บท 3: Chapter 2: The Plague of Rats_2
Feng Yi nodded, "Heard a bit, not much. Haven't checked the residents' group chat lately because of the studio stuff."
Wu Ji continued, "Then let me fill you in. Recently, there's been another rat infestation in various parts of the downtown area. Last week, two neighboring communities hired exterminators, but instead of killing the rats, they ended up driving them to other communities. Ours is the closest, so we got hit the hardest. I heard a child was bitten by a rat, not sure if it's true or not, there's a lot of rumors going around lately... all chaos. Anyway, my parents on the 5th floor are so annoyed by the rats they can't sleep at night, and those living on lower floors are having an even worse time."
"Your place is also three-bedroom, you could stay with your parents on the 29th floor," Feng Yi suggested.
Wu Ji waved a hand, "Different living habits with the elderly, too troublesome. Let's just swap around and get through this rat disaster. By the way, have you had any rats in your place?"
Feng Yi thought carefully and shook his head, "Haven't seen any, might not have noticed though."
"Fewer rats on higher floors, but still gotta be vigilant. Heard that even the 30th floor of other buildings had rats, they've gotten inside the buildings. Even if they don't use the stairs, they can still scurry over. Someone in the next building even caught a rat climbing the wall on camera!"
Wu Ji clicked his tongue, "Rats really are amazing creatures, you can find them in the highest of buildings, as long as there's food, you can see them clambering up windows, scurrying across balconies!"
"The property management has already contacted a pest control company for a major cleanup in the next couple of days. If you go out, make sure to close your doors and windows. Your diamond mesh screen should be fine, just seal any other holes and check all the pipeline openings. It'll be a real hassle if a rat gets in."
After Wu Ji left, Feng Yi checked the kitchen thoroughly and didn't find any signs of rat activity. He'd been out and about recently and hadn't cooked at home, which was a bit messy with various documents piled up, but he had disposed of the takeout trash, and there was no exposed food to attract rats.
Stretching lazily, Feng Yi looked out at the night sky through the window. He had slept the whole day, straight through to the evening.
He filled the bathtub with water, finally in the mood for a relaxing bath.
There was an electronic screen installed on the wall beside the bathtub. Feng Yi liked to listen to news from his subscribed channels while taking a bath. He was usually too busy to keep up with other things, but during baths, he would catch up on the day's events, sometimes this included political news, social updates, or entertainment gossip.
With his eyes closed and his body relaxed, Feng Yi listened to the news coming from the electronic screen.
"The world-famous luxury leather goods brand XX couldn't hold out, bowing to various pressures, it has abandoned animal leather, opting for eco-friendly materials..."
"...City X has just busted a gang involved in the trafficking of protected wildlife furs. Investigations reveal that fifty thousand furs have entered the market, including crocodile and python skins..."
"...Extinct plants rediscovered! Our country's scientific expedition team has discovered..."
None of this was news to Feng Yi's ears; similar reports surfaced every so often.
Over forty years ago, volcanic activity worldwide intensified, both on land and underwater, especially active.
In addition, there were frequent small and large wildfires and forest fires.
Accompanying all this was nearly twenty years of unusual climate conditions.
Even the slowest citizens knew something was off after experiencing this long period of climate anomalies.
For example, rain, heavy rain, continuous torrential rain.
Here's how a regular person's emotion changes in response to those three situations—
Indifferent → Annoyed → Panicking
Continuous torrential rain is just one phenomenon of the abnormal climate; sometimes it's persistent drought, or abnormal temperature fluctuations, hot or cold.
When showering, adjusting the temperature by just one degree Celsius will make a person feel too cold or too hot, and an increase of one degree in body temperature causes obvious discomfort, not to mention those species that are more sensitive to temperature changes.
Persistent temperature anomalies are undoubtedly catastrophic for certain species. If they can't withstand it, they face extinction.
The abnormal climate also severely impacted agriculture.
During those twenty years, for the first time in history, global seed banks were activated.
Nations opened their "Doomsday Seed Vaults" one after the other.
Survival pressures stimulated rapid technological innovation to cope, and human life soon stabilized.
Yet, species around the globe continue to go extinct at a rate that's making biologists go bald.
Annually, tens of thousands of species are added to the extinction archives, and the rate keeps increasing.
Evolution and extinction are natural laws of ecological balance, but the current rate of extinction is a harbinger of disaster, sending chills down one's spine.
Scientists from top universities around the world have expressed their views, and many support the "Sixth Mass Extinction Turning Point Theory"—
[At least five mass extinctions have occurred in the geological history. Previously, we were in the early stages of the sixth mass extinction, but now, we may already be at a turning point—it remains to be seen whether we will avoid the sixth mass extinction or move into the mid-stages, and the data will prove it.]
Thus, the "Sixth Database" was established.
Due to the rapid rate of species extinction and the sharp decrease in biodiversity, the "Sixth Database" also needed to collect data. This was a matter of survival, and all related laws and regulations, such as the "Wildlife Protection Act", "Plant Protection Act", "Environmental Protection Act", etc., of various countries were revised and new regulatory organizations were established.
The newly revised series of laws and regulations were also dubbed "the strictest protection laws in history."
Fortunately, after nearly twenty years of abnormal climate, it finally returned to normal ranges, but the Sixth Database did not come to a conclusion.
Data collection needed to continue, and until a conclusion was drawn, the strictest protection laws remained in effect.
Perhaps it would take decades or even centuries for the Sixth Database to reach a conclusion.
Had the period of climate anomaly truly passed? Or was it charging up for another round?
No one knew.
However, with the "Sixth Database," even if there's another period of climate anomaly, we would receive early warnings and could prepare for it in advance.
But for most ordinary people, it didn't matter!
As long as it wasn't an instantaneous disaster like a meteorite strike, even if it were proven that we are indeed in the midst of the sixth mass extinction, humanity wouldn't be wiped out that quickly.
One might not even see any progress in the Sixth Database within this lifetime, let alone a period of extinction that might last thousands or even tens of thousands of years.
Thinking about all that is less worthwhile than considering what to wear tomorrow, if there are new games out, where to eat, drink, have fun, and shop...
Or how to handle "Should I buy a house or rent with this salary?", "How much more do I need to save for a family vacation?", "The teacher from the kid's school is calling parents again"...
Issues of extinction periods and such are concerns for the big shots, too remote for the average person.
Though it's a bit regrettable that certain delicacies can no longer be consumed and some hobbies have to be given up, life goes on as usual.
Feng Yi was born in the year the climate returned to normal.
Older people always say he was born at a good time.
Whether it was a good time, Feng Yi didn't know. There were many young people like him who hadn't experienced the climate anomaly period, hadn't felt the various anxieties it brought, but they did feel the chaos in the food chain caused by the disruption of ecological balance.
Like the rodent plague.
And the proliferation of cockroaches and mosquitoes.
Predators were weak during the climate anomaly period, while these already resilient creatures became increasingly rampant.
As Feng Yi refreshed his social media feed, he saw a celebrity post what could be considered an extreme statement for a public figure—
"Damned things that should die don't, and heaps of things that shouldn't die do."
The post was accompanied by a picture of someone using a slipper to smack a cockroach.
The top hot comment read:
[When you find one cockroach in your house, there are already many more hidden.]
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