Chapter 33: Deterioration

The space had the effect of cleansing and strengthening Jiang Yan’s body, improving her overall physical abilities.

But the effect was gradual, not something that would instantly turn her into a superhuman overnight.

For example, she could now easily lift a seven or eight kilogram chainsaw with one hand and hold it aloft for a long time, but even so, she could still feel a faint ache in her wrist.

Of course, her grip strength and all other aspects had already far surpassed that of ordinary people.

But this also made Jiang Yan clearly realize that, even though she had finished stockpiling all her supplies as planned, she still had a long way to go and much to do if she wanted to survive in the apocalypse.

Stockpiling enough and complete supplies was just the beginning.

A very simple beginning.

The real challenge in this survival game was all the unknown dangers she would have to face alone—whether natural disasters, human threats, or something else entirely.

Improving her overall physical abilities, quickly learning various self-defense and combat skills, and getting familiar with all kinds of firearms and weapons—these were all things she had to do.

After all, the people she encountered today were just a few ordinary folks, most of whom couldn’t even lift a thing.

To put it bluntly, the apocalypse hadn’t truly arrived yet.

People might be unreasonable, but at least the basic bottom line and moral principles still existed.

Their threats were all bark and no bite, really.

But once the apocalypse truly hit, once society collapsed and resources became scarce, when it really became a matter of life and death, that’s when human nature would be revealed for what it was.

That’s also when the law of the jungle—survival of the fittest—would truly begin.

And most of the time, just because you didn’t provoke others didn’t mean others wouldn’t come for you.

Of course, her principle had always been not to cause trouble, but she wasn’t afraid of it either.

She did have her space, but it wasn’t like she could hide in there forever.

Otherwise, how would that be any different from spending her life in prison?

The only difference was that this “prison” had incredibly good conditions.

Survival of the fittest.

She didn’t want to become a delicate greenhouse flower, completely defenseless against the outside world, just because she stayed in the space.

Besides, the space had appeared so mysteriously.

Maybe one day, it would disappear just as mysteriously.

She needed to make good use of it, let herself gradually adapt to the harsh environment of the apocalypse, instead of relying on it for everything.

That was the first thing Jiang Yan figured out after she got this magical space.

So, only by truly becoming strong herself could she face everything that was coming.

But as for this plan to make herself stronger, she decided to start tomorrow.

Today, she’d allow herself to slack off for a bit.

*

Jiang Yan lay on the sofa for quite a while, until her energy and strength finally recovered a little.

The temperature inside the apartment had also started to drop.

She sat up, took a bottle of ice-cold coconut water from her space, and drank it.

Getting up, she glanced at the thermometer—the temperature outside had already soared to fifty-seven degrees Celsius.

She checked the weather forecast on her phone. The temperature was still rising, and tonight it might even hit sixty degrees.

There were a lot of alerts on her phone, sent out by the Anming city government through the telecom providers a few hours ago.

Some were red alerts for extreme heat.

The messages basically said that, due to overheating protection and other reasons, the entire city would experience large-scale power, water, and gas outages around 10 p.m. tonight. All residents were urged to stock up on enough food and drinking water in advance.

If possible, people should also prepare some basic medicines and ready-to-eat food.

In fact, several cities hotter than Anming had already been without water, electricity, and gas for a whole day.

But these warnings didn’t mean much.

Supermarkets and malls had been cleaned out early in the morning.

Once the power went out, all the meat, dumplings, and other food people had stocked in their fridges would spoil quickly in such high temperatures.

Water was a bit easier to stockpile.

But in the city, without electricity or gas, you couldn’t even cook rice.

After all, not every household had the foresight or the hobby of outdoor camping to have things like alcohol stoves or charcoal.

If you’d stocked up on biscuits, canned food, or sausages, you could hold out for a while.

In the past, when disaster struck one place, help would come from all sides.

As soon as a city had a problem, other cities would quickly send supplies or medical aid.

But now, the temperature was rising so fast, far beyond what the authorities had expected. Every city—really, the whole world—was struggling to survive. Everyone could only look out for themselves.

Another alert was about the giant blood mosquitoes.

It said that, after several days of research, scientists around the world still hadn’t found any way to completely eradicate the blood mosquitoes.

Regular insecticides and repellents could only drive them away, not kill them.

And these mosquitoes were constantly mutating, getting stronger and more resistant to chemicals.

However, some “experts” pointed out that certain traditional Chinese medicinal herbs were much more effective at repelling these blood mosquitoes than regular repellents.

Experts suggested that, if possible, people could make herbal sachets, put them in cloth or mesh bags, and hang them on themselves or at windows and doors to greatly reduce mosquito attacks.

They even listed the names and recommended amounts of some herbs.

Also, once the temperature rose above sixty degrees Celsius, the blood mosquitoes would enter a breeding peak.

And only when it reached seventy degrees would the mosquitoes start dying off on their own.

Jiang Yan’s gaze lingered on the words “seventy degrees Celsius” for a while, and she couldn’t help but take a deep breath.

If the temperature really hit seventy, a lot of people probably wouldn’t make it.

After reading the alerts, she opened her news app.

“How to cook at home in the city” had become the top trending topic.

For the first time, the news also reported an analysis of the origin of the giant blood mosquitoes.

On one hand, it said, the problem was caused by a certain island nation releasing nuclear-contaminated water.

On the other hand, global warming had melted thick ice at the poles, releasing ancient viruses that had been frozen for millennia.

The first wave of viruses had been carried out by a mosquito.

Then, through a butterfly effect, all kinds of mosquito populations suddenly mutated.

But this news was quickly deleted by the authorities.

Such reports would obviously cause public panic.

Because if viruses could now affect mosquitoes, what would be next?

The more you thought about it, the scarier it got.

Jiang Yan finished skimming the news, her heart sinking.

She got up and pulled open the curtains to look out the floor-to-ceiling windows.

The blazing sunlight outside didn’t look like it was only seven in the evening.

It was even more dazzling than midday.

She even wondered if something had gone wrong with the distance between the sun and the earth.

Jiang Yan’s apartment had windows facing both north and south.

The living room’s floor-to-ceiling windows looked out over the central garden of the complex.

Right now, a large crowd had gathered in the garden.

Jiang Yan frowned.

At this hour, with the temperature so high and blood mosquitoes possibly appearing at any moment, weren’t these people afraid of dying?

But from the thirty-second floor, she couldn’t see or hear clearly what was happening.

She focused her mind and took out a high-powered telescope from her space."