Chapter 3: Chapter 3

L Island is very large, about three to four times the size of S City. Most of the coastal area consists of low-rise hotels, and even the high-rises that are close to the sea could easily be toppled by giant waves.

The initial danger of a tsunami lies in the fast-flowing and highly impactful floodwaters. Yuxi needed to find a sturdy high-rise building, preferably a well-equipped hotel.

She frowned and opened the hotel reservation app, intending to search for hotels in the city center. Suddenly, someone tugged at her.

“Xixi, what are you daydreaming about? The boat is already waiting, everyone has left, only the two of us are left!”

The person pulling her was Meng Lu, a company colleague who, according to the implanted memories, had a good relationship with her.

Yesterday, they had booked snorkeling and other water activities for today. About a twenty-minute boat ride from Coral Island, there was a large area of beautiful coral reefs, a snorkeling paradise.

Their group had just finished breakfast and was preparing to depart.

Yuxi obviously couldn’t go, but she wanted to test something: “Xiaolu, I can’t go snorkeling today, the ____ is coming.”

Meng Lu looked puzzled: “What is coming? Xixi, what are you talking about? Why can’t you go snorkeling?”

Yuxi tried writing and typing to inform Meng Lu about the impending tsunami, but none of the attempts worked.

【Host, do not engage in futile efforts. Any attempt by the host to warn people in the apocalypse world about impending disasters will be blocked by the world.】

Yuxi laughed internally: I thought you couldn’t speak in the apocalypse world.

【The system will not appear unless necessary. Please focus on the current task.】

Yuxi: Is the apocalypse world a real world?

【Please focus on the current task.】

Unable to get an answer, Yuxi gave up.

This finding had relieved some psychological pressure. If she could warn people in the apocalypse world about the disaster, she would face a dilemma: should she speak up or not?

Speaking up would put her in certain situations, but coming from a peaceful era, she couldn’t immediately adjust her mindset. The guilt of not warning others if she could would weigh on her.

Now that she had tried and found it impossible, she could focus entirely on the task.

She then told Meng Lu she had to return to L Island for something urgent and asked if she wanted to go back with her.

Meng Lu naturally refused. Everyone had been looking forward to today’s activities, and without a reasonable excuse, she wouldn’t abandon the plans.

“Xixi, do you really have something urgent, or is it because of Zichen? I explained to you last night, I don’t like him and have always seen him as a friend. I didn’t expect him to confess to me…”

As Meng Lu spoke, scenes played out before Yuxi’s eyes like a movie.

In the world background, Zichen was her senior in college and the one she had a crush on. She joined his company to be close to him and had been working there for two years. Meng Lu, her lively and generous colleague, often invited her to lunch and knew about her feelings for Zichen.

Although she liked Zichen, her shy nature kept her from confessing. Meng Lu, upon learning this, often joined their gatherings, claiming to help by evaluating and creating opportunities for her. This led Meng Lu and Zichen to become familiar quickly.

Though they appeared to be friends, Zichen confessed to Meng Lu last night on this romantic island, and Yuxi witnessed it…

Meng Lu continued: “I explained everything to you. Why are you still like this? Yes, I didn’t immediately reject Zichen yesterday because I was shocked and didn’t know how to refuse…”

“Xiaolu, I’m not talking about last night.” At 26, Yuxi had encountered similar personalities in college and could now easily distinguish between sincere and insincere friends.

In her mind, Meng Lu had pretended to help by evaluating and creating opportunities but actually flirted with Zichen through words and actions countless times.

Claiming to be generous, she disregarded gender norms with Zichen, sometimes linking arms, playfully hitting him, messing up his hair, leaning on his shoulder to watch videos, and drinking from his cup.

Despite being less attractive than Yuxi, Meng Lu’s actions led Zichen to fall for her and confess his feelings, ending their friendship.

Yuxi felt a headache. Even her assigned identity included such intricate romantic entanglements.

“Xiaolu, I really have something urgent and need to return to L Island. As a friend, do you want to come with me?”

“Why go back to L Island? I’ve been looking forward to today’s activities! What’s so urgent? Tell me, we can find Zichen or other colleagues to help.”

“I feel unwell and want to go to the hospital.”

Meng Lu was speechless: “…But you look fine…”

Since Meng Lu was unwilling and Yuxi couldn’t explain further, she sent Meng Lu away and hurried back to the beachfront villa.

She found her passport in the safe, left behind a large suitcase, and packed only a backpack with T-shirts, pants, and underwear. She changed into comfortable clothes and sneakers, took two bottles of water, grabbed her wallet and phone, and decisively headed to the dock.

The dock was close, just a ten-minute ride on the hotel’s beach buggy. There were scheduled boats between Coral Island and the main island.

On the beach buggy, she pretended to take something out of her bag but actually retrieved the [Translation Gum] from the Star House warehouse. She only knew basic English and couldn’t speak the local language.

The [Translation Gum] tasted like regular mint gum. After chewing it, nothing happened.

She chewed a bit more and then tried asking the beach buggy driver: “Excuse me, when is the next boat from Coral Island to L Island?”

The driver looked at her in surprise and then responded: “There’s a boat every hour. The next one is at 9:30. We’ll make it if we leave now.”

Although the driver spoke the local language, Yuxi understood perfectly. It felt strange, as if she was speaking in her native language but the words came out in the local language.

The [Translation Gum] was very practical.

During the remaining ride, she asked the driver about hotels on L Island. They needed to be away from the coast, at least six floors high, and well-constructed.

The driver recommended a few five-star hotels.

One was halfway up a hill, offering the highest elevation but was far, about ten kilometers from the opposite coast, requiring a two-hour drive from the main island dock. This seemed risky given the time constraints.

The second was a new hotel built two years ago, high-quality but only about a kilometer from the coast, also feeling risky.

The third was in the city center, a 20-minute drive from the dock without traffic. It was over ten years old, but the main building was a large triangular structure, 15 stories high.

Yuxi thanked the driver, bought a boat ticket at the dock, and quickly boarded the boat, sitting by the window to research the third hotel.

The hotel, as the driver described, had a unique triangular structure with the pointed end facing the sea, reducing the risk of collapse from floodwaters.

She didn’t book the hotel immediately but walked out of the cabin, paid for some food sold on the boat, and asked the staff for more information. The staff also mentioned the same triangular five-star hotel, “Ronaia.”

Without further hesitation, Yuxi called to reserve a room. The earliest check-in was at 3 PM, with checkout at 2 PM, but she’d arrive around noon. If she checked in early, she’d have to pay for an extra day.

“That’s fine, I need to check in early. Please reserve a room for me.”

“What type of room would you like? We have…”

She booked an executive suite on the 13th floor, not for the room size but for the higher floor. The 12th floor and above were all expensive suites.

She checked the cash in her wallet, calculated the local prices, and reserved two days, worrying that she might not be able to use her card after the tsunami, and this world didn’t support mobile payments.

“Alright, please arrive before 3 PM, or we won’t be able to hold the room for you.”

During the boat ride, she anxiously checked the local weather forecast.

There were no warnings, and the sky over the sea was still clear, with no clouds in sight, sunny and bright, showing no signs of an impending disaster.

To ensure her timing, Yuxi arranged for a boatman to book a car to pick her up at the dock, more expensive but convenient.

The [Translation Gum] proved invaluable, allowing seamless communication.

Soon, they arrived at the dock. Following the license plate, she found the waiting car, confirmed the fare, and opened her phone’s navigation to supervise the driver’s route.

The country’s development lagged behind, and its security wasn’t as good as her world. Traveling alone, she had to stay vigilant.

Traffic worsened as they approached the city center. Forty minutes later, they arrived at the Ronaia Hotel. It was 12:20 PM, and there was still an hour and forty minutes until the tsunami.

Yuxi felt half relieved. At the front desk, she paid the deposit and found a credit card in her wallet, eliminating the need for cash, easing her worries.

The executive suite was large, over 90 square meters, with the living room facing southeast, featuring a floor-to-ceiling glass sliding door leading to a balcony with a black iron railing.

Below was the hotel pool and garden, bustling with guests. The outdoor BBQ by the garden smelled of grilled meat.

Yuxi scanned the room, noting its location in the middle of the left side of the triangular building, partially facing the sea. She threw her backpack on the sofa, took the room service menu, and ordered food.

Though her Star House storage was well-stocked, her strong crisis awareness as a homebody compelled her to hoard more.

She ordered a dozen local dishes: grilled lamb chops, various seafood BBQs, several tropical fruits, specialty desserts, and local fruit drinks and smoothies.

Then she retrieved clean clothes from her backpack and took a shower.

In the Star House storage, she had stored 24 5-liter barrels and 128 500-ml bottles of purified water, enough for drinking and occasional cooking for a hundred days, but not for luxurious showers.

So, she bought five large, thick plastic water barrels, each about a meter high and holding 500 liters. As usual, she first loaded them into the car and then transferred them to the Star House storage.

She planned to fill these barrels with warm water from the hotel, enough for washing her face, brushing her teeth, and cleaning her feet.

Since the Star House storage had a suspended time, the water would maintain its temperature, saving her a lot of trouble.

After a quick ten-minute shower, Yuxi cleaned the showerhead, placed it in the first barrel, and began filling it with warm water.

The bathroom mirror reflected her image. When she passed out while traveling between worlds, she couldn’t tell if she was physically transported or if it was just her consciousness.

But for now, this body looked exactly like hers, with no differences.

How did the system set her identity and seamlessly integrate her into this world?

Her background and relationships were flawless.

A doorbell interrupted her thoughts. Room service had arrived. She closed the bathroom door, checked the peephole, and let the waiter push in the food cart.

The waiter set the dishes on the living room sofa table and handed her a tourist guide for L Island, containing maps and building introductions.

She tipped the waiter and thanked him.

The waiter was surprised she spoke the local language and politely thanked her before leaving.

At 1:15 PM, Yuxi went downstairs and returned with a large bag of convenience foods: bread, vacuum-packed meats, chocolate, instant noodles, and water as the last batch of supplies.

She also bought an inflatable boat from the hotel’s supermarket, complete with a hand pump, life jackets, paddles, and repair tools. She inflated it, stored everything in the Star House warehouse, and suspended the boat above the shelves for emergencies.

By 1:50 PM, the five large barrels were filled with warm water.

Yuxi stood up from the sofa, walked to the glass sliding door, and noticed the sky had darkened. Stepping onto the balcony, she saw the sky covered with dense clouds, almost no sunlight.

Looking far out, she couldn’t see the sea from the hotel’s position. The pool below was still bustling with guests.

She felt a slight tremor, gripping the railing, confirming it was an earthquake.

The tremor was brief and mild, quickly subsiding.

The guests below seemed unaware, though a neighboring guest stepped onto their balcony, looking around in confusion.

A thirty-something woman, likely from China, glanced at Yuxi and hesitantly asked: “Hello, are you from China?”

Yuxi nodded.

“Did you feel the building shaking just now? Was it an earthquake?”

“There was a slight tremor, yes, but it should be elsewhere.” Likely an undersea earthquake, causing the tsunami.

The woman, still uncertain, was joined by a small boy, about three or four years old, with chubby cheeks and big eyes, calling for his mother to take him to play in the water.

The woman, reminded, lifted the boy: “Right, I should take you downstairs. If there’s another quake, staying upstairs is dangerous…”

Yuxi suggested: “Maybe you should call the hotel first.”

The tsunami was imminent, and she wasn’t sure if the floodwaters would reach here. For now, upstairs was safer than downstairs.

The woman, lacking decisiveness, thanked Yuxi and called the hotel.

At 2:05 PM, a loud rumbling came from the south. In the distance, a gray line of water advanced, visible between buildings.

Yuxi gripped the railing, watching the waterline rapidly approach. The seawater was higher than expected, flooding far inland, swallowing buildings five or six stories high.