February 2 was when the apocalypse began. At that time, the temperature had already dropped below zero. In most cities in China, this kind of temperature was normal for that time of year, sometimes even colder, so many people didn’t really notice the drop at first.
But as the temperature kept falling a few degrees every day, after a few days, people in the southern regions could no longer handle it.
On the seventh day of the apocalypse, the temperature had dropped to -50°C. Some northern cities had experienced this before, but for the south, it was completely unheard of.
On top of that, 60% of the population had turned into zombies. Many services stopped working, and the government hadn’t yet adapted. As a result, many cities lost electricity and heating. In such extreme cold, humanity suddenly regressed hundreds of years—people had to rely on burning coal or firewood to stay warm.
Li Sisi was a second-year college student. Because of the rumors about the apocalypse and the winter break, she had already returned to her hometown early.
Her hometown was in the north, one of the coldest places in the country. Normally, winter temperatures averaged around -30°C, but -50°C was still rare.
Her area was lucky. Even after the zombie outbreak, the heating hadn’t been cut off yet.
However, her family was cautious. Even though they had already stored a lot of fuel, after seeing news online about heating outages, her father decided to take her out to gather more supplies.
Her family included her parents, her high school–aged younger sister, and her grandparents.
Unfortunately, when the apocalypse began, her grandfather and mother turned into zombies. She was the only one in the family who awakened special powers.
Everyone was heartbroken, but they couldn’t bring themselves to harm their own family members. So they locked her grandfather and mother in separate rooms and tied them up.
Every day, they could hear their growls, but it felt better than abandoning them outside.
This time, they left her younger sister and her grandmother, who had difficulty walking, at home. Her strong father and she—who had awakened metal-type powers—went out to find fuel.
Li Sisi held the axe her father had given her and followed him toward an alley with a clear goal.
Her father said someone was selling coal at a high price, and no matter how expensive it was, they had to buy some.
She pressed her lips together and said nothing. In her opinion, even if the government still existed, the currency system would likely collapse. Using money to exchange for supplies now was worth it—even if prices increased ten or a hundred times, it was still better than letting money become worthless.
But for those selling supplies, this was risky. Having received a good education, she felt uneasy about it. However, the apocalypse novels her roommate had recommended before she came home made her stay silent as she watched her father buy a sack of coal at dozens of times the usual price.
Her conscience and her instinct for survival clashed in her mind. In the end, she chose survival.
She was slowly adapting to the apocalypse.
There were many people trying to profit from the disaster. The foolish ones raised prices and traded supplies for money, dreaming that when order returned, they would become millionaires. The smarter ones traded supplies for gold and jewelry. In chaotic times, gold never loses its value—but whether they would regret it later, no one could say.
Cheng Feng didn’t wake up until 10 a.m. He had stayed up too late reading novels the night before, not going to sleep until 3 a.m., so he was still sleepy.
But he had plans for the day. After stretching, he forced himself out of his warm bed.
His place had lost electricity on the third day of the apocalypse, but he had prepared in advance, so his generator was already in use.
He only used it at night. During the day, he relied on burning coal for warmth. Diesel and gasoline were too valuable, so coal was more practical. He had stored a lot, and if it ran out, he planned to build a kiln to make more—he had already downloaded the instructions and could try multiple times if needed.
After getting up, he turned off the generator. The moment he stepped out of his room, he shivered from the cold. Inside the room, it was around -20°C, but the living room was directly -50°C. The temperature difference woke him up instantly.
He layered himself with thermal underwear, a cashmere sweater, a down vest, a close-fitting down jacket, and a thick outer coat. He also wore earmuffs, a scarf, and cashmere gloves—fully bundled up.
He lit the stove and made himself a steaming bowl of egg noodles. After eating, he put on a mask and went into the yard to harvest mutated vegetables.
This batch had taken four days to mature—longer than the previous ones, but still much faster than normal crops. Today was harvest day.
But that wasn’t the most important thing. After several rounds of planting, he noticed the soil was losing fertility. The originally dark soil was turning pale and yellowish, which would affect future planting. So today, he also needed to fertilize the land.
Using his affinity ability, he stored the low-level mutated vegetables into his space, then walked out of the snow-covered yard.
The forest was also covered in snow, but the mutated plants growing through it were still vibrant—bright green, pitch black, deep purple… clearly not ordinary.
For example, the crimson creeping vine outside his yard.
At first, there had been many plants around his home, but as mutated plants competed and devoured each other to grow stronger, their numbers gradually decreased. Now, only this crimson vine remained.
It was extremely domineering, not allowing any creature except Cheng Feng to enter its territory. He had once seen a mutated rabbit jump in, only to be instantly entangled and consumed by its vines.
Within three meters of his shelter, no creature dared to approach.
Cheng Feng knew the vine didn’t turn him into food partly because of his affinity ability, but more importantly because he regularly “offered” it food to keep it happy.
He often saw its vines reaching into his yard to check on his vegetables.
Whenever he reminded it, “They’re not grown yet, you can’t eat them,” it would only touch them and never take them.
So he concluded one of its strengths—it could listen!
“Xiao Hong, I brought you some mutated vegetables.” He placed five vegetables on the ground. Five vines immediately stretched out, grabbed them, and pulled them back—then wrapped around his wrist, not letting him leave.
Cheng Feng sighed. “Xiao Hong, I need these vegetables to trade for things. I can’t keep giving them to you for free—five is already generous since we’re neighbors.”
The vines loosened a little, but didn’t let go completely.
Smiling behind his sunglasses, Cheng Feng continued, “You know mutated vegetables are hard to grow. They need a lot of nutrients. But the soil in my yard has lost its fertility. I’m planning to trade vegetables with the plants in the forest for dead branches and leaves to make compost. I think they’ll agree…”
“Oh? You agree too?” Feeling the sudden tightening around his wrist, Cheng Feng smiled under his mask.