Chapter 118: Chapter 118: The Rainy Season Arrives!

Outside, the flames roared into the sky, while inside it was cool and comfortable.

Xu Xin sat on a chair, patting Keke’s little head while browsing the regional channel.

Thanks to Ji Chaoyang and his contributions of the guide, the number of people hadn’t dropped much–originally over 3,900, and now it’s 3,895. Only fewer than a hundred people had died in this lightning storm.

“Oh my god, it’s a good thing I listened to the experts and chopped down all the trees around me. Now, my surroundings are completely burning, except for this smoke… cough cough…”

“After this fire, what’s going to be left…”

“Where’s that promised rainy season? Hurry up and come! Without it, there really won’t be any jungle left!”

“Let me tell you, just now while I was chopping trees, lightning struck no more than ten meters away from me. I almost got struck dead by lightning, it was terrifying! Good thing I’m clever, I chop down the short trees first and leave the tall ones to attract the lightning!”

“You have a single-layer treehouse that can’t attract lightning, count yourself lucky. Although the strike didn’t set your treehouse on fire, just now a guy next to his tree caught fire directly. According to him, the fire spread right up to his treehouse, it’s been half an hour since he last said something. Looks like he’s in big trouble.”

“Attracting lightning can be dangerous too! A lightning struck the treehouse the moment I left it, and before I even descended, another strike hit. If I had left a bit earlier or later, I would’ve died!”

“That’s just your bad luck, coinciding with two lightning strikes in quick succession, or maybe you’re simply too slow. Usually, there’s a gap of at least a dozen seconds between strikes. As long as you promptly get out of the treehouse right after the first strike and move quickly away, you won’t get hurt.”

“Oh crap, the lightning broke my bed, and it’s a blue-grade wooden bed, ahhhhhh!”

“Why haven’t you stored your important stuff in your backpack and kept it close?”

The regional channel was bustling.

It seemed most survivors had followed Ji Chaoyang and Xu Xin’s advice. With the forest fires unable to reach them, and unable to leave their treehouses, they idled away in the regional chat.

Having gone through so many activities, those who managed to survive were mostly capable individuals, so the regional channel was no longer full of pointless complaints and shock but rather filled with people expressing their insights.

The [Explorers] group was also lively.

Zhao Xiaochuan: “I’m seriously screwed. The first lightning struck and wrecked my humanoid statue! I’m fed up; my luck is too bad! My statue, my points!”

Wang Lei: “Damn it, the refrigerator I just finished making is gone; the mutant beast meat inside got burnt. I’m genuinely frustrated!”

Wen Guixin: “Your luck is really bad. I only lost a few ordinary tables and chairs, quickly realized it, and stored all the important things in my backpack to carry with me. The lightning doesn’t seem to damage things around us.”

Li Wenxi: “I also packed early, so nothing major got damaged.”

Ji Chaoyang: “I’ve carefully observed; as long as I’m in the treehouse, things around a two-meter radius remain undamaged. So just keep the crucial items nearby.”

Xu Xin couldn’t join the conversation at all because he had a lightning rod, and nothing inside his house was destroyed.

But he truly should thank Li Wenxi this time; if not for her discovery of black gold ore which allowed him to craft a lightning rod, he’d feel heartache if even one of the many pieces of furniture and facilities in his treehouse got damaged.

Yet Li Wenxi’s comment amused him; she obviously had a lightning rod yet pretended to be vulnerable to join the chat.

Qi Xuefei: “Is this confirmed? That’s wonderful; I’ve been carrying so many things, it’s killing me.”

Seeing Qi Xuefei’s words, Xu Xin suddenly remembered that he had actually made a deal with this woman earlier, and she had promised results in three days. Now three days had passed, where are her results?

Xu Xin didn’t ask in the group directly but sent her a private message.

“Three days have passed, is your potion ready?”

The reply came quickly: “It’s ready. Just give me one more day. Collected a lot of special herbs yesterday; I can enhance the potency further.”

Her reasons were persuasive, and Xu Xin wasn’t in a particular hurry to get her concoction, so he replied: “Alright, one more day then.”

“Thank you.”

Their conversation ended there.

Xu Xin was actually quite curious about what kind of potion Qi Xuefei would concoct.

The watch’s hands pointed to nine o’clock, and the mysterious voice finally rang out.

[Survivors, today’s activity is about to begin!]

[Now we will introduce the activity content, please listen carefully.]

[Throughout the next day and night, there will be a nonstop superstorm accompanied by lightning and hurricanes. Rain and hurricanes will bring things not present in the jungle. Your task is simple: survive through this storm to see the light of tomorrow.]

[This activity is: Rainy Season. Survivors, let the force of life shine through in this century-rare natural disaster!]

[This is the last activity of the first phase. If you survive, you will embrace a new future!]

[The second phase is coming soon, everyone, don’t fall in the last darkness before dawn.]

[A friendly reminder: do NOT explore regions outside the treehouse’s protective range, or terrifying things might happen.]

[The time for reward is today 9:00 – tomorrow 6:00]

[Good luck surviving the rain and starting a new journey!]

[Rainy Season activity begins now!]

As the mysterious voice rose, the lightning storm simultaneously ceased, as if even the storm dared not defy the voice. But the moment the voice finished talking, the sky again crackled with thunder, and heavy rain began pouring instantly, becoming a continuous sheet.

The sound of cascading water outside the treehouse felt to Xu Xin as though his treehouse were in a waterfall.

The torrential rain fell over the raging forest fire, immediately evaporating countless raindrops, shrouding the jungle in mist. But it was merely a moment before being suppressed by the waterfall-like rain.

The blazing forest fire persisted only a few seconds before the downpour extinguished it completely, not even a wisp of smoke remained, leaving behind only a charred-black wasteland.

This rain was unquestionably the largest Xu Xin had ever witnessed in his life, perhaps it shouldn’t be called a storm but rather waterfall rain; stepping outside now, the raindrops hitting would feel not unlike a waterfall crashing down.

Even though the rain had extinguished the fire and pressed down the smoke, nothing outside was visible due to the sheer intensity of the rain nearly blocking all sight.

Xu Xin could barely catch a glimpse that the once vibrant green jungle around him had turned into a barren charred forest, breaking apart under the lashing rain, with chunks of charcoal scattered across layers of ground, swept away by the deluge to unknown places. The prior jungle left only a barren clearing, even the turf had burned away completely.

Wait, what’s that?

Xu Xin scrutinized the ground near the treehouse, barely making out through the torrential rain’s curtain.

It was his firebreak clearing. Apart from ordinary grass, all vegetation was cleared by him. But now, several tender shoots quickly emerged from the soil.

These sprouts stretched upwards before Xu Xin’s eyes, growing out sturdy branches, taking a mere minute to mature into several wrist-thick saplings!

Looking around, everywhere appeared to reflect this phenomenon through the gaps in the rain; as if spring had arrived, life reincarnated–once burnt to wasteland, the forest revived beneath the storm!

Just, this spring rain seemed a bit too violent.

Each tree developed into small trees three to four meters tall, densely scattered.

It appeared that once these young trees grew, the dense jungle of pre-fire days would reappear before him!