FGCT CH30.1 All vanishes in the void, the world remade.

To the guard, Gou Fugui’s words sounded downright arrogant.

But the guard didn’t say much. He simply took a metal number tag from a basket that was nearby and handed it to Gou Fugui. After all, reality would teach him a lesson soon enough.

Gou Fugui looked at the number “44” on the tag and felt it was slightly unlucky^[1]. But soon, he realized what the number meant: “Forty-three people have already taken this mission before me?”

The guard nodded matter-of-factly, then shook his head. “To be precise, forty-three people have already accepted the mission. With you, that makes forty-four. Stand aside for now. Let’s see if we can gather a hundred people to take this mission today.”

Gou Fugui widened his eyes. “Why are there so many people taking this mission?”

The guard shrugged. “This mission offers the highest contribution points. Everyone wants to give it a shot, whether they have the skills or not.”

“If they’re lucky enough to retrieve the mission machine, the reward is three survival spheres! Whether they sell them or use them themselves, survival spheres are way more valuable than a lottery jackpot of a few million, don’t you think?”

As he spoke, the guard’s gaze at Gou Fugui practically screamed: Aren’t you just another one of those gamblers trying their luck? Don’t you know how people like you think?

The humanoid otter Gou Fugui, who was actually quite skilled at swimming and diving: “…Fine.”

Actions spoke louder than words. Once he retrieved that machine and claimed the three survival spheres, this guard wouldn’t be looking at him like that anymore.

Every guard he’d met along the way had ended up with their faces slapped. He refused to believe this one would be any different.

While Gou Fugui and the guard were talking, Xie Tianlang had also accepted the same mission.

His number was 45. Slightly luckier than Fugui’s.

Then, with surprising consideration, Xie Tianlang offered to swap number tags with Fugui, only to be met with a disdainful glare from the beauty: “Keep it for yourself! On land, I might not be able to beat you, but in the water, I’ll outlast anyone.”

He, Fugui the Otter, would never drown in the sea!

Even if he encountered some major danger in the water, he still had his ultimate transformation card up his sleeve. He wasn’t afraid at all.

After that, Fugui and Xie Tianlang waited together in the rescue mission hall.

Only now did Fugui have the time and opportunity to observe the mission hall and the people inside.

The mission hall had been repurposed from the Qingchuan City Civic Service Building, which was originally where residents handled medical and social insurance. Now, it had been taken over by the authorities to manage the reception and registration of newcomers to Qingchuan

In addition, it served as a hub for posting urgent official requests and special tasks. Another way to recruit talent and improve survival efficiency.

Unlike the peaceful tranquility of the Jin family’s planting base twenty kilometers away, the mission hall was filled with an atmosphere of restless anxiety.

Those who had braved the wind and rain to get here almost all wore expressions of confusion and pain. Most were sneezing nonstop, hugging themselves or their backpacks, shivering from the cold. Many had tear-streaked faces and voices hoarse from cursing the heavens.

“My poor Sensen! He was only six! A high fever took him just like that! I made sure he was bundled up in rain gear the whole way, but he still got soaked!” an elderly woman wailed. “Why won’t this damned rain stop?! Our family has never done anything wrong! Why couldn’t we keep our little grandson?!”

Perhaps overwhelmed by grief, the woman suddenly collapsed after shouting several times. People in the hall cried out in alarm, but the staff on duty reacted with practiced efficiency, pressing an emergency call button to summon medical personnel.

Clearly, this wasn’t the first time they’d dealt with such a situation. Given their level of familiarity, they’d probably done it countless times over the past month.

“…Sigh, that old lady probably won’t make it. Her spirit’s broken, and she’s been drenched and exhausted the whole way. Her body’s already at its limit. If she still had the will to live, she might’ve pulled through after a minor illness. But now? She’s likely to fall seriously ill. And once that happens, there’s basically no hope.”

The speaker was a sturdy, dark-skinned man standing near Fugui and Xie Tianlang, another mission-taker holding a number tag. He had the distinct look of a Tibetan man; he was weather-beaten but spirited.

Noticing Fugui’s gaze, the man smiled at him. “You must’ve arrived in Qingchuan early, little brother. You don’t look like you’ve suffered much this past month.”

“But I’ve been coming to the mission hall every day for assignments, and I’ve seen too many people like her. The earliest arrivals were in terrible condition but still had some fight left in them. Most families were still whole when they got here.”

“The later they came, the worse off they were. The worst I saw was a family of over a dozen that set out together. By the time they got here, only a father and son were left alive.”

“They said they first got caught in a minor earthquake. After barely escaping that, they ran into two crocodiles. The reptiles killed several of their elders right in front of them, and the survivors were all injured, trudging through the rain to get here. Once they relaxed, they just… couldn’t hold on anymore.”

Fugui fell silent.

Since entering this world, though he’d been among the first to face the great storm and tsunami at sea, he hadn’t truly suffered.

The most dangerous disaster, the massive tsunami, hadn’t killed him or Xie Tianlang. Instead, it had flung them to Nanhai City.

During their ten-plus days taking refuge in the Nanhai Stadium, life had been stifling but manageable. Back then, the disaster was just beginning. With his special abilities, Fugui could handle the seawater well. They’d also made the decision to head for Qingchuan early, staying ahead of the worst of the catastrophe and avoiding the true horrors of rising sea levels, the suffering and death.

For the past month at the Jin family’s planting base, he’d had food, shelter, and little to worry about beyond the lack of sunlight stunting crop growth or news of yet another flooded area and more refuges.

But now, stepping out of that bubble and into the mission hall, he was confronted with the raw, unfiltered reality of this “apocalyptic world.”

And Fugui knew that illusion wouldn’t last much longer. As more people flooded into Qingchuan, as the rains continued and the seas rose, even they would eventually have to board the ships.

Fugui’s thoughts drifted until the guard’s voice snapped him back to attention: “Any more takers for Mission One? If not, we’re setting off!”

After calling out three times with no new volunteers, the guard turned to Fugui’s group of several dozen. “Alright, turnout’s low today, so the cloud ship won’t be too crowded. Follow me. We’ll head to the Yalu River to board. From there, it’s a five-hour trip downstream to the research base at the border of Sichuan and Qingchuan.”

“First, we’ve got an hour’s walk through the water. Make sure your rain gear’s on tight. Even though rising sea levels have dulled the temperature shifts, it’s still autumn. Colds and fevers have been rampant this past month… Consider this your warning: every hospital in Qingchuan is overflowing. More and more people are dying from what used to be minor illnesses.”

Fugui, Xie Tianlang, and the other sixty-plus mission-takers followed the guard closely. Hearing the guard’s words, Fugui hesitated for a few seconds between his otter and honey badger forms before ultimately settling on the sea otter.

Though the honey badger’s traits would boost his endurance and combat skills, the species was native to Africa and had low resistance to rain and cold. In contrast, the sea otter’s thick, waterproof fur and marine lifestyle made it practically impervious to rain-induced illnesses.

In these conditions, health trumped fighting prowess.

So, as they trekked onward, Xie Tianlang, who was walking behind Fugui, noticed that his suspected long-haired Yuan yuan seemed to preen every three minutes, rubbing his face every five minutes.

Fugui even pulled a small comb from his backpack and began meticulously grooming his ponytail.

Strangely, the silver-white streaks in his hair were gone now, replaced by sleek, jet-black locks. Xie Tianlang couldn’t resist sneaking a touch, finding the texture surprisingly pleasant.

Even more strangely, this time, instead of swatting or kicking him, Fugui shot him a look that was equal parts soft and aloof, even more what Yuan yuan would do.

Or perhaps, without the silver fur, Fugui’s temper was milder. And this new version of Fugui who likes to brush his hair seems to be better at swimming.

Xie Tianlang spent the entire walk musing over this, following Fugui with undisguised delight. He didn’t find these changes bizarre or off-putting. The more mysteries Fugui revealed, the more fascinated Xie Tianlang became.

What an intriguing, extraordinary person.

After so many years of boring and bland life, he finally felt that being alive was truly wonderful.