Apocalyptic Rebirth

23.Water and power outages

Three days after the arrival of doomsday, the real drama began.

Zhang Yi knew what would happen on this day, so he stayed up all night, eagerly awaiting the unfolding spectacle.

What transpired was, in fact, quite straightforward.

The entire Yue Lu Community suddenly experienced a power outage!

And shortly after, due to the cascading effects of the blackout, the water supply company couldn't function properly either.

The water supply system had problems, and households were left without water.

All of this had been within Zhang Yi's expectations.

After all, at the beginning of the apocalypse, no one could predict how long this extreme cold disaster would last.

Official efforts were still underway to tackle this snowstorm.

But as the days passed, only reaching the third day, they realized this was a problem beyond human capabilities.

With temperatures plunging, major hydroelectric power plants had gradually ceased operations, and due to the inability of personnel to work, even thermal power plants could no longer generate electricity.

When all major cities across the country exhausted their stored electricity, power outages became inevitable.

At this point, only a few nuclear power plants were likely still operational.

However, the generated electricity was naturally allocated exclusively for official use.

The cessation of water and electricity plunged ordinary people's lives into darkness!

Zhang Yi opened his phone and saw messages flooding in various chat groups with unread counts reaching 99+.

"Do you have power at your home?"

"We don't have electricity at our place! And the tap water is also cut off. What's going on?"

"We're without water and electricity too! In this cold weather, air conditioners are useless, and we can't use heaters either. How are we supposed to survive?"

"Why isn't the government stepping in to help at a time like this? If this continues, people might freeze to death."

Zhang Yi shook his head silently.

At this point, the authorities were already overwhelmed. To survive, people had to rely on themselves.

He also understood that doomsday had only truly arrived starting today. With the loss of modern electricity and food, humanity was heading towards a massive loss of life.

Thinking of all this, Zhang Yi looked at his cozy, well-prepared home. His heart was filled with a sense of security.

In the homeowners' group chat, tension and complaints ran high.

"It's so cold, and we can't use our air conditioners anymore. It's already minus thirty degrees in our homes."

"If this continues, we're really going to freeze to death!"

"The water is cut off too. Are they expecting us to drink snowwater?"

"We don't have much food left at home, and we can't go to the supermarket because of the heavy snow. What should we do?"

Some started mentioning Aunt Lin.

"Aunt Lin, you said everything would be fine, didn't you?"

"Yes, I trusted your words and didn't go out to buy supplies. How do we solve this now?"

"Why isn't anyone from above coming to manage this situation? If it continues like this, people might freeze to death."

Aunt Lin, facing the residents' questions, felt anxious and panicked.

Her heart was even more fearful than that of the homeowners because through the neighborhood committee, she had received some advanced information.

"Now the entire world is experiencing heavy snowfall, said to be a once-in-a-hundred-thousand-year snow disaster. Perhaps, we're facing another mass extinction event, the apocalypse!"

"Though the authorities are doing their best, our country's billion-plus population is simply too much to handle."

"Major key cities in our country have already fallen!"

"In the future, if we want to survive, we can only rely on ourselves. We must stockpile resources, especially food and heating supplies."

"I've already started going door-to-door collecting supplies, in the name of the neighborhood committee."

"Isn't this harming others?"

"Harming others? If I don't do this, my family will likely freeze and starve to death in three days! I can't afford to think too much!"

"This snow disaster will claim countless lives. I can only prioritize the safety of my family and myself."

"Yes, while we still have some influence, let's gather as many resources as possible. Survival is the top priority in these times!"

Aunt Lin's words were heavy, and they stirred up strong resentment among the homeowners.

They hadn't expected that, in such dire circumstances, the neighborhood committee wouldn't explain their apparent failure but would instead resort to threats against the residents.

However, everyone was too afraid to voice their objections.

Zhang Yi held his phone, calmly observing Aunt Lin's messages.

He raised an eyebrow and let out a scoff.

Of course, he knew Aunt Lin was lying. In his previous life, she had used such underhanded tactics to swindle resources from others.

But he had no intention of exposing her tricks.

After all, whether the other neighbors lived or died didn't matter to him.

Zhang Yi turned on the television and continued playing his game.

No water, no electricity?

No problem. He had stockpiled a vast supply of backup batteries in his warehouse, along with generators, fuel, and solid alcohol.

As for water,

he had hoarded 500 tons of tap water alone, not to mention tens of thousands of tons of bottled water and beverages in his warehouse.

And if necessary, he could even obtain water by melting snow.

In any case, he lacked nothing, whether it was freshwater or energy.