Su Wan looked at the long list of update notes on the system panel, and an indescribable sense of security surged in her heart.
The upgrade of her Mental Domination ability gave her the strength to hold her own even against Level 4 Mid Stage Ability Users.
Outside the window, under the grey sky, the first snowflake drifted down silently.
Just then, the system’s notification sounded again.
【Ding! Main Quest “Rise of the Shelter - Final Chapter” progress updated—】
【Current Progress: 336/10000!】
Su Wan was slightly startled.
It had actually increased by more than two hundred new tenants.
This speed was even faster than she had anticipated.
Su Wan walked out of Room 102 and arrived at the first-floor lobby.
The sight before her eyes made her pause.
In front of the registration desk, six robots were lined up in a row, with a long queue stretching out from each one.
But unlike before, there were many people in the queue who were relatively neatly dressed.
Although their clothes were old, they weren't as ragged as the vagrants from the Ruin Zone.
Though their faces carried exhaustion, they didn't have the same numb despair as the vagrants.
“These people...” Su Wan frowned slightly.
Black Rat leaned over from the side, followed her gaze, and grinned. “Lord, these people all came from the Outer City.”
Su Wan’s eyebrows rose slightly. “The Outer City?”
“Yes,” Black Rat nodded. “Hundreds of commoners from the Outer City have come over the past two days, all bringing their families along.”
Black Rat organized his thoughts and continued,
“Lord, you might not be very familiar with the situation in the Outer City...”
Su Wan became interested. “What’s the situation?”
“Lord, you might not know, but although these commoners are poor, they are at least legal residents of Panshi City.”
“They have resident IDs and residency records, so they can enjoy some basic rights.”
Black Rat began counting them off on his fingers:
“First is the right to trade. They can freely buy and sell supplies without paying extra taxes. If a vagrant wants to trade in the Outer City, they have to pay an entry fee first.”
“Then there’s the right of residence. Commoners have their own houses, no matter how broken or small; that’s their home. The City Defense Force can’t just kick them out or tear down their houses on a whim.”
“The most important one is the right to shelter. Like when the Death Tide comes, commoners are eligible to enter a Public Shelter. Even if spaces are limited, there’s at least a glimmer of hope. Vagrants don’t even have the right to stand in line.”
“There’s also the right to work and the right to appeal.”
“Vagrants have none of these rights. If a vagrant wants to find a job, they first have to find an employer willing to take the risk, and then they have to pay a management fee.”
“If a legal resident is bullied, they can report it to the City Defense Force. Even if no one bothers to handle it, there’s at least a place to seek justice. But if a vagrant is beaten, robbed, or killed, they don’t even get the chance to file a report.”
Black Rat paused and added, “So, as long as the commoners in the Outer City aren’t driven to a dead end where they can’t survive, they basically won't leave.”
“No matter how poor they are, they are at least treated as people. They have an identity, a registration, and rights.”
“Once they leave the Outer City and reach the Ruin Zone, they are nothing.”
“No identity, no rights, no protection. They could die, and no one would ever know.”
Su Wan nodded, looking at the commoners in line. “Then these people...”
Black Rat continued his explanation. “Lord, the Cold Wave is coming...”
Su Wan was slightly stunned.
The Cold Wave?
She instinctively looked out the window.
The grey sky looked the same as usual. That layer of eternal gloom still hung low over the city, showing no signs of an impending upheaval.
But she suddenly remembered something.
On the first day she traveled here, it had been snowing.
Back then, she had just arrived in this strange world from Blue Star. When she pushed open the fire door and saw the snow filling the sky, she had thought it was just a normal winter.
But since then, it had never snowed again.
Su Wan frowned and asked the system in her mind, “System, what is the daily temperature here?”
【Tip: Since the day the host moved into the bound building 'Terminal Station,' it has automatically maintained a constant temperature state. Current indoor temperature: 15°C.】
【Changes in the external environment's temperature have no connection to the interior of the Terminal Station. The host cannot perceive external temperature fluctuations while inside the building.】
Su Wan was stunned for a moment.
A constant fifteen degrees?
In the days since she had traveled here, she had spent most of her time in the Terminal Station and had never actually noticed this.
Because from the first day, she had been wearing the tracksuit she brought from Blue Star.
It wasn't too cold or too hot; it was just right.
She had assumed the weather outside was just like that, never imagining that the system was maintaining a constant temperature.
“Then what about the temperature outside? Over this past month, what has it actually been outside?”
【Retrieving external environment temperature records...】
【Retrieval complete.】
【Past thirty days, average temperature in the Ruin Zone: Fluctuating between -10°C and 2°C.】
【Lowest temperature recorded: -10°C (today).】
【Highest temperature recorded: 2°C (twelve days ago).】
Su Wan’s pupils constricted slightly as she looked at the data.
It was actually that cold.
Over this past month, the temperature outside had never risen above two degrees Celsius.
In other words, those vagrants—those people in rags, wearing thin, torn clothes without even shoes—had been living in sub-zero environments most of the time.
And the constant fifteen degrees in the Terminal Station building allowed those tenants who managed to squeeze in to step from a freezing hell straight into a warm spring.
“System, what is the climate of this world actually like?”
“What’s the deal with the Cold Wave? When is it expected to arrive? How low will the temperature drop?”
【Searching local meteorological data...】
【Search complete.】
【Climatic characteristics of the Panshi City region: No distinct four-season cycle. Using Blue Star’s seasons as a reference, it can be roughly divided into two seasons—'Early Winter' and 'Deep Winter.'】
【Early Winter: Accounts for approximately 55% of the year. Temperature range: -10°C to 5°C. The climate is relatively mild during this phase, serving as the primary window for humans to go out and scavenge for supplies.】
【Deep Winter: Accounts for approximately 45% of the year. Temperature range: -60°C to -30°C. The climate is extremely harsh during this phase, with frequent blizzards and extremely low visibility. The survival rate for going outside drops significantly.】
【Cold Wave: A landmark extreme weather phenomenon signaling the arrival of Deep Winter. It occurs once a year and lasts for about 15-20 days. Temperatures plummet below -50°C, accompanied by heavy snowfall and gales.】
【After the Cold Wave passes, temperatures will rise back to the -30°C to -40°C range and remain there for about five to six months until the next 'Early Winter' cycle begins.】
Rate on N.U.
