16: The end times have arrived as scheduled.

The iron box actually contained a pile of unrefined gold nuggets, which underwater gold panners had scavenged from a gold mine of unknown origin.

These gold nuggets contained some radioactive substances harmful to the human body.

Not only that, without being refined, the purity of the gold nuggets was pitifully low—not even reaching 10K. Their value was perhaps only a million?

"That beast of a bastard actually dared to swindle me out of my money. Does he think my money is that easy to take?" Ai Yue's eyes were red with anger.

Ai Guosheng gave the back of Ai Yue's head a smack with a 'thwack'. "Who are you calling 'old lady'? A young girl like you, constantly saying 'this old lady, that old lady'—you really need a lesson!"

Ai Yue's face instantly crumpled into an expression of grievance. Clutching the back of her head, she said tearfully, "But he cheated me out of my money!"

"Alright now, when we get home, I'll have your mother make your favorite deep-fried beef meatballs."

"Besides, these are all worldly possessions; it's good enough just to keep our lives. While no one is around, hurry up and put all this away." Ai Guosheng stood up and looked around, repeatedly urging Ai Yue.

Ai Yue knew her old father was frightened, so she didn't say anything more. She threw the iron box into her space and took her father straight to the airport in a taxi.

The return trip went smoothly, and they arrived back in the country safely.

Upon arriving home, Ai Yue opened the iron box. As expected, the gold nuggets inside had vanished, leaving only some fine residue.

Ai Yue understood that they had been swallowed by the space.

She carefully examined the space but found no changes.

Wait, she took another careful look at the mini house and found that it had grown a tiny bit larger.

Ai Yue couldn't help but feel delighted. This confirmed her suspicion: this mini house really could grow larger. She wondered if it had any other functions.

Ai Yue was quite looking forward to it!

In the final five days, Ai Yue decided to stay home with her parents and go nowhere, at most going out for a stroll to experience the prosperity of the world one last time.

Over these few days, Ai Yue noticed that the weather, which should have been cold, was gradually becoming warm, getting hotter day by day. This abnormal weather didn't attract the citizens' attention; instead, they took advantage of the warming weather to step out of their homes and play.

But Ai Yue's family knew that this was the precursor to the coming of the Apocalypse.

Ai Yue kept a close eye on official information online, but there were no special reports, and even the weather forecasts showed no signs of anything unusual.

Her heart sank; she feared her letter had not been taken seriously.

Ai Yue was somewhat unwilling to give up. After thinking for a moment, she decided to use an overseas IP to send an email to the Ministry of National Defense and the national authorities every day until the day before the Apocalypse.

She had done her best. If the authorities didn't take it seriously, there was nothing she could do. She was just an ordinary person, not a savior; this was all she could do.

The Apocalypse was three days away.

Every day, Ai Yue accompanied her parents as they woke up early and went down the mountain to crowded places to experience the final days of prosperity.

Fortunately, Li Shilan still had forty thousand domestic currency in her account; otherwise, they could only watch when they went out, unable to afford even a decent restaurant.

That day, the family of three was wandering through a large shopping mall. Just as they were about to come down from the second floor, the sharp-eyed Ai Yue saw Han Xiao with his arm around his white moonlight, Liu Shuang. The two of them, carrying large and small bags, passed right by her, completely failing to notice Ai Yue.

"It really is 'finding it without any effort'. I've finally run into you." Ai Yue stared at the departing pair, thinking to herself.

"Mom, Dad, I have something to take care of. You guys keep shopping. If you're tired, just take a taxi back; don't wait for me." Ai Yue gave her parents a few instructions and hurriedly chased after the two who had walked away.

Li Shilan was about to stop Ai Yue to ask for clarification, but Ai Guosheng grabbed her hand and said, "Let her go. She knows what she's doing; you don't need to worry."

Through the trip to India, he had come to realize that his daughter was quite extraordinary. Although she looked harmless, if anyone truly treated her like a little white rabbit, they wouldn't even know how they died.

Ai Yue followed the scumbag and the wench from a distance.

Seeing them get into a taxi, Ai Yue followed in her car. After about half an hour, they stopped at a high-end apartment complex.

Ai Yue knew this place; it was the best apartment complex in the city, very popular among high-income office workers. Because it was one unit per floor, the rent was not cheap. She didn't know where Han Xiao had made his fortune to be able to rent a place here.

It seemed he truly loved Liu Shuang to the extreme; for her, the usually frugal Han Xiao was willing to rent here.

She followed behind them and saw them enter the elevator, which stopped on the third floor.

Ai Yue had what she needed. She turned and left the apartment, returned to the mall to find her parents, and continued shopping. They ate out when they were hungry and didn't return home until very late... Just like that, March 7th arrived.

"Mom, Dad, get some rest early tonight. See you tomorrow." Ai Yue said goodnight to her parents.

Back in her room, she sat on the bed alone with her arms around her knees, her head buried deep within them, using this posture to calm the panic and unease in her heart.

Just like that, she sat motionless at the head of the bed all night.

The next day, the moment the sun rose, Ai Yue felt the temperature in the room rise sharply. She moved her stiff legs, got out of bed, and saw that the indoor thermometer had already reached 40 degrees Celsius.

In just a moment, Ai Yue was drenched in sweat, looking as if she had been fished out of water.

She quickly turned on the air conditioner and only felt herself cool down when the cold air blew on her.

She walked to the window and opened it; a wave of heat swirled into the room. Startled, Ai Yue quickly closed the window.

She stared blankly out the window. The Apocalypse had indeed arrived after all; it wasn't just a nightmare she had.

Without her realizing it, Ai Yue's face was already covered in tears. Gradually, her misty eyes grew firm. She wiped away the tears on her face, opened the door, and went downstairs to find her parents.

At this time, the old couple also walked out of their room. Ai Guosheng, holding an outdoor thermometer, walked toward the door.

Suddenly, he gave an "Ah!" and hurriedly pulled back his right foot which he had stepped out with. The three of them looked—the top of his foot was flushed red, and the sole of his shoe had been melted through, revealing a large hole.

The three of them looked at each other. Ai Yue took the thermometer from Ai Guosheng, put on sun-protection gloves, and carefully placed the thermometer at the doorway. After a minute, she brought it back to look.

"Whoa," 63 degrees Celsius.

If a person went out, they would be half-cooked in a matter of minutes.

She turned on the TV; it was all breaking news reports, urging people nationwide not to go out unless necessary. This was a global high temperature of unknown cause, and for specific news, people should keep an eye on the official website at all times.

Opening her phone, she saw an overwhelming amount of information of all kinds.

Ai Yue opened the villa owner's group chat, where everyone was discussing this sudden high temperature.

Some office workers were complaining incessantly, while the happiest ones were the children, who were all cheering joyfully about not having to go to school.

There were also people saying that the end of the world was coming and suggesting that everyone quickly stock up on more food and water.

Seeing the abnormal weather, many people agreed. Those who didn't have supplies at home layered up, ignored the heat, and drove down the mountain to stock up, with Huoxiang Zhengqi Liquid in their mouths.

There were also some people in the group reprimanding those who spoke of the Apocalypse, saying their words were unpleasant, that doomsday theories were all superstition, and telling them not to talk nonsense in the group and cause panic, as everyone should listen to the official explanation.

In any case, there was all sorts of talk.

After all, global high temperatures were very rare. Most people who followed the news keenly sensed that this natural disaster was unusual and began making preparations and purchasing supplies.

In their community, there were forty-eight households in total, all of whom were well-off. Since they were far from the city center, most families usually had a habit of stocking up on supplies, so they weren't too worried.