1: Chapter 1 Communication Cut Off, System Received

The small mountain village was awakened in the morning by the barking of dogs and the crowing of roosters.

The sporadic sounds of chickens and dogs only made the small mountain village seem all the more tranquil.

"Cloud to rain, snow to wind; flowers to trees, birds to insects..." The clear, resonant sounds of reading brought a unique liveliness to the quietude of this remote mountain village.

"Ring... Ring..." The urgent sound of the class dismissal bell rang out.

"Class dismissed! Oh! Class dismissed!"

The children rushed out of the classroom happily. With only ten minutes between morning reading and the start of class, the mischievous little ones raced against time to run to the playground and play.

"Teacher Zhao, check if your phone has a signal? Why is it that when I woke up this morning, my phone didn't even have a signal?"

Teacher Wang Ming walked out of the first-grade classroom holding a Chinese textbook and stopped Zhao Feng, who taught the third grade, to say this.

Teacher Wang Ming was a thirty-year-old male teacher, not very tall. He wore a pair of black-framed glasses; although he was only just entering middle age, the beer belly that appears on middle-aged men was already beginning to show on him.

"Let me check." Zhao Feng took out his phone and looked at it.

"Huh! It really doesn't have any."

Zhao Feng's phone was a low-end Huawei model; although it wasn't good for gaming, its signal reception had always been quite good, basically full bars.

"Could it be that China Mobile is repairing their base stations?" Zhao Feng suddenly thought of a reason.

"That shouldn't be it. Look, my China Telecom card doesn't have a signal either, and the point is, the power hasn't gone out either."

Teacher Wang Ming shook his head. He had a dual-SIM phone; besides the China Mobile card, he also had a China Telecom one, and neither had a signal.

"Forget it. Maybe it will come back in a while, or perhaps it's because the weather is bad today."

Zhao Feng looked up at the sky. It was overcast with dark clouds, as if a heavy rain was about to fall.

Zhao Feng was a special-post teacher from last year and had been in this small mountain village for almost a year and a half. There was an elementary school in this small village, but because they couldn't recruit enough students, it only had three grades.

The entire school only had three teachers: Zhao Feng, Wang Ming, and Zhang Yi. All three were young and got along well, so their relationship was pretty good.

"Class is starting, class is starting, what are you two still talking about here?"

The two had talked for a while longer, but it was already time for class. The students ran back to the classrooms quickly, and Zhang Yi, as the principal, also walked up.

"Brother Yi, does your phone still have a signal?" Wang Ming asked impatiently.

"No, it was gone first thing in the morning."

Zhang Yi was an experienced teacher with five years of teaching experience, but he was only thirty-two years old. Time hadn't left many marks on his face, and he still looked very young.

"Forget it, let's go, class time."

Because there were few people, all three of them had full teaching schedules. It was only after much difficulty that it reached 11:30, and the three of them went to the cafeteria to cook together.

"Still no signal. This is really strange." Wang Ming took out his phone and looked at it again, feeling depressed.

Wang Ming liked reading web novels. He had finally waited for today's update, only to find there was no signal.

"Yeah, even the internet cable signal is interrupted. I still have several forms to fill out; if I don't submit them, I'm going to get scolded."

Zhang Yi was also very helpless. He figured that without a signal, the central school wouldn't blame them.

"Forget it, as long as the power hasn't gone out, it's fine. Hurry up, let's cook, let's cook."

Zhao Feng picked up the rice cooker, clattered it around, and said with dissatisfaction.

"Hey, hey, hey, come quickly, it's back, it's back."

Wang Ming, who was absent-mindedly taking vegetables out of the refrigerator, suddenly had his eyes light up. He threw the vegetables aside and shouted loudly.

Although Zhao Feng and the other seemed indifferent, it would be a lie to say they weren't worried. At this moment, hearing that there was a signal, they also hurried over.

"Huh, did it get a virus?"

Before they even walked over, they heard Wang Ming shouting. It turned out that a video had suddenly popped up on his phone.

"Ours do too!" Zhang Yi pointed at the phone left on the table and said suddenly.

A clicking sound came from the phones, and then an image appeared.

The three gathered together to look at the screen on Wang Ming's phone.

"This is definitely a virus."

"Humans, greetings."

A bizarre, insect-like creature appeared in the video, wearing gorgeous clothing made of an unknown material. His lip movements did not match the words, as if he were using some kind of translator.

"I am Viscount Mof, commander of the Yalan Empire expeditionary fleet. I give you one day to prepare and surrender unconditionally. Believe me, the Yalan Empire has swept across countless Star Domains; you are too weak."

The three looked at each other. This virus was quite boring, making such a high-quality video that sounded so real.

"Perhaps you do not believe it. You possess simple technology; look at your Antarctica."

The bug seemed to know that humans would not believe it and added a sentence.

"I want to see images of Antarctica."

In countless offices, bigwigs with grave expressions issued orders one after another.

Satellites in the sky all aimed at that location.

The land of Antarctica was pure white, and nothing happened.

"Phew!" Countless people let out a long sigh of relief.

In outer space, a dazzling blue-white beam of light broke through the Earth's atmosphere and shot straight toward that expanse of white land.

There was no earth-shattering explosion; it was just that one-tenth of Antarctica vanished in an instant.

The bug kindly broadcasted it to ensure the whole world could see.

"Oh, God."

"May the True God protect us."

"Heavens!"

People all over the world were shocked; this was actually real.

"Immediately send the nearest aircraft to investigate. I want to see photos. Gather everyone for a meeting."

People in all major countries issued such orders.

"Do not attempt to resist!"

The screen switched to the bug's face, and he said with a smile that wasn't quite a smile.

Pop! Wang Ming's phone suddenly exploded.

Pop, pop, pop! Zhao Feng's and Zhang Yi's phones also exploded, and the induction cooker boiling water and the rice cooker cooking rice all emitted black smoke.

"It's an electromagnetic bomb!" Zhao Feng, who liked to read, only managed to say this before suddenly fainting.

When Zhao Feng woke up, an hour had already passed.

Zhang Yi and Wang Ming had already sent the children home. They were all local children, so it was convenient.

"Zhao Feng, you're awake."

A dazed Zhao Feng, having just woken up, heard Zhang Yi speaking happily.

"Yeah."

Zhao Feng nodded.

"Here, drink some water." Wang Ming handed over a cup of water and sat down to the side, saying,

"Do you think this could be real?"

The three were somewhat skeptical. Although there was video evidence, encountering an invasion by Aliens so suddenly was something no one could accept.

"It's good that you're awake, Zhao Feng. Now that the phones are broken, Old Wang and I have discussed it; your sister-in-law is in the city, and I'm worried. We're going to the city for a trip; do you want to come with us?"

Zhang Yi and Wang Ming were both married, and their wives worked in the city, so it was normal for them to be worried.

"If it's real, going to the city isn't safe."

"Don't worry, we'll bring them up here," Zhang Yi said with a smile.

"Then you guys be careful." It was normal for them to want to go, and Zhao Feng couldn't stop them.

Zhao Feng, an old bachelor, didn't have any relatives in the city. Although he was worried about his parents who were away, cars couldn't travel now, and he couldn't make it on foot, so he could only wait and see.

After seeing the two off, Zhao Feng locked the main gate tight. After thinking about it, he went to the well to draw some water and placed it in the cafeteria, then took two kitchen knives to carry with him.

After getting everything ready, the panic in his heart subsided a little.

Fortunately, he had just boiled the water, so it was perfect for a bowl of instant noodles.

After eating the instant noodles hastily, Zhao Feng, with a carefree heart, took a nap. The students wouldn't be coming in the afternoon, so it was a good time to rest.

Feeling groggy, Zhao Feng felt his forehead burning, and his consciousness became blurry.

"Ding! System importing..."

"Ding! System initially bound, issuing initial mission."