Chapter 442: Warding Off the Cold

Fortunately, the RV was always heated, so she wasn’t cold. It was the customers outside who were suffering, braving the biting wind to play scratch-offs in negative twenty-degree weather.

‘They’re just… so passionate, I guess.’

She was afraid they’d freeze to death, so she tried to persuade them. “Why don’t you all go to the factory and buy some clothes first? I can see your hands are all red from the cold.”

A few customers in front of her waved their hands dismissively, not caring at all.

“This is nothing! I’ll go after I finish these next few tickets!”

“Don’t worry, Boss Hart. Superpower users are pretty tough these days. There’s no way we’d freeze to death that easily. Can’t say the same for normal people, though.”

“Yeah, Boss Hart, don’t worry about us! The real business is you bringing out more scratch-off tickets!”

Lily Hart found herself being comforted by them instead. She pursed her lips and scanned the crowd. Most of the customers seemed fine.

But a few had faces pale from the cold, some even turning a strange purplish-blue. Lily Hart pondered this, then suddenly remembered something.

‘I can control things within the safe zone.’

So, she activated the safe zone and began raising the temperature bit by bit, allowing everyone a chance to acclimate.

If the safe zone was fully expanded, it could cover a hundred-meter diameter with the RV at its center. It was quite large—at least big enough to keep her customers from freezing.

“Huh? Is it getting warmer again?”

“Why isn’t it cold all of a sudden?”

“The weather is so weird!”

“Damn, you can’t figure out the weather at all this year, guys!”

“I know, right? It’s freezing one minute and warm the next.”

Lily Hart: ‘It’s like winking at a blind man. I can’t even…’

But she couldn’t be bothered to explain. ‘Whatever,’ she thought. ‘They’ll get it once they step outside the zone.’

In the blink of an eye, it was dinnertime. Lily Hart was curled up on the sofa, browsing the [Human Social Sphere]. Many survivors were discussing the sudden drop in temperature.

The temperature was dropping so fast that it was starting to make people panic.

Today, it was Seth’s and Roman Rowe’s turn to cook, so they had arrived a little after five. They saw Lily Hart completely absorbed, frowning as she scrolled through her Light Brain.

Seth didn’t disturb her and went straight into the kitchen.

But Roman Rowe, ever the restless one, shuffled up behind Lily Hart, cupped her face in his hands, and sighed, “So warm…”

He then bent down, leaned in, and pecked her cheek several times.

The sudden cold from his hands made Lily Hart flinch, and she shivered instinctively. She reached out to pinch the back of his hand and exclaimed, “Roman Rowe! You! You’re the worst!”

The moment she finished scolding him, he kissed her soundly a few more times, leaving her speechless.

Roman Rowe laughed. Hearing her call his name sounded like she was being coy.

Still not satisfied, he leaned in further and captured her lips. Lily Hart was forced to tilt her head, kissing him at a slightly awkward angle.

The kiss ended.

Roman Rowe gently pinched her cheek before darting into the kitchen to get to work, his face and entire being radiating joy. He even let out a silly giggle from time to time.

Compared to Seth, who was quietly prepping ingredients beside him, their auras were polar opposites: one was cheerful, the other was calm with a hint of bittersweet longing.

As Seth chopped carrots, he couldn’t help but think, ‘When will it be my turn?’

Both of them were old hands in the kitchen. They cooked with incredible efficiency, and soon the table was filled with dishes just as the others came up.

They all started discussing the sudden drop in temperature.

Leo Colby looked a bit puzzled. “This has never happened before. What’s going on this year?”

Frost Shaw shook his head as well. “I find it strange too.”

Lily Hart raised her hand to speak. “I know! It’s probably an extreme cold disaster!”

Based on her experience reading novels, the harbingers of the apocalypse were always natural disasters—extreme cold, extreme heat, typhoons, torrential rains, earthquakes, and so on…

But it had been ten years since the apocalypse. It would be eleven next year.

‘A natural disaster is only showing up now? Does that make any sense?’

‘On the other hand, it’s somewhat logical. If things had been this intense from the start, a lot more people would have died.’

But now there were many superpower users, and the major bases had some countermeasures in place. More importantly, they had her!

Perhaps because the system knew the extreme cold was coming, many of today’s rewards were related to staying warm.

For example, down jackets, thick quilts, large tents, hats, scarves, gloves, snow boots, heat packs, and parkas…

There was even an air conditioner that didn’t require electricity. The system was truly adaptable.

It seemed everyone had realized something, too, as they all put away any cold-weather items they won from the scratch-offs.

Lily Hart was also checking the shop to see if she could buy quilts and heat packs in bulk. She could have Frost Shaw stock them in the convenience store and also sell some to Elder Shaw.

“An extreme cold disaster?” Frost Shaw and the others said in unison.

Then, they all fell into contemplation. It didn’t seem wrong, but they didn’t know how long it would last or what the lowest temperature would be.

Leo Colby said worriedly, “It was negative twenty-two before I came up. Now it’s already negative twenty-three.”

The others also looked worried.

Lily Hart suddenly realized that her shop owners were all quite conscientious. They weren’t like the ruthless, inhumane characters you’d find in apocalypse novels.

Not just the first-prize winners, but even the night market vendors had a good conscience.

The system said smugly, “What did you expect? They were all carefully selected, okay!”

Lily Hart was taken aback. She had always thought it only screened for power, not for character and moral values.

‘So… thoughtful.’

Thanks to this, she had never had to worry about such things. Everyone had always coexisted peacefully, without any backstabbing or scheming.

When Lily Hart came back to her senses, the others were still talking about the temperature.

Stan Sterling sighed. “I just hope it doesn’t drop any further.”

Everyone nodded in agreement, but Lily Hart glanced at the weather forecast. In the time they had been chatting, it had dropped another degree.

‘It’s better not to mention such a cruel fact. It would just discourage everyone.’

“Oh, right. Frost Shaw, buy some extra heat packs for the convenience store so everyone can prepare.”

“And Seth, keep the production line running without stopping. Every extra item sold might just save another life.”

“Stan Sterling, keep a close eye on your vegetable patch. Don’t let the cold weather freeze the plants.”

The three of them agreed. Everyone then started dinner. After eating and cleaning up, they all returned to their own shops to get busy.

There was still an hour until closing time when Logan Holland and Peter Sharp arrived.

“Why are you two out here in this freezing weather instead of staying at the base?” Lily Hart asked.

“We came to procure supplies from you, of course,” Logan Holland said. The moment he stepped into the RV, he finally felt warm.

Peter Sharp stomped his feet. “It’s way too cold outside.”

Both of them were wearing thermal clothing from the factory, but it seemed to have a temperature limit. Below a certain temperature, the warming effect was greatly reduced.

And the temperature outside had already dropped below the limit of what the thermal clothing could handle.

Lily Hart didn’t waste words. “What do you need to procure? And in what quantities?”

Hearing this, Logan Holland’s spirits lifted. “You’re the reliable one. You told Elder Shaw before that you had heat packs, down jackets, hats, scarves, and gloves.”

“I have them all.”