Cave Refuge

Water Bases were once constructed to accommodate more survivors and to preserve the biodiversity of flora and fauna from before the natural disaster, so whether it was the Plantation Garden or the breeding rooms, they only occupied a small portion of the base.

It wasn't that they didn't want to preserve more species of plants and animals, it was just that when the Water Base was being constructed, allocating more space for flora and fauna meant reducing the living space necessary for survivors.

To give a simpler example, rearing one more cow might mean the loss of boarding eligibility for one or two people.

Now, with the advent of the Enhancement Scroll, the base had expanded to about three times its size. Although it wasn't an overall enlargement, just an expansion according to the base's square footage, it was still a significant area.

Keep in mind that, with the continuous onslaught of natural disasters, the once over-a-billion population of Rabbit's Home, along with recurrent calamities, had seen a precipitous decline.

Especially now, with the current flood disaster, those survivors who had hidden in secret corners were all wiped out.

Although floods had occurred in the past and water levels had risen only by thirty to forty meters, the top floors of high-rise buildings and higher-elevation mountain tops had largely been shelters for the survivors.

But with the flood now upon them, the water levels had been rising continuously since the disaster struck, starting from hundreds of meters and now having completely submerged the inland mountains.

It's uncertain whether the legendary Mount Everest was submerged, but even if it wasn't, the difference was likely minimal.

After all, Dong Tianyu had dived deep several times recently for various reasons, and from these personal experiences, the water level had probably risen well over five thousand meters.

With water levels this high, ordinary people had no chance of survival unless they took refuge on a boat—anywhere else would ultimately be inundated by the flood.

And those survivors taking shelter on ordinary small boats not only lacked food supplies but also faced attacks from aquatic creatures, making it difficult even for those with medium-sized vessels to endure through the disaster.

Therefore, the situation in the zoos of other households goes without saying; even for Rabbit's Home, a populous nation, that had prepared various countermeasures, the number of survivors at Rabbit's House Zoo was now less than two hundred million.

What seems like a substantial number of remaining inhabitants may even exceed the effects before the natural disasters when compared.

But keep in mind that before the disasters, Rabbit's Home had nearly two billion people, and after so many rounds of calamities, there were less than two hundred million left.

And of this population of less than two hundred million, many were newborns and young children.

What was somewhat horrifying upon reflection was that the ages of these children were concentrated in two periods. Besides these two periods, there were comparatively few older teenagers; it was as if there had been an abrupt gap in generations.

However, if one were to investigate, one would find that this was normal; during the initial onset of the disasters, the mortality rate for the elderly, infants, and pregnant women was very high.

Although most people from Rabbit's Home would help others whenever they could, during the initial onset of the disasters, most were struggling just to barely stay alive, to say nothing of their families. It was considered quite an achievement. Protecting their loved ones wasn't guaranteed, let alone selflessly assisting strangers.

Thus, during that time, those with weak resistance, such as the elderly, children, and pregnant women, had high mortality rates. Many survivors from lower-class families knew they couldn't provide a safe environment for their children and therefore chose not to have any.

Even slightly more well-off families, due to the long duration involved in nurturing new life, had no idea what changes the next disaster might bring, so even if they didn't have to worry about food and drink, they were not actively trying to conceive.

Following an investigation by the Officials, it turned out that China had not seen the birth of a newborn for three months.

For a nation to have no newborns for three months was a terrifying fact, potentially leading to the extinction of the race if the trend continued.

This was exactly why the Imperial Court, after realizing this grave outcome, immediately issued a decree to promote childbirth, along with various welfare benefits for pregnant women.

If the Imperial Court hadn't detected this situation and implemented effective remedial measures, Rabbit's Home might not have seen the birth of newborns for a very long time.

It was precisely because the Imperial Court introduced various welfare policies for pregnant women that many women became very proactive about getting pregnant to enjoy the substantial benefits, leading to a several-fold increase in the pregnancy rate.

That's why the first baby boom occurred, which is the reason why children from that generation were all about the same age.

The second baby boom happened with the arrival of prehistoric creatures. While technically part of the same natural disaster variant, although those prehistoric creatures looked strange, tests showed their meat to be edible.