After Cen Yi had coaxed the two little ones into taking their afternoon nap, Xie Yuanchuan was busy sticking on a fake beard and a fake hairpiece in front of the rearview mirror.
“You’re going to find that Xiao Hai? Don’t bring him back,” Cen Yi said with obvious disgust.
“What? Because he bullied your daughter and son?” Xie Yuanchuan raised an eyebrow, looking completely unconcerned.
Cen Yi grabbed his real hair and yanked it backward, warning him seriously.
“Xiao Wu is a sensitive child. A new kid would make her feel uneasy.”
Xie Yuanchuan nearly jumped out of his skin. He yelped twice and slapped at his wife’s hand.
“Let go! Are you trying to wipe out the entire Katar Family with your own hands?”
Hearing that, Cen Yi really did let go.
Two strands of hair remained in her hand. She secretly rubbed them against her pants.
“There aren’t that many members of the Katar Family left anyway.”
Xie Yuanchuan deliberately put on a stern face.
“Stop rubbing them. I already saw that.”
He had given every strand of hair a name so they would feel a sense of belonging and stop leaving him.
Who would have thought the true culprit had been right beside him all along?
“Our family’s not a Shelter. Besides, I don’t like kids that much.”
After dusting off his clothes, Xie Yuanchuan strolled leisurely toward the gathering grounds.
…
After making one round, he quickly found the chaotic trio who had been fighting over wild vegetables.
The child called Xiao Hai sat off to one side.
Even when Little Black and Curly Hair shoved him several times, he remained silent.
What an idiot.
Xie Yuanchuan stroked his fake beard before casually approaching the military vehicle and finding the Supervisor.
“Officer, I just saw a child without a registered uniform number bullying people with an Ability. You really ought to do something about that.”
He wore the expression of a concerned parent worried that his own child might become a victim, while just the right amount of envy appeared on his face.
“If my child had an Ability, I’d never let him bully the weak.”
The Supervisor lifted his eyelids and glanced at him.
He had an utterly ordinary face.
If anything, he looked sloppy and somewhat ugly.
His beard was so long it could probably hide half a bowl of wild vegetables.
What an unkempt fellow.
“Where is he? Take me there.”
An unregistered Ability User was no small matter.
The Supervisor had to investigate.
“Of course.”
Xie Yuanchuan eagerly led him toward the three children.
“It’s that quiet one over there. He uses Gravity, and he’s pretty skilled with it too. If my child awakened an Innate Ability like that, I’d definitely make sure he contributed to the Base. Just imagine how convenient it’d be for transporting supplies…”
“Alright, alright. You’re way too talkative.”
The Supervisor couldn’t bear listening anymore and walked over to the child with two soldiers.
Xie Yuanchuan withdrew his overly attentive expression and waited off to the side.
He watched as Xiao Hai resisted, was swiftly subdued, and then escorted away.
“So it wasn’t as impressive as Gravity.”
“Just an ordinary Buoyancy Ability.”
“Nowhere near good enough for me to bring home.”
Whistling merrily, Xie Yuanchuan slowly headed back.
…
“Dad, what kind of wild vegetable is this?”
Standing on a stool, Cen Wu helped Xie Yuanchuan wash the vegetables.
“Indian Aster.”
He answered casually.
“Is it tasty?”
She asked again.
Xie Yuanchuan had no interest in chatting and replied perfunctorily,
“It’s alright.”
After placing the cleaned Indian Aster into the draining basket, Cen Wu looked at him expectantly.
“Dad, is there anything else I can help with?”
Xie Yuanchuan smiled as kindly as ever.
“What Dad needs…”
“…is for that little mouth of yours to stay shut.”
Cen Wu froze.
When she realized he was saying she talked too much, she glared at him angrily.
She ran over to the sofa and buried herself in Cen Yi’s embrace.
“Mom, I’ve been muted.”
Cen Yi gathered her daughter into her arms and gently rubbed the back of her neck.
“Oh, that’s truly terrible.”
Meanwhile, Cen Yuxing was fiddling with the radio.
He had originally wanted his younger sister to listen to some music to cultivate her temperament.
Instead, the weather forecast came on.
【Base No. 9 Weather Report: From tonight through tomorrow morning, dense fog will appear throughout the Base and surrounding areas. Visibility is expected to fall below fifty meters. Military personnel and civilians traveling outdoors are advised to maintain safe distances…】
Cen Wu abruptly sat upright.
Memories from her previous life flashed through her mind.
She must have been living too happily lately.
Otherwise, she wouldn’t have nearly forgotten something this important.
Not long after Scumbag Dad had taken her home in her previous life…
The apocalypse had entered its true era of Natural Disasters.
First came the Year of Dense Fog.
At its thickest, visibility dropped below three meters.
Even worse, the fog contained radioactive mold spores.
Anyone traveling without proper protection could easily suffer irreversible burns to their respiratory tract and lungs.
Yet…
That had only been the beginning.
After the Year of Dense Fog came the true hell—
The Year of Extreme Heat.
By then, surface temperatures reached fifty-five degrees Celsius.
Even at night, temperatures remained around forty degrees, while ultraviolet radiation soared off the charts.
After all, cooking a low-temperature steak only required placing it in fifty-five-degree water for twenty-four hours.
Humans were, ultimately, just raw meat.
Living in that kind of heat for extended periods…
They would literally be cooked alive.
The most terrifying issue, however, had been water.
Back then, even Lu You—the most favored child in the family—had received only a single mouthful of water each day.
Cen Wu, who had received only half a mouthful every two days, had envied her beyond words.
After the Extreme Heat came Acid Rain, Thunderstorms, Extreme Cold…
And finally…
The Zombie Tide.
Cen Wu didn’t know whether there had been any new Natural Disasters after the Zombie Tide.
She had never survived long enough to find out.
“Mom, do you know any Space-Type Ability Users?”
A Water-Type Ability wouldn’t help.
Water-Type Ability Users couldn’t create water from nothing.
During the Year of Extreme Heat, even the air contained no moisture to extract.
At that point, Water-Type Ability Users were practically useless.
But if they could find someone with a Space-Type Ability…
They could start stockpiling food and water while there was still time.
Cen Yi shook her head.
Seeing the unusually serious expression on her daughter’s face, she found it rather interesting.
“I don’t.”
Cen Wu felt somewhat disappointed.
Still, it made sense.
Space-Type Ability Users were just as rare.
She hadn’t encountered one in her previous life either.
Listening to the conversation between mother and daughter, Xie Yuanchuan carried over a plate of stir-fried Indian Aster.
“What do you want with a Space-Type Ability User?”
Cen Wu pressed her lips together.
She had to tell them eventually.
But saying outright that she had been reborn…
That sounded like something only a mad person would say.
She still wanted to try being a normal person.
“Mom, Dad, Older Brother…”
“What I’m about to say might completely overturn everything you know.”
“But I’m serious.”
“Whether you believe me or not…”
“I have to tell you.”
Xie Yuanchuan couldn’t find a single useful sentence in all that rambling.
She had just wasted five seconds of his life.
“One sentence.”
“Get to the point.”
“Otherwise, half your dinner is gone.”
Cen Wu panicked.
How could you do that?!
“The Year of Dense Fog is about to begin.”
“We have to prepare.”
The sweet and innocent-looking Cen Yuxing asked in a childlike yet merciless tone,
“Prepare to die?”
“Older Brother!”
Cen Wu was speechless.
“After the Dense Fog comes the Year of Extreme Heat.”
“The surface temperature will reach fifty-five degrees.”
“We need to build a safe house and stockpile water right now.”
After she finished speaking…
Everyone in the room fixed their eyes on her.
Cen Wu covered her face, silently praying.
Please… don’t ask me how I know…
Surprisingly…
No one did.
Xie Yuanchuan merely confirmed with her several times exactly when the Year of Extreme Heat would begin.
Then he turned around and headed upstairs to retrieve the communicator.
“Mom…”
“You believe me?”
Cen Yi vigorously kneaded her daughter’s cheeks until Cen Wu let out muffled protests before finally stopping.
“I really struck gold when I picked you up.”
“Tomorrow, Mom will personally take you and Xiao Xing hunting.”
“We’ll stockpile a whole ton of meat first.”