Yu Xi was somewhat astonished by the acidity levels of the rain. In her original world, the lowest pH value was 0; negative pH levels were purely theoretical. Yet, in this world, those theoretical numbers had become a frightening reality. Even while safely inside her reinforced villa, watching the news footage gave her a palpable sense of danger.
From the low-flying drone’s perspective, everything exposed outside—cars, billboards, solar-powered streetlights, and even the road-cleaning machines—had suffered severe corrosion. Car bodies were warped, roofs pitted with depressions, and paint streaked in rivulets that looked like metallic tears.
The city, which already had few green spaces, now had most of its plants, trees, and flowers reduced to shriveled, charred remains, as if they’d been burned. As a heavy-industrial city, like many others across the nation, Fan City had used improved, more corrosion-resistant materials for many buildings during construction. These structures were built to withstand prolonged acid rain without rusting or corroding easily.
But they likely never anticipated a day when the city would be hit by such an intensely acidic rain. The steel infrastructure holding the city together was dissolving, bit by bit, like ice in warm water.
Many buildings had half-destroyed roofs and walls. People hid on the lower floors and in the center of buildings. Although the rain had stopped, they didn’t dare approach windows or walls, let alone venture outside. The air was filled with acidic gases, causing severe burning sensations if inhaled.
People who had previously prepared for air pollution and acid rain took out their emergency protective gear—items bought casually and forgotten in storage—finding now that they were life-saving essentials. Frantically, they gathered their belongings, preparing to flee the city.
However, these were only a small portion of the population. The majority were completely unprepared, facing this apocalyptic acid rain head-on.
Hospitals were overflowing with patients, wailing and crying in pain, as severe agony tormented them. Pharmacies were out of supplies, and hospitals were understaffed. Many lay in agony in the hospital’s hallways, crying in pain before passing away.
Footage that drones couldn’t capture was recorded by citizens themselves and shared online. Viewing scenes resembling a living hell, the people in Fan City’s hospitals who had initially cursed and complained now fell silent. The overwhelming terror had drained even the energy needed to blame the factories polluting the environment.
Over the next two days, heavy acid rains frequently struck across the globe, taking everyone by surprise. Apocalyptic sentiments proliferated online, spreading a palpable sense of panic everywhere.
On the third day following the acid rain, a group of uninjured residents in Fan City organized a protest at the largest factory complex on the outskirts, demanding that the factories shut down to prevent further pollution. The protesters held signs and gathered outside, unaware that the two factories currently running around the clock were producing nanoceramic alloy.
On television, most of the demonstrators looked like students. Concerned about the chance of sudden acid rain, they dressed in heavy clothing and wore masks. Over their outfits, they wore identical T-shirts with slogans like, “Stop Hurting Our Planet” and “End Toxic Emissions.”
The protest was sizable, with some people chanting slogans while others silently held up their signs. The camera zoomed in, and Yu Xi noticed a familiar face. Though the girl wore a mask, the distinctive mole at the corner of her eye gave her away—it was Bai Yu, standing among the demonstrators.
Yu Xi found it surprising. Bai Yu was usually cautious and knew how to protect herself. Why would she come to protest at the factory complex in such uncertain times? Although no acid rain had fallen in Fan City since that night, anyone remotely careful would avoid exposing themselves in the open.
Looking closer, Yu Xi saw other familiar faces from her school among the crowd. Standing beside Bai Yu was Cheng Yuan, and others who had been guests at her villa were there as well.
Compared to Cheng Yuan and some other classmates who were passionately protesting, Bai Yu’s emotions seemed much more restrained. Though she held a protest sign, she stood there with an expressionless face, conveying her reluctance even through the screen.
As Yu Xi watched the news, she poured herself a cup of freshly brewed coffee in the open kitchen, which offered a view through the living room windows of the scorched-yellow courtyard outside. The acid rain had wiped out what little greenery Fan City had, leaving the city shrouded in gray, with only corroded buildings remaining.
This upscale villa community, originally constructed with highly corrosion-resistant materials, could generally withstand mild and even heavy acid rain. However, the recent acid rain had surpassed what people considered normal. Although the buildings didn’t collapse, they suffered varying degrees of corrosion and leakage. With the fear of another acid rain episode as severe as the last, residents were left feeling very insecure, knowing they might soon have nowhere safe to shelter.
For the past two days, nearly everyone had been busy finding materials to reinforce their homes. In this context, Yu Xi’s villa, despite its unusual and somewhat unsightly appearance, had become an eye-catching exception as it remained entirely free from corrosion damage.
Of course, in the initial stages of this apocalyptic situation, with society still functioning and this being a high-end residential area, there were no dramatic “takeover” scenarios where someone tried to seize her villa. The most anyone did was knock on her door to ask about the materials she had used on the exterior.
Nanoceramic alloy, which had only recently been developed, wasn’t originally intended for building purposes. It was a proprietary material from a lab, and unless people specifically researched it, they wouldn’t know about it—or would have only vaguely heard of it without realizing how ugly the alloy’s color actually was.
The first person to knock on her door was Feng Xu. He had suffered burns from rescuing people in the acid rain and inhaled enough acidic fumes to make his throat swell, leaving him with a persistent cough. After going to the hospital in an ambulance at his parents’ request, he remained for observation and didn’t return to his villa until the following afternoon.
Standing in front of his own battered villa, Feng Xu immediately noticed the difference between his place and Yu Xi’s, which he had once ridiculed. Despite his pride, the memory of the painful acid burns prompted him to swallow his pride and approach her.
Unfortunately for him, Yu Xi wasn’t home when he stopped by. She had taken advantage of the remaining order in society to stock up on supplies, alarmed by the news of farmland and aquaculture devastation due to the acid rain. Although advanced technology in this world could rehabilitate acid-damaged soil and install new acid-resistant protection systems, such recovery efforts would be extensive.
Just one episode of acid rain had nearly overwhelmed Feng City’s healthcare system. If these rains continued one after another, no amount of advanced technology could keep up with the rate of destruction.
Without viable land, food supplies would drop sharply, or worse, fail altogether. Although Yu Xi only planned to stay in this world for three months, she wanted to ensure her host body had ample provisions for after her departure. With this in mind, she decided to stockpile staple grains and long-lasting food to extend this body’s lifespan as much as possible.
Her method for stocking up remained the same: finding an empty parking lot, purchasing both the vehicle and goods inside.
The first truckload was entirely food—rice, flour, oil, grains, dried goods, vacuum-sealed products, a specially formulated military ration with a 50-year shelf life, dehydrated vegetables and fruits, and a meal replacement powder that provided all essential daily nutrients.
This time, she prioritized shelf life over flavor, as the other Yu Xi wouldn’t have access to a storage space after her leaving from this world. She planned to leave frozen meats in the freezer, which would last just over a year.
With Fan City residents now buying up all available food supplies, the supermarket initially refused to fulfill her order until she offered three times the usual price. She felt lucky to buy it early; a few days later, even five times the price might not secure anything due to supply shortages.
The second truckload was her personal reserve, consisting of advanced appliances and mechanical equipment from this world. She’d researched each item online and ordered two of everything for backup. With the random missions earning star coins easily, she was confident she could upgrade Star House to level two, which would also expand the warehouse.
Last time she upgraded Star House, the warehouse didn’t expand; instead, she gained two functional spaces, and Star House itself grew larger. So this time, she assumed either the warehouse or the Star House would expand, making it easy to store all the supplies she’d gathered.
Her excitement was driven by this being her first time traveling to a world with slightly more advanced technology, where so many items seemed worth stockpiling. Especially the compressed metal ice—she still felt like she hadn’t bought enough. Since she wouldn’t be able to return for restocking once she left, she’d already called to order more, but many wealthy people were also buying in bulk, so the supplier wouldn’t confirm until a few days later.
After filling her Star House warehouse with another two truckloads of supplies, Yu Xi drove back to the villa, only to find Feng Xu looking pained and trapped in the lawn’s electric grid, arguing with two security guards. Her invisible alarm system ran 24/7, only deactivated briefly when she went in or out. She hadn’t expected Feng Xu to be so foolish as to remain on the lawn after the first warning, ending up trapped there for three hours after leaving the hospital.
When Feng Xu spotted her car, he was practically fuming, unleashing a string of profanities, “Why didn’t you pick up the phone?! I called hundreds of times!”
Yu Xi got out of the car with a blank expression, sipping her milk tea as she remembered she’d ignored his calls. Earlier, she’d been busy exploring the area near the foot of the mountain and went on a shopping spree at any store still open, filling her car with orders and transferring them to her warehouse after each stop. With the delay in her deliveries, she’d extended her shopping, ignoring Feng Xu’s calls.
He ranted until his anger fizzled out, realizing that she remained unfazed, sipping her milk tea without reacting. Finally, exasperated, he muttered for her to turn off the electric grid. She tapped a few times on her phone, and the electric grid deactivated, freeing Feng Xu, who immediately dashed back to his villa, shouting, “Just wait, Yu Xi! I’ll settle this with you later!”
One of the guards gave her an awkward explanation, “Mr. Feng has had a stomachache for the past two hours. He must’ve eaten something bad…”
Yu Xi couldn’t help it; she spat out her milk tea. So that pained expression had been real.
After learning why Feng Xu had come, she found that other residents soon approached with similar questions. To avoid constant interruptions, she eventually put up a sign on the lawn, listing the name and purpose of the nanoceramic alloy along with the contractor’s phone number.
Soon, many residents in the villa area began modifying their homes as well. This time, no one cared about appearances—safety was the only priority. The alloy wasn’t widely known, and even those aware hadn’t considered its use for building protection. Demand surged, depleting stock and pushing factories to work around the clock.
After breakfast, just as Yu Xi was about to start her workout, the security gate called, saying a group was there to see her—ten people, all former guests at her villa. Some had visited often enough for the guards to recognize them as regulars. Glancing at the monitor, Yu Xi spotted a familiar mole near the eye of someone standing at the back, masked. It was Bai Yu, without a doubt.
Yu Xi was about to tell security to send them away when she sensed the system stirring.
“If you’re about to give me a random mission to welcome them in, I’d rather just die,” she thought. “I have limits. I don’t even feel like scolding them, let alone letting them in.”
Before she could finish, the neutral system voice sounded.
Random Mission Refreshed:
Go to the villa district’s gate and confront your former classmates. Completing this mission will earn 50 star coins. Accept?
Yu Xi:
50 star coins…
Such a tempting offer!
Yu Xi: Accept, accept! I’ll go immediately.
Reading Settings
#1a1a1a
#ef4444
Comments