pjbooks Chapter 357 World Overlap
Chapter 357 World Overlap
The capital of China.
Inside a seemingly ordinary gray building, the third-floor conference room was now full of people.
A dozen or so people sat on either side of the long table; some were in military uniforms, some in white coats, and some in civilian clothes.
Each person had a stack of documents marked "Confidential" in front of them.
The meeting had been going on for nearly two hours by then.
Everyone's face was extremely grim, and the atmosphere in the huge conference room was extremely oppressive.
Sitting in the main seat was a middle-aged man in his fifties with a square face, gray hair, and obvious dark circles under his eyes, indicating that he hadn't been sleeping well lately.
His name is Zhou Jianguo, the chief coordinator of the National Emergency Command Center.
"Xiao Zhao, repeat the latest data."
The young man sitting to his right immediately stood up and turned on the projector.
"As of 8:00 a.m. today, a total of seven abnormal areas have been confirmed in China."
A map appeared on the projection screen, with seven red markers distributed across the territory of China.
"The earliest discovery was in the mountainous area of western Sichuan Province, which was captured by a patrol drone three days ago."
Following that are the Qinling Mountains deep in Shaanxi Province, the northern border of Heilongjiang Province, the coastal areas of Guangdong Province, the southwestern Tibetan areas, the edge of the Taklamakan Desert in Xinjiang Province, and... the Yanshan Mountains region north of Beijing.
When the last marker lit up, the expressions of several people in the conference room changed.
"Yanshan?" Zhou Jianguo's voice lowered by half an octave. "How far is it from the capital as the crow flies?"
"One hundred and forty kilometers."
The meeting room was silent for three seconds.
"continue."
Xiao Zhao tapped the projector to turn the page:
"Common characteristics of the seven anomalous areas..."
All electronic devices in all areas are malfunctioning.
Furthermore, there is a large-scale abnormal accumulation of gray fog in the center of the region.
Finally, there was zero sign of biological activity in these areas, but extremely high radiation fluctuations were detected, and also…
He paused for a moment.
"According to satellite thermal imaging data, unidentified energy bodies were found at the center of three areas. They were extremely large, but their specific shapes could not be determined."
What does "unknown energy body" mean?
An old man in military uniform spoke up, "Speak like a human being."
Xiao Zhao hesitated for a moment:
"Simply put... our equipment captured 'something there,' but we couldn't determine what it looked like, or whether it was dead or alive."
It's like...like a ghost from a legend...
"What nonsense! There are no ghosts in this world! Just say you don't know!"
The old man in military uniform snorted.
"...Yes, yes, that's exactly it."
Zhou Jianguo tapped on the table: "Have you sent someone to investigate?"
The question silenced the meeting room once again.
Xiao Zhao turned his head and glanced at a middle-aged woman in casual clothes next to him.
The woman stood up and said in a flat voice, "We haven't taken any action here yet, but three days ago, a six-person reconnaissance team was sent into Sichuan Province."
"How did it go?"
"We've lost contact..." The middle-aged woman's voice was somewhat dejected.
Zhou Jianguo's finger stopped on the table.
The woman continued:
"Six people, all of whom have gone missing."
The communication interruption occurred seven minutes after entering the abnormal area.
We then tried every means possible, including wired communication, signal flares, thermal imaging tracking… all to no avail.
"It hasn't been moved yet?"
"He didn't come out."
Upon hearing this answer, the atmosphere in the meeting room immediately plummeted.
Everyone remained silent, their faces extremely grim.
Zhou Jianguo closed his eyes briefly, then opened them again:
"What about the other locations? Have they sent people there?"
"After the Sichuan team lost contact, we suspended all personnel entry plans."
The woman answered,
"Currently, we mainly rely on long-distance observation. But to be honest... the information we can observe is very limited."
"So we're just going to stand by and watch?"
The old man in military uniform spoke again, his voice quite loud.
"Seven of these things are stuck in our territory, one of which is 140 kilometers away from the capital. Are we just going to stand by and watch?"
"Mr. Zhao, I understand your concerns."
The woman's tone remained unchanged.
"But deploying more personnel without understanding who the enemy is will only increase casualties."
"Then give me a solution!"
"The plan is currently being developed."
"Under planning, under planning... by the time you finish, people will have grown legs and walked to Chang'an Avenue!"
"Old Zhao."
Zhou Jianguo spoke, his voice not loud, but the conference room immediately fell silent.
He looked around at everyone present:
"Let's put aside our emotions for now and get down to business. Are these seven things spreading?"
Xiao Zhao turned to a page of data:
"According to satellite comparisons, the average area of the seven anomalous regions increased by about eight percent within three days."
The fastest growth was in the Qinling Mountains, where the area expanded by 15% in just three days.
"This thing can actually enlarge?" Zhou Jianguo was slightly surprised after hearing this.
"right."
Is the expansion speed increasing or remaining constant?
"accelerate."
Zhou Jianguo remained silent for a few seconds.
"What about other countries? Is it just us, or does it exist globally?"
This time, someone else stood up to answer the question.
He was a tall, thin man wearing glasses, from the intelligence department.
Although the whole world is currently paralyzed, China is still functioning.
"Based on the comparison of the satellite images we intercepted, we can currently confirm that at least five locations have appeared within the territory of the United States, distributed in the central and western regions."
The three locations within the territory of Russia are concentrated in Siberia.
As for the Japanese chickens, there are at least two places, but life there has long been cut off.
As for Europe... the exact numbers are still being verified.
"Is this a global phenomenon?" Zhou Jianguo asked.
"Yes, globally."
The tall, thin man nodded.
"Moreover, based on the timeline, the appearance of all the abnormal areas occurred very close together, concentrated within the past five to seven days."
"At the same time, outbreaks occurred in multiple locations around the world." Zhou Jianguo repeated this sentence again.
He leaned back in his chair, his fingers interlaced in front of him.
"So, which other countries have responded yet?"
The tall, thin man pushed up his glasses:
"We are trying to establish contact with Lin Jianguo regarding the US, as for other countries..."
"What's wrong?"
"Judging from the intercepted satellite footage, they're barely able to take care of themselves. Even if they knew about it, they probably wouldn't have the ability to respond!"
Although everyone present was aware of the situation, they still couldn't help but gasp when they heard the news.
For a moment, the entire conference room fell into dead silence.
Zhou Jianguo tapped his finger lightly on the table:
"So, right now, we might be the only ones in the world capable of responding?"
That's how it seems at the moment.
No one spoke in the meeting room.
Even Old Man Zhao, who had been the loudest just moments before, shut up.
After a long pause, Zhou Jianguo spoke:
"Now we can only rely on ourselves."
But... the problem is, what exactly are these things, where did they come from, and how should we deal with them?
He looked at a man sitting in the corner who hadn't said a word. The man was wearing an ordinary gray jacket, his hair was a little messy, and he hadn't turned a single page of the document in front of him.
"Old Chen, what's your research institute's opinion?"
The man who was called looked up. He was in his forties, and his eyes were filled with deep weariness.
"I wouldn't call it an opinion," he said, his voice a little hoarse, "but I have a preliminary guess."
"explain."
"The frequency of radiation fluctuations in these anomalous areas is highly consistent with the deep-sea anomalous signal we previously detected in the East China Sea."
Upon hearing this, the expressions of the people present all changed.
Zhou Jianguo narrowed his eyes: "You mean..."
My guess is...
Old Chen spoke slowly,
"These things are very likely not generated on Earth."
They may come from somewhere...that overlaps with our world, but is not on the same spatial dimension.