Only her eyes were visible. She glanced at Li Wei, whose body was equally thick, and exhaled white breath as she spoke, "Not dead yet."
Li Wei rubbed his hands, which were almost frozen. Even with gloves on, his hands felt numb. It seemed he needed to wear several more layers of gloves. He rubbed his nose, feeling the cold air getting into his nasal cavity when he breathed, which was very uncomfortable.
He put his hands in his down jacket pockets before looking up at Lin Ruo and saying, "It's good that you're alright. The temperature suddenly dropped yesterday, and the water downstairs froze. I went door to door with Zhao Hui and the others early this morning and found that several people in Building 3 had frozen to death. Their bodies were frozen like ice sculptures."
Lin Ruo closed the door, walked to the window in the corridor, and looked down. The water level below was just above the first floor, about three meters high, and had already frozen over. Many people were walking on it. These people were all dressed thickly and walked very slowly. As they walked, a layer of white cold air accompanied them. This was because the air was warmer than the air.
"I didn't expect the temperature to drop so quickly!" Seeing that Lin Ruo was only staring outside, Li Wei suggested, "The previous heavy rain flooded many shops, but now that the water has receded, these shops are exposed, which is a good time to go and look for supplies. Zhang Hui and I have discussed it, and we'll go out and take a look in a bit. Do you want to come?"
Lin Ruo watched the group of people walk out together and shook her head. "I still have quite a few supplies left from the last time I went to find them. I won't go out for now. You guys go ahead."
Li Wei opened his mouth, wanting to say a few words of advice, but thinking of Lin Ruo's temper, he swallowed his words. With her strength, she could go find supplies anytime.
After exchanging a few words with Li Wei, Lin Ruo returned home. Standing at the door for a moment, she put everything in her house into her spatial storage, leaving not a single item behind.
The once cozy apartment is now bare and looks like a show flat.
Lin Ruo glanced around a few more times to make sure she hadn't forgotten anything before putting on her windbreaker, a face mask to cover her eyes, thick gloves, and a backpack for camouflage before heading out.
"Lin Ruo, are you going out? Li Wei and the others have already left." Qian Li took out the garbage bags from the house and put them at the door. She was wearing a thick down jacket, a hat and a mask, but she still felt very cold. While talking to Lin Ruo, she rubbed her face and ears with her gloved hands.
"Okay, I'll go for a walk by myself." Lin Ruo didn't intend to tell them that she was leaving.
After taking only two steps, she suddenly turned to look at Qian Li, who was about to enter the room. Thinking about how they had gotten along well over the past three months, and since they were about to leave, she decided to give them a farewell gift.
She pretended to take a box out of her backpack and handed it to her.
“When Li Wei comes back, give this to him and tell him that there may be more than one kind of crisis.”
Qian Li took the box, puzzled, but didn't open it. She simply nodded and said, "Okay, what about you?"
Lin Ruo shook her head, waved her hand, and turned to leave.
Ice hung on the stairs and walls of the stairwell, with long and sharp icicles everywhere. Those overhead could fall and injure people at any moment.
The second-floor window was forcefully broken open, and there was a significant temperature difference between the outside and the corridor. Numerous tiny white ice crystals condensed in the air, resembling white smoke. Walking in the corridor felt like entering a water curtain cave, enveloped in ethereal mist.
Many people were also going up and down Building 3. Everyone was dressed warmly, wearing hats and covering their faces, so no one knew who was on the other side.
Everyone was busy searching for supplies. They were breathing out their breaths, and some of them weren't dressed warmly enough. They hugged their arms and bravely walked forward. Lin Ruo only glanced at them and knew that people like them were unlikely to come back.
Extreme cold is different from ordinary winter. Exposed skin will freeze within minutes, quickly become numb, and die within minutes.
If a person stays in such an environment for a long time, the inhalation of a large amount of extremely cold air can cause the respiratory mucosa to freeze, leading to severe coughing, difficulty breathing, or even suffocation.
The process of freezing a person in extreme cold is extremely painful. It begins with the death of body tissues, nerve damage, and organ failure, and finally, freezing occurs.
Many people die in the extreme cold, and most of them have expressions of pain and agony.
In extreme cold, even the slightest carelessness can lead to frostbite or even death.
These people busily went out to find supplies and try to escape hunger, but they overlooked the most serious factor: the extreme cold.
Lin Ruo walked among these people, watching some who were still unwilling to give up run to the police station and fire station, hoping to see if there was anyone there who could help them.
Without exception, those places were long gone, and even the weapons and equipment there had vanished completely.
What's unclear? These were all moved in advance!
These people were crying and wailing in front of the police station, their tears and snot soaking their masks and face shields. What awaited them was frozen and necrotic facial skin. What was the point?
As Lin Ruo walked, she admired everything. She knew that the arrival of extreme cold had shattered many people's illusions, and they clearly sensed that society could never return to its original trajectory.
They are no longer protected; they have to fight for their own survival!
Their hearts were filled with despair and anxiety, but none of that mattered; staying alive was the most important thing!
Lin Ruo slowly walked out of Longyuan. She was wrapped up tightly, with only her eyes showing, so no one recognized who she was.
She found a secluded spot, and using her backpack as cover, took out a pair of ice skates. When she couldn't use any other means of transportation, these were much faster than walking.
After changing, Lin Ruo quickly moved around the city. To be honest, she hadn't really explored City B yet. Just like Li Wei said, the floodwaters had receded, and a lot of supplies were now on display. Wasn't this all freebies?
She didn't look for other supplies, but went straight to the gas stations. At each gas station, there were many people coming and going in the supermarket, and some people wanted to get some gasoline and diesel, but all of them were frozen. The ice was so hard that even sharp tools couldn't break it.
But these things were a piece of cake for Lin Ruo. With her water-based superpowers, ice was her weapon!
She glided quickly across the area, then crouched down and placed her hands on the thick ice. A glint flashed in her eyes, and she activated her water-based and spatial abilities simultaneously, drawing the underground oil tanks into her spatial storage.
She changed routes, encountered many survivors along the way, and collected dozens of oil storage tanks.
The long ride had left Lin Ruo feeling tired, and the weather was getting colder. She twisted her waist and came to a stop on the road. She decided to collect the oil tanks next time she came back.
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