Doomsday:I Empty Global Resources

In other windows of the surveillance footage, people covered in blood with broken mosquito proboscises embedded in their exposed skin kept rushing out.

At first glance, it looked like a zombie siege.

The images were so gory and impactful that Jiang Yan felt her stomach churn.

Frowning, she turned off the tablet and picked up her phone to open the only still-functioning V-Chat homeowners group.

In less than a day, the group already had 999+ unread messages.

Apparently, many people still had phone battery—or perhaps they'd moved underground and were using the property management's backup power supply in the subterranean shelters.

Most messages in the group were furious rants venting anger, while a few were pleas asking if any neighbors had medical training or spare medicine.

Common medications like cerebral heart soothers, fever reducers, hemostatics, gauze, Yunnan Baiyao, antibiotics, and Huoxiang Zhengqi Shui had all become priceless commodities.

One kind-hearted veterinarian volunteered in the group, offering to perform amputation surgeries for neighbors.

There was also a reminder from the property management, posted three times:

[Property Manager No.1: Dear homeowners, during our recent patrol, we discovered that some residents accidentally left their building entrances unlocked when evacuating, leading to Blood Mosquito attacks across all buildings in Repulse Bay. Please note the following:

1.

To prevent further tragedies, all building entrances will be permanently locked starting today. Reopening date TBD.

2.

Our team has been mobilized to disinfect and eliminate remaining Blood Mosquitoes in floors 1-3 of every building. Homeowners who haven't yet relocated underground are advised to shelter in place.

If the heat is unbearable and immediate evacuation is necessary, please endure temporarily while ensuring full-body protection (no exposed skin) to avoid mosquito attacks.

3.

We're severely understaffed and stretched thin. We apologize for any oversights!

Our entire 12-person team has been working nonstop for two days and nights in 60+°C heat to prepare shelters and supplies for over 1,500 residents!

Several staff have died from heatstroke or Blood Mosquito attacks.

We deeply regret today's incidents in the stairwells! But we also urge all homeowners to follow community rules—show responsibility and vigilance for everyone's safety!!]

Accompanying this notice were photos of sweaty property staff working on the frontlines, along with images of injured, unconscious, or deceased employees.

Jiang Yan skimmed past the photos, pausing at the phrase "all buildings."

So it wasn't just Building A under attack.

Were the property staff also responsible for deliberately leaving other buildings' doors open?

Unfortunately, her surveillance only covered certain floors of Building A—she had no visibility elsewhere.

Judging by the graphic photos shared in the group, the other four buildings had suffered equally devastating casualties.

But she wasn't a police officer or detective.

These questions weren't her priority right now.

Below the notice, homeowners naturally lashed out at the property management for inadequate patrols.

However, most people who saw the photos gave a thumbs-up to the property management's efforts over the past few days, acknowledging that despite the extreme heat, they had been working hard to prepare the underground shelters, even if their resources were stretched thin.

But the majority of the comments were curses directed at the few homeowners who had left their unit doors open.

The language used was vicious.

As foul as you could imagine.

They even dragged ancestors nineteen generations back into the insults.

Jiang Yan skimmed through the messages and noticed a few homeowners clearly stirring the pot, even directing blame at those who had left for the shelters.

Naturally, this included her—the only one from Building A who had gone to the Official Shelter.

No wonder her ears had been burning earlier.

The property management, however, remained silent on the matter.

After posting that friendly reminder, they completely disappeared from the group chat.

Perhaps they were busy preparing disinfection supplies or dealing with other issues.

Jiang Yan recalled the surveillance footage she had seen and then glanced at the flood of messages in the group, where people, now misled, were frantically @-ing her and sending private requests to add her as a friend. She frowned.

She had no intention of cutting and pasting that surveillance footage into the group.

For one, she wasn't sure how to edit it yet, and once shared, her unauthorized installation of surveillance cameras would be exposed.

More importantly, chaos was everywhere right now. Instead of hunting down the root cause of the problem, solving the immediate crisis took priority.

For the homeowners, the core issue was reducing mosquito attacks and safely relocating to the underground parking lot.

For her, it was sticking to her plan and flying home tonight.

So, for now, she'd let the bullets fly a little longer.

If she remembered correctly, temperatures would soar to 70 or 80 degrees in the next couple of days.

What was the point of jumping into a heated argument with a bunch of furious people right now?

Jiang Yan turned off her phone, stood up, suited up again, and stepped out of the dimension.

It was almost 10 p.m., and a full moon hung high in the night sky.

Its light illuminated the streets with eerie clarity.

Perhaps due to the extreme heat, the moonlight took on a reddish hue.

Casting a faint blood-like tint over everything below.

At this hour, temperatures were still climbing.

But without the blinding sunlight and the scorching intensity of daytime, the strain on the body and eyes was slightly more bearable.

Sparse figures began appearing on the streets.

The heatwave had struck too suddenly, paralyzing all forms of transportation.

The authorities had likely struggled just to prepare the shelters.

For now, people had no choice but to rely on themselves or make their own way there.

Among the crowd, some were fully geared up, carrying heavy hiking backpacks, dragging their families along as they trudged forward.

They wore makeshift helmets fashioned from window screens, clutching Electric Mosquito Swatters and Mosquito Repellent in their hands.

Others had modified their window screens into wearable armor-like coverings.

And then there were those who had transformed their screens into oversized, mobile family-sized Mosquito-proof Shelters.

Some of these shelters were welded together, while others were tightly bound with cloth strips and ropes.

Reinforced with wire and broom handles as frames, they were just spacious enough to fit a family of three or four.

Two stands were placed in the middle, allowing the carriers to hoist the shelter onto their shoulders and walk.

Although they didn't have to hold them up with both hands, the weight of over a dozen mosquito nets on their bodies, combined with the sweltering heat, left those transporting the Mosquito-proof Shelters thoroughly exhausted.

Of course, most of these people were middle-aged parents.

The bottom edge of each Mosquito-proof Shelter was sewn with a thick layer of fabric.

This fabric was deliberately left dragging slightly on the ground, perfectly blocking any gaps that mosquitoes could use to enter.

These people were likely heading to the nearby Official Shelter under cover of darkness.

Soon, the sweat from the people inside the Mosquito-proof Shelters and their heavy, exhausted breathing attracted large swarms of mosquitoes.

Though the mosquitoes couldn't break through the shelters, that didn't stop them from circling overhead or even landing on the mesh screens.