On the third day after the toxic fog descended, the fog outside the window had become as thick as a white wall.

Xiao Jin stood by the window, gazing at the blurry world outside through the glass. A few pedestrians still hurried along the street, wearing masks.

Many vehicles have stopped operating due to the heavy fog.

But for office workers, unless the company issues a work-from-home order, you have to crawl to the office on time, even if you have to.

"They really value money over their lives." Xiao Jin shook his head helplessly after saying that.

There's no other way; you need money to live, and you can't throw the baby out with the bathwater!

The system panel shows that the outside air quality has dropped to "severe pollution", but ordinary people cannot see this data.

For them, it was just a "slightly strange foggy day".

Xiao Jin stretched and turned to walk towards the kitchen to continue her dessert project.

Xiao Jin was feeling cooped up in her small apartment when she stumbled upon a dessert video on her phone and immediately became interested.

Since I'm just killing time anyway, I might as well make some desserts!

Let's get right to it.

As Xiao Jin muttered to herself, she picked up her phone and downloaded a cooking app.

Then I found some desserts that are supposedly easy for beginners to make and quickly ordered a bunch of ingredients: "Cake flour, heavy cream, cocoa powder, icing sugar, butter..."

In addition, there are some molds.

Whether she was a novice or not, Xiao Jin didn't know, but anyway, she placed orders for at least twenty different items.

The delivery guy was quick; the doorbell rang in less than an hour.

Xiao Jin didn't open the door, but called out through it, "Just leave it at the door!"

Only after the footsteps faded into the distance did she begin to move, fully armed.

Protective suits, gas masks, and gloves ensure that every inch of skin is completely covered.

Xiao Jin then checked whether the partition door and plastic sheet were closed properly. With everything ready, she took a deep breath, yanked open the door, and quickly brought in the bag from the doorway.

"Bang!" The door slammed shut.

Visibly, only a very small amount of fog managed to seep in.

But Xiao Jin didn't dare to be careless. She immediately picked up the disinfectant spray and sprayed it all over the partition in front of the door, the protective clothing, the food bags, and even the soles of her shoes.

"Beep—" She pressed the ventilation button inside the partition, and the fresh air system immediately started operating, expelling any remaining mist.

She finally breathed a sigh of relief when the monitoring panel displayed "Air Quality: Excellent".

"It seems my protective measures are indeed effective." Xiao Jin took off her mask, a slight smile playing on her lips.

In fact, Xiao Jin wasn't sure if she had been affected by the poisonous fog. She was taking advantage of the early stage of the poisonous fog to test the effectiveness of the glass partition and protective clothing.

As it turned out, Xiao Jin made the right decision; the two worked together successfully to resist the corrosive effects of the poisonous fog.

As for why Xiao Jin thought this way, it was because some of the infected people had already shown abnormal symptoms.

………………

It was the fifth night. Xiao Jin was leaning back on the sofa, eating snacks he had stockpiled in his space while watching a horror movie.

The female ghost in the movie was crawling out of the TV set, creating a sinister and eerie scene, but Xiao Jin didn't even blink.

Sudden--

"Cough! Cough cough—vomit!"

A violent coughing fit came from next door, so loud it was heart-wrenching, as if the person was coughing up their lungs.

Xiao Jin's fingers paused, the potato chip hanging in mid-air.

Something's not right...

If it were anyone else, it would just be a cough, nothing to make a fuss about, but Xiao Jin could keenly sense the abnormality in it.

Meanwhile, the screams in the movie mingled with the coughs from next door, creating an eerie atmosphere.

Xiao Jin narrowed her eyes, turned off the TV, and listened quietly.

The cough lasted for about ten seconds, followed by the sound of staggering footsteps, the crisp sound of a glass shattering, and a painful groan.

The neighbor next door was a young man who lived alone. He usually seemed to be in good health, but now his breathing had become heavy and labored.

Xiao Jin didn't move, but gently tapped the wall to test the other party's reaction.

There was no response... only more violent coughing.

Xiao Jin withdrew her hand, her eyes turning slightly cold.

"here we go."

The next day, Xiao Jin woke up early.

She didn't get up immediately, but listened quietly to the sounds coming from inside the building. Almost every resident passing by in the corridor had a slight cough.

The sounds of children playing downstairs disappeared, replaced by the hoarse breathing of an old man.

Inside the elevator, someone complained in a low voice, "I couldn't sleep last night because of a cough, and I feel so dizzy when I wake up today..."

"Sigh, me too, I spent the whole night taking care of the kids."

Xiao Jin walked to the window, opened it a crack, and looked outside.

There were half as many people on the streets as yesterday, and the few remaining pedestrians were walking unsteadily, occasionally bending over and coughing.

The effects of the toxic fog have already begun to appear.

She closed the window, picked up her phone, and started browsing the news.

[Multiple areas experience outbreaks of respiratory illness of unknown origin; experts advise reducing outdoor activities]

Below are some comments from netizens:

[If we don't go to work, you'll pay us!]

I don't know when this flu will end; my mom is coughing so badly she can barely speak.

"Yes, you know, adults can tough it out, but kids can't. They've taken medicine and had injections, but it's not working. It breaks my heart to see them like this." This person's tone clearly indicated that they were a mother.

"Hey? Do you think this flu outbreak is related to the white fog outside?" Finally, someone raised a question.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!