Chapter 101 Aftermath

An unknown amount of time passed before the howling wind and the sound of falling heavy objects gradually faded, and everything returned to silence.

After the hurricane, people who had hidden in various places emerged from every corner, faces covered in dust and grime.

The entire Mian Mountain was a mess. Fortunately, the direct target of the massive waterspout that had come from the southwest wasn't Mian Mountain, but several neighboring peaks.

The distant peaks that took a direct hit looked as if they had been stripped of their clothes; all the trees were swept away and destroyed, leaving the mountain's surface bare and barren for miles.

Due to the massive diameter of the tornado, even though they weren't hit directly, being only a few peaks away meant they were inevitably affected.

This was especially true for the front half of Mian Mountain. The mountain gate plaza, the parking lot, the commercial streets in front, the Food Street area, and a small portion of the guesthouse were mostly destroyed by the hurricane's aftermath and the swept-up debris. Only the Hotel area and the Villa Area escaped unscathed because of their rear positions.

The Mian Mountain renovation, which was just about to begin a day ago, had been hit with the pause button—or more accurately, the rewind button.

Xu Jiye gathered the Guards on the mountain, arranging for people to rescue those trapped or buried by buildings or other debris while simultaneously taking stock of the remaining assets on the mountain.

The masses who had hidden underground in time and were uninjured also spontaneously joined the rescue and material cleanup efforts.

In the wake of the great disaster, faint wails echoed from beneath the ruins after the hurricane retreated. The survivors, their faces filled with grief and numbness, mechanically dug through the rubble and piles of earth whenever they heard a nearby cry for help.

Despair spread across the mountain, giving people the fleeting illusion of being trapped in hell. However, the instinct for survival pushed their trauma aside for the moment, and they joined the disaster relief work one after another.

Bai Xiao also joined the rescue. At this moment, she couldn't bring herself to remain indifferent, because even the coldest bystander could not remain unmoved in the face of such ruins.

For some reason, she found herself wondering: if the world was destroyed, what would be the point of winning the game? Even if the mall had all sorts of supplies, where would she go after leaving the game if there was no world left to stand on?

The existence of this world had always seemed to be taken for granted. Although the human race always loved to fight and was sometimes even cruel and malicious, if the day truly came when both people and the world were to disappear, it seemed like something particularly unacceptable.

Clearly, she didn't have any particularly loved ones left alive, and clearly, she didn't love this world that much either.

Though they were also natural disasters, the fog and heavy rain hadn't ultimately destroyed people's homes through sheer force. The hurricane lasted a short time, but the impact it brought was extremely powerful.

In a very short time, it left the city scarred and devastated. Perhaps it was this scene of total destruction that caused a brief ripple in Bai Xiao's heart.

Mian Mountain was far from the sea, and most people on the mountain had hidden in time. The casualties caused by the hurricane accounted for about one-sixth of the total population. However, adding the damage from the previous landslides, the population of Mian Mountain had plummeted by a direct quarter within two days.

In addition, the survival supplies and housing on the mountain suffered varying degrees of damage and loss.

It was even more tragic down the mountain. Xu Jiye no longer needed to consider the losses the second batch of survivors' transfer team suffered yesterday due to the high winds; the sudden hurricane had mainly raged within the city, and the entire main force might have met with total annihilation.

If the fog and heavy rain mainly weeded out the elderly, the weak, and those with various diseases, then this hurricane targeted everyone indiscriminately, and the casualties it brought were astronomical.

After three major disasters, it was unknown how many of the millions in Yunzhou City still survived. Perhaps not one in ten remained, or perhaps even fewer.

After the hurricane, the heavens finally showed a long-overdue mercy. The overcast sky gradually cleared, and the heavy rain did not return, allowing a new spark of hope to ignite in the hearts of those mired in despair.

With the relief of survivors, people threw themselves back into the post-disaster reconstruction of Mian Mountain.

For five consecutive days, the destroyed areas of Mian Mountain were preliminary cleared. Since nearly half of the buildings were destroyed, accommodation resources suddenly became tight. People were forced into the remaining intact buildings, and even the detached villa where Bai Xiao stayed was assigned quite a few people.

Although she strongly disliked living with others, she couldn't refuse under the current circumstances. It was impossible for one person to occupy an entire villa; otherwise, she would be making an enemy of thousands of people.

The only somewhat acceptable part was that her master bedroom area occupied one side alone, and the people living on the other two sides of the stairs were still some distance away from her.

Over the past few days, there had been no sign of the main force from down the mountain. Almost everyone believed that the people below had likely been swallowed by the hurricane and that no one else would be coming up the mountain.

Some felt this was for the best; after all, housing resources on the mountain were tight, and if more people came, there would be nowhere for them to stay.

Others felt it was a pity. After all, the main force held more resources. The Advance Force led by Xu Jiye had the goal of occupying Mian Mountain, so they hadn't carried many survival supplies, and even those had been partially destroyed by the hurricane.

The original supplies on the mountain had already become strained after over a month of consumption. Suddenly, not only was housing an issue, but the most critical item—food—also became scarce, and medicine was an even rarer resource.

When food was insufficient, people organized themselves to find wild vegetables and mushrooms on the nearby mountains. However, the sky had only been clear for a few days, and the prolonged heavy rain had made the ground extremely soft. It was not easy to cross the mountains to find food and bring it back safely.

Xu Jiye was already considering cutting down trees to build rafts to return to the city to see if he could find the main force, whether any supplies still existed, and if he could find tools to salvage supplies from underwater.

Everyone had their own plans and actions, all struggling for survival.

At that time, Bai Xiao only set aside two hours a day for outdoor activities. Most of the rest of her time was spent shut in her room, studying and training.

Today was already the fourteenth day since the last game ended. According to the pattern, she would face her fourth game at midnight tomorrow.

If all went well and she passed the next game, her level would rise to Level 2. She was secretly looking forward to what new things would be in the Level 2 mall.

For some reason, although the world was currently without wind or rain and seemed as calm as it was before the disaster, she always thought of the words spoken by those three masked people when she left the last game before she went to sleep at night.

They said the world's progression was too fast and there was no time to continue testing.

The sense of foreboding those words brought her grew stronger as time passed. Every time she looked at the peaceful scene outside, she felt it was like the calm before a storm. She didn't know what kind of storm would follow the silence, and she even had a faint feeling that perhaps they wouldn't be able to stay on Mian Mountain for much longer.