Recently, the outside world has seemed quite unstable, with crime rates soaring across the globe.

It’s been several days since the news of the impending gamma-ray burst hitting the solar system.

At that time, people around the world were in a state of panic, with many praying for Lu Li to rule the world, hoping to survive.

Indeed, those people then took actual action.

For example, they left messages under the social media accounts Nuwa registered for Lu Li, hoping he could rule the world.

Some people strongly believed that as long as Lu Li, the "god" who could perform great feats, was willing to save the world, Earth would definitely remain unscathed when the gamma-ray burst arrived.

As a result, after they sent out pleas, many people believed Lu Li would surely agree to rule Earth, so they wouldn’t really face extinction, and they felt a sense of relief, avoiding further panic.

Yet almost ten days have passed, and Lu Li has not responded at all, as if he had no intention of ruling Earth or saving the world.

Thus, over time, people grew increasingly desperate and began to act more and more insanely.

It was as if they were preparing for a revelry before the apocalypse.

Su City, over in Wuzhong.

At dusk, Captain Qian, who had once met Lu Li, just returned from duty with a very grim expression.

In their jurisdiction, crime cases have recently become increasingly frequent.

For example, earlier, he received an unprecedented call saying someone was actually committing robbery in broad daylight.

Since the domestic economy improved, cases of street robbery haven’t disappeared completely, but at least there hadn’t been one in Su City for several years.

The most recent street robbery incident dates back to 2019.

If it were merely a single street robbery case, it might be considered an isolated incident, hardly worth pondering over, but recently, it’s been more than just one.

"There have been several in just the past few days."

"Indeed, it’s a headache."

"Quickly, let them in, finish taking their statements first."

A few police officers escorted the criminals inside.

Captain Qian, who just got out of the car, couldn’t help but sigh, genuinely feeling helpless.

He actually understood why the crime rate has been climbing recently.

Ultimately, it’s because countries around the world are aware that a gamma-ray burst is imminent, approaching the end of the world.

Precisely because of this, many people, fueled by the thought that sooner or later, they would die anyway, began committing crimes, eager to seize some wealth and enjoy themselves before the end of the world.

Captain Qian understood the psychological dynamics behind these people’s crimes.

Understanding is one thing, but as a police officer, he certainly can’t allow anyone to challenge the authority of the law and must maintain social order.

In truth, when Captain Qian thought of the impending apocalypse, he too felt quite anxious.

Involuntarily, the face of the handsome young man he had once met drifted into his mind, and he pondered uncertainly, "Mr. Lu Li, will he save the Earth?"

...

It’s not just Huaxia experiencing this.

Or rather, while Huaxia’s crime rate has risen significantly, at least it’s still within a controllable range.

Many other countries around the world aren’t as stable as Huaxia.

Even the mighty White Eagle is experiencing riots at this moment.

In California, a luxury shopping street.

The shops along the street were almost entirely teeming with people.

There were people of all skin colors—black, white, yellow.

Someone unaware might think these luxury stores were doing great business and attracting lots of customers, but in fact, that was not the case.

If someone got a bit closer at this moment, they would surely hear a chorus of shouting.

"Grab it!"

"The world is going to end anyway!"

"Since the ancestors are unwilling to save Earth, let’s enjoy ourselves before the world perishes!"

"Haha, I got the latest Louis Vuitton bag!"

"Wow, high-end red wine tastes different when you drink it!"

"Guys, come over here, there’s Australian Tomahawk Steak. Quick hands get; slow hands miss out. Hurry and grab some to taste!"

The crowd was densely packed with looters.

Some were relatively civilized and just rushed into the store, grabbed something, and left.

Some were more excessive, and seeing it was full inside and they couldn’t squeeze in, took baseball bats or iron rods to smash the glass and then went in to loot.

Though police cars rushed over at the news, calling out loudly, and even some people clashed with the police and were shot dead, the looters still, like madmen, did not stop the ongoing riot.

...

The situation over there was such that, if it were any other time, it probably would have garnered worldwide attention due to how severe it was, but compared to some places, they were already considered as being in Heaven.

Mexico, known as one of the countries with the worst public security in the world, was already rife with criminals.

Previously, the ancestors had eradicated the Jalisco Group, noticeably improving security in that country.

Many criminals, intimidated by the ancestors’ authority, didn’t dare cause any further trouble for fear of becoming the next Jalisco Group.

This trend was great, bringing joy and encouragement to the Mexican government.

Unfortunately, this good situation has finally been broken once more recently.

At this moment, the TV is broadcasting news.

"Reportedly, an armed conflict occurred in Guanajuato, resulting in 233 deaths and 2,324 injuries..."

The news brief was just one sentence.

Yet upon seeing the news, all the Mexicans fell into silence.

Because this isn’t the first such news recently; it’s more than a dozen similar cases.

Similar armed conflicts have erupted all over Mexico, with many criminals having gone completely mad, engaging in arson, murder, and looting, even openly waging war against the government. The situation is dire!

...

Similar events are still unfolding all over the world.

Riots, large and small, are happening almost anywhere there are people.

Africa!

Europe!

America!

Asia!

The crime rates in all seven continents of the world have conspicuously soared, while cries of despair flood the internet.

"It’s over, it’s over, I don’t know how much longer I can hold on."

"What happened?"

"Tonight, in the area where I live, there have already been several explosions, gunshots continue to ring out, and just now a bullet shattered my window."

"What? The situation is that bad?"

"How is that bad? Over here, we have officially gone to war, with tanks and armed helicopters almost everywhere!"

"Oh my God, I thought it was scary enough that seven or eight people died here recently, but I didn’t know it was worse on your side."

"Riots are happening all over the world!"

"Some people have gone completely insane, ignoring all laws as long as they can grab supplies."

"Dear Lord, who will save us?"

"Stop calling out, no one but our ancestors can save us, but unfortunately, they haven’t responded at all."

"Is waiting for death all we can do?"

"What else can we do but wait for death? The gamma-ray burst is coming, and Earth will be destroyed!"

Countless people joined the discussion, but their tone was overwhelmingly pessimistic.

It was as if they had already accepted their grim fate of impending extinction, with no will to resist.

Or it could be said that everyone felt powerless despite the will to act.

Even though they didn’t want to face annihilation, everyone knew how terrifying the gamma-ray burst was. They simply had no ability to struggle and could only await the arrival of death.

After all, the beings they believed could save them, their ancestors, had not responded at all, leaving them utterly in despair.

...

Inside the super base.

Lu Li’s powerful perception could encompass vast areas of the cosmos near the Earth, naturally allowing him to sense the dire situations worldwide.

In theory, if he stepped out to respond, it might ease the situation, but he hadn’t done so.

The main reason was that Lu Li had become increasingly "inhuman," feeling that no matter how many people died on Earth, it had nothing to do with him.

His willingness to secretly save the world wasn’t for the sake of nations, but for his friends and family.

Now that he sensed those people’s ’self-destruction’ leading to riots, his disgust only grew, making him even less likely to come out and appease the situation.

This was the main reason.

Moreover, Lu Li didn’t even have the time to respond.

He was currently conducting a "vacuum decay" experiment.

If anything went wrong, the gamma-ray burst might not even need to arrive before he destroyed the world himself.

Lu Li had set up an energy shield within a cubic meter.

Then, without blinking, in the center of this energy shield, he created a false vacuum.

Once all this was done, Lu Li took a deep breath.

He began to inject energy into that minuscule point.

Bit by bit of energy was injected.

A hundred million electron volts!

A billion electron volts!

In no time, Lu Li had injected trillions of electron volts of energy into that point.

At this moment, that point hadn’t shown much change.

Lu Li, intently focused, continued to increase the energy injection while observing the point’s condition.

Ten trillion electron volts!

A hundred trillion electron volts!

Soon, he had injected tens of exaelectronvolts into that point.

Seeing that it was about to reach the critical point, Lu Li became particularly serious, "Inject a little more energy, and it will reach the ’vacuum decay’ critical threshold. I must control it well, or if an avalanche effect occurs, the destruction of Earth will be a minor consequence; the cosmos itself might be utterly annihilated."

He made all the necessary preparations.

Then slowly injected the final amount of energy needed to reach the threshold.

In the next moment, the energy filled that point, finally reaching a hundred exaelectronvolts.

At the same time, Lu Li observed a terrifying transformation occurring at that point.

The quantum at that point began transitioning from a higher energy level to a lower one.

As soon as this situation emerged, that point released an unimaginably colossal amount of energy, cascading like an avalanche, causing the surrounding quantum to also transition from a higher to a lower energy level.

Vacuum decay... had begun!