Chapter 26 Power Rationing

Talk about twisting the truth!

【5#-1-1201】: You upstairs, make yourself clear. Who threatened whom first?

【5#-1-1301】: Everyone, come look! She's even threatening me right in front of all these people in the group.

【6#-2-501】: Little girl, why such a temper? We live in the same complex, we should be united. You can't just go your own way.

【5#-1-1201】: I share the same view as the owner of Building 2, 801. The food levy ratio is too high. Moreover, what is the patrol range of this so-called Patrol Team? How do they patrol? What are their hours? What role do they actually play? Is it worth paying so much food? Report all this clearly to all the owners first.

【5#-1-1202】: Exactly. That day, I saw several people surrounding 1201's home. You from 1301 have the nerve to flip the story. And if I recall correctly, the complex's iron gate has an access control system, so people can't get in easily. There are spikes on the walls, so climbing over isn't easy either. Not to mention the unit doors have electronic locks. Where exactly is the Patrol Team patrolling, and what are they protecting?

Once one person spoke up, the owners who had long been dissatisfied with the food levy began to question one after another.

Seeing that the situation was taking a wrong turn, the person from 1301 didn't dare to speak again for a while, and the atmosphere in the group became tense.

【5#-1-801】: Everyone, please calm down. I am Xu Zhen, the building manager for Building 5. Regarding the questions about the Patrol Team, we indeed hadn't finalized the regulations before. Once we've renegotiated and settled on them, we will re-pin the announcement. I hope everyone will contribute their ideas then. After all, this is our complex, and we have to live here for a long time. We must stay united.

...

Just as Bai Xiao was about to continue typing to question 1301, the lights in her room suddenly went out.

Since the thick fog arrived, dawn came late and dusk came early. Natural lighting during the day was poor, and the house would start getting dark around four or five o'clock.

After Bai Xiao got home around five, she first showered and changed clothes, then spent some time on her phone. It was now past six, and it had long been dark outside; every household had already turned on their lights.

With her home now in darkness, Bai Xiao couldn't tell for a moment if a circuit breaker had tripped in her apartment or if the entire complex had lost power.

It was so dark outside that she couldn't see the situation in the opposite building. Bai Xiao had no choice but to open her door to check on her three neighbors on the same floor.

With a flashlight in one hand, she opened the door and found the man named Zhao Fangzhe already outside, testing the hallway lights to see if they worked.

Hearing the door open and seeing Bai Xiao come out with a flashlight, he said knowingly, "It seems like the power is out everywhere. The hallway lights won't turn on either."

"Yeah, better check for news online first. If it's a large-scale outage, there should be a notice," Bai Xiao said, gesturing with her phone.

【Neighborhood Committee Notice: Due to the Fog Disaster, coal supply to the power plants is insufficient and reserves are nearly exhausted. Power rationing will begin tomorrow, from 8:00 to 16:00. Additionally, the local grid has experienced an outage due to fog-induced flashovers. Repairs are underway. Please do not panic.】

"The power is out for this entire large area," Zhao Fangzhe said, having also seen the notice.

"Go back and light some candles. Also, thank you for speaking up for me in the group just now." Bai Xiao nodded to him in thanks.

"You're welcome. I was just telling the truth." Zhao Fangzhe gave her a slight smile.

After their friendly exchange, the two had nothing more to say and returned to their respective homes.

Bai Xiao returned to the living room and curled up on the sofa. She stood the flashlight upright on the coffee table so the light would hit the ceiling and reflect, allowing the entire room to be somewhat illuminated.

The reaction to the power outage was exceptionally large. In the complex group chat, no one continued to press about the Patrol Team. Bai Xiao also forgot about 1301; everyone was preoccupied with the blackout.

The fact that power would be rationed meant that if the weather didn't improve and the power plants didn't have a continuous supply of energy, the power would eventually go out for good. Once the power stopped, water and internet wouldn't be far behind.

In modern society, being without power, water, and internet was a bolt from the blue. There was no telling how chaotic things would become.

That night, Bai Xiao's mind raced with many thoughts. Eventually, she fell asleep in an indefinable mood.

...

The power was still out the next day. It was unclear whether the grid hadn't been repaired yet or if it was simply during the scheduled rationing period.

Without electricity, the home WiFi was down. There was still mobile data, but the signal was poor and lagged frequently; it took a long time to finish watching a single video intermittently.

Bai Xiao simply gave up on short videos and turned to news and forums; pure text loaded a bit faster.

The power outage had already caused an uproar online. Electricity was the cornerstone of modern society. No one could have imagined that something so common would one day be restricted, and might even be completely cut off in the near future. Modern urban civilization, which relied on power, was easily shattered in its absence.

More and more people began to spread pessimistic views. Netizens who had previously preached doomsday theories had been mocked, but now most people had become their followers.

The twelfth and thirteenth days of the Fog Disaster passed during the power rationing.

On the night of the thirteenth day, the power finally came back on. People in the group were practically weeping with joy.

In Bai Xiao's original daily plan, the evenings were for cooking and filling water tanks. Over these days, she had already filled all 130 water tanks, and she had only prepared some meals during the first five days.

Later, as most people's food stockpiles began to run low, her ingredients were too abundant. Continuing to cook good food would produce too much of a scent. To avoid unnecessary trouble, she had to stop.

This freed up her evening hours. She dedicated two hours to extra training and one hour to studying and memorizing various downloaded materials.

The days passed in a dull yet fulfilling manner. Fortunately, she was a homebody with too many things to learn, so she didn't feel lonely.

On the fourteenth day, the Neighborhood Committee issued another notice. The daily power outage was extended from 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM, two hours longer than before. At the same time, water supply also became timed, only available for three hours each at noon and in the evening. The depletion of power resources was further intensifying.

Whether in the complex group or online, everyone seemed to be gradually accepting the impending, terrifying reality. It seemed the world really wouldn't get better again.

The residential complex also became less peaceful. Several times, Bai Xiao clearly heard people lingering outside her door at night, only to disappear after a short while.

She knew she had definitely been targeted. Once social order fell into chaos, trouble would surely come knocking.

For some reason, at this moment, she actually began to hope that the cruel game would arrive soon. That was the place where she could most quickly increase her strength and obtain rewards.

Bai Xiao knew it was wrong to think this way. Who was to say the real world hadn't been ruined by it? Otherwise, how could one explain that the fog rose the day after the game ended? Since the fog appeared, civilization had been shrouded, and the world people relied on for survival was worsening step by step.

It was the fifteenth day after the game ended, and also the fifteenth day since the fog arrived.

At noon that day, as usual, Bai Xiao was eating while scrolling through her phone. Suddenly, her left hand holding the phone felt a surge of heat. She thought it was the phone overheating until her wrist began to burn, and she realized something was wrong.

She turned her hand over and saw the black butterfly in the center of her wrist seemed to be fluttering its wings. Its entire body emitted a faint golden light, flickering as if transmitting a signal.

At that moment, Bai Xiao knew clearly: the second unknown game—it was coming.