I Run a Restaurant in a World of Natural Disasters

Chapter 57: Chapter 52: Despair

The moment Connie finished speaking, she abandoned the food cart. Grabbing the still-dazed Ning He, she sprinted toward the adjacent buildings, with Ah Huai following close behind.

Ning He finally snapped back to reality. Only then did she notice the surrounding area was completely devoid of people; it seemed everyone else had already evacuated.

The three of them dashed to the row of storefronts as fast as they could, only to find them completely deserted. The doors and windows were locked tight, leaving no way in.

Connie’s face was deathly pale, though Ah Huai managed to maintain his composure.

"There’s a medical station up ahead. Someone might still be there, let’s go check."

The trio broke into another mad sprint.

However, the medical station’s doors were also heavily padlocked. The doctors and patients had all evacuated.

"What do we do?" Panic overflowed in Connie’s eyes. Her lips were stark white, and her hands trembled uncontrollably.

The surrounding temperature seemed to be plummeting rapidly, causing wave after wave of goosebumps to erupt across Ning He’s exposed skin. She forced herself to stay calm and thought rapidly.

"We still have the stove and tarp on our cart. If we find a sheltered corner to hide in, it’ll be cold at twenty or thirty degrees below zero, but we shouldn’t freeze to death immediately."

Ah Huai, however, shook his head, his tone heavy.

"It won’t be minus twenty or thirty; it will be minus fifty or sixty. In the first few hours after the Cold Front touches down, temperatures will drop to the extreme minimum before gradually stabilizing. Even with a stove and a tarp, we’ll freeze to death in a matter of minutes."

The words struck like a death sentence, causing Ning He’s entire body to stiffen.

She had never expected to find herself teetering on the absolute edge of death at this very moment.

Even though she had faced numerous natural disasters in this world, none had ever truly made her feel such profound despair.

Perhaps this was the true, unforgiving nature of this world.

"...Is there really no other way?" she asked, her voice dry and strained.

Ah Huai shook his head. "It’s too late to make it to the nearest shelter entrance. And even if we could get inside these buildings, without any heating equipment, it would only delay our deaths by a few minutes."

"The Third Ring does! The buildings in the Third Ring all have central heating. As long as we can get inside, we’ll be saved!" Connie suddenly grabbed Ah Huai, her eyes lighting up with frantic excitement.

"Connie..." Ah Huai’s lips trembled, a bitter, sorrowful smile forming. "The inner city gates are already closed. We... can’t get in."

The hopeful curve of Connie’s lips instantly froze. Her knuckles turned stark white as she gripped Ah Huai, murmuring in disbelief, "How could they... how could they..."

Ning He abruptly spun around, her gaze locking onto the tightly shut gates beneath the towering city wall ahead. In that fleeting moment, something finally clicked.

’I can’t die.’

’I absolutely cannot die!’

Ning He swiftly pulled out her phone, opened the foodie group chat, and fired off an SOS message.

Almost all the members in that group were residents of the Third Ring. If just one person was willing to help them, they might still have a glimmer of hope.

Seeing her actions, a brief spark lit up Ah Huai’s eyes, only to extinguish just as quickly.

"It’s no use. The gates are closed. Only an order from the City Lord can open the inner city gates now."

Ning He refused to accept that. She stared intently at her screen, waiting.

Two minutes passed, and the group chat remained dead silent.

Her plea for help was like a stone dropped into the ocean, vanishing without a trace.

Ning He’s heart grew colder by the second.

There were now less than eight minutes until the Cold Front arrived.

She could already hear the howling of the icy wind in her ears.

The temperature was plunging so rapidly that her teeth began to chatter uncontrollably.

But she didn’t want to die.

She had to survive.

Suddenly, she bolted toward the towering city walls.

The walls of the Third Ring and the streets of the Fourth Ring were separated only by a narrow drainage ditch.

However, there was a stark contrast between the paving stones on either side. One side was heavily worn down, while the other still retained a smooth finish, clearly indicating how rarely people walked there.

Ning He leaped over the drainage ditch, rushing right up to the massive gates set into the wall, and began pounding on them with all her might.

She used both her hands and feet—shoving, ramming, kicking, and stomping.

Yet, the thick doors forged from special materials didn’t yield a single inch under her desperate onslaught.

But she didn’t stop. She couldn’t stop.

Soon, someone else joined her at her side.

Connie’s face was streaked with tears, but her eyes were filled with absolute resolve.

She, too, had reasons she needed to survive.

Even knowing it was futile, the two women rammed themselves against the heavy doors like they couldn’t feel the pain.

"Let me!"

Ah Huai rushed over as well.

The three of them gave it everything they had, but the massive gates remained completely immovable. The only response was a cold, electronic voice blaring from a loudspeaker mounted above:

"Warning. Warning. Vandalizing the city gates is strictly prohibited. Violators will bear the consequences."

They acted as if they hadn’t heard a thing. None of them stopped.

Like ants trying to shake a massive tree, they would keep fighting until their dying breath.

The repeating electronic warnings finally ceased, only to be immediately followed by the automated activation of the gate’s defense system.

An electrified net flashed in a blinding arc. In that brief instant, Ning He felt her entire body seize up in paralysis, her legs giving out beneath her.

THUD—

THUD—

THUD—

The three of them collapsed to the ground, one after another.

Ning He lay flat on her back, staring up at a bleak, gray sky—the exact same sky she had seen when she first opened her eyes in this world.

She struggled, desperate to climb back to her feet, but she couldn’t move a single finger. Her body would only give the occasional, involuntary twitch.

She was completely helpless.

All she could do was wait for death.

A single tear rolled down her cheek, her eyes swimming with profound unwillingness to accept her fate.

The howling wind drew ever closer.

Her body was already so paralyzed that she could no longer feel the cold, which, ironically, made the prospect of dying a little less agonizing.

She could faintly hear Connie’s hoarse, broken voice beside her, weakly calling out different names.

"I’m... sorry..."

Ning He struggled to force the words out, though she knew apologies were entirely meaningless now.

Suddenly, the ground beneath her began to tremble slightly, as if something incredibly heavy was rolling across it.

Gradually, the distinct clanking of metal and a deep, low-frequency hum reached her ears.

It sounded familiar.

It sounded exactly like the Mecha that Macken had been piloting the last time she went out of the city.

’Mechas really are incredible.’

’I’d love to see one just one more time.’

Ning He tried with all her might to turn her head, but she remained completely paralyzed.

She could no longer tell if it was the aftereffects of the electric shock, or if her body had simply frozen solid.

Ultimately, Ning He gave up on the idea of taking one last look.

The wind had grown so fierce that she could barely keep her eyes open.

She was losing her grip on consciousness.

「Meanwhile, inside the First Ring.」

The temperature outside had already plummeted to zero, but indoors, thanks to the heating system operating at full capacity, it remained as warm as spring.

Leitel was pacing anxiously around the room.

Ever since he saw Ning He’s desperate plea in the group chat, Leitel had been in this agitated state.

Every natural disaster claimed lives, and those who failed to find shelter in time, like Ning He, were always the first to perish.

Even with a way to save her right at his fingertips, there were certain rules that simply could not be broken. These protocols were the very foundation that ensured Beiluo City’s survival under extreme conditions.

But helplessly watching a young life he knew and admired wither away was a completely different experience from merely reading death statistics on a casualty report.

Leitel was no longer the Iron-blooded General of the past, nor the rigidly impartial Mechanical Director.

Now, he was just an old man who cared deeply for the younger generation, and who happened to love good food.

In the end, Leitel secretly made a private phone call.

Right now, he could only pray that it wasn’t too late.

Outside Inner City Gate 7, in the southeast sector of the Fourth Ring, a patrol Mecha ground to a halt.

Several privates carrying stretchers rushed out onto the street. They quickly transferred the three bodies lying before the gates onto the stretchers and brought them back inside the Mecha.

"...Reporting to the commander. The three individuals are currently in a semi-comatose state. They have superficial injuries, but their vital signs are otherwise stable. They are not in any immediate life-threatening danger."

Leo looked at the three unconscious figures and nodded.

"Return to our original route and resume the patrol."

"Yes, sir."

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