us—no, to the whole world!"

Once these words were spoken, the comments in the live broadcast room exploded.

"??????"

"Holy shit, did I hear that right?"

"Jiang Zhe, Brother, appearing in the official host's mouth?"

"Meteorite, gift?"

"Damn, so the white light I saw on the horizon earlier wasn't a super-large firework, but a meteorite???"

"I'm in Magic City, the window shook earlier, and I thought it was thunder."

"It's terrifying when you think about it, brothers. Brother said a month ago that he would give a gift to Xiaoyu, and also a New Year's gift to the whole country and the world. So it was this?"

"Wait, that island is gone?"

"Holy crap, Brother said after that tutoring session a month ago that [the gift would be accompanied by tremors]. Damn, I'm only realizing it now. It's a sudden realization, my scalp is tingling!!"

"..."

In an instant, people from all walks of life watching the official live broadcast room...

Anyone who had watched the live stream knew that Jiang Zhe had said a month ago that he would give Xiaoyu, the country, and the world a world-shaking gift!

The key was that the gift would be accompanied by [tremors]!!!

Brewed for a month, and the result was a meteorite falling from the sky!

This implicitly meant that Jiang Zhe knew a month ago that at New Year's time, a meteorite would sink an island?

As Jiang Zhe's fans thought about it more, their brows furrowed even tighter.

The terrifying part is—

The time the meteorite sank the island was just 3 minutes ago, and the official host just happened to broadcast this news on TV in 3 minutes.

Does this mean that Jiang Zhe knew everything clearly a month ago?

The more they thought about it, the more their scalps tingled, and a chilling feeling washed over them!

In the master bedroom, the nine people on the scene were all stunned.

Xiaoyu subconsciously covered her mouth, looking at the night sky outside, where the orange afterglow was gradually dissipating, her beautiful eyes moistening.

So, the nonchalant look on Brother's face when he talked about the gift a month ago—he had known all along.

Ouyang Baili, Old Chen, Old Liu, Professor Wang, and others looked terrified, their Adam's apples bobbing.

They tried to use scientific principles to explain that this wasn't Jiang Zhe's gift...

But they found that no scientific principle could explain it!!!

Li Mo slumped to the floor, looking at the gradually calming night sky outside, his expression gradually becoming unbridled: "Jiang Zhe, the gift you gave the whole world is fucking unprecedentedly awesome!"

As the words fell, the corners of Xiaoyu's and everyone else's mouths subconsciously curled up, unable to be suppressed.

The fireworks outside were louder than at midnight. The explosions and the boiling, fanatical sounds of the crowds outside the courtyard rose one after another. Red, green, and gold colors illuminated the entire night sky once again!

But everyone realized in their hearts that the brightest light of the night had already fallen!

Some stories have ended.

Some stories have just begun!

"You're back?"

"Yeah."

"When are you leaving?"

"Not for now."

[End of Book]