Chapter 50
At the press conference of the Ministry of Emergency Management of China at eight o'clock in the morning, Zhou, under the spotlight, was wearing a dark gray suit and a tie that was tied meticulously. His usually gentle face was full of solemnity.
Against the blue backdrop behind him, the words "Extreme Weather Warning (2025-2026)" stood out prominently in large white letters, with "Warning Level: Highest" indicated in smaller red letters below. The screen continuously played satellite images of global climate anomalies.
The Arctic ice cap is melting three times faster than in previous years, the equatorial region is experiencing unusually low temperatures and blizzards, and the frequency of typhoon formation in the Pacific Ocean has surged.
"According to global meteorological data monitoring, in the next 30 days, my country will face extreme weather with alternating periods of extreme cold and extreme heat: the daytime high temperature may exceed 45°C, and the nighttime low temperature may drop to -30°C, accompanied by severe sandstorms, torrential rain and other disastrous weather. The duration is currently uncertain."
Old Zhou's voice was transmitted through the microphone to the scene and also to every corner of the country through television and mobile phone screens: "Hereby appealing to all the people: 1. Stock up on at least 3 months' worth of drinking water, food, warm clothing and other daily necessities as soon as possible;
2. Residents living in disaster-prone areas such as coastal and mountainous areas can go to the nearest official shelter (the specific addresses have been published on the website of the Ministry of Emergency Management).
3. Reduce unnecessary outings and take precautions at home.
As the press conference entered the Q&A session, a reporter in the front row raised his microphone, his voice urgent: "Minister Zhou, is there any scientific basis for this warning? Some people are questioning whether this is a 'government gimmick,' how do you respond?"
Old Zhou picked up a folder from the table, pulled out a monitoring report stamped with a red seal, and the camera immediately zoomed in for a close-up—
The densely packed data stream above records the climate anomalies of the past month: "This is a monitoring report jointly issued by the National Climate Center and the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The data covers 237 meteorological stations around the world and there is no 'gimmick' involved."
Extreme weather has already appeared in parts of the Southern Hemisphere. Last week, Australia experienced temperatures of 48°C, which caused fires to start in 2 million acres of forest.
Argentina experienced temperatures as low as -25°C, resulting in the loss of 50% of its crops due to freezing damage.
We issue warnings to give the public sufficient time to prepare and avoid unnecessary casualties.
The press conference footage was broadcast live across the country, but it elicited drastically different reactions from different groups of people—
Downtown Supermarket - Fresh Produce Section
The supermarket was already packed with shoppers at nine o'clock in the morning. Aunt Zhang, pushing a shopping cart, stuffed bags of rice into the cart while muttering to Aunt Li next to her, "I heard on the news that there will be extreme cold and heat, so I need to stock up on more rice and flour, as well as frozen meat, which can be stored in the refrigerator for a long time."
The shopping cart was already piled with 5 bags of rice weighing 20 jin each, 3 cans of cooking oil, and the freezer compartment was filled with pork belly, chicken legs, and frozen shrimp.
The young couple next to them seemed nonchalant. The boy, holding a bottle of cola, smiled and said to the girl, "Aunties are just too nervous. The government issues warnings every year, but when is it ever really this serious? We can just buy a couple of packs of instant noodles and a few drinks. If it gets cold, we can turn on the air conditioning; if it gets hot, we can use the fan. What's there to be afraid of?"
The girl nodded, casually picked up two bags of potato chips and put them in the basket. The two chatted and laughed as they walked toward the cashier, completely unaware that the bottled water and instant noodles on the shelves had already been sold out, leaving only a few bags of expired biscuits.
Old residential communities and residential buildings
Mr. Wang, an elderly man in room 602, was sitting on the sofa watching TV. As soon as the news showed the warning image of Lao Zhou, he reached out and pressed the remote control to change the channel to the opera channel.
“Extreme weather? They’re just scaremongering us.” He took a sip of hot tea and shouted to his wife in the kitchen, “Don’t listen to their nonsense. The bag of rice you bought yesterday is enough for us to eat for a month. We don’t need to buy any more; it’s a waste of money!”
My husband poked his head out of the kitchen, holding half-washed vegetables in his hand: "But Aunt Zhang downstairs said she stocked up on 100 jin of rice and also bought an electric heater. Should we prepare some too?"
"What are you preparing?" Grandpa Wang put down his teacup, his tone disdainful. "We've lived in this building for 20 years. When have we failed to survive a typhoon or cold wave? If it gets really cold, we have heating; if it gets too hot, we have fans. Do you think the government won't take care of us? Stop making a fuss. We'll have noodles for lunch."
Su Jing's villa in the deep mountains
At this moment, Su Jing was standing in the yard, watching two patrol robots carry the newly arrived reinforced steel plates to the outside of the trench.
The sound of a press conference on TV came from the living room, but she paid no attention to it—she had already completed the last batch of supplies she had stockpiled when she received Lao Zhou's anonymous email a week earlier.
At this moment, her attention was entirely focused on the "breeding area" in the system space.
My consciousness sank into the space. In the 30-cubic-meter breeding area, the 20 lambs had grown to half-grown, their white wool fluffy and thick, and their size was larger than when they were first bought.
Su Jing walked to the sheepfold and carefully observed the appearance of each lamb: the rams had thicker horns, stronger bodies, and louder bleating; the ewes appeared more docile, with slightly protruding bellies, which could be used for milk production in the future.
"We need to select five rams to castrate. This will prevent them from fighting over territory and will also make the meat more tender and easier to fatten."
She retrieved a set of veterinary castration tools from the "tool area" of the space, disinfected them with alcohol, and selected the strongest ram.
Perhaps sensing danger, the ram tried to back away, but was gently held down by the agricultural robot next to it—the robot's mechanical arm was wrapped in soft rubber pads so as not to hurt the lamb.
Su Jing worked skillfully, first injecting a small amount of anesthetic into the ram's scrotum with an anesthetic needle, and then quickly completing the castration procedure after the drug took effect. Finally, she disinfected the area with iodine and applied sterile gauze.
The whole process took less than 5 minutes. The lamb only struggled slightly before quietly eating the giant wheat straw next to it.
"Master, the five rams have been castrated. The gauze needs to be changed daily, and they should be fed high-protein feed (a mixture of soybean meal and giant wheat bran from the space can be used). They are expected to reach market weight (about 50 kg/ram) in about two months."
The agricultural robot's electronic voice sounded, and at the same time, it handed over a "fattening plan" which detailed the daily feeding amount, feeding time, and weight monitoring frequency.
Su Jing took the plan and was about to check the subsequent feed reserves when a system notification suddenly rang in her mind, louder than ever before, with a quality similar to the resonance of an ancient bell: [Global Instance System Update! The third instance—"Cultivation World"—is about to open!]
A semi-transparent blue panel instantly unfolded, displaying dungeon information in gold lettering:
- Dungeon Name: Cultivation World (Beginner)
- Start time: 25 days until the end of the world (i.e., 5 days from now)
- Number of participants: 100,000 worldwide (20,000 in China, and the remaining participants in other countries are allocated according to their population).
- Core mission: Acquire cultivation resources (including elixirs, herbs, and magic weapon fragments). The higher the resource level, the higher the dungeon score.
- Danger Warning: There are "Sect Guardians" (Qi Refining to Foundation Establishment stage cultivators) in the instance. They will actively attack members who are not from their sect. You must avoid them or defeat them.
- Special Note: Cultivation resources can be used to improve personal physique and repair technological equipment. Some high-level resources can be used in apocalyptic environments (such as cold-resistant pills that can withstand temperatures as low as -50°C).
Su Jing stared at the words "Cultivation Resources" on the panel, her fingers unconsciously tightening – cold-avoidance pills and physique enhancements were exactly what she needed in the apocalypse!
In extremely cold weather, even with warm clothing and electric heaters, nothing beats the direct effect of elixirs; improving one's physique also increases the chances of victory when facing attacks from demonic beasts. She then looked at the number of participants—100,000, nearly ten times more than the previous cyber dungeon, meaning the competition would inevitably be fiercer, and she had to prepare in advance.
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