Earth
The entire world had been plunged into an unprecedented atmosphere of sorrow and despair.
No one expected that Earth's civilization, which had been flourishing, would suddenly suffer the calamity of a global great cooling.
Before today, there hadn't been the slightest sign.
Could 2012 truly mark the end of human civilization? Did the Mayans predict all of this long before their own civilization vanished?
Supermarkets erupted in unprecedented buying frenzies, as everyone tried to stockpile supplies. Countless people scrambled to secure trains, boats, or plane tickets to regions at lower latitudes.
But how could they possibly succeed?
Being sold out in one second was no longer the exclusive privilege of a certain brand—it was the norm.
Amid the swirling snow, pedestrians hurried, eyes wide with worry and confusion about an uncertain future.
The end of the world—this theme was familiar in stories—but when it truly arrived, everyone realized how despairing it truly was.
Only then did humanity discover that Death, which seemed the most impartial, was actually extremely unequal.
Ordinary people couldn't secure life-saving tickets no matter what, while the wealthy could escape on private jets and yachts.
Meteorological Bureaus Around the World
The staff who still clung to hope stared intently at the ever-changing, unpredictable weather maps. This single hour felt like a century to them.
Cooling… cooling… cooling! It never stopped.
Humans… was there really no hope left? Was civilization destined to vanish in an instant after a brilliant rise, just like the dinosaurs, in a sudden great cooling?
Would billions of years from now human fossilized bones be displayed in museums by future intelligent beings, just like dinosaur fossils?
Then, suddenly, a staff member who had been staring at the temperature change curve widened his eyes.
"The cooling… stopped? Is this real?"
"Someone pinch me—did I see that wrong?"
Slap! Slap! Slap!
The sounds of slapping echoed, reviving the frozen hearts within meteorological bureaus worldwide. Everyone stared at the temperature curve, even holding their breaths.
It was as if the curve were a timid, hypersensitive creature—one slightly louder breath could startle it.
New York
Hell's Kitchen.
The sudden end of the world caused many psychologically fragile people to break down. Civil order nearly collapsed. Robberies and killings were rampant.
Whoosh!
A spider web shot out, instantly binding a criminal taking advantage of the chaos.
Little Spider: "Sir, robbery is illegal!"
Currently, Little Spider had become a celebrity in New York, widely recognized.
Bound by the Spider-Girl's web, the robber showed no remorse; instead, he cursed, "Idiot! The world is about to end. What's the point of stopping one crime?"
Peter Parker fell into confusion. Yes, the world was ending—but did that mean he shouldn't stop even a single crime?
The robber cried bitterly, "We've been abandoned! All of us! Spider-Girl, aren't you a superhero? Save me… please, I don't want to die!"
Hearing this, the young Peter Parker felt a heavy weight in his heart.
He was a superhero, yes—but what could he do in the face of the world's end? Big figures like Rimuru and Tony Stark might have solutions, but he had no way to contact them.
Little Spider stared at his hands, growing increasingly confused. Could he truly be called a superhero? When disaster struck, he had no power to act.
But then, Little Spider froze. His eyes instinctively turned to the sky, where large snowflakes were still falling.
"That's right—the temperature is starting to rise?!"
Eastern Powerhouse
A certain scientific research base was in chaos, documents scattered everywhere.
An old man with white hair and beard slowly tidied the papers. Two uniformed staff members tried to persuade him:
"Professor Ding Yi, you are a national treasure! Please come with us to the doomsday survival base. You may find a way to improve the climate and continue our civilization!"
Old Ding shook his head. "Leave the opportunity to the young. I am too old. This cooling came too suddenly, and was too severe—I can do nothing."
The staff tried to persuade him further, but he shook his head again.
"After the Industrial Revolution, human civilization advanced by leaps and bounds. Continuous progress drove greater progress. Countless miracles gave rise to greater miracles. Humans almost possessed god-like power… but in the end, we are still mere infants."
"You say, after this freezing, when will the Earth thaw?"
The young staff shook their heads. Even Ding Yi, with top-tier wisdom, didn't know—how could they?
Ding Yi's eyes were sharp, and he sighed. "In Earth's history, there was the famous Younger Dryas event, when the planet entered a near-thousand-year ice age. This time, the cooling came more suddenly, more violently. The ice age may last longer… but the Earth will eventually thaw."
"This great cooling will inevitably cause mass extinctions, including humans. For intelligent life to reemerge, it may take hundreds of millions of years. How many traces of humanity will remain then?"
The two young staffers exchanged glances, thinking the professor sighed too much. Hundreds of millions of years from now—how could it concern them?
Ding Yi sighed again. "At the end of civilization, leaving footprints is harder than creating a world."
Just then, commotion arose outside.
"What happened?" Old Ding asked.
A female staffer shouted, "The cooling stopped! The cooling stopped!"
In an instant, everyone remaining in the base erupted in cheers. Men and women embraced, hearts connecting without barriers.
Old Ding's gaze grew profound. "The world is far more mysterious than we imagine. Perhaps we should consider building a museum of human civilization."
Flight 3U8633
The plane had been circling for nearly half an hour. In the cockpit, the two captains were reaching the limits of human endurance. Their bodies were numb from the cold.
The powerful cold air currents blocking the airliner left them with no chance to advance.
Then Captain Liu's eyes narrowed, and his nearly frozen heart reignited with fire.
"The cold air currents have weakened… and even split. Where did this warm, moist air come from?"
"At this temperature, strong cold air colliding with warm, moist air will inevitably form large hail. An airliner flying at high speed could be destroyed."
"Never mind. This is our only chance!"
Captain Liu made a decisive move, piloting the plane toward the split in the currents.
Around the World
Everyone rejoiced at the rising temperatures. Equatorial nations even wept with relief. During the great cooling, they had been in even greater danger than high-latitude countries. "Precarious" was an understatement.
Rimuru, currently battling Laufey, had no idea that at this moment, she had already become the hope of the entire planet.
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