In the past, whenever this person had some free time, they loved to stir up trouble.
But now that they lived in the base, stirring up trouble was naturally off the table. Besides the morning watering, the afternoons were spent observing the outside conditions.
After three days of observation, Lan Jin had to admit that extreme heat seemed to be approaching fast. The ice drips and snow that had frozen around the base earlier were melting visibly. Water was flowing down the mountain, then flowing back up in places.
Standing in the newly planned hall of the base, everyone looked at the temperature display on the LED bottle. At this point, there was no night anymore. The temperature stayed below minus 30 degrees, occasionally reaching new records for extreme cold. Even minus 10 degrees had occurred.
The fluctuations were large, but inside the base, the heating system adjusted automatically based on temperature. Without looking at the thermometer, the changes were hardly noticeable.
Seeing this, they couldn't help but sigh, "Luckily we stayed in the base. Outside, many lives would have been lost."
"Yes, but before we only knew extreme heat was coming. Now there is also perpetual daylight. If both happen together, can we still live normally?" Lao Gao worried.
But natural disasters were natural disasters. Perpetual daylight alone did not affect human life much.
Huang Jinghe said, "Perpetual daylight is just daytime. Twenty-four hours of daylight without night. Even before the apocalypse, the South Pole and North Pole had perpetual daylight, sometimes lasting half a year. It happens because the Earth rotates around its tilted axis. Perpetual daylight forms when the axis changes slightly. Usually it is not a problem."
Lan Jin countered, "So perpetual daylight and polar night are relative. The length of daylight we experience matches the night we experience. Right now, no problem. It is extreme cold. Daytime is just daytime.
But if extreme heat comes, the temperature we checked online before can reach seventy or eighty degrees Celsius. Daytime heat is one thing. If perpetual daylight comes, day and night both have the same high temperature. Who can survive? Even the highest flood can dry out quickly. The key is if extreme heat lasts too long…"
It was impossible to dry the whole planet, but lack of water would make life even harder. Not all water was drinkable, so future water resources would be even tighter.
Thinking this way, survival would become extremely difficult. Of course, they didn't have to worry too much yet, but no one knew what would happen next. Perpetual daylight struck another hard blow to the already battered group.
Meanwhile, Brother Zhang's side held meetings day and night, all focusing on perpetual daylight and extreme heat.
Strangely, the higher-ups didn't seem to take this extreme situation seriously. No matter how Brother Zhang warned that conditions would be severe, the leaders only said, "Do not worry. Difficulties are temporary. We survived extreme cold before, we will survive extreme heat and daylight. The base already got news of the heat. Just improve the preparations already in place. Instead of endless meetings, act. The snow outside is melting. Team Zhang, maybe clear the base gate snow. If any gifted people come thinking the base is safe, we must be ready."
No matter what Brother Zhang said, the leaders blocked him. Three days of meetings produced no results and ended inconclusively.
Brother Zhang was angry but helpless. He could only lead people outside to clear the snow at the gate.
…
A week passed. The snow, several stories high, had melted thanks to low temperatures and cleaning, exposing the natural ground again.
Lan Jin looked at this and sighed, "No matter what, standing on solid ground feels best."
Lao Gao teased, "If it feels so good, stand more. Soon the flood melts. Then no chance to stand."
These days, sunlight streamed through the transparent shield, warming everyone. Sometimes Lan Jin could sit on the balcony and fall asleep directly.
But the sun's frequent appearance caused the temperature to rise quickly. A week ago, it was minus 30 degrees. Now it had risen to around minus 10, and after two more days, it stabilized above zero. A very pleasing development.
Just as everyone thought temperatures would continue to rise, frost silently arrived during the perpetual daylight.
Frost formed when water vapor near the ground reached saturation and the ground dropped below zero degrees, condensing into ice crystals on objects. Such frost had accompanied them since the extreme cold, but it was hardly noticeable. It mainly affected crops, which outside they no longer had, so it hadn't mattered much.
But this harmless frost suddenly coated the entire transparent shield overnight. It blocked sunlight, making the outside view impossible to see. The newly sprouted vegetables, even in the warm interior with the air conditioning on, were covered with thick frost.
Checking the temperature today, it had dropped again to minus 30 degrees.
Lan Jin reminded them, the base automatically regulated temperature. Even with high indoor warmth, frost still formed on the sprouts and did not melt at all.
Brother Zhang was exasperated. "Shouldn't happen. People are fine. Why are the vegetables frozen like this?"
Even the people renting land for vegetables were distressed. "Brother Zhang, this is not our fault. We cannot bear the losses ourselves."
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Perpetual daylight is a natural phenomenon, also commonly known as the Midnight Sun. It occurs when the Sun remains visible at midnight (and for a full 24 hours or longer), meaning there is no true night period, only continuous daylight.