These words, Brian Carter had heard countless times and paid them no mind. The library was open to the public, and he had seen too many oddballs. This zealot was certainly eccentric, but he wasn’t mentally ill—just an overly zealous religious fanatic, not someone they could turn away.

Brian Carter casually replied, “So where is the real God?”

The zealot’s expression suddenly froze.

Brian Carter smiled, holding his stack of books, and prepared to turn and walk away.

He had asked the zealot this question many times. The zealot had started coming to the library frequently a year ago, always muttering to himself, even divining the luckiest seat before sitting down. But whenever a staff member asked him, “Who is God?” he would clam up, wilting like a withered cabbage, and soon after would slink out of the library.

Brian Carter turned to leave with his books. Just as he turned his head, a deep, mysterious voice sounded behind him: “God is there.”

Brian Carter’s steps halted abruptly.

He turned to look.

The zealot stood by the window, pointing at the massive black tower floating above the city, wearing a very zealot-like smile. “God is coming soon.”

Brian Carter: “……”

Whatever makes you happy.

Every day after work, Brian Carter took the bus home, passing through the city center. He sat by the window, listening to music with his headphones. As one song ended, he overheard two high school girls talking on the bus.

“The black tower! I’m going to take a picture.”

“You’re still taking pictures? What’s so great about it? No one wants to see it anymore.”

“I just want a photo, post it on my Moments, title it ‘A Day Tour of the Black Tower’.”

“No one will like it. Hey, that guy by the window is really handsome. You’d be better off taking a picture of him—bet you’d get tons of likes. Maybe he could even go viral, call him… Bus Guy! Hurry, take a picture.”

The next song started playing. Brian Carter calmly raised his right hand to shield his face, turned to look out the window, and ignored the two girls. His gaze lifted slightly, looking at the black tower floating above Suzhou.

Amid the city’s tall buildings, a black giant tower stood suspended in midair. The tower was shaped like a quadrangular pyramid, similar to an Egyptian pyramid, but it was black, not gold. Its base spanned the entire city center of Suzhou, almost covering the city within its range. Cold moonlight shone through the black tower onto the ground, unobstructed.

Half a year ago, this tower had suddenly appeared in the center of Suzhou. Brian Carter had just started working at the library then, rushed out in the morning without checking the news, and when he hit the street, the whole city was in an uproar.

Buses had disappeared, and even taxis were impossible to hail.

All the cars were crazily heading toward the city center. Brian Carter, still half-asleep and confused, looked up—and saw the enormous black tower.

All his drowsiness vanished in an instant.

Brian Carter almost thought it was 2012 and the end of the world was coming.

How could something so huge exist!

He hadn’t seen it when he got off work the night before—how could it suddenly appear there?

At first, Brian Carter wondered if it was some kind of national construction project. At the time, the internet was full of praise for the country’s infrastructure—building an overpass overnight, making foreigners green with envy. But when he finally managed to get a taxi to the city center and looked up from the crowded street: the tower was completely floating in midair!

Completely suspended! At least a hundred meters above the ground!

How could humans build a castle in the air?

The city center’s LED screen was broadcasting the news: “At 8 a.m. Beijing time, 1,021 black towers appeared over major cities and oceans across the country. Reportedly, at the same time, black towers appeared on a large scale worldwide. Please do not panic. The government has established a special department to investigate the black tower incident. We have invited Professor Luo from Peking University’s Department of Physics to explain the black tower event. Now, let’s connect with Professor Luo…”

The! End! Of! The! World!

Everyone panicked. Brian Carter couldn’t go to work for two days. Countless people drove to the countryside, trying to get as far from the black tower as possible. However, the government kept society running smoothly. Three days later, Brian Carter was notified to return to work, and a week after that, many people came back when they saw the black tower hadn’t done anything.

Now, half a year later, these black towers had become something like tourist attractions.

In the first few months, people in white lab coats came every day to the base of the black tower, bringing huge instruments to check who-knows-what. Now, inspections happened only every three days, and the shops near the black tower had resumed business.

Brian Carter propped his chin on one hand, gazing calmly at the black tower. The bus turned a corner, leaving the black tower behind, out of sight.

That night, after a casual dinner, Brian Carter turned on his computer and logged into QQ. A chat window popped up.

[Victor: Sorry, I’ve been really busy lately, might not have time to play together.]

Brian Carter glanced at the chat history. He’d sent a message last week, and only got a reply today—seemed Victor really was busy.

[磨糖: No worries, we can play together when you have time.]