My Apocalypse System Arrives 10 Years Early

degrees Celsius wasn’t the limit; the temperature was still soaring.

Meanwhile, in some southern regions, the highest temperatures had long since surpassed 50°C. By the time northern regions reached 50°C, some parts of the south were already exceeding 60°C.

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call this extreme heat a once-in-a-millennium event. In any case, nothing like it seemed to have ever been recorded in history.

Discussions raged online.

One history buff pointed out, "The highest recorded extreme temperature in history is 44.4°C. This was set in the eighth year of the Qianlong Emperor’s reign, 1743, when the temperature in the Imperial Capital hit 44.4°C. Furthermore, some records show temperatures in other regions reaching as high as 46°C."

Many were incredulous. "The Qing Dynasty had monitoring methods that advanced?"

The history buff then posted numerous historical sources. The "scorching heat" of the eighth year of Qianlong’s reign wasn’t just documented in official records; it was also described in many letters preserved by early missionaries to China. These letters contained eyewitness accounts of the sweltering conditions, observational data from astronomical instruments, and information on the weather, among other things.

Apparently, it was all well-documented.

As for the instruments, besides the air thermometer designed by Nan Huairen during the Kangxi Emperor’s reign, there was also a new type of alcohol thermometer. In 1743 (the eighth year of the Qianlong Emperor’s reign), the French missionary Song Junrong (born Antoine Gobier) used it to measure and record the high temperatures in Beijing on the Réaumur scale.

At the time, Song Junrong, who was in the Capital City, exclaimed in a letter to a colleague at the Paris Academy of Sciences, "The elderly residents of this city claim they have never seen such high temperatures..."

In modern times, on July 10, 1913, the highest temperature recorded at Greenland Ranch in Death Valley, California, United States, was 56.7°C, though the accuracy of this reading is disputed.

And on August 16, 2020, the temperature in Death Valley reached 54.4°C, which may be the highest reliably recorded temperature on Earth.

As for earlier periods, like before the Qing Dynasty or in ancient times, there might have been extreme heatwaves, but without thermometers, it’s impossible to obtain accurate data.

This summer, high-temperature records were constantly being broken. Some places were even rumored to have reached highs of seventy or eighty degrees Celsius, conditions no ordinary person could withstand.

A good number of people died from the heat. Literally died from the heat.

Many suffered from heatstroke and couldn’t be saved.

For instance, in places with poor medical facilities, or if treatment was delayed for too long, it would result in multiple organ failure and death.

Some people didn’t even know what it was, mistaking it for simple heat exhaustion. They’d drink some herbal cooling-down liquid, try to tough it out, and then... they’d just be gone.

There was no shortage of people cursing.

"Damn it all, are the heavens trying to cook us to death?!"

"What happened to the great flood we were promised? The torrential, non-stop rain? People are about to be baked into jerky out here! Did the weather bureau get ’drought’ and ’flood’ mixed up?"

"If this heat keeps up, forget the crops—even the weeds are withering! A food crisis will hit us long before any flood does!"

With such high temperatures, poor harvests and reduced crop yields were to be expected.

"Don’t worry, our country has enough grain reserves to feed everyone for over a year. If this extreme weather continues, they’ll probably roll out Grandpa Yuan’s high-yield rice in another year or two, maybe even next year. We won’t starve."

The pessimists commented: "This is a sign of the apocalypse, isn’t it? First, we get baked dry, then we get drowned. Humanity has no way out..."

"I suggest they start calculating high-temperature subsidies by the minute! Go outside for five minutes, sweat for two hours!"

A news outlet reported: "Food delivery drivers on mass strike: ’Our e-bike batteries are spontaneously combusting from the heat! Delivering food is a death sentence!’"

The wisecrackers chimed in: "Someone should ask the Mysterious Armored Man to do a couple of laps. The wind from a Mach 20 flyby would cool things down!"

In reality, that information was already outdated. Li Xiang had long since broken Mach 40. A few countries had detected it, but they kept it secret. They didn’t even dare to mention it.

As for China, it was, of course, also kept secret.

"I’m really praying for rain," one netizen commented, asking on the meteorological bureau’s official account, "Is it possible to induce rain artificially?"

In reality, the meteorological bureau also wanted to induce rain, but unfortunately, the conditions for it weren’t present.

Some weather bureaus tried firing a few rounds, but it was completely useless.

Some who understood the situation were deeply worried: "A great drought is always followed by a great flood. This year’s flooding is probably unavoidable. I’m afraid it’s going to be worse than anyone can imagine."

As news reports flooded in, it began to dawn on people. "Holy crap, this extreme heatwave is global? That’s unbelievable!"

"Could those earlier doomsday prophecies actually be true?"

"The idea that a great drought is followed by a great flood is actually backed by science," a blogger posted online, explaining the three main reasons.

First is the change in the soil’s physical properties, leading to reduced permeability. Prolonged drought weakens the bonds between soil particles, forming an impermeable layer, a kind of "hardpan" or "crust." An experiment at the University of Reading in the United Kingdom showed that dry soil takes fifteen minutes to absorb a cup of water, while moist soil needs only a few seconds. When a drought is followed by sudden, heavy rainfall, approximately 70% of the rain becomes direct surface runoff rather than seeping into the ground. This is equivalent to turning the land into a "natural skating rink," which can easily trigger flash floods and mudslides.

Second is the compounding effect of weather systems. When a subtropical high-pressure system strengthens abnormally, it creates a "heat dome effect" that suppresses the rise of water vapor, leading to sustained drought. Then, when the high-pressure system collapses, the accumulated moisture is released all at once, resulting in torrential rain.

Third is the amplifying effect of compounding disasters. When a drought is followed by a flood, the vegetation has already died off, and the topsoil’s resistance to erosion is diminished, which increases the risk of secondary disasters. It’s like pulling your fist back before throwing a punch; the force (and the resulting damage) is much greater.