You say the cataclysm only comes after you've cleared the entire dungeon?

The urgent ringing of the telephone echoed in the quiet space, like a death knell.

Lou Yunzheng hesitated for a long time while holding his phone, but finally chose to answer the call in front of his sister.

A pitiful sob immediately came through the receiver. Shen Xiaoshuang's voice was sweet and charming, filled with grievance: "Yunzheng, the power is out at home, and there's a fight outside... I'm so scared, please come back and stay with me?"

Lou Yunzheng pinched his brow bone helplessly: "Baby, the water's so deep, how am I supposed to get back? Eat your food sparingly, this rain..."

He glanced at his sister instinctively, and finally said only, "I don't know how long this rain will last, so please be careful."

Shen Xiaoshuang cried even harder, her tone now tinged with anger: "How dare you say that, leaving me all alone here! You only care about your sister, not me!"

"Xiaoshuang, I can't help it. The rain came down so suddenly, and I'm stuck here." Lou Yunzheng patiently coaxed her, trying to calm her down. "You stay inside and don't go out or open the door for anyone else. I'll come back to you as soon as the floodwaters recede."

Looking at the road outside, which had turned into a river, Shen Xiaoshuang trembled with fear, knowing that Lou Yunzheng would not be able to come for the time being.

"Come pick me up as soon as the water recedes!" She had barely finished speaking when she heard someone knocking on the door.

Her heart skipped a beat, and she quickly ran into the bedroom, shrinking into a corner.

"Yunzheng... someone's knocking on the door..." she sobbed, her voice trembling as fear gripped her. "What do I do..."

Lou Yunzheng practically jumped up from the sofa, his voice urgent: "Don't open the door, don't make a sound, go to the kitchen and get a knife for self-defense."

Shen Xiaoshuang shakily got up, ran into the kitchen to get a knife, then hid back in the bedroom and locked the door.

"I...I got the knife," she said.

"Find a place to hide, and once it's quiet outside, move the shoe cabinet from the entryway to block the door."

"Okay..." Shen Xiaoshuang's tears kept flowing, and the knocking on the door outside continued.

Through the thin door panel, the voices of several men could be heard.

"Could no one be home? I saw a man dragging his luggage away the other day."

"You moved?"

"Don't waste your time, let's go to the next one."

The footsteps faded into the distance, and the men went upstairs, followed by another burst of smashing and looting.

Shen Xiaoshuang's mind was in chaos, tears streaming down her face. She wiped them away and finally dared to breathe again.

"Yunzheng, they're gone... When are you coming to be with me? I'm so scared..."

"Go over there once the water recedes." Lou Yunzheng breathed a sigh of relief and urged, "Quickly grab something to block the door, conserve your phone battery, and text me if anything happens."

"Okay, you have to come quickly..." Shen Xiaoshuang reluctantly hung up the phone, worried that her phone would run out of battery.

After hanging up the phone, Lou Yunzheng stood in the living room for a long time, holding his phone.

Lou Fengyue didn't speak, but just sat quietly on the sofa, watching her brother's back.

Outside the window, the rain pattered like a waterfall, while inside, only the sizzling sound of ingredients being cooked in the kitchen could be heard.

After a long pause, Lou Yunzheng turned around, his eyes slightly red, but his tone remained relatively calm: "There's someone banging on her door; they're probably trying to steal something."

"I heard you," Lou Fengyue said.

"Luckily, it was just knocking on the door, not breaking it down." Lou Yunzheng rubbed his temples, walked back to the sofa and sat down. "She said she wanted me to come pick her up as soon as the water receded."

Lou Fengyue sensed the probing in her brother's words and did not respond.

In fact, Lou Yunzheng had already made his choice when he decided to hide the arrival of the apocalypse from Shen Xiaoshuang.

He would not betray his family for love.

"Let's talk about it after the water recedes." Lou Fengyue sat on the windowsill, looking at the murky water outside. "Brother, I have to prioritize your and Mom and Dad's safety."

Lou Yunzheng's eyes flickered, then he slowly lowered his head and gave a very low "hmm".

Pan Quan poked her head out of the kitchen, still holding a spatula in her hand. Her gaze swept back and forth between the brother and sister, as if she wanted to say something but hesitated.

"Mom, I can smell something delicious." Lou Fengyue spoke up, her tone as relaxed as if nothing had happened.

"I fried a few steaks, but there's no room in the kitchen, so you can put some of them away." Pan Quan looked away and went back into the kitchen.

Lou Fengyue followed her inside, rummaged through her spatial storage and took out several disposable lunch boxes, then packed the steak that Pan Quan had pan-fried and the stir-fried side dishes into them.

Lou Qingjian sat at the dining table, holding a map of Linjiang City in his hand, and circled and drew on it with a red pen.

This was a task his daughter had given him: to mark the locations of all the pharmacies, supermarkets, and gas stations in the vicinity so that he could quickly plan his route if he needed to go out.

"Dad, can you see clearly? Should we turn on the light?" Lou Fengyue came out.

"I can see clearly, it's bright outside." Lou Qingjian adjusted his reading glasses and pointed to a spot on the map. "Yueyue, this gas station is next to the national highway, on relatively high ground, so it shouldn't be flooded. The surrounding area is also remote, so it's relatively safe."

Lou Fengyue leaned down and glanced at it. "It's a bit far. Let's go check it out after the water recedes."

Lou Qingjian nodded and marked a triangle in that area with a pen.

Lunch was sumptuous.

Pan Quan prepared four dishes and a soup: braised pork ribs, stir-fried seasonal vegetables, scrambled eggs with tomatoes, cucumber salad, and a seaweed and egg drop soup.

Such food would be considered a luxury in the apocalypse.

The family sat around the dining table, eating in silence.

No one mentioned Shen Xiaoshuang's phone number, nor did anyone ask Lou Yunzheng why he looked so unwell.

Lou Qingjian occasionally mentioned the markings on the map, Pan Quan echoed him, and Lou Fengyue nodded in agreement.

It seemed like just an ordinary rainy day, with the family sitting together having an ordinary lunch.

But the sound of rain outside the window reminded everyone that this was no ordinary event.

After lunch, Lou Yunzheng took the initiative to clear the dishes and wash them.

Lou Fengyue sat on the sofa, holding an electrical cord in one hand and her phone in the other, and opened the Chosen Ones Mutual Aid Group.

The group chat has already received over two hundred messages.

She scrolled up and got a general idea of ​​the situation.

The rain has lessened a bit where Blueberry lives, but fights have already broken out over food in her neighborhood.

She said she was running out of points and the items in the system shop were getting more and more expensive, complaining that the system was deliberately exploiting her.

The witch doctor said he had concocted a batch of basic antidotes, but he was running out of ingredients. Moreover, many of the herbs only became available after the apocalypse and were now impossible to find.

Lu Ban has already contacted the authorities, but they only describe the rainstorm as "extreme weather" and do not believe his claims about the apocalypse, zombies, or superpowers.

Lou Fengyue finished reading but did not comment.

She refreshed the news again.

The Ministry of Emergency Management issued a notice requiring all localities to do a good job in flood prevention and disaster relief, but made no mention of any information about viruses or zombies.

The authorities are still responding to it within the framework of "ordinary natural disasters".

Regardless of whether officials believe in natural disasters or apocalyptic scenarios, the social impact of this rainstorm is significant. Once the rain stops, rescue teams should be dispatched to deliver supplies and clear drainage pipes.

Lou Fengyue turned off her phone and closed her eyes.

She knew that this routine wouldn't last long.

The entire emergency response system will collapse instantly once the first zombies appear.

At that time, everyone will have to rely on themselves.