The Crowd: A Study of the Popular Mind, Book 01

Fang Zhiyi was dragged rushing toward the passage. He clearly saw the Heavenly Dao, which had previously been their ally, reaching out to Little Hei. Fortunately, it failed to keep them behind.

It wasn't until they arrived in the next world that Fang Zhiyi spoke with profound meaning, "Did you give birth to a son?"

Little Hei froze. "What son?"

Fang Zhiyi stared at it, making Little Hei feel somewhat confused. "Um... is something wrong?"

Fang Zhiyi continued to stare at it, as if trying to see right through it.

Little Hei finally sighed. "It's just that following you isn't getting me enough energy anymore... I need to absorb energy from more worlds..."

Fang Zhiyi wasn't surprised in the slightest. "Oh."

Little Hei was a bit surprised by Fang Zhiyi's calmness. "What do you mean 'oh'? Shouldn't you have a grief-stricken expression of being used? Or shouldn't you at least question me? You, you, you..."

"I'm not blind." Fang Zhiyi looked away, gazing at the curtain of rain beyond the balcony. "Those 'systems' we encountered before were all somewhat similar to you..."

"Don't lump me in with those low-level things!"

"At that time, I was wondering, Little Hei, what exactly do you want? Then suddenly, boom, a possibility hit me."

"Who describes a flash of inspiration as a 'boom'?"

"The so-called Quick Transmigration Bureau... its main body is the same as yours, isn't it?" Fang Zhiyi said.

Little Hei fell silent for a moment. "That's not exactly it... I didn't know what I was at first either, that's the truth. But later... I gradually came to understand my existence. It's like some kind of law of nature, do you understand?"

"I understand. If we compare all these many worlds to books, you and the so-called Quick Transmigration Bureau are the same—bookworms wandering through every book. When you grow to a certain size, you lay eggs..."

"Don't make it sound so disgusting, okay." Little Hei rolled its eyes.

"No wonder you would swallow other systems. It's just because the ones behind them are your competitors, right?"

"That's pretty much it." Little Hei swayed its body.

"How pitiful."

"Huh?"

"I mean the people you choose are quite pitiful," Fang Zhiyi added. "Having to travel through every world with a system that can't provide anything is no different from risking their lives."

"You..." Little Hei had the urge to hit someone, but then it deflated. "That's why I choose relatively smart human individuals."

"It doesn't matter... I'll be able to go back in the end, right?" Fang Zhiyi asked suddenly.

Little Hei looked at the way he was gazing into the distance and nodded. "At least I can guarantee that much."

"You won't send me a hundred years into the future?"

"How could I be that wicked?"

"Hard to say. I feel like you've learned to be bad."

Little Hei almost laughed out of anger. "Guess who I learned it from?"

"Who knows, there are so many weirdos."

"You..." Little Hei was at a loss. It could never learn Fang Zhiyi's shamelessness. How could a person be this brazen?

"Is this the apocalypse?" Fang Zhiyi muttered to himself.

Little Hei huffed angrily and ignored him.

"A virus? Extreme weather? Zombies?" Fang Zhiyi asked.

Still sulking over what happened earlier, Little Hei just shoved the plot directly into his head.

The current time node was right after the outbreak of the apocalypse, which meant Fang Zhiyi was left with absolutely no room to maneuver.

He was originally a driver. When the apocalypse broke out, he was just thinking about rushing to get a drink after his shift. Suddenly, he received a warning message: the sea level was receding. This abnormal reaction meant a massive tsunami was imminent.

At the same time, heavy rain poured down. Fang Zhiyi panicked a bit and hurriedly drove to get home. Passing by a supermarket, he saw many people shopping inside. He hesitated for a moment, then parked the car and joined the panic-buying crowd.

It seemed people were always easily swept up by collective emotions. The more people joined the panic buying, the crazier everyone became.

Fang Zhiyi managed to buy some rice and oil. When he turned around to grab some water, he found that the once adequately stocked shelves had been swept completely clean.

He couldn't worry about that much and just hurried to line up to pay.

Upon returning home, Fang Zhiyi quickly turned on the TV to watch the news. Sure enough, the TV was broadcasting forecasts about extreme weather. Weirdly, it seemed every city was experiencing extreme weather, and the rain covered an incredibly vast area.

Fang Zhiyi was somewhat worried about his car; after all, he hadn't finished paying off the auto loan.

In the homeowners' group chat, someone joked that the apocalypse was coming, while others teased him, telling him to read fewer novels.

Fang Zhiyi, however, felt a bit nervous. Looking out the window, he felt a persistent sense of unease. He immediately decided to go out and buy a few more things, but almost all the shops and supermarkets were being raided by panic buyers. If it weren't for a friend of his, Fang Zhiyi wouldn't have been able to buy anything at all.

"Don't be so nervous, it's just raining," his friend said with a smile. "It's not like it can flood our place."

But as if to voice an objection to that statement, the rain did not stop.

The neighbors who had previously mocked others in the group chat for making a fuss over nothing began to panic, constantly trying to buy supplies from others.

Although some people sold them a few things at high prices, most chose to remain silent.

In less than a week, the water was cut off, and the power went out. No one continued speaking in the group chat.

Rumor had it that the property management had already evacuated; someone saw them bringing out a kayak and leaving.

Rescue assault boats had also come a few times, distributing some supplies each time and casually updating them on the situation outside. This disaster appeared to be worldwide. The number of victims was immense, and the rescuers were too overwhelmed to keep up, so they advised the residents to rely on self-rescue for the time being.

Because everything below the tenth floor had already been submerged, many neighbors were living in the hallways of the upper floors. Arguments broke out every day, and eventually, the conflicts escalated. Some people forcibly broke down doors to snatch others' food. Pleas for mercy and noisy clamors continuously echoed through the building, leaving everyone hiding in their homes extremely tense.

Fang Zhiyi's door was also smashed open, but he stood blocking the doorway with a meat cleaver in hand. Seeing his readiness to fight for his life, the intruders felt some fear, so they let Fang Zhiyi off and headed upstairs instead.

A corpse was thrown down. Sitting on the sofa, Fang Zhiyi watched the wide-eyed body fall past his window, feeling completely numb. Once people started killing, things would become even more uncontrollable.

Rescue supplies were intermittent, usually dropped by helicopters. However, due to force majeure, the helicopters gradually stopped coming as well.

Conflicts within the residential building continued to intensify, and various groups, big and small, emerged. Without exception, everyone was fighting for survival. Whether it was firewood, food, water, or clothes... things that were usually easily accessible had now become incredibly precious.