The downpour showed no signs of stopping.

That night, signs of flooding were already visible between the asphalt road and the green belts outside. The water, unable to drain, pooled together into puddles of varying sizes.

A short while later, Dean Wu’s grave voice crackled over the walkie-talkie: "Everyone, block the doorways with any heavy objects you can spare. Reinforce your doors and windows. I estimate that if this downpour continues much longer, it will cause a flood. We don’t know if we’re on high or low ground, so we must prepare for the worst."

"After you’ve set up flood defenses, please check your food reserves. Everyone needs at least seven days’ worth of food. If you don’t have enough, come to Building A to get more as soon as possible. Once you have your food, all students must move to the third floor or higher. Do not remain anywhere less than ten meters above ground."

Lin University, where Han Ning had studied before he was transported here, was located in a southern coastal region. Its students had some experience with typhoons and flood prevention. Upon receiving Dean Wu’s message, everyone quickly sprang into action.

The dormitory building was largely empty, so there was no shortage of heavy objects to block the doors and prevent water from getting in. They used overturned bed frames, desks laden with heavy items, and even makeshift sandbags filled with dirt.

The building had two entrances, one at the front and one at the back. To be safe, everyone braved the storm to reinforce the iron railings outside the dorm doors and line them with a row of sandbags.

The outer perimeter was packed with sandbags, with another row placed around the entrances.

By the time they finished, a layer of water about twenty centimeters deep had already accumulated on the ground outside the dormitory.

Han Ning’s dorm was on the third floor, and he had enough food stored for fifteen days, so he didn’t need to go get supplies for the time being.

The next day, the downpour still hadn’t let up. The gloomy sky looked as if it could collapse at any moment. Fine threads of lightning danced within the clouds, and a thick white fog lingered, creating a heavy, oppressive atmosphere.

The sandbags piled outside were gradually losing their effectiveness. More and more water seeped through the gaps and into the dormitory building, and the first-floor area slowly filled with floodwater.

Han Ning and a group of others stood by a window in the third-floor hallway. The calm expressions they wore yesterday were gone, replaced by an unshakable gloom.

When facing a Soul Beast’s attack, there was at least a slim chance of killing it and surviving.

But against the awesome might of nature, what could three hundred people do? What could even a thousand or ten thousand times that number do?

"I take back what I said yesterday... It seems you can’t use past experience to predict things in the Otherworld." Teacher Fang’s expression was somber. It wasn’t just because large swaths of his experimental fields had been swallowed by the flood; it was also the uncertainty he felt for the future.

’What will we do if this rain continues for another three days and three nights?’

"We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. Maybe the rain will stop soon," Zhao Jingjing said, pulling her gaze away from the window.

"Let’s hope so," Teacher Fang sighed softly.

Han Ning said nothing. He silently returned to his dorm and began to take stock of his supplies.

’Five boxes of instant noodles, two boxes of canned meat, one box of self-heating rice, twenty-two pounds of rice, seventeen pounds of flour, two hundred liters of water...’

’If the rain doesn’t stop and the floodwaters keep rising, fifteen days of supplies probably won’t be enough.’

He wasn’t the only one who needed to eat. Yin Yi could replenish her Energy by absorbing the white mist and light.

But he and Egg Pancake couldn’t do that; they had to eat every day. As their bodies grew stronger, their need for food-based energy also increased. Besides, that little guy Egg Pancake’s appetite was no smaller than his own.

"Lingling~" "Jiwu~"

Yin Yi and Egg Pancake, who had been playing nearby, noticed something was off with him. They gathered around, looking at him with concern in their two very different pairs of eyes.

"I’m fine." Han Ning smiled and patted the two little ones’ heads. Gazing at their concerned faces, the gloom in his heart instantly vanished.

’For Yin Yi and Egg Pancake, I have to survive, no matter what.’

Before, he had been all alone. He’d thought that if he died, he died. He might even be able to return to his original world.

But now, he had ties.

’If I’m gone, will Yin Yi be heartbroken?’

’And how would a tiny thing like Egg Pancake find food?’

"Jiji!" Egg Pancake chirped softly, then scrambled onto Han Ning’s chest. It wrapped its four paws around his torso and buried its face against him, rubbing gently.

"Alright, go on and play. I’ll let you know if anything happens." Han Ning chuckled and placed Egg Pancake among the flowers on Yin Yi’s head.

The sound of the rain outside was maddening. With nothing else to do, Han Ning called over Egg Pancake. The two of them passed the time in the hallway and their dorm, doing endless frog jumps, squats, pull-ups, and other Power training. It was a way to distract himself and keep from overthinking things.

「The next night.」

Han Ning was suddenly jolted awake by screams from outside. He groggily opened his window and, by the light of the dorm’s emergency lamps, saw that the outside world had transformed into a vast swamp.

The asphalt roads, which hadn’t been particularly clean to begin with, had become raging rivers.

The water was more than a person’s height deep. Some trees in low-lying areas were already completely submerged.

The current was swift, carrying all sorts of debris—dirt, trash, branches, toys, and even cars—that slammed relentlessly against the dormitory building.

The cars Dean Wu and the others had parked by the entrance had long since been swept away by the torrent, their whereabouts unknown.

A few scattered Iron-toothed Snakes and Demon Eye Frogs were caught in the flood, flailing helplessly as they were carried off to some unknown destination.

He opened his door, ran to the entrance of the hallway, and looked down.

Without him realizing, the floodwaters had already submerged the second floor of the dormitory. They were now only a meter or two away from the third floor where he was.

Teacher Fang and the others were gathered at the top of the stairs, directing students as they moved supplies to even higher floors.

Seeing this, Han Ning knew his own dorm would soon be uninhabitable. He hurried back to gather his things with Yin Yi and Egg Pancake and move to a higher floor.

"Yin Yi, hurry and wrap up those boxes."

"Lingling!"

Yin Yi was incredibly efficient. With a flex of her arms, she sent out dozens of thin vines. Each vine was tied around a box, large or small, making her look like an octopus from the Deep Sea.

"Jigu!"

Though small, Egg Pancake was trying his best. Baring his teeth, he lifted two boxes of his favorite canned meat. Beneath them was the fish tank filled with Earth he had lived in when he was born.

With Yin Yi’s help, the work was relatively easy for Han Ning. The one human and two Soul Beasts quickly moved their mountain of supplies to the highest floor of the dormitory—the fifth floor—and found an empty room to settle into.

According to the dormitory’s design, each floor had twelve rooms, with four people per room, for a total of forty-eight residents.

Now that everyone had moved their supplies to the fifth floor, about ninety people were gathered in Building C, where Han Ning was, so people would likely have to share rooms.

However... of the ninety people, nearly a third were female. Naturally, the young women weren’t going to room with the men, so most of them chose to stay together. As a result, Han Ning’s room didn’t end up with any extra occupants.

Just as Han Ning finished stowing his supplies and was about to go out and help the others,

everyone in Building C suddenly heard terrified screams coming from outside:

"Помогите! Помогите!"