"Boom!"
A bolt of lightning suddenly streaked across the ink-black sky.
The pale electric light, like a sharp sword, instantly pierced through the darkness, illuminating the entire land.
In the brief flash of light, what met the eye was an endless expanse of water, with scattered houses jutting out abruptly above the surface.
Like isolated little islands, enormous shadows occasionally flickered across the water before vanishing.
After the lightning, the torrential rain-filled sky instantly plunged back into darkness.
This was the High-Tech Zone of Linjiang City.
The relentless downpour had persisted for half a year!
The entire Linjiang City was now completely submerged.
With the rising sea levels, the low-lying buildings of Linjiang City were entirely underwater.
Buildings below ten stories had mostly sunk beneath the surface.
Now, only structures taller than ten stories still struggled to remain above the water.
By the window on the top floor of Building 66 in Mido Garden, a figure stood gazing outside after the lightning and thunder.
"Six months already."
Lin Dong frowned, yet he also felt fortunate that he had bought this top-floor unit on the 32nd story back then.
Although when he first moved in, he encountered numerous issues like roof leaks and poor insulation.
At the time, he had desperately sought out the property management and developers, demanding a unit exchange.
But no one paid him any attention.
Back then, he had truly felt hopeless.
Half a lifetime's savings had gone into this apartment.
Not only that, but he had also taken out a loan of nearly a million yuan, becoming a mortgage slave.
He had thought this would finally allow him to marry his girlfriend.
Yet, just three days after moving in together, they had already fought over a dozen times.
On the surface, the reason was her dissatisfaction with the apartment.
But the deeper issue was her unwillingness to shoulder the burden of a million-yuan mortgage with him.
The final straw for Lin Dong was when his girlfriend's mother demanded a 300,000-yuan bride price.
Lin Dong had been furious. Linjiang City was part of the Jiangnan region, where 100,000 yuan was already considered a substantial bride price. Her mother's demand for 300,000 yuan had provoked such a heated argument with his girlfriend that it spiraled out of control.
He later learned that her younger brother had just graduated and was also in a relationship.
But her brother's girlfriend was from Akalin Province, where the bride price customs were notoriously high.
Yet Lin Dong never expected that her brother's relationship would somehow translate into the bride price falling on his shoulders.
Without hesitation, Lin Dong broke up with her.
That kind of family, that kind of woman—whoever wanted them could have them.
300,000 yuan in the bank could earn nearly 10,000 yuan in interest in a year.
Little did he know that after breaking up in May, Linjiang City would enter the rainy season in June.
And then, as if the heavens had gone mad, the rain poured relentlessly for six months without stopping!
For the first month, no one paid much attention.
They simply thought this year's rainy season was unusually heavy.
But soon, news reports emerged about catastrophic floods in various places, with countless lives lost.
At that time, Linjiang City had yet to face any major crises, and people treated the news as just that—news. Life went on as usual, and people continued to work.
By the second month, the rain still showed no signs of stopping.
Linjiang City, too, was hit by severe flooding, with seawater surging inland.
Panic spread throughout the city as emergency relief efforts were hastily organized.
In Lin Dong's neighborhood, Mido Garden, all ground-level garages and first-floor units were completely submerged.
Residents who had bought first-floor apartments were terrified, scrambling to seek shelter with neighbors on higher floors.
At first, everything seemed manageable, but after the heavy rain poured continuously for a week and water flooded the second floor, everyone panicked completely.
Those who lost their footing kept fleeing to higher floors.
Over a month without supplies had everyone on edge.
Then came a news report—marine creatures had appeared in the floodwaters.
And not just any creatures—never-before-seen Mutated Creatures!
The news shook the world.
The Great Flood Era had officially arrived.
Six months later, everything below the tenth floor of Mido Garden was submerged. The stairwells and corridors were now crammed with tents.
Above the tenth floor, every household kept their doors tightly shut, none daring to take in outsiders.
Lin Dong was no exception. The reason? Two months ago, a family on the ninth floor had taken in a group of people.
The next day, the bodies of the original family were found floating in the water, snagged by a clothesline on the balcony, bloated and rotting.
Word had spread like wildfire in the community group chat, and from then on, no one dared to shelter strangers.
Besides, no one could afford to anymore—their own supplies were running dangerously low.
Lin Dong counted himself lucky countless times. He had seen the warning signs early in the first month and stockpiled a massive amount of food, allowing him to hold out until now.
Standing by the window, he picked up the last wooden plank and nailed it shut to prevent anyone from climbing down from above.
Then he checked his watch—9:18 a.m.
At this hour, the sky should have been bright, yet outside, it was pitch black, not a sliver of light in sight.
"Ugh, how much longer will this rain go on?"
Lin Dong sighed, worried that if it continued like this, even his 32nd-floor penthouse would eventually be submerged.
Knock, knock, knock—
Suddenly, violent banging erupted at his door.
Lin Dong's expression darkened instantly. He grabbed the nail gun from the table and rushed to the reinforced door.
Through the peephole, he saw three middle-aged men slamming against it.
He recognized them—former ninth-floor residents, people he'd often run into in the complex, occasionally exchanging nods.
They used to be part of a jogging group in the community, always in good shape from regular exercise.
But in the six months since the Great Flood, some neighbors had long turned into demons wearing human skin.
These three were undoubtedly among them.
The leader, wielding a fire axe, snarled, "Open up! Open the damn door!"
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The axe struck the door with deafening force.
Without hesitation, Lin Dong aimed the nail gun through the peephole and fired.
A sharp thwip—a nail shot out.
"Ah—!"
A scream tore through the air outside.
"Old Wu!"
"President Wu! President Wu!"
"Go, go! This guy's armed!"
The sound of scrambling footsteps followed.
Lin Dong stayed by the door, listening carefully. Still uneasy, he grabbed a mirror from the hallway cabinet.
Using the reflection, he checked the peephole again—and froze.
Another man stood there, holding a long, thin metal spike right at the peephole's opening!
Lin Dong's heart lurched. That was close!
If he'd looked directly through the peephole, that spike could've pierced his skull in an instant.
The realization sent a surge of fury through him.
Grabbing the nail gun, he fired a shot straight at the peephole!
"Ah—"
A scream immediately came from outside as the person holding the iron spike had their palm pierced by the nail, blood instantly gushing out.
Lin Dong cursed through the door, "Fuck your mother! Still trying to ambush me? Come on, try lurking around my doorstep again. I've got a whole box of nails ready to turn you into a sieve!"
"Damn brat, just you wait! I don't believe you'll never come out!"
The person outside hurled back curses without backing down.
Another, gritting through the pain, also shouted, "Kid, if you've got the guts, stay in there forever! Let's see how long your supplies last!"
"Fuck you! Stay in there and rot! The moment you step out, I'll skin you alive!" A third voice erupted in rage, clearly losing control.
Lin Dong sneered, "Idiots, I soaked these nails in the toilet, and they're all rusted. Enjoy the infection."
At his words, the three panicked, cursing Lin Dong furiously but still not daring to approach his door.
One of them said, "Old Wu, let's go back first, get the wound treated. I remember the twelfth floor has a first-aid kit with iodine."
"Yeah, yeah, clean the wound first. Damn it, this kid's impossible. We'll let Brother Erlong deal with him later."
Soon, the sound of hurried footsteps descending the stairs echoed.
Lin Dong listened for a while longer before finally letting out a slight sigh of relief.
This was already the fourth attempted break-in this week.
If not for the leftover construction tools he'd bought when renovating this place, he wouldn't have been able to hold off these intruders.
Putting down the nail gun, he walked to the bedroom. Seeing the pile of empty boxes scattered around, anxiety crept back into his heart.
"Supplies are running low..."
His eyes darkened with worry.
Ding. You have killed a Mutated Sardine. +1 point. System initializing...
Suddenly, a bizarre message flashed into Lin Dong's mind, startling him.
"What the hell was that?"