Chapter 2

After sending the message, Feng Yi’s face turned red.

The amount of money he needed to borrow was not just a "little."

For ordinary people, borrowing fifty thousand or a hundred thousand was already quite difficult, but the amount he needed to borrow was astronomical by comparison.

Thinking about it, Feng Yi sighed deeply, rubbed his face hard, and added a few more lines: "If you can advance the payment, that would be even better. Writing an IOU and pressing a fingerprint is also fine. I will go to Yangcheng in three days to handle the clan genealogy matters. If what you said is true, it shouldn’t be too hard, and even if it is, I will complete it. Out of the one hundred million, can you advance a part of it to help me out of a bind?"

He thought he would be ignored, but unexpectedly, he received a reply very quickly—

"Advance payment is not possible, but I can lend you some personally. No IOU is necessary. Please wait a moment."

Feng Yi organized his thoughts and typed: "The amount I need to borrow is not small…

Before he could finish editing this reply, he received a bank notification SMS: thirty million had been credited to his account. It was just enough to pay off his debts.

The bank card number was written in the agreement he signed earlier, so it wasn’t strange that the other party knew the card number.

The other party had investigated his information and observed him for over a month, knowing the amount of his debt, so it wasn’t strange that the amount matched.

But…

Such a large transfer so quickly?

No need for counter operations or other quick channels?

Feng Yi took a deep breath, searched for the nearest ATM on his phone, and went to check the balance in his account.

Indeed, thirty million had been credited!

It wasn’t a fake SMS!!

And, the old butler said, "I will lend you some personally"?

Feng Yi clutched his phone and fell into deep thought.

This is a butler?

A butler who lends thirty million as easily as thirty thousand?

Ordinary people would ask many questions before lending thirty thousand, but the old butler lent the money so easily?

At this moment, in Feng Yi’s eyes, the profession of butler seemed to shine with a dazzling golden light.

Of course, this also meant that the inheritance left by his never-seen aunt grandmother might be unimaginably large.

With a complex heart, Feng Yi sent a message to the old butler: "Aren’t you afraid I’ll run away with the money?"

Butler: [Smiling]

Feng Yi: [Behaving obediently]

While sending cute emoticons on his phone, Feng Yi was extremely cautious in his heart.

The old butler wasn’t afraid he would run away.

He couldn’t run away.

Perhaps the newly synthesized zodiac flower had a tracking function. Even if it didn’t, the person who could use such technology was definitely not simple.

Realizing this, Feng Yi exhaled a deep breath and walked to the parking lot to drive home.

Overthinking was pointless; he needed to solve the immediate problem first.

He had an appointment with several companies to pay compensation tomorrow, and Feng Yi planned to go home and sleep to regain his energy.

He hadn’t slept well for a week, and today’s events were too shocking, leaving him dizzy and disoriented. However, the heavy burden on his chest had temporarily lifted, making him feel unusually light and his breathing smoother.

Upon returning home, he immediately went to sleep.

Although it was daytime, he slept soundly until the doorbell woke him up.

The visitor was not a debt collector but his college classmate Wu Ji, who lived in the same building.

"Are you okay? I called you over ten times, and you didn’t answer, and you didn’t reply to my messages. I almost called the police!"

Wu Ji observed Feng Yi. Feng Yi looked like he hadn’t woken up yet, but his mental state was much better than the past few days. Even in this state, his looks still outshone most people, as expected of someone who was snapped by the barbershop Tony teacher at the school gate in his first year.

Knowing Feng Yi was fine, Wu Ji felt relieved. Since they lived close and were very familiar, he didn’t bother with formalities and entered the house, poured himself a glass of water, and sat down.

"Have you found the person who ran away with the money from your studio?"

Feng Yi hadn’t told them too much, so Wu Ji only knew that Feng Yi’s studio partner had scammed him and fled with the money, leaving Feng Yi to pay a significant amount, though he didn’t know the exact amount. From the past few days, it was clear that it wasn’t a small sum.

"Not yet," Feng Yi said, "But I have a solution now."

"What, what solution?" Wu Ji stammered.

Feng Yi was now on the edge of the entertainment industry, and Wu Ji was afraid he would take the wrong path, as some paths were hard to retreat from once taken.

Feng Yi thought for a moment and said, "I found a wealthy relative."

Wu Ji was half-believing, half-doubting.

"That’s good. How much more do you need? I can help think of ways to solve it," Wu Ji said.

Last month, he had spent a lot of money on his store renovation, and he had been busy recently, so his finances were tight. However, he didn’t want to see Feng Yi take the wrong path.

Wu Ji’s family had become wealthy from demolition, using the compensation to buy two apartments in the same building, one on the 5th floor and one on the 29th floor. His parents lived on the 5th floor, and he lived on the 29th floor, right below Feng Yi. Later, they took a loan to buy a shop at the entrance of the neighborhood, and he became a small boss after graduation. Although his finances were tight, he could still come up with a few hundred thousand.

"Thanks, but I can solve the money problem myself."

Feng Yi knew Wu Ji’s situation and hadn’t told them the details. Borrowing a few hundred thousand from Wu Ji and his friends could help in an emergency, but borrowing over twenty million was beyond their capacity. Moreover, this matter was complicated, and he didn’t want to involve too many unrelated people.

Seeing that Feng Yi wasn’t just putting up a front and his mental state was improving, Wu Ji didn’t continue the topic.

"Alright, it’s good that you can solve it… Oh, by the way, I’ll be staying on the 5th floor for the next few days. If you need to find me, go to the 5th floor," Wu Ji said. "Recently, there’s been a rat infestation in the neighborhood… You know, the whole community is affected. The owners’ group has been arguing for days."

Feng Yi nodded, "I’ve heard a bit, but not much. I haven’t been following the owners’ group recently because of the studio issues."

Wu Ji continued, "Let me tell you. Recently, there have been rat infestations in multiple areas of the city. Last week, two neighboring communities hired people to exterminate rats, but the rats didn’t die; they just fled to other communities. Our community is the closest and has been hit the hardest. I heard a child was bitten by a rat, but I don’t know if it’s true. There are many rumors lately, and things are chaotic… Anyway, my parents are staying on the 5th floor and are being bothered by the rats, and they can’t sleep well at night. The lower floors are even worse."

"You have a three-bedroom apartment. You can stay with your parents on the 29th floor," Feng Yi suggested.

Wu Ji waved his hand, "Our schedules are different, and it’s troublesome. We’ll switch for now and get through this rat infestation. By the way, have you had any rats in your place?"

Feng Yi thought carefully and shook his head, "I haven’t seen any, but I might not have noticed."

"Rats are less common in high-rise buildings, but you still need to be cautious. I heard that even the 30th floor of other buildings has rats. They can climb into the building and move to higher floors, even without using the stairs. A neighbor in the next building even took a video of a rat climbing the wall!"

Wu Ji clicked his tongue, "Rats are truly amazing creatures. You can see them in any high-rise building as long as there’s food. They can climb windows, balconies, and walls!"

"The property management has contacted a pest control company, and they will come for a major cleanup in the next few days. If you go out, make sure to close the doors and windows. Your steel mesh window should be fine, but check for any holes and block them. Check all the pipes and holes. If rats get in, it will be a hassle."

After Wu Ji left, Feng Yi checked the kitchen and didn’t find any signs of rat activity. He had been busy running around and hadn’t cooked at home recently, so the place was a bit messy with various documents and takeout trash, but there was no exposed food to attract rats.

Stretching, Feng Yi looked out the window at the night sky. He had slept through the day and into the evening.

He filled the bathtub and, feeling relaxed, decided to take a bath to unwind.

A screen was installed on the wall next to the bathtub. Feng Yi liked to listen to news from his subscribed channels while bathing. He was usually too busy to keep up with other things, so he would listen to the news while bathing, including political, social, and entertainment news.

Feng Yi closed his eyes, relaxed his body, and listened to the news playing from the screen.

"A world-renowned luxury leather brand, XX, has given up its stubbornness and, under pressure from multiple sides, has abandoned animal leather in favor of eco-friendly materials…"

"…A gang trafficking in wild animal skins has just been dismantled in X City. Investigations have revealed that 50,000 animal skins have already entered the market, including crocodile and python skins…"

"…Extinct plants have reappeared! Our country’s scientific expedition has discovered…"

These were not new to Feng Yi. Similar reports appeared periodically.

Over forty years ago, volcanic activity increased globally, both on land and under the sea, becoming particularly active.

In addition, small and large forest fires occurred frequently.

Accompanying this was nearly two decades of climate anomalies.

The prolonged climate anomalies made even the most oblivious citizens realize something was wrong.

For example:

Rain, heavy rain, continuous heavy rain.

The emotional changes of ordinary people—

Indifferent → Slightly annoyed → Starting to panic

Continuous heavy rain was just one phenomenon during the climate anomaly period. Sometimes it was continuous drought or abnormal temperature changes.

When people take a shower, they can feel a one-degree Celsius change in the shower temperature, and a one-degree increase in body temperature is noticeably uncomfortable, let alone for species more sensitive to temperature changes.

Continuous temperature anomalies were undoubtedly catastrophic for some species, and those that couldn’t adapt faced extinction.

The impact on agriculture was also significant.

During those twenty years, for the first time in history, global seed banks were opened.

The "doomsday seed banks" established by various countries were opened one after another.

Under the pressure of survival, new adaptive technologies rapidly developed, and human life quickly stabilized.

However, global species continued to go extinct at a rate that made biologists go bald.

Tens of thousands of species appeared in the extinction records each year, and the rate continued to increase.

Evolution and extinction are part of the ecological balance, but this extinction rate was a harbinger of disaster, making people shudder.

Top scientists from world-renowned institutions published their views, and many supported the "Sixth Mass Extinction Turning Point Theory"—

"Geological history has seen at least five mass extinctions. Previously, we were in the early stages of the sixth mass extinction, but now we may be at a turning point. Whether we avoid the sixth extinction or enter the middle stage will be determined by data."

Thus, the "Sixth Database" was established.

Due to the rapid extinction rate and the sharp decline in biodiversity, the "Sixth Database" needed to collect data. This was a matter of survival, and the relevant laws and regulations, such as the "Wildlife Protection Law," "Plant Protection Law," and "Environmental Protection Law," were revised, and new regulatory organizations were established.

The newly revised series of laws and regulations were also called the "strictest protection laws."

Fortunately, after nearly two decades of climate anomalies, the