Chapter 39: Sixty Degrees Outdoors! Citywide Power Outage Plummets to Paralysis
The city at the foot of the mountain was like it had been tightly covered by a huge black cloth.
The blue light from the substation explosion had just faded, and an endless darkness swallowed every street.
But inside the Underground City of the Star Fortress.
"Hum—"
An extremely faint sound of a motor starting came from the energy room on the second underground level.
There was not even half a second of flickering, and the lights did not even dim for an instant.
The massive solar battery array and silent diesel generator sets switched over perfectly and seamlessly.
The entire Underground City remained as bright as day.
"Power supply normal, fresh air system normal, cooling units set to maximum power."
In the Central Control Room, Qian Duoduo wiped sweat that didn't exist from his forehead and let out a long sigh of relief.
"Boss, this life support system of ours is incredibly stable."
Lin Xingwan sat on a leather swivel chair, looking at the data on the big screen, and nodded with satisfaction.
But the external surveillance footage on the other side of the screen made one's scalp tingle.
The outdoor temperature had already broken the sixty-degree mark!
Sixty degrees.
A high temperature rare even in the deserts of peaceful times was now tightly enveloping this city made of steel and concrete.
The power outage became the final blow that broke the camel's back.
Countless people, woken up by the heat in their sleep, reached out to touch their air conditioner remotes.
They pressed the button, but there was no response.
The blades of the electric fans also stopped where they were, as if mocking their helplessness.
Those living on the twentieth or thirtieth floors of high-rise apartments were the first to feel despair.
Under the scorching sun during the day, the reinforced concrete had already accumulated a massive amount of heat.
Now, without air conditioning to cool it down, the entire room instantly turned into an airtight steamer!
"It's hot as hell! Why is there a power outage!"
"Where is the property management! Where the hell did they go! Restore the power!"
In the corridors and stairwells, residents were everywhere, having run out to get some air because of the extreme stuffiness.
They were wearing only boxers and undershirts, drenched in sweat, their skin flushed red from the heat.
Someone tried to open a window for air.
But what hit them in the face was a scorching heatwave of over sixty degrees.
"Ah—!"
A shrill scream pierced the night sky.
An old man living on the top floor, unable to bear the high temperature, suffered a heart attack and collapsed on the ground, twitching.
His family cried as they dialed 120, but the emergency line had long been overwhelmed.
Even if they got through, the ambulance tires wouldn't be able to travel far on the scorching road surface.
Death quietly spread through the dark steamer.
Besides the high temperature, the water outage was even more fatal.
The power outage caused all the water pumps at the city's waterworks to stop working.
A "hissing" sound of air came from the pipes; not even a drop of muddy water could be squeezed out.
Lin Xingwan switched between the surveillance footage of various residential areas.
Watching those socialites and wealthy wives who were usually high and mighty, capable of spending lavishly just to buy a bag.
At this moment, they were getting into fistfights with their husbands or nannies to snatch the last bottle of mineral water in the refrigerator.
Human nature, in the face of an extreme survival crisis, was fragile and vulnerable.
"Water... give me a sip of water..."
On the monitor, a man who had collapsed from dehydration lay prone beside a dried-up landscape fountain.
He tried to lick the sludge at the bottom of the pool covered in green moss, but licked nothing.
Every corner of the city was staging scenes of madness and despair.
Lin Xingwan withdrew her gaze and turned off those sickening images.
She stood up and walked to the other end of the console.
"Friday, check the internal water circulation system of The Fortress."
"Yes, Master."
The AI's cold voice rang out.
"Internal underground reservoir storage is at one hundred percent, water purification system is operating normally."
"Independent deep well water pumps are on standby, geothermal cooling conversion system power output is stable."
Everything was operating perfectly.
In this sweltering hell where the entire city was paralyzed, the Star Fortress was the only Garden of Eden.
Lin Xingwan returned to her private living quarters on the tenth underground level.
She took a shower and changed into light loungewear.
She didn't rush to sleep, but instead leaned on the sofa, took out her tablet, and checked the list of supplies in her space.
Rice, meat, water, vegetables, medicine, ammunition...
The quantity of each item was enough to make one's jaw drop.
But she knew that The Apocalypse was long, and there would come a day when these things would be eaten or used up.
She had to take advantage of this time difference.
While most people were still immersed in the panic of the power outage and had not yet truly realized that The Apocalypse had arrived.
She would harvest the last and largest batch of supplies in this city.
Time passed minute by minute.
Gradually, outside the bulletproof glass, it became dawn.
There was no morning breeze, nor were there any crisp bird songs.
A huge sun, emitting an eerie blood-red color, rose slowly from the horizon.
The light was not blinding, but it carried a suffocating, lethal roasting sensation.
It was as if a giant bathroom heater was hanging overhead.
The numbers on the outdoor thermometer began to climb slowly but firmly upwards again.
Sixty-two degrees.
Lin Xingwan stretched extensively and stood up from the sofa.
Her joints made a crisp "crack" sound.
She touched her slightly empty stomach and strolled slowly toward the open kitchen.
"Regardless of how people are dying outside."
She took a box of top-grade M9 Wagyu beef from the double-door refrigerator and grabbed a few eggs.
"One must always eat."
"Besides, today is a good day for doing physical labor."
Lin Xingwan pan-fried two steaks, fried two soft-boiled eggs, and brewed herself an iced Americano with half a cup of ice cubes.
She was just about to sit down and enjoy this comfortable breakfast.
The bedroom door was suddenly knocked on.
"Wanwan, are you awake?"
It was Huo Yuan's voice, sounding somewhat low through the door panel.
"Enter."
Lin Xingwan cut a small piece of steak and stuffed it into her mouth, responding indistinctly.
Huo Yuan pushed the door open and entered, holding a black tactical terminal in his hand.
He was wearing a tight-fitting black tactical short-sleeve shirt today, and several old scars were faintly visible on his sturdy arm muscles.
"The brats downstairs are all settled."
He walked to the dining table and glanced at Lin Xingwan's sumptuous breakfast.
"Looks like your food here is pretty good."
"If you want to eat, fry it yourself; there's plenty in the fridge." Lin Xingwan pointed to the kitchen.
Huo Yuan didn't move.
He placed the tactical terminal on the desktop and played an intercepted radio signal.
"Once you've eaten, there's an interesting thing I want you to hear."
What came out of the signal was a burst of chaotic static.
Then, an extremely arrogant male voice with a heavy local accent roared in the channel.
"Brothers! The supermarket has no power! The surveillance is gone too!"
"The largest fresh food distribution warehouse in the west of the city, the boss just got a batch of seafood yesterday, and it must be all about to rot now!"
"Bring your gear! Let's go loot! Whatever we grab is ours!"