Emergency(1)

That night, the routine system refresh message appeared in Su Wu's field of vision.

[The living environment has undergone major changes.]

[Starting to reset the evaluation parameters.]

[Update completed—]

[Current territory: Standard Personal Shelter (27%), Daily Fixed Survival Points +3.]

[Complete the construction of a Standard Personal Shelter: Survival Points +20.]

[Upgrade the shelter air circulation system: Survival Points +5.]

[Upgrade the shelter central air conditioning: Survival Points +3.]

[Current remaining survival points: 31]

"It's updated."

Su Wu was slightly surprised as his gaze shifted to the "Current Territory" section.

The biggest change after the update was the introduction of a level system for shelters. The terms "Standard" and "Personal" indicated the classification, while the percentage in brackets functioned as an experience bar.

At the same time, the introduction of the shelter level system had tripled his daily fixed income.

This was no small change.

An additional two survival points per day might not seem like much, but it was enough to construct a mini diesel excavator.

If he saved up for a few days, he could even double the size of his engineering team.

"The future priority…"

"It should be improving the shelter's level as quickly as possible."

"I just don't know the exact mechanics behind it yet."

With a thoughtful expression, Su Wu studied the shelter level on the system panel.

He had a feeling that he had uncovered a hidden mechanism within the system.

If he could figure out the pattern, he might be able to gain a significant amount of extra survival points.

Su Wu's good mood, brought on by the surge in survival points, was abruptly shattered by urgent news.

The real doomsday had arrived early.

A sudden global emergency announcement spread across every possible medium—television, radio, the internet.

"Federal Government Order No. 1."

"All continents, provinces, cities, districts, and counties must immediately cease all production and surface activities and evacuate to the nearest shelter."

"Repeat, all citizens must immediately abandon all tasks and enter the shelter."

Within mere hours, warning sirens blared across every city, town, and village.

In Jianghe City, where Su Wu resided, the once-empty streets—previously occupied only by official transport trucks—suddenly became flooded with panic-stricken civilians.

Despite the scorching 50-degree heat, families rushed toward designated shelters under the relentless urging of authorities.

Even in the remote wilderness where Su Wu's farm was located, he could see cars packed with villagers speeding toward the safety of underground shelters.

Inside the Jianghe City Doomsday Survival Preparation Group, panic spread through the chat.

Heavy Knight sent a trembling voice message.

"It's horrible…"

"Ten minutes. Just ten minutes."

"Everyone within a few hundred kilometers of the African Rift Valley is dead."

"That's tens of millions of people—gone."

The message was quickly followed by several satellite images.

Su Wu clicked on them, his pupils contracting.

The photos depicted cities engulfed in an endless sea of fire.

Strangely, there were no signs of human activity—no bodies, no evacuation efforts—just empty, burning ruins.

"I heard about it too," someone in the group chat chimed in.

"They're calling it a 'sudden heat outbreak.'"

"The temperature spiked to over 200 degrees in an instant."

"It's like hell on Earth."

Even the usually carefree Zhuang Gongzi, a wealthy second-generation heir, was shaken.

"I always thought the apocalypse was just some distant concept," he said.

"But now, the only thing separating me from death is the few meters of concrete above my shelter."

"The world we knew is gone."

Then, another message appeared.

Ye Luoshuanghua, a usually silent member, had gathered some insider information.

"The heat wave hasn't disappeared."

"According to official sources, it's expected to hit other continents within 24 hours."

"That's why the Federation issued the emergency order so suddenly."

"The apocalypse is truly here."

Su Wu fell silent.

With a sigh, he closed the group chat and turned his attention to the outside world.

The catastrophe in the African Rift Valley was terrifying, but it was far away. The situation in Jianghe City was what truly concerned him.

The problem was that his only connection to the outside world, a medium-sized truck, had completed its final transportation task the night before and was now parked in the farmyard.

Driving out now wasn't an option.

Not only was the scorching heat a serious hazard, but competing for road space with panicked evacuees would be a disaster waiting to happen.

That wasn't an issue, though.

Su Wu had other ways of gathering intelligence.

After a moment of thought, he got up and retrieved several boxes from a cabinet in his bedroom.

Inside were consumer-grade drones he had purchased from a coastal city days ago.

Cheap, decent camera quality—exactly what he needed.

Spending three survival points, he modified them into a long-range drone formation.

Returning to the control center, he powered up the drones through the console.

"Start matching."

"Matching successful."

"Enable automatic anti-collision protection."

"Maintain flight altitude: 1.5 meters. Speed: 0.5 meters per second."

Watching the live feed on his console screen, Su Wu carefully piloted the drones, guiding them through the underground shelter toward the exit on the second basement level.

The extreme heat outside made it too risky to manually launch them, so he opted for remote operation instead.

With the help of basic AI assistance, maneuvering through the tight indoor spaces was relatively easy.

Within thirty seconds, the three palm-sized drones reached the shelter exit.

The final isolation door slid open, revealing the lifting platform leading to the surface.

The drones ascended to the first basement level, then followed an upward passage before emerging above ground.

The moment they were airborne, Su Wu pushed their speed to the limit.

As the drones climbed higher, most of Jianghe City gradually came into view.

"There's a fire."

Looking down from above, Su Wu immediately noticed two or three buildings engulfed in flames.

Zooming in, he saw no fire trucks, no firefighters—nothing.

The city's emergency services were clearly overwhelmed.

At this critical moment, evacuating civilians took priority over putting out fires.

In other words, the authorities were powerless.

They could no longer afford to worry about details like burning buildings when the entire world was on the verge of collapse.