353: Chapter 353 A Completely Different World

It was late at night when he left Ziguang Pavilion.

The black official car slid silently into the neon sea of lights in Jingzhou, and the thousands of lights outside the car window flashed by, turning into flowing light trails.

Lin Yuan leaned back in the rear seat, his gaze fixed ahead.

His pupils reflected the red taillights of the cars in front, flickering on and off.

The massive state machine had already built every detail of the stage to perfection, and all the spotlights were in place.

Now, it was just waiting for him to press the switch that would open a new era.

Lin Yuan raised his hand, gently rubbing the space between his eyebrows with his fingertips, then took out the specially encrypted mobile phone from his pocket.

The cold light of the screen illuminated his eyes. His fingers swiped casually across the screen, finally resting on his personal public account, which had been silent for nearly a month.

He knew that at this moment, the intelligence agencies of hundreds of countries around the world had countless bloodshot eyes fixed on this account, trying to analyze the next strategic move of the Xia Kingdom from his every word and action.

Even more, hundreds of millions of Xia Kingdom netizens had set it to "Special Concern," afraid of missing any era-defining opportunity.

Time was precisely fixed at ten o'clock in the evening.

Lin Yuan's fingertips paused slightly, and without any hesitation, he gently tapped "Send."

Without any warning, a status update was posted.

The title of the update was extremely simple—

"To My Fellow Countrymen in the Xia Kingdom: An Invitation to the New World"

...

The moment the announcement was published, Lin Yuan didn't even need to look at the comment section to guess the reaction from the outside world.

In fact, in less than ten seconds, the underlying servers of the entire Xia Kingdom's internet let out an overwhelmed roar.

"My god!"

"It's here! It's really here! An invitation to the New World! It was posted by God Lin himself!"

"Registration for the purchase starts tomorrow night at eight o'clock! Wait... am I seeing this right?! The first batch is for one hundred million sets!!"

"Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit! Not one million, not ten million, but one hundred million?! The first batch is one hundred million units?!"

"Registration via mini-program, random draw! Damn! It's a lottery again! I've always had bad luck with lotteries; I've never even won a 'buy one get one free' on a drink in my life!"

"But... age limit 18-60, Xia Kingdom citizenship! Hahaha, I love this threshold!"

Just one update, in just a few minutes, sent the temperature of the entire Xia Kingdom's internet to boiling point.

Countless WeChat groups were instantly flooded with 99+ red dots, and on Moments, the same screenshot with the golden verification badge spread like a virus.

While eligible Xia Kingdom netizens were flooding the comment section and even sending red envelopes in groups overnight to celebrate, several other massive groups felt a bone-chilling cold.

On domestic social platforms, a "contradiction among the people" erupted first.

"Why?! Why is it 18 years old! I'm only three months away! Just three months until I turn 18! God Lin, I beg you to make an exception. I swear I won't get addicted!"

"What's wrong with being 60? Are 60-year-olds not qualified to pursue a second life? I'm in great health, I practice Tai Chi in the park every day, I've got more spirit than those young people working 996! I strongly demand the upper limit be relaxed!"

Compared to these "internal contradictions" within the country, the overseas internet was filled with despair.

"As expected... restricted to Xia Kingdom citizenship again! Why?! Isn't technology the shared wealth of all mankind?!"

"I should have known... They wouldn't even release the hair-regrowth medicine to solve hair loss or the miracle drug for diabetes for us first, how could they open this second world to us immediately!"

"My God, I am willing to pay one million US dollars directly! Cash! I just want to trade for a legal Xia Kingdom identity! Can anyone help me? I don't want to be abandoned in this rotten old era forever!"

"Stop dreaming, friend. Put away your ridiculous checkbook. The times have changed. Now, Xia Kingdom citizenship is the ultimate luxury item on this blue planet. Don't talk about one million; even if you offered a gold mine, they wouldn't even glance at you."

Lin Yuan didn't pay much attention to the noise and wailing from the outside world.

He just casually locked the screen, tossed the phone aside, and slowly closed his eyes, enjoying this moment of tranquility.

This was just the beginning.

The next day, at eight o'clock in the morning.

Xishan Base, in the underground main control room.

Lin Yuan sat in front of the large main console, holding a cup of freshly brewed clear tea. The swirling steam blurred his handsome face.

"Sir, the registration channel has officially opened."

The electronic voice of the Artificial Intelligence Xiaolong echoed in the empty room.

"Hmm."

Lin Yuan responded softly, his gaze fixed on the screen in front of him.

At that instant, within the Xia Kingdom, no one knew how many people pressed that "Register Now" button at the same second.

The numbers on the screen jumped crazily at a speed that made one's scalp tingle.

Ten million... thirty million... fifty million... surpassing one hundred million!

In just one minute, the number of registered users broke the one hundred million mark, and it was still climbing at a terrifying speed!

Looking at the skyrocketing number of registrations on the backend, a calm smile bloomed on Lin Yuan's lips.

He took a small sip of tea, his gaze seeming to pierce through the screen, seeing the burning desire of the fourteen hundred million citizens.

This thrill of moving the gears of an entire civilization by one's own strength was far more intoxicating than any alcohol.

From eight in the morning to eight in the evening.

For these twelve hours, for every Xia Kingdom person who had registered, every minute and every second was torture.

Countless people clicked on the mini-program every few minutes to check, even knowing the results weren't out yet, their hearts felt heavy and tight, as if pressed by a stone.

Time ticked away, second by second.

Finally, when the clock's hands pointed to that fate-deciding number—

Eight o'clock in the evening sharp.

On countless people's mobile screens, the push notification from the mini-program popped up at the same time.

The next second.

The entire Xia Kingdom was split into two completely different worlds.

"Hahaha, I won!"

"Ah, winning the lottery is so easy and casual, both my wife and I won!"

"It's gray, my page is gray... 'We regret to inform you that you were not selected this time'..."

"Why? I haven't done a single bad thing in twenty years, I've helped old ladies cross the street, donated to disaster areas, why won't the Goddess of Luck look at me?"

On the internet, on one side, there were screenshots of winners celebrating wildly and bragging, the ecstatic mood almost overturning the major social platforms.

On the other side, those who were not selected stared fixedly at the gray text on the screen, feeling their fingertips grow cold, and their breathing even stalled for a moment.