The midday sun beat down on the earth.
"Why is it so hot? Can't we live anymore!"
A customer, dripping with sweat, barged into a supermarket and complained as soon as they entered.
The young cashier, who had been engrossed in her phone behind the counter, quickly greeted her, "Auntie, why are you out in the middle of the day? The weather has been really hot lately. It's best to stock up on things at home and stay in the air conditioning."
The female customer explained, "That's true. But I heard there'll be a typhoon in a few days. It should cool down when the typhoon comes..."
As the cashier was attending to the customer, in a room beside the counter, a girl was sleeping on a recliner.
This girl had delicate features. Her long, curled eyelashes rested on her closed eyes, her delicate eyebrows were fine and slender, beneath her small, elegant nose were plump, rosy lips, and her skin was as fair as jade.
This girl was Tang Li, the owner of this supermarket.
Suddenly, Tang Li's eyes snapped open, and she sat up abruptly, looking around vigilantly.
As Tang Li moved, her cascade of black, silky waist-length hair also fell to one side.
"This... this is my hair from before the apocalypse?"
Tang Li reached out in surprise and felt her hair.
Then, her eyes widened as she brought her hands before her.
She saw that her hands were like white scallions, her arms like lotus roots, still firmly attached to her body.
Tang Li murmured to herself, "Weren't my arms chopped off?"
"Didn't I die?"
In the winter of the fourth year of the apocalypse, Tang Li was captured by a group of cannibalistic devils.
Because Tang Li had killed several of them and injured their leader during her resistance, her arms were severed after she was captured.
Upon being taken back to their survivor base, Tang Li was hung upside down near a stove. They would cut off a piece of her flesh from time to time and use glowing hot irons to brand her wounds.
While torturing her, they also stopped the bleeding and disinfected her wounds, allowing her to live longer to provide a continuous supply of fresh meat.
In such a hellish environment, Tang Li's consciousness began to fade.
She could no longer clearly recall what happened afterward, nor how much time had passed.
She could only vaguely sense that the extreme cold weather had receded, winter had passed, and she had been put down.
In the last moment before her consciousness plunged into darkness, she only heard, "Give her a quick death and send her to feed the rice worms..."
Then, she lost consciousness completely.
When she woke up again, she was here.
Tang Li looked down.
She was wearing a clean, new white dress that exuded youthful vibrancy, clearly an outfit from before the apocalypse.
Lifting the hem of the skirt, she saw fair, slender legs beneath, completely free of scars, and no trace of flesh having been gouged out.
She then raised her head and looked around.
She saw that it was a small room, dimly lit, with clothes hanging on the walls and several recliners in the center.
"This environment... it's somewhat familiar..."
The door to the room was ajar.
Tang Li heard voices from outside and walked out.
"Boss, hello!"
As soon as she stepped out, the cashier greeted her quickly.
Hearing the voice, Tang Li immediately shifted her sharp gaze to the cashier and instinctively reached for her waist, but couldn't find the weapon she never parted with during the apocalypse.
Upon seeing the cashier's face clearly, Tang Li's expression softened.
She asked uncertainly, "Guoguo?"
If she remembered correctly, Guoguo had been trapped in the warehouse while rescuing supplies from the supermarket when the catastrophe first began, and had never come out again...
Cashier Guoguo was startled by Tang Li's gaze and asked softly, "Boss, did I disturb your afternoon nap?"
Tang Li shook her head, reassured Guoguo, and then began to carefully observe her surroundings.
Bright sunlight, abundant supplies, a comfortable temperature...
No unpleasant odors, no dirty garbage, and no man-eating beasts!
All of this told Tang Li that this was not the apocalypse.
This was the supermarket Tang Li's family owned and operated in A City before the apocalypse!
"Could it be... everything I experienced in the apocalypse was just a nightmare?"
Immediately, Tang Li shook her head and dismissed the thought.
The experiences of the past four years were too real to have been a dream.
"Could it be... I've been reborn? Returned to before the apocalypse?"
Before the apocalypse, Tang Li had read some web novels and knew about "reincarnation."
With this thought, Tang Li felt around her and found her phone.
Unlocking it from memory, she checked the time: Year 341, July 17th, 13:48!
"Have I really been reborn?"
Tang Li couldn't quite believe it.
In the third year of the apocalypse, when she obtained her space, she had fantasized about being the protagonist of a novel.
But the cruelty of the apocalypse had taught her that she was overthinking.
She never expected that after her death, she would actually be reborn!
Tang Li was captured and her arms were severed in the extreme cold season of the fourth year of the apocalypse, around the end of November in year 344.
She lingered on in that hellish environment for a while longer, reaching the fifth year of the apocalypse.
In other words, she had been reborn three and a half years earlier!
The catastrophe in A City began on the afternoon of July 21st, year 341, around 2 PM.
If everything developed as it did in her previous life, then now, there were only 4 days left until the catastrophe began in A City!
Why was it called "the catastrophe of A City"?
Because the global catastrophe did not begin all at once.
In some places, the catastrophe had already begun;
While in other places, it was still some time away.
But it was certain that no part of the world could escape the catastrophe!
At the latest by the end of August, the entire world would have entered the era of catastrophe.
With this in mind, Tang Li quickly checked the global disaster situation on her phone:
[Country B suffers heavy rainfall, has caused...]
[Country A's wildfires continue to spread, burning an area of forest reaching...]
[Country D was suddenly hit by a blizzard, and has currently lost contact with the outside world...]
[Since the end of June this year, southern China has experienced a large-scale round of heavy rainfall accompanied by thunderstorms and strong winds. Currently, the situation is still spreading. Please take preventative measures. In case of emergency, please call...]
[Since the beginning of summer, temperatures in China have been rising continuously, with average temperatures in some areas reaching 56 degrees Celsius and peak temperatures exceeding 70 degrees Celsius. Please take precautions against heatstroke...]
[According to satellite cloud images, the Xth typhoon of this year is forming and is expected to affect China's eastern coastal areas within the next 5 days. Please take precautions against wind and heavy rain in advance...]
Seeing these three disaster news items related to China, Tang Li sighed.
She had confirmed that the global catastrophe had already begun.
The apocalypse, after all, was unavoidable!
"Since the apocalypse was bound to happen, what is the meaning of my second life?"
Tang Li felt a sense of dejection.
Thinking of her fate in her previous life, she suddenly felt fear of the apocalypse.
Just then, Guoguo's voice interrupted her thoughts, "Boss, it's still early. Why don't you... sleep a bit more?"
Tang Li looked up at Guoguo upon hearing her.
Guoguo's real name was Tang Guo.
Her name was similar to Tang Li's, but the two were not related by blood.
Tang Guo was 3 years older than Tang Li, making her 26 this year.
She was originally a resident of the apartment above the supermarket and a customer. She had lived with her grandmother since childhood.
After graduating from high school at 18, she gave up going to college to work at Tang Li's family's supermarket so she could take care of her grandmother at home.
Tang Li's parents were fond of her and treated her very well, and she repaid them with sincere work.
When Tang Li was young, she took care of Tang Li like an older sister. After Tang Li's parents passed away, she cared for Tang Li even more.
However, she was also very aware of her position. After Tang Li took over the supermarket, she consistently addressed Tang Li as "Boss," never trying to get close to Tang Li for her own benefit.
At this moment, wearing a proper supermarket uniform, her clean face was filled with concern for Tang Li.
Seeing this, Tang Li smiled at her and said, "No, I need to go home."
Yes, it was still early, and there were 4 days left. It was enough time to prepare before the apocalypse arrived!
She still had her space!
She still had all the supplies in this supermarket!
She could start anew!
With this thought, Tang Li put away her phone and strode out of the supermarket.