(New Series) Chapter 1: The Great Flood

"Boom!"

A bolt of lightning suddenly tore through the ink-black sky.

The pale electric light, like a sharp sword, instantly pierced the black curtain, illuminating the entire land.

Under the brief flash of light, all that could be seen was an endless expanse of water, with isolated houses jutting out abruptly from the surface.

Like solitary islands, enormous shadows occasionally flashed and disappeared beneath the water.

After the lightning passed, the torrential rain sky instantly returned to darkness.

This was the High-tech Zone of Linjiang City.

The torrential downpour had been ongoing for half a year! The entire city of Linjiang had been completely submerged.

With the rise in sea level, the low-lying buildings of Linjiang City were completely underwater.

Buildings under ten stories were now mostly submerged.

Only buildings with ten or more floors remained stubbornly above the waterline.

By the window of the top-floor penthouse of Building 66 in Meidu Garden, a figure stood gazing out the window after the flash of lightning and clap of thunder.

"Half a year already."

Liang Yuan frowned, but at the same time, he felt fortunate that he had bought this top-floor unit on the thirty-second floor.

Although he had encountered numerous problems like leaks and poor insulation when he first bought it.

Back then, he had desperately sought out the property management and the developer, demanding to exchange the apartment.

But no one paid him any mind.

He was truly desperate back then.

He had spent his life savings on this house.

Not only that, but he had also taken out a loan of over a million yuan, becoming a mortgage slave.

He had thought that with this, he could finally marry his girlfriend.

But unexpectedly, his girlfriend had argued with him over a dozen times in just three days of moving in.

On the surface, it was because his girlfriend was dissatisfied with the apartment.

But the deeper reason, of course, was that she didn't want to bear the burden of a million-plus mortgage with him.

The last straw that broke the camel's back was the three hundred thousand yuan bride price demanded by his girlfriend's mother.

Liang Yuan was frantic at the time. Linjiang City was in the Jiangnan region, where a bride price of one hundred thousand was already considered substantial. His girlfriend's mother's demand for three hundred thousand was so infuriating that he couldn't help but have a huge fight with his girlfriend.

Only later did he find out that his girlfriend also had a younger brother who had just graduated and was in a relationship.

But the woman his brother was dating was from Akalin Province, and everyone had heard of the customs there.

But Liang Yuan never imagined that the bride price for his brother's marriage would end up being foisted onto him.

There was nothing more to say. Liang Yuan broke up with her decisively.

That kind of family, that kind of woman, whoever wants them can have them.

Three hundred thousand yuan could earn you almost ten thousand a year just sitting in the bank.

Who would have thought that after breaking up in May, Linjiang City entered its plum rain season in June.

And then, as if the heavens had gone mad, this heavy rain poured down non-stop for a full half year!

In the first month, no one paid much attention.

They just felt that the rainfall this plum rain season was unusually heavy.

But soon, news reports started coming in about catastrophic floods here and there, and how many people had drowned.

Linjiang City hadn't experienced any danger yet, so everyone just treated it as news, and those who had to work continued to go to work.

Until the second month, the torrential rain still hadn't stopped and continued to pour down.

Linjiang City also experienced catastrophic flooding, with seawater from the Linjiang River flowing backward.

Instantly, the entire city of Linjiang was thrown into a panic, and disaster relief efforts were immediately organized.

In Liang Yuan's residential complex, Meidu Garden, all the first-floor underground garages were submerged.

The residents who had bought first-floor apartments were stunned and scrambled to their upstairs neighbors' homes to seek shelter.

At first, it was manageable, but after the rain continued for another week and the second floor began to flood, everyone completely panicked.

Those who had lost their homes kept running to higher floors.

The lack of supplies for over a month also made everyone anxious.

Then, a news report revealed that marine life had actually appeared in the floodwaters.

And they were a type of mutated creature never seen before!

This news shook the world!

The era of the Great Flood had officially arrived.

Half a year later, everything below the tenth floor in Meidu Garden was completely submerged. Tents were now pitched in hallways and connecting corridors.

Meanwhile, the families on the tenth floor and above all kept their doors tightly shut, with no one daring to open them to take in strangers.

Liang Yuan was no different. The reason was that two months ago, a family on the ninth floor had taken in a group of people.

The next day, the bodies of the original homeowners were found floating on the water, snagged by a clothesline on the balcony, swollen and rotten.

The news had already spread throughout the residential complex's property management group chat, and from then on, no one dared to take in outsiders anymore.

Besides, they couldn't afford to. Their own stockpiles of supplies were running low.

Liang Yuan had countless times felt fortunate that he had the foresight to stockpile a large amount of food in the first month when he saw the situation worsening, which was why he had been able to hold out until now.

Standing by the window, he picked up the last wooden plank and nailed the window shut to prevent anyone from climbing down from above.

He then raised his wrist to look at his watch. It showed 9:18 AM.

At this time of day, it should have been broad daylight, but outside, it was as black as ink, with not a single ray of light to be seen.

"Sigh, when will this rain ever stop?"

Liang Yuan couldn't help but sigh, worried that if it kept going like this, it would only be a matter of time before his own thirty-second-floor penthouse was submerged as well.

"Thud, thud, thud—"

Suddenly, a series of violent impacts came from outside his door.

Liang Yuan's expression changed instantly. He quickly grabbed the nail gun from the table and rushed to the security door.

Through the peephole, he saw three middle-aged men outside, ramming his security door.

He recognized these three; they were residents from the ninth floor. He had often seen them around the complex and had occasionally exchanged nods of greeting.

These men seemed to be part of a running group in the complex and were in good physical shape from years of exercise.

In the six months of the Great Flood, some former neighbors had already become demons in human skin.

These three men before him were undoubtedly that kind.

The leader of the group, holding a fire axe, shouted, "Open up! Open this door for me!"

Bang! Bang! Bang!
The axe slammed against the security door, making a deafening noise.

Without a second thought, Liang Yuan aimed the nail gun through the peephole!
Bang!
The nail gun fired instantly, and an iron nail shot out.

"Aargh—"

A scream came from outside.

"Old Wu!"
"Ouch, Boss Wu, Boss Wu!"
"Quick, let's go! This guy has a weapon!"

This was followed by the sound of them scrambling away.

Liang Yuan stood behind the door, listening for a moment. Still not reassured, he took a mirror from the cabinet in the entryway.

Using the mirror's reflection through the peephole, he observed the situation outside.

As he looked, he saw another middle-aged man holding a long, thin iron skewer, placing it right at the peephole!

Liang Yuan's heart jolted with shock. He thought to himself, That was a close call!
If he had leaned in to look with his own eye, the other man would have surely pierced his brain with the iron skewer!

At this thought, a surge of anger rose within him.

He grabbed the nail gun and fired it right at the peephole!
Bang!
"Aargh—"

Another scream came from outside. The man's hand holding the iron skewer had been hit by the nail, and blood immediately began to gush out.

Liang Yuan yelled through the door, "You sons of bitches, trying to ambush me, huh? Come on, try hanging around my door again. I've got a whole box of nails here that can turn you all into a hornet's nest!"

"Damn you, you little brat, just you wait! I don't believe you'll stay in there forever!"
The men outside cursed back without showing any weakness.

Another man, enduring the pain, also cursed, "Kid, if you've got guts, stay in there forever! Let's see how much food you have left to live on!"
"Fuck your mother, you have the guts to die in there! If you come out, I'll skin you alive!" another person cursed, clearly having lost his composure.

Liang Yuan sneered, "Idiots. I specially soaked these nails in the toilet, and they're all rusty. Just wait for your deaths."

Hearing this, the three men immediately panicked. They cursed at Liang Yuan but didn't dare approach his door again.

One of them said, "Old Wu, let's go back first. Let's go back and bandage up. I remember the family on the twelfth floor has a first-aid kit with iodine."

"Yeah, yeah, let's go clean the wound first. Damn it, this kid is impervious to reason. We'll get Erlong-ge to deal with him later."

Then came the sound of them thudding down the stairs.

Liang Yuan listened for a while longer and finally breathed a slight sigh of relief.

This was already the fourth time someone had tried to break in this week.

If he hadn't bought a lot of renovation supplies when he was decorating the place, he really wouldn't have been able to fend off these people outside.

Putting down the nail gun, he went to the bedroom. Looking at the many empty boxes piled up in the room, he felt anxious again.

"I'm running out of supplies."

A look of worry appeared in his eyes.

"Ding, you have killed a mutated sardine, gained 1 point. System initializing..."

Suddenly, a strange message surged into Liang Yuan's mind, making him freeze.

"What was that?"