Chapter Text
April 1, 2026.
Shanghai City. The sky suddenly darkened without any warning.
A semi-transparent blue light curtain forcibly covered the entire atmosphere.
[Civilization Selection System Activated.]
A grand, cold mechanical voice exploded directly within the minds of all eight billion humans on Blue Star, transcending all language barriers.
The blue light curtain in the sky began to reorganize, transforming into a gigantic holographic projection panel.
Unknown characters flowed across the panel before eventually turning into words that all humanity could understand.
[Civilization shall either ascend or perish; both hang by a single thread.]
[Rules Announcement: One Observer will be randomly selected from each of the world's 200+ countries.]
[Observers will project their consciousness into Prehistoric Earth Online and bind themselves to their nation's destiny.]
[Mission: Choose an initial lifeform and observe and guide its evolution.]
[Reward and Punishment Mechanism: Evolution ratings will manifest into real-world national destiny at a ratio of 1:1000.
Increase in rating: national fortune prospers, resources double.
Decrease in rating: disasters descend.]
[Warning: If the selected lifeform goes extinct, national destiny will be completely reset to zero. That nation's civilization will be forcibly downgraded, and 50% of its population will be erased.]
The mechanical voice was cold and merciless, pronouncing the fate of all humanity.
The entire world erupted into chaos.
Shanghai Paleoanthropology Research Institute, Archive Room.
Lin Ye suddenly opened his eyes and gasped for breath.
Subconsciously, he reached for his neck. There was no stinging pain from frostbite—only warm sweat sliding down his forehead.
The electronic clock on the wall displayed:
April 1, 2026, 12:05 PM.
Lin Ye stood up, pushed open the window, and looked at the blue panel floating in the sky.
He had been reborn.
He had returned to the moment when the Civilization Selection System descended.
The tragedy of his previous life remained vivid in his memory.
In his previous life, the observer selected by Dragon Nation had been a retired special forces soldier.
Faced with a dazzling panel of prehistoric creatures, he had chosen the extremely powerful South China Tiger without hesitation for the sake of early survival.
The start had indeed been exhilarating.
Relying on its apex predator attributes, the South China Tiger slaughtered its way through the prehistoric jungle.
Dragon Nation's national destiny once soared. The physiques of the entire population improved, and the country even briefly dominated the global landscape.
But the good times did not last.
The genes of beasts had an upper limit.
They could not use tools.
They could not make fire.
They could not build civilization.
When the prehistoric Ice Age descended without warning, temperatures plummeted, and prey either migrated en masse or froze to death.
That once-majestic South China Tiger eventually starved to death amid the wind and snow.
The system declared extinction.
Punishment descended.
Northern Dragon Nation was instantly struck by an extreme cold storm. Temperatures dropped below negative seventy degrees Celsius, and crops completely failed.
Infrastructure collapsed across the board, and hundreds of millions died in despair.
A glorious civilization that had endured for five thousand years became ruins beneath the snow and ice.
Lin Ye closed his eyes and suppressed that bone-chilling coldness.
As a paleoanthropology intern, he knew a truth that humanity had completely overlooked.
Strength.
Speed.
Defense.
These seemingly invincible prehistoric attributes were utterly insignificant before the power of nature.
The evolutionary path of beasts would forever be stuck before the Paleolithic Age.
Only that path—the one least favored and ranked at the very bottom in combat power—
could break the shackles of genes, ignite the spark of intelligence, and ultimately master all things.
Ancestral Ground Ape.
That was the only answer capable of breaking the deadlock.
[Countdown complete. Observer selection begins.]
The mechanical voice sounded again, interrupting Lin Ye's thoughts.
Two hundred and thirty-three brilliant golden beams descended from the sky, accurately landing across the world.
One of them pierced through the roof of the institute and enveloped Lin Ye directly.
Lin Ye did not dodge.
He allowed the golden light to wrap around him.
His body remained where it was, but his consciousness was instantly pulled away by an irresistible force and dragged into a boundless white space.
[Dragon Nation Observer Confirmed: Lin Ye.]
[Identity Verified: Intern at Paleoanthropology Research Institute.]
[Global Livestream Synchronized and Activated.]
At the same moment, official livestream platforms around Blue Star were forcibly taken over by the system and split into 233 exclusive livestream rooms.
The moment Dragon Nation's livestream opened, the number of viewers instantly surpassed 300 million and continued increasing by tens of millions every second.
On screen appeared the figure of Lin Ye standing within the white space.
The comment barrage scrolled frantically, densely covering the entire screen.
"Holy crap! It's someone from our country!"
"Lin Ye? An intern? He's not a soldier or a wilderness survival expert. Can he really do this?"
"Heaven bless Dragon Nation! Little brother, don't panic! Stay calm!"
"Pick something powerful! Choose a tiger! Choose a bear! Don't choose a herbivore!"
Dragon Nation Supreme Strategic Command Center.
Dozens of top experts stared at the giant screen, the atmosphere heavy to the extreme.
"Investigate this Lin Ye's background immediately!"
an elderly man ordered in a deep voice.
"Report! Lin Ye, 22 years old, intern at the Shanghai Paleoanthropology Research Institute. No military service record. No wilderness survival experience."
The assistant reported quickly.
The old man's brows furrowed tightly.
"We can't contact him. The system has blocked all real-world communications. We can only send a single barrage message through special authorization!"
"Prepare a recommendation. Tell him to prioritize an apex predator at the top of the food chain!
This concerns national destiny. We absolutely cannot make a mistake!"
Inside the white space, an immense light screen unfolded before Lin Ye.
Countless prehistoric creatures were displayed upon it in three-dimensional projections along with their attribute panels.
Each creature emitted a different glow and was accompanied by low roars, appearing lifelike.
[Siberian Tiger: Apex Predator, Combat Power S+, Social Structure: Solitary, Potential: A-]
[Polar Bear: Apex Predator, Combat Power S+, Social Structure: Solitary, Potential: B+]
[Great White Shark: Apex Predator, Combat Power S, Social Structure: Solitary, Potential: B]
[Mammoth: Giant Herbivore, Combat Power S, Social Structure: Herding, Potential: A]
[Saber-Toothed Tiger: Apex Predator, Combat Power S+, Social Structure: Semi-social, Potential: A-]
[Megalodon: Ocean Overlord, Combat Power SS, Social Structure: Solitary, Potential: B-]
Looking at these dazzling apex beasts, viewers in Dragon Nation's livestream could feel the overwhelming pressure even through their screens.
The comments flooded wildly.
"Choose the Saber-Toothed Tiger! These stats are absolutely broken!"
"The Mammoth isn't bad either. High HP, high defense, maximum room for error!"
"Choose quickly! Don't hesitate!"
Foreign viewers also poured into the stream.
"The Dragon Nation player is so lucky. He actually rolled a Saber-Toothed Tiger."
Lin Ye's expression remained calm.
His gaze swept past these golden and purple options without stopping for even a moment.
He knew too well that these beasts had very low lifespan limits and long reproduction cycles.
Once environmental changes occurred, they would face certain death.
Beasts relied on instinct to survive.
Humans relied on intelligence.
A countdown appeared above the light screen, scarlet numbers constantly jumping.
[Please complete your initial lifeform selection within 60 seconds.]
[Failure to choose within the time limit will result in random assignment.]
[59...58...57...]
Lin Ye's gaze continued moving downward, passing through the blue and green tiers of mid- and low-level creatures.
He skipped the prehistoric wild boar.
He skipped the giant deer.
He skipped the dire wolf.
His eyes headed straight for the very bottom of the screen.
There lay a dim gray area.
It was filled with weak creatures at the bottom of the food chain, prey that could become beast fodder at any moment.
[15...14...13...]
At that moment, a massive golden barrage message was forcibly displayed at the very top of Dragon Nation's livestream.
This was the highest-level directive sent by the Dragon Nation government using its only authorization.
[Strategic Command Center: Comrade Lin Ye, prioritize selecting an apex predator! We recommend the Saber-Toothed Tiger or Mammoth to ensure stable survival!
Do not choose gray-tier disadvantaged creatures. This concerns national destiny. Please proceed with caution!]
The entire nation stared at the screen, holding their breath.
Lin Ye saw the message.
But his eyes did not waver in the slightest.
When only five seconds remained on the countdown, his gaze finally locked onto a projection curled up in a corner.
It was a skinny ape, its eyes filled with fear.
Beside it appeared dim gray text:
[Ancestral Ground Ape]
Combat Rating: E-
Traits: Weak, lacking claws and fangs, slow-moving, highly prone to extinction.
However, in Lin Ye's eyes, behind those gray words flashed a dazzling dark-gold radiance.
[Hidden Potential: SSS+ (The only species capable of igniting intelligent civilization)]