Chapter 63: Chapter 63: You’re Being Unreasonable, Why Should I Save You?

Victor Keller’s brow furrowed deeply. His throat worked a few times, but in the end, he didn’t utter another word, only sternly ordering, "Everyone, buckle your seatbelts! We’re returning to the air-raid shelter immediately!"

At his command, the people who had just boarded the sleds scrambled to find their seatbelts. Pamela Sutton, filled with resentment, could only sit down sullenly.

Once all the seatbelt indicator lights turned on in unison, an automated robot began to tow the large sled, setting it smoothly into motion.

The sled sped across the vast expanse of snow. While not as fast as Sue Lawrence’s snowmobile, it was by no means slow. What was even more astonishing was that on such soft, deep snow, the massive sled barely sank as it charged steadily forward.

The already bone-chilling gale, compounded by the wind pressure from the sled’s high speed, howled with enough force to nearly throw people off. The young soldiers on duty on each sled were battered so hard they couldn’t even open their mouths, forced to use hand signals to repeatedly remind everyone to grip the handrails tightly.

Sue Lawrence’s family was also blinded by the fierce wind. In temperatures approaching fifty degrees below zero Celsius, the blizzard felt like a thousand tiny, ice-cold knives scraping at their bodies. Any exposed skin turned red, then purple, in just moments.

Fortunately, Sue Lawrence had been exceptionally thorough in her preparations, having her family bundle up tightly before they departed. She immediately motioned for them to wrap their scarves completely around their heads. In such a desperate situation, leaving even an inch of skin exposed was to gamble with one’s life.

"AH—! My luggage!"

Her vision was shrouded in darkness by her scarf, but a panicked scream clearly pierced her ears. The sound was right beside her—it was the family of four that had boarded at the same time. Apparently, their luggage had been flung off during the bumpy ride.

"Soldier! Stop the sled! My luggage..."

The cry was heart-wrenching, but in the raging blizzard, it left not even an echo.

In this weather, at this speed, stopping was simply impossible. The sled sped on, and in the blink of an eye, the suitcase was swallowed by the churning snow and wind, vanishing without a trace.

"Soldier, sol... COUGH, COUGH, COUGH, COUGH..."

A series of ragged, choking coughs rang out, then were quickly swallowed by the howling wind.

Sue Lawrence gently closed her eyes.

Before they left, she had carefully tucked body warmers into her family’s boots and along the inner hems of their clothes. The areas they were now covering radiated a rare and precious warmth.

Before long, the sled jolted to a halt, and the roaring wind in her ears suddenly subsided. She immediately pulled off the scarf wrapped around her head. The cold she had been shielded from instantly assaulted her face, making her shiver violently.

"AAAAAH—!!"

A nearly hysterical scream erupted beside her, so piercing it made her scalp crawl.

"Honey! Honey, your nose!!"

In an instant, all eyes snapped in that direction. Even Victor Keller turned to look, his face impassive.

A horrifying blister had swelled on the tip of the nose of Zachary Lynch, the neighbor who had been shouting earlier. The murky fluid inside was bulging, and in the blink of an eye, a thin crust of ice had formed over it in the extreme cold. The sight was both terrifying and grotesque.

"This is bad! This is really bad!"

An elderly man in the crowd recognized it at a glance, his voice trembling. "That’s severe frostbite! You need to apply a warm compress slowly, right away. Whatever you do, absolutely do not rub it. One wrong move, and his nose could come right off!"

At these words, a collective gasp went through the crowd.

Many people instinctively covered their own faces, ears, and the tips of their noses, terrified they would be next.

Terrified, Zachary Lynch’s face went white and his whole body felt weak. Utterly panicked, he stammered, "H-how is that possible? Your nose can freeze off? Y-you’re lying, right...?"

In a panic, he started to raise a hand to his nose, but his wife, Joanna Ward, seized his wrist in a death grip.

"We’re at the air-raid shelter! There are doctors and medicine inside, right?! Let’s go! We have to find a doctor now!"

Her eyes red with panic, Joanna Ward grabbed Zachary Lynch and tried to push to the front of the crowd, completely ignoring the need for order.

"All of you, shut up!"

Victor Keller’s sharp command and intimidating aura instantly silenced the crowd.

"Everyone will disembark according to your seat order and proceed in a single file. No crowding, and no cutting in line!"

Joanna Ward immediately lost it, shrieking, "Are you blind?! My husband’s nose is about to freeze off! He’s injured! We should have priority to disembark! Why should we have to line up with everyone else?!"

But Victor Keller’s expression didn’t soften in the slightest, his tone as cold as the ice at their feet. "A military order is absolute. Everyone is treated equally. If you can’t follow the rules, you can choose not to enter the air-raid shelter. You can leave now."

’Leave?’

Everyone fell silent, seemingly stunned by his words.

Joanna Ward turned stiffly, gazing back at the endless, white wilderness behind them.

The world was deathly still; the city had long since vanished. In this desperate wasteland of forty to fifty degrees below zero, what was the difference between leaving the shelter and walking to your death?

"This is intentional harm! I’m going to report you! I want to speak to your commander!"

Joanna Ward continued to shriek and throw a hysterical fit, but no one around her paid her any attention.

Everyone strictly followed Victor Keller’s command, forming a quiet, orderly line to disembark from the sled.

Ahead, a path in the snow wound downward, at the end of which stood the heavy, solid doors of the air-raid shelter. Rows of fully armed soldiers with loaded weapons stood guard at the entrance. Bundled in thick, cold-weather suits, windproof helmets, and goggles, they looked like cold, uniform steel statues from a distance, their posture leaving no room for compromise.

Sue Lawrence quietly studied the soldiers, and her heart gave a little jolt.

Their military equipment was far more advanced than she remembered. The gear was a clear upgrade; even the level of technology was a cut above. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

’The apocalypse arrived early, and technology leaped forward along with it?’

’In this lifetime, will more people actually be able to survive?’

She couldn’t figure it out; everything was a mystery. But she didn’t dare to rashly use her Eye of Barrier Breaking. The swirling mass of chaotic code above Theodore Frost’s head served as a constant reminder: the official faction might be hiding an incredibly powerful Superpower User.

She had to keep a low profile. A very, very low profile.

As she was lost in thought, the line moved forward, reaching the entrance to the air-raid shelter.

Elliot Lawrence leaned over and whispered to her, "I think... this is the same air-raid shelter where we turned in our supplies last time."

Sue Lawrence nodded slightly. She had recognized it as well.

A large, insulated tent was set up at the entrance. Transparent curtain flaps hung at the doorway, managing to block out the biting cold from outside.

Surprisingly, the flaps were made of a special material that hadn’t frozen solid or grown brittle in the extreme low temperatures. Inside the tent, a soldier in charge was operating a precision instrument, performing facial scans and fingerprinting on each person. The process was rigorous and orderly.

Just then, Joanna Ward burst from the back of the line, shoved the person in front of her, and lunged toward the registration desk. She screamed, "Who’s in charge here?! I want to file a report! That captain, Victor Keller—he refuses to help someone in need! He’s completely indifferent to the lives of civilians! He even threatened to throw us out in the snow to freeze to death! I’m filing a complaint! I want him discharged!"

All eyes instantly locked onto her, filled with a mixture of contempt, indifference, and impatience.