By 11 PM, another large wave of evacuees arrived at the Binhai Road Sports Stadium.
Compared to the citizens who had trickled into the stadium throughout the afternoon, this group looked panicked and distraught. Some of them had arrived drenched and terrified, not even carrying a bag.
Since some of these people were assigned to the single tents in the first row in front of Gou Fugui, his enhanced hearing allowed him to learn their identities and what had happened to them.
They were residents from a wealthy villa community who had thought their homes were sturdy, only to have them blown apart by the storm.
Listening to the young man in tent number 122, slightly diagonal to his own, viciously curse the villa construction company, Gou Fugui couldn't help but chuckle at first, then sighed inwardly. When disaster strikes, it doesn't care about your status or age; its treatment is as impartial as time itself, passing over everything equally.
Then, Gou Fugui fell asleep amidst the constant, hushed conversations within the stadium and the relentless, impossible-to-ignore roar of the torrential rain and gale-force winds outside. Compared to his fitful nap that afternoon, he slept relatively well that night.
Though even his dreams were set against a backdrop of ocean and stormy waves.
When he woke the next day, the clock above the stadium's main entrance showed exactly six o'clock. But looking out through the glass entrance doors directly ahead, the pitch-black sky made it hard to believe it was already morning.
The heavy rain had indeed continued all night.
Gou Fugui thought for a moment, then quietly unzipped his tent and walked over to the stadium's glass doors. Peering through the glass at the front steps and the street beyond, he immediately frowned.
When he had arrived at the stadium yesterday morning, the street flooding had only reached his ankles. But now, the entire street was completely submerged. The roadside shrubs were more than half underwater.
Parked sedans were visible only by their roofs, and even larger SUVs only showed about half of their windows.
Even the dozens of steps leading up to the stadium were now submerged by three or four steps. At a glance, it suddenly gave the impression of a waterlogged kingdom.
Gou Fugui stood by the door for a long time until a voice sounded near his ear: "Cars are useless now. If you want to go out, you'll need a boat. Tsk."
Gou Fugui instantly felt a tingling sensation in his right ear and scalp, unsure if it was from the hot breath or the startle. He looked up and, sure enough, saw Xie Tianlang's infuriatingly handsome face. He curled his lip. "We'd need to have a boat first."
Here, Gou Fugui suddenly paused. There might actually be boats here—in a sports stadium in a coastal city, there should be single and multi-person kayaks, surfboards, even rubber dinghies. He just didn't know if there were any small sailboats.
Xie Tianlang had clearly thought of the same thing, the corner of his mouth lifting. "In a place like this, if you look around, you'll always find something."
Gou Fugui rolled his eyes and turned to leave, but Xie Tianlang reached out an arm to stop him.
His beautiful phoenix eyes instantly lifted, revealing a sharp glint. Xie Tianlang, however, gave a light chuckle. He even bent slightly at the waist, tilting his head—for a moment, appearing almost like a gentleman, elegant and polite. "I am Xie Tianlang."
"Xie as in the noble Xie family of ancient lore, Tianlang as in the brightest star in the celestial heavens."
"I feel we are quite fated. Shall we get acquainted?"
Gou Fugui watched as the man opposite him unhurriedly extended his hand, palm turning upwards. Gou Fugui's eyebrows gradually rose, and finally, he let out a scoffing laugh. "No need to be so formal."
"Gou Fugui."
Xie Tianlang: "...What?"
The beautiful Fugui reached up to comb through his unbound long hair with his fingers, grinning. "Gou as in 'lie low for a long and peaceful life,' Fugui as in 'gamble for glory and riches.'"
Then, Gou Fugui reached out and patted the shoulder of Xie Tianlang, whose expression had turned subtly complex, adding a final line: "Brother, remember me when you make it big, eh?"
Comparing names, mine is undoubtedly more auspicious than yours, by a mile! Hmph.
So, Xie Tianlang stood by the door for a good while before finally laughing out loud.
"A fine name."
Both the person and the name were unforgettable. In every sense.
Although Xie Tianlang and Gou Fugui had formally introduced themselves, they didn't start acting together. For the beautiful Fugui, Xie Tianlang was just a stranger he'd met, even if this "wolf-man" had some strange, inexplicable connection to Sea Otter Fugui. But what did that have to do with him, Gou Fugui?
And Xie Tianlang and his team had their own tasks to attend to.
Song Sanchuan was using his remaining devices to diligently gather all available information about the world, attempting to breach some important websites, and recording contact methods for the upper echelons.
Clearly, having a technical expert was very useful for rescuers who had just arrived in this world. While Gou Fugui, favored by this world's consciousness, could only struggle and speculate alone, Song Sanchuan had already collected a significant amount of intel.
"Boss, it's almost certain this world is facing an oceanic apocalypse. Although global heavy rainfall started two months ago, the key issue is the rapid rise in global sea levels over these past two months."
Song Sanchuan's expression was serious. "I compared real-time world land-sea monitoring maps from two months ago and now. In these two months, seawater has already covered an additional 2% of this world's landmass."
"2% sounds small, right? But in practical terms, some coastal islands have been completely submerged. And just last night, according to a report from this country's meteorological bureau I'm connected to, due to the tsunami 'Queen,' the sea coverage increased by another 1% in a single night."
"If this rate continues, in at most three months, over 90% of this world's land will be submerged by seawater. Coastal plains, central plains regions, even plateau regions with altitudes below two thousand meters will be completely flooded."
"This world's landmass is almost identical to ours, with North and South Poles as well. But within the next three months, it's highly likely the polar ice caps will completely melt..."
By the end, Song Sanchuan's expression was somewhat blank.
"Boss, this really is a world-ending event. But how do you save a world from this? It's impossible, isn't it?"
Even if human technology could pride itself on dominating the world and looking down upon all living creatures, in the face of such cataclysmic changes, it was utterly powerless and insignificant.
Xie Tianlang reached out and gave Song Sanchuan's head a light slap. "How to save it? Didn't World-Dad tell you? Either eliminate the source of the disaster, or just hold on and survive to the end."
"Finding the source isn't an option now. Having more people survive together and finding the world's core should do the trick."
"Post timed messages on the network. Tell people in unaffected areas to prepare more food, water, large barrels, bathtubs, anything that can float. Life jackets, medicine, have them get all that ready too. Whether they believe it or not, just send it."
"The upper echelons of the country are probably keeping the news about the land being submerged under wraps for now, to prevent panic, but internally they must have already formulated a response. At the very least, large ships capable of withstanding the waves are definitely being built. Look into possible locations for the final 'arks'."
Xie Tianlang listened to the sound of rain outside and said slowly, "If this place gets flooded, we'll find a way to board one of those big ships."
Song Sanchuan nodded repeatedly, taking note, but couldn't help muttering in the end, "We're not going to have to stow away like the protagonists in 2012, are we?"
Xie Tianlang kicked him. "Stow away my ass. This isn't a sudden, explosive disaster. Even if we can't get on a big ship, can't we get on a lifeboat? As long as you don't drown, you'll live!"
The current trouble was how to find the world's core.
But the disaster had just begun, and the core wouldn't be so easily discovered.
For now, it's best to lay low and survive.
Thinking this, Xie Tianlang suddenly laughed again. Under the bewildered gazes of Qin Feng and the other two, he nodded. "Indeed, laying low leads to a long life. Laying low brings... wealth and honor."
"D-don't forget each other?" Song Sanchuan foolishly added the next line.
The brightest star, Tianlang, shot him a glance. "Wishful thinking."
Meanwhile, the 'wealth and honor' beauty that Xie Tianlang had thought of was still watching the heavy rain outside.
The downpour had lasted a whole day, and the second floor of the gymnasium was now fully occupied as well.
So many people crammed into one place, each radiating emotions of anxiety, anger, or sorrow, made the entire atmosphere of the gymnasium feel suffocating.
And this was only the second day of taking shelter, with food still being sufficient.
Gou Fugui could hardly imagine what the gymnasium would become if the environment remained like this for the next six days or even longer.
Furthermore, in just one daytime, the floodwaters had risen another three steps on the gymnasium's front staircase. At this rate, the gymnasium would be submerged sooner or later.
He needed to make some preparations.
Stockpile some food and water, and preferably get his hands on a small boat.
Although transforming into Otter Fugui would make him immune to the sea disaster, there was only so much a single sea otter could do.
This was where "Transformation Skill 2 — Bloodline Enhancement" came in.
So, at five o'clock in the afternoon the next day, under the gatekeeper's gaze that clearly labeled him a madman, Gou Fugui walked out of the gymnasium's main gate with his backpack.
"Hey, you, the long-haired one! Are you sure you want to go out now? The rain hasn't stopped, and the water is really high. If you're not careful, you might not make it back!"
Gou Fugui looked back at the young man, smiled, and said, "Thanks for your concern. But don't worry, I'm an excellent swimmer. I'll definitely bring back some big crabs."
The gatekeeper: "..."
Who the hell is concerned about you?! And since when does being a good swimmer guarantee you'll catch crabs?! Don't you know it's often the good swimmers who drown?!
The gatekeeper glared furiously at Gou Fugui's retreating back, which from behind looked strikingly like his dream girl's silhouette, feeling his liver ache with anger.
But what made him even more furious and frustrated was that two hours later, the guy with the high ponytail returned completely unscathed. That wasn't the main point. The main point was, he was carrying a live, flopping big fish!!!
Gou Fugui, carrying a tuna, received a collective stare of shock from the people living in the tents at the front of the gymnasium.
What they didn't know was that the human-form Sea Otter Fugui, who had successfully activated his "Bloodline Enhancement," also had over a dozen scallops and five large crabs stashed in the little hidden spaces under his armpits that others couldn't see.
Of course, there were some in his backpack too.
