Theodore Frost froze solid, a tempest of disbelief raging in his eyes.

"How could this be... How could this be different from my previous life?!"

He racked his brain. He had always believed that being reborn simply meant reliving the past. Since it was a do-over, everything should have unfolded exactly as before, without the slightest deviation. Yet the reality before him was a sledgehammer, viciously shattering his every conviction.

Beside him, Silas Hawthorne fell silent for a long time, his brows knitted tightly together as he muttered, ’Could it be... that no matter how much we prepare, it’s still not enough in the end?’

"Silas Hawthorne!"

Theodore Frost’s voice shot up, laced with panic but also a desperate, do-or-die resolve. "You can’t say that! We’ve already given it our all, haven’t we? Get the utilities repaired, now! The water can go, but we absolutely cannot lose power! It’s the only way people can stay warm and survive!"

Silas Hawthorne snapped back to reality and nodded firmly. "You’re right. What’s the temperature?"

He turned to ask a technician. A female staffer turned to face him, her face deathly pale and her voice trembling. "It’s... minus forty-six degrees Celsius, and it’s still dropping!"

Minus forty-six degrees!

In the previous life, on the first day the deep freeze apocalypse began, the lowest temperature had only been minus twenty-three degrees. This time, it was nearly twice as cold!

"All hands on repairs! The second the temperature drops below minus sixty degrees, activate the cryogenic emergency protocol!" Silas Hawthorne’s voice was as sharp as ice. "Evacuate the public. Move everyone to the air-raid shelters for protection. We can’t wait a single moment longer!"

No one could have predicted that the temperature would plummet to such a terrifying degree right at the start of the apocalypse. At least half of Veridia had never experienced such cold.

Thirty-three feet of snow had already swallowed most of the city. Any further delay, and the temperature would drop below a critical threshold. At that point, even the thickest thermal gear wouldn’t stop you from freezing solid in an instant.

The snow was still piling up at a frantic pace. Thirty-three feet today—how much would there be in a few more days? If they waited until the high-rises were completely buried, any chance of rescue would be nothing but a fantasy.

The order was given, and everyone sprang into action, racing against death itself.

Meanwhile, Sue Lawrence finally made it back to the villa district with Mia Keller.

As far as the eye could see, there was nothing but a boundless expanse of white.

Thirty-three feet of snow had completely buried the entire villa district. Only a few of the tallest villas had the very tips of their roofs showing. The standard two-story houses had long since vanished beneath the vast sea of snow, leaving no trace behind.

Sue Lawrence’s gaze swept impassively over the exposed rooftop of Jason Sterling’s house. She felt nothing.

Whether the enemy from her previous life lived or died was no concern of hers.

Following her GPS, she pinpointed the location of her family’s villa, put away her snowmobile, grabbed a shovel, and began digging downward like a woman possessed.

Almost immediately, a familiar, anxious shout came from beneath the snow.

"Is that Sue?! Is that you, Sue?! Are you back?!"

"Elliot! It’s me!"

Elliot Lawrence’s voice sent a wave of stifled, joyous cheers through the family waiting anxiously inside.

They frantically cleared away the snow from below, and soon a hole, just large enough for a person to squeeze through, appeared.

Elliot Lawrence poked his head out, his face flushed red from the cold and beaming with elation. "Sue! Slide on down!"

One after the other, they slid through the opening and into the house. The bone-chilling wind was finally shut out, and the cold that felt like it could freeze the very marrow in their bones began to recede.

"Mia, you came too?" Vivian Young recognized Mia Keller at a glance, a gentle smile gracing her face.

Sue Lawrence nodded emphatically. Her voice was tinged with exhaustion, but her resolve was unshakable. "Mom, Dad, from now on, she’s part of the Lawrence family."

"Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence. Elliot, hello."

Mia Keller politely greeted each of them. The family, of course, had no objections; anyone Sue brought home was someone they could trust implicitly.

"Mommy, warm your hands!"

Leo Lawrence stood on his tiptoes, thoughtfully handing her a warm hot-water bottle.

Sue Lawrence smiled as she took it. The moment she pulled off her gloves, she saw that her hands were frozen stiff and purple, almost completely numb.

The cold of this deep freeze apocalypse wasn’t something physical protection could stop. It was like an all-pervading magic attack; no matter how many layers you wore, your hands and feet remained blocks of ice.

She and Mia Keller warmed their hands together for a long time before she accepted a bowl of hot soup from Vivian Young. She drank it down sip by sip, the scalding liquid sliding down her throat and spreading through her limbs. Only then did she finally feel like she was coming back to life.

"What’s it like out there?" Vincent Lawrence asked in a grave voice, seeing that some color had returned to her face.

Sue Lawrence recounted in detail the riot at the hospital and the first stirrings of humanity’s dark side. The faces of her family members instantly grew grim.

"It’s... it’s only just begun, and people are already forming mobs to commit crimes?" Vivian Young covered her mouth, her face a mask of disbelief.

Everything was happening too fast, catching everyone completely off guard.

"Dad, do the TV and our phones still have a signal?"

This was what Sue Lawrence was most concerned about.

Since the government had already made plans and stockpiled supplies, perhaps communications weren’t completely down yet. Her own GPS unit was still working, after all.

"Yes! They’re still working!"

Vincent Lawrence practically scrambled to his feet and switched on the television.

At that moment, every channel was broadcasting the same emergency news report. A female anchor’s urgent voice cut through the quiet room.

"...widespread blizzards across the nation, with an average snow depth of twenty-three feet, reaching thirty-nine feet in some areas! All residents are urged to stay indoors, minimize travel, conserve heat, and await rescue! If you lose your signal, please turn on your radio immediately. The national emergency rescue channel will broadcast the location of local rescue teams every ten minutes..."

Thirty-nine feet?!

The color drained from the family’s faces.

Thirty-three feet of snow had already swallowed most buildings. Thirty-nine feet was the height of a four-story building. Any building under five stories would be completely buried, with no hope of escape.

As they all stared intently at the television screen, a voice boomed from a loudspeaker outside, piercing through the thick layers of snow with a jarring cry:

"This is Municipal Rescue Team Three! The current temperature is approaching minus fifty degrees! All residents must gather immediately! We will escort you to the air-raid shelters for safety! I repeat..."

The family members looked at each other, hesitation in their eyes.

"What should we do? Should we... go?"

Sue Lawrence shook her head without a second thought. "No. We have plenty of supplies and a hidden mine shaft. There’s no need to go to a crowded, chaotic place like an air-raid shelter and invite trouble."

The words were barely out of her mouth when a sharp, familiar voice cut through the storm—a voice so vicious it made their skin crawl.

"Rescuers! Over here! Help! My brother-in-law’s family is buried down there! They’re the famous Lawrence Family! The great philanthropists who donated half their assets! You have to save them!"

It was Pamela Sutton, their aunt!

The color drained from Elliot Lawrence’s face, and he swore on the spot. "Fuck! What the hell is she doing here?!"