Reborn with Nothing but My Farm and Vengeance in the Apocalypse novel Chapter 134

Chapter 134: Chapter 134: Zhou Mei’s Invitation

The four members of the Summers family worked in perfect sync. They moved quickly, and before long, they had collected all the volcanic ash from the roof and bagged it up.

Gazing at the clean roof, the four of them took off their protective suits and gear with satisfaction. They carefully carried the bags of volcanic ash down before heading back inside to wash up and go to bed.

Perhaps it was because the dark clouds had blurred the line between day and night, but Melody Summers found herself unable to sleep.

She casually picked up her phone and scrolled through the group chat messages, discovering that everyone was discussing the news report about the tallest tower collapsing under the weight of the volcanic ash.

"4-1209 Goofing Off: How could such a famous building just collapse like that? I never even got to visit it."

"2-1908 Coco: We’re witnessing history yet again."

"4-2009 Nina: Isn’t it just dust? How could a layer of dirt make a whole building collapse? That tower must have been a shoddy piece of work!"

"2-1908 Coco: It’s not dirt. Didn’t you see the news? It’s all rock particles, and it’s incredibly heavy—hundreds of millions of tons, apparently. With that much weight pressing down ton by ton, of course it would make the building collapse."

"4-2009 Nina: No wonder the property management staff was cleaning the roof all day. Ugh, these are tough times."

"6-2702 Holly: Everyone, try not to take your kids outside these days. The air quality has gotten so bad since the volcanic ash blew into our city. I just took my kid downstairs for a quick walk, and he’s been coughing non-stop since we got back."

"2-1408 Bella Grant: Definitely don’t take the kids out. My husband went out for a bit, and he’s had a runny nose ever since he got back. His snot is black, and it looks like it’s full of tiny rock particles."

"Property Management Center: @All Residents. Please be sure to wear masks and goggles when going outside. If you do not have masks, you can pick them up at the property management center or the supply distribution point. Each person may collect two masks per day with their ID."

"6-2702 Holly: Ugh, if it’s like this in our city, I can’t imagine how much worse it is in the hardest-hit areas. Life is so difficult. When will this ever end?"

"4-1009 Lowell On Deadline: Did you guys know? In 1815, Mount Vorlag had a super-eruption that caused long-term drought and blizzards across the Aeridorian Continent. In the end, crop failures in Veridian nations led to a major economic depression, and hundreds of thousands of people died. To shift the crisis, they started colonizing everywhere, which is also related to the Opium Wars."

"5-2602 North Window: @4-1009 Lowell On Deadline I know about that. The acid rain caused by the volcanic ash also triggered cholera outbreaks in many countries. Cholera spread all the way from Veridia to Southeast Archanea. That’s the terrifying power of the butterfly effect!"

"7-901 Adventurous Lawson: Acid rain? Hey, I’d take any rain at this point. As long as there’s water. I just want to take a shower before I die. Pray for rain!"

"4-1209 Goofing Off: @7-901 Adventurous Lawson Don’t you dare pray for rain! Didn’t you see the news? When volcanic ash gets wet, it becomes conductive. All the power lines and fiber optic cables will be fried. How are we supposed to surf the web then?"

"..."

Melody Summers scrolled through the group chat, recalling how in her past life, many people had developed respiratory and pulmonary infections from inhaling volcanic ash, leading to incessant coughing.

Since she couldn’t sleep anyway, she got up and went into the Arcadian Space. She rummaged through the seed warehouse and found some Chinese medicinal herb seeds she had bought before.

She sowed seeds for scrophularia root, fritillaria bulbs, rehmannia root, ophiopogon root, and asparagus root in the Arcadian Fields. She planned to make some loquat syrup for her family after a while. It was said to be very effective for clearing the lungs and stopping coughs.

After finishing her work, Melody Summers opened the online shopping platform in the Arcadia Store. Ever since the long night began, many pieces of night-use equipment had been added to its stock.

After a quick search, Melody Summers found a product with the title: [Just Like Daytime! Latest Technology! Top-Tier Chip Algorithm—Full-Color Night Vision Surveillance Camera].

Melody Summers scrolled through the reviews and saw that everyone praised the camera’s night-filming capabilities. Gritting her teeth, she placed an order for 100 units.

Colin and Winnie Summers had mentioned before that during this period of darkness, someone had been taking advantage of the gloom to steal things, and the community’s surveillance cameras couldn’t get a clear picture.

If this thief wasn’t caught and was allowed to continue, she feared more and more people would start imitating them.

’Once a theft succeeds, there will be another.’

’It’s as they say, "Greed is a bottomless pit." It would slowly escalate to robbery, then home invasions...’

’This budding instability had to be nipped in the bud, or the consequences would be dire.’

Melody Summers planned to replace the surveillance cameras at her own home and throughout the community with these new, full-color night vision models. ’Hopefully, they’ll be able to catch that thief!’

******

Because the air outside was poor, Melody Summers hadn’t gone out much recently. She spent her time in the space tending to the medicinal herbs in the fields and diligently picking loquat leaves. She would take the leaves to the bank of the Arcadian Stream to wash them thoroughly, preparing them for the loquat syrup.

Today, after lunch, Sophie Thorne came to visit the Summers’ home.

She brought a case of snow pears, along with a good amount of lily bulbs and fritillaria bulbs.

Seeing this, her grandmother quickly said, "Oh, you dear child, you always bring so many things. You’re spending far too much!"

Sophie Thorne just smiled and replied, "Grandma, the air has been bad lately. These snow pears can be stewed into a drink to help clear the lungs and soothe coughs."

Sophie Thorne followed Melody Summers up to the third-floor sunroom. After they sat down, Melody noticed a Pink Diamond brooch pinned to Sophie’s chest.

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify