At this moment, Lin Wan had not yet realized where the column of black smoke in the distance was coming from. The phone clenched in her hand suddenly began vibrating wildly like a dying hummingbird, and the screen was instantly flooded with countless notifications.
It was not phone calls.
It was the Residential Community owners’ group chat.
They had only moved in for a day before joining the Residential Community group. Normally, it had been lifeless—aside from reminders to pay property management fees and the occasional complaint about littering, almost no one spoke.
But now it was as if a red-hot branding iron had been thrown into it. The entire group exploded.
[Building 15 – Room 302]: “Holy shit! What was that sound just now? Where did something explode?!”
[Building 7 – Room 1101]: “Not an explosion. I think the substation in our area blew up?! Our Floor lost power! The air conditioner stopped!”
[Building 11 – Room 503]: “Our Floor has no power either! Damn it! In weather like this people will die!”
[Building 8 – Room 402]: “@PropertyManager Xiao Wang, the power is out. Hurry and find someone to fix it. You’re always so diligent about collecting property fees—now it’s time for you to do something.”
[Building 7 – Room 1601]: “@PropertyManager Xiao Wang, get someone to repair it quickly.”
[Building 8 – Room 1302]: “@PropertyManager Xiao Wang, +1.”
[Property Management – Xiao Wang]: “Everyone please stay calm! We have already contacted the power company! Please remain calm!”
[Building 9 – Room 201]: “Calm my ass! You come try staying in my house! It’s over fifty degrees outside! Inside it’s almost forty! With no air conditioner! How are we supposed to stay calm?! What about the children—if they get heatstroke will you take responsibility?!”
[Building 6 – Floor Leader Sister Liu]: “Does anyone have the number for an air-conditioner repair technician? Our AC seems to have burned out! It was smoking just now!”
[Building 3 – Helpful Zhang]: “@Everyone Does anyone know someone inside the power company? Please urge them! People are really going to die from the heat!”
…
Messages scrolled rapidly, and within moments the chat reached 99+ notifications.
The group was filled with panic, anger, and curses. Through the cold lines of text, it was almost possible to hear countless families behind their screens collapsing under the scorching heat.
So it was the regional substation that had exploded!
Almost at the same moment Lin Wan finished reading the messages—
“Bzzz… whirr…”
The air conditioner that had been working diligently let out a dull groan. The cool air from its vent abruptly stopped.
The lights on the display flickered twice.
Then went dark.
“The air conditioner stopped…” Li Shulan’s voice trembled slightly as she instinctively hugged her arms.
“Mm. It stopped.” Lin Jianguo’s voice was unusually steady. He had long expected this day to come. In extreme heat, the load on the electrical grid increased several times over—there was no way transformers could withstand that pressure.
“Little Yang, go switch the solar battery system to backup power mode. Prioritize the house’s basic equipment and phone charging.”
“Got it!”
Lin Yang immediately jumped up to act. His movements were a bit clumsy from nervousness, but he remained mostly calm.
Fortunately, his father had bought several sets of solar panels, storage batteries, and a diesel generator. Although the solar power output was not high, it could at least maintain the most basic electricity needs.
Soon, a small USB fan was connected to a power bank. It hummed softly as it stirred the increasingly stuffy air—barely helpful, but better than nothing.
And not long after their own air conditioner stopped, sounds from downstairs and the neighboring Floors exploded like beans popping in a pan.
“Damn it! What the hell is going on?! Where’s the electricity?!” A man from several Floors below roared in rage, accompanied by the heavy thuds of furniture being kicked.
“Baby, don’t cry… Mommy’s here… it’s hot… Mommy knows it’s hot…” A woman’s tearful voice from another Floor mixed helplessly with a child’s crying.
“Where’s the property management?! They’re enthusiastic when collecting money! Where the hell are they now?!” More shouting could be clearly heard.
“Dad! Dad, wake up! Don’t scare me!” A woman’s terrified scream came from somewhere in the building.
Curses, crying, screams, the sound of objects being smashed…
The once-quiet residential Floor instantly turned into a desperate cage being roasted over fire.
When electricity—the pillar that maintained the illusion of comfort in modern civilization—disappeared, human irritability and fragility were laid completely bare.
Li Shulan’s face turned pale as she instinctively moved closer to her husband.
“This… this is too frightening…”
Lin Jianguo pulled her gently to his side and said in a low voice, “Don’t be afraid. We’re prepared.”
His gaze swept toward the corner where several basins of ice were releasing faint wisps of cold air.
“Wanwan, add two more blocks of ice. Little Yang, take out that rechargeable fan and put it next to your mom.”
Lin Wan immediately did as instructed.
She took out two large ice blocks from her Space Dimension and placed them into plastic buckets. The icy white vapor instantly dispersed the surrounding heat, creating a small pocket of coolness.
The fan struggled, but at least it kept the air moving.
The family of four sat around the ice and fans, silently listening to the apocalyptic clamor outside while continuing their tasks—peeling potatoes, picking vegetables.
Their small fortress felt incredibly precious amid the surrounding chaos and despair.
Meanwhile, the group chat continued to scroll wildly.
[Building 8 – Room 606]: “If anyone has a number for an AC repair technician, please share it.”
[Property Management – Xiao Wang]: “Notice again! The power company is currently conducting emergency repairs! However, due to the extreme heat making work difficult, the restoration time cannot be determined! Please reduce activity as much as possible. Power should be restored soon. Please be patient.”
[Building 5 – Room 102]: “Patient? Patient until when? Until we’re all dried into jerky from the heat?!”
[Building 7 – Room 602]: “Does anyone have a car we can borrow? My wife isn’t feeling well. Can someone take us to the hospital?”
Soon, that message was buried beneath countless others.
“Be patient…”
Looking at the chat, Lin Wan curled her lips into a cold, mocking smile.
In her previous life, the apocalypse had barely begun when the power suddenly went out. Until her entire family died, the so-called restoration of electricity never appeared even as a shadow.
This disaster was far beyond anyone’s imagination.
The only option was to save themselves.
[Yesterday’s Yesterday]: “@Everyone, please calm down. Now that the power is out, the water might stop too. While water is still running, hurry and store as much as possible.”
[Building 12 – Room 904]: “The person above is right. In weather this hot, even the transformer exploded. Who knows if the water plant will also explode from electrical pressure? And who knows how many days this heat will last? It might last a long time. The water might even evaporate.”
[Building 8 – Room 1002]: “Better fill more containers with water. I’ve already filled everything I can.”
[Building 5 – Room 402]: “@Yesterday’s Yesterday Which building and Floor are you from? Do you have inside information? How do you know water will stop? How long will the heat last? Don’t spread panic.”
The user “Yesterday’s Yesterday” was Lin Wan.
She had only offered a reminder. Whether others believed it or not was up to them.
She had already warned them.
Believing it—or not—was their own choice