「On the morning of the third day.」

Han Ning must have overexerted his Spiritual Power last night, as he only stirred from his sleep when a soft knock sounded at the door.

He rubbed his eyes and glanced instinctively out the window.

The sky was dim, no different from dusk. Outside, the rain had eased up a little but showed no signs of stopping.

Egg Pancake was sprawled on Yin Yi’s snow-white blossom, while two little creatures sat on the top bunk of the other metal-frame bed, intently staring at a phone screen.

’I’m glad. I’ve survived another day. That’s pretty impressive.’

Han Ning wiped his face, then went to open the door.

Teacher Fang, his arm wrapped in bandages, stood outside. Behind him were Rajkica and his wife, Lena.

"Good morning, Mr. Han." The couple nodded at Han Ning.

Seeing Han Ning’s sleepy expression, Teacher Fang smiled. "Just waking up? Dean Wu has called a meeting."

"Good morning. Is it in Building A? How are you all getting there?"

"The wind and rain have died down a little. We’re going to try using the Silver Lotus Wood to form a simple bridge of vines to walk across."

"Good idea." Han Ning gave Teacher Fang a thumbs-up, then returned to the bathroom to quickly wash up. He called over Yin Yi and Egg Pancake, grabbed his important belongings, and headed to the rooftop with Teacher Fang.

Buildings A, B, and C were arranged in a triangle, so the distance between each one was roughly the same.

The sky remained gloomy, but the wind wasn’t as fierce as yesterday. Below, the floodwaters had crept past the fourth floor without anyone noticing.

Fortunately, the dormitory stairwells had been newly constructed a few years prior and were built to withstand a certain level of flooding, earthquakes, and high winds.

Otherwise, older buildings would have long since been reduced to rubble and washed away by the flood.

In the distance, several large buses were wedged amidst debris. Pale, bloated corpses bobbed up and down in the water.

On the side of the roof closest to Building A, a few teachers and students were already preparing to direct a Silver Lotus Wood to shoot out vines and form a simple bridge.

Seeing the situation, Han Ning spoke up. "There’s no need to make a bridge. I’ll have Yin Yi get us across."

’Yin Yi just had a breakthrough; flying a few people over shouldn’t be a problem.’

"Alright then... we’ll leave it to you."

Considering the significant risk of using the vine bridge, Teacher Fang didn’t insist.

"Ling~"

At Han Ning’s command, Yin Yi shot out a dozen vines. Each one wrapped securely around a person’s waist, and, like a helicopter air rescue, it pulled them into the air and flew them over to the rooftop of Building A.

...

On the relatively spacious fifth-floor landing.

More than twenty teachers and students from Buildings A, B, and C were gathered here. They were the strongest, most combat-experienced, and had the most outstanding research abilities.

The long-dead Insect-man lay silently on a desk in the center, the object of everyone’s varied stares.

Aside from the survivors from the School of Engineering, there were also eight blonde, blue-eyed Westerners, including Rajkica and his wife.

’There are other Westerners?’

Han Ning was surprised to see several other Western faces in the crowd.

He knew no one had been brought up to Building A; their rescue efforts yesterday had been thwarted by the black beetles.

’They must have been rescued by the people in Building B.’

He looked toward Lin Tianhe and Chen Linyu in the crowd, gave them a wink, and quietly sidled over to them.

"How was last night for you guys?" Han Ning whispered as the three of them huddled together.

"Ugh, don’t even talk about it," Chen Linyu said with a pained expression. "I was terrified all night. I was afraid I’d wake up and find the floodwaters already past my shoulders."

"..."

For a moment, Han Ning didn’t know what to say to that. He glanced at the group of Westerners not far away and whispered, "...Who rescued them?"

Lin Tianhe chuckled. "It was my idea. We brought them up with a few others. And get this—they’re all doctors! Pretty awesome, right?"

"’Awesome?’ You’re that lucky? You just happened to rescue a few people, and they all turned out to be doctors?" Han Ning asked in surprise.

"My ass," Chen Linyu explained. "A tour bus got stuck below our building yesterday. There were about a dozen people inside yelling for help, so Tianhe just shouted, ’Are any of you doctors?!’ and seven of them raised their hands."

"What about the rest of them?" Han Ning continued to ask.

Lin Tianhe looked helpless. "Of course we had to prioritize people with useful skills. What we need most right now are doctors. By the time we’d saved six of them, the black beetles suddenly swarmed us, and we had to give up."

"I see. That’s still incredible," Han Ning said, patting their shoulders.

Just then, Dean Wu clapped his hands to get everyone’s attention. In a booming voice, he said, "Before we begin the meeting, let’s welcome our new friends. Could you all please introduce yourselves?"

Dean Wu looked toward the eight Westerners.

Rajkica, whom Han Ning had rescued, was the first to speak. He cleared his throat and began, in English:

"Hello, our friends from the East. My name is Rajkica, and I’m from Mao Bear Country. I’m a communications engineer. When this all happened, I was on a tour bus with my wife and child, on our way to travel across the European continent..."

After the bearded Rajkica gave his brief introduction, Lena, who was holding an infant, spoke up. She spoke in fluent Xia Country language:

"Hello everyone. My name is Lena... I’m a linguist, and my primary field of study is the language of Ancient Xia Country..."

Lena was a woman in her early thirties with blonde hair. She had a thick waist and a large chest, and her face showed the first subtle signs of aging.

’A linguist?’ At the mention of Lena’s profession, the expressions of everyone who had seen the Insect-man’s Beast Hide Scroll yesterday shifted slightly.

"My name is Sumarokov. I’m a thoracic surgeon at Ivanov Hospital..."

"My name is Goncharov..."

"..."

From their accounts, the teachers and students began to understand the story behind the tour buses.

The remaining six people, four men and two women, all came from the same hospital.

Before this all happened, they had booked a trip with the same travel agency and were getting ready for a pleasant vacation in Europe. But then...

"Welcome, everyone. My name is Wu Xingguo, and I’m the dean of the Xia Country Forestry University School of Engineering. Allow me to brief you on our current situation..."

Dean Wu cleared his throat and began to succinctly explain to the eight newcomers how they had all been transported to this place.

They listened as he described the immense hardships the teachers and students had faced, the countless sacrifices made, and how, just as things were finally starting to look up, they were hit by an unprecedented torrential downpour. Hearing this, all the newcomers wore complex expressions.

Their faces were a mixture of awe, grief, pain, heartache, and bewilderment.

The ups and downs of life, its joys and sorrows, meetings and partings—it was as if they had experienced a lifetime of it all in less than a month.

The Westerners exchanged glances. Lena said with deep emotion, "Dean Wu, you are all true warriors."

She glanced worriedly at the frail infant in her arms, her eyes filled with despair.

"There’s an old saying in Xia Country: ’Since we are here, we must make the best of it.’ All we can do now is work together and find a way to survive, no matter what it takes."

Dean Wu said, then walked over to the Insect-man’s corpse.