88: Chapter 88: Five Annihilations, Five Accuracy, All for Today (5th Update)

After the viewers recovered, the live stream chat exploded.

"Holy crap!! Holy crap!!"

"A three-meter-tall giant gets knocked over by a baby, and then the giant cries arrogantly, saying: [Little kid, you knocked me down today, so I'm going to take a hot spring bath to wash all the filth off me.] Holy crap, it's both hilarious and terrifying when you think about it!"

"So, you're saying dinosaurs weren't killed by the asteroid, but that Earth just 'optimized' its slacking employees?"

"Awesome. Earth said: [Perfect opportunity to get rid of the ones who don't work and waste resources, and hire a new batch]."

"The people above hit the nail on the head. The more I think about it, the more my scalp tingles!"

"..."

Kyoto, University of History faculty housing.

Professor Liu Guangyi stared intently at the screen.

Little did he know, his cigarette butt had already burned a hole in his expensive dress pants.

In the face of such shock, the pain seemed unworthy of mention!

"10 kilometers in diameter, 1 billion 'Fat Man' and 'Little Boy' love affairs—sounds scary, right?"

He took a deep breath and looked heavily at Old Qian, Chen, and Wang.

"But if you calculate it, the Chicxulub crater formed by the impact is only 180 kilometers in diameter."

"On Earth, that's just a... local injury. It's like my calf being burned by a branding iron for three seconds; it will heal quickly."

"Global warming and acid rain—these subsequent effects are indeed true."

"But with Earth's powerful ecosystem, sheer size, and self-regulating ability... surviving it would be easy."

"It's not even impossible for it to recover in a short time."

"You have to know, things much more terrifying than this have happened in history."

"What really crushed the global ecosystem and caused the food chain to collapse was, in fact—the German Chicken Leg Burger."

Professor Liu Guangyi realized something was wrong as he spoke, feeling incredibly embarrassed.

"Sorry, I meant the Deccan Traps. My tongue slipped."

He hurriedly clutched his stomach: "I'm a bit hungry; I was thinking about the German Chicken Leg Burger my son treated me to this afternoon."

Old Chen, Old Qian, and Old Wang exchanged glances. The terrifying feeling that had been building up was instantly dispelled by Professor Liu Guangyi.

Professor Chen Runzhi rolled his eyes at Professor Liu Guangyi and handed him a steamed bun. "Here, eat this. No bread at home; I'm cutting out sugar."

Professor Liu Guangyi chuckled, took the bun, and took a bite. He continued to explain: "After that asteroid hit Earth, it caused a supervolcano in India to erupt crazily for hundreds of thousands of years!"

"That was the true, sustained global environmental catastrophe!"

At this point, his expression returned to being serious: "The asteroid impact was merely a local injury..."

"Then, the supervolcano inside Earth went crazy. This coordination, this follow-up attack—it was lethal!"

"And it happened exactly when dinosaurs, as large animals, were at their most vulnerable and most dependent on the environment."

"Once is an accident, twice is an accident, three times could be an accident. But four times, five times? That is just a damn inside-and-outside job!"

As Professor Liu Guangyi finished his professional analysis, the three of them looked at each other, and suddenly felt the temperature in the air drop.

Then the three sat huddled together, seeking warmth from each other.

These words were also posted by Old Chen via voice message into the live stream.

On the other side, inside the Taoist temple.

Zheng Ming was just about to say that Jiang Zhe was being mysterious.

He didn't expect to see the 'inside-and-outside job' comment in the chat, and it was actually Professor Liu Guangyi from Kyoto's take?

He sneered: "Look, if the upper beam is crooked, the lower ones will be too."

"The asteroid impact and the volcanic eruption were just a coincidence."

"He insisted on making it sound so mysterious, and now even an ecology professor is saying it's an [inside-and-outside job]."

"Isn't Xiaoyu's brother just trying to make big news? Earth is such a huge rock; how could it coordinate anything?"

"I think Xiaoyu's brother knew he was being filmed all along, so he did this on purpose!"

Celestial Master Zhang, standing nearby, listened to Zheng Ming's complaints, but his thoughts were still on Jiang Zhe's... metaphor about the three-meter giant being knocked over by a baby.

His gaze was somewhat distant.

Suddenly! He looked at Zheng Ming and said: "Junior Brother Zheng, look at the mountain outside the temple in the night."

Zheng Ming was stunned. He turned his head and followed Celestial Master Zhang's gaze toward the mountain silhouette outside the window in the night.

Their temple was situated a hundred meters up, so naturally, they could overlook all the other mountains; the scenery was extremely beautiful!

"When the mountain collapses and the earth cracks, is it the mountain itself that wants to collapse?"

Zheng Ming was savoring these words full of Daoist meaning, but Celestial Master Zhang denied it: "Of course not. The mountain's collapse is caused by earthquakes, by rain washing it away..."

"Then are the earthquakes and rain trying to destroy that mountain?"

"This!"

Zheng Ming was speechless for a moment. Celestial Master Zhang always spouted these things, and he couldn't grasp the meaning at all!!

Xu Mu, standing nearby, was listening intently.

Celestial Master Zhang withdrew his gaze and turned to look at Zheng Ming: "The collapse of the mountain is not the mountain's intent, nor is it the intent of the wind and rain; it is just that the time has come, and it must collapse."

"The planet, the volcano—they are the wind and rain. The dinosaurs are merely the mountain that has reached its time."

He paused for a moment, and the next few sentences struck even closer to the Great Dao.

"When the wind and rain arrive, the rotten wood breaks on its own, and the new seedlings find space. This is the Heavenly Dao—heartless and thoughtless, it is what it is."

"You think it's a coincidence, that it's mysterious, only because you are standing in the position of the [rotten wood] and the [new seedlings] while looking at it."

"If you jump out of this mountain and view the four point six billion years of history..."

Celestial Master Zhang shook his head slightly and said no more.

But by now, Zheng Ming understood.

This was not some conspiracy, nor was it anthropomorphic coordination or coincidence.

It was more like a kind of... inevitability at the level of the Heavenly Dao!

When the tribulation arrives, both internal and external conditions are prepared, and it happens naturally, just like leaves falling when autumn arrives.

That glimmer of life was the mammals, which naturally found their own path to survival in the ruins and the dark night.

This is not about good or evil, not even about calculation.

It is simply the Dao following nature!!!

Zheng Ming opened his mouth, feeling that he had attained enlightenment.

Even his soul felt as if it had been purified!

Inside the video. Xiao Yu sat blankly on the sofa, carefully ruminating on her brother's words.

A three-meter-tall giant knocked over by a child...

She gripped her pillow tightly, feeling the air temperature drop slightly.

Jiang Zhe looked at Xiao Yu's expression and softened his tone and pace.

"After that planet impact, the volcanoes on Earth erupted even more fiercely!"

"The world plunged into a cold winter, and the food chain was severed at the root!"

"Just as in the previous metaphor, Earth went with the flow, utilized the external force, and added fuel to the fire itself..."

"Worsening the environment to completely wipe out the dinosaurs!"

Jiang Zhe rested his hand on the armrest of the sofa, chin propped on his other hand, and nodded slightly.

"It's like you growing two pots of flowers. One occupies the best windowsill, growing fast and tall, but you watch it grow for hundreds of millions of years!"

"And you discover that besides being stronger, bigger, and sturdier, it cannot bloom the flowers that you, Xiao Yu, want!"

"On the other hand, the other flower is squeezed into a corner, unable to get sunlight—it grows stunted, eating unclean scraps."

"But!"

Jiang Zhe's tone suddenly deepened.

"You look at that flower; it is beautiful, the way you like it!"

"Then!"

"One day, the windowsill is smashed open by a stone from a child downstairs, and the wind and rain pour in."

"You originally wanted to fix the window, trying to protect that big flower; but you didn't. Instead, you opened the window completely, letting the storm rage even more fiercely!"

"Until that big flower taking up all the space completely withered and died!"

"Finally, you take that tenacious, beautiful flower from the corner and place it back on the windowsill!"

At this point, Jiang Zhe's tone gradually became calm, with no ripples detectable.

"Xiao Yu, it was you who cleared out the best spot, the best flowers; it wasn't the wind and rain that destroyed that big flower!"

"Xiao Yu, it was you who saved the sunlight, the position, and all the nutrients that the big flower had accumulated for over 100 million years, all for the flower you thought was stubborn and beautiful!"

As this series of metaphors concluded.

The living room was dead silent.

Xiao Yu felt as if her throat had been constricted, and she was covered in cold sweat.

She opened her mouth but couldn't speak for a long time.

Five major extinctions!

Five preparations!

The first time to clear the field, the second time to store energy, the third time to continue storing; the fourth time to introduce two new species to compete...

Until it saw no potential in a species, Earth went with the flow, wiped out the dinosaurs, and preserved the ancestors of mammals!

This process...

It was just like what the comments said earlier—it's not that Earth acts like humans, but that humans are learning Earth's way of thinking!!

Suddenly!

"After the fifth mass extinction..."

Jiang Zhe said with a sudden, serious expression: "Xiao Yu, now, it is our turn to be that big flower taking up all the space!"

As his voice fell, Xiao Yu couldn't help but swallow hard, the hair on her body standing on end instantly. It was terrifying!