Yuri Walsh rubbed the bridge of his nose in exasperation. Frowning at Zara Walsh, he said, "Sis, that’s incredibly rude!"

Zara Walsh simply rolled her eyes. She gently poked Yuri Walsh’s chest with a long, slender finger and said with a smirk, "You really need to wise up."

"Look at that girl’s clothes. Her whole outfit isn’t worth ten thousand yuan combined. I bet her family saw she had a pretty face and scraped together every penny to buy this suburban villa, all so she could have a chance to hook a rich guy in the area."

"She’s from a mediocre background and doesn’t think about working hard, only about using her body to sleep her way to the top. She’s delusional, trying to cross class lines by marrying up. I’ve seen plenty of girls like her. Don’t fall for her trap, my naive little brother!"

As Zara Walsh spoke, she nonchalantly twirled the enormous pink diamond ring on her finger.

Ethan Sutton had won the diamond at an auction at The Nimbus Hotel. He had originally intended to use this Pink Diamond to court Zara Walsh, but she had turned him down.

When the Sutton Family went bankrupt at the beginning of the year, the Pink Diamond was sent to a court-ordered auction, and Zara Walsh bought it herself.

Zara Walsh didn’t want Ethan Sutton, but she did want the Pink Diamond.

The Walsh Family was a pharmaceutical empire, and Zara Walsh had been born with a silver spoon in her mouth. She could buy anything she wanted for herself; she had no need to rely on a man.

With her own resources to back her up, Zara Walsh looked down on girls like Melody Summers, who she believed did nothing but rely on their youth and beauty to seduce rich men.

Take the diamond ring on her finger—she could buy it herself. A girl like Melody Summers, on the other hand, could only hope a man would give one to her. And in return, the only price she could pay was her own young, beautiful body.

Yuri Walsh’s frown deepened as he listened to her. "Sis, she’s not the kind of person you’re describing," he said, clearly displeased. "Besides, you don’t even know her. Stop making baseless accusations!"

The other day at Zane Simmons’s dinner party, two rich heirs wanted to get Melody Summers’s contact information, but Zane Simmons intercepted them first.

Zane Simmons told them that if they were looking for a serious relationship, they were welcome to ask for her number. But if they were just looking to fool around, they shouldn’t even bother.

Recalling how serious Zane Simmons had been, Yuri Walsh thought, ’If Melody Summers were really that kind of woman, Zane Simmons would never have treated her with such respect.’

Then at the hospital, Melody Summers had decisively paid two million for specialty medicine.

He had originally thought Melody Summers was planning to resell it for a profit, but then he saw a message in The Metropolis Residences’ group chat saying someone had donated a batch of specialty medicine to the community. That’s when he realized Melody had donated all of it for free.

Two million in supplies wasn’t a fortune, but it was by no means a small sum.

Even for a wealthy family like his, a donation of that size would have been accompanied by a major media campaign.

But Melody Summers had donated it anonymously.

’If Melody Summers really wanted to marry up,’ he thought, ’she would have used the donation to generate publicity for herself and pave the way. But she didn’t.’

Therefore, even though Yuri Walsh had no idea what Melody Summers’s family did for a living, he knew she was absolutely not the kind of person Zara Walsh made her out to be.

Zara Walsh shot Yuri Walsh a look and scoffed. "You never used to stick up for people like this. Don’t tell me you’ve fallen for that little chit, have you? Don’t be an idiot. Our family would never allow a woman like that through our doors. Your future wife must be an heiress from a prominent family, someone who is our social equal!"

Yuri Walsh found his sister utterly unreasonable. He looked at her sternly and said, "She’s our neighbor. We see her practically every day. What’s wrong with me saying a few words in her defense? You’re getting more and more absurd! If you’re going to be like this, go back and live with Mom and Dad. You’re not welcome here."

Seeing the dark look on Yuri Walsh’s face, Zara Walsh could only shrug. "Fine, it’s not like I’m going to say anything to her face. All right, all right, my dear little brother, I just got back in the country. Are you sure you want to start a fight with me right now? Come on, help me finish unpacking!"

Zara Walsh had been living in Icelia, but with Icelian officials repeatedly issuing warnings about a massive volcanic eruption, she had been forced to rush back home.

In truth, Icelia is a volcanic island; almost the entire nation is built on volcanic rock, and it’s home to some forty to fifty active volcanoes.

Over the years, volcanic eruptions in Icelia have been a regular occurrence, sometimes lasting for as long as six months. The residents have long grown accustomed to them.

Furthermore, Icelia’s volcanic eruptions are typically quiet, effusive flows with practically zero danger. Many people even take the opportunity to go take pictures for their social media.

Recently, however, the situation has been completely different.

In the past few days, Mount Katlan in southern Icelia, Mount Grimal near the Icelian capital of Kaelis, and Mount Grimsfall in Icelia’s Gryphon Glacier have all shown anomalous readings.

Experts predict these volcanoes are highly likely to experience the most severe, once-in-a-millennium eruption in recorded history.

*

「Time flew, and soon it was April 1st.」

This time last year, unprecedented tornadoes had swept the globe, kicking off a year-long period of global heat and drought.

This April 1st, however, would be anything but peaceful.

That evening, Melody Summers sat on the sofa with her aunt, grandmother, and Miss Lowell, watching the news. There was a live broadcast with updates on volcano monitoring and resident evacuations.

Just then, Winnie Summers and Colin Summers returned home from their shifts at the supply distribution point.

Her grandmother quickly went to greet them, fussing, "Why are you two back so late? Hurry and wash up for dinner. We made your favorites, squirrelfish and double-cooked pork."

Colin Summers scratched his head. "Dozens of new people moved into the neighborhood this evening, all from other provinces, coming to stay with relatives. We were helping the emergency management office register them and distribute supplies, so it took a while."

Melody Summers looked up. "Uncle, are they from the volcanic eruption zones?"

Colin Summers nodded. "Yeah. Some of them are from the area around Skyfire Volcano, others from near Gryphon Volcano. They’ve all come to stay with relatives who live here in our neighborhood."

Lately, numerous active volcanoes across the country had been showing signs of eruption.

The country’s Cenozoic volcanoes were already widely distributed, covering regions like the periphery of the Northeast-North Cathaysian Rift System, the Crynth Peninsula, the Solara Region, Northern and Eastern Formina, the Western Periphery, and the Okito Region. This large-scale eruption event was going to affect a great many people.

The government had evacuated tens of millions of people from the estimated disaster zones. Those who had relatives to turn to flocked to them, while those who didn’t were housed in various rescue centers and shelters across the country.

Many hotels that had been abandoned due to power outages were commandeered, and even school dormitories, now empty since classes were canceled, were being used to house the evacuees.

At the dinner table, Melody Summers and her family ate while keeping a close eye on the news reports about the ongoing rescue and relocation efforts.

Forced to flee the homes their families had inhabited for generations, many people wore expressions of sorrow and reluctance. Some of the elderly simply refused to leave, crying to the cameras that they wanted to stay, that they would rather die on their native soil than leave. In the end, they were all forcibly evacuated by disaster relief personnel.

After already enduring a year of heat and drought, every passing day was an agony for many people.

They had thought that if they just held on, the heatwave would eventually pass. They never expected to be faced with the catastrophe of volcanic eruptions next.

"Sigh... How are we supposed to go on living like this?" Grace Sutton said, sighing sorrowfully as she watched the television.

A somber mood hung over the rest of the meal.

They had just finished eating and were clearing the table when a breaking news alert suddenly interrupted the program on TV:

"We interrupt this program with breaking news: According to the Kaito National Meteorological Agency, at 21:03, Mount Furen in the south-central Mainspire Isles has begun a super-eruption!

"Satellite imagery shows the eruption column from Mount Furen has exceeded fifty kilometers in height. The resulting ash cloud has been ejected tens of thousands of meters into the sky, spreading into the atmosphere, and is expected to take a very long time to dissipate.

"Experts predict the total energy released by this eruption is equivalent to 200,000 times that of the Hiroshima atomic bomb! It is expected to inflict a devastating blow to the entire Mainspire Isles!"

’It’s starting!’

Melody Summers’s expression was grim. ’According to the timeline from my past life,’ she thought, ’the eruption of Mount Furen is only the beginning. Soon, countless other volcanoes, both large and small, will join in this unprecedented global event.’