RIACMET chapter 28

 

Shortly after dawn on October 15, muffled thunder rumbled in the sky. Soon after, hail began to fall.

The temperature plummeted drastically, dropping from over 30 degrees Celsius to just a few degrees within an hour.

As the cold set in suddenly, Jiang Nian and Cheng Jing curled up on the sofa under a blanket after breakfast. They pulled out their tablet, which didn’t have internet, and watched a movie.

I chose a less popular, pure love art film with two male protagonists. The plot is good, but the scope is a bit broad.

As they watched, both began to feel restless. When the film’s protagonists grew passionate, Jiang Nian and Cheng Jing tumbled into bed, too.

Just as in their university days, they realized they should never watch movies or shows with “sexual” content together.

So in the end, it was best for couples to stick to cartoons.

It had been over ten days since they’d last been intimate. The previous night, Cheng Jing had come back utterly exhausted, so they both behaved themselves. But now, with the morning’s provocations, things were quickly getting out of control.

…

The hailstorm lasted from noon through the night, only stopping in the second half of the night.

On October 16, after Jiang Nian helped Cheng Jing trim his hair in the bathroom, the team set out again.

In the following days, the temperature steadily fell with no sign of warming up.

Even though the resettlement sites were prepared, the sudden cold caused chaos. More and more zombies gathered instinctively at places where human life still existed.

Zombies roamed outside the iron fences surrounding all the resettlement communities.

Every day, you could hear rescue teams firing guns at zombies—and the gunshots would draw even more zombies.

Therefore, Zhou Li ordered that no shooting be done near the resettlement sites and assigned the task of eliminating nearby zombies to the supernaturals.

With Cheng Jing’s ability to wipe out groups of zombies in an instant, their team was assigned to patrol the residential areas.

Since the community was now safe and the teammates weren’t sent on distant missions, Jiang Nian often had time to join them on neighborhood patrols.

…

The weather grew colder by the day, and eventually, it began to snow.

Rescue teams continued to relocate survivors to various resettlement areas, though the number of people being transferred decreased significantly.

The rescue command urged survivors to cooperate with the timely relocation process and, if capable, to take the initiative to go to the resettlement sites themselves.

All districts simultaneously activated emergency alerts and mobilized all resources to gather supplies so people at the resettlement sites could survive the extreme cold.

More and more people responded to the call to move, but many still refused.

After more than ten days, the temperature dropped to minus ten degrees Celsius and kept falling. Each district focused on cold-resistance preparations.

Due to limited manpower, Zhou Li called on survivors in the resettlement sites to collaborate with rescue teams to brainstorm ways to stay warm.

The most basic method of insulation was sealing doors and windows.

For a while, there was knocking and hammering throughout the neighborhoods. The impact of the toxic rain was unforgettable—who knew just how cold it would get this time?

…

By November, the temperature had dropped to minus 30 degrees Celsius with no sign of stopping. The rescue command announced the start of official preparations for enduring the extreme cold.

Those who had refused to relocate began to panic after losing support from the rescue teams. However, due to power and communication outages, they had no way to call for help. Many could only run about in the bitter cold.

Ultimately, they either froze to death or turned into zombies.

Some people had thought ahead. When they went out, they wrote “SOS” on their necks and roamed around like zombies, hoping that others would notice and save their families.

However, this was a southern city, and once the heavy snow covered everything, most vehicles and machines could no longer function properly.

After those with space abilities distributed all available relief supplies to the four controlled resettlement zones, the command center and supply stations announced that they would be closing temporarily to conserve heat.

The whole city seemed to slip into silent hibernation. Even the zombies, driven by instinct, hid themselves; those who wandered outside turned into ice sculptures.

Except for supernaturals and well-equipped rescue personnel, ordinary people rarely went out anymore. Those with thermal energy powers were responsible for maintaining resettlement sites and supplying backup energy, such as electricity and fire.

Official personnel overseen and distributed each site’s supplies, with supernatural rescue teams delivering them every three to five days.

As with earlier rescue operations, those who participated in material delivery or patrolled the sites received supplies in return.

It was too cold now. People stayed indoors, zombies didn’t move, and rescue teams had sufficient manpower. Many people actively signed up to deliver supplies or patrol in order to earn more rations.

Consequently, Cheng Jing and his well-stocked team were happy to let others take those opportunities.

Except for Cheng Jing, who went to Building 1 daily to start fires with his powers, the rest of the team stayed home to improve their abilities.

Some of the survivors who had previously complained about the strict zoning control and limited supplies were now silent in the face of the extreme cold.

Though the rescue teams no longer searched for survivors due to the harsh weather, those who’d refused evacuation were quietly left behind.

However, some survivors with special powers stepped up on their own, so resettlement sites still received newcomers from time to time.

Those with awakened powers had enhanced physical fitness, with much greater resistance to heat and cold than ordinary people.

This was especially true for those with natural energy attributes, such as Cheng Jing, Liao Yu, and Lu Ningzhou. They weren’t afraid of the cold or heat and could be said to have climate-resistant bodies.

…

Every day, Cheng Jing went to the logistics center for a few hours and returned by lunchtime to avoid overusing his powers. After all, he still had people to protect.

With Cheng Jing—the human power bank—around, the team could easily recharge and convert energy into heat. They could have run the air conditioner, but that would have been unnecessary and might have sparked resentment. It was better to stay humble.

With no missions, teammates came more often to Cheng Jing’s safe house for meals.

Since awakening their powers, everyone’s appetite had grown, but luckily, there was enough food for all of them.

Everything else was fine—the lively atmosphere was pleasant—but it disturbed the lovebirds, who had to entertain guests three times a day.

That is, until Huang Qian, who lived farther away, protested and asked to move in. That’s when Cheng Jing stopped letting visitors in. If they needed supplies, they could request a delivery, but they weren’t allowed inside.

After that, Jiang Nian fully relaxed in the well-stocked, warm safe house, eating, sleeping, training his powers, and teasing Cheng Jing.

Compared to his previous life, he was living in great comfort. While everyone else lost weight after the apocalypse, he actually gained weight and showed no signs of being defeated by the end of the world.