The end of the world begins with failing an exam

As soon as he finished speaking, Smith stopped and stood about two meters away from Chen Jing.

"The first time you kill someone, you will inevitably have a psychological burden. I understand..."

"There is no psychological burden."

Chen Jing interrupted Smith and looked up at him.

"I just think he's quite unlucky."

Chen Jing sighed.

Under Smith's surprised and puzzled gaze, Chen Jing clasped his hands and bowed devoutly to Zhou Guojian's body, his tone completely sincere.

"I never intended to kill him in the first place."

"You didn't want to kill him? Oh! That's right! It was manslaughter, right!" Smith helped Chen Jing find an explanation in a good-natured manner, and nodded with a smile, "You were in self-defense! It was manslaughter! I will explain it to the association this way!"

"Manslaughter? That's right."

Chen Jing scratched his head and felt that this explanation was not bad.

After all, his initial idea was very simple. He just planned to knock down these four people and then dig out the information he wanted from their mouths.

for example……

What are their identities?

How did they know about the old man's death?

"You should belong to the same organization, right?" Chen Jing asked curiously, "I heard you mention some 'association' before..."

"That's right." Smith didn't hide anything, as if he would do anything to win over Chen Jing.

He tried his best to show his sincerity, and his tone became sincere.

"We are members of the [Ether Association]. I am from the American Realm, and they are all members of the Asian Realm..."

"What does your association do?" Chen Jing asked.

This time Smith did not rush to answer, but thought carefully for a while before speaking.

“Coping with the End.”

"end?"

Chen Jing pretended to look at the old man in surprise, but his heart was already filled with turmoil.

Smith's answer was something he never expected.

He originally thought that his grandfather was the only one who knew about the existence of the apocalypse, but now it seems...

It seems like there are still a lot of people who know the end of the world? !

"I know it may be hard for you to believe this, but the reality is that it may not be long before the end of human civilization is coming..."

"What kind of doomsday?" Chen Jing asked, his eyes fixed on Smith, observing the subtle changes in his facial expression.

"I don't know..."

Smith didn't look like he was lying.

The kind of excitement that comes from the depths of the soul is almost impossible to disguise.

"But we can definitely relate to evolution!"

"What evolution?" Chen Jing pretended to be confused and followed Smith's words and continued to ask, "Where did you get the news?"

"Did your grandpa tell you anything about his youth?" Smith asked.

Chen Jing shook his head and said no, he had never mentioned it.

"He didn't say anything about being a professor on the other side of the ocean?"

"No, but I heard from my grandma that he was once a top student who studied abroad and only returned to China in 1973..."

"That's no wonder...no wonder you don't know my existence..." Smith sighed, looking a little disappointed, "I really regard your grandfather as a friend...otherwise I wouldn't come back to find him..."

When Chen Jing heard what he said, he just laughed.

What makes you laugh is his hypocrisy.

"All of this actually starts in 1972. At that time, your grandfather and I were both teaching at Miskatonic University. He and I were both professors at that university..."

Smith didn't seem to care whether Chen Jing believed what he said, he just told it truthfully according to his memory.

"On April 11th of that year, your grandfather and I were hired by the 'Wood Private Consortium' to go to Antarctica for a scientific research expedition. In those days, it was not uncommon for private expedition teams like ours to be hired..."

"What is the purpose of your expedition to Antarctica?" Chen Jing asked.

Hearing this, Smith whispered a word.

"Geological exploration, obtaining samples of ancient organisms and ancient microorganisms, and finding an answer in Antarctica..."

"What answer?" Chen Jing asked.

"At that time, occultism and conspiracy theories were extremely popular in our country. Urban rumors said that ancient ancestors once lived in Antarctica. It happened that the owner of the consortium was also very interested in this, so he called your grandfather... Miska The only yellow-skinned archeology professor at Tonic University.”

"If it weren't for this inexplicable reason, I would have been the only professor who went to Antarctica..."

In Smith's statement, neither he nor Chen Boxu thought that much about the matter.

They all thought that this was just an ordinary "ocean journey".

But it turns out they were wrong.

Even the "Wood Consortium" that initiated this polar scientific expedition did not expect that such a simple geological exploration expedition would change the world in just a few years.

That's right.

Shortly after they arrived in Antarctica and started drilling work, the second detachment of the scientific expedition team, co-led by Smith and Chen Bofu, discovered something strange under the Antarctic ice that had never melted...

"That's an ancient ruin, a palace."

Smith seemed to have no intention of holding an umbrella, and just stood motionless in the rainstorm, letting the rain slide down his face.

The cold and biting temperature reminded him of that day.

Things that happened decades ago seem to be happening right before our eyes.

"To this day, we are not sure when that palace was built."

"But what we know for sure is..."

"The ancient civilization that built that palace possessed a supernatural power that we humans cannot imagine."

Chapter 55 Ether Association

According to Smith's description, they saw many supernatural scenes in that ancient palace.

"There is a huge golden throne there. It seems to be unaffected by gravity. It is suspended about a hundred meters above the ground from beginning to end. And every thirty minutes, a sound similar to a bell will be heard from inside the throne. the sound of……"

"Ring the bell?" Chen Jing looked at Smith doubtfully.

"Yeah, like church bells."

Smith nodded and continued to recall.

"The throne seems to have been fixed there in ancient times. No matter how hard we tried, we couldn't move it at all. So to this day, the throne still remains in the ancient ruins and is protected by our association's armed forces stationed in Antarctica."

As Smith recounted this experience, Chen Jing had been observing the micro-expression changes on his face.

Chen Jing felt like the old man was lying.

If Smith can really act to the point where he can't see the flaws, then it can only be considered that he was unlucky and made a mistake.

"Besides the throne, what else is in that ancient ruins?" Chen Jing asked tentatively.

"There is also an hourglass that is almost three stories high. It is not filled with sand, but with some colorful liquid-like substances..."

When Smith said this, he paused and looked at Chen Jing hesitantly.

"You don't have to say anything if it's inconvenient to say. I'm not that curious, and I don't necessarily believe what you said..." Chen Jing smiled without changing his face, and his frank tone made it impossible for Smith to tell the truth from the lie.

"That hourglass has existed since the beginning of the palace, and it has been running... until today." Smith said slowly.

Chen Jing is not a fool.

After hearing what Smith said, Chen Jing's first reaction was to associate the hourglass with the "doomsday" he mentioned.

"What will happen when the liquid in the hourglass runs out?" Chen Jing asked, "Will there be an end of the world?"

"That's right."

Smith smiled bitterly and nodded, as if it was hard for him to believe this conclusion.

"There are some indented ancient characters on the base of the hourglass. We only discovered it after the fact. By the time we deciphered the content of those characters, it was already three years later..."

"What are the contents of those ancient texts?" Chen Jing still asked even though he knew the answer, pretending to be extremely curious.

This time, Smith did not easily satisfy Chen Jing's curiosity.

He was silent for a while before slowly speaking.

"I can only tell you part of it, the rest... I'll tell you after I take you back to the association headquarters."

"Okay." Chen Jing agreed immediately.

As for what to do at that time, I still have two opinions.

"The liquid in the hourglass is called the blood of Natu."

"is blood?"

"Yes, it's blood." Smith nodded, "Datu is a fish that lived in Antarctica in ancient times. Its blood is as thick as grease. It is said that it can also connect with the will of the gods..."

"Blood is as thick as grease?" Chen Jing murmured, "Is this why the hourglass can keep running?"

"Yes, it has been running since the end of the last civilization until now..."

Smith looked at Chen Jing with a solemn expression, and there was unconcealable helplessness in his tone.

"But it's running out."

"..."

Chen Jing remained silent.

He looked up at the dark clouds in the sky that were torn apart by thunder and lightning, letting the cold wet rain flow down his face.

"So...the end is coming, right..."

"That's right!" Smith nodded fiercely, but his deep-set eyes revealed undisguised excitement, "But this is just the end of mankind! It's not ours! For us, this end... is evolution. day!"

"What do you mean?" Chen Jing looked back at Smith and asked calmly.

"According to the ancient texts we have interpreted, when the end comes, some people will be blessed by the gods and get the opportunity to evolve." Smith was so excited that he raised his hand and pointed at Chen Jing, "Just like you...like me... Those of us who have been exposed to the power of the gods beforehand will soon receive a new round of evolution!"

"I don't understand what you are talking about..." Chen Jing shook his head.

"Stop playing dumb."

Smith burst out laughing, the rain hitting his pale face, his smile was extremely crazy.

"I believe your grandfather didn't tell you much about this part, but I'm sure he did something to you...otherwise you wouldn't have the smell of that ancient ruins!"

"The smell of ancient ruins?" Chen Jing was confused, thinking that this old guy's nose was pretty good.

Could it be that the smell he smelled... was the breath of the old descendants? ?

"Child, we are the same people, we are extraordinary!"

Smith walked towards Chen Jing excitedly, seeming to have forgotten the previous scene of Zhou Guojian being attacked instantly.

His eyes were full of joy at meeting someone of the same kind.

"How could you kill Zhou Guojian if you didn't have extraordinary power? He is an A-level member of our association!"

"A-level? In other words, the levels of your association members are divided according to their strength?" Chen Jing asked, tilting his head, looking like a curious baby.

"Yes, they are divided from SSS to D level."

"That's it..." Chen Jing thought thoughtfully for a while, then looked at Smith, "Then what level are you?"

"S."