Chapter 1

"Bang!"

The ear-piercing screeching of the trolley's axle shattered the tranquility of lunch break. The open office area fell silent instantly, and everyone's eyes were fixed on my workstation like spotlights.

Leah Foster stood in front of me, panting heavily.

The trolley, originally used to transport photocopying paper, was now piled high with nauseating pink roses and heart-shaped balloons. At the very center sat a huge velvet gift box.

"Nolan, I've been preparing for this day for a whole month."

Leah's eyes were so fervent, it was as if she wanted to devour me alive. Ignoring the dozens of pairs of eyes watching the spectacle, she ripped open the ribbon on the gift box.

Inside lay an extremely bulky hand-knitted sweater.

She suddenly flung open her sweater, revealing a line of crooked red letters embroidered on the chest: "Nolan love Leah".

A collective gasp rippled through the crowd, and Emily at the next table awkwardly covered her face.

I sat in my office chair, my heart rate didn't even quicken. My body's instincts were completely unmoved by this human frenzy.

“No.” I looked coldly into her eyes.

Leah's smile froze instantly.

"Please take these and get out of my sight immediately." My voice wasn't loud, but it was like a dagger in the deathly silent office.

"What did you say?" Her face went from flushed to ashen in an instant, and her eyes twitched violently.

She slammed the glaring sweater to the ground, then kicked over a glass vase on the edge of the cart with her high heels.

The glass shattered, and the water from the vase spilled onto the gray carpet.

"You'll regret this, Nolan West! You'll be begging me on your knees!"

After roaring through gritted teeth, Leah whirled around. Her high heels slammed heavily on the floor, the sharp "clack-clack" echoing all the way to the elevator, ending with a violent slam of the door.

The stagnant air began to flow again, and suppressed whispers erupted around them.

Emily quickly slid her office chair over to my side, the strong scent of cheap perfume unable to mask her nervousness.

“My God, you’re incredibly bold,” Emily whispered. “I heard Leah is an extremist; she used to plant a listening device in the men’s restroom to stalk her ex-boyfriend. You’ll definitely get your revenge.”

"Thank you for reminding me." I nodded, but my eyes remained fixed on the puddle of water on the carpet.

In just a few dozen seconds, the edges of the puddle of water had already turned white. The speed at which it dried up defied the laws of physics.

There was a restless feeling in the air that made every fiber of my being tremble.

“In return, I’ll give you a piece of advice.” I turned my head and stared at Emily’s cracked and bleeding lips.

"What?"

"The weather is so dry this year, it's extremely abnormal." I lowered my voice to the lowest possible level. "Forget about revenge, go to the supermarket as soon as you get off work and fill every possible water container in your house. The more, the better."

Emily froze, subconsciously licking the blood from her lips, her eyes filled with disbelief.

But this fear of drought spread like a virus quickly throughout the office area.

Emily turned and whispered to her colleague next to her. In less than ten minutes, the topic of conversation on the entire floor had changed from "perverted stalker" to "weird dryness".

"I really can't take it anymore. I've drunk three glasses of water and my throat still feels like it's on fire."

"What's that compared to what I just filled up my humidifier last night? This morning it was completely empty!"

"That crazy old man next door actually hired a construction team to dig a deep well in his backyard this morning, saying the groundwater is all messed up!"

The whispers among her colleagues grew louder, and the pervasive sense of panic even overshadowed the aftershocks of Leah's disturbance.

Just then, a muffled cracking sound came from the ceiling above.

"The main water pipe burst!" The logistics manager stumbled into the office area, his face pale. "The ground subsided due to the extreme drought, and the pipe snapped! The entire building is without water!"

The crowd erupted in chaos.

"The air conditioning system is down too! The building is about to turn into an oven. The company is telling everyone to leave early and evacuate immediately!"

Screams and the clattering of things being packed together mingled together.

I didn't join the chaos of rushing for the elevator. I went straight to the floor-to-ceiling window and looked down at the city.

At the edge of the horizon, the pressure-reducing valve on the top of the giant city water tower, which is responsible for regulating municipal water pressure, has somehow popped open.

It was completely empty inside, without even a trace of water vapor.

It was completely dried up.

A survival alarm, deep within my genes, was blaring in my mind. This was definitely not an ordinary seasonal drought.

This strong intuition drove me to rush out of the building, floor the gas pedal, and speed straight back to my apartment.

Pushing open the door, the air inside felt so dry it felt like it was about to ignite my lungs.

I didn't even take off my shoes; I just grabbed the remote and smashed the TV on.

The moment the screen lit up, the blood-red "Emergency Breaking" banner stung my eyes.

All channels are broadcasting the same image simultaneously.

The news anchor's hair was disheveled, and his voice trembled so much he could barely pronounce the words: "...Just three hours ago, the observatory confirmed this catastrophic projection."

A chilling simulation of the universe appeared on the screen.

"The epic collision of two rogue asteroids at the edge of the solar system has generated gravitational waves that have completely altered the structure of Earth's atmospheric circulation."

I stared intently at the screen, feeling as if every drop of water in my body was being drained away with each word he spoke.

The anchor took a deep breath and pronounced the death sentence on the camera:

"The global precipitation system has completely collapsed. This is not the dry season..."

"This is a permanent cessation of rainfall. The global drought apocalypse has arrived."