Chapter 1

Time: July 21, 2121, Blue Star Public Calendar.

The early summer morning breeze carried a refreshing coolness.

The sun at the horizon appeared and disappeared intermittently, and what should have been a beautiful day was about to be disrupted by a major event, affecting even the weather.

After finishing breakfast, Tang Yao hurriedly moved a reclining chair upstairs and comfortably settled down on the rooftop to wait.

Around 9:00 AM today, a supermassive planet with a diameter exceeding 200 kilometers would collide with Blue Star, directly above the northern part of Province C. This planet was entirely made of diamonds, and the Alliance would launch a large number of hydrogen nuclear bombs to intercept it, using the high temperature from the nuclear explosions to vaporize the diamond planet.

The explosion debris would affect the entire eastern hemisphere of Blue Star. Province C would be a heavily affected area, with over 20 million meteorite fragments falling in the province.

Simulated videos had been released online, showing meteorites entering the atmosphere, heating up and glowing due to friction with the air, making the sky particularly spectacular and magical, with an unprecedentedly grand meteor shower.

Tang Yao was lying on the roof, waiting to see this.

His father followed him upstairs, carrying a bucket to fill it with water from the rooftop faucet.

It was a two-story flat-roofed house in the countryside, with their own farmland, mainly for growing grapes, and a two-acre greenhouse for strawberries. His father, Tang Guotao, had a particular fondness for strawberries, and the rooftop was filled with pots of all sizes, all planted with strawberries.

Influenced by his father, Tang Yao also enjoyed planting and liked the rural life. Now, having graduated from high school and obtained his diploma, he planned to get his driver's license, which would complete his educational journey.

"What time is it? Is it almost here?" his father asked.

Tang Yao glanced at his phone and said, "There are still 15 minutes. You should water the plants quickly..."

As he spoke, he got up to help.

"Get lost! Don't mess around!" his father waved him away. The strawberries on the roof were rare and precious varieties collected with great effort, and he had to take care of them personally, not allowing anyone, even his own son, to touch them.

"Alright! Fine! You do it!" Tang Yao quickly ran downstairs, entered their grape garden, picked a bunch of grapes, and hurriedly ran back up to the roof, rinsed them with water, and lay down comfortably, eating while waiting for the grand spectacle.

From downstairs, his mother's voice called out, "Xiao Yao! Tang Guotao! You two are still on the roof! The meteorites are coming. Come down quickly!"

"I know. Don't worry! We won't be that unlucky to get hit," his father replied.

Two minutes later, his mother came up to the roof, urging them to go downstairs for safety.

How could one miss the super grand scene of human technological civilization combating a catastrophic cosmic disaster? Tang Yao lay still, not moving an inch.

"You woman, you don't understand romance at all! This is the largest meteor shower in the 4 billion-year history of Blue Star, and it's man-made!"

"If you want to watch, go ahead, but if you're scared, go downstairs and hide!" His father was firm, sending his mother back downstairs.

"Xiao Yao, come down too!" his grandmother called out from downstairs.

His father waved to Tang Yao, "My mom told you to come down. You'd better go. Don't get me in trouble."

Tang Yao stared blankly at the sky, pretending not to hear.

"Xiao Yao? Tang Guotao?" his grandmother's voice became more severe from downstairs.

"Oh... I'll water the strawberries upstairs..." his father replied, shouting, "Mom, just stay downstairs and rest. Xiao Yao and I aren't fools. If a meteorite really falls, we'll know to run."

Living together as a family was good, with all the noise and fuss. As the most humble member of the family, Tang Yao didn't need to participate; he could just hide in the corner and laugh quietly.

Amid the arguments between upstairs and downstairs, the sky suddenly burst into intense white light, shining brightly and overwhelming the morning sun.

The bright light lasted for about ten seconds before ending.

"It's starting!"

Tang Yao shouted, jumping up from the reclining chair, staring at the sky without blinking.

His father, who was busy watering, paused and looked up.

After the intense light, the sky gradually darkened, turning a deep crimson, as if the sky was collapsing. This was the high-temperature gas cloud formed by the vaporization of the unknown material, rapidly entering Blue Star's atmosphere and slowing down due to atmospheric resistance.

Then, countless spots of light emerged from the crimson sky, meteorites with faint tails, falling towards the ground.

The grandeur and beauty were indescribable.

The father and son were stunned, their mouths agape.

Suddenly, Tang Yao felt a strong sense of crisis, as if a meteorite was about to hit him.

He turned sharply and saw a thin, weak light streak tilting towards him.

"Dad!"

Tang Yao cried out, instinctively reaching out to pull his father. As he raised his hand, he felt a sharp pain.

Looking down, he saw that his hand had been hit by something, with blood gushing out.

The pain was excruciating.

"Ahh! Ow~" Tang Yao clutched his hand and screamed.

At the same time, a loud boom came from the pigpen. The meteorite he had seen hit the roof of the pigpen, and the pigs inside let out heart-wrenching screams.

The cries of humans and pigs grew louder and more intense.

The scene became chaotic instantly.

"Xiao Yao? The pigpen... You... My God!" His father saw Tang Yao's bleeding hand, jumped up in shock, and dragged him towards the stairs.

"Xiao Yao! Go check if a meteorite hit our pigpen," his grandfather called out calmly from downstairs, followed by a question:

"What's going on? I can understand the pigs, but why is Xiao Yao screaming like that?"

"Dad, come help! He was hit by a meteorite!" his father shouted anxiously.

Tang Yao continued to scream. The pain was excruciating and spreading from his hand up his arm, to his shoulder, and then to his neck, as if something was drilling into his head, causing it to hurt as well.

Tang Yao, who had been holding his right hand with his left, now held his head with both hands, and managed to run down to the living room, where his legs gave out, and he collapsed on the ground.

"Did... the meteorite... hit his head?"

"Where did it hit?"

"Tang Guotao! I told you to come down! I'll beat you to death!"

...

The grandfather, grandmother, and mother gathered around, seeing Tang Yao's face covered in blood, and were at a loss.

"It seems... it hit his hand..." his father squatted down to check and confirmed, "It only hit his hand, his head is fine."

"Xiao Yao! Are you okay?"

"Did it hit your hand?"

"Where did the blood on your head come from?"

Tang Yao, already in pain, felt his head about to explode from the noise, and he fainted.

...

When Tang Yao woke up, he looked around and immediately realized he was in a hospital, probably the town hospital.

His injured right hand was bandaged, but still hurt intensely.

His head still ached slightly, and he touched it, finding it not bandaged. The meteorite didn't hit his head, and he remembered it didn't hit his head, so he was relieved.

His left hand was connected to an IV drip.

His mother and grandmother were by his side.

"Mom. Grandma." Tang Yao called out.

"Xiao Yao is awake!"

"The doctor was right, you're fine."

His mother and grandmother came closer.

"Mom. Is my head okay?" Tang Yao asked.

"You're fine. It didn't hit your head. Why did you hold your head? You scared us to death," his mother said, then added angrily:

"It was clearly hit by a meteorite, but the doctor insisted it wasn't. If it was a meteorite, the insurance would cover everything, but if it was an accident, it only covers 70%. The hospital check and the brain scan cost a lot of money..."

His mother rambled on, listing the medical expenses for Tang Yao.

Tang Yao, listening, felt his head ache again and interrupted, "Where's Dad?"

His mother said, "Your dad argued with the doctor and went home."

His grandmother added, "A meteorite really hit our pigpen, killing one pig. Your grandfather and father are busy cleaning up the dead pig. It's a pity, a half-grown pig, killed like that!"

His mother: "You're getting an IV, two more bottles. The doctor said your injuries aren't serious, no bone damage. You can be discharged after the IV is finished. Your father will drive over to pick us up later this afternoon."

"Oh..." Tang Yao felt depressed. Wasn't the probability of being hit extremely low? How could he be so unlucky? And the worst part was, it was misdiagnosed as not being hit by a meteorite, costing so much money, and the insurance wouldn't cover it fully.