Prehistoric? Choose the crocodile and survive until version T0.

Blue Star, China, Binhai City.

The afternoon sun shone through the glass windows of the office building onto Lin Ye's computer screen. He was browsing through paleontology data when his fingertips just touched a reconstruction of a Triassic Eosuchus. Suddenly, the whole room shook violently without warning.

It was not a slight tremor, but a tremor originating from the depths of the earth, as if the world were collapsing.

The water glass on the table crashed to the ground, spilling scalding water everywhere. Outside the window, the piercing sound of car horns, screams, and gasps of the crowd filled the air. Pedestrians on the street stopped in their tracks, looking up at the sky with horrified expressions.

Lin Ye suddenly stood up, rushed to the window and looked outside, his pupils suddenly contracting.

He is not a native of this world, but a transmigrator from modern Earth. His soul has been in the body of Lin Ye in this parallel world for more than twenty years.

Before his time travel, he was a seasoned enthusiast deeply involved in the history of prehistoric biological evolution. He was very familiar with the ecological changes and the rise and fall of species in various geological eras on Earth. In particular, crocodiles, which survived hundreds of millions of years and five mass extinctions, were the core of his lifelong research.

He thought that after transmigrating, he would only live an ordinary life, but the scene before him completely shattered all his preconceived notions.

The once clear blue sky is now fading in color at a visible speed. A thick holographic screen with a cold metallic sheen is slowly enveloping the entire sky and covering every inch of the earth, like a canopy.

On the light screen, lines of golden characters, imbued with supreme authority and transcending all language barriers, slowly emerged, directly imprinting themselves into everyone's minds:

[Global Mandatory Access: Earth ONLINE - Prehistoric Evolution of National Fortune Season]

[Season Rules: Each of the 203 sovereign nations on the entire planet will randomly bind one citizen to become a prehistoric species evolution contestant]

[Contestants will be placed into corresponding prehistoric geological eras, possessing prehistoric creatures, and completing tasks related to survival, evolution, and domination.]

[Athlete Survival: The nation receives corresponding national fortune rewards, including improved physical fitness, increased resources, and immunity from natural disasters]

[Competitor Extinction: The immediate elimination of competitors triggers a corresponding natural disaster in the country, resulting in ecological collapse, resource depletion, and economic decline.]

[Global live stream: All contestants' survival footage, broadcast live 24/7, available for everyone to watch, tip, and interact with]

[Countdown: 10, 9, 8...]

The cold, ruthless system notification sounded simultaneously in the minds of seven billion people around the world, instantly piercing through all the noise.

In just ten seconds, the whole world fell into dead silence.

Everyone was stunned, standing there frozen, their minds blank, as if a pause button had been pressed.

The next second, the deathly silence was completely ignited, and the world was plunged into unprecedented panic and frenzy.

"What is that? The national football season? A prehistoric creature? Is this a prank? Or a supernatural phenomenon?"

"Impossible! This must be an illusion. How could a holographic dome possibly cover the entire globe!"

"Check the news! All television stations and online media worldwide have been forcibly cut off from their signals and are uniformly broadcasting content from SkyNet!"

"It's over. The contestant wipes out a country and then a natural disaster strikes? This is gambling with the fate of an entire nation!"

Streets, alleys, office buildings, schools, homes, factories—wherever there were people, the place was in an uproar.

People ran around in a panic, frantically refreshing their phones, only to find that all social media platforms and news outlets had been forcibly redirected to Earth Online's exclusive live stream page, without exception.

Governments around the world immediately activated emergency plans, only to find that they were powerless to counter this force that transcended human civilization. They could only quickly establish special task forces to monitor the sky around the clock in an attempt to find a solution.

Lin Ye stood by the window, gazing at the boundless golden sky, his heart churning with turbulent emotions.

Having transmigrated here, he already possessed a far greater understanding of prehistoric creatures than ordinary people. Now, he was even more certain that this so-called "season" was not a virtual game at all, but a real prehistoric survival purgatory.

The fate of the nation is tied to the survival of the athletes; the extinction of a species means the destruction of the nation...

This is an ultimate gamble concerning the life and death of all humanity and all nations!

[Countdown complete! Contestant selection begins!]

[The contestant list is generated instantly by randomly binding citizens from 203 countries worldwide!]

The golden text on the sky flowed and quickly transformed into a global list, with a string of names following each country's name. The speed was dazzling, yet it could be clearly seen by everyone.

Beautiful Country, Polar Bear Country, Island Nation, Kimchi Country... one country name after another flashed by, and the corresponding contestant's name was announced simultaneously. Every time a name was announced, the people of the corresponding country let out a deafening gasp, and everyone's heart was in their throat.

The contestants' identities, ages, and professions all determine the fate of the nation; no one can remain calm in the face of such a situation.

The live stream from the US instantly went live, with the commentator excitedly shouting, "Our player is former special forces instructor Carter! He has incredible survival skills; we're destined to take first place this season!"

The island nation's people cheered with joy. Their contestant was Sato, a wilderness survival expert, who was seen as the nation's hope.

At this moment, all the people of China held their breath, their eyes fixed on the two words "Dragon Kingdom" on the sky, their hands clenched tightly, their hearts filled with tension and anticipation.

They prayed that they would draw a contestant with strong physical abilities and excellent wilderness survival skills, preferably a soldier, explorer, or biologist. Only in this way could they survive in the cruel prehistoric world and preserve the fate of the Dragon Kingdom.

Countless people silently prayed for divine favor.

Finally, the name of the Dragon Kingdom slowly emerged.

Forest.

The two words were clearly imprinted on the sky, extremely eye-catching.

For a moment, the entire Dragon Kingdom fell into a brief silence, followed by an overwhelming uproar.

"Lin Ye? Who is he? Check his identity!"

"Not a soldier, not a scientist, just an ordinary person?!"

"It's over. The fate of our Dragon Kingdom has actually been handed over to an ordinary person?"

Inside the emergency commentary hall set up by the Chinese government, three paleontologists and two survival experts turned deathly pale and sat in front of the live broadcast camera, unable to utter a single word.

Across the country, hundreds of millions of viewers flooded into the Dragon Kingdom's exclusive live stream room, with tens of thousands of comments flooding the screen every second, all expressing anxiety, unease, and despair.

"Why an ordinary person? The prehistoric world was so dangerous, how could an ordinary person survive?"

"It's over, our Dragon Kingdom is doomed! What if our athletes are wiped out, and natural disasters strike? What will we do then?"

"Please, God, send someone else! Any professional will do!"

Meanwhile, in live streams in other countries around the world, the moment they saw that the Chinese player was just an ordinary person with nothing special about him, bursts of mockery and ridicule erupted.

"The Dragon Kingdom's luck is terrible! They actually drew a useless, ordinary person!"

"No need to watch anymore, the Chinese contestants definitely won't survive past day one. Just wait for the heavens to unleash their wrath!"

"I've started betting on how long it will take for the Chinese athletes to be eaten by prehistoric creatures!"

Lin Ye was unaware of the commotion outside.

The instant his name was announced, an irresistible force enveloped his entire body, his consciousness began to blur, and his body felt as if it were being torn apart, accompanied by a violent wave of dizziness.

Having transmigrated to another life, he thought he could live a peaceful life, but he never expected that he would eventually be drawn into this life-or-death situation concerning the fate of his family and country.

His last gaze lingered on a line of newly displayed text on the sky:

[Lin Ye, a player from the Dragon Kingdom, is about to enter Season 1: Middle to Late Triassic Period]

[The species selection process is about to begin!]

[Contestants, please prepare yourselves!]

The dizziness completely overwhelmed his consciousness, and Lin Ye's vision went black as he lost all feeling.

At this moment, the Dragon Kingdom's live broadcast room was completely plunged into an atmosphere of despair.

Triassic? That's a distant prehistoric geological era, ravaged by drought, with broken swamps and teeming with ferocious prehistoric predators. The environment was extremely harsh; for an ordinary person to go in would be tantamount to suicide!