Apocalypse Forecast

Chapter 431 - 371 The Winter_1

「More than a month later.」

When Huai Shi opened his eyes, he felt an uncomfortable sensation in his nostrils. After forcibly exhaling twice, foreign matter flew out of his nasal passage, hitting the ground like a cannonball.

Chunks of ice mixed with a large amount of iron filings shattered on the ground.

Subsequently, a fiery pain surged from his nostrils—the nasal mucosa, relatively fragile compared to his armor, had suffered frostbite.

He tried to exhale two breaths of fire, and his stiff body finally warmed up slightly. As he moved, his frozen scales made sharp noises, and a large amount of thin frost fell to the ground, creating a crisp metallic sound upon impact.

Twisting his neck, Huai Shi could hear the crackling sounds of his bones, making him sigh involuntarily.

"When will these days come to an end?"

[-190.75℃]

At Huai Shi's feet, the giant, cracked thermometer still displayed the last temperature reading before its demise. Huai Shi shook his head. Another ten degrees lower.

As he moved his body and consumed a large amount of iron ore again, his internal temperature gradually rose, melting the thin layer of frost beneath his feet.

His body temperature, like a blast furnace, turned a large amount of frozen moisture into steam that dispersed, causing the Dog-headed Men around him, clad in heavy protective suits, to moan in relief.

Huai Shi yawned, still feeling a trace of drowsiness that had yet to fade.

With the continuous drop in temperature, even someone as energetic as he was had started to feel tired in the past few days. After struggling to stay awake, he finally took a short nap.

"How long did I sleep?"

"Six hours," said the person in charge of the smelting center. "Time to get to work. According to the production schedule, we still have a shortfall of about fourteen thousand tons. Thank you for your hard work."

"No big deal."

Huai Shi smacked his lips and lifted his head. "Let's fire up the biggest furnace. We'll get it all done in one go."

"Is that possible?"

"Worst case, I'll just take another nap after finishing."

Huai Shi waved his hand nonchalantly; in the vacuum, there was no sound of wind. Nowadays, everyone has to communicate via radio when outside.

It was fine for the Giant Beasts, as they could communicate through Source Substance. However, when talking to ordinary people, one needed to be careful. This was especially true for someone of Huai Shi's stature—his Source Substance had crystallized in his marrow, weighing tens of thousands of tons. Speaking just slightly louder could easily turn a normal person into a vegetative state.

Deified Creatures were terrifying entities for ordinary people. Even Sublimators would get a headache from talking with Huai Shi for too long, despite Huai Shi trying his best to lower his consciousness waves.

Under Huai Shi's orders, the engineering team busily restarted production lines and preheated the workshop.

As the weather grew colder, the super-sized metal smelting furnace, newly built just a few days prior, had been abandoned due to its excessive energy waste and low cost-effectiveness. Only a being like Huai Shi could afford to spend a bit more effort to save some work and do it all at once.

While the ceiling was still closed, Huai Shi warmed up. He took a few deep breaths and exhaled some flames. Feeling the temperature gradually rise, he then took another deep breath.

A terrifyingly fierce blaze erupted, instantly turning the furnace before him red-hot.

Only preliminary ore smelting could use such crude methods; as long as the temperature was high enough, everything else was manageable.

But the disadvantages brought by the weather were too extreme. This time, he had to breathe fire until his mouth was dry to finally get this furnace of molten steel to temperature.

Such a young lad, and he was already running low on firepower.

Huai Shi fell into a deep gloom, beginning to reflect on whether he had been too unrestrained in the past, leading to a weakened state.

That's not right. Other than slight signs of rheumatism, I'm perfectly fine.

This damn weather is truly bothersome.

Two months ago, the temperature started to drop day by day, and it was now almost breaking through the negative two-hundred-degree Celsius mark, with no sign of stopping.

According to the Scholars' estimates, it probably wouldn't stop until it reached nearly negative two hundred seventy degrees.

By then, it would be close to absolute zero—existing technology could only reach this limit. No, perhaps it's more accurate to say that thermodynamics set this boundary from the start to maintain maximum stability.

Even the heat death of the universe at the end of times wouldn't be exaggerated beyond negative two hundred seventy degrees—any temperature below that would be meaningless, even to Hell.

At least for now, apart from the specific talents of certain creatures and the Authority of the Owner of the Great Mob, no environment in Hell has been discovered that could reach below absolute zero.

For Huai Shi, negative two hundred seventy degrees wasn't necessary; the current temperature already made him long for his thermal pants.

"Speaking of which, how are you guys doing with my thermal pants?"

After a long silence, the person in charge of the smelting center spoke with a complex tone, "The fox thought you were joking... so I didn't bring it up again. But his expression at the time was quite amusing—it was that 'You must be joking, right? Please tell me you're joking' kind of look. Honestly, I also think it's unrealistic."

"How is it unrealistic!"

Huai Shi widened his eyes. "I've made so many contributions to the Empire, how can the Empire not give me a pair of thermal pants?"

"...But we have to be able to afford it, brother!"

The person in charge glanced at him helplessly. "Never mind thermal pants, just making you a pair of briefs would deplete all our current reserves of thermal insulation material."

"..."

Huai Shi was silent for a long time, then said solemnly, "You've reminded me, I'm not wearing underwear."

"..."

"So, can you figure something out for me?"

"..."

"If boxer shorts aren't possible, I'll take briefs."

"..."

"Surely thongs can be up for discussion, right?"

"..."

Only after the person in charge managed to wipe off the blood he'd spat out behind his mask and catch his breath did he wave his hand and refuse with righteous indignation, "I don't think so! It doesn't matter what I think; no one would think it's possible..."

"Tsk, capitalists really are heartless and tearless."

Huai Shi looked at him disdainfully and picked at his teeth with a raised hand. Then, harnessing his Ability, he pulled out two iron rods hundreds of meters long. He held them in his front two hands; they felt like two slender iron skewers.

"...Wait a second, what are you planning to do?"

"Knit thermal pants."

His back two hands came together, continuously twisting a thick steel cable, rolling it up and bundling it into a huge ball, like a ball of yarn.

The two iron skewer-like rods struck each other, creating a blinding shower of sparks in the vacuum.

Huai Shi's fingertips moved slightly, getting a feel for it. He then raised his head and asked, "Do you want to learn? I'll teach you… You look like you don't have a girlfriend; you could knit a sweater for yourself."

"No, thanks!!!"

For some reason, the manager seemed quite angry. Was it because he couldn't learn to knit?

How strange.

Huai Shi shook his head and clicked his tongue twice, paying him no further mind.

He never once considered whether these steel-cable pants would actually keep him warm, or how embarrassing it was for a sled dog like himself to be knitting pants…

Such bittersweet days of finding joy amidst hardship ended on the day the temperature officially plunged below minus two hundred degrees Celsius.

"The Wilderness Guard is about to collapse."

An emergency meeting, and the fox brought yet another piece of bad news.

As their only source of drinking water, the Wilderness Guard had borne considerable pressure all along. After all, being without electricity or food was manageable, but being without water was no joke.

Moreover, compared to personal use, the industrial water shortage was the major issue. Huai Shi's large smelting center, in particular, was a significant water consumer. The refining and synthesis processes for some rare alloys produced large amounts of toxic wastewater that couldn't even be recycled.

Now, without the Wilderness Guard, it was undoubtedly terrible news.

"Wasn't everything fine just a few days ago?"

"With this temperature, I'd rather peel off my own skin to make a coat when I go out, let alone a jellyfish," the fox said expressionlessly. "It's already remarkable she held on until now… Later, when you have time, go and bid her farewell."

By the time Huai Shi saw the Wilderness Guard again, he almost couldn't recognize her.

In his original memory, the gigantic, alluring jellyfish—large enough to cover a city—was now torn and tattered. It spasmed laboriously in a pool of warm water. Through glimpses, he could see tiny organs pulsating slowly, filled with torment.

Even on a Witch's Night where one doesn't truly die, the agony of approaching death would not lessen by even a bit.

In fact, it might even be stronger.

After all, the considerable volume of a Giant Beast meant more nerves and additional sub-brains; a portion of pain could even double.

After medication, her condition finally improved a bit. A Source Substance phantom slowly rose from her body, seemingly in her original form—a middle-aged woman with glasses, dressed in a suit, her demeanor professional.

Upon seeing the fox and Phoenix, she nodded slowly, "I have honored my duty, my friends."

Before this, she had exhausted her last bit of strength to forge a massive iceberg in the extreme cold, nearly rivaling Huai Shi's size.

With the current standard of purification cycles, it was enough to last until the next generation of industrial purifiers was developed.

Otherwise, her condition would not have been so abysmal.

Phoenix and the fox had also agreed to this action. Although it would cause her pain, it was better to maximize the recovery of some losses while she still had energy, rather than let her struggle on the brink of death.

"Thank you for your dedication," the fox asked. "Is there anything else we can do?"

"No need. The research that needed to be completed is done. I should have left a while ago."

The Wilderness Guard shook her head, her Source Substance phantom slowly dissipating. "I wish you good luck," she said.

In the pool of warm water, the jellyfish's body suddenly disintegrated inch by inch, melting away until, eventually, only a green spring emerged from within her body.

A continuous flow of water welled up from it.

This was her last gift, not enough to support industry, but entirely sufficient as a source of clean drinking water for all Evolutionary Groups.

After a brief silence, the fox stared at the pool and couldn't help sighing.

"Next, we need to execute the relocation plan."

He turned back, his voice serious, "According to the map drawn by the previous satellites, we need to find another region still rich in geothermal energy. As per the plan, everyone start preparing."

The somber atmosphere was instantly dispelled, and everyone once again delved into their busy work.

About a month later, the metal city, cocooned in thick insulating layers, was hoisted by thousands of tower cranes and slowly settled onto Huai Shi's back.

It fit perfectly with the base, seamless.

And as Huai Shi slowly rose to his feet amid earth-shaking roars, the steel city on his back remained motionless, without even the slightest tremble.

"Guess I'm really a sled dog now." Huai Shi looked back, tightened the steel cable straps fixed on his body with his four hands, and after moving his body a bit, he tugged at The Sorrow of Index.

Supported by treads, the huge iceberg shook violently, sliding into the cold darkness along with him.

Silently, they embarked on the path of migration.

In the place where the city once stood, only layers of frost emerged from the entrance to the underground facility, the silence devoid of any sounds.

Only the solitary satellite that had once hung high above continued to twinkle with a dim light, illuminating Huai Shi's retreating figure.

They moved away, further and further.