When something happened, Lan Jin tended to overthink, but Lao Gao was different. "The blizzard is still raging outside. Once it stops, we can go out and see. There are also other guesses about these powers."
For example, do powers only appear after the insects are expelled, or do they activate while the insects are still inside? Once powers appear, do those who still have insects in their bodies get powers while in madness, or does their body return to normal?
In short, there were many possibilities. They had powers, but others might be different. Overthinking wouldn't help. Once the blizzard stopped, they could check everything.
Lao Gao's reasoning made sense. Too many possibilities to imagine. Better to wait and see later.
Outside, the blizzard raged violently, matching their excitement. They couldn't calm down at all.
Even after sleeping three straight days, they had no desire to rest despite the dark night.
Though the four adults slept a lot, Qiao Qiao and Nana had barely slept. After finishing meals, Lan Jin would comfort them, and they would fall asleep almost immediately.
Lan Jin placed the children and the dog into the space. The temperature inside was comfortable, and she could monitor their movements. It was the safest place. Once Grandma Ling returned home to rest, the four adults returned to 3201.
At night, there was no electricity anywhere. Huang Jinghe ran on the generator treadmill for a while to power the lights, then examined the broken balcony glass door.
Though the door only had a few small cracks, the glass was shattered in so many places that repair was impossible.
Lan Jin said, "Is there another door downstairs we can use to patch this one? If not, we can remove the glass and use cardboard, or just move to another room."
Moving rooms wasn't very practical. Most homes had reinforced or bulletproof windows installed, but many windows elsewhere were broken by frozen snow.
Still, there might be some intact glass. Lao Gao thought the idea was good. "Alright, I'll go check."
Huang Jinghe said, "I'll go with you."
Huang Jinghe stepped off the treadmill, and Ling Jiang quickly took his place to generate more electricity. They had plenty of energy now, so it was fine.
Lan Jin asked, "I can generate electricity too. Is my power the same as this one? Can I charge the batteries directly?"
At her question, Ling Jiang paused, then resumed running. "Ask Lao Gao later. It's still electricity, but it might be different. Can you control the amount? Don't blow up the battery."
It was their first chance to use a normal generator, and Ling Jiang wanted to be careful.
Lan Jin also couldn't control the power precisely yet. If she accidentally burned her clothes like Lao Gao did before, it would be a problem.
Southern winters weren't that cold normally. They had only a few thick coats. One was torn, one was burned. Luckily, Lan Jin had more in her space, or they'd have none.
"True, it's still useful. We'll deal with it later."
Lan Jin taped the broken glass on the door, then retrieved the stove from the space.
If the temperature three days ago was minus forty, after several days of blizzard, it felt even colder. "So cold, too cold. Why is it so cold?"
Lan Jin added more charcoal to the stove, and the enclosed room soon warmed up.
After a while, Lao Gao and Huang Jinghe returned downstairs, each carrying a door.
Lao Gao said, "When we went down, several people were blocking 31st floor. They didn't say anything when we came down, just used their powers. None of them fought us together, then they ran."
Huang Jinghe added, "Fighting them felt like they hadn't eaten. Maybe they really hadn't. Now with powers, they probably wanted food."
Lan Jin asked, "Who were they? Familiar faces? The ones we rescued before?"
Huang Jinghe replied, "Yes, the same people who trapped us on the rooftop. Didn't expect them to survive. From what I heard, everyone with fever who survived gets powers. Those who didn't survive, no powers. They must know someone died."
But they were quickly gone. Detailed questions couldn't be asked. They would have to investigate later.
After putting down the doors, Lao Gao said, "Once we repair this door, we can check. With the blizzard, who knows how they got here?"
Inside was cold but better than outside. The wind outside was harsh, freezing his face. Snow covered the corridors. Stepping on it could collapse it, but it was still somewhat solid. Moving up and down was difficult.
The snow had already piled to the 25th floor. Lao Gao said, "The snow is so high. Without someone testing it first, I wouldn't dare step on it. I might get stuck."
"Let's wait and see. With this storm, we don't need to go out anyway."
The main concern was fixing this door quickly.
Lao Gao and Huang Jinghe brought two doors up. They clearly weren't from the same place and didn't match 3201's frame. Installing them directly wasn't realistic.
Lao Gao said, "These two doors are the only intact ones. The rest are damaged. Some snow is already inside. Let's remove the glass and see if we can fit it directly."