Tonight, Alice joins the hunt.

In the most primitive times, the oceans teemed with enormous creatures. The land was vast, with endless plains. Mountains and hills stretched as far as the eye could see, their peaks capped with snow. Large herds of animals roamed freely across the plains. Abundant water and vegetation created a world where the strong preyed on the weak; everything followed the most basic food hierarchy.

This world is a harmonious world, and this planet is a wild planet. Animals hunt each other, and plants compete with each other. Everything seems to have returned to 60 million years ago, when Earth's civilization was destroyed. Everything is available, except for humans.

Heaven truly gave birth to all things to nourish humankind. Now, it is time to consider what humankind can offer in return. Once the temperature and seasons have been adjusted to the right positions, several wills exchanged and collided within an encrypted channel in the void. Accompanied by a gray bolt of lightning descending from the sky, this brand-new land welcomed its true 'first' irrigation.

[Based on numerous sociological experiments and the data, as well as our previous experiences in various worlds, a low-level mechanical or magical civilization is unlikely to be of any help to us. They might indeed be useful in certain situations, but they cannot play a significant, or even decisive, role. However, if we help them elevate their technological level to a sufficiently high level, the backlash will follow.] — A calm female voice.

What fell from the sky was not rain, but the command to act of a swarm of nanobots. A gray tide surged across the land as if before the creation of the planet, pushing back time and history at a rate a thousandfold—it devoured the newly synthesized animals and plants, decomposing them, filling the ground with their bones, and then artificially synthesizing the next generation using their genetic material. The long process of biological degradation and transformation was forcibly shortened by the nano-gray tide. What took ten thousand years was accomplished in a single day.

Dead animals are buried underground, and those buried become fossils. Their successors on the surface follow suit, turning into dust and ashes in an instant. During this transformation, modulated radiation and pulses are emitted, altering the isotopes of carbon or other heavy metals. Once complete, neither carbon-14 nor radioactive half-life can detect any flaws.

This is just one method of correction available to the Reincarnators; there are many others. Their methods of concealment are sufficient to render 25th-century Earthlings, lacking a technological explosion, helpless. And every potential loophole is instantly patched up.

There is no sentimentality between nations, nor any gratitude between ethnic groups. The weak, yearning for advancement, are destined to turn against their former protectors or eliminate those who once sheltered them. If we were to simply resurrect all the dead, retrieving their bodies and memories to restore their original organizations, they might initially feel gratitude and obey our commands. However, this is an unstable bomb, potentially a fatal variable at crucial moments. —A cold, clear female voice.

Forests grow, age, and decay at a visible pace, turning into dry, decaying timber. The wood is buried in the earth, and the previous soil layers constantly shift between deserts and plains. In the blink of an eye, vast swathes of forest sink underground, and then the swirling gray tides alter their molecular structure, transforming the trees into oil fields. And beyond these oil fields, various metallic veins emerge.

The geographical environment was designed correctly, and the allocation and consumption of resources were accurate.

Therefore, we have no need to allow the original ruling organization to continue. If we are to delegate the power and potential sufficient to influence our plans to this civilization, we must become the guides. The interests and direction of this civilization must be aligned with the interests of our Central Continent Team; otherwise, reviving them would be meaningless. —A calm male voice.

"[Correct. For this, we need to rewrite history. Once all the details are filled in, the fake will become real. A large portion of the souls Sirin acquired were from people born in the last hundred years. But the remaining small portion are ancient wills left over from ancient times. And if we want to give power to this new civilization, then letting these ancient sages and heroes reappear in the world is an excellent solution.]" — A calm female voice.

[They need a platform, so we will provide them with one. A platform where all wise and courageous individuals can maximize their talents and contribute to the cause of all humanity.] — A cool, clear female voice.

A vast vortex, the Vortex of Souls, unfolded above the heavens. A soul interference ritual, modeled after the Tree of Life possessed by the Celestials in The Lord of the Rings, began to operate. The accompanying system, mimicking the Six Paths of Reincarnation, also began to function—memories sealed within the soul, which were already fading with time, were thoroughly purified in the transformations of the Six Paths. Then, a new algorithm was written, and reconstructed memories meeting the requirements of the reincarnator were born.

When a person dies, they are inevitably reincarnated. The effect of the Soul Vortex is to complete trillions of reincarnations in a short period of time, along with the Meng Po Soup, which washes away all past memories. Perhaps in the future, some outstanding individuals may awaken their past life memories due to some unexpected factor, but that will likely not be a common phenomenon.

[That will be an era of great strife. The sociological experiments that you all failed to fully accomplish in the Resident Evil world will finally be completed here. However, this time it will be different from then. No matter how powerful Earth's civilization was back then, it was still under our control. But this time, once we unleash all the brilliant minds of the past and present, the collision of wisdom will inevitably generate a flame that is difficult for us to control.] — A calm female voice.

"Why can't we cooperate? We share the same interests, there's no reason for us to clash. Besides, this whole thing gives me a weird feeling. Rewriting history and seizing power to make the whole world work for our goals... it all seems a bit like enslavement." — A suppressed male voice.

[A civilization ultimately needs a leader, just like a large ship needs someone to steer it so that the rest can find their way forward. Compared to those short-sighted, foolish, greedy, or those elected leaders who lack all of these qualities but have absolutely limited energy, aren't we reincarnators a far superior choice? We're not those historical fiction protagonists who are too lazy to manage because they find it troublesome. For extraordinary beings, managing a country is not much more difficult than calculating a set of complex celestial data. It's just a matter of billions of variables, and we don't even need to consider every single individual.] — A calm female voice.

【…………】--silence.

Millions of years of natural accumulation ended in a short time, and the Earth still has four oceans and seven continents. However, beneath the Earth's once-cleared surface lies a substantial thickness. There is oil underground, fossils in the rock layers, and traces of extinct ancient artifacts can be clearly found within the strata. The Earth is thus imbued with weight, and within the stone lies a poetry that can be deciphered.

And it's not just the land; the ocean has also accumulated a wealth of history in this short span of time. The enormous carcasses of those ancient sea monsters can definitely be found on the seabed, and the similar yet different ecological groups on both sides of the ocean currents truly testify to the changes of time.

With the original historical accumulation completed and the geographical and hydrological changes configured, a gray tide then surged from every corner of the world, converging towards the final project's location.

[And more importantly, we are not enslavers, we are saviors. If we had not come here, all the souls in this world would have been eternally condemned to oblivion with the death of their bodies. We will not only not charge interest, but during our time in this world, we will also shelter this civilization from the wind and rain, facing those super enemies they could never have defeated, or even imagined—they owe us, and owe us a great deal. And when we leave, they will be rewarded with freedom.] —A calm female voice.

"...that seems to make some sense." — A persuaded male voice.

[It's not just that it makes sense, it's the truth. So, does anyone else have any objections?] — A flat female voice.

【…………】--silence.

【Very well, then let it all begin. We will insert our influence into every corner of this new history. We will impart our knowledge and technology, embedding them into history in the most rational way to achieve the advancement of civilization. We will usher in an era of brilliant minds, allowing all wisdom to flourish at the dawn of civilization.】—A calm female voice.

"We will become the new world government." — Mixed voices.

The next moment, the gray waves shaped a new history of civilization.

..............................

It all began millions of years ago when Homo sapiens emerged victorious in their battles against other human species. The bipedal apes triumphed over all their natural enemies, thus gaining dominance over the world. However, the sudden onset of the Ice Age then drove the humans, who had gathered together, out of the world…

—Correction: Homo sapiens were not driven out by climate change; from the beginning, humanity was a unified group. The Ice Age did not arrive due to unusual solar phenomena, but the surge in population still caused ancient humans to split into many migrating tribes. However, from the very beginning, these tribes were interconnected.

Tens of thousands of years ago, fragmented human groups were scattered across the globe. Due to the vast distances and varying climates, different customs gradually developed between tribes. Furthermore, competition for resources led to frequent warfare between these groups. Soon, the most primitive slave states emerged on the land…

—Correction: The war ended very quickly. The colossal beast tribes emerging from the oceans and mountains became the common enemy of human civilization. Faced with this powerful foe, humanity was forced to cooperate and fight side-by-side, just as their ancestors had done thousands of years ago, to secure a chance of survival.

Time continued to flow. Thousands of years ago, the wild beasts of the mountains and seas were finally wiped out by human civilization, which had entered the feudal era. Swords and axes, bows and arrows, and armor ultimately ended this long war. And after the mountain barbarians were driven into the valleys and the sea creatures were pushed into the abyss, with the arrival of peace, things began to change within humanity…

—Correction: After humanity repelled the mountain and sea monsters, the semi-energy creatures that arose on the moon due to the solar cataclysm became the new adversaries. Humanity was forced to unite once more to fight these winged beings who were incapable of communication or compromise, and who seemed to have no other choice but to fight with swords. This time, the enemy was far stronger and more ferocious than the mountain and sea monsters. Wings of light descending from the sky easily swept away the surface defenses, forcing humanity to dig underground, using darkness to fight against light.

The war raged for millennia, a struggle that spanned from feudal times to the industrial age. As the aftermath of the solar cataclysm unfolded, the Winged Ones gradually slowed their offensive, focusing their efforts on the construction and transformation of their home planet, the Moon, rather than the suppression of the Earth's surface. While the mortals on the surface caught their breath, their inner world…

—Correction: The Winged People have realized the sun is about to explode. This news was inadvertently leaked due to a series of unforeseen events. When a true hero returned to the mortal capital with this terrible news and the Winged People's wrath, all the lingering discord vanished. The mortals, as they had been thousands, even tens of thousands of years ago, united as closely as before, and after paying a heavy price, finally mastered the secrets of flight. With the help of a group of exceptional individuals, seemingly destined for greatness, and the blood of countless sacrifices, the mortals finally stormed the Moon Palace before the Winged People could escape with their only hope of flight.

The war was won, the war was over. The winged beings could not be captured, nor did they possess the concept of surrender; they fought until the last member of their race perished. Mortals then took over the Moon Palace atop their corpses. The numerous alien technologies they acquired propelled their civilization forward rapidly. However, a harbinger of disaster became a new obstacle: the sun was destined to be destroyed within centuries, leaving humanity with no choice but to flee. Faced with this catastrophe, two different ideologies and their respective solutions were proposed. One faction believed in building an ark, known as the spaceship faction. The other proposed a plan: a wandering Earth, taking the entire planet with them.

—Correction: As the conflict between the spaceship faction and the wandering Earth faction intensifies, a group of brilliant scholars, through analyzing the civilization of the winged beings, discover a third path. It turns out that the moon had long ago been transformed by the winged beings into a large, freely moving celestial body through some unrepeatable and extraordinary method. It can even absorb the sun's light to become a new circumcentric star.

Scholars deciphered some of the technology, enabling Earth to move freely through the heavens like the moon without the extinction of half of humanity due to Earth's shutdown. Therefore, the spaceship faction retreated without a fight and vanished. After acquiring a new sun and a new moon—created by humanity over a century—a new star system centered on Earth was launched.

The original script, *The Wandering Earth*, has been completely deflected. The new script, *The Wandering Star*, is now in operation.

Before the script was even in operation, a new world government was born by divine mandate—everything begins from this moment.

Section Seventeen: Luo Ji

I feel as if I'm living in a dream, a grand dream that encompasses the entire world. Everything in this dream was meticulously prepared for us humans by the gods high above the stars. Humanity's so-called glorious history and magnificent culture didn't even exist five minutes ago.

I must be crazy.

Luo Ji lay limply on the bed, his sleepy eyes reflecting the shadows on the frosted glass outside the bathroom. The sound of running water seemed to outline the graceful female figure behind the frosted glass. Thinking about it a little longer, it seemed as if even the woman's face could be clearly visualized in his mind.

Don't rush, the key now is to remember her name. What's her name? Surname Fang? Then it should be Jingjing. Surname Li? Then it should be Zinan. Surname Yang? No, she couldn't have the surname Yang. So what is her surname?

I can't figure it out, I can't remember. My phone is on the bedside table, but even if I reached for it now, I couldn't find her name in my contacts. This isn't the first time something like this has happened, but thankfully, not remembering is better than remembering wrong. A similar situation seems to have occurred a few months ago, and the consequence was that my already bad reputation got even worse. Meanwhile, my expenses that month tripled.

It doesn't matter; it's not that important. Since the worst outcome has been avoided, a slightly less desirable ending isn't unacceptable. After all, he's a renowned young professor with a doctorate. Even with a bad reputation, his monthly income and his handsome face that attracts women won't diminish in the slightest.

His thoughts raced, the sound of water stopped, and then came the sounds of drying clothes and getting dressed. To prevent the following sequence from becoming too awkward, Logic reluctantly raised his hand and snapped his fingers. The voice-activated projector then turned on the latest TV program on the pristine white wall opposite the bed. He turned the volume up slightly, and the world government's major meeting was announced in the announcer's clear, gentle, but utterly unpleasant voice—he turned the volume down again.

[World Government, ah... I think it used to be called the United Nations Security Council? Wait, what's the United Nations Security Council? Since ancient times, there have only been two countries in the world, the Eastern Continent and the Western Continent, with two different languages. After defeating those bird-like beings, they were completely merged and became one... What need is there for a United Nations?]

[Damn it, this must be a side effect of reading too many novels lately. I remember a few days ago some girl recommended a third-rate science fiction novel to me, which fantasized about what would happen if humanity split into many ethnic groups and countries... Why did I waste my time on such garbage?]

His head was throbbing slightly. After he regained his senses, the woman in the bathroom was already dressed, her long hair flowing freely as she approached the vanity mirror in the suite. She didn't pay him much attention, simply sitting down in front of the mirror and tidying her makeup while smoothing her hair.

[If this were three days ago, I should have gone over and combed her hair by now. Then I would have whispered some sweet nothings in her ear and given her a good compliment, which would have made her much happier.] Luo Ji thought to himself, but his body remained motionless. He stared intently at the large round table projected on the screen, as if he were genuinely concerned about current events.

"Turn the volume up a bit." The woman's voice was neither intimate nor distant.

"No need, this is fine," Luo Ji replied, taking a mimic cigarette from the bedside table. He lit it, took a deep drag, and exhaled a cloud of what looked like tobacco smoke but was actually just dyed nitrogen. Two bare feet rolled out from under the blanket, the hair on their calves slowly stretching out in the gentle breeze from the air conditioner.

“The voice was too soft for me to hear.” The woman’s answer surprised Luo Ji. She combed her hair, turned around, and glanced at the man. “You are truly the most slovenly scholar I have ever met.”

The white nitrogen dye decomposed naturally in the air, and Luo Ji's eyebrows lifted slightly.

“That’s how people with real talent are.” He then added, “My mind is overflowing with inspiration, like the stars in the sky. The reason I’m not famous right now is simply because I’m too lazy to put in the effort. But if I really started using my brain… heh heh, do you believe I almost discovered the truth of the universe, the true nature of this world, just a few minutes ago?”

"Because of that so-called cosmic sociology you founded? There are scholars studying extraterrestrials everywhere now."

"No, it's another subject of mine. And my cosmic sociology is different from those charlatan scholars; theirs can at most calculate extraterrestrial ecology. I study society, you understand? Society!"

"What's the difference? Aren't they all sub-disciplines that split off from Lunar Studies? Don't think I don't know that Lunar Research looks down on you amateur scholars. Energy Network, Fictional World, even the white moon above our heads during the day and the black moon at night—aren't they all products of Lunar Research? Unlike you branch schools, who are never serious."

“That’s because they’re short-sighted.” Luo Ji pointed to the projection on the wall, which still showed the circular table in the conference hall and a large group of people. “You know what? If it weren’t for that sudden appearance of a huge bunch of ‘star scholars’ researching aliens with completely untenable theories, I probably would have been able to give a presentation there a long time ago.”

“Alright, alright, you’re right. So, could you turn your voice up a bit now, my dear Scholar Luo?” the woman said, perhaps she didn’t care what Luo Ji was trying to say at all. She just wanted to find some topics to chat about… or perhaps she just wanted to turn the voice up a bit.

Luo Ji turned up the volume this time. Then, the previously slightly blurry Western Continent language projected on the screen gradually became clearer—ah, this damned Western Continent language, why do humans have to have two languages? If it weren't for the fact that lunar research had been constantly breaking down lunar technology for hundreds of years, this kind of worm-like, nonsensical writing certainly wouldn't have become so popular. Ah… damn it, having two languages ​​in this world is already troublesome enough. It's unimaginable what those third-rate authors have conceived of a world with hundreds or even thousands of 'countries' existing simultaneously. That would be the end of the world!

He rubbed his head, while the woman slightly turned her ear. A middle-aged official with an imposing presence was speaking from a prepared text, his tone exuding a ruthless and decisive air.

—'For traitors, we will reserve all possible means…'

"What does this mean?" the woman asked.

"Kampavsky? The military spokesperson?" Luo Ji raised an eyebrow, then understood. "It's all because of those guys at the lunar research institute. A large part of human civilization is built on those lunar people who are all dead now. If it weren't for the lunar people's white moon, the entire Earth would probably be on the same planet as the bombed-out Mars by now. This led some idiots to think that aliens are inherently superior to humans, and then a few years ago they supposedly developed a way to communicate with aliens. And now, suddenly a whole bunch of illegal organizations that treat aliens like gods have sprung up?"

"Oh, I know that. Professor Ye Wenjie from Yaoguang Academy, right? She developed quantum communication. I remember it caused quite a stir back in my father's generation. But it seems like we haven't heard from her since?"

Luo Ji shut his mouth and remained silent. He wanted to tell the woman in front of him that his fledgling 'Cosmic Sociology' was actually inspired by Professor Ye Wenjie. He had even almost become a son-in-law of the Ye family... or rather, the Yang family. But what was the point of saying all that? He was already in this state, and even if he took a step back, there was no need for him to waste his breath on this woman he couldn't even remember the name of, the woman he was about to break up with.

He threw off the towel draped over his body, picked up his clothes from the ground, and put them on.

"Are you hungry?" Luo Ji asked as he put on his clothes. "Let's go have breakfast."

They left the suite and had breakfast at the hotel. The breakfast in this new era was exquisite, and as always, few people paid attention to what was playing on the television. People talked about everyday matters and business dealings, not the kind of empty talk about national affairs that held little meaning—everyone knew that the World Government had ruled this planet for nearly a century. And from the beginning of Project Planetary Cruises until now, they had managed the entire planet with impeccable order. Aside from those idle alien worshippers, no one thought there was anything wrong with what they were doing.

A pretty orange-haired girl with headphones on and a hair accessory sticking up like a rabbit sat next to him. She had a lollipop in her mouth, and when the young scholar looked at her, she gave him a mischievous smile. Then, Luo Ji subconsciously tugged at his collar, nodded slightly to her, and adjusted his slouching posture a little.

"You should wipe off those dark circles under your eyes first. The '颓废青年' look isn't fashionable anymore," the woman beside him said coolly. It didn't sound like jealousy, nor did it sound sarcastic. The exact meaning was hard to decipher.

Luo Ji simply smiled casually, offering no reply. But as he raised his spoon to finish his porridge, he subconsciously glanced at the curved surface of the stainless steel spoon and immediately realized that he didn't have any dark circles under his eyes.

Okay, looks like I know what she means.

But I still don't know her name.

He put down his spoon and picked up his chopsticks to deal with the fried egg on the plate. His movements were so fierce that it was as if he were holding a knife and fork, the tools of the Western Continent, rather than the chopsticks commonly used by people from the Eastern Continent. In one swift motion, he tore the fried egg in half. He picked up the smaller half and stuffed it into his mouth, chewing it heartily.

"You said, if aliens other than the Moon People really exist and are marching towards our planet... then what should we do?" The woman, whose name he still couldn't remember, sipped her steaming hot water, her bright eyes looking at him as she asked softly.

"Nothing can be done, just hand it over to the World Government."

"But what if even the world government can't do anything about it?"

"Then you and I will just have to stay at home and wait to die. Of course, it's more likely that you and I will already be gone by then. Your descendants will be waiting to die at home, because I probably won't have any descendants."

"You—" The woman's eyebrows seemed to rise, then immediately drooped. "You man, from beginning to end, only this one sentence is true."

“Then I can only express my deepest regret.” Luo Ji stuffed the remaining half of the fried egg into his mouth and swallowed it whole. “This is hardly a good era. Leaving descendants may not guarantee them a good life. Just as you just said, if aliens other than the Moon People appear and discover this place, then what awaits you, me, and your descendants will probably not be a good outcome.”

“Let’s cherish what we have.” He picked up a tissue and wiped his mouth. “From what I’ve learned about history, human peace has never lasted long. Perhaps soon new threats, like mountain monsters and sea beasts, like the lunar people, like the exploding sun, will descend upon this planet. Until then, we’d better learn to enjoy life.”

The two remained silent. After a while, Luo Ji went to pay the bill, checked out of the hotel, and then left with the woman, keeping a half-meter distance between them. The azure sky was as enchanting as ever; beyond the white moon, which many young people now call the sun, one could even clearly see the stars beyond the celestial canopy—it is said that in the past, stars were invisible during the day because sunlight would scatter outside the atmosphere, turning the sky blue. But now—the white moon had replaced the sun, but the white moon was ultimately not the sun.

As Luo Ji walked out of the hotel, he subconsciously looked back, but he didn't see the pretty girl with the lollipop in her mouth.

"Will we meet again?" The woman didn't notice his subtle gesture, her eyes fixed on the traffic ahead. An empty taxi quickly noticed her and pulled up swiftly on the side of the road in front of her.

"Maybe," Luo Ji replied casually. He took out his phone from his pocket, scrolled to the contact list for "the girl studying law," and then deleted it. However, in that brief moment of distraction, the woman suddenly threw herself into his arms, tilting her head back to kiss his lips.

He dodged it. The price was a seemingly heavy but actually light punch from the woman in the chest, then she turned and walked towards the taxi parked on the side of the road—but at that very moment, he saw two cars collide right in front of him! A deafening roar, and a POLO behind them swerved sharply and tilted towards them! First her, then him! And both of them, caught off guard, were caught in the impact!

He still couldn't remember the woman's name.

Section 18 - Giving it your all

Gazing at the chaotic streets in the distance, Chelsea's delicate eyebrows furrowed slightly amidst the cacophony of noise. She had witnessed every subtle detail of the 'accident': men, women, pedestrians, onlookers, those calling for help, rescuers, and even the 'out-of-control' POLO speeding towards them and the seemingly panicked yet calm face of the driver in the driver's seat.

She witnessed everything, she paid attention to everything, and she ignored everything. She knew that she could have easily prevented the car accident by simply pointing a finger, or even ended it all without lifting a finger, but she simply watched, quietly observing how things unfolded while remaining oblivious to everything else.

She quickly received a result, which surprised her slightly.