Chapter 8: The Sudden Drop in Temperature

By the time all the various monitoring data stabilized, they had already been at sea for five days.

Fang Yun was staring absently at the thermometer on the wall, unaware that Li Wangcheng had quietly stood behind her.

“What are you looking at?” His voice suddenly sounded behind her, startling Fang Yun. She quickly turned around and instinctively assumed a defensive posture.

Such an instinctive reaction could reveal a lot, and Li Wangcheng’s eyes briefly flickered with a deep curiosity as he observed her stance.

Seeing it was him, Fang Yun slowly relaxed and lowered her guard.

“Haven’t you noticed?” She responded with a question, then turned back to look at the thermometer.

“The temperature is dropping at a visible rate.”

Five days ago, the weather was still sweltering at over thirty degrees. Now, even though they were in temperature-controlled seawater, the thermometer continued to fall. This was hardly a good sign.

It wasn’t very obvious in the sea, but when Li Wangcheng heard her remark, he looked up at the thermometer and realized she wasn’t speaking without reason.

They were heading toward Dongming Mountain. Logically, the closer they got to land, the more stable or rising the temperature should be. Yet, the thermometer was trending downward.

Though slow, the current temperature was abnormal.

“What’s going on?” Li Wangcheng’s expression instantly turned serious. He didn’t believe it was simply a broken thermometer.

Just then, Shang Xingbing came running over. Seeing Fang Yun there, he gave her a strange glance.

“Boss, there’s a situation.” His tone was grave enough to catch Li Wangcheng’s attention.

Fang Yun didn’t need to ask to know what was happening. Judging by the distance, they must have reached the shore.

The aftermath of the disaster began to unfold before them, shock giving way to a heavier sense of despair.

Following the group into the control room, Fang Yun saw everyone’s faces grim, some with tears in their eyes.

She also spotted Liao Zhaonan and Feng Li. Feng Li’s face bore signs of recent crying, and Liao Zhaonan was silently comforting her in an embrace.

When Li Wangcheng looked out through the periscope, he too fell silent.

What should have been land ahead had turned into a vast ocean. He finally understood why Fang Yun suggested heading straight to Dongming Mountain.

“Chu Ping, what’s the situation?” After a moment of silence, Li Wangcheng asked Yi Chu Ping for an update.

“Boss, the radar is picking up dense obstacles ahead.”

“Can we get through?”

Yi Chu Ping said nothing, but Li Wangcheng already had his answer.

“Get on the lifeboat. We’ll go to Dongming Mountain that way.” He quickly made the decision.

The lifeboat could only hold five people. Liao Zhaonan and Feng Li voluntarily stepped down—they were orphans and didn’t need to search for family on Dongming Mountain.

Fang Yun wasn’t initially keen to go but reconsidered and insisted on accompanying them.

Among Li Wangcheng’s men besides Yi Chu Ping and Shang Xingbing, there were five others. After two declined, only three remained, and they had to choose two to go.

By the time the submarine surfaced, they had selected two to board the lifeboat.

Opening the watertight door, the sudden brightness forced everyone to squint. After a while, they climbed out one by one.

The lifeboat was already prepared by Yi Chu Ping. They quickly boarded via rope ladders and rowed swiftly toward Dongming Mountain.

Along the way, they saw resilient high-rise buildings half-submerged, various floating debris, and of course, people—no one knew how many days they’d been adrift, their skin swollen and pale like overproofed dough.

Back in the submarine, Fang Yun had warned Li Wangcheng about the abnormal temperature.

Fortunately, he listened and put on extra clothes when they surfaced, though the biting cold wind still chilled him deeply.

Fang Yun shrugged her shoulders, her breath forming faint white mist, a clear sign of how rapidly the temperature was falling.

After nearly half an hour of rowing, they finally approached the small peak protruding above the waterline.

Seeing armed soldiers stationed there, Fang Yun was briefly taken aback before realizing the situation—her message had evidently been taken seriously.

“Look! They’re here!” a young man suddenly exclaimed with surprise.

Seeing the military presence, he must have felt hopeful about his family’s survival.

Fang Yun, however, was not so optimistic.

She gazed heavily at the summit of Dongming Mountain, bustling with people coming and going, a lively scene from afar.

Only those on the mountain understood how harsh life truly was.

In the previous timeline, when Dongming Mountain was taken over, it was a month after the sea had frozen. At that time, those without supplies on the mountain were either starving or freezing to death.

In their despair, many saw the government’s arrival as a beacon of hope.

But the various factions on Dongming Mountain had already stabilized, possessing far more manpower and resources than the government forces.

The takeover was neither smooth nor easy. By the time she died, the government-controlled area accounted for only about one-fifth of Dongming Mountain.

“Please stop for inspection!” The sudden command snapped Fang Yun back to reality.

She looked up to see a young soldier with a gun, sternly directing them to dock to the side.

Once the lifeboat was secured, several soldiers helped them ashore.

“Hello, please register your information here. Someone will then assign you a place to stay.”

Li Wangcheng took charge of the formalities. Thanks to Fang Yun’s warning, everyone had donned down jackets, masking their presence—they looked just like a group of well-dressed wealthy individuals.

Fang Yun glanced around at the familiar place. Tent tops were dusted with patches of snow. Peeking through a tent’s corner flap, she saw many people crowded inside.

As she observed her surroundings, many also scrutinized them in return.

Fang Yun had grown immune to greedy and wary gazes, but Li Wangcheng frowned deeply.

After registration, upon learning they had come to find relatives, the young soldier’s face showed a troubled expression.

Fang Yun happened to turn her head and caught that look, immediately understanding.

Despite her warning and the government’s early arrival on Dongming Mountain, they had yet to fully control the area, which puzzled her somewhat.

While she pondered, Shang Xingbing returned. Li Wangcheng had sent him to gather intelligence on the current state of Dongming Mountain.

Only the summit remained under government control—a territory neither too large nor too small. But news spread rapidly from person to person.

Soon, Fang Yun confirmed her suspicions from Shang Xingbing.

Besides the original military and political forces from Haishi, other factions still existed on Dongming Mountain.