In early September, the World United Conference officially convened.
Representatives from various nations actively participated, discussing collaboration for mutual benefit, economic and technological exchanges, and other matters.
But this was merely for show.
It was a facade presented to the global populace.
Behind closed doors, the leaders of each nation, their faces etched with worry, utilized an independent communication network established by an international satellite to hold a more critical meeting via video.
They were discussing a crisis threatening the very survival of humanity.
And all of this began a century ago.
Since the resurgence of spiritual energy, the world's environment underwent drastic changes. Mutations in flora and fauna became rampant, and human technology even experienced a period of temporary failure. This made the early years of spiritual energy resurgence incredibly difficult for humanity, marked by heavy casualties.
Later, with the continuous emergence of ability users and the relentless efforts of human scientists to improve the existing technological system, it adapted to the environmental upheaval and was restored.
Only then did humanity gradually push back the various mutated plants and animals, re-establishing its dominant position.
Returning to the top of the food chain.
However, in practical terms, humanity had by no means fully recovered its former absolute dominance. While humans could, to a certain extent, exterminate and repel mutated plants and animals, they were incapable of completely eradicating them. Consequently, the wilderness had become far more dangerous than before.
Even in areas long deemed safe.
Regular sweeps were still necessary.
Otherwise, mutated creatures could potentially re-infiltrate at any time, endangering humanity, or the cultivated and farmed plants and animals could mutate again.
Retaliating against the humans who consumed them.
Most of these dangers were well-known and acceptable, with methods in place to minimize losses. Yet, there were many hidden dangers that the authorities, to prevent widespread panic among ordinary people, had never dared to disclose. Some of these were only discovered in recent years.
For instance, insect mutations.
And the emergence of civilization by mutated marine life.
In the early stages of spiritual energy resurgence, insects, due to their rapid reproduction, easily adapted to the environment. However, their small size meant they merely adapted; significant mutations that would threaten humanity were rare.
But as time passed, these insects eventually mutated. They began to proliferate uncontrollably in the wild. Swarms of insects attacking together were more terrifying than mutated elephants or lions, leaving them as mere husks.
Currently, several regions with poor ecological conditions or heavy pollution, where insects were abundant, had succumbed to insect plagues, resulting in numerous deaths and injuries. However, this news was strictly suppressed.
This was a newly discovered crisis.
While difficult to deal with, no one considered it fatal.
The true crisis that left all informed individuals worldwide contemplating the potential for human extinction was the mutation and intelligence explosion of marine life.
And the birth of oceanic civilization, harboring animosity towards humans.
The mutation of marine life had begun at the dawn of spiritual energy resurgence. The scale of mutation was no less than that of terrestrial life. However, at that time, humanity struggled to even clear land-based mutated creatures, let alone contend with marine ones. Moreover, the oceans held less importance for humans than the land, so nations weren't overly concerned about marine life encroaching onto land to compete for survival space.
Thus, the oceanic issue was temporarily set aside.
The priority was to address the mutated terrestrial flora and fauna.
By the time humanity had finally cleared large safe zones on land, no longer fearing large-scale attacks from mutated creatures, the mutation of marine life had reached a point where maritime transport was essentially rendered obsolete. At this juncture, nations reliant on sea trade attempted to address the problem.
But compared to the vast oceans.
And the seemingly endless marine creatures, their strength was utterly insignificant.
Consequently, their efforts inevitably ended in failure.
If they couldn't even resolve the mutated terrestrial life that occupied only thirty percent of the planet's surface, which they still had to remain vigilant against, how could they deal with the mutated marine life inhabiting the seventy percent of the planet's surface?
Unless it meant mutual annihilation, unleashing nuclear weapons in a frenzy.
There was simply no possibility of resolving the marine creature issue.
Furthermore, considering that most of these marine creatures rarely left the ocean, nations eventually abandoned their territorial waters and maritime trade, switching to air transport.
Even though the costs increased and cargo capacity decreased.
There was no alternative.
After all, merchant ships venturing out to sea had almost no chance of survival. Even fishing required the deployment of warships, and occasional losses were sustained. To not abandon maritime transport would be to blindly throw away their own resources and lives, akin to Sisyphus pushing his boulder.
If it were only this, it would be manageable.
It could still be grudgingly accepted.
At worst, they could maintain a hands-off approach.
The crucial issue was that many marine creatures had gradually developed intelligence during this mutation, and in the process of humanity abandoning the oceans, they had developed civilization.
Although it was a relatively primitive civilization.
It was still a civilization.
And they began to continuously learn from various human products that fell into the ocean, studying human civilization to elevate their own civilization and technological level.
Humanity only discovered this situation ten years ago when they accidentally intercepted strange communication waves, attempted to decipher them, and conducted further investigations.
By then, the marine creatures had advanced their civilization to the level of the second Industrial Revolution.
While still far inferior to humans.
It was already quite terrifying.
From that day forward, humanity had been attempting to infiltrate oceanic civilizations, communicate with oceanic intelligent beings, and even research specialized weapons and viruses against them as a precaution.
In the early stages, the oceanic civilization also showed no animosity towards humans, even engaging in some superficial cooperation and exchanges. This lukewarm relationship continued until last year, when the octopus tribe defeated all other intelligent marine life.
Becoming the overlords and de facto rulers of the oceans.
Only then did the two sides completely sever ties.
For a long time, the oceans teemed with many intelligent species, and due to their diverse origins, their relationships were not good. There was no single ruler capable of dominating all oceanic species.
Many races developed independently.
If not for their apprehension towards human civilization, they might not have even been able to form loose alliances.
But the octopus tribe quietly broke this peace. They utilized hundreds of their colossal octopuses, each over a thousand meters long, and a portion of their small, psychically-powered blue octopuses capable of hypnosis and control. They used a combination of military deterrence and hypnotic/controlling abilities to subjugate the leaders of various races. In just seven or eight years.
They successfully unified the entire ocean.
And immediately upon unification, they severed contact with humanity. Concurrently, they began extensively disseminating videos within the oceans depicting humans hunting and consuming marine life.
Among these, videos of humans roasting octopuses on grills, and even consuming them raw, were most prevalent. Crucially, these videos did not solely feature humans eating non-intelligent marine life from the past. They also included footage of humans hunting and consuming intelligent marine life, a practice that occurred later. Despite the dangers of the ocean in previous years, there were still those willing to risk their lives to hunt marine creatures for high prices.
Under the propaganda and incitement of the intelligent octopuses, marine life quickly united in their hatred and calls for war against humanity. Information transmitted by human spies, infiltrated into oceanic civilizations through mind-control, not only conveyed this message but also led to the judgment that an invasion by hundreds of millions of marine creatures was likely before the end of the year.
Areas with rivers and groundwater.
Would likely be unable to escape the invasion of marine life.
This was the primary reason for the leaders of various nations now facing each other with worried expressions, unsure of where to begin.