Chapter Two: Earth's Great Transformation

“Good morning, Long Yu!”

“Long Yu, off to work again…”

“Good morning, Aunt Li…”

“Uncle Wang, have you finished breakfast?”

Fleeing from his home, Long Yu encountered many familiar faces along the way, exchanging greetings both given and received as he went. The small town where Long Yu lived was called Li Family Town. These days, though, the residents were not all surnamed Li—there were people of many surnames, though the Li family remained the most numerous.

In a small town like this, where everyone saw one another day in and day out, people naturally became well acquainted. Li Family Town sat on the edge of Mount Liang, whose front slope had become a renowned tourist spot; most of the townsfolk made their living off the mountain. The rear slope, however, was an undeveloped nature reserve, untouched by human hands.

It was a little past seven in the morning, and though the day was just beginning, the town was already alive with activity. The vegetable vendors had set up their stalls early, and the breakfast shops nearby bustled with customers. The lively atmosphere had already enveloped the entire town.

Suddenly, a shrill scream pierced the air, dragging Long Yu out of his musings on the morning news and back to reality.

“What happened?” Long Yu, puzzled, followed the gathering crowd toward the source of the commotion.

He stared in disbelief, rubbing his eyes hard to make sure he wasn’t imagining things.

He saw a rat the size of a medium-sized dog.

Its fur was dark brown, its tail long, and on its head were two sharp little ears. Its small eyes were shot through with blood-red veins, filling onlookers with both disgust and fear.

At that moment, the rat was biting a middle-aged woman’s leg. The woman, sobbing and screaming for help, kicked at the rat with her free leg, trying to force it to let go.

The bystanders did not hesitate—many seized shovels, sticks, stools, anything at hand, and began to attack the rat. Under the assault, the rat yelped, released its grip, and dashed toward a quieter corner where the crowd was thinner.

Everyone, unprepared, scrambled to get out of the way in a panic, and so the rat escaped.

The bitten woman’s family quickly arrived and took her to the hospital.

Long Yu, anxious about being late for work, hurried off as well.

“Long Yu, late again…”

It was his supervisor, Li Jianhao, who spoke.

“I’m sorry, sir. There was an incident on the street just now—a rat attacked someone. And the rat was as big as a medium-sized dog.”

Long Yu quickly explained himself. He depended on this job as a tour guide at the travel agency for his livelihood and dared not offend his supervisor.

Li Jianhao burst out laughing.

He laughed for quite some time before finally catching his breath. “You could at least come up with a better excuse. Do you think I’m a fool? A rat the size of a dog? Why not claim you ran into Thanos, here to destroy the world?”

“All right, off you go,” the supervisor said, not making things too difficult for Long Yu.

Just as Long Yu breathed a quiet sigh of relief, his supervisor added, “But rules are rules. You’ve lost your perfect attendance bonus for this month.”

“No, please, sir!” Long Yu blurted out. That bonus was worth several hundred yuan! Losing it over this stung deeply.

“You have a problem with that?”

“No, sir, not at all!” Seeing the supervisor’s face grow stern, Long Yu dared not say another word.

Inwardly, he cursed that wretched rat for showing up at the worst possible moment and costing him his bonus.

To be fair, the supervisor was only following company policy—tardiness meant losing the attendance bonus. In truth, Li Jianhao was a decent man, if a bit strict.

Since he was the one at fault, Long Yu could only direct his anger at the rat that got away.

Looking over, he saw the supervisor already back at his desk, busy with paperwork. Recently, animal attacks on people had become more frequent, dealing a heavy blow to the tourism industry. Business was bad everywhere, and without clients, there was no money to be made.

With the risk of being a tour guide growing as animal attacks became more common, many had already quit.

If Long Yu had any other skills, he would have left, too.

He sat idle for half the day, and not a single client appeared. The staff at the agency ended up chatting among themselves.

“Did you hear? There was a rat attack in town this morning—a huge one.”

“I saw the news from my family too…”

Hearing the conversation, the supervisor realized Long Yu had been telling the truth. His face flushed with embarrassment; he’d laughed at Long Yu earlier, but now he was the one who looked foolish.

“Just a few days ago, I heard someone from the neighboring town got attacked in the mountains. Since when did being a tour guide become a dangerous job?”

“We’re only working in the developed part of the mountain. It shouldn’t be too dangerous, right?” another chimed in, uncertain.

“Who knows! I’ve heard the government is considering closing the tourist area.”

“If they close it, how are we supposed to survive?”

As the conversation drifted further, the supervisor hurried to put a stop to it.

“Get back to work. Worry about your own business,” he said, turning back to his paperwork.

In truth, even the supervisor had his doubts; the tourism industry was suffering, and he wasn’t sure how much longer they’d have jobs.

Long Yu listened in silence, more worried than his colleagues about losing his job.

He’d grown up in the mountains with no particular skill. Landing a decent job like this had been hard enough; he dreaded losing it.

With sick parents and a younger sister still in elementary school, his family depended on his income.

Inwardly, Long Yu prayed for the tourism industry to recover soon.

Suddenly, the agency’s door creaked open. In walked an armed police officer and a middle-aged man with glasses, scholarly in appearance.

The supervisor greeted them warmly—these were the first clients to walk through the door all day.

“Are you looking to go up the mountain?” he asked.

“Yes,” the middle-aged man nodded. “We want to go into the mountain, possibly into the reserve behind the main slope. We’re looking for a guide who knows the paths well.”

At the mention of the reserve, everyone lowered their heads. The mountains were dangerous these days, and the reserve was undeveloped—no one wanted to go.

“Money’s not an issue,” the man added, seeing the supervisor hesitate. “As long as someone is willing.”

“Xiao Liu, can you go?” the supervisor asked, tempted by the offer.

“I can’t, sir. I’ve been unwell lately,” Xiao Liu replied, looking uncomfortable.

“What about you, Xiao Wang?”

“I’m sick too…”