【Note: The Death Tide will occur as usual during this period and is not affected by temperature.】
【Based on historical data, the Cold Wave is expected to arrive in the Panshi City area within 72 hours.】
【Current temperature: -9°C. Expected to drop to -20°C within 24 hours, -30°C within 48 hours, and below -50°C within 72 hours.】
Su Wan looked at the figures “five to six months,” her heart sinking slightly.
A winter lasting that long.
Daily temperatures of minus thirty to forty degrees.
Looking at those rows of data, Su Wan thought of Ah-Hao again.
Ah-Hao was the first tenant she met in the snow on the day she traveled here.
At that time, Ah-Hao was wearing thin clothes, lying in the snow with his entire body turned purple from the cold.
Although she had ignored the specific temperature at the time, on a snowy day like that, it must have been at least ten degrees below zero.
A child of seven or eight, lying in thin clothes in the snow at ten degrees below zero, had actually managed not to freeze to death.
And then there were those other children.
Those children who ran around barefoot in the corridors of the Terminal Station, wearing nothing on their upper bodies.
The temperature inside the building was fifteen degrees, but fifteen degrees was definitely not a temperature where children could play freely while shirtless and barefoot.
Yet, they didn't seem to feel the cold at all.
The people of this world carried a certain special substance in their bodies from birth.
This substance made their immune systems powerful, gave them incredible self-healing abilities, and allowed them to endure hunger.
Now, Su Wan realized that this substance also made them resistant to the cold.
In this apocalyptic world—this world that was eternally grey, eternally cold, and where the sun was never seen—temperature was never something the people here needed to consider.
It wasn't because they weren't afraid of the cold, but because they had lived in a world without warmth since the day they were born.
They didn't know what “warmth” felt like, so they didn't realize they were struggling in the “cold.”
Just as a fish doesn't know what water is because it has never left it.
As Black Rat spoke of the Cold Wave, the smile on his face faded slightly.
“Every year before the Cold Wave arrives, the Outer City opens Public Shelters, just like they do when the Death Tide comes.”
“But those shelters can't protect all the commoners.”
Black Rat gave a bitter laugh. “The Death Tide comes once every seven days and only lasts a few hours. You can squeeze together, endure it, and it passes.”
“But the Cold Wave is different. Once it comes, it stays for half a month, and the temperature can drop to over fifty degrees below zero. That kind of cold...”
He shook his head, seemingly unwilling to remember.
“All the Public Shelters in the Outer City combined can only hold six or seven thousand people at most. But how many people are in the Outer City? There are at least tens of thousands.”
“So, if you want to enter a shelter, you have to pay.”
Su Wan’s brow furrowed deeper. “Pay?”
“Yes,” Black Rat nodded. “A shelter fee. Five hundred Star Coins per person.”
“Five hundred Star Coins...” Su Wan repeated the figure.
She remembered that an ordinary worker in the Outer City only earned a little over a hundred Star Coins a month.
Five hundred Star Coins was equivalent to several months of their income.
“And those who can't afford it?”
Black Rat fell silent for a moment, his voice dropping lower. “Those who can't afford it have to rely on themselves.”
“Those with some savings will stock up on coal, firewood, and thick quilts in advance, along with some non-perishable food. They’ll block their doors and windows with rags and old cotton, and the whole family will huddle together to endure it.”
“If they're lucky, they’ll make it through. If they're not...”
He didn't finish, but the meaning was clear.
“These commoners are all people who can't afford the shelter fee and don't have enough supplies.”
“They all know that they likely won't survive this Cold Wave, which is why they left the Outer City to seek a way to live.”
“What about after the Cold Wave?” Su Wan pressed.
“After the Cold Wave passes, the deep winter still lasts for several months with temperatures between minus thirty and forty degrees. Even if those people survive the Cold Wave, how do they get through the rest of the winter?”
“Lord, you've hit the nail on the head.”
“The Cold Wave is the beginning of deep winter and the most difficult half-month to endure. As long as you survive the Cold Wave, things get much easier afterward.”
Su Wan’s eyebrows rose slightly. “How so?”
“Because once the Cold Wave passes, the Inner City will expand the range of the City Defense System.”
“The City Defense System?” This was the first time Su Wan had heard the term.
Black Rat nodded. “Yes, the City Defense System.”
“It's a high-tech thing. I can't explain exactly how it works, but it can cover the entire Inner City, maintaining constant temperature and humidity. It's warm in the winter and cool in the summer, so those big shots in the Inner City stay comfortable all year round.”
“After the Cold Wave, the Inner City will expand the range of the shield to cover the entire Outer City.”
Su Wan was slightly stunned. “The entire Outer City?”
“Yes,” Black Rat nodded. “By then, the temperature in the Outer City will stabilize between minus twenty-five and thirty degrees.”
“While that's still cold, it's much better than minus forty or fifty. As long as you have some thick clothes and a bit of food, you can live.”
Black Rat gave a bitter smile. “But after the Cold Wave, the residents of the Outer City have to pay a heating tax. Fifty Star Coins per person per month. If you can't pay, the City Defense Force will come knocking.”
“And food?” Su Wan asked again. “What do the commoners in the Outer City live on during the winter?”
“The Merchant Chambers,” Black Rat replied. “The major Merchant Chambers in the Outer City provide a long-term supply of food during the winter. It’s not free, of course, and the prices are even more expensive than usual.”
“But the Merchant Chambers vary. Some are black-hearted and will double or triple the price of grain during the winter. If the poor can't afford it, they just have to go hungry.”
“Some Merchant Chambers have a bit of a conscience and don't raise prices much, but those are too few and there's never enough to go around.”
Su Wan fell silent for a moment.
Heating taxes, food purchases.
The big shots of the Inner City had calculated everything perfectly.
Black Rat chuckled and continued, “Lord, the Cold Wave is a major reason these commoners are coming to our Terminal Station, but the contribution of our Night Owl team isn't small either.”
Su Wan’s eyebrows rose, her interest piqued. “How so?”
Su Wan had always kept track of the Night Owl team’s movements; she knew they had been promoting the Terminal Station in the Outer City.
But they were mercenaries, after all, living a life on the edge of a blade. Their credibility wasn't high to begin with, and their reputation wasn't great.
What did the Night Owl team used to do? They took on dirty jobs and killed people.
It would be a miracle if the commoners of the Outer City believed a word they said.
Furthermore, the Terminal Station was located on the edge of the Ruin Zone, close to the Non-Safe Zone. As soon as the commoners heard that, they felt an instinctive resistance and never even considered coming.
During this time, although the Night Owl team had worked hard, the results had indeed been minimal.
Rate on N.U.
