“A great flood?”
Lin Xia was startled.
If a flood was truly triggered, it would mean massive trouble.
Greenbay City, where they were located, sat in a basin region of the southwestern continent, adjacent to the western section of the Central Mountain Range. Once a flood broke out, not only would the entirety of Greenbay City turn into a vast ocean, but secondary disasters like landslides and mudslides could also erupt in the mountain regions east of the city. If they really encountered that, there wouldn’t even be a place to hide.
“Then shouldn’t we leave as soon as possible?” Lin Xia looked worried. “We can’t stay in Greenbay City anymore. Where should we go? There’s water everywhere…”
“We go to Canary City first.” Chi Zheng had long thought of a way out. “Canary City sits on high terrain. Although it’s next to the sea, it’s built on a steep cliff. As long as we don’t encounter a tsunami, Canary City won’t be submerged.”
“From Canary City, we can head north to enter the Tomb Plateau. Maibu and Duoqi, the largest cities in the Second District, are over there, and they’re guarding a nuclear power plant. Energy supply definitely won’t be an issue.”
It was more than just not being an issue; cities in the Second District and above were equipped with climate control devices capable of intervening in the weather within a certain range.
The First District was even more exaggerated; they simply constructed massive protective shields around the cities. The climate could be changed at will across all four seasons, allowing people to enjoy tropical sunshine and breezes during the freezing winter without any pressure. Stories of residents viewing the snow while wearing swimsuits belonged only to the noble citizens of the First District, and the wealthy loved to show this off on social networks.
“They wouldn’t still be wasting energy on those protective shields right now, would they?” Lin Xia said without holding out much hope, though his heart was already eighty to ninety percent certain of it.
From the very beginning of its establishment, the Alliance had been like this. From the moment they were born, citizens were divided into different classes, and the wealth of the planet had been held in the hands of a few financial groups for centuries.
Take Zenith, for example, the corporation smuggling black fog creatures. It was a technology enterprise belonging to the family of the Senate Speaker, with tentacles spanning cutting-edge fields like biomedicine, healthcare, simulated mechanical life, and artificial intelligence, bringing astronomical amounts of money to the Speaker’s family every year.
Rumors had always circulated among the public that the Speaker’s family was connected to a certain religious group and that Zenith had been conducting secret experiments for them. However, this news was piecemeal and varied wildly, comparable to bizarre novels, and was so exaggerated that absolutely no one believed it. Because no credible evidence had ever leaked, the Speaker himself even used these rumors to market his own persona, playing the victim to win a great number of votes.
Looking at it now, those exaggerated remarks online were very likely released by the Speaker himself to confuse the public and cover up Zenith’s crimes. However, he didn’t need to pretend anymore. The global cataclysm had changed the rules of society’s game. Who cared about votes now? Holding resources in one’s own hands was the hard truth.
Forget it, it was better to first find a way to solve the problem of a boat. Fortunately, their family’s food stall cart could be upgraded to the wading mode; even if a massive flood hit, they wouldn’t be left without a place to stand.
“We’ll go to the manager’s office first. His safe holds a transportation and storage contract with Zenith.” Chi Zheng flexed his wrists. “Da-Hao-Mai’s logistics center is near Canary City. Maybe we can get our hands on some black fog ingredients.”
Lin Xia had no objections to this.
Having experienced an upgrade quest, he discovered that ingredients had a significant impact on evaluations. Therefore, following Zenith’s freight route was definitely the right move.
Previously, he hadn’t intended to open an upgrade quest again so soon, but now that Chi Xiaozheng said a great flood was coming, the sooner they obtained the wading mode, the safer they would be. He couldn’t afford to delay.
“Are we going right now?”
“No rush, we can still wait two more days.” Chi Zheng pointed at the Challenge Quest on the light screen. “Doesn’t it require independently killing a mutated creature of Rank R2 or above? This warehouse is an excellent practice spot, and the ranks of the surrounding aquatic mutated beasts aren’t too high.”
“Besides, the rain has only just started. Within three days, it shouldn’t be a big problem. You can practice more.”
Since he put it this way, Lin Xia naturally had no objections.
In fact, he wished he could practice for a few more days. He had a premonition that there would be no shortage of such Challenge Quests requiring independent kills in the future.
Moreover, independent kills brought benefits; they could activate the “one-click collection” feature, which was not only easy but also didn’t waste materials, turning even a single scale into energy.
Wasn’t this far more efficient than him collecting half and throwing half away on his own?!
“To practice, you also need to rest well and eat well.” Chi Zheng patted the soft crown of Lin Xia’s hair. “New things have arrived in the water. It won’t do if you don’t build up your strength.”
Eh?
Lin Xia tilted his head back.
Over the past few days, Chi Zheng seemed to have grown taller again. A gaze that he used to be able to meet just by looking up now required him to tilt his head, and his neck would grow sore after a while.
He simply reached out his hands to let Chi Zheng lift him onto the windowsill. “New things? What new things?”
Chi Zheng was busy inspecting the ankle that had previously been bitten by a piranha, so his answer was somewhat absent-minded. “Anyway, it’s not a piranha, and it’s not a water snake.”
Lin Xia gave him a rap. “Speak properly.”
Chi Zheng frowned while staring at the slightly red and swollen wound. He fetched alcohol and gauze, carefully grasping Lin Xia’s ankle. “It will sting a bit.”
“It’s fine.” Lin Xia didn’t care.
What did a minor injury like this matter? Only Chi Xiaozheng would make a mountain out of a molehill.
“What is the new thing you’re talking about?”
“I only took a casual glance. Who knows what it is? In any case, it’s quite large.”
What a tease, keeping him in suspense like that.
He was also broad-minded. Just as his dressing was changed, he immediately began arranging to cook.
Nowadays, cooking was exceptionally convenient for them. They had a ready-made natural gas stove and seasonings, and the supermarket’s fresh cold storage was right downstairs; they could pick whatever materials they needed.
It was a rare opportunity to order food, but Chi Zheng didn’t cherish it at all, suggesting that the two of them gnaw on packaged bread instead.
The reason he gave was also very sound: Lin Xiaxia’s foot was injured and he should rest quietly, so anything to fill their stomachs would do.
“No way!” Lin Xia firmly disagreed.
It was just a small wound, far from the point of needing rest. Furthermore, only by eating well could the body have nutrients to recover; they absolutely could not just scrape by.
Fine.
Chi Zheng picked out a few ingredients, all of which were things Lin Xia liked and premium items that yielded taste enjoyment without complex cooking.
The sound of rain outside grew louder and louder, as if the sound of water waves surging on the streets could already be heard. Yet within the warehouse separated by a single wall, the tiny dining table inside the food stall cart wafted with the aroma of steaming food. The two figures gorging themselves became a rare moment of warmth within an isolated island.
“Delicious! As expected of pollution-free vegetables produced in the Third District; there isn’t a hint of astringency at all~” Lin Xia lamented. “I heard that the Second District and First District have even higher-grade organic livestock. I wonder what that tastes like…”
“We’ll know when we get there.” Chi Zheng picked out the ginger slivers for Lin Xia.
He didn’t know which book he had read it in, but it stated that people with external injuries should eat less hot-natured food, and raw ginger was among them.
“Once you’re better, we’ll go to the exclusive reserve in the First District and catch whatever we see. They’ll all be alive too, much tastier than this frozen meat.”
Lin Xia merely treated it as a wild dream.
The exclusive reserve of the First District… was that a place just anyone could go?!
He heard that the periphery of the First District was equipped with protective shields, and entering was entirely impossible without a pass. If one wanted to force their way through, they would have to face a 100,000-volt ultra-high voltage power grid, as well as the aircraft and artillery of the Alliance Guard. A mortal body couldn’t withstand that.
The two discussed their next plans while eating dinner, ultimately deciding to set off for Canary City in three days.
Canary City in the Fourth District was about 400 kilometers away from Greenbay City and was a seaport. At the hourly speed of the food stall cart, it would take roughly two full days of uninterrupted driving.
Of course, this was land speed. With accumulated water covering the city now, the food stall cart would sink the moment it entered the water; they needed to find a boat themselves.
Fortunately, there was an assault boat in the warehouse, so wading short distances was absolutely no problem. They could first row the assault boat to the supermarket headquarters to retrieve the contract, and then redirect to the city park, where there should be small boats used for sightseeing tours.
“The supermarket over there will definitely be very lively,” Lin Xia complained to Chi Zheng. “The first thing everyone does after waking up is gather supplies. There’s only this one supermarket in the entire Greenbay City, so people will definitely rush there.”
Lin Xia rested his cheek on one hand, his spoon unconsciously scooping his rice.
“This is precisely why mutated creatures aren’t infectious. Otherwise, I would suspect whether this cataclysm was artificially manufactured by them. How could it be such a coincidence that Zenith stored polar creatures in the warehouse of an ordinary supermarket?”
This matter truly wasn’t blind speculation.
Chi Zheng lowered his eyes. “All plants and animals have been mutating since the cataclysm, but Zenith’s specimens are still different from these ordinary mutations. I don’t know if it’s because the polar cataclysm occurred earlier, or if these creatures were directionally induced.”
“Otherwise, why would they all grow special gland-sac organs?”
Since he put it this way, Lin Xia thought of it too.
Indeed, Zenith’s specimens were truly very different. The piranhas and water snakes he killed hadn’t grown gland-sac organs.
The planet’s black fog had appeared suddenly ten years ago. According to the Alliance Academy of Sciences, a massive hole had appeared in the planet’s atmospheric layer. After the hole vanished, black fog began to permeate the North and South Poles, enveloping the entire polar continent five years later.
The Academy of Sciences claimed that the black fog did not affect human life, but ordinary people were strictly prohibited from entering or leaving the poles. Not only did they blockade polar routes, but they also set up checkpoints in high-latitude residential areas, allowing only a small number of organizations holding permits to enter.
Zenith was among the first batch of organizations to obtain permits. They claimed to have discovered mutated creatures in the black fog zone, stating that the mutation was an effect of the deviation of the planet’s magnetic field and that studying mutated creatures could promote human evolutionary development. Thus, they grandly began their actions.
And they had indeed introduced several gene therapy drugs over the past two years, earning astronomical profits.
Now that a global cataclysm had broken out, Lin Xia felt this matter was no accident, and perhaps there was another mystery behind it.
He had a suspicion: maybe Zenith’s specimens weren’t creatures from this planet at all?
Forget it, why think about all that.
It was better to eat and drink his fill, then go downstairs to kill mutated water snakes to accumulate energy points!
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