Apocalypse Mode: My Cheat Code Virtual Boyfriend - Chapter 7

The apocalyptic natural disasters were far more severe than he had imagined.

Torrential rain, floods, earthquakes, blizzards, polar nights, hurricanes, insect plagues, sandstorms, and pandemics.

The relentless onslaught of abnormal disasters and mutated creatures had pushed humanity’s survival to the brink.

Among these, the flood was the first major challenge they now faced head-on.

According to his memories from the apocalyptic rebirth, counting today, there were only four days left before the internet would be completely cut off, with network signals nearly impossible to restore. On the tenth day, both water and electricity would be cut off simultaneously.

The heavy rain would persist for nearly a month, with rapidly rising water levels submerging some cities.

Unfortunately, the city they were currently in was at the epicenter of the flood-ravaged disaster zone.

Due to the extreme rainfall, all flights at the airport had been suspended. Once the rising water level surpassed the chassis of a car, the engine would stall. Even if they were lucky enough to keep the engine running, they wouldn’t be able to drive out of the inundated area.

But it wasn’t entirely hopeless.

Their location was a coastal city, well-equipped with recreational facilities such as yachts, passenger ships, and luxury cruise liners. Currently, these projects were suspended due to the heavy rain. The coastal sea was not only battered by the downpour but also accompanied by hurricanes. Perhaps taking a cruise ship could be a way out.

Then there was his Star game system, which contained the “Sea Ark” game, a city-building survival game set in a world submerged by seawater. The game required a crystal cone and specific unlock conditions (0/1) to activate. Players started with a single boat, which they could expand by salvaging items, all while fending off attacks from underwater creatures.

However, the unlock conditions remained unknown. If they could successfully unlock it, the Sea Ark would be their best option for escape.

“Should we move to a higher place?” Cheng Wei suddenly spoke up.

Bai Xun’s train of thought was abruptly interrupted. He had been so focused on planning their escape a month later that he had completely overlooked the fact that their current residence was only a three-story building. It was possible they would be swallowed by the floodwaters in less than half a month.

“You’re right,” Bai Xun let out a long sigh. They had to move as quickly as possible within the next two days. While the water level on the streets outside hadn’t completely submerged car chassis yet, they still had a little time.

“Brother! Cheng Wei! Grandma wants you both to come down and have some ginger egg custard!” Bai Yu called from outside, knocking on the door.

Bai Xun tucked his phone into his pocket. “Coming.”

On the dining table downstairs, two steaming bowls of ginger egg custard emitted a sweet, slightly spicy aroma. Cheng Wei’s keen sense of smell had already caught the delightful scent from behind the closed door.

“One bowl each. It’ll warm you up, soothe your stomach, and keep you from catching a cold,” Grandma Bai said, sitting at the table as she neatly placed porcelain spoons along the rims of the bowls.

Bai Xun and Cheng Wei took their seats, each digging into their bowl with a spoon and eating heartily.

Elderly folks always loved seeing the younger generation enjoy their meals. Grandma Bai watched them with a beaming smile, chuckling happily. “Has Grandma’s cooking lost its touch? Does it still taste the same as before?”

Bai Xun gave a thumbs-up. “Delicious!”

Cheng Wei swallowed the smooth, silky custard. “Grandma, it’s really tasty.”

From the kitchen came the loud clang of a spatula scraping against a large iron wok. As hot oil sizzled, the pungent aroma of dried chili peppers wafted through the doorframe. Soon, this dry, spicy fragrance was overpowered by the fresh, crisp scent of cabbage leaves.

Bai Xun knew from the smell that dinner was almost ready.

He stood up and took Cheng Wei’s empty bowl into the kitchen, only for Cheng Wei to take it back from him. “I can handle it myself.”

Bai Xun smiled. “Then let’s go help bring out the dishes together.”

Bai Guifang had pulled out all the stops for tonight’s meal. Relying on the vegetables from the storage room and frozen goods from the refrigerator, she managed to prepare an impressive eight dishes and one soup. Among the eight dishes were five hearty options: cumin lamb chops, braised pork knuckle, marinated beef shank, salt-and-pepper prawns, and fried spare ribs, along with two seasonal vegetable dishes and a light cold appetizer. The soup was a nourishing ginseng chicken broth made with a freshly slaughtered old hen.

The aromas of each dish mingled in the kitchen, creating the unmistakable scent of a grand feast.

As soon as Bai Xun entered, he was stunned. “Mom, you really went all out tonight!”

Bai Guifang snorted proudly. “Hurry up and help serve the dishes.”

Cheng Wei placed the bowl in the sink and carried the lamb chops out.

Bai Guifang nudged her son sharply. “I think your friend here is a good one, kind-hearted and hardworking. You should bring him over more often.”

Bai Xun, feeling guilty, found her words a bit odd. Why does this sound like she’s urging me to get married?

Once all the dishes were laid out and everyone had taken their seats, Bai Guifang, as the head of the household, raised her glass of soda in a toast to Cheng Wei. “Xiao Cheng, let me toast you. You saved our family of four, and we will always remember your great kindness.”

Cheng Wei quickly stood up and clinked glasses with her. “Bai Xun and I are friends. It was the least I could do. You’re being too polite, Auntie.”

Bai Xun also raised his glass. “Cheers, cheers!”

Everyone at the table took turns clinking glasses with Cheng Wei. As the guest, Cheng Wei was the first to pick up his chopsticks, officially starting the high-standard dinner.

Bai Xun, preoccupied with the matter of moving, decided to seize the moment and bring it up while the atmosphere was good. “Mom, Grandma, Little Sister, I have something to tell you.”

Bai Yu, who had been happily gnawing on a lamb chop, immediately widened her eyes at his words.

Oh my god, is my brother about to come out right here? This is so intense!

Bai Guifang set down her chopsticks. “Go on.”

Bai Xun spoke in a serious tone. “I think our family should move as soon as possible, within the next couple of days.”

Bai Guifang frowned. “We’re living perfectly fine here. Why move for no reason? Explain yourself, Xun’er.”

Bai Xun said, “It’s hard to believe, but it’s true, the world has ended.”

With a clatter, the fried spare rib she had just picked up fell onto the table. Grandma Bai’s chopsticks hovered in mid-air. “What? Say that again, dear grandson. Did Grandma mishear you?”

Bai Xun repeated himself. “You heard right, Grandma. The world has ended. Look at this.”

He summoned the panel of the Star Game System, displaying it directly in front of everyone.

Bai Yu even forgot to chew the lamb chop in her mouth. “Brother, I believe you about the world ending, but what is this panel?”

She had seen the 404 doomsday post and knew a little about awakening supernatural abilities, but what could a panel do?

Bai Xun slapped his forehead, realizing he had forgotten that no one else could see the content on the panel. “I’ve obtained a Star Game System that allows me to unlock and use game items. Cheng Wei can freely switch between snow leopard and human forms. All of this happened after the heavy rain.”

To lend credibility to Bai Xun’s words, Cheng Wei chimed in, “Yes, my ears, tail, and transformation abilities also mutated after I got caught in the rain.”

Bai Guifang’s expression grew serious. When she saw the snake earlier, she thought it was some mountain spirit or wild creature that had wandered down from the hills. Now, with talk of the apocalypse and such compelling evidence before her, she was half-convinced, half-skeptical.

“Tell me more about what will happen next.”

Seeing that her mother was starting to believe, Bai Xun felt a wave of relief and decided to add fuel to the fire.

“For the next month, there will be continuous heavy rain. After a month, our city and several surrounding cities will be submerged by massive floods. Today is the first day of the apocalypse, and in four days, the internet will be cut off. Right now, there aren’t many mutated people or animals yet, but by the tenth day of the apocalypse, pollutants will start appearing frequently in the city. I want to move to a higher, safer location. As for the floods a month from now, we can think about that a few days later.”

With their family’s lives at stake, Bai Guifang was extremely cautious. “Then let’s move. If it turns out to be false, we’ll only lose a year’s rent at most, no big deal. But if it’s true, our family will have a chance to survive.”

Bai Yu said, “If we’re moving, shouldn’t we also buy more supplies? And the goods we just stocked up on last night should last us a few months. Some streets are already flooded, so if we don’t move quickly in the next couple of days, we won’t be able to transport our things.”

She would be heartbroken if that happened.

Bai Guifang nodded emphatically. “We’ll pack everything tonight. Xun’er, you find a place tonight, and tomorrow we’ll go to a real estate agent, whether we rent or buy, we need to pick a place to move to. Our family has the money. Oh, and Xiao Cheng, you should come with us too. If there really is a flood, you won’t have anywhere else to go.”

As for why Cheng Wei was here, Bai Xun had brushed it off with the excuse that he was a distant relative or friend visiting from afar. Combined with the fact that they had taken an afternoon nap, they assumed Cheng Wei had arrived during that time.

Cheng Wei said, “I’ll be troubling everyone during this time.”

Bai Xun picked up a small lamb chop and placed it in his bowl. “No trouble at all. It’s a huge help that you can stay.”

After dinner, everyone sprang into action, sorting and packing all the useful supplies in the Bai family’s self-built house.

Besides packing, Bai Xun was tasked with finding a new place to live. Cheng Wei was responsible for downloading various disaster response plans and knowledge from the internet. Bai Yu, having received precious documents from a time-traveling apocalypse survivor online, was to draft multiple public account posts to share in various group chats.

If this really was the apocalypse, every little bit of help counted.

Grandma Bai and Bai Guifang were in the kitchen and storage room, taking stock of the family’s food reserves. Having just restocked, their home was overflowing with food.

For staples, they had 14 bags of 50-kilogram rice, 3 packs of 2.5-kilogram millet, 3 boxes of dried noodles, 3 bags of rice noodles, 10 packs of vermicelli, 2 packs of glass noodles, 1 pack of spaghetti, 7 bags of 25-kilogram flour, and about 0.5 kilograms of mung beans.

For dried goods, they had one pack each of dried red dates, dried shiitake mushrooms, peanuts, mushroom soup mix, goji berries, dried chili peppers, dried radish, dried scallops, sea cucumbers, dried abalone, dried kelp, cured duck, smoked bacon, and Cantonese-style sausages.

The seasonings included six 10-liter buckets of peanut oil, four 1.9-liter bottles of soy sauce, five bags of salt, six bags of white sugar, four bags of rock sugar, one jar of salad dressing, three boxes of fermented black beans, three jin of ginger, four jin of garlic, three jars of chicken bouillon powder, twenty spice packs for stewing, and four blocks of hotpot base.

The instant foods included two cans of coconut milk, two boxes of tart shells, two boxes of tart filling, three bags of chicken wingettes, two cheese chicken onion pizzas, two bags of potato sticks, and one bag of onion rings.

The frozen meats included six jin of lamb chops, one lamb leg, five jin of pork ribs, twenty jin of pork belly, thirteen jin of pork leg meat, twenty-five pig trotters, ten jin of pork bones, twenty-two jin of beef, ten jin of chicken mid-wings, twelve whole chickens, five geese, and five bags of shrimp.

The eggs included thirty-four chicken eggs, seven preserved eggs, and thirteen salted duck eggs.

The fruits and vegetables included thirteen cabbages, one large bag of potatoes weighing about fifteen jin, six jin of sweet potatoes, four onions, three tomatoes, seventeen carrots, one bunch of chives, five apples, and three pears.

There were also two jars of pickled vegetables and one jar of sour cabbage.

Bai Guifang roughly noted down the quantities in her small account book, omitting some staple foods or seasonings that had been opened and were nearly finished.

Currently, the household had the most staple foods and seasonings, while vegetables, which were less durable, were the least in quantity.

If it weren’t for the massive flood at the beginning, given their family’s reserves, they could have survived for quite a long time in the early stages of the apocalypse.