Apocalypse Star House Hoarding-Chapter 99

SPECIAL THANKS TO JESSIE FOR THEIR KOFI SUPPORT!
🥰🥰🥰🥰
The past few days have been hard. No one expected that several entrances of the subway station would collapse and become blocked.
Everyone thought they’d only be trapped for a few hours and could go home once the acid rain stopped. However, one or two hours later, when the staff reached the stairway near the surface via the escalator, they found the entrance blocked by shattered concrete debris.
The acid rain had corroded the entrance roofs, causing them to collapse. Not only one, but multiple exits were affected similarly.
This couldn’t be concealed for long, so the staff quickly made a station-wide announcement, saying they had sent out a distress signal and asking everyone to be patient. They assured that rescue would likely arrive soon after the rain stopped.
Those uninjured could wait, but the people burned by the acid rain were in agony, every second an ordeal.
The staff organized a few strong, uninjured young men to clear out the duty room and police office, moving those with serious injuries from the platform and lobby into these rooms. There were simple beds and makeshift ones made from sofas and chairs, providing a bit more comfort for the injured.
Among them were the father from the café and the mother from the restaurant. The woman, though wearing protective gear, had been exposed when the businessman pulled her into a breach in the wall. Acid rain pooled on the ground corroded her suit, leaving severe burns on her body and face, especially around her ankle, where the flesh was completely eaten away, causing excruciating pain.
The father’s upper body and arms were also burned while trying to help others, a decision he now somewhat regretted as the pain intensified. He was no hero; he had selfish tendencies, or else he wouldn’t have abandoned his wife and daughter when he was young. But, in that moment, when he heard the girl’s plea and saw the woman crying in pain on the ground, he instinctively remembered his wife weeping while holding their daughter years ago.
He knew he was just helping a stranger, and no amount of guilt could undo the harm he caused his own family. His daughter, sitting beside him, knew this even more clearly.
“Don’t worry; I’ll take care of you until we leave this subway station. But don’t overthink it—this isn’t forgiveness. Even if it were a friend who got injured while helping others, I’d look after them too. When we get out, don’t try to contact me again. My mother has been dead for years. I don’t hate you anymore, but I can’t forgive you either. Let’s just live our own lives from now on, if we even have one.”
Not far away, the boyfriend searched anxiously for his girlfriend in the crowd, while she quietly watched him from the side before turning to leave without a word. She couldn’t forget the moment he helped another woman on the overpass, freezing as she fell.
If a man always focuses on other women, never putting her first, maybe he’s not worth keeping.
In the vast subway station, all walks of life are on display.
By the first night, when no rescue had arrived, there were two conflicts within the restless crowd, both over food and water in the vending machines. Afterward, the staff opened the supplies storeroom and distributed food and water meant for employees.
Resources were limited, so each person only received a small share, but it was better than nothing.
Some people tried to console those around them, as well as themselves, saying, “There must be many people outside who need rescuing; let’s be patient a little longer.”
Others, feeling despondent, kept crying.
One person, still thirsty after finishing their allocated water, planned to drink from the restroom faucet. But as soon as they turned it on, the water landed on their bottle with a sizzling sound and emitted white smoke.
Shouting, “It’s acid!” they dropped the bottle and ran out, clutching their burned hand.
Yu Xi happened to be nearby. Hearing the commotion, she rushed into the restroom, put on gloves, and turned off the still-running faucet before pulling out a gauge to measure the pH level.
This instrument was bought in this world and can measure negative pH values.
Thankfully, the pH was 1.8, not a negative value. If even the tap water turned into concentrated sulfuric acid, it would be dangerous inside the subway station.
…
A night passed, yet no rescue arrived.
Feng Xu gathered the café and restaurant employees and found a few staff members to discuss their options—whether to leave the subway station and try to find an exit at another station or come up with a solution here.
In the end, they decided to try the latter.
The staff announced over the station broadcast, calling for anyone skilled in mechanical repair and modification. Together, they spent most of the day converting a few cleaning machines in the station into digging machines. Finally, by the morning of the third day, they managed to clear an exit blocked by debris.
Those with protective suits were the first to cautiously climb out and check the situation outside, and Yu Xi was among them.
The rain had long stopped, but the surroundings were eerily quiet. The buildings around were severely damaged or half-collapsed, and the ground had a sticky texture—evidence of the road surface being corroded.
This black acid rain had nearly destroyed half the city. Everything around her looked devastated, except for some intact buildings visible on the distant mountainside, which Yu Xi knew was the villa district.
Only houses modified with nanoceramic alloy could withstand the acid rain.
For a moment, images of famine, wasteland, and apocalypse flashed through her mind.
She couldn’t help but feel a sense of discord. Was this disaster really just a medium-low difficulty level?
“Are you sure this is a medium-low difficulty apocalypse world?” she asked her system.
The system remained silent. Yu Xi sighed, deciding to walk back to the villa on foot to assess the situation.
Not long after she left, Feng Xu also climbed out of the subway station entrance, with Bai Yu following closely behind him, worried he’d leave her behind again.
Yet, it was clear that everyone who returned to the surface was shocked by the bleak, black-and-gray landscape around them.
“What happened to the outside?” Bai Yu looked toward the villas and, noticing some houses still standing on the hillside, quickly reminded Feng Xu, “Should we go check there first? I’m actually quite worried about Yu Xi. It’s been two days already, and who knows if she’s alright.”
Feng Xu was concerned about Yu Xi too, but since her house was modified, he felt she should be fine.
For the past two days, Bai Yu had been constantly mentioning Yu Xi, expressing a desire to reconcile with her. With the world in this state, she reasoned, what conflicts could be left unresolved between people?
Though Feng Xu hadn’t said anything, he had long let go of any grievances toward Yu Xi.
Whenever he thought of the suffering bystanders when the acid rain started and the cries of the injured in the subway station, it made his previous issues with Yu Xi seem trivial.
He also believed that Bai Yu and Yu Xi could reconcile, just as Bai Yu had suggested. After all, with the world in this state, what conflicts couldn’t be resolved?
“Let’s go check on things,” he said, also worried about his parents, whom he hadn’t been able to contact.
The mountain road leading to the villa district was scarred and pitted from acid rain, with the plants on both sides reduced to blackened remnants.
Yu Xi, wary of any acidic gases lingering in the air, kept her moisture-breath mask on as she moved up the road. Occasionally, she saw others on the trail, all wearing protective gear and carrying backpacks, heading in the direction of the villas.
Something occurred to her, and she quickened her pace.
If half the buildings in Fan City were eroded and damaged, would the survivors stay in dangerous structures or seek a safe place to take shelter?
In these circumstances, where could they even consider safe?
Air raid shelters?
The subway station?
Or—Yu Xi looked up—the villa district modified with nanoceramic alloy?
The gates to the villa district were corroded beyond recognition. The security post had been reinforced by the homeowners, who used extra nanoceramic alloy materials to refit the roof and walls.
At this moment, some strangers had already moved into the security room with its corroded doors and windows.
Yu Xi frowned and quickened her pace. Along the way, she noticed many unfamiliar faces in the villas—people seeking shelter whom she had never seen before.
Where were the security guards? Where were the original owners? Surely they wouldn’t have just given up their homes willingly. Who would, in such dire circumstances?
A bad feeling rose in her chest.
As she appeared, the strangers in the villas turned their gaze to her, wary and guarded, as if she were the intruder on their turf.
Yu Xi reached into her Star House storage in her backpack, pulled out a metal baton, flicked it open to release its three segments, and quickened her pace toward her own villa.
She soon reached the overlook, where the railing was corroded down to half its original height. On the dark-gray earth, her villa stood untouched, surrounded by five or six people trapped in the electric fence around the yard, like mice caught in a trap—unable to go in, unable to escape.
On the driveway, seven or eight people were pushing a machine, attempting to dig their way into the yard. They had coveted this villa for a day and a night, but as soon as some of their companions had set foot on the property, they’d been caught in the electric fence. This villa was not only fortified with nanoceramic alloy panels but also equipped with a formidable defense system.
They knew this kind of electric grid was absurdly expensive. To them, a house with these defenses was a treasure trove, and they could only imagine the resources it held.
They’d put in a lot of effort to haul a small excavator machine from the security room up here. Just as they were about to start digging, the homeowner showed up.
They noticed the baton in Yu Xi’s hand, but they didn’t seem worried—after all, there were seven or eight of them. They exchanged glances and surrounded Yu Xi, signaling to subdue her and have her disable the electric fence directly.
The leader wielded a portable cutter, standing in the center, and flicked it on toward her, the teeth grinding with a piercing sound.
Yu Xi raised an eyebrow, but before she could act, an angry voice sounded nearby. “What are you trying to do?”
Feng Xu came running, panting, with Bai Yu struggling to keep up a few dozen meters behind him.
“Oh, more helpers?” The leader smirked, gesturing to his group, who shifted their attention from Yu Xi to Feng Xu.
Feng Xu glanced at the people trapped in the electric fence. “You’re trying to break into her villa? Where is she—Yu Xi, Yu Xi!”
“Enough chatter! Get to it,” the leader ordered impatiently.
Feng Xu, having some self-defense training, held his own briefly, but with so many opponents, he was quickly overpowered and tied up, along with Bai Yu, who didn’t escape the same fate.
Bound and pressured, Feng Xu looked at the masked woman in front of him, realizing something. “You… why are you here at Yu Xi’s villa? Who are you, really?”
Yu Xi shook her head, putting away her baton and instead pulling out a handgun from her bag.
“Oh, nice toy gun,” the leader sneered—until she fired, hitting the power module of his cutter, which stopped instantly.
“Still think it’s a toy?” Yu Xi reloaded, aiming at him. “Leave now, or you won’t leave at all.”
“Damn,” the man muttered. But he was tough; instead of leaving, he grabbed Feng Xu, using him as a shield. “This guy’s your friend, right? Go ahead and shoot. If you dare, I’ll put a nice little cut right here,” he said, indicating Feng Xu’s neck with the cutter blade.
Before Yu Xi could respond, Feng Xu began to struggle. “Threatening a woman? What kind of man are you? Let me go, and we’ll fight one-on-one.”
The man, annoyed by Feng Xu’s protests but wanting to use him as leverage, struck him on the back of the head with the cutter’s handle. Feng Xu’s body went limp and slumped to the ground.
The man placed the cutter blade back against Feng Xu’s neck. “Drop the gun.”
“Do as you please; I’m not close with him,” Yu Xi replied indifferently.
Bai Yu glanced at Yu Xi and timidly added, “I’m not close with him either. I’m poor and don’t live in this villa area.”
“Shut up.”
During this tense standoff, no one noticed that Feng Xu, who had seemingly passed out, suddenly opened his eyes.
The same pair of eyes, but now filled with a sharp intensity. He stayed in his position on the ground, quickly assessing the situation in just a few seconds.
Finally, his gaze fell on Yu Xi, standing not far away.
Behind the protective mask, a look of surprise flashed across his face, soon replaced by joy.
It’s been a long time, Yu Xi.