Chapter 168

The disaster map was broadcasting globally, and news that a calamity had struck the capital spread like wildfire. Overseas, many busybodies wanted to see how this country—which had declared that the whole world would soon face calamities—would handle a disaster in its own capital. Some, especially those whose regions had already been hit by predicted disasters, were gleeful, sarcastically asking in live streams whether the capital's residents should flee like those east of the Yellow Sea.

Zhou Yi saw the trending topic and immediately thought of Lin Tu, whom she'd recommended for training in the capital. Calculating the time, she figured Lin Tu had probably arrived just recently. She hurriedly sent a message, but the disaster had likely disrupted signals—her messages failed to go through. She tried Pai Daxing next, still no luck. Finally, she remembered the phone Lin Tu had given her; by then, it was already dinner time.

She finally received a reply saying all was well and breathed a sigh of relief.

By now, the capital's signals had mostly recovered, and residents were getting online to report their safety.

On trending, a woman named "Love Melon Seeds" described her encounter with the disaster in an extremely exaggerated tone. According to her, a spider as tall as a two-story building had burst out of the street. She'd been playing with her child and nearly died of fright, but a young woman suddenly appeared behind the spider and killed it with a single gunshot, saving her and her family.

The woman's praise was overflowing, and Zhou Yi could tell without checking that the young woman was Lin Tu.

Some comments accused the woman of making things up, saying no one could legally own guns in the country. Others who knew about the mutated monsters east of the Yellow Sea clarified that guns were useless against those creatures, suspecting the woman was a hired shill to calm the public.

The woman hadn't expected the controversy and dug up some photos from the scene, but they were too blurry to make out clearly.

Zhou Yi rolled her eyes—clearly, the woman was telling the truth; her sister was just that cool. Besides, the military could handle monsters, and it wasn't just this woman saying so—others with IP addresses in the capital were saying the same!

A user named "Falling Leaves and Drifting Snow" said casually, "Oh, that's it? Won't affect my work tomorrow." Another user, "I Hate Kale," said, "My grandpa loves growing flowers, and a giant ladybug just popped out of one. But it's okay—my family was in the bedroom waiting for rescue. I nearly scared myself to death and tripped trying to jump out the window. My clothes got a bit dirty."

The official death toll hadn't been released yet, but oddly, judging by online comments, the casualty rate seemed low—much lower than in other deep-yellow disaster zones.

This brought great relief to people across the country. Though they didn't know what had happened, hadn't Han City also survived a red-level disaster? Many started role-playing as cheerleaders, saying the capital's residents were just lucky, and some gloating foreigners actually believed it.

But in the end, the capital had made it through this disaster, with most people surviving, and those who didn't would not be forgotten.

A few days of training passed in the blink of an eye, and even Lin Tu, with her enhanced stamina, felt somewhat exhausted.

After thanking the instructors, she left the Astronaut Training Center to face the upcoming disaster.

At the center, the chief's secretary personally called to inquire about her training progress.

"How is she doing?" the man's voice asked, gentle yet brisk.

"Excellent," the coach replied, looking at the training data on the computer, "or more precisely, inhumanly excellent."

She didn't know how to explain, and after a pause, continued, "To test her limits, I kept intensifying her training. But... her physical condition is beyond what any ordinary person could achieve. Even the most gifted athletes under the harshest training couldn't reach her level."

She printed out the data and tapped her finger on it, the image of the girl swimming effortlessly in deep water while carrying four fifty-kilogram iron weights still vivid in her mind. Even now, she found it hard to believe. Having studied the human body for years, she couldn't fathom how anyone could reach such a limit.

"Can she become a qualified astronaut? Can she survive in space?" the secretary asked.

"She is, by all measures, a qualified astronaut," the coach affirmed.

.

"Last three seconds," Lin Tu said, patting Xiao Huang's head before setting her down at the Back Mountain. She'd heard that even spaceships could cause motion sickness, and she didn't want Xiao Huang vomiting all over her living room.

The next second, she blinked, and found herself in a new world.

A cacophony of noises pulled her back to reality. She opened her eyes and found herself lying in a cramped two-square-meter space. More precisely, it was a small bed sealed off by wire mesh and curtains. Calling it a bed would be generous; it was more like a cage.

Lin Tu pulled aside the curtain and looked out. It was a noisy, cramped dormitory, only about ten square meters. On either side of the room were two sets of bunk beds, each with six tiers.

Lin Tu was on the third tier from the bottom in the middle. On the opposite side, three of the six bunks had their curtains open. Directly across from her, a middle-aged couple in their forties sat on their bed, cracking sunflower seeds and chatting with the person on the bunk below Lin Tu. When they noticed her looking over, they waved in greeting.

Lin Tu couldn't help but think of the cage homes in Hong Kong, never imagining she'd one day live in such a place.

The clock by the door showed it was eight in the evening.

Lin Tu climbed down from her bunk and headed to a spot near a window to get some fresh air—with at least twenty people crammed into this small space, the smell was hard to stomach.

Guan Suixing, Kou Lin, and the others had also arrived in the disaster world and sent messages to the group chat to report their safety.

Speaking of Guan Suixing—for some reason, she had suddenly become normal again and was extremely eager to join the Temple as a full member. Since she hadn't been trained by the Temple, her acceptance required clearing an S-level disaster.

From Guan Suiyue, Lin Tu had learned some of the Temple's inner secrets, and given the difficulty of S-level disasters, she didn't want Guan Suixing to join. But Guan Suixing showed Lin Tu a new S-level item: [A Blank Fairy Tale Book], which could instantly deal with a bunch of S-level monsters. After a moment's thought, Lin Tu agreed to team up with her.

It wasn't just Guan Suixing—with disasters in [Infinite Calamity] getting harder, everyone knew they'd be forced into S-level disasters within three months. So they'd thrown almost all their savings at buying skill and item boost scrolls.

Better to act proactively than reactively, and with trustworthy teammates by their side, it beat going in blind alone.

The Black Factory's detection items were useless against S-level disasters, so before entering this world, they knew very little—only that it was a spaceship that might run out of oxygen.

Unexpectedly, upon landing, they found the place looked just like any ordinary ground location, making them feel like they'd wasted their oxygen tanks.

Lin Tu: So what if she'd been training by carrying iron blocks in deep water? Was she just fond of exercise?

Lin Tu asked for everyone's dorm numbers and then messaged Yu Liu privately. His team had seven people too, and since resources on the ship were limited, the two teams would probably scavenge separately and only consider regrouping once the disaster broke out fully.

After sending the messages, Lin Tu was about to head back to the dorm to ask for more information about the ship when she heard a "crackling" sound overhead.

Then, everything went dark.

Screams erupted across the dormitory.

Lin Tu quickly popped a blueberry into her mouth and dashed back inside.