My Apocalypse System Arrives 10 Years Early

Lightning flashed and thunder roared. The sky seemed to have torn open, and the torrential downpour just wouldn’t stop.

The temperature plummeted from over fifty degrees down to the mid-twenties. It was now a relatively comfortable climate, so the people of Li Family Village no longer needed to cool off in the Shelter and returned to their respective homes.

The Shelter was once again left vacant, appearing rather desolate.

Before, the villagers had only spent their days in the Shelter, returning home to sleep at night. It wasn’t as if they stayed there twenty-four hours a day.

Though the rain was heavy, it posed no threat to Li Family Village.

The pouring rain gathered on the ground, forming rushing streams that all flowed into the surrounding ditches, river channels, and mountain ravines.

Li Xiang had dredged and reinforced the banks of these waterways long ago, ensuring good drainage. Coupled with Li Family Village’s higher elevation and rural setting, there was no way the floodwaters could reach their homes.

If a place like Li Family Village were to flood, then the Middle and Lower Yangtze River, the Huabei Plain, the Central Plains, and some southern cities would likely be completely uninhabitable.

After all, although Sichuan Province is a basin, its average elevation is a staggering 2,560 meters, ranking it third in the country behind only Tibet and Qinghai. Even the lowest point in Sichuan Province, the mouth of the Yulin River gorge in Wenwu Village, Lishui County, is still 188 meters above sea level.

With Dujiangyan in place, the Rongcheng Plain was also safe.

The dredging of countless water systems shifted the pressure to lower-elevation areas, such as the plains in the east, south, the Central Plains, and Huabei. Water flows downward, and it would all eventually empty into the sea.

Diverting the water was better than blocking it—the best way to manage a flood.

The torrential downpour lasted for over ten days with almost no respite. The rainfall would sometimes lessen, but it wasn’t long before it intensified again.

Those who had been hoping for rain now found themselves missing the previous high temperatures. It had been hot, but at least it wasn’t this damp. Now, even washed clothes wouldn’t dry. The humidity was just too high.

’A clothes dryer is an absolute necessity.’

Although some major cities had undergone "sponge city" transformations, there was still too much hardened pavement, and their drainage systems couldn’t necessarily withstand the challenge.

Furthermore, many third- and fourth-tier cities, despite having made preparations, were still caught off guard by the sheer scale of this downpour. After all, for many areas, this was their first time experiencing such an unprecedented "super torrential rainstorm."

Various regions began reporting their 24-hour peak rainfall records, with new highs being set daily. The highest record even broke 2,000 millimeters.

The rainfall was too heavy and too fast. Many cities still suffered from severe urban flooding, and numerous areas were submerged.

The number of flooded vehicles surged. Residents suffered devastating losses.

Many of the directly-operated stores under Li Xiang’s Jade Merchant House were also hit by the disaster. Business naturally came to a halt, but fortunately, the goods and personnel had already been moved to safety in advance.

Some netizens, trying to find humor in the grim situation, posted videos with captions like: "We can watch the sea right from our doorstep now."

"What drainage system? This is an underwater sightseeing tunnel!" — a netizen from a first-tier city posted a short video of a subway station that had turned into a waterfall, joking as the water level in the main hall submerged the security scanners.

Although waterproof floodgates had been prepared at the entrances of major subway stations, some of them still leaked.

Besides, accidents are always bound to happen. In some cities, the water on the streets was so high that roads suddenly collapsed, allowing floodwaters to pour into the subway tunnels. Luckily, the subways had already suspended service by that point.

On social media, videos of the various floods were the hottest topic.

A car owner in Jinmen showed the roof of their flooded car floating in the water with the caption, "A new experience: docking my boat under the bridge." A white-collar worker in Yangcheng’s CBD posted a nine-photo grid of people kayaking to their office building, and the hashtag #CommutingToolsUpgrade shot to the top of the trending list.

"Holy crap, what kind of company is this? They haven’t even given you a holiday?" a netizen commented.

The person replied: "Oh, we got the time off, but the company’s floor-to-ceiling windows shattered. The rain didn’t just drift in—it poured in. The office is flooded, and it’s leaking to the floor below. The boss asked me to go deal with it for triple pay."

"As long as they’re paying, that’s what matters. Stay safe."

Facing a daily rainfall that exceeded 2,000 millimeters, Shanghai residents flooded their social media feeds: "The Huangpu River is flowing backward into Nanjing Road! The base of the Oriental Pearl Tower has become a waterfront plaza!"

Meanwhile, residents in third- and fourth-tier cities expressed a deeper sense of helplessness. One resident in a county-level city filmed the floodwaters washing away a temporary sandbag barrier, captioning it, "A defense line we spent three days and nights scrambling to build, washed away in half an hour."

In accordance with the "Extreme Weather Work Stoppage Plan" distributed long ago, companies had all suspended operations and given their employees time off. However, for many, it was simply unpaid leave, with wages docked for the days off.

But you couldn’t force the issue; it all depended on the company’s profitability and the boss’s conscience.

Moreover, during the torrential rains, emergencies were inevitable and required immediate attention at the workplace. For instance, in a certain development zone, a factory’s warehouse was massively flooded. A large quantity of raw materials, intermediate goods, and finished products were stored inside. If not salvaged in time, the losses would be enormous, potentially bankrupting the factory.

Consequently, the boss would urgently summon the employees to rush back for "disaster relief."

But with the roads submerged, how were they supposed to get there? Everyone had their own way of managing. Some rowed over in small boats, while others zipped across on jet skis, speeding through the waves. One even pulled off a stylish "drift" as they entered the factory gates.

A Type 056 corvette, converted into a mobile medical shelter, was moored at the Jiang City section of the Yangtze River. The Li Family Village rescue team—consisting of Yao Yao, Zhao Xueqing, Lei Xiaohui, Lei Jiaming, Han Qifeng, and others—disembarked from the vessel. They set out in seven or eight inflatable rubber dinghies to conduct rescue operations in Jiang City.

Zhao Xueqing had previously participated in the massive project to dredge the countless water systems, serving as the head of the ecological restoration task force. She had since become one of the nation’s top ecological restoration experts, earning a promotion to Major for her contributions. Meanwhile, Yao Yao was still a Captain, and both Lei Xiaohui and Lei Jiaming were merely Lieutenants. Naturally, they were anxious. It wasn’t that they were obsessed with rank; it was because they were a team that had always advanced and retreated together. They didn’t want to lose to Zhao Xueqing.