Three days after the doomsday, the real show finally began.
Zhang Yi had been waiting all night. He knew what today would bring and stayed up to watch the drama unfold.
It was simple and inevitable. The entire Yuelu Community suddenly lost power.
Not long after, the power failure triggered a chain reaction: the water company couldn't keep pumping, the supply system failed, and every household lost water.
None of this surprised Zhang. At the start of the catastrophe, no one could predict how long the extreme freeze would last. Authorities were still scrambling to deal with the snow, but by day three they realized the scale was beyond human hands.
In the freezing wind, large hydro plants shut down one after another. Thermal plants could not operate because crews couldn't work outside. Cities drained their stored electricity; blackouts spread like an infection.
Maybe a few nuclear plants kept running, but their output went straight to government and emergency channels. Ordinary people were left in the dark.
For everyone else, life plunged into an instant, bitter blackout. For Zhang Yi, it was different: he had already fired up two silent generators to power his unit.
His phone exploded with messages across every group chat.
"Do you have power at home?""No power here—and the taps are dry. What's going on?""No water or electricity here either! It's freezing—no AC, no heaters. How do we survive?""Where's the government? If this keeps up people will freeze to death!"
Zhang shook his head. At this point the authorities couldn't save everyone. Survival could only depend on oneself.
Today confirmed the doomsday had truly arrived. Without modern power and supply chains, mass casualties were no longer a theoretical risk—they were imminent.
He looked around his home. Warm as spring. Secure as a vault. Endless stores in his pocket dimension. A relieved, quiet warmth rose in him.
The community chat filled with panic and accusations. Phone batteries lasted longer than before thanks to tech, but without power even phones would die.
"How long will the snow last? Inside it's below minus thirty already; if this keeps up we'll freeze. The taps are out—are we supposed to drink snow? We're running out of food and can't get to supermarkets. What do we do?"
People started tagging Aunt Lin. "Aunt Lin, you said everything was fine!" "I trusted you—now what?" "When will the authorities rescue us? Answer us!"
Faced with the neighbors' barrage, Aunt Lin herself grew anxious. She was more frightened than anyone.
She had just gotten a bit of inside info through committee channels. She typed and reassured herself aloud, mixing truth with panic: "It's snowing everywhere. They say this is a once-in-a-hundred-thousand-year disaster—maybe even a mass extinction. Authorities are doing their best, but with over a billion people they can't help everyone. Cities are falling."
"To survive, you must rely on yourself. Stockpile food and fuel. I've started collecting supplies under the committee's name—yes, it feels bad, but if I don't secure things now my family will freeze or starve in three days. I can't afford to be moral. Surviving is priority."
Aunt Lin stared at the Neighborhood Committee chat and trembled. Even under three quilts, sweating despite the ice-cold air, she dared not lift them—the room was an ice cellar.
Her grandson Xiaohu mumbled from under the covers: "Grandma, why is it so cold? When will Mom and Dad come back?"
Aunt Lin's chest tightened. She'd messaged her son—he and his wife were stuck renting out of town, no better off. "I must protect us. We have to survive," she told the boy, forcing calm into her voice. "They'll be back soon."
Then she began broadcasting instructions into the owners' group.
"Everyone, this is temporary. Power and water outages are expected. Workers are repairing things. The authorities have issued instructions: in this emergency the Neighborhood Committee will centrally manage the community. Please cooperate. If anyone refuses and causes serious consequences, we will involve the police afterward!"
Her tone was sharp and commanding, and owners bristled. They hadn't expected the committee to threaten everyone at a time like this. Still, fear kept most mouths shut.
Zhang Yi read Aunt Lin's post with mild amusement and a raised eyebrow.
He knew she was lying. In his previous life she'd used the same tactics to pilfer supplies. He had no intention of exposing her—whether his neighbors lived or died no longer mattered to him.
He turned the TV back on and resumed his game.
Power and water outages? No problem. He'd stocked backup batteries, silent generators, fuel, and solid alcohol. For water he'd hoarded five hundred tons of tap water alone, plus tens of thousands of tons of bottled water and drinks in the warehouse. If needed, he could always melt snow.
In short, he lacked neither water nor energy.