The City Was Submerged

The moment the apocalypse truly arrived, she did not feel particularly delighted about being reborn.

Back home, she took off her raincoat, showered, and changed her clothes.

Jiang You sat on the sofa, took a fruit candy from her spatial storage, and held it in her mouth as she stared blankly at the torrential rain outside the balcony.

The rain grew heavier and heavier, but the thunder had quieted.

Late into the night, the Owner Group began chiming nonstop.

When she rented the apartment, the security office had asked her to scan a code and join the group so they could notify everyone of any developments later.

Thus, she was in the group too. Most of its members were homeowners, but a large portion were tenants.

For example, she knew that all four apartments on the eighth floor had been converted into shared rentals by a sublandlord, with twenty or thirty people living in each apartment.

She had only learned this after seeing others complain about it in the group.

The building had four apartments per floor, but on her floor, besides her own apartment, one of the other three was still in an unfinished state. The remaining two seemed to have been bought by the same person and were currently being renovated.

The interiors had all been opened up, and even the doors and windows provided by the developer had been removed. New ones had not yet been installed.

As a result, she was effectively the only resident there.

Jiang You stared at the messages in the Owner Group.

Chen Da Ming in the group: "What a huge downpour! The compound is flooded! Dirty water is backing up through the drains in my kitchen and bathroom like fountains! Property management, come deal with this!"

Peng Yu Yan from Building Three: "Our place is flooded too! I just installed solid wood flooring, and it's all soaked! It reeks! Where the hell is property management?! They're always eager to collect fees, but when it matters, they're useless, huh!"

Pistachio: "You've got it easy. We're in Building One, and Building One sits a little lower. Our place is already unlivable, so we've gone to stay with friends on the second floor. It's all water!"

Don't Mess with Me: "Damn it, the underground parking garage is flooded too! I just got my car, and I haven't even finished paying off the loan—it's already a flood-damaged vehicle! Screw this!"

Happy Family: "There's clearly something wrong with the compound's design. They might as well rename the underground parking garage a reservoir! My several Ferraris!"

Gou Dan: "I really pity you people who park in the underground garage. Unlike me, I always park my car on the First Floor, so I'm fine!"

Don't Mess with Me: "@Gou Dan With that little electric stove of yours, the only place you can park is by the entrance to the building!"

Not a Single Flicker: "I'd heard long ago that toilets on the First Floor could spray shit, but I didn't believe it. I still bought a First Floor apartment. If I had another chance, I'd rather live under a flyover than buy a First Floor apartment!"

Chen Da Chui from Building Three: "We're done for, we're done for! The water level is still rising! The entire First Floor is going to be submerged!"

The compound consisted of four buildings and more than a dozen small detached houses. Homeowners and tenants were all in the group, and at that moment, everyone was arguing frantically.

Jiang You turned on the television. On-screen, a weather reporter in a raincoat stood against the storm, her slender body swaying in the wind as if she might fall at any moment, yet her voice remained resolute.

"The weather bureau predicts that this torrential rain will continue for more than thirty-six hours. Our city has urgently activated flood-control measures...

"Residents living in low-lying areas, please rest assured. Personnel have already been arranged to assist with evacuations. In the face of disaster, humanity remains compassionate. United as one, we will overcome every difficulty."

Jiang You kept changing channels. Every local station was broadcasting urgent reports about the torrential rain.

In some places, landslides had swept away the towns below.

In others, cities had become vast pools of water, and netizens were joking on their social media feeds that sightseeing-by-sea mode had been activated.

This was why Jiang You had not hidden in some remote mountain or rural area after stockpiling supplies.

Because under torrential rain, a mountain where you had been living peacefully could suddenly suffer a landslide.

The mudslide could sweep away your house along with you.

Cities might flood, but as long as one stayed somewhere elevated, the problem would not be too serious.

Water levels in inland cities rose steadily, unlike those in coastal cities.

Jiang You vaguely remembered that in her previous life, many coastal cities had been struck by tsunamis.

After this torrential rain continued for three days and three nights, the corpses soaked in the water, along with many patients whose high fevers would not subside, would all become zombies.

She had considered leaving anonymous messages online to warn everyone about the apocalypse.

But who would believe such a thing if she said it?

Moreover, if the torrential rain she predicted really happened, the next thing waiting for her would be interrogation and dissection.

Never underestimate the power of the state. As long as you left even a few words online, they could find you with ease when they wanted to, even if you posted anonymously.

You might think you had hidden yourself well, but before true power, those concealment tricks would be no better than the emperor's new clothes.

So the best approach was not to attract any attention.

Jiang You was selfish. She was unwilling to gamble her life on whether others would treat her with kindness.

She was merely an ordinary person, and her only wish was to live well.

She did not possess some grand enough virtue to put herself in danger to save others.

In her previous life, Jiang You had already paid dearly for her kindness. This time, she no longer believed in human nature.

Call her selfish or cold-blooded if you wished. This time, she would live only for herself.

As the water level continued to rise, the compound's group was already in complete uproar.

The forums were also filled with angry messages, along with pleas for help.

Video platforms were likewise flooded with information about the disaster.

In one video, several people stood atop a huge rock in the water.

"Help! We were camping beside *** River when the water level suddenly rose. We're trapped on an island in the middle of the lake! Come save us! The phone number is..."

In another video, a middle-aged man who had just escaped danger was shouting abuse at the rescue team.

"I still have more than a dozen pigs in the pigpen! If you can evacuate people, why can't you save my pigs too?

"These rescue teams are completely negligent! Aren't they supposed to do everything they can to protect the people's property?!"

Jiang You scrolled through the videos. In the face of danger, the radiance of humanity shone especially brightly, while its uglier side was exposed without reserve.

Some people shoved exhausted rescue workers, demanding that they jump into dangerous deep water to retrieve their possessions or find their pets.

Others rose to the challenge and extended a helping hand to strangers in danger.

Still others pushed their friends into the abyss of death for a sliver of hope.

Insignificant kindness was nowhere near enough to mend the enormous, hideous hole in this broken world.

Late into the night, the torrential rain outside continued, but numerous lights moved through the darkness. They belonged to rescue workers rowing small boats.

At dawn, the water had already submerged the second floor, and all residents below the second floor in the compound had been moved upward.

Looking out, the streets that had once been there had become a vast expanse of water, and many rescue boats were still shuttling back and forth through it.

Cries and screams came from everywhere. Some people wept over their losses, while others cried for injured or dead family members.

In fact, the water was rising slowly at that point. As long as people evacuated in time, the chances of dying were very low.

Unless there were elderly people with limited mobility or sick patients at home.