Fate's Choice: Livestream at the Start Summoning Billions of Ravens

Flower Expo setup day.

Jiangcheng International Convention and Exhibition Center, Area A, Core Exhibition Area.

This is a sea of ​​flowers, where every inch of space has been meticulously crafted by top gardeners.

Tulips from the Netherlands, roses from France, and cherry blossom bonsai from Japan compete for beauty, filling the air with a rich fragrance.

In the very center of this dazzling display, a 50-square-meter stand-alone booth stood out conspicuously.

A huge crane was emitting a deep, rumbling sound.

With the steel cable taut, a charred, lifeless dead tree was slowly hoisted into the center of the booth.

It was a ginkgo tree that had been struck by lightning.

The carbonized bark resembled solidified black magma, and the twisted branches pointed towards the sky, exuding an aura of death and destruction.

It created a violent conflict with everything around it.

A social media blogger who happened to be passing by raised his phone and snapped a picture of this absurd scene.

A few minutes later, a high-resolution photo was posted online with an eye-catching headline.

"Outrageous! A crow god becomes a horticulturist? 'Death art' appears at the flower expo!"

The internet was instantly ignited.

On Douyin, Weibo, and various forums, the comment sections of related topics refreshed at a rate of hundreds of comments per second, quickly evolving into a heated debate that swept the entire internet.

Jiang Ming's fans rushed to the scene immediately, and their comments were uniformly coordinated.

"It's okay if you don't understand it; that's art!"

"Anything produced by Raven God is guaranteed to be top-notch! Waiting for the opening ceremony to prove them wrong!"

"Hilarious! A bunch of mortals who have no idea about God's plans."

"I bet this tree will eventually produce diamonds! I'm making a bet!"

However, the number of casual observers was so large that the voices of doubt and ridicule quickly formed an uncontrollable torrent.

"Seriously, buddy? You're bringing a dead tree to the flower expo?"

"I admit your raven and cat are awesome, but didn't you go a little overboard this time?"

"What is this? Performance art? Or just plain disgusting?"

"You paid for a ticket just to see this? Give me my money back!"

As the hype grew, haters and trolls flocked to the fray, their words becoming increasingly sharp and sarcastic.

"Jiang Lang's talent has run dry, and he has exhausted his tricks."

"The Raven God? I think it's more like a plague god, bringing such an unlucky thing into public."

"The ravens and cats in the beginning were definitely scripted; the special effects team and animal trainers had arranged it all along. Now that they've run out of work, they're starting to act awkward."

"Are the organizers out of their minds? How can this kind of trash get into the core booth in Area A? Is there some kind of shady deal going on?"

The intensity of this online flame war even surpassed that of the previous "Ravens Circle" and "100 Cats Disco".

The first two times were spectacles that defied common sense, but this time, in the eyes of the vast majority of people, it was a pure and incomprehensible provocation.

Supporters believe this is a profound meaning that ordinary people cannot understand.

Opponents felt this was an insult to all the visitors and to the flower expo itself.

The two groups attacked each other in the comments section, citing various sources and criticizing everything from modern art history to environmentalism, from the fan economy to social morality.

At this moment, at the media reception center of the Flower Expo.

Professor Sun Peiwen, the chairman of the judging panel and a renowned Chinese botanist, was surrounded by a group of reporters.

Sun Peiwen was nearly seventy years old, with gray hair and wearing gold-rimmed glasses. He exuded the elegance and arrogance of an old-fashioned scholar.

A young female reporter squeezed to the front and handed over the microphone.

"Professor Sun, what are your thoughts on the controversial 'dead wood' exhibit in Area A? Some netizens have called it a cutting-edge artistic expression."

Sun Peiwen adjusted his glasses, a hint of undisguised contempt playing at the corners of his mouth.

His gaze swept across the entire room, and his voice, word by word, was clearly transmitted through the microphone.

"The Flower Expo is a place to showcase the beauty of life and the ingenuity of horticulture."

"It's not a garbage dump."

At almost the same time, at the Flower Expo security command center.

This place has been temporarily converted into a front-line command post for a special operation.

Chen Jianguo stood solemnly in front of the huge monitoring wall, which was divided into hundreds of real-time images.

The largest screen in the center is directly facing Jiang Ming's charred, withered tree, recording 24 hours a day.

Behind him, four young police officers sat upright, their fingers flying across the keyboard.

"Boss, all the cameras are locked, and the infrared and thermal imaging systems are deployed."

Chen Jianguo did not turn around, but gave the order in a deep voice.

"From now on, record everything that happens around the booth. Any abnormality, even if a bird flies by or a leaf falls, must be recorded in the archives."

"I need to know what he's trying to do."

Inside a detached villa in the suburbs.

Jiang Ming sank comfortably into the sofa, his eyes closed.

His consciousness had now merged with that of a raven circling above the steel beams of the convention center's dome through a [mental connection].

The entire flower expo was presented to him in his mind in great detail, from a god-like perspective.

However, Jiang Ming remained unmoved.

With a slight shift in Jiang Ming's mental energy, he withdrew from the raven's perspective and sank into another dimension.

[Voice of the Heart] activated.

A languid yet majestic consciousness responded immediately.

It is General Yu.

"General Yu."

Jiang Ming conveyed a clear thought.

"Lead your 'Royal Guard' and take immediate action."

"Task: Conduct environmental reconnaissance of the area surrounding the Flower Expo venue. Find out everything about all entrances and exits, ventilation ducts, sewer systems, and blind spots in the surveillance system."

"Remember, only reconnaissance, no contact, no exposure."

On top of a container in the western industrial zone, the one-eyed orange cat "General Yu" suddenly stood up.

It let out a low growl.

Twenty of the strongest and most alert cats silently gathered at its feet.

They all wore black collars around their necks that flashed a faint indicator light.

General Yu leaped into the air, leading this elite squad towards the city center.

Lyon, France.

The European headquarters of the multinational biotechnology giant "GeneCore".

In a minimalist, all-white office, a woman named Sofia Walsh is staring at the screen in front of her.

On the screen are two low-priority reports that have been automatically archived by the system.

The title of one of the reports is: "[Mysterious Events in the East: Analysis Report on Raven Vortexes Over the City]".

The other document is titled "[Collective Biological Abnormal Behavior: Data Model of a Thousand Cats Synchronized Disco Event]".

Sophia, 28 years old, holds two master's degrees from MIT and is the company's youngest junior risk analyst.

She had short, neat blonde hair and blue eyes.

The system's conclusions are clear and concise.

[Event Assessment: Low credibility, high impact.]

[Risk Level: D (Recommended to ignore and archive).]

[Possible causes: large-scale projection, group hypnosis, organized commercial hype.]

Sofia's finger swept lightly through the air, bringing up all of Jiang Ming's publicly available information.

From the first teaser video, to "Raven God's Release from Prison", then to "Cat DJ", and finally to the "Dead Wood Exhibits" incident that was just updated today.

She analyzed frame by frame those videos that countless people identified as having "special effects."

Data and logic told her that this was most likely a masterful scam.

But her extraordinary professional sensitivity was sending her a warning signal.

A certain intuition gave her an indescribable unease.

Sofia was silent for a moment, then stretched out her finger and gently tapped the interface.

She manually changed the system rating.

The file level of the target "Jiang Ming" has been upgraded from D to C.

This means that the target will be placed on the company's long-term watch list.

.....

Inside the villa, Jiang Ming's phone screen lit up.

It was a message from Zhao Lin, filled with anxiety.

"Jiang Ming! Did you see that? Professor Sun Peiwen's words are trending! #ExpertsCallTheRavenGodExhibitsGarbage#, and the whole internet is using that to mock you! This is very bad for our subsequent publicity! Should we get the PR department involved?"

Jiang Ming picked up his phone and glanced at the trending topic.

A playful expression appeared on his face as he slowly typed a few words on the screen and sent them.

"Need not."

"He's a good person."