Chapter 1 – precognition

“Black clouds have loomed over New York for days, with netizens describing the scene as apocalyptic…”

“London has been struck by consecutive days of thunder and lightning. Nearly twenty thousand lightning strikes illuminated the night sky in a single evening, making it as bright as day…”

“Beijing has been battered by a massive sandstorm for a month straight. Residents are facing severe travel difficulties, and highways and airports have been forced to close multiple times…”

“Extreme weather has been appearing frequently across the globe recently. Experts suggest it may be related to global warming, but this theory has faced widespread rebuttal. American scientist Warner Jason published a commentary in the New York Times stating that the emergence of extreme climates may herald a major change in the environment of Earth, though this argument was also promptly refuted by numerous experts…”

“Tonight, our station will connect with a renowned domestic meteorological expert to discuss these events with everyone. Netizens can participate through…”

…

Snap. Su Lifeng closed his laptop and looked up, rubbing his aching brow.

“Yesterday, this morning…” he muttered to himself.

Of the three news stories, he had already “seen” two yesterday, and the third he had “seen” this morning.

The interval between “seeing” and the actual event occurring was becoming even shorter.

And what he called “seeing” would be referred to as “precognition” according to some explanations he had found online.

Since the age of seven or eight, Su Lifeng had occasionally seen strange images. Most were just scattered fragments, often featuring shocking and spectacular scenes. However, because the images appeared for such a short duration, Su Lifeng had never even told his parents, keeping this small abnormality hidden.

It was never a good thing for a child to see hallucinations. Even back then, Su Lifeng had understood that much.

It wasn’t until he saw a scene in a hallucination where a massive amount of mud and boulders came crashing down, and then saw the exact same footage on a television news report a few days later, that Su Lifeng suddenly realized what he was seeing wasn’t just a hallucination…

“A scenic area in a neighboring city has suffered a mudslide due to heavy rain. Fortunately, there were few tourists at the time, so no casualties were reported. Our reporter is on the scene…”

During the process of repeatedly comparing and confirming the events, Su Lifeng’s mind and thoughts were hit with a powerful shock.

Precognitive Ability… His parents were just ordinary workers, and he was just an ordinary kid. Why did he have such an ability?

In the time that followed, Su Lifeng began a long period of research and comparison. On one hand, he read a vast number of books to try and identify his problem; on the other, he looked for patterns between his visions and reality.

At first, he did this by reading newspapers and keeping an eye on the television news. It wasn’t until the advent of the internet that Su Lifeng’s “work” became much more convenient and easier.

After hundreds of comparisons, Su Lifeng discovered that there was a time lag of varying lengths between the “facts” he foresaw and their actual occurrence. The longest was a month, while the shortest was a few days.

But after these three recent news items, his latest record had changed to…

“Six hours,” Su Lifeng exhaled softly.

“What were you just looking at?” A familiar voice suddenly came from in front of him. Su Lifeng snapped out of his thoughts and quickly looked up.

At some point, a long-haired girl had appeared across the coffee table, looking at him with a smile.

Jiang Yushi was a graduate student at Ningnan University’s College of Biological Sciences, just like him. She was a girl with a soft voice and a delicate, sweet appearance, possessing the gentle grace unique to girls from the Jiangnan region. However, anyone who knew her even slightly was aware that this girl had a quirky, mischievous personality that didn’t match her looks.

For instance, right now, she was looking at him with a sly glint in her eyes. Su Lifeng had once casually mentioned that a volcanic eruption might occur somewhere… At the time, he had been tirelessly checking every known volcano, but before he could find the right one, it was already reported in the news. He had let that comment slip while Jiang Yushi was questioning him during his intense research.

It was just a small, inadvertent slip, but Jiang Yushi had remembered it vividly. Since then, every time she saw Su Lifeng staring at his computer, she would show great interest. She didn’t press him directly but would probe him with indirect questions. Su Lifeng felt helpless about it, though he didn’t feel any resentment.

Through these interactions, the two had gradually moved from being ordinary classmates to becoming friends.

Su Lifeng was used to this by now. “A movie.”

“Liar. It was clearly the news,” Jiang Yushi exposed him without mercy.

“You’re asking something you already know the answer to,” Su Lifeng said, shaking his head. “Why isn’t Miss Jiang sunbathing on the deck? Why come looking for me?”

Seeing him change the subject, Jiang Yushi rolled her eyes in disappointment and grumbled, “Don’t even get me started. Looking at the sea all day is boring me to death. If I’d known, I wouldn’t have joined this Cruise Tour Group… We were supposed to observe changes in maritime weather and biological species, but the route chosen for safety’s sake is just too calm. I’m not saying calm is bad, but at least a whale could pop up for us to see…”

“Uh…” Su Lifeng feigned surprise. “How come I heard that when Zhang Hai proposed this observation trip, he had your full support? It seems you even paid for some of their extra expenses on the Cruise Ship, Miss Jiang?”

Cruise tourism, even for a short-haul coastal trip along the China-Japan-Korea route, was still prohibitively expensive.

Although Su Lifeng’s university had managed to secure some discounts by leveraging their student status and framing the trip as a field study, ordinary students still couldn’t afford the various entertainment facilities on the Cruise Ship…

Many students whispered among themselves that Jiang Yushi came from a wealthy family. The reason everyone was having such a good time was largely because she had secretly approached the tour leader, Zhang Hai, and offered to cover the costs for several group activities. There were even more malicious rumors suggesting her family had donated a batch of experimental equipment to the school, which was the only reason she had successfully gotten into the graduate program.

Jiang Yushi, however, always laughed off such talk. “Go ahead and mock me, you gloating guy. Besides, didn’t you skip all those activities anyway? Honestly, you don’t look like you’re enjoying yourself much. We’re heading back to Shencheng tomorrow, and while everyone else is squeezing in every last bit of fun, you’re hiding here poaching the Wi-Fi… Is it because there are so many students from other departments that you’ve turned shy? Now that’s news: the most promising graduate student in the School of Life Sciences this year is actually a wallflower…”

Su Lifeng shook his head with a smile, about to say that she had known him long enough to know better, when he suddenly stared at the screen and let out a surprised “Huh?”

“What is it?” Jiang Yushi was unusually sensitive to Su Lifeng’s reactions whenever he was on his computer. She immediately leaned in with a gossipy look. Seeing her like this, she really didn’t seem any different from a typical female college student.

Su Lifeng clicked the mouse a few times before saying with some regret, “Nothing. The internet is just gone.”

“Oh, is that all? It’s common for maritime satellite signals to be unstable… Wait, why am I even telling you this? You definitely know more about it than I do. I don’t know how a biology student like you is interested in so many other fields,” Jiang Yushi said, her tone carrying a hint of minor frustration.

“A total loss of signal is a first, though…” Su Lifeng closed his laptop and turned his gaze toward her to say something else, but his entire body suddenly froze.

The brightly lit cafe, which had been filled with tourists just a moment ago, was suddenly a scene of total devastation. The glass was shattered, and the walls were jagged and uneven. Blood was splattered everywhere, but not a single soul was in sight…

Su Lifeng felt his heart seize. In the blink of an eye, the scene before him returned to normal. The sounds of tourists chatting and laughing continued to drift around him, and figures in bikinis strolled leisurely through the cafe.

A precognitive hallucination… It was the first time he had seen such a bloody Precognitive Vision, and the fact that it was happening right here on this ship…

And the vision wasn’t over yet.

When Su Lifeng looked at a couple at the next table, he was horrified to see a massive amount of blood on the two who were currently whispering sweet nothings to each other. The Girl, who had been smiling at her boyfriend, was now lying on the ground screaming in agony, while her boyfriend lay on the other side, his life or death unknown.

“Ha…” Before the scene could return to normal, Su Lifeng hastily turned his head away, feeling completely dazed.

“What’s wrong with you?” Jiang Yushi waved a hand in front of Su Lifeng’s eyes and asked with a grin.

Su Lifeng slowly turned his gaze toward her, his heart filled with intense anxiety. Fortunately, no bloody Precognitive Vision appeared over Jiang Yushi. However, he saw her weeping with a pale face, helplessly calling out a name: “Su Lifeng, where are you…”

That tone, so full of terror, made Su Lifeng’s chest tighten. He had never seen such an expression on this optimistic girl’s face. Although the Precognitive Vision flashed by in an instant, Su Lifeng almost instinctively grabbed Jiang Yushi’s hand. “It’s okay. I won’t leave you behind.”

Jiang Yushi was stunned for a moment before quickly pulling her hand away. “What’s gotten into you? You’re making it sound like I’m afraid you’ll leave me behind… Hey, what are you doing?”

Before she could finish, she saw Su Lifeng suddenly stand up and look out through the glass window.

Many tourists were gathered on the deck outside. In fact, of the more than four hundred passengers on the Cruise Ship, over half were currently out on the three levels of decks, enjoying the final night of the journey.

However, as Su Lifeng looked at them, he saw another reality through their satisfied smiles: this might truly be the last night for many of them… Most of them were covered by the same type of Precognitive Vision he had seen on the couple!

“The Cruise Ship arrives at Shencheng port at 11:00 AM tomorrow, and it’s 4:00 PM now… Which means the disaster will definitely happen within these nineteen hours.”

“But when, exactly?!”

Su Lifeng’s mind was a chaotic mess of panic. He looked out at the distant sea… Just as Jiang Yushi had said, this route had always been very safe. Right now, the weather was beautiful and the sun was shining; everything looked peaceful.

What could possibly be the disaster that was about to cause such massive casualties on the ship?