Early in the morning, Xu Anran opened her phone and saw that more than twenty people had joined the group, and the number was still increasing. Some people in the group asked where the group owner was, some asked if anyone had found a train ticket, and others asked if anyone had discovered any clues about the virus, etc.

Xu Anran, acting as the group admin, issued an announcement in the group:

Hello everyone, I am the group admin. The current global disaster is a viral infection, with the recent flu outbreak being the beginning. Those infected initially experience cold symptoms, followed by persistent high fever, shortness of breath, and ultimately, suffocation and death. There is no antidote for those infected; they can only rely on their own immune system to fight the virus.

Moreover, this virus is highly contagious and can be transmitted through the air. Currently, communities are being quarantined. In a while, if the virus becomes severe in your city, the entire city will be locked down, leaving people to fend for themselves inside.

Therefore, please take precautions to avoid infection and find your tickets as soon as possible to leave the city.

Don't ask me how I know this, and don't inquire where I am. I just feel that survival in this disaster is too difficult, and I want to share what I know with everyone. Whether you believe me or not is beyond my control.

It's better to be safe than sorry. I think everyone should be as cautious as the group admin suggested.

But what if he's deliberately lying to us? There are still two or three months until the disaster strikes, how did he know?

Yes, but what was his purpose in doing this?

[He might just be trying to be kind; I just checked and some neighborhoods have already been quarantined today.]

[Is this for real? I'll go check it out too!]

...

Some people in the group firmly refused to believe it, some were searching for clues everywhere, some had already believed it and taken action, while most were skeptical.

After posting the announcement, Xu Anran didn't pay any more attention to it. Later, Sister Lan called to ask if she had seen the message in the group. Xu Anran said she had seen it and said that she had heard that someone had gotten the flu at her previous workplace, and she had already left that place. Sister Lan also said that she believed the information in the group because someone in her neighborhood had also been infected and had been taken away by ambulance yesterday. She was now planning to leave the city as soon as she found a train ticket. The two chatted for a few more minutes before hanging up.

Young Fan Yunfei also joined the group and saw the announcement. His community has been quarantined. He only has some food and medicine on hand, which are not very useful. He can only stay in the house now. If he goes out, he may get infected. But he still needs to find a train ticket. He knows that the longer it takes, the more dangerous it will be for him. He can't just wait at home.

He packed his things into a large backpack, then put on a mask and gloves and ran downstairs. His apartment complex was surrounded by a low fence. He found a secluded spot, climbed over the fence, and went to a nearby supermarket to buy protective suits. However, the supermarket was packed with people scrambling to buy things. Seeing this, Fan Yunfei turned and left. He went to the supermarket's warehouse, found a warehouse worker, threatened him with a wooden gun, and forced him to open the warehouse. Inside, he found many protective suits and alcohol. He packed these items into two large suitcases, knocked the worker unconscious, and tied him up. Then he took a taxi to another safe house he had prepared earlier—a suburban villa with a basement. After buying the villa, he had modified the basement to be impenetrable even to artillery fire. There were ample supplies there. Fan Yunfei planned to find train tickets that night, and once he found them, he would hide in the basement and not come out.

"Cough cough cough...cough cough..." A coughing sound came from the bedroom. It was Wang Hong, the bespectacled man lying on the bed. He hadn't felt well since returning to the apartment two days ago, first catching a cold and coughing, and now he had a fever. Xu Liang looked worried in the living room, not knowing what to do. This morning, they also saw Xu Anran's post, joined the group chat, and saw the announcement.

After reading the announcement, Wang Hong and Xu Liang both fell silent. After a while, Xu Liang gave Wang Hong a smile that looked more like a grimace: "Boss, this might not be true. It might just be a coincidence." Wang Hong's face darkened: "We've been through five worlds together. Do you think this is a coincidence?" Xu Liang irritably ruffled his hair: "Then what do we do?" Wang Hong sighed: "You should go, before you get infected. We were just teammates anyway. If you leave now, you might still survive..." Before he could finish speaking, Wang Hong fainted.

Xu Liang didn't know what to do. He recalled that when a disaster struck his original world, his family died. When he was about to die, Wang Hong saved him. From then on, the two teamed up, with Wang Hong providing the brains and Xu Liang providing the physical strength, and they went on one journey after another.

Xu Liang had come to regard Wang Hong as his brother and family. He trusted and relied on Wang Hong on many trips. He didn't know how he would go on without Wang Hong. He had no other relatives left, and Wang Hong was the closest person to him now.

Wang Hong, waking up in bed, was also caught in a dilemma. He had always treated Xu Liang as his henchman, tool, and subordinate. He didn't understand why he had let Xu Liang leave after he contracted the virus. He should have let Xu Liang stay and save him, but he was tired and didn't want to struggle anymore. In his original world, he had lost the person he loved most, his wife. Later, he found a train ticket and left that world with his daughter, but during one journey, he couldn't find two identical tickets. He had to separate from his daughter, who was only six years old at the time, an age when she didn't understand anything. Perhaps his daughter wouldn't have survived without him, but he refused to believe it. He kept telling himself that his daughter might still be alive, and he had to find her.

Now he may die too, and where is his daughter?

Wang Hong was burning up with fever. He knew he couldn't hold on much longer. He used all his strength to climb out of bed, went to the door, opened it, put all the spatial rings he had in his hand outside the door, closed the door, and called out to Xu Liang.

Hearing this, Xu Liang arrived at the door. Wang Hong shouted from inside, "Xu Liang, don't come in! Listen to me from outside!" "Go on, boss." "Xu Liang, I feel like I'm not going to make it." "No, boss." "Listen to me, I'm already... having trouble breathing. Take the spatial rings outside with you. The smallest one contains a picture of my daughter. Her name is Wang Weiwei. Promise me you'll help me find her." Xu Liang's voice was already trembling with tears: "Boss, you won't be hurt. I'll take you to see a doctor. We'll wait for you to get better, and then we'll look for her together."