Because the post Lin Fan made earlier was deleted so quickly, very few people actually saw it.
Even if someone did see it, most would think it was just a prank and wouldn't pay attention.
In an online community like the forum, filled with all sorts of people, there are too many troll posts every day. For example:
"I, Qin Shi Huang, send me money..."
"I'm the human host of Ultraman Tiga. Golza will invade Earth in 24 hours. I need 300 for travel expenses to return to the Land of Light to recharge. Oh, and Gaia and Taro are coming with me…"
Compared to these eye-catching gimmicks, Lin Fan's doomsday message was uninspired. People who happened to click on it immediately closed the tab.
On top of that, the forum was being flooded with posts at the time. The post seeking Lin Fan quickly got pushed down, ending up dozens of pages back.
Lin Fan stroked his chin and closed the forum. He had no intention of contacting the person.
In this chaotic apocalypse, before the situation becomes clear, exposing his identity would be courting death.
Who knows what the other party's intentions might be?
After closing the forum, Lin Fan turned on the TV to check the news.
However, all the major channels were playing pre-recorded footage, with no reports on the strange events at all. The evening news, scheduled to start at a specific time, was already delayed by seven minutes.
Still, all that played were mindless soap operas.
Seeing this, Lin Fan felt a heavier sense of unease.
If even the evening news couldn't air properly, what did that mean?
There were only two possibilities:
One, the media signals were also affected by the radiation, making live broadcasting impossible.
But that was unlikely, since he had just logged into the forum, and the internet was working fine.
Two, the disaster's impact and casualties were so severe that the higher-ups didn't dare reveal the truth, fearing it would lead to uncontrollable riots!
"Could people already be dying?"Lin Fan stood by the window, hands on the railing, a trace of worry forming in his brows.
…
The reality was even worse than Lin Fan imagined.
7:00 PM.
South City Central Hospital.
The emergency rooms were full. Some patients who couldn't get a bed lay moaning in pain in the hallways.
The scene was grim—like hell on Earth.
"Director! Patient in bed 2 is having rapid breathing, blood pressure is dropping sharply, and there's bleeding in the chest cavity!"
"Dr. Liu! Patient in bed 6's heart just stopped!"
"Notify the OR for emergency resuscitation. Prepare an epinephrine injection!"
"Director…the operating rooms are all full!"
Doctors and nurses rushed around chaotically. Amid the cries of pain, they had to shout just to hear each other.
In three hours, the hospital had admitted 132 critical patients.
All with the same symptoms:
Rapid lung fibrosis and gastrointestinal perforation.
After inquiries, it was revealed that they were residents from nearby suburbs. They had either eaten vegetables stored in their home cellars or consumed meat from mutated livestock. Within ten minutes, they showed signs of respiratory distress, then quickly deteriorated.
Over 50 had already stopped breathing by the time they arrived at the hospital.
Emergency Director Wang's eyes were bloodshot. Even with 40 years of medical experience, he couldn't find any way to treat this sudden illness.
He could only use machines and stimulants to keep the patients barely alive.
But that would only buy them a few more hours.
After that, the patients would inevitably die from systemic organ failure.
"This is acute poisoning, but the symptoms don't match any known toxic elements in modern medicine! There's no targeted treatment!"Director Wang forced himself to stay calm and instructed his assistant:
"Issue a public notice under the hospital's name. Inform the media and the propaganda department: all residents of South City should stop eating home-stored fruits and vegetables immediately!"
"Also, get a patient's family member to collect samples of the contaminated vegetables from the suburbs and send them to the lab for analysis!"
"Yes!"the assistant replied loudly.
Then, after a pause, he looked at the director and said,"Director, my classmate in another district hospital said they've also received over a hundred similar patients. Coupled with the solar explosion…this might be a global catastrophe."
The director adjusted his glasses and asked,"What are you trying to say?"
The assistant's lips trembled. In a voice almost on the verge of crying, he asked,"Do you think we'll survive this disaster…?"
…
9:00 PM.
Lin Fan had just finished cleaning up the dishes and got a brief moment of rest.
Xinxin was still innocently watching TV on the couch—it was some show called Balala the Fairies...
The characters wore brightly colored costumes and defeated evil with just a few chants of magic.
The plot was childish, but Xinxin laughed uncontrollably.
The chaos outside had nothing to do with her.
"I'm Ling Meixue, big brother is Prince Joy! I'm the pink one…big brother is the blue one, and Little Black is the dark goddess Gunara! So dark, tada-tada, I'll destroy you!"
Xinxin waved an imaginary magic wand at Little Black, full of energy.
Little Black lay beside the couch, rolling over dramatically with its tongue hanging out, playing along as if defeated.
Its eyes showed a kind of resigned affection for this hyper little girl.
This carefree joy belonged only to children and dogs. Lin Fan couldn't enjoy it.
He gave a fond glance at the two cheerful little creatures on the couch and reopened the news site.
This time, a breaking report had been pinned to the top:
"As of 9:03 PM, November 20, 2025:
Death toll in the Yanhuang Federation: 38,021.
Global death toll: 486,527."
Lin Fan's pupils shrank. He quickly scrolled down the article.
Those numbers were staggering—they represented tens of thousands of lives!
The cause of death was simple: poisoning.
Lin Fan knew all too well—it was because they had eaten vegetables, fruits, and mutated meat contaminated by radiation.
He had underestimated some people's curiosity about food.
For food vloggers who could eat centipedes or bats, mutated crops or animals weren't scary—they were intriguing.
More shocking was that the report listed nearly a thousand sightings of mutated animals—and even mutated humans—worldwide.
Lin Fan had assumed a 2% mutation rate wasn't high, but he forgot one thing:
Even with a low probability, the global population is massive. Combine that with herbivores in wildlife reserves…
Even 2% is a terrifying number!
At the end of the article, in bold red letters:
"WARNING to all citizens of the Yanhuang Federation:
Do not consume home-stored fruits and vegetables or meat from abnormally large animals until further notice!"
The article was short—only around 200 words.
Compared to past news pieces that would write thousands of words about minor moral scandals, this was shockingly brief.
But Lin Fan knew a common saying in journalism:
The fewer the words, the bigger the issue.
He kept scrolling. In just ten minutes, there were already hundreds of thousands of comments:
"Buying food! Our city's on lockdown, no food at home—will pay 10x the price if someone can sell!"
"Our city's biggest grain supplier got arrested for price gouging!"
"Terrifying! I just threw away all the fruits and veggies in my fridge, washed my hands four times with disinfectant…"
"All the crops were destroyed in hours. Are we facing a famine? The supermarket downstairs is already out of rice and noodles—I'm heading to the countryside to stock up!"
Lin Fan stared at the comments. He'd guessed right. When disaster bares its fangs, the first thing people panic over is food.
Just then, his phone suddenly rang.
The caller ID said…Yu Lin.