The next morning, it was still very dark in the shelter, almost pitch dark.
Qiao Xuejun woke up, stretched her hand out from under the quilt, and it was immediately frozen back.
She stretched it out for five seconds, and the temperature on her skin quickly dissipated.
"It's so cold, System, what's the temperature now?"
The system does not have a temperature measurement system, but its video surveillance can see the thermometer inside the small compartment in the living room.
"Host, it's 2℃ today."
Qiao Xuejun huddled in the warm cup: "It's so cold."
She touched the plastic thermos bottle inside the quilt and the temperature seemed to be a little lower than usual.
It's only 2℃ in the cubicle, and it's even colder in the bedroom. It must be below zero outside.
The average temperature in Gongzhou in winter is only minus 3 or 4 degrees Celsius, and the coldest time is no more than minus 6 degrees Celsius. However, the air humidity in Gongzhou is high and it is easy to freeze. In previous years, as long as the temperature dropped below zero, there would be freezing disasters, electric wires and water pipes would freeze, water and power would be cut off, and roads would be frozen. Every winter, there would be a period of road closure.
Qiao Xuejun went to college in a northern city, where the lowest outdoor temperature can drop to dozens of degrees below zero. The temperature here is nothing compared to that in the north, but people in the north spend most of their time indoors. When she went to college, there was still heating, so she could wear summer clothes and flip-flops in the dormitory.
"What time is it?" she asked the system.
"Nine-thirty."
Qiao Xuejun sat up suddenly: "How much?"
The system repeats in full: "Morning of March 15, 2031, 09:32."
Qiao Xuejun was a little bit unbelievable. Even the coldness in the air didn't freeze her back. It was 9:30. She had never gotten up so late since the end of the world.
She pinched her nose, bravely lifted the quilt, quickly put on her clothes and got up.
Why is it still so dark at 9:30? There is no sound outside, and it seems that the three teammates are not up yet.
Qiao Xuejun walked into the living room with a flashlight, and sure enough, there was no one there. The bedroom doors were all closed, and everyone was still sleeping.
It was indeed a good day to sleep in this weather. It was dark, cold, and the quilt was so warm. It was so comfortable to sleep in. She had only been out for two minutes when she felt her hands and feet start to feel cold.
In this weather, even washing up requires courage.
Thinking of this, Qiao Xuejun wanted to go back to sleep.
But it didn't work. She remembered the cry she heard in the middle of the night last night. It seemed to come from the sky. It was really strange, and the sky was so dark today.
It’s better to get up first and go out when it’s light to see what’s going on.
Qiao Xuejun walked to the distiller they made, drew water from the filtered water bucket to wash her face. She poured some water that had been boiled last night from the thermos and began to wash her face.
As soon as the towel was covered on his face, he felt cold. Although he added hot water, Qiao Xuejun only made it barely less cold, not warm at all.
She went to the stall and started to build a fire. She was quite skilled at it now and had it up in ten minutes.
The furnace was on, and the new flames were rising up, bright and full of warmth.
Qiao Xuejun put her hands in front of the furnace to warm them to dispel the cold.
She let the warmth permeate her whole body, then stood up and walked towards the warehouse. She planned to get some potatoes to roast, and she also got some from the other three teammates.
She had just returned to the cubicle and baked the potatoes when she heard her teammates washing up outside.
The young carpenter ran into the compartment holding a plane and leaned against the stove. "It's so cold."
Wang Juanfeng was calling out from outside: "Little carpenter, you don't even wash your face or brush your teeth, come out and wash up!"
Qiao Xuejun looked up at her.
The young carpenter said, "It's too cold, sir. I don't want to take a shower. The water is so cold! I'm freezing to death!" As she spoke, she suddenly became confident and said, "I'm saving water!"
Qiao Xuejun was too lazy to care about her washing her face and brushing her teeth, and was turning the potatoes on the stove.
Kuang Qianli and Wang Juanfeng came in a short while later. Kuang Qianli walked to the table, turned on the radio, and said, "Did you hear any noise last night?" He frowned and described it, "Like the sound of a cow."
Qiao Xuejun looked up at him: "Did you hear it too?"
Kuang Qianli changed the channel and nodded: "Yeah, I was yelling for a long time in the middle of the night and didn't sleep well. It sounds just like the feeling of mad cow disease."
But that cry was much louder than that of mad cow disease, and it had a distant feeling coming from the sky.
Wang Juanfeng: "I slept so deeply yesterday that I didn't hear anything. It's so dark today. When I woke up for the first time, I thought it was only 6 o'clock, but I fell asleep again. It's already 10 o'clock now."
They didn't get up as early as Qiao Xuejun, but they rarely got up so late. After all, they had things to do every day.
Kuang Qianli tuned the radio to the main channel of the Survival Alliance Base, and a broadcast came from it.
"Zila, zila... Alliance, March 15, 2031... Today the global temperature has dropped significantly. Residents are requested not to go out. If you are short of supplies, please seek help from the local survival base. If you go out for special reasons, please pay attention to cold protection and keep warm, and be sure to pay attention to the mutant creatures in the water and the sky..."
Qiao Xuejun looked up suddenly: "What? Mutated creatures?"
The other three also heard it and looked at each other.
Qiao Xuejun put down the potatoes in her hand, stood up, walked out of the cubicle and headed towards the door.
The other three teammates followed her out of the cubicle.
Qiao Xuejun opened the baffle in front of the observation window on the door and looked out through the glass window.
"What is that!" exclaimed the little carpenter.
Qiao Xuejun's face turned pale. Looking out the window, she could see a whale...flying in the sky.
"Shit, is it my hallucination? Is that a fish?" Kuang Qianli was about to lean on the window, "Can this thing fly? Those fins it has are really wings?"
"I'm almost having a megaphobia attack after seeing this."
The huge whale was flying in the sky, just like the Kunpeng in ancient books.
But if you look closely, the fish is different from the ones you usually see in animal science videos. It is dark blue all over, has a very long tail, and serrated fins. It looks like one wing can kill a thousand people.
Not like a good thing.
I heard a cry from the sky last night. Was it this big fish?
Wang Juanfeng: "Is this the mutant creature mentioned in the broadcast?"
Her voice was trembling.
It is so huge that it looks invincible and can easily inspire fear in people.
Qiao Xuejun looked elsewhere.
It's not just the whale, which is the biggest and therefore stands out. Below it, there are tiny creatures like jellyfish and starfish.
"Ah!" The little carpenter screamed and pointed to the ground in front of the window, where there was a creature like a wooden stick, long and gray.
“…like a longer and thicker version of a razor clam.”
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