“Go, go, go—hurry up and get on the bus.”
“Open seats over here—board this way. Speed it up, the plane won’t wait…”
Half an hour later, the rescue team dispatched by the authorities really did arrive. Qin Sang and the others lined up and boarded the buses one by one. The process was smooth and seamless—so smooth that Qin Sang felt like she was dreaming.
No, this can’t be right. How could it be this easy? Then what was the point of the bombing? Shouldn’t there be a follow-up? Shouldn’t there be some kind of bizarre objective behind all this?
Feeling the bus start moving and seeing the signal return to her phone, Qin Sang was left with a giant question mark.
She recounted her subway experience to Da Linzi in detail, then asked her soul-searching question: “Am I overthinking this?”
On the other end of the phone, Da Linzi read through the messages, thought for a few minutes, and replied: “You’re not overthinking it. There’s definitely something wrong here. Someone in your group was probably the target of the attack. The reason the attackers couldn’t complete their mission is likely that they ran into some kind of force majeure…”
At that sentence, Qin Sang’s mind immediately flashed to those giant cockroaches.
“Those giant cockroaches are absolutely the reason,” Da Linzi sent simultaneously from the other end of the phone.
Meanwhile, deep in the tunnel, aside from a few half-eaten scraps of clothing and shoe soles, no one knew that several ambushing enemies had died there.
After picking everyone up, the rescue team sent a fully armed squad into the tunnel to investigate. But the giant cockroaches had completely vanished. If not for the clear footage captured by the body cameras Qin Sang and the others were wearing, people might have thought they had dreamed the whole thing.
Of course, Qin Sang didn’t know any of this yet.
The bus arrived at the airport without incident. After eating, washing up, and boarding the plane, they returned to Huashan City under the cover of darkness.
——
“Oh my, such big cockroaches!”
“They’ve practically turned into spirits!”
“Mom, Dad, we can look at these photos, but don’t show them to anyone outside.”
As she spoke, Qin Sang lay down directly on the sofa and let out a satisfied sigh. After being away, there’s really no place like home. She had one day of rest before she had to fly back to Hainan Island that night to continue her unfinished work.
Hearing her daughter’s words, Qin’s mother quickly promised, “Okay, okay, we definitely won’t show anyone else. But weren’t there over a hundred people with you this time?”
Qin Sang said, “Well, everyone signed a confidentiality agreement. I can’t control what others do.”
Today was August 2nd. There were only seven days left until the apocalypse. Before boarding the plane, the authorities had made them all sign a confidentiality agreement, promising not to leak anything about the giant cockroaches until the official announcement.
Qin Sang fully understood this requirement. The cause of the giant cockroaches was unknown, and with relocation work being the top priority at this critical moment, they couldn’t afford panic.
As for how to deal with the giant cockroaches? There were plenty of experts and professors—surely they would come up with many solutions. Qin Sang believed that in a while, many weapons designed to fight these creatures would appear.
Her guess was completely correct.
Although the rescue team hadn’t recovered any giant cockroach corpses this time, the footage from all the body cameras would allow experts to analyze the creatures’ habits and characteristics, leading to the development of numerous countermeasures.
As for the attackers, the authorities already had suspects.
At an underground base at the junction of Huashan City and Guang City, several people entered a laboratory.
“Reporting, mission complete. One civilian dead, over a dozen injured. Full details are in the mission report. Please review the mission target, Commander.”
A pale-faced middle-aged man reported the specifics of the mission to several uniformed officers. Then, from his spatial storage, he produced a massive, sealed metal box completely encased in metal on all sides.
If Qin Sang had been there, she would have immediately recognized the pale-faced man.
And if she had been there, she might also have sensed the presence of what was inside the metal box.
…
But for now, she was still at home, chatting with Xu Lin about her experiences over the past few days.
As someone with ties to the authorities, Xu Lin felt the tension in his chest finally ease when he saw Qin Sang so relaxed.
“You’re right, the authorities will handle the giant cockroach situation. But we can make some preparations too. We can start organizing high-powered lighting equipment. And stock up on insecticide and bug-proof gear.”
Qin Sang, with her hands behind her head, looked at him and asked, “Do you think we’ll start seeing giant cockroaches here soon?”
Xu Lin shrugged. “The way these things appeared isn’t scientific at all. But the world is already unscientific. So anything is possible.”
Qin Sang thought about it and agreed. Sigh. She was afraid that giant cockroaches would be just the beginning—next would be giant mosquitoes, giant flies, or even giant rats.
Oh, my head hurts.
Qin Sang pressed her hand to her forehead, realizing this apocalypse was no joke.
“But none of the people who had precognitive dreams mentioned giant cockroaches,” Qin Sang said thoughtfully, looking at Xu Lin.
They both thought of the same possibility.
Precognitive dreams might also be a huge trap.
——
Taking advantage of being alone in her room during her afternoon nap, Qin Sang went back to her Roast Goose Space. She hadn’t been able to go in over the past few days. Now was the perfect time to ask Grandpa Goose about the giant cockroaches.
After hearing her out, Grandpa Goose said dismissively, “Those things? I could crush a whole nest of them with one foot.”
Qin Sang looked at his goose foot, which was smaller than a baby’s palm, and thought to herself that its killing power seemed quite limited.
Sensing her doubt, Grandpa Goose jumped up in anger. “Those are just bugs! Bugs! What are you afraid of? Wait until they’re as big as elephants, then you can be afraid!”
Hearing this, Qin Sang was horrified. “Grandpa Goose, giant cockroaches as big as elephants might actually appear?”
Just imagining that scene made the hair all over Qin Sang’s body stand on end.
Oh god! That’s so disgusting!
What kind of giant flip-flop would it take to kill a cockroach that big? And when that giant cockroach got crushed, wouldn’t the white goo it spewed out stink to high heaven?
Grandpa Goose shot Qin Sang a dirty look. “Why think so much? Just focus on your cultivation!”
Speaking of cultivation, Qin Sang had something to say. She had been on Hainan Island for only three days, but every day she could feel the concentration of external energy rising.
To put it simply, if cultivating for an hour used to increase her energy by one point, now, after three days, cultivating for the same hour gave her three points. That daily hundred-percent increase was quite terrifying.
Qin Sang was already certain that the world would experience a natural apocalypse, but at the same time, it was also undergoing a kind of pseudo-spiritual energy resurgence.
Yes, she called it pseudo-spiritual because she didn’t know exactly what kind of energy it was. But it was energy nonetheless. And she suspected the giant cockroaches were related to this energy.
She hadn’t heard reports of giant cockroaches appearing elsewhere yet. That meant there was probably some treasure in that tunnel that had caused the cockroaches there to grow large prematurely.
Thinking of this, Qin Sang’s eyes lit up.
Grandpa Goose saw right through her and poured cold water on her thoughts. “Enough. Even if there was a treasure, it’s probably been destroyed by those bugs. Your priority now is cultivation.”
Qin Sang: Fine.
Before leaving the space, Qin Sang went to look at the energy water, where the sago-grain-sized dragon egg sat.
Three days had passed, and it was still the size of a sago grain.
This thing might never change in her lifetime.
With a sigh, Qin Sang left the space.
Seeing this, Grandpa Goose flew over to the sago-sized dragon egg and crouched down beside it. “Old friend, just wait a little longer.”
…
After resting at home for a day, Qin Sang returned to Huashan City Airport that evening to catch a plane back to Hainan Island.
Before boarding this time, everyone was given a supply box. It was well-stocked, containing everything they needed for eating, drinking, and daily necessities—power banks, medicine, flashlights, and even weapons were included.
“Learning from the last mission, everyone will now be responsible for their own supplies. These supplies are enough for the next three days. After three days, we will leave Hainan Island and return here.”
Many people were excited to see the supply boxes. They were especially happy to see the high-powered flashlights, thinking that if they encountered giant cockroaches again, they wouldn’t be so useless this time.
Unfortunately, during their three days on Hainan Island, they didn’t encounter any giant cockroaches. Of course, ordinary household cockroaches were everywhere.
Perhaps sensing the abnormal temperatures and the approaching apocalypse, these small cockroaches began migrating in swarms.
They crawled on the ground, crawled through drains, crawled through houses—even flew in groups toward the mountains and scurried down the sewers.
In short, the three days of work went smoothly. No one caused any trouble. Everyone knew there were only a few days left. However, the various migrating insect swarms they encountered were enough to make anyone’s scalp crawl.
After these abnormal events were posted online, insecticide and disinfectant sold out completely.
When supplies ran out on survival apps, many people started trading privately. For a time, insecticide surpassed food as the most sought-after commodity for the apocalypse.
Qin Sang flew back to Huashan City on the evening of August 6th. The three days had passed quickly and without incident. But when she got back to the village, before she could even get out of the car, she noticed that the village was being fumigated.
She immediately opened the village group chat and learned that today was the community’s scheduled pest control day. The target was the cockroaches, flies, and mosquitoes that had been appearing in swarms over the past few days. Rats, stray cats, and stray dogs were rarely seen—they seemed to sense the changing times and had hidden themselves away early.
“I don’t know how long this fumigation will take. Auntie Er, maybe we should go sit at the community center for a while?”
She wasn’t being overly sensitive—the fumigation outside was quite intense. At a glance, even the pitch-black sky was covered in white smoke. The entire village was filled with insecticide smoke, making the lights of every household hazy and dreamlike—almost like a fairyland.
Auntie Er didn’t mind. She was an elderly woman—any place was fine to sit.
Originally, she had planned to continue contributing, but their work on Hainan Island was done. Everyone was going home to wait for the apocalypse.
The community center was especially lively.
Many villagers couldn’t go out during the day and didn’t want to stay home at night. But the village was filled with fumigation smoke everywhere. So they all gathered in the community center’s first-floor lobby, chatting and boasting with acquaintances about what they had encountered that day.
Well, strictly speaking, everything people were encountering now was online. Since no one went out, what could they encounter in real life?
“Our area is pretty bad. I heard there are fewer mosquitoes, flies, and cockroaches up north. They don’t have as many insect swarms running around up there.”
As soon as Qin Sang entered the community center, she heard Fa Ge talking about online topics.
Immediately, someone retorted, “No way! They might have fewer mosquitoes and cockroaches up north, but some places have bed bugs and rove beetles. I heard the bed bugs were brought in by foreign backpackers. I’ve never seen them myself—but I’ve heard they’re extremely hard to kill.”
Besides discussing insects from all over the country, some people in the corner had set up small stalls to trade supplies.
It was very lively.
Seeing this, Qin Sang felt good about it. She hoped that when the apocalypse came, everyone could still maintain such a positive mindset. That way, more people would survive.
Throughout the night of August 6th, people across the country were exterminating insects.
August 7th—dubbed “The Eve of the Apocalypse” online—saw many people live-streaming recordings of their last peaceful day in this world. After this day, the true apocalypse would begin.
The day passed very quietly for Qin Sang’s family. Just like usual—sleeping in, getting up, and then the whole family, plus Xu Lin, cooking together. Each person made one signature dish.
Qin Sang’s father, as always, made roast goose. Her mother made white-cut chicken. Qin Sang made quick-boiled shrimp. Xu Lin made Buddha Jumps Over the Wall.
He had secretly soaked the ingredients in advance, waiting for Qin Sang to come back and eat them.
Four people, four main dishes. They also stir-fried a plate of garlic water spinach and a plate of dace and black bean sauce with lettuce. That made six dishes in total, and the four of them ate to their hearts’ content.
Lunch and dinner were the same—each person made a new dish, and they ate together.
And so, everyone lived a perfectly ordinary day. At 9:00 PM, leaders from around the world publicly addressed the coming apocalypse.
People listened earnestly to their words of encouragement, looked at their own well-stocked supplies, and felt full of confidence for the future.
Then, the next day—when the sun rose on August 8th—everyone finally understood what a high-temperature apocalypse really meant.
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