It was past ten at night. Though late, the streets of Halycon, a top-tier megacity, were still bustling with traffic under flashing neon lights.
Sierra Sullivan crawled along with the traffic, her eyes constantly scanning her surroundings.
She might never see such a bustling, vibrant scene again.
She wanted to take it all in while she still could.
An hour later.
The Gilded Terrace, Building One, thirty-sixth floor.
After getting home, Sierra Sullivan bolted the door and immediately went to take a shower.
Based on her experience from her past life, the Aberrant Beasts would appear at the same time as the sandstorm.
They wouldn't just kill; they would also cause widespread destruction.
In her past life, it had only taken three days for the power grid to be destroyed, the internet to crash, and the water and gas to be cut off.
That was why Sierra had to take advantage of the convenient running water while she still could.
When Sierra Sullivan stepped out of the bathroom after her shower, there were only three minutes left until midnight.
It would be a lie to say she wasn't nervous.
If she had a choice, Sierra truly didn't want the sandstorm to come, didn't want the apocalypse to begin.
But none of this was up to her.
The only thing she could do now was wait.
Sierra Sullivan walked over to the massive floor-to-ceiling window.
From there, she could see the most beautiful nightscape in Halycon.
Not far in the distance was Glimmerlake, dotted with boats of all sizes.
Closer by, the commercial street was still bustling with people.
The traffic on the roads had thinned out a bit, but only relatively speaking.
This city never slept.
Sierra greedily drank in the sight, not even realizing her own breathing had grown shallow and rapid.
Finally, the countdown began.
Ten, nine, eight...
Three!
Two!
One!
As the time on her phone struck midnight, a furious wind suddenly whipped up outside.
And with the wind came a churning maelstrom of yellow sand that blotted out the sky.
In a near instant, the yellow sand completely obscured Sierra Sullivan's vision.
Glimmerlake, the commercial street, the road with its ceaseless stream of traffic—all visible just moments ago—had now completely vanished.
When this apartment was renovated, no expense had been spared; everything used was of the highest quality.
For instance, the enormous pane of glass looked precarious, but it was actually bulletproof.
After the apocalypse began in her past life, she had lived here for a month, and the glass had never shown any signs of damage.
Therefore, standing inside, Sierra wasn't afraid of the sandstorm or Aberrant Beasts getting in.
What left her feeling conflicted was the unknown future.
The glass wasn't just bulletproof; its soundproofing was also exceptional.
She could barely even hear the sound of the sand lashing against the window.
Sierra didn't just stand there gawking. She curled up on the sofa and opened her phone.
Although only a few minutes had passed, the internet had already exploded.
The word "sandstorm" had already shot to the top of the trending list, marked with a red icon indicating it had gone viral.
Sierra clicked on it and scrolled through briefly. Sure enough, she saw people from different regions posting about it.
They weren't just in different cities, but in different countries.
But right now, everyone was experiencing the same thing, facing the same situation.
Official channels were already urging the public to remain calm.
But it wasn't very effective.
Some people were already saying that the end of the world had come.
However, posts like that were being deleted almost as soon as they appeared.
Such posts were in the minority.
Most people were divided into two camps.
One camp was worried about work, production, and school being canceled.
The other was celebrating the fact that they might finally get a day off.
The two sides went back and forth, and soon the internet was ablaze with their arguments.
The same thing had happened in her past life.
But by tomorrow morning, when they tried to leave their homes and discovered not only the sandstorm but also all sorts of man-eating Aberrant Beasts, the arguments would stop.
Sierra scrolled through more posts but found no useful information, so she simply put her phone away.
'Better to get some sleep than to worry uselessly.'
She was far more prepared now than in her past life.
No matter how difficult survival became, it couldn't possibly be harder than it was in her past life.
With that thought, Sierra's mood improved considerably. After she lay down, she actually managed to fall asleep.
「The next morning.」
After waking up, Sierra wasn't in a hurry to get out of bed. The first thing she did was check her phone.
As soon as she turned it on, she saw over a hundred missed calls.
If her phone hadn't been charging, the battery would have likely died from all the calls.
Fortunately, she'd had the foresight to leave the phone on silent in the living room before going to bed, so she hadn't been disturbed.
Of those hundred-plus missed calls, one hundred and twenty were from Autumn Lynch and her parents.
Another three were from Jayce.
Seeing the name Jayce, Sierra Sullivan's expression flickered.
Just then, Autumn Lynch called again.
Seeing Autumn Lynch's name, Sierra let out a derisive snort and answered the call.
The call had barely connected when Autumn Lynch's frantic voice came through.
"Cousin, where are you? I called you so many times! Why didn't you pick up?"
Autumn Lynch had barely finished speaking when Claire Winters impatiently cut in, "Sierra, didn't you say you were going out to buy food? Why haven't you come back yet? Do you have any idea there's a sandstorm raging outside?"
"What are you talking about that for!" Desmond Lynch grumbled at Claire Winters. "It's not like Sierra's blind. How could she not see the sandstorm? Is that the most important thing right now? It's food and water! I just checked the entire villa, and there's not a single thing to eat or drink! The tap water is out for some reason, too! Tell Sierra to hurry back and bring us some food and water!"
"Yes, yes, you're right!" Claire Winters quickly agreed. "Oh, Sierra, you have your car. Hurry up, buy some food and drinks, and come back! It's not safe out there!"
Autumn Lynch's tone became pitiful. "Cousin, we haven't eaten or had a single drop of water since yesterday morning. We're starving and so thirsty! Please, hurry back!"
Sierra sighed. "It's not that I don't want to come back. It's just that I can't see my hand in front of my face out here. There's no way I can drive! I'll send you some money—order some delivery! Get whatever you want! Don't hold back!"
Autumn Lynch was so furious she could have coughed up blood.
'Is Sierra doing this on purpose?'
'She just said she can't see a thing outside and can't drive, and then she tells me to order delivery.'
'I'd love to order delivery!'
'But not a single restaurant is open on any of the delivery apps.'
'I even tried calling some of the big supermarkets, and they all said they were closed for the day.'
'What good is Sierra sending me money?'
'There's nowhere to spend it!'
Autumn Lynch wanted to snap, but she didn't dare. Taking a deep breath, she softened her tone again. "Cousin, no one's accepting delivery orders! Besides, we're worried about you out there all by yourself. You should just try to drive back slowly!"
"Oh, is that right..." Sierra said, pretending to think for a moment. "Alright, I'll give it a try then! Wait for me!"
"Okay, great!" Autumn Lynch was happy now. "We'll be waiting for you, Cousin!"
Sierra hung up the phone and smiled silently.
'Keep waiting.'
'They could wait until their next life, and I still wouldn't go.'