At the Arctic research station.
Hundreds of researchers were gathered to discuss the various recent abnormal phenomena all over the world.
"The situation is much worse than we thought."
"The temperature in many places has almost broken the records set in the past. Moreover, the weather reports from various countries and regions aren't very optimistic."
"More importantly, the melting rate of the polar region has reached a new high. Considering this phenomenon, we have to be vigilant."
"As the glaciers melt, the sea level is rising at the rate of almost three millimeters a day…"
"If this continues, the crisis of the sea level rising will affect the entire world first."
At this time, a researcher stood up and said, "I disagree. Although the rising sea level is indeed dangerous, the greater danger now is the possibility of the world entering the extreme ice age!"
Li Zheng, another researcher, rose to his feet and looked at everyone before he said, "That's not necessarily true. With such high temperatures, I think we should be more worried about extreme heat rather than extreme cold. As for the extreme ice age, perhaps, we don't have to worry about that for at least another 100 years."
The researcher who theorized the coming of the ice age looked at Li Zheng unhappily and said, "What nonsense are you spouting? Don't forget that ever since the industrial revolution, Earth's climate has been changing at a rate that's almost ten times faster than before. Don't take the extreme heat at face value. Once this passes, extreme cold will descend!"
Li Zheng adjusted his glasses and refuted with a serious expression, "Didn't you read the latest report? The melting rate of the glaciers is increasing every day. Once the sea level rises, it'll affect the sea currents. At that time, the climate will stabilize. The warming of the climate is almost inevitable. It's impossible for it to turn to the other side of the extreme after passing a certain node. You should take a look at the data first."
At this time, a white-haired old man, who was sitting at the head of the table and silently watching the arguments, placed his hands on the table and slowly rose to his feet and said, "Everyone, please be quiet. Now's not the time for us to argue among ourselves."
As soon as the white-haired old man moved, many researchers instinctively fell silent. This was not surprising since the old man was a senior in this field, and he was the most experienced among them. When they were still studying in universities, he had already been studying abnormal weather for more than 20 years.
In fact, the old man had already retired last year. However, the weather change was too abnormal this year. In order to find out the cause of the matter, the country spent a lot of money to invite him out of his retirement.
"Senior, as a researcher who's been deeply involved in weather anomalies for so many years, what are your thoughts about this?"
The old man looked at the people before him and slowly shook his head as he said, "It's hard to say this time."
Everyone's heart skipped a beat upon hearing these words. Logically, someone like the old man who had studied meteorology for decades should have already come to a conclusion by now. However, they had been here for almost a week, but the old man who had read through thousands of data reports and analyses was still unable to come to a conclusion. This did not bode well for everyone; it seemed like the abnormal weather this time was not simple.
The old man placed his hands on the table again before he said, "Instead of making all kinds of assumptions here. The most important thing now is to send the data we collected back to the lab in the capital for verification. We can only make conjectures seriously after the data is verified."
"You're right."
The old man successfully calmed down the researchers present.
The old man thought about it for a moment before he turned to Li Zheng and said, "Li Zheng, you're the most familiar with the date among everyone present. I hope you can bring the data and report back to the capital."
Li Zheng shook his head and said decisively, "Forgive me for refusing. You can send my student back to do this. She's also very familiar with the data we collected during this period of time. I hope to stay and continue collecting data. After all, the weather is getting more and more abnormal every day. In case there's a big breakthrough, it's better if I stay."
"Very well. We'll do as you say. As for the others, you can return to your posts. This meeting will end here," the old man said with a nod.
…
The day after the graduation ceremony, Su Can and Li Jiayue took a cab early in the morning to an abandoned psychiatric hospital in the suburbs.
Su Can was in a daze as he looked at the passing scenery outside the cab. About a dozen days ago, he was content living his life one day at a time, and it did not matter if he died, but now, he was determined to survive because of the people around him.
When he turned to look at Li Jiayue, who was leaning on his shoulder and slowly falling asleep, he could not help but smile. In fact, it was not that he did not want to live; it was just that he did not want to live alone.
Ever since Su Can had a serious chat with Li Jiayue that day, he had not been sleeping well. He had been thinking about what to do and how to build a shelter for the apocalypse. Although he had the money, he had no experience at all in building a shelter.
Su Can leaned back and closed his eyes as he rubbed his temples, feeling frustrated. He had been annoyed over the past two days when he could not sleep. At that time, he even thought he should bring Li Jiayue with him and live a carefree life during the apocalypse for a short period of time. It was not a bad thing to live a decadent life. However, every time he was on the brink of giving up, Li Jiayue's gentle smile would appear in his mind. As expected, when one cared about another person, one would always think about the other person.
After thinking about it for half a night, Su Can decided to look at a few suitable places in the suburbs, which included the abandoned psychiatric hospital which was also his first stop, to transform into a shelter.
"We've arrived!"
The cab slowly pulled to a stop at the entrance of the psychiatric hospital.
After getting off the cab, Su Can and Li Jiayue stood in front of the dilapidated building and looked at it silently.
Li Jiayue looked at the building that was covered in vines and lichen as she asked curiously, "Su Can, isn't there a better place than this to build a shelter? I feel that this place is a little too rundown…"