Super Gene Hunting Ground

Chapter 126: Chapter 126: The Arrival of Winter (Four updates, please subscribe)

Snow kept falling without any sign of stopping, and by noon the next day, the snow outside was already half a foot thick.

The temperature began to drop sharply; usually, the winter temperature in the Kongming City area would not go below minus 2 or 3 degrees, but now it had reached minus 5 degrees.

In the principal’s office of the school administration building, Yang Xiao, Xiao Zhe, Zhao Gang, Huang Wen, Xu Nanqiang, Feifei, Chen Fei, Dai Yun, Chen Lu, Long Yongjun, Ma Junhui, and others were gathered together.

The school administration building and academic building were among the few buildings that had not been destroyed in the apocalypse and all their facilities were intact.

If time could rewind a few months, Yang Xiao, who had just entered Kongming Academy as a newcomer on the first day of freshman orientation, could never have imagined that one day he would sit in the principal’s office, sitting on the principal’s spacious boss chair.

There was a pen holder on the desk with a thermometer on it, showing around minus 5 degrees.

Everyone was dressed in winter clothes; Yang Xiao wore a dogskin coat hand-sewn by Huang Wen, feeling very warm.

”This winter seems to have come a bit early, and I don’t recall temperatures ever being this low in my memory.”

The speaker was Deng Xiao, who along with Qin Yu and Chen Fei, were locals and naturally more familiar with the local climate.

Qin Yu and Chen Fei also chimed in agreement.

Yang Xiao smiled and said:

”If my conjecture about the severe winter is correct, then now may not be the coldest time. The cold is just beginning. Have any of you ever watched the disaster movie ’The Day After Tomorrow’?”

As soon as Yang Xiao said this, Qin Yu, Huang Wen, Deng Xiao, and others immediately said,

”I’ve seen it.”

”’The Day After Tomorrow’ is a disaster science fiction film that tells the story of extreme cold currents arising due to environmental changes on Earth, leading the entire planet into an ice age.”

Yang Xiao nodded,

”Perhaps, the disaster weather we are about to experience will be similar to what is described in ’The Day After Tomorrow’, and even more severe. We need to prepare for a prolonged fight. Our first step now is ensuring our survival. Starting now, everyone immediately move the living supplies to the newly dug cave.”

Xiao Zhe was taken aback and said:

”Yang Xiao, it’s heavily snowing outside.”

”Maybe in a few days when you look back, you’ll see that today’s weather was really good. Think about it now; the previous three snowfalls might have been warnings for us to prepare for the winter quickly.”

Upon Yang Xiao’s command, everyone started organizing people to relocate.

First was the food—potatoes and dried meat were moved into the cave.

Potatoes dug from a tens of acres plantation about a month ago amounted to around 100,000 kilograms and were stacked in several rooms on the first floor of the administration building.

”We can’t possibly fit all these potatoes into the cave; let’s move a part there first and come back for more when needed. With the cold weather, Earth itself is like a natural big refrigerator, and the food will preserve well. Come on, let’s prioritize moving the dried meat into the cave’s storeroom...”

As the logistics officer, Xu Nanqiang directed the logistics team to transport the items.

Inside the cave, many room partitions were set up; male and female students were finally completely separated, and everyone took their luggage, bedding, and clothes, found their places in the cave, and laid out their beds.

To save space, the beds were double-decker bunk beds, all joined together in rows, and everyone slept crowded together.

The lower bunk was more than a meter above the ground.

Wood was piled into a mountain right in front of the cave, ready for use at any time.

Xu Nanqiang arranged for the team to light a Fire Dragon underneath the cave, and after more than an hour, the temperature inside the cave reached nearly twenty degrees—a stark contrast to the minus 5 degrees outside, making everyone feel as warm as spring.

Yang Xiao measured the temperature, and even without lighting the fire, the cave’s temperature was around ten degrees. Such a temperature, even if a few degrees lower, would allow everyone to safely withstand the harsh cold outside.

It took more than a thousand people about three days to barely finish moving everything into the cave.

”Ma Junhui, why don’t you stay here? You designed and built this kiln cave, and you could still help me a lot in the future. It’s so cold now, returning to Xianan University might not have a place for you anymore.”

Yang Xiao sincerely asked Ma Junhui to stay, thinking that he was a talented individual and didn’t mind supporting another idle person.

Ma Junhui nodded, expressing his thanks.

”Yang Xiao, thank you for taking me in.”

”Oh come on, without your help, how could we have designed such a great kiln cave? You are a meritorious contributor; how could we let a hero suffer in the cold outside?”

Compared to the previous open-air camps, the kiln cave was absolutely more comfortable, even compared to the administrative office buildings, which now couldn’t compare with the kiln cave.

Luckily, Ma Junhui had originally designed two restrooms right next to the kiln cave, and they were also dug into the mountain. Although not as comfortable as the residence kiln cave, it was much better than the icy and snowy outside.

Xiao Zhe and Zhao Gang had to arrange for everyone to clear the snow within twenty meters in front of the kiln cave daily, to prevent it from piling up and blocking the entrance.

Yang Xiao went to the Genetic Store once, and within thirty meters around the Genetic Store, there was not a single snowflake, and upon entering, the temperature was just like usual and not too cold.

Gu Bo saw Yang Xiao come in and smiled:

”Yang Xiao, not bad, preparing for a rainy day, remarkable!”

”Hehe, I have to thank your initial reminder for that, otherwise we might have frozen to death in the snow by now. Actually, I was thinking of inviting you to the kiln cave to keep warm, but now it seems I was overthinking it—your Genetic Store is like spring all year round, just like a holiday resort.”

Gu Bo laughed heartily,

”Feel free to visit anytime; I’m not closing the doors here.”

”Mm, old man, I have a question— the snow outside just doesn’t stop, how long is it going to last? And, is this winter going to be very long?”

Gu Bo smiled mysteriously,

”You’ve already taken the initiative. What else is there to worry about?”

”True, but if it remains cold all the time, wouldn’t our genetic evolution be temporarily delayed?”

”Don’t worry about that. Who says you can’t hunt during snowy days?”

”Where are there any mutated creatures on the mountains now? They’ve all hidden away.”

”Calm down, buddy, wait and see. A day will come when the snow stops.”

...

At Xianan University, everyone gathered inside the teaching building next to the playground. In the first few days, people were still joking and playing, but with the ceaseless snow and dropping temperatures, everyone’s emotions began to turn gloomy.

”The temperature is already below negative ten degrees now, when is this damned weather going to stop?”

”It’s damn too cold, I keep waking up from freezing in the night.”

”How long can this firewood last? If we continue burning like this, I reckon it might last at most a month. If the snow doesn’t stop by then, we will all freeze to death.”

”Can our food last a month? With the snow sealing off the mountains, we absolutely can’t hunt mutated creatures, this looks like a sign of starving to death.”

...

Xia Luo felt somewhat irritated and uneasy inside the office.

A brazier was lit in the office, making the room relatively warm, and Zhou Qiang along with a dozen senior leaders gathered together to discuss ways to cope with the bad weather.

Zhou Qiang sighed,

”Could it really be as Yang Xiao from Kongming Academy predicted, that Earth is entering an ice age and we are facing a long harsh winter?”