Chapter 47: Mom, I Saw Superman!

“Dad! There’s one over there too!!”

“Dad, watch out!!”

“Honey, look out on your right!”

“Oh god! They’re coming for us too!!”

“.”

“Bzzzzzz!” A deafening buzzing filled the air.

Massive swarms of mosquitoes, dark as thunderclouds, flew overhead, their hungry eyes fixed on the rare feast before them.

Panic spread like wildfire among the crowd of refugees.

Soon, the road was filled with wails, screams, and the constant “psss psss” of mosquito repellent being sprayed.

But the repellent couldn’t kill these blood mosquitoes—at best, it only drove them away for a moment.

No one knew if they could hold out until they reached the official shelter.

Some people were still heading toward the shopping mall.

Two backpackers even pressed up against the glass door of a coffee shop, peering inside.

At that moment, Jiang Yan was sitting in a somewhat hidden corner. With the room pitch-dark, no one outside could see her.

Not that those people had any intention of coming in anyway.

These street-level shops were even hotter than their own homes—going inside was as good as waiting to die.

There was no subway station nearby, only a two-level underground parking lot beneath the mall, and a supermarket.

Jiang Yan guessed they’d seen the upcoming days’ high-temperature forecast on their phones and were just looking for a temporary underground refuge.

After a while, the number of people outside dwindled.

Judging the time was about right, Jiang Yan finally stood up and took out a bulky jetpack suit from her storage space, putting it on over her thick heat-insulating suit.

The jetpack weighed sixty kilos—over ten kilos heavier than she was herself.

Wearing it felt like carrying a grown man on her back.

Luckily, her physical condition had improved. Otherwise, in this double-layered, cumbersome getup, she wouldn’t have been able to move an inch.

Just as she finished removing the U-lock from the door, Jiang Yan noticed the dried corpses lying on the tiles outside the glass door twitching slightly.

Her heart skipped a beat.

Don’t tell me they’re turning into zombies now!

But this isn’t a movie or a novel…

As she hesitated, a swarm of tiny, half-finger-long, fully metamorphosed mosquitoes burst out of the corpses, breaking through the skin.

To be precise, they crawled out from the exposed necks, faces, mouths, and even bellies of the dried corpses.

“!!!!” Jiang Yan’s pupils contracted, and she instinctively sucked in a breath.

Normally, mosquitoes lay their eggs on water, each female laying 50 to 500 eggs at a time.

But after the heatwave, the city’s ponds, rivers, and lakes had all but dried up.

Jiang Yan had been wondering how these mosquitoes survived and reproduced.

Now, the answer was clear.

Every host drained by the blood mosquitoes—human or animal—became an incubator for their eggs and metamorphosis.

A cold sweat broke out all over Jiang Yan.

Fortunately, these baby mosquitoes probably weren’t as aggressive as the adults.

She forced herself to wait a while longer. Once the swarm of baby mosquitoes had buzzed away, she finally opened the door and stepped outside.

The jetpack suit was controlled by manipulating the jets with her arms.

So right now, she had neither an electric mosquito swatter nor any repellent in her hands.

They were completely empty.

But ordinary mosquitoes could only fly as high as the sixth floor.

As long as she got above the seventh floor quickly, their numbers would drop sharply.

Of course, it was possible that these mutant mosquitoes could fly higher.

But as long as she flew fast and high enough, they wouldn’t be able to catch her.

Even so, Jiang Yan wasn’t in a hurry.

She methodically switched on the jetpack, hovering half a meter above the ground to test its stability.

Once she was sure everything was working, she gradually increased the thrust.

As the jets roared, Jiang Yan quickly rose to the height of the seventh floor, then angled herself at forty-five degrees and slowly flew toward Qianshui Bay.

Soon.

Eighth floor.

Ninth floor.

The devastated cityscape below grew farther and farther away.

Jiang Yan’s altitude slowly increased.

After passing one more old residential complex, she’d reach Qianshui Bay.

She wasn’t worried about being seen.

With her fully armored, bizarre appearance, no one would recognize her anyway.

Still, as she neared Qianshui Bay, she hovered in midair to observe.

At this hour, everyone in the buildings had probably moved to the underground garage.

The apartments were pitch-black, not a single light to be seen.

It looked like a ghost town, standing there all alone.

Just as Jiang Yan flew past an old apartment building near Qianshui Bay, a pale, frail little girl in a seventh-floor room suddenly opened her eyes wide in disbelief.

She looked about three or four, dressed in a nearly new pink Barbie princess dress.

On her head was a delicate rhinestone tiara, and her small, cool hands wore a cute little bracelet.

Her parents lay quietly on either side of her, also dressed neatly.

Her mother wore a beautiful yellow floral dress and had even put on makeup.

Her father had shaved clean and slicked his hair with gel.

But the heat was overwhelming.

Her mother’s makeup had long since melted, and her father’s hair gel was damp and sticky.

On the nightstand beside them were two empty medicine bottles…

“What’s wrong, sweetie? Are you feeling unwell?”

Sensing her daughter move, Zhang Xue tried to force her heavy eyelids open.

“Daddy, Mommy, I’m so hot, but I just saw Superman!”

The little girl’s eyes sparkled like two bright stars in the night, full of innocence and curiosity. She tugged at her parents’ hands and spoke in a soft, childish voice.

“Superman?” Her father, Zhao Lei, opened his eyes, red-rimmed, and exchanged a silent glance with his wife.

“Yeah. Just now, flying past in the sky.” The girl tried to lift her little face, speaking earnestly.

But after just a couple of sentences, her breathing grew labored.

Tears glimmered in her mother’s eyes. She turned slightly and planted a heavy kiss on her daughter’s forehead, her voice gentle:

“Sweetie, go to sleep now, okay? Once you fall asleep, the magic will work. Then we’ll not only see Superman, but lots of little fairies will come to take us with them!”

“Wow! Mommy, can the fairies cure my sickness? I really don’t want to get any more shots at the hospital. They hurt so much.”

“Yes, the fairies have lots of magic. They can grant all your wishes!”

“Mommy, do the fairies have a big air conditioner at home? Then you and Daddy wouldn’t feel so bad, right?”

“Yes.” Zhang Xue’s nose stung, her throat tight with emotion.

She turned her head slightly to wipe away her tears.

“Mommy, can I meet Peppa Pig, George, and Doraemon in the magic castle?”

“Yes! Of course! You can meet anyone you want, sweetheart!” Zhang Xue summoned the last of her strength to answer firmly.

“Then I want to be best friends with George and Peppa, and I want to borrow a bunch of things from Doraemon. Then, just like that Superman, I’ll take Mommy and Daddy to travel all over the world!”

“Don’t worry, sweetie. Everything you dream of will come true!” Zhao Lei bit the blanket, his eyes red as he choked back sobs.

“Daddy, Mommy, I’m so hot, and so sleepy. I’m going to sleep now. I love you. You have to come with me, okay? Otherwise the magic won’t work for all of us. I really want to go into the magic castle holding hands with you both.”

Her voice grew weaker and weaker, and the little hands clutching her parents slowly slipped away.

“Mommy and Daddy love you too.” Zhang Xue tried to speak, but the endless drowsiness swept her away.

“Mm, sweetie, go to sleep. Mommy and Daddy love you too!” Zhao Lei used the last of his strength to pull his wife and daughter, eyes closed, tightly into his arms.

The next second, the six-foot-tall man buried his face in the blanket, sobbing uncontrollably."