Chapter 3: Sui City

Chapter 3: Sui City

"3" Activated! Special Ability

The heavy rain came suddenly, catching most residents off guard during the school dismissal and after-work rush. As they stepped off the bus or exited the subway station, they were drenched by the unexpected downpour.

This was the first rain after days of scorching heat, and people had been eagerly waiting for it. The downpour cooled the air and soothed everyone's nerves.

As a result, few people complained. Most were happy. Some took shelter from the rain at nearby restaurants and had dinner, while others who were next to convenience stores bought umbrellas and continued their journey home under the heavy rain.

Shu Fu closed the sliding window of the small balcony and looked outside at the tall buildings surrounded by the heavy rain before returning to the living room.

She hadn’t eaten much since morning, just a single slice of bread, and though her bracelet space was stocked with fresh vegetables, she had no interest in cooking today. She had considered ordering takeout, but given the dinner rush and the heavy rain, Shu Fu checked the delivery time and decided against it.

In the end, she decided to cook instant noodles.

She went to the kitchen, washed a few pieces of lettuce, and added them to the pot just before the noodles were done. She also fried two eggs sunny-side up. Carrying the pot to the small dining table, she opened her tablet and, as usual, started scrolling through the platform’s real-time trending topics.

Soon, she discovered that the local trending topics were dominated by the same news.

The news featured a young man who, in the afternoon, climbed to the rooftop of a 20-plus-story residential building to do a live stream. He claimed that the world was on the brink of an apocalypse, with heavy rains, floods, and tsunamis leading to rising sea levels that would eventually submerge most of the planet's land. Humans would lose their homes and fight desperately for land and fresh water.

He urged the government to take immediate action to relocate people from low-altitude areas and advised the public to stock up on food, especially instant meals and drinking water, as well as basic medicines and water equipment. He also recommended learning to swim.

The live stream footage was shaky, alternating between the ground below and the man’s face. His expression was anxious, and his eyes, staring into the camera, seemed to pity those who didn’t see what he did. He repeated his warnings obsessively, almost like a madman.

However, despite appearing insane, his description of the impending disaster was quite logical. He repeatedly stated that he wasn’t seeking attention. He claimed to have been reborn and returned from a future disaster world. It was because of the bleak future he had witnessed that he decided to go live to warn everyone and the government.

As the live stream gained attention, someone called the police. Analysts used the shaky footage to pinpoint the man’s location, and soon, police cars, fire trucks, and ambulances arrived. Reporters and curious onlookers quickly gathered, surrounding the building.

However, the man had clearly prepared. He had locked the rooftop door and chosen a building that couldn’t be scaled from the windows below.

With no clear entry point, the police and firefighters requested backup. A helicopter and military personnel were deployed for an aerial assault, finally managing to subdue the man, who was still live-streaming from the edge of the building.

Even as the military restrained him under the darkening sky, he continued to broadcast. The rainstorm then arrived, cutting off the live stream. But as he was being taken away, he suddenly thrashed and shouted toward the people and reporters in nearby buildings.

"Look! It's raining! I wasn’t lying to you! The apocalypse has begun—if you hesitate, it will be too late! Act now!" The military personnel quickly silenced him before he could say more.

The man was taken away by helicopter, and the internet exploded because of the incident.

Initially, people watched the live stream because they thought the man was going to attempt suicide. Many viewers recorded the stream, which led to more attention as the event escalated. Even after official intervention and the removal of the live stream, it was too late.

Hundreds of cameras in nearby buildings captured the man’s final frantic expressions and his desperate shouts.

People weren’t freaking out because they believed him; they were shocked that someone would actually act out a doomsday scenario from a book in real life.

—Everyone, please understand, with the stress of life, a few people go crazy every day…

—If every rainstorm was the beginning of the apocalypse, the world would have ended countless times by now!

—Exactly, during the rainy season in August, many places experienced floods. By his logic, that would have been the apocalypse, right?

—But his argument was surprisingly logical. He claimed that the O continent, with an average elevation of 300 meters, would be the first to go. Next would be the Ocean and Far South continents, followed by the West continent, which would be reduced to its mountainous regions. On the East continent, our country would become the largest in terms of land area, but with so much land submerged, most cities would be destroyed, and the remaining land wouldn’t be able to support the population—leading to a true apocalypse.

—Look, we get that you’re smart, but aren’t you forgetting some basic facts? Sure, the planet is warming, and the polar ice caps are melting, but even if all the ice melted, sea levels would only rise by 60 to 70 meters. That would cause major disasters, but plenty of land would still be above water. So, it’s a disaster, not the end of the world. And let’s be real—an extreme scenario like that is highly unlikely.

— What are you arguing about? It's the end of the world. How can you only calculate the ice and freshwater on the planet? Couldn't it be caused by some external cosmic material?

— Hahahaha, a massive flood? Are you telling a story about Noah's Ark? Welcome to Green River Literature City!

……

**

While there was a lot of heated discussion online, Shu Fu was searching the internet for updates on the man. Since she, an outsider, existed in this world, it wasn't strange for a reborn person to exist as well.

Actually, at the moment of her awakening that morning, a thought had flashed through her mind about warning this world. So, when her colleague called to ask why she wasn't at work, she hesitated for a moment, thinking of mentioning the heavy rain.

But just as she was about to speak, a severe headache struck. She barely managed to end the call before fainting.

She was unconscious for about five minutes. When she woke up again, the disaster section in her memory, which outlined the settings of this world, seemed to have become a bit more blurry. This scared her, and she quickly grabbed a notebook and a pen, jotting down some key points in a messy scrawl.

— Continuous heavy rain, floods, tsunamis, typhoons, thunderstorms, hail, aquatic mutations, rising sea levels.

The disasters that would occur in the future included, but were not limited to, these, and the order wasn't entirely accurate. She feared another sudden situation, so she temporarily noted them down as priorities.

Fortunately, she didn't faint again or experience blurry memories of the settings throughout the day. Even when she encountered strange phenomena in the suburbs, her mind remained clear.

This indicated that the situation only happened when she tried to warn this world. But why could that man do it when she couldn't?

Moreover, the man had warned about the end of the world but hadn't mentioned anything about being unable to leave Sui City, which meant he wasn't trapped in Sui City like she was.

They were both anomalies in this world, but what was the difference?

Could it be because—he was originally from this world, whereas she was from another?

Shu Fu ate her noodles while tapping on her tablet, her mind swirling with various thoughts. Eventually, she took out her notebook and recorded some key points that she hadn't figured out.

1. According to her memory, this world was slightly different from her original world. The land area only accounted for 20% of the planet's surface, 10% less than her original world. But even so, it wouldn't be affected by just a few rainstorms or melting ice.

A rise of 60 to 70 meters in water levels would, at most, flood some low-lying coastal areas. So, could the cause of the global flood really be external cosmic material? Most importantly, the outline she had written was the roughest kind. She hadn't started on the detailed outline and episodic breakdown, let alone the sequence of disasters or their causes...

2. She needed to create a relatively detailed survival plan, recall all the details of the outline, record the disasters, and list countermeasures.

Even if she was living like a slacker, she had to do it comfortably. After all, she had the special ability of the bracelet backpack space and couldn't waste it. If she couldn't survive, she would choose a comfortable way to die. Death wasn't scary, but living in misery was.

3. There were known transmigrants and reborners in this world. Under the calm surface, were there more hidden transmigrants and reborners? Why did this situation occur? Was this world even real? Was it truly the world from her script?

Or was it all just a dream, and her real self was still lying on her loft apartment bed? But if it was a dream, how could it feel so real?

For four years, she had genuinely lived and studied here, and her memories were vivid. On the other hand, her memories of the original world were a bit choppy due to the passage of time.

However, some physical skills, such as the familiarity with simple home renovations, decent driving, average cooking skills, and proficiency in grocery shopping, weren't what a girl who had lived on campus for four years should possess.

"Zhuang Zhou dreaming of butterflies, or was it the butterflies dreaming of Zhuang Zhou?" Shu Fu tapped her pen on the notebook. The remaining half of the instant noodles in the small pot had gone cold and had become a bit soggy from soaking in the broth for too long. Normally, she would have thrown out the leftovers.

But now, considering how precious food would be in the future, she put down her pen and quickly ate the remaining noodles in a few bites.

After dinner, the local news reported on the live-streaming incident from the afternoon. However, the entire event was steered in a different direction.

The reporter stated that, according to investigations, the man had a history of mental illness and had recently suffered a series of blows, including a breakup, job loss, and debt. This led to his extreme behavior. Currently, the man had been admitted to the Sixth Hospital for treatment. Doctors urged modern people, who faced excessive life pressure, to seek help from psychologists when necessary.

Conclusion: He's just a crazy guy. Don't fall for or spread the rumors!

"Sixth Hospital..." Shu Fu shook her head. The Sixth Hospital was a psychiatric hospital located in the outskirts. Given his condition, once he went in, he likely wouldn't be coming back out.

Given this situation, even if there were more reborners in this world, they probably wouldn't show themselves. As for her, after these two incidents, she was even less likely to stir up trouble for herself.

She turned down the TV news volume and sat at the desk near the sliding door leading to the small balcony in the living room. She listened to the rain outside while opening a webpage to browse keywords.

**

Sui City, starting from September, had weather that was supposed to be autumn but still saw high temperatures ranging from 35 to 40 degrees Celsius. Even at night, it remained above 30 degrees. It wasn’t just hot; the air was stifling, worse than the peak of summer, making it feel as if people were melting from the heat.

China had vast territories, and this off-season heatwave affected a wide area. However, due to geographical conditions, some places weren’t as severely impacted.

Since last week, the weather forecast had been announcing that the off-season high temperatures would soon end, with rain and cooler weather starting in other parts of the country. Some areas experienced a rapid temperature drop, falling from 35 degrees to below 20 degrees in just two or three days.

However, this kind of climate shift had become the norm in China and other countries. Aside from a few complaints and adjusting their clothing, people didn’t associate it with the end of the world.

In her outline, the story opened during a period of flooding. After all, the main plot centered around raft infrastructure upgrades, with the raft being a key element.

The outline didn’t specify the broader situation of the world. She still remembered the original sentence: “This is a dark era. Once prosperous cities lie asleep beneath the water. Land resources are dwindling, and the planet has become a vast ocean. XXX woke up to find herself lying on a small raft, drifting with the waves…”

The XXX was the protagonist who hadn’t been named yet.

It was clear that this world would turn into a water world, but she didn’t know how much time remained before that happened.

Turning to a new page in her notebook, Shu Fu began listing her survival plan.

Future survival methods: stock up on basic supplies, secure short-term shelter, plan for medium-term shelter.

Her current rental home would serve as the short-term shelter. For the medium-term, she’d choose one of the high-rise buildings in the trade center, finding a livable space on a higher floor.

She wasn’t fixated on the topmost 66th floor—it was too conspicuous, and her combat abilities weren’t up to par. The middle path felt safer.

She hadn’t planned for a long-term shelter because, eventually, the entire world would be submerged. Only a few mountainous and plateau regions would remain above water. However, this process would unfold gradually, and during that time, people would continue migrating, potentially establishing unique safe zones, like giant ships or submarines.

Sui City wasn’t located in a mountainous or plateau region, so she wouldn’t live to see that time and didn’t need to consider a long-term shelter.

Key future supplies: water, electricity, gas, survival tools, medicine, defensive weapons, fresh food, processed food…

Floods would knock out power and water supplies, leaving modern people stranded without these essential resources.

A camping gasoline generator would easily solve the electricity issue. These generators were lightweight, portable, low-noise, and energy-efficient. For her needs, a 3000-watt 220V generator would suffice. It could produce 3 kWh per hour, and running it for 12 hours would yield 36 kWh.

1 kWh could run an air conditioner for an hour, a laptop for 8 hours, a washing machine for 2.5 hours, a TV for 6 hours, an induction cooker for 0.5 hours, a refrigerator for 8 hours, and a regular light bulb for 12 hours.

Since she’d be the only one using it, this generator would be more than adequate.

A 3000-watt generator consumed approximately 1.12 liters of gasoline per hour. Unlike her original world, buying extra gasoline here didn’t require special paperwork. When driving to a gas station, she could bring a portable fuel can for additional fuel. If one station couldn’t provide much, she could hit up multiple.

In addition to portable fuel cans, she planned to get a few large barrels. With a capacity of 200L, large barrels saved space compared to several smaller cans. Stockpiling 4 to 5 barrels of gasoline would last a long time.

Having electricity would allow her to cook with an induction stove, but she also needed to stock up on gas tanks for emergencies.

She would need to gather cassette stoves, alcohol canisters, solid alcohol, and camping cookware, all available at a camping supply store. She planned to shop around online for these tomorrow.

The outline didn’t mention the temperature in the apocalypse, but in a disaster-ridden world, the climate would undoubtedly be chaotic, with both high and low temperatures possible.

Sui City didn’t have heating, and even heat pumps wouldn’t function properly once temperatures dropped below minus 15 degrees Celsius. Besides warm clothing and electric heaters, she could prepare two additional heating stoves.

Compared to wood stoves that required firewood and special chimney ventilation, a kerosene stove would be more convenient and safer for someone like her who wasn’t handy. It could be used indoors as long as there was proper air circulation.

A popular model in the Middle East was lightweight, durable, and high-powered, weighing only 3.5 kilograms.

The fuel tank of this kerosene stove held about 4L, and a full tank could last 18 to 20 hours. It heated indoor spaces quickly, and with the lid on, you could boil water or cook, making it especially convenient for hotpot. The kerosene was also affordable, costing around 2 yuan per hour.

While researching and drafting her plan, Shu Fu shopped around online, buying two units from a cost-effective store. She also purchased 50 barrels of kerosene from another store, totaling 1000L, with delivery scheduled within 48 hours.

In the post-apocalyptic world, supplies are scarce, and fresh ingredients are hard to come by. She really can’t stand the idea of eating canned food. Forget about indoor gardening with nutrient soil and hydroponic setups—she’s all thumbs and would probably fail miserably at it. And with time frozen in there, any living thing would likely die, making it a hassle to move anything in or out. It was easier for her to just stock up on vegetables, fruits, fish, meat, and eggs.

……

Shu Fu was deep into her survival planning—stocking up on supplies—when she suddenly noticed that the sound of rain outside had suddenly turned into a sharp pinging noise, as if tiny stones were pelting the windows.

She put down her pen, stood up, and opened the sliding door to step onto the balcony. Through the glass window, she looked out into the well-lit night of the city. Sometime during the night, ice pellets, no bigger than tiny beads, had mixed with the rain and were now hitting the window along with the dense rainfall.

Is this... hail?

Has it started hailing so quickly?

The wristband on Shu Fu’s left wrist vibrated slightly, like a phone. She raised her hand, and icons that had been invisible before were now flashing, one of them being the “bottle” icon.

She tried to click the “bottle” icon but was unsuccessful—probably because the wristband hadn’t been unlocked yet. Following the sequence she had used before, she held her finger on the wristband for more than three seconds to unlock it. When both icons lit up, she clicked on the “bottle” icon.

The familiar small drift bottle appeared in her hand again, but this time the words on the glass bottle had changed:

["Drift Island House: Permanently Afloat" has been activated. "Raft" Level: 1

Size of Drift Island House: 10 square meters;

Driving Mode: Drifting with the current;

Daily Usage Limit: 5 hours;

Initial Activation Method: Twist the drift bottle cap]

Below these words was a percentage progress bar, followed by: “Raft Level 2 Progress: 0%”

Shu Fu’s eyes lit up. This special ability—had it actually been activated!?

And it looked like it would continue to upgrade, just as she had envisioned in her outline. In the original game, upgrading the raft required collecting materials like wood, iron ore, and rattan. As the levels increased, the types of materials needed became more complex, and smelting was required.

However, in the animated series, she planned to remove this overly game-like mechanic and redesign the upgrade method. But her outline was still rough, and she hadn’t written out the specifics yet.

So for now, she didn’t know what was needed to move the progress bar from 0% to 100%.

“Daily usage limit? What’s that?” She didn’t remember writing such a detailed mechanic. She looked again at the size of the Drift Island House, 10 square meters—smaller than her living room—and had a sudden idea: maybe she could take the raft out for a look.

Shu Fu quickly closed all the blinds on the balcony and moved the coffee table in front of the sofa in the living room. Standing in a corner of the living room, she twisted the bottle cap in the middle of the room.

Nothing happened. The drift bottle was still in her hand, and the small raft floating on the blue liquid inside swayed gently as she lifted it. An additional line of text appeared on the bottle: “Not enough space to place it here.”

Shu Fu looked around the living room, estimating that she would need to leave some space for the raft to be placed. Just as she was about to move the rest of the movable furniture, her phone rang.

It was her colleague, Zheng Feifei. Shu Fu hadn’t completed her probationary period at the company yet. The company was small, and the salary was average, but the office atmosphere was good, and the colleagues weren’t too competitive.

Zheng Feifei had joined the company a few months earlier and was considered her senior. Since they were in the same group, they often ate together and were the most familiar with each other in the company.

Today, she had completely forgotten about work. Zheng Feifei called to say she wasn’t feeling well and was going to the hospital. Feifei offered to help her ask for leave.

Earlier, Shu Fu had been about to talk about the disaster but ended up with a headache and passed out. Her voice cracked as she forced herself to hang up. Feifei hadn’t suspected anything and was now calling to express concern and check on her condition.

“...Then you should rest early. Wu said you can fill out the leave form when you get back. Are you coming back to the company tomorrow?”

Shu Fu had no intention of going back to work.

Seriously, with the apocalypse looming, who even thinks about going to work?

She still had savings from selling her house a few years back, and with her good credit, she could easily get a cash advance of ten or twenty grand from a few loan apps…

However, just as she was about to speak up, her wristband vibrated again. This time, a new icon she hadn’t seen before appeared. It wasn’t the 'Raft' icon she’d expected, but the image of a book.

She quickly unlocked the wristband and clicked on the "book" icon. A small black notebook, about the size of her palm, materialized in her hand.

She flipped open the first page, and the text appeared before her eyes almost instantly:

"Clock in at the office tomorrow to earn 5% progress toward Raft Level 2. (Current progress of Raft Level 2: 0%)"

Shu Fu: What?!

Author’s Note:

Did Shu Fu get to relax today?

Shu Fu, a wage slave who can’t escape her job even as the world falls apart╮(╯▽╰)╭

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