Cave Refuge

However, Smith couldn't decide this matter alone. He ignored the Thompson father and son, returned to the house, and began to make a series of phone calls to gather support.

When Smith came back out, he started to explain to Mr. Thompson and Zachary: "If it's just about settling three members of your family in there, it wouldn't be a problem. Simply mentioning it to my son would suffice."

"But since we've predicted the rise in temperature and the imminent natural disaster, we should start preparing in advance. However, the War Reserve Warehouse is huge, and it wouldn't be efficiently used by just our two families."

"Instead of not knowing who our neighbors are in the future, it makes more sense to start choosing them now."

Hearing Smith's words, Mr. Thompson and Zachary understood that, while they might be considered one of the two families, the Thompson family had no real influence with the officials at this time.

At this point, the Thompsons' role in the entire plan was merely that of a 'founding partner.' Their current involvement was solely due to past friendships and the advanced information provided by Zachary.

Smith's calls were made to members of the elders' group. Perhaps he had already mentioned it when making calls, so those who arrived came with their sons. In addition, the oldest one in the Li household had returned home.

Under Smith's instruction, Zachary recounted what he had discovered to the others.

When Zachary had finished telling his story, some believed him, others not so much. Even though some didn't trust Zachary's information, none of them contradicted him. Everyone remained silent, waiting for someone else to speak up.

Since nobody else spoke up, Smith, as the organizer, had to directly say: "I know some of you may not be convinced by what Zachary just said."

"But I have called and confirmed that after the retreat of the flood disaster, the temperature fluctuations had been consistent up until the day before yesterday, with the highest and lowest temperatures not changing."

"However, starting from yesterday, not only did the highest and lowest outdoor temperatures increase by two degrees, but the temperatures during the same period also increased by two degrees."

"It's normal for temperatures to fluctuate, but it's abnormal when the temperature rises the same amount during all periods of time."

Hearing Smith's comments, everyone began to ponder. Those who didn't initially believe him also concurred that minor temperature fluctuations were normal.

It was only a two-degree change. Even before the disaster, there were days when the temperature in Pengcheng differed by ten degrees. But as Smith had mentioned, a constant two-degree change across all periods of the day was indeed strange.

Seeing that everyone was lost in thought, Smith gave them some time to ponder before he continued: "According to Zachary's suspicion, this time the outdoor weather might be the exact opposite of the Cold Catastrophe."

Extreme cold,

Opposite,

Everyone immediately understood the implication of Smith's words – they were going to face a drought disaster in Pengcheng.

Guessing the nature of the disaster, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. To them, extreme heat seemed much easier to deal with than extreme cold.

Seeing some people's indifferent reactions, Smith sighed helplessly. He knew that despite several severe disasters since the establishment of the Grand Summer, Pengcheng had always been rather fortunate. Apart from a city-swamping flood, it had hardly been affected before any disaster.

Even during the extreme flooding, the water was only a meter deep. Apart from resulting in a lot of water-damaged cars in Pengcheng, the city suffered minimal losses.

Hence, the younger generation in Pengcheng, who hadn't experienced the three-year drought, didn't see it as a threat. While Pengcheng had faced drought and water shortage, it didn't pose a survival threat to a city capable of building an inland port.

Seeing that even his own son didn't seem to take his words seriously, an angry Smith pounded the table.

"This disaster is different from previous droughts. Consider when the Cold Catastrophe hit, and the outdoor temperature dropped below minus 100 degrees. Imagine what would happen if the temperature reached 100 degrees during this drought."

Hearing Smith's words, the previously quiet atmosphere became somewhat gloomy. People weren't naive enough to think Smith was exaggerating. After all, they had all experienced the Cold Catastrophe.

Although they had survived it, they all had a lingering fear of that period. As Smith had pointed out, if the outdoor temperature were to reach 100 degrees, it would be a real problem then.

Seeing that the atmosphere was turning somber, Thomas decided to speak: "Alright, Smith, you called us here because you must have thought of a plan. Let's hear it, and if it's feasible, we'll move forward."

As expected of a retired old comrade, he was very efficient at getting to the point.

"Earlier, I was just telling you about the possible situation. I've also thought of a countermeasure, but we need to work on it together."

"Enough of the chatter, just tell us the plan."

"Hey, Thomas, don't rush. Do you remember the War Reserve Warehouse we visited last time?"

Upon hearing Smith's question, Thomas immediately understood. After all, he had participated in the equipment replacement back then and he had lived inside before his old partner came out.

He was very familiar with the War Reserve Warehouse, so he instantly grasped Smith's plan.

"You mean …"

"Yes, that's what I'm planning."

Watching Smith and Thomas talk back and forth, everyone present, except the Thompsons, began to guess internally. Only the members of the elders' group seemed to have some idea of what was happening.

While the eldest in the Li household might have been a bit meek, he wasn't foolish. He quickly connected the dots: outdoor temperature, drought, water shortage, and the War Reserve Warehouse.

Although he didn't know about the well in the warehouse, considering the people here, he could understand his father's idea.

The eldest Li carefully observed the members of the Elders' Group present and started assessing their connections within the West City District. When everything came together, he was jolted by the realization.

At this point, he noticed that the members of the Elders' Group were far from ordinary. Apart from the Thompsons, the Elders' network had spread throughout every department of the West City District Command Post.

And even the Thompson household, which didn't have a connection with the Command Post, seemed intricate. After an investigation following a gathering, he learned that Zachary had many transactions with the Taylor family every month. Although most of the trades were local chicken eggs and meat, he also sometimes sold some rare supplies.

These supplies were generally not very valuable before a disaster but were hard to produce afterwards.