Chapter 100: Discovering a Villa atop the Mountain Peak

The road conditions this time were excellent. Su Miao had been driving on the highway for five days straight, without needing to stop even once to clear out any large or small vehicles blocking the way by storing them in her magical storage space.

“Road’s gone ahead, the road’s gone,” Bage warned, perched atop the passenger seat’s headrest.

Su Miao glanced forward and saw it too—a terrifying chasm had split the highway ahead.

Apparently, a major earthquake had struck here, fracturing the expressway.

Su Miao pulled over and consulted her map. This was near City Six.

She felt somewhat relieved that only this section was broken.

Had the Yangtze River Bridge she had painstakingly found a few days ago been destroyed by the earthquake or flooding, she might still be wandering south of the river.

Stepping out beside the highway, Su Miao pulled out her binoculars and scanned the distance.

She saw that most of the elevated road’s ends were submerged beneath a vast flood, and the few buildings still above water had all been reduced to ruins by the earthquake.

The floodwaters surged and receded, and every now and then, she spotted the bloated corpses of giants—both human and animal—floating in the flood.

One particularly striking corpse was that of a wild boar, swollen to seven or eight meters tall, unmistakably a mutated beast.

In the face of natural disaster, all creatures were equal.

Further away, near the forested mountains, Su Miao spotted some survivors standing on their assault boats or makeshift rafts, scavenging in the floodwaters.

“Hey! Ah! Ah!” Suddenly, a shout echoed from beneath the overpass.

Curious, Su Miao looked down to see two long-bearded men, resembling wild men, stranded on an island formed near the overpass.

One was quietly fishing, while the other proudly held up a freshly caught large fish and called out to Su Miao:

“Want some fish?”

“Just caught it—eighty kilos!”

Su Miao blinked, a bit nervous, wondering if they wanted her to rescue someone.

But no, it didn’t seem that way.

She noticed an assault boat nearby, suggesting the men had discovered this fishing spot through repeated explorations.

Su Miao withdrew silently and didn’t respond.

She quietly stored her BMW in the magical space and released it in a different direction.

Today was November 22, 2123, only days away from December 1.

Time was pressing. It was time to leave.

---

Under the overpass, the man focused on fishing grumbled, “Stop shouting or you’ll scare away the big fish I’m trying to catch.”

The man holding the eighty-kilo fish laughed, “It’s rare to see anyone around. How else would people know I caught such a big one?”

“Seriously, who knows when this disaster will end? No internet now—I can’t even post on social media.”

The fisherman smirked as he eyed his float.

---

On the elevated road, Su Miao drove back much slower than when she came.

Every time she saw an exit, she stopped to scan with her binoculars for possible routes down or suitable places to live.

“Snow! Snow!” Bage exclaimed, looking outside.

Su Miao paused the car, watching as the drizzle outside turned into snowflakes.

But these snowflakes were not merely white—they were interspersed with yellow, black, and blue flakes.

Su Miao didn’t know much about why snow would be multicolored.

She guessed there had been a volcanic eruption somewhere.

These unusual snowflakes were likely caused by volcanic ash mixing in.

The highway, already difficult to navigate due to rain and ice, became even more treacherous with the falling snow.

Su Miao fell silent for a moment, then continued driving even more slowly.

Half an hour later, she reached a highway exit.

Through her binoculars, she spotted a few small hills scorched by wildfires—about two or three hundred meters high—with two or three well-preserved villas standing alone on the slopes.

Her eyes brightened.

This place was promising.

Although the hills had been burned, many trees had grown back—not large ones requiring several people to encircle.

If they were large trees, Su Miao would worry about them uprooting themselves suddenly, or creeping into her home at night to drag sleeping people away.

She had seen the skeletal remains left behind by such wandering trees too many times—it was terrifying.

Judging by the style of these villas, they were clearly expensive constructions made with high-quality materials.

Most buildings visible from the foot of the hill were destroyed by the earthquake, but these villas remained intact.

That was proof of their excellent craftsmanship.

From the surroundings, it was clear no one had lived here for a long time.

“We’ve found a place to spend the winter,” Su Miao said excitedly.

“Wonderful, wonderful,” Bage hopped around, seeming equally pleased.

Su Miao drove toward the exit cautiously because of the snow.

Three minutes later, the car reached the base of the overpass, which was already flooded.

The murky floodwaters lapped constantly.

She stopped the car and opened the door, immediately hit by a biting cold.

“Freezing! Freezing! I’m frozen stiff!” Bage burst out of the car, shivering uncontrollably.

Su Miao looked at him curiously; she hadn’t expected this mutated starling to be so susceptible to the cold.

“Cold, cold, Your Highness, help me out,” Bage trembled.

Really... even a mutated starling couldn’t handle this cold?

Su Miao stored the car in her magical space and took out the assault boat and a cardboard box stuffed with cotton.

“Get in,” she said.

Bage looked at her and immediately jumped into the box, leaving only his head exposed.

“Thanks, Your Highness, it’s warm now, warm,” he said.

Su Miao nodded and pushed the assault boat into the water, then jumped aboard.

The recent torrential rains hadn’t lasted long, so the floodwaters were relatively calm, making the boat ride smoother.

However, she had to avoid using the boat at dawn and dusk.

At those times, the floodwaters at the edges would freeze into ice, and careless contact could puncture the boat.

Falling into the icy waters then would be as lethal as falling into an ice pit.

Su Miao steered the boat toward her destination.

Soon, she sensed something was off.

The hill she had seen on the overpass with her binoculars wasn’t far away visually, yet the boat ride was taking dozens of minutes.

Finally, after an hour, she reached the flood-soaked base of the hill.

Fortunately, this area wasn’t frozen, so she could disembark.

Once ashore, Su Miao stored the boat and surveyed the snowy ground, thinking about how to ascend the mountain.

Another concern was Bage, still nestled in the box...

“Your Highness, put me in your backpack—I can watch your back,” Bage suggested.

Su Miao blinked; that was a good idea.

She found a paper bag from her magical space, transferred all the cotton from the box into it, and let Bage crawl inside.

He peeked out, shivering.

So, with one hand shielding a silver umbrella and the other carrying the paper bag, Su Miao began climbing the mountain.

Having witnessed the horrors of mutated animals, though she had taken in Bage, entrusting her back to him was out of the question.

The mountain path was muddy and slippery.

After nearly forty-five minutes, she reached the first villa.

Its main structure was sound, but there was a large hole beneath the foundation on the east side—land subsidence could occur anytime.

Another villa nearby had similar issues.

The builders clearly hadn’t anticipated such prolonged torrential rain or such a devastating earthquake.

Both villas had their doors pried open.

Likely, disaster survivors had visited.

Sadly, there was no food here; the survivors left shortly after taking firewood.

Su Miao approached the villa with the best location and view, circled it to confirm the main structure was intact.

The front door had also been forced open, requiring no magic to push it open.

Inside, as with the other villas, was a mess.

The first floor had a bedroom, storage room, living room, kitchen, and bathroom.

All wooden furniture had been dismantled.

Bedding and similar items were taken.

Anything that couldn’t be carried away was smashed, and surfaces were defaced with graffiti.

The second floor had three bedrooms, an esports room, a study, a small lounge, and two bathrooms.

The bedrooms were damaged similarly to downstairs—even the beds had been smashed and taken.

The esports room’s computers appeared smashed with hammers.

The towers, however, remained.

Su Miao opened them to find that aside from being kicked over, the high-end internal components were intact; just replacing the monitors would make them usable.

Bookshelves and books in the study had been packed up and taken.

A piano once stood nearby, but only some keys and parts remained on the floor—likely dismantled for firewood.

The third floor was a large storage room with many shelves and glass cabinets.

It should have housed a great many collectible figurines.

Most had been removed, thrown on the floor, and stomped to pieces.

Su Miao shone her flashlight on the floor, revealing broken limbs and fragments of the figurines—tragically pitiful.

The glass cabinets, however, were made of some extraordinary material; even when dropped, very little glass shattered.

Though the entire villa had been ransacked and vandalized, Su Miao had to give credit to the looters: they hadn’t defiled surfaces with filthy substances.

The floors remained intact despite dirt and grime.

All wiring and plumbing were fine; none of the bathrooms appeared used.

She guessed the looters had quickly scavenged supplies and left.

Now, it was time to clean up.

A cause for celebration: Su Miao had a new base!