Chapter 47

For a time, the news of mass migration overshadowed all the disaster reports from Muzhou and Xiren Provinces.

Many people who had decided to move to the western plateau cities after watching apocalyptic prophecy videos but had been stranded in hilly cities for various reasons were now furious.

The government had been blocking their entry to the plateau cities for so long, and city entry permits were incredibly hard to obtain. They had nearly drained all their resources waiting in these cities, and now, out of nowhere, this announcement was made.

Their first reaction wasn’t joy over the migration policy finally opening up—it was anger that this migration was now being offered equally to everyone in Huagou, along with so many new incentives.

Those who had tried to migrate early faced numerous obstacles and hardships. Now that the policy was open, many people who had never planned to migrate were suddenly tempted by the new benefits.

After all, Muzhou and Xiren Provinces were frequently hit by hurricanes and massive waves. Rather than staying in these coastal, disaster-prone cities, it made more sense to join the migration wave and take advantage of the new policies.

And those people, having never experienced the struggle of migration, could now simply go online, upload their information, and get the same permits as those who had fought so hard for them.

To those who had been stranded due to migration efforts, this felt unfair.

Online discussions erupted—some people were full of complaints, while others argued that luck was part of one’s ability. Many posts quickly devolved into heated arguments.

Lou Yuncheng was no different. Among the stranded citizens, some were busy venting their frustrations online, while others reacted swiftly by logging into the designated website and submitting their applications.

Many people received their electronic transportation and city entry permits within just half a day, and those with permits were overjoyed.

Most of these people were financially stable and owned vehicles. While waiting for approval, they quickly packed their belongings, refueled their cars, stocked up on supplies from the supermarket, and hit the road the moment they received their permits.

While some people were still online complaining, these individuals were already on their way, becoming the first wave of this migration movement.

After the migration announcement, Shu Fu’s WeChat started buzzing non-stop.

Zheng Feifei was the first to message her. She had been waiting for this opportunity, hoping Shu Fu would come, and hadn’t expected it to arrive so soon.

Although Fengshang Plateau in Xizhou Province covered a vast area, very few of its cities were well-developed. Only seven cities were open for migration this time, and neither Zhicheng nor Shacheng was among them.

But that didn’t matter. A small city about 200 kilometers from Zhicheng was one of the open cities. Zheng Feifei messaged Shu Fu, hoping she would move there first. The priority was to reach a safe city; they could figure out how to reunite later.

Zhang Tian’s family had connections, resources, and money, so they had already moved to Shacheng. They had previously considered how to bring Chen Fa and Wu Shaoshan along, but both had parents and families in different places. Although they traveled together during the mass evacuation, they eventually had to part ways.

Wu Shaoshan was now in Xizhou Province, while Chen Fa had gone to Lankou Province. Both places were safer than Muzhou Province, where Shu Fu was.

As a result, Shu Fu became their primary target for nagging, urging her to leave immediately and stop procrastinating. Even Lu Ce, after Lu Zheng and Yao Ruoyun contacted her, secretly messaged her, telling her to hurry to Pincheng. He even promised to share a huge secret about Lanlan—one that even his brother didn’t know—if she went.

Shu Fu replied helplessly: Pincheng isn’t on the list of migration cities…

Lu Ce responded, saying he didn’t care and wouldn’t listen. If she couldn’t go to Pincheng, she should at least head to Lucheng, the closest migration city to Pincheng. Once she was in Lucheng, she could figure out a way to get to Pincheng.

Shu Fu: …

It’s not like she didn’t want to go!

She simply couldn’t go!

Forget Pincheng or Lucheng in Xizhou Province—she couldn’t even get out of the suburbs of Lou Yuncheng!

In the end, even Liu Shuang called her.

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It was the fourth day after the government announced the migration policy when Liu Shuang finished a mission and finally learned about it. She said that Cheng Yu was still missing due to a mission, but if he were online, he would definitely advise Shu Fu to move to any plateau city immediately.

Compared to everyone else’s unreasonable nagging, Liu Shuang’s reasoning was much more logical.

She pointed out that the government wouldn’t release such news and policies without reason. The flood control dams were effective against giant waves, and unless there were other issues, those cities’ dam projects wouldn’t have been halted before even starting.

Even though Liu Shuang was reluctant to admit it, she told Shu Fu that the apocalyptic prophecy video circulating online was likely true.

The rain wouldn’t stop. The planet’s water levels would keep rising. No matter how strong and tall Lou Yuncheng’s dam was, once the floodwaters outside reached their limit, even if the dam could hold, the surrounding hills couldn’t.

Once the floodgates were opened, Lou Yuncheng would turn into an ocean.

Liu Shuang’s analysis was spot on. This was something Shu Fu had already considered before moving into the family building of the guesthouse.

The current situation in Lou Yuncheng is like a small house placed on one side of a glass wall inside a swimming pool. When there’s no water in the pool, the house is safe whether or not there’s a glass wall. But once water starts being poured into the other side of the glass wall, the wall’s ability to block the water becomes apparent.

However, this glass wall can hold back the water for a day, two days… even a few months, but it can’t hold out forever. Once the water level on the other side rises to a critical point, it will surge over the wall and flood the other side, swallowing the small house in an instant.

In Shu Fu’s view, the authorities likely truly believe in the doomsday prophecy video, or perhaps they’ve really found several people who have experienced time travel. It could also be a precautionary move based on various data analyses.

In any case, when even the officials are shouting for people to run, it’s time to run.

And no matter what, the conclusion of an impending apocalypse can never be openly discussed.

Human nature is too complex and difficult to control. The authorities aim to solve the problem, not to throw a bombshell that would plunge the public into a state of chaotic frenzy.

Shu Fu suspected that Liu Shuang had guessed these underlying reasons, which is why she had so cautiously made the call.

Given the current situation, Shu Fu couldn’t brush Liu Shuang off. She could only say that she was choosing a city and would take action as soon as she made a decision, assuring her not to worry.

However, this excuse wouldn’t hold for long. The relocation application process was extremely fast—some people got their approvals in half a day, and the longest took no more than twenty-four hours.

After stalling with short messages like “choosing a city,” “buying supplies,” “deciding between driving or taking transport,” and “debating whether to take a bus or train” for three or four days, Shu Fu received another call from Liu Shuang.

Liu Shuang said she was about to head out on another mission, which might result in about ten days of no contact, possibly longer. She was worried about Shu Fu, so she called again to urge her to expedite the relocation.

Now that most people were relocating, Lou Yuncheng’s order and security would gradually deteriorate as the population shifted.

“I got it, Sister Liu Shuang. Be careful on your mission and don’t get distracted worrying about me. There’s no danger here, and I’ll speed up the relocation process.” After Shu Fu responded seriously, Liu Shuang finally hung up.

At this point in Lou Yuncheng, aside from a portion of people unwilling to leave, most of the population was caught up in the relocation frenzy.

Those unwilling to leave had various reasons. Some had a fanatical and blind trust in the dam, believing that as long as it stood, Lou Yuncheng would be safe.

Others were older, afraid of the strain of long-distance travel, and reluctant to leave the city and homes they’d lived in for most of their lives. While choosing to stay, they were mentally prepared to face impending disasters.

And some were simply rebellious. They didn’t believe the authorities’ warnings and wanted to defy them, taking a contrarian stance. Among these people, there were also those planning to take advantage of the chaos after others left Lou Yuncheng.

As most residents began relocating, many supermarkets and stores previously under official supervision started closing down, except for hospitals and banks. However, the goods in these closed stores couldn’t be cleared out immediately, and transferring them would take time.

These people staying behind were hoping to snatch up leftover supplies and maybe strike it rich before finally relocating.

Even without experiencing such a situation herself, Shu Fu could easily imagine how the city’s order would unravel as the population dwindled.

That evening, Shu Fu lay on the cushion by the floor-to-ceiling windows of the cabin, staring at her phone in deep thought.

Leaving? She definitely couldn’t.

But staying? She couldn’t come up with a good reason either.

She stared at the names in her WeChat contacts, scrolling back and forth several times before finally turning off her phone and removing the SIM card.

The last time she cut off contact like this, her heart was calm and undisturbed. Even knowing she’d have to spend her days alone in Suicheng, she felt light and even delighted at the thought of a leisurely, solitary life ahead.

But this time, doing the same thing brought a heavy feeling in her heart.

Humans really are emotional creatures. Once you form bonds, guilt creeps in when you have to make certain choices.

She wondered how long this period of radio silence would last.

According to her previous calculations, Lou Yuncheng still had at least five months before the flood discharge event.

But who knew on which day in those long five months the next progress bar task would appear?

At this moment, Shu Fu didn’t expect the next progress bar task to come so soon.

Four days later, at noon on another rainless day—the second consecutive day without rain—the outside temperature rose again due to the break in the rain, climbing past 25 degrees and nearing 30 degrees.

The air was heavy with humidity, hot and stifling.

When her bracelet vibrated with a new alert, she was lying on the cushion by the bookshelf in the drifting island cabin, browsing TV shows on her tablet for something to watch during lunch.

The sudden task caught her completely off guard.

[Within two hours, choose one of the following locations in Lou Yuncheng: Xiufeng (Longitude XX, Latitude XX), Mufeng Farm (Longitude XX, Latitude XX), or Sun Garden (Longitude XX, Latitude XX). Place a raft and check-in to receive a 15% progress bar boost for Raft Level 3. (Current Raft Level 3 Progress: 85%)]

Note: Failure to complete this task will result in a 100% progress bar deduction.

Shu Fu: ??

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When she received this extreme task, it was just past 12 PM, and she had only deployed her raft less than ten minutes ago.

Because the dry periods were always followed by heavy rain, hurricanes, and massive waves, Shu Fu had gotten into the habit of saving her daily 12-hour raft usage for later in the day during dry spells. As a result, she had spent the night in her guesthouse room.

After the relocation announcement, the already quiet guesthouse became even emptier. The rescue team members who hadn’t been reassigned to other cities had shifted their focus to the urban areas and began moving their dorms from the low-altitude eastern suburbs to the higher-altitude western suburbs.

Shu Fu had been living there for nearly a month, keeping to herself except for occasional interactions with Han Lan. After Han Lan left, she mostly stayed indoors. Since no one on her floor knew her, and with the relocation in full swing, everyone was too busy with their own affairs to pay her any attention.

Meanwhile, as the relocation efforts progressed in Lou Yuncheng, the city inevitably descended into a state of disorder. Whether it was supermarkets, malls, or restaurants, places she once casually visited to stock up on supplies had now become high-risk zones.

So recently, Shu Fu had completely shut herself in, reverting to a homebody lifestyle—lying around all day, browsing the internet for news, cooking herself some good meals, and generally enjoying a relaxed, carefree life.

In this context, the sudden appearance of this new progress bar task hit her like a bolt from the blue.

What shocked her the most wasn’t the 15% progress reward for completing the task—it was the fact that failure would result in a 100% deduction of her progress bar!

In other words, completing the task would instantly level up her raft to Level 3, but failing would not only prevent her from keeping her current progress—it might even drop her back to Level 1 after the deduction!

Forget about watching TV; she didn’t even have the appetite to eat anymore. She immediately jumped up and set a countdown timer on her phone for 1 hour and 50 minutes, accounting for a slight delay from when her bracelet first vibrated. Then she grabbed her tablet to look up the three locations listed in the task.

It was clear that not only did she have to choose one of the three locations and arrive there within the time limit, but she also needed to deploy the raft precisely at the given coordinates to complete the task.

Time was too tight for her to even wonder why such a brutal task had appeared—she threw herself straight into comparing the locations.