Inside Villa No. 1, Wang Zhi and the others stared grimly at the notification on the Ling Lingyao.
"Natural disasters may occur in the future. To prevent survivors from encountering misfortune outside, the Dawn Tower will temporarily shut down the external travel system. During this period, all survivors are requested to wait patiently."
-
"No way? The end of this drought won't be a flood, will it?" Fatty said, looking at the Ling Lingyao.
"This area is high ground; it shouldn't be affected too much. Besides, there's a circle of dried-up riverbeds around us," Duan Qingtian remarked.
"A flood isn't the issue; I'm afraid this isn't just simple rainfall," Wang Zhi said.
"What do you mean?" Hearing Wang Zhi's words, Old He seemed puzzled. If it wasn't rainfall, could it be hail?
Seeing the confusion on everyone's faces, Wang Zhi picked up his transceiver, pressed the call button, and shouted for Jie Xi a few times, but there was no response.
"We've lost signal here. This is clearly related to whatever is happening, and even the magnetic field under these dark clouds has become chaotic," Wang Zhi stated.
"Th-then why does Ling Lingyao still have a signal?" Fatty asked.
"Ling Lingyao is a wired device; it won't be affected by signal interference," Wang Zhi replied.
Hearing Wang Zhi, You Luo immediately ran outside the residence and tried calling everyone on the radio.
The result was silence from everyone.
"The radios are down," You Luo returned, looking quite grim.
"What in the World is happening?! Is the apocalypse really upon us?" Qin Sheng sounded worried.
"The sky isn't going to fall down. Look how scared you all are," Su Muying scoffed dismissively.
"The sky won't fall down? Don't be so sure; it might actually happen," gray Wolf chuckled.
"Even if it does fall, the N Organization won't escape. If we die, we all die together. Not a bad deal," Su Muying said nonchalantly.
"Forget it, thinking about this is useless. Let's get some rest early. We might as well use this downtime to train for a few more days," Wang Zhi concluded before returning to his room.
--
In a residence within the Level Four residential area, one man and three women sat on a bed. Tang Qilin looked at the now-useless Divination Compass in his hand, gently placing it on the cabinet.
"The Four Gates and eight Trigrams are hard to discern, and the Six Lines of the hexagrams offer no guidance. What exactly is about to happen..." Tang Qilin sat on the bed, murmuring to himself.
"Gongzi, it is getting late; you should rest," Fu Ling gently persuaded him, seeing Tang Qilin sitting lost in thought.
"Mm... Shao Yao, it's your turn to keep watch tonight." After speaking, Tang Qilin turned off the desk lamp and lay down to sleep.
That night, Wang Zhi tossed and turned, unable to sleep. He feared that if he fell asleep, the accident might occur suddenly.
Finally, Wang Zhi got up. Rather than lying on the carpet, he decided to go to the Rooftop to catch some fresh air.
Arriving on the Rooftop and feeling the west wind, Wang Zhi sniffed the breeze and frowned. He then smelled it carefully again. He sensed a scent in the air that he couldn't quite describe-it was somewhat pungent and a bit foul, but unless one actively tried to smell it, it wouldn't normally seem different from the usual air.
Wang Zhi looked around, trying to locate the source of the gas, but there was nothing nearby.
"Strange... it smells a bit like a corpse, but not entirely," Wang Zhi muttered to himself.
"Don't move!"
Just as Wang Zhi was deep in thought, You Luo's voice suddenly came from behind him.
'What are you doing lurking around here by yourself in the middle of the night?" You Luo circled Wang Zhi once.
"Just enjoying the breeze, what else would I be doing?"
"Who knows."
"Don't you feel that something is wrong?" Wang Zhi asked, looking at You Luo.
"Feel something wrong? Ever since the Apocalypse began, I've felt like everything is wrong," You Luo gave Wang Zhi a look.
"No, I mean right now, like the smell of the air?" Wang Zhi prompted.
"The air?" You Luo said, then took a deep sniff of the air.
"What is this smell? Are there corpses nearby?" You Luo asked.
"Probably not. I think even if we moved somewhere else, we would still smell this odor," Wang Zhi stated.
"You mean the air under this entire sky smells like this?"
Wang Zhi nodded, looking at the lightning that occasionally flashed in the sky. Beneath this sky, how small they were; it would be very easy for heaven to wipe out humanity.
"Sigh." Thinking of this, Wang Zhi let out a heavy sigh.
"What? Are you thinking of giving up and committing suicide?" Seeing Wang Zhi sigh, You Luo grew annoyed.
"We already have enough trouble dealing with the world full of Zombies, now we have to face the N Organization, and natural disasters too. Tell me, who wouldn't be exhausted by all this?"
"There are so many people here, and everyone is actively trying to survive. There's nothing to be exhausted about."
"Living actively doesn't preclude exhaustion. Everyone here, on the surface, looks fine, but deep down, they are all in despair. Up to this point, we can't see even a sliver of hope for victory. Everyone lacks direction, lacks goals; they are only living in the present, trapped within this stone reality." Wang Zhi stared at the distant high wall as he spoke.
"Stop. I have no interest in listening to your grand speeches. The sky is about to lighten; I need to go back and catch a few more winks." You Luo cut off Wang Zhi's reflection and returned to her room.
--
The next day, in the training grounds, nearly every team was discussing the weather overhead. The clouds that blotted out the sky remained hanging there, neither raining nor dispersing. This news, coupled with what Dawn City had released, made everyone increasingly uneasy.
The dark clouds had persisted for two days, and the temperature had dropped from 34 degrees to the current 28 degrees, prompting Wang Zhi and the others to put on their Weight-bearing Suits once more.
Everyone was waiting-waiting for the storm to arrive, waiting to see what opportunities might be found within it.
--
BOOM! While training, Wang Zhi suddenly heard a massive clap of thunder! The shockwave from this single, deafening sound made the entire ground of Dawn City tremble; some of the more timid individuals even had their legs buckle, forcing them to drop to the ground.
"It's raining!!"
Someone ran in from outside the training area, shouting excitedly.
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