Chapter 53
The snowstorm stopped, and the temperature rose. Some players who encountered the hidden natural disaster found that the hailstorm, tornado, and avalanche that had been so frightening just moments before had all frozen in place, as if someone had suddenly pressed the pause button.
Before long, all the hidden natural disasters that had appeared disappeared.
What happened? I survived? Is this a system having a change of heart, or a miracle?
[Some powerful figure must have done something to stop the hidden catastrophe? I guess that's it. Anyway, the game system certainly isn't going to be so kind as to let us off the hook.]
Seriously, I was just lying there with my eyes closed, ready to die, when the catastrophe actually ended! Whoever the chosen one helped, I'll remember this kindness for the rest of my life!
Currently, there are over 50,000 online players, which is almost the highest server survival rate I've ever seen since I started playing this awful game. Back then, when hidden natural disasters were frequently occurring and the number of online players was plummeting, I almost thought we were going to be wiped out. What happened next was truly unexpected.
Although I don't know who the big shot who saved so many people is, I can only say that their merits are immeasurable. May all your wishes come true in the future.
My girlfriend is dead! I want to know who is responsible for stopping this hidden natural disaster? Why couldn't they have acted sooner? Do you know that if you had stopped the disaster sooner, many people could have avoided death? Those are lives! You killed my girlfriend, ruined me, and ruined so many lives!
[Upstairs, don't blame me for being harsh, I'm sorry and saddened that your girlfriend died, but that was this damn game's fault. What does it have to do with the anonymous big shot who stopped the natural disaster and saved everyone in the region? Don't hate the wrong person. If the natural disaster was so easy to stop, why didn't you stop it yourself sooner?]
Please think before you speak. I didn't want to upset you like this because you've lost your loved one, but please don't go too far.
In this game, everyone's fighting for their life, and no one is obligated to give way to you. Even the top players aren't obligated to save anyone. Life and death are predestined. Don't bring up your deceased girlfriend anymore; using her to make things difficult for others is risky. Aren't you afraid your girlfriend will get angry and come looking for you in the middle of the night?
Try to take it easy. I haven't even had time to cry about my brother's death yet.
[Am I the only one curious about how this guy found a girlfriend? This is a survival game, where the only opportunities for interaction are during the two or three days in the service area and the time when the spatial vortex is open, right? And he already has a girlfriend?]
Watson, you've spotted the blind spot.
[Could they have been a couple before entering the road survival game? While the possibility is small, it's not impossible.]
Wait a minute, that guy just jumped into the river to commit suicide for his girlfriend! I just added him as a friend, and he accepted the request instantly. Then, before I could even say hello, his profile picture went gray and a death icon appeared.
I watched the replay of his death and found that he jumped into the river and died. My God, why? I don't understand. So many people want to live but don't even have a chance. He was barely saved, why did he immediately go and die again?
Forget it, the person is already dead, let's not talk about it anymore.
[Wait, didn't anyone notice when the river appeared? Are there even rivers in this extreme cold highway world? There is a blue river on the ice field, but there are wild beasts everywhere on the ice field right now. How did he run into the ice field and jump into the river?]
[Yes, where did the river come from?]
[Fool, that's not a river! It's a glacier formed by the melting snow and ice due to rising temperatures! Everyone, hurry back to the road and drive forward. As long as you drive fast enough, the glacier won't catch you. The glacier is flowing slowly now, but it might change in a little while.]
In this situation, shouldn't we find a higher place to take shelter?
[What do you mean by "take shelter"? Look at the time! It's already past 10 PM, and there's only a little over an hour left until the end of this natural disaster cycle. What if we get trapped by the glacier and can't get back to the road? Are we going to be stuck here forever?]
[Holy crap, I almost forgot about that. Only players on the highway are eligible to be teleported to the safe zone.]
On the icy plains, Qiao Ning drove her RV toward the highway. If she encountered a frozen river blocking her way, she would use her supernatural abilities to freeze a path through the river so that the vehicle could pass.
We rushed along, taking care of countless ice monsters along the way, and finally returned to the highway around 11:00 AM.
The sky was pitch black, there was no wind or snow, and the temperature was around 15 degrees Celsius. Compared to the previous frigid temperatures of tens of degrees below zero, this temperature was almost comfortable.
Qiao Ning sat in the car, waiting for the end of the natural disaster cycle.
The chat channel was unusually lively, with nine out of ten surviving players actively participating. This could be due to the exhilaration of surviving the catastrophe, or the excitement and joy of the impending end of the natural disaster cycle.
[By the way, today is the settlement day for the natural disaster cycle. Did the game give any notification? I didn't notice anything.]
I almost forgot; I hadn't noticed anything unusual.
Isn't this glacier an anomaly? The next natural disaster cycle will definitely be related to water.
[Don't scare me, upstairs! Could it be a flood? My car was just upgraded to Class III waterproofing; it's not waterproof yet.]
[Yang Mo (1657): Level 4 vehicles are not waterproof. Only level 5 vehicles have attributes that allow them to resist natural disasters.]
[A top player has appeared on the leaderboard in server 1657! Do you have any ideas? What might the next natural disaster be related to, and in what aspect?]
[Yang Mo (1657): Stop calling me number one on the leaderboard. After this natural disaster ends, we'll probably all be from District 1408, and the number one spot will only belong to Qiao Ning.]
[Sister Qiao is certainly amazing, but Boss Yang, you're not bad either.]
Yang Mo added, "I have no clue about the natural disasters. Perhaps we should wait and see. The game only says that a hint about the next natural disaster will be given on the settlement day, but it doesn't say exactly when. It might not have appeared yet."
All the players waited until almost midnight, but no natural disaster warnings were issued.
[What's going on? Are they not going to give us a notification for the settlement date? This game is getting worse and worse!]
[Although this game is notoriously unreliable, its announcements and tips have generally been accurate and haven't misled us on this issue. I don't think it would stoop to such a dubious tactic, would it?]
[I agree with the comment above; there must be something we've overlooked.]
Qiao Ning was also thinking about what was strange, but she didn't dwell on it or pay much attention to it.
Thinking back for a moment, I realized that I might have overlooked something while rushing back to the highway from the ice field.
Qiao Ning made a simple elimination of possibilities, from temperature and environment to wild beasts on the ice field...
Icefield Monster?
Qiao Ning suddenly remembered that when she came back earlier, she seemed to have seen the Icefield Monsters falling one after another, but she was in a hurry to get on her way and didn't think about it too much.
Looking back now, it really seems very unusual.
Could it be that the rising temperature and oxygen levels have made those ice monsters unable to adapt, causing them to die in large numbers?
Something still seems off.
As Qiao Ning pondered, she suddenly felt a ray of light shine through the car window onto her face. She looked up and saw that the crescent moon had somehow become a full moon. The silvery moonlight shone on her face and felt warm to the touch, cool, soft, and moist, just like applying a face mask.
If the moon is like this, then what about the sun during the day? Could the next natural disaster be related to the sun and moon?
She couldn't imagine what kind of natural disasters the moon could bring to people. In the real world, she had only ever seen lunar eclipses online.
The sun brings more natural disasters to humanity. Humans cannot survive without the sun, yet they also fear it.
Solar energy causes high temperatures and drought, and also brings ultraviolet radiation...
etc.
She seemed to have guessed what the next natural disaster was related to.
[Qiao Ning (1408): The next natural disaster may be related to radiation. After entering the safe service area, please try to make some relevant preparations.]
Radiation? No way, how are we supposed to prepare for that? Service areas don't sell disaster relief supplies.
[It's not that I don't believe you, I'm just genuinely curious. Where did you get this information? Did you discover anything unusual?]
Pei Jing (1408): I am now certain that the next natural disaster will be related to radiation, most likely solar and lunar radiation. The highway barriers have now disappeared, and the situation on the ice field can be clearly seen.
Just now, a dark cloud happened to obscure the moon over my area. At first, I didn't pay much attention, but a little while later, a giant ice beast walked by. Just as I was figuring out how to deal with it, the huge creature suddenly collapsed and died with a thud.
It wasn't attacked; it simply happened to be illuminated by the bright moonlight when the clouds dispersed.
Some people in the chat channel still don't believe it, thinking that their method of determining the type of natural disaster is too hasty and lacks sufficient evidence.
Most people still believe it, because the feeling of moonlight shining on people is indeed somewhat strange.
Twelve o'clock finally arrived.
[Congratulations to the 51,802 players in the four-in-one zones of 1408, 1279, 1356, and 1657 for successfully surviving the Extreme Cold Disaster Cycle (including two hidden disasters: hail tornado and avalanche).]
Since server 1408 has the highest survival rate, all surviving players will use the server number from server 1408 after this natural disaster ends; all other server numbers will be invalidated.
From now until midnight on the third day, during the settlement and maintenance period, surviving players will be teleported to the A-level safe service area.
Within the safe zone, all players are free to move around until the next catastrophe cycle arrives.
Friendly reminder: The safe service area is based on the principles of safety, peace, and freedom. Any form of attack or conflict between players is a violation of the service area's safety regulations, which may result in banishment or even expulsion.
Players, please cherish your lives and do not challenge safety regulations.
After a 10-second countdown, all surviving players in area 1408 will be teleported to a safe zone. The process may cause slight discomfort; please be prepared: 10, 9, 8, 7…
Perhaps because she had teleported more than once, or perhaps because Qiao Ning's physical condition had improved, she did not feel any discomfort this time and arrived at the service area in the blink of an eye.
Just like last time, Qiao Ning had no interest in showing off and quickly got out of the car and left.
In the past, during holidays following natural disasters, Qiao Ning would always spend some time with a few friends and sisters to relax.
This time, however, she did nothing, didn't even see anyone, and simply locked herself in her hotel room for three days.
I stayed in the car until the three-day holiday ended.
Pei Jing and the others were concerned about her and asked her several times, both openly and subtly. Seeing that Qiao Ning really didn't want to say more, they didn't press her further. They just told her not to keep anything to herself and to speak up, and that they would help her solve any problems together.
It wasn't that Qiao Ning didn't trust them; she simply didn't want to tell anyone about Bing Lin.
After midnight, Qiao Ning entered the fourth world of the Disaster Highway.
Unlike the usual empty backdrops, this time the highway appears amidst urban ruins.
All around were broken walls, dilapidated shops, filthy streets, and cars that had been abandoned for so long that their roofs were covered with withered grass.
No matter how many times she has witnessed natural disasters, Qiao Ning still feels somewhat uncomfortable.
During the last natural disaster, Qiao Ning often drove at night to look for supply boxes. However, now that a new natural disaster has occurred, she is still unsure of the situation and dares not drive at night. She simply stays put and waits for dawn to break.
Qiao Ning took a nap, and she felt like she had slept for a long time. When she woke up and looked at the time displayed on the smart home assistant, it was only 3 a.m., which was still four hours before her usual wake-up time.
Qiao Ning could only lie down again and continue sleeping.
After sleeping for a long time, Qiao Ning was so tired that she didn't want to sleep anymore, but she still didn't hear the smart butler calling her to get up.
That's when she realized that something seemed wrong.
Is this night of natural disaster really this long?
Qiao Ning got up, fully armed, and got out of the car. Before she could even check her surroundings, she heard the cries of a young animal cub.
She followed the sound and walked a few steps, where she saw a puppy lying in a crevice between rocks.
Such a small gap...
Hearing the noise, the puppy opened its eyes alertly and met Qiao Ning's gaze.
"Awoo."
The puppy looked like it had been starving for a long time; its limbs trembled as it stood up. Even so, it crawled out step by step from the cracks in the rocks.
Qiao Ning couldn't help but walk over quickly. When the puppy saw it coming, it opened its mouth and spat something out.
It was a deep blue beast core.
Once, Qiao Ning tied this beast core to the horn of the Ice Scale.
Later, Ice Scale perished, and she searched for this beast core in the Ice Palace for a long time but could not find it.
Qiao Ning looked down at the puppy's wet eyes. Seeing how weak it was and couldn't even stand up, her eyes welled up with tears.
Qiao Ning quickly and carefully picked it up.
"Ice Scales?"
"Awooo!"
It hadn't forgotten her; it tried its best to find her.
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