There is an electronic screen installed on the wall next to the bathtub. Henry Clark likes to listen to news pushed by subscription accounts while taking a bath. Usually, when busy, there’s no time for anything else, so during a bath, he listens to what’s happened each day—sometimes political headlines, sometimes social news, or entertainment gossip.

Henry Clark closed his eyes, his whole body relaxed, listening to the news broadcast coming from the electronic screen.

“World-renowned luxury leather brand XX couldn’t hold onto its stubbornness. Under various pressures, it gave up animal leather and adopted eco-friendly materials…”

“…A gang selling wild protected animal skins was just busted in X City. Investigations have found that fifty thousand skins have already entered the market, including crocodile and python skins…”

“…Extinct plants reappear! During this expedition, our country’s scientific team discovered…”

To Henry Clark, these were no longer really news; similar reports came up every so often.

More than forty years ago, volcanic activity increased in many places around the world—on land, under the sea—becoming especially active.

In addition, wildfires and forest fires of all sizes occurred frequently.

Along with this came nearly twenty years of abnormal climate.

After such a long period of abnormal climate, even the most oblivious ordinary people knew something was wrong.

For example:

Rain. Heavy rain. Continuous, unending torrential rain.

The emotional progression of the average person facing these three:

Indifference → a bit annoyed → starting to panic

Continuous heavy rain was just one phenomenon of the abnormal climate period; sometimes it was prolonged drought, or abnormal hot and cold temperatures.

When people shower, they can feel the difference if the temperature is adjusted by just one degree Celsius. A one-degree increase in body temperature is clearly uncomfortable, not to mention those species even more sensitive to temperature changes.

Prolonged abnormal temperatures were undoubtedly catastrophic for some species. If they couldn’t survive, extinction was inevitable.

Abnormal climate also had a huge impact on agriculture.

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

The “doomsday seed vaults” established by various countries were opened one after another.

Driven by the pressure to survive, new adaptive technologies rapidly advanced, and human life soon stabilized.

But globally, species were still going extinct at a rate that left biologists pulling their hair out.

Tens of thousands of species were added to the extinction records every year, and the pace kept accelerating.

Evolution and extinction are laws of ecological balance, but this rate of extinction was practically a harbinger of disaster, sending chills down people’s spines.

Scientists from the world’s top universities published their views one after another, with many supporting the “Sixth Mass Extinction Tipping Point Theory”—

[There have been at least five mass extinctions in geological history. Previously, we were in the early stage of the sixth mass extinction, but now, we may already be at a tipping point. Whether we avoid the sixth extinction or move into its middle stage will be determined by the data.]

Thus, the “Sixth Database” was established.

Because species were going extinct too quickly and biodiversity was sharply declining, the “Sixth Database” also needed to collect data. This was a matter of survival, so all countries revised their “Wildlife Protection Laws,” “Plant Protection Laws,” “Ecological Environment Protection Laws,” and other related regulations, and set up new regulatory organizations.

This series of newly revised laws and regulations was also called “the strictest protection laws in history.”

Fortunately, after nearly twenty years, the abnormal climate finally returned to normal ranges, but the Sixth Database still hadn’t given a conclusion.

Data still needed to be collected, and until a conclusion was reached, the strictest protection laws remained in effect.

Perhaps the conclusion from the Sixth Database would take decades, centuries.

Was the abnormal climate period truly over? Or was it just gathering strength for another round?

No one knew.

But with the “Sixth Database,” even if there’s another abnormal climate period, there will be early warnings and preparations in advance.

However, for most ordinary people, it doesn’t matter!

As long as it’s not an instant disaster like a meteorite, even if it’s proven that we’re really in the sixth mass extinction, humanity won’t die out that quickly.

You might not even see any progress from the Sixth Database in your lifetime, let alone a mass extinction that could last thousands, tens of thousands, or even longer.

If you have time to think about all that, you might as well think about what to wear tomorrow, whether there’s a new game out, or where to go to eat, drink, have fun, and shop…

Or think about how to deal with “Should I use this salary to buy a house or rent?”, “How much more do I need to save for a family trip?”, “The kid’s teacher called again to ask for a parent meeting”…

Mass extinction and such things are for the big shots to worry about; for ordinary people, it’s too far away.

Although it’s a bit of a pity that some delicacies can’t be eaten anymore, and some hobbies have to be given up, life goes on as usual.

Henry Clark was born in the year the climate returned to normal.

Older people always said he was born at a good time.

Whether it was a good time or not, Henry Clark didn’t know. There were many young people like him who hadn’t experienced the abnormal climate period, who hadn’t felt the various anxieties of that time. However, the chaos in the food chain caused by ecological imbalance—they could feel that.

For example, rat plagues.

Or outbreaks of cockroaches and mosquitoes.

With their natural enemies weakened during the abnormal climate period, these already resilient creatures became more and more rampant.