Qin Sang didn’t take her eyes off her phone even after the press conference ended. While her ears listened to the spokesperson, her eyes were fixed on the various online comments.
Just as she had expected, negative comments were deleted within a second of appearing. She figured that Dalinzi and the others had been temporarily assigned by the authorities, and part of that manpower was likely dedicated to this task.
On the other hand, there were plenty of positive comments as well.
Many posts about stockpiling and survival had already appeared on major websites and apps. In addition, related short videos, mini-dramas, and even TV series were being launched one after another.
Needless to say, this was the authorities’ doing. After realizing that people with prophetic dreams had emerged, the government had begun preparing all of this.
Qin Sang clicked on a survival short video that taught viewers how to filter, store, and even distill water in water-scarce environments.
She scrolled to another video, which showed how to tell if an insect was poisonous or not and how to turn insects into food. This, of course, was meant to expand people’s food sources in response to the potential food crisis of a high-temperature apocalypse.
Scrolling further, she found a video teaching indoor planting techniques.
In short, in the span of just one press conference, all the short videos, mini-dramas, and TV series across the internet had become survival-related.
Even on music apps, some of the songs playing were connected to survival.
It was impossible not to admire the power of the state. It also made Qin Sang more confident about humanity’s future. If possible, she hoped that as many people as possible would survive.
——
Just then, a message popped up on all major apps on her phone. At the same time, all mobile carriers sent the same message.
The content was identical—a website link. The sender was directly displayed as: Flower Country Natural Disaster Response Management Bureau.
This was an agency name that had appeared once during the press conference. It was established mainly to deal with potential future natural disasters.
Without hesitation, Qin Sang clicked the link, which redirected her to an app download page.
She clicked download and installed…
A minute later, a green circular icon appeared on her phone. Qin Sang opened it, and the app’s splash screen simply displayed two characters—Survival.
After the splash screen, the home page looked like that of any ordinary app, featuring an official news section. The entire content of today’s press conference had already been posted, along with various practical survival skills. The menu bar at the top categorized different topics.
There were sections divided by city, by type of information, and so on.
At the bottom of the home page were several large icons: Home, Favorites, Mall, Tasks, and Profile.
Among them, the Mall and Tasks icons were grayed out and couldn’t be clicked. Qin Sang felt a little disappointed. She was most curious about those two.
She clicked on Profile, and sure enough, real-name registration was required.
The registration required a lot of information. Besides basic details, she had to provide her current address, whether she had experienced prophetic dreams, the content of those dreams, and whether she had a spatial ability. During the process, multiple dynamic facial recognition scans were required.
Earlier at the press conference, they had urged people to register, and Qin Sang had assumed it would be on a voluntary basis. She hadn’t expected them to develop an app for everyone to fill out.
But the registration process seemed somewhat lax—community follow-ups would likely verify the information door-to-door later.
Qin Sang silently noted this, then helped install the Survival app on her parents’ phones as well.
While helping them fill out their registration information, Qin Sang finally asked them about their prophetic dreams.
——
“The content was pretty much what Dalinzi said. One morning, after the sun rose, the temperature started skyrocketing. Many people got heatstroke or died from hyperthermia. Cars, planes, trains—none of them could be used. Just trying to travel would easily cause fires. Air conditioners in people’s homes would explode from time to time. Fires happened every day. Nothing could grow in the fields. The rivers and lakes dried up. The polar glaciers melted, and the sea levels dropped sharply…”
Dad and Mom Qin described the content of their dreams intermittently. It was more or less the same as what the authorities had announced. The scenes in these prophetic dreams were fragmented and disjointed. No one had foreseen what kind of disaster would follow the high-temperature cataclysm.
So, Qin Sang didn’t dwell too much on the content of the prophetic dreams. After confirming things with her parents, she asked about the spatial ability.
“Right before you fell asleep and right after you woke up, did you notice anything different?”
The two of them had the same prophetic dream, yet one had a space and the other didn’t. There had to be some difference. Qin Sang had been thinking about this question for quite a while.
Both Mom and Dad Qin looked completely confused.
“We honestly can’t figure it out. We slept in the same bed. Didn’t notice anything different! Maybe the space likes women and hates men? That’s why your mom got the space and I didn’t!”
Dad Qin scratched his head and said.
Hearing this, Mom Qin reached over and patted the man’s shoulder. “It must be because you’re ugly. The space finds you repulsive!”
Qin Sang: …
Never mind. The authorities had a larger sample size. They’d probably have news in a day or two.
——
“Mom, how big is your space? And can it really keep things fresh?”
Hearing this, Mom Qin smiled smugly. An ice cream radiating cold air suddenly appeared in her empty hand.
“Hehe, as soon as I woke up and discovered the space, I grabbed an ice cream from the fridge and put it in. It’s really amazing!”
Even though her daughter had a family heirloom space, having her own still felt truly magical.
Seeing this, Dad Qin’s eyes turned slightly red with envy.
He was the only one out of the three in the family who didn’t have a space, and he had no idea why!
Qin Sang: … And I’m the only one out of the three without a prophetic dream. I’d also like to know why!
But seeing how envious her father looked, Qin Sang held back a laugh and signaled to her mother.
Mom Qin was amused. “No need to stare so longingly. Just stick with me, and you won’t go hungry.”
Dad Qin: When have I ever not stuck with you?
Seeing her parents start to flirt, Qin Sang got up and went to her room to turn on her computer. She created an Excel spreadsheet for supplies. Now she needed to allocate a portion of the supplies to her mother’s space, so she started by making a sub-table for the supplies to be set aside.
——
While Qin Sang was busy, reactions to the authorities’ press conference varied around the world.
In fact, back at the end of June, when people in Flower Country started having prophetic dreams, people all over the globe were having similar dreams.
It was as if some mysterious force was trying to give all of humanity a chance to survive. In the face of life, everyone was equal.
Among these prophetic dreamers, there were plenty of wealthy and powerful individuals. But none of them thought about announcing the impending disaster. Instead, they quietly began searching for people with spatial abilities among the general public. Many who gained such abilities didn’t keep a low profile.
Especially in those countries that championed freedom, many of these newfound space owners showed off on social media.
These people were quickly rounded up by the wealthy and powerful, who used them to gather supplies.
Some low-key individuals, on the other hand, quietly hoarded supplies on their own.
Regardless, none of these people in other countries expected Flower Country to publicly announce the impending disaster.
They had assumed that even if the news were to be released, it would be after they had finished gathering supplies. Flower Country’s move caught them completely off guard.
Then, all sorts of doubts and both overt and covert condemnations began on the international stage.
Especially when people in their own countries raised the issue of the impending disaster, some of these nations claimed it was a hoax, while others began announcing the disaster to their citizens, urging everyone to stock up rationally.
In short, for a time, the international scene was utter chaos.
Meanwhile, Flower Country’s planes and ships began heading around the world, launching a massive evacuation of its overseas citizens.
——
Qin Sang didn’t pay much attention to international affairs. She glanced at the news that popped up on her phone but didn’t dwell on it. After allocating a portion of the supplies to her mother’s space, she stepped outside to take a look around.
The village was quite lively at this hour.
Some tenants were negotiating lease terminations with landlords, some villagers were trying to use connections to buy supplies, and others were going door to door borrowing money for supplies.
The crowd made the village roads nearly impassable. The section near the village convenience store, in particular, was so packed that she couldn’t squeeze through.
“Sangsang, Sangsang…”
Qin Sang looked up and saw, not far from the convenience store, Second Aunt and a few others jostling through the crowd. These were the same people who had gone to the supermarket with them yesterday, only to come back empty-handed.
“Second Aunt, what’s everyone crowding for?”
“The convenience store is organizing a group buy. You can get rice, flour, cooking oil, and grains. I called your parents, but neither of them answered. You came just in time. Come line up with us. Things are crazy out there—a lot of people are panic-buying supplies. This store is run by a villager, so it’s just us locals doing our own group buy.”
Qin Sang didn’t want to squeeze through the crowd, but the family didn’t have many supplies on the surface. So she joined in. In the sweltering heat, she was soon drenched in sweat. To make matters worse, some idiot behind her kept pushing forward. Then, Qin Sang was lifted off her feet by the crowd, almost flying through the air. Poor Second Aunt got her head slammed against the wall from the shoving.
Great, now there was blood!
Qin Sang used her arms to brace against the shoulders of the people around her, jumped onto the table in front of the convenience store, and grabbed the loudspeaker usually used for ads.
Grabbing the loudspeaker, she shouted, “What’s all the shoving for? Second Aunt up front is bleeding!”
No one listened at first, but when the people in the back heard the word “bleeding,” they finally quieted down.
Just then, a patrol team appeared on the village road. Qin Sang shouted to them, “Brother Fa, come over here!”
With the patrol team stepping in, order at the convenience store was quickly restored. Second Aunt, clutching her forehead, was finally helped out.
Qin Sang took a look and breathed a sigh of relief. It was just a scraped forehead, and she’d probably hit a small blood vessel, so it bled a little more than usual. But it had already stopped.
Second Aunt was in a tough spot—she lived alone as an elderly woman. Qin Sang decided to help take her to the nearby pharmacy to get the wound treated.
“You can order rice online through group buys.”
The pharmacy had only one employee, who was also the owner. After helping Second Aunt with her wound, he leaned in mysteriously and whispered.
“How much?” Qin Sang asked directly. There weren’t many people in the pharmacy—most were busy hoarding food. The owner’s enthusiasm clearly meant he stood to gain something.
“Hehe, not expensive. A 50-pound bag of rice is only five hundred bucks.”
“Ten bucks a pound and that’s not expensive?” Qin Sang didn’t react much, but Second Aunt got agitated.
The pharmacy owner waved his hand. “That’s not expensive. I hear outside places have already started rationing. If you want some, I have connections and can get a ton.”
Qin Sang was tempted to say no, but after thinking it over, she said, “Our family wants five hundred pounds. Can we see the goods?” At ten bucks a pound, she definitely needed to inspect it.
Seeing how decisively Qin Sang was buying, Second Aunt gritted her teeth and decided to pull out her pension money. If she didn’t buy now, prices might go even higher later.
Seeing that the two wanted a large amount, the owner finally pulled a bag of rice from under the counter.
It was good-quality Northeast rice. Qin Sang grabbed a handful and smelled it—it was fresh.
After confirming the quantity, the owner pulled out a few more bags from under the counter. At this point, Qin Sang was sure: “You’re pulling this straight out of your space, aren’t you?”
The owner just chuckled and didn’t say anything.
Having goods in hand was fine. Qin Sang didn’t waste time. She called her mother to bring the money over, and also to give her mother’s space a public test run.
Second Aunt had only brought a few hundred bucks, enough for just one bag. She planned to go home and get more money.
Qin Sang was about to say she could take the goods first and use her family’s space to deliver them to her home. But the next second, the bag of rice in Second Aunt’s hand disappeared.
What the…
Qin Sang’s eyes widened as she looked at Second Aunt, whose eyes were equally wide.
“Second Aunt, you… you had a prophetic dream too? I hadn’t heard anything about it!”
Second Aunt shook her head in equal surprise. “No! I didn’t have a prophetic dream! Ah, wait. I…”
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