...

Sun Hang, who had been busy all night, did not go home. Instead, he borrowed a sleeping bag from Yang Qi and made do on the office sofa—in Sun Hang's own words, "Mr. Yang, the sound of you typing while working overtime is more sleep-inducing than white noise."

When Sun Hang opened his eyes again, the time displayed on his wristband was nearly twelve noon. He looked up to see Yang Qi sitting at the opposite desk, eating a boxed lunch with a blank expression, while another unopened box sat on the coffee table in front of the sofa.

"Why the long face? Did something happen over at Jiang Yu's side?" Sun Hang emerged swiftly from the warm sleeping bag and put on his coat.

Yang Qi looked up at Sun Hang and said slowly, "Your phone can connect to Dubhe Tower's intranet. See for yourself."

"Huh?"

Sun Hang skeptically took his phone from his coat pocket and connected to the Dubhe Tower's intranet.

The headline in the important news section of the intranet read conspicuously: "At 6:27 PM yesterday, the death aurora of the anomaly (temporary number B-77) descended upon Lake Baikal City."

"Lake Baikal City?" Sun Hang repeated the name, "Why does that sound familiar?"

"The capital of the Siberian Autonomous Region, the largest city in the Xiazhou Federation located in the East and West Siberian Plain, with a population of 9.2 million." Yang Qi paused with her chopsticks.

Sun Hang clicked on the message, the beginning was marked by some shocking photos—brilliant auroras descending from the sky, burning everything they touched, turning the entire city into a massive sea of fire.

The photos seemed to have been taken from distant mountains, and the aerial view clearly showed the devastation in the city… In the face of such a sudden natural disaster, no one could escape… Victims couldn't even leave behind their remains.

"The descending aurora lasted for forty-five seconds in the city before disappearing," Yang Qi added from the side.

The next photo prominently displayed the aftermath of Lake Baikal City after being ravaged by the aurora—the traces of human civilization almost completely obliterated, leaving just a charred crater, with parts of the crater even showing signs of vitrification.

"Looks like it was hit by a Tsar Bomba," Sun Hang said.

"According to the analysis by Dubhe Tower, B-77 was essentially a mass of plasma with temperatures exceeding seventeen million degrees Celsius… You could pretty much think of it as a mini sun falling into Lake Baikal City," said Yang Qi. "Nothing can withstand such extreme temperatures, by the time B-77 even remotely contacted the city, the buildings were already reduced to ashes."

"Auroras usually only appear hundreds of kilometers high in the sky," Yang Lian entered the office, placing several black folders on her sister's desk, "but B-77 is different, it's not an aurora at all but an aurora-like phenomenon anomaly… It's summer now, and even in Siberia, you wouldn't see auroras in this season."

"Are you following this too?" Sun Hang glanced at Yang Lian and asked.

"No one in the office isn't following this," Yang Lian said with a deep voice, "The threat of B-77 far surpasses that of eternal night… After all, the latter doesn't evaporate entire cities within seconds."

"After B-77 disappeared, Dubhe Tower dispatched multiple teams to investigate the original Lake Baikal City area, but without exception, everyone who entered was infected by the anomaly meme, and no one was spared… That place has become a highly dangerous contamination zone, a veritable 'dead land.'"

"Sounds like a nuclear blast radiation zone," Sun Hang said instinctively.

"Close, but a meme contamination zone is far more dangerous than a radiation zone," Yang Lian sighed. "Those entering the contamination zone were equipped with top-tier protective gear and anti-infection drugs, to no avail."

The "anti-infection drugs" Yang Lian referred to are special medications used by humans to prevent meme infections, essentially products of reverse-engineering meme fragments. After ingestion, they can neutralize the anomaly memes entering the body for a period of time… But there is no cure-all in the world, and not all memes can be neutralized by anti-infection drugs.

"So, should we designate that area as a Surrendered Area?" Sun Hang said, "The contamination is so severe that even if it could be reclaimed, there's no point in rebuilding."

"That's not the main point…" Yang Qi sighed, "If it were just a single anomaly disaster, it would be fine, the problem is…"

"The problem is what?" Sun Hang pursued.

"Lake Baikal City is located in the northeast corner of the federation's territory, devastated by B-77; while Heaven City lies in the southwest corner, under the shroud of eternal night, its fate uncertain… Do you know what this means?" Yang Qi said solemnly.

"Means… the federation is rotten from head to toe?"

"Means the second large-scale active period of anomalies… might be imminent," Yang Qi sighed, "The conclusion of the first large-scale active period was that the entire global human civilization left only the Xiazhou Federation as a seedling… If the first active period had lasted several more decades, perhaps even the Xiazhou Federation wouldn't have survived."

"Are you saying human civilization is doomed?" Sun Hang blinked.