Chapter 237: From Hope to Despair

"The thunder’s stopped, and the rain has let up a lot."

Stella Sterling stood up, her brow furrowed as she looked at the gloomy sky.

Professor Lawrence got to his feet, unable to contain a flicker of hope. "Is it... Is it going to be over?"

They both understood the meaning behind his words. Stella Sterling didn’t reply, her expression grim.

By her estimation, the downpour was indeed nearing its end.

Professor Lawrence noticed Stella Sterling’s troubled expression. He lowered his voice. "What’s wrong, kid? You don’t seem happy."

"Happy?"

Stella Sterling’s voice was strained. She knew the apocalypse was far from over. Other disasters would follow the great rain.

She remembered that before the downpour ended, floods and landslides had erupted everywhere, and massive tsunamis had battered the coastal regions.

These calamities struck with swift and savage force, sweeping away countless lives in the blink of an eye.

Although Mirefall wasn’t a coastal city, the incessant floods were still a deadly threat.

The memories of her past life were still vivid. Even now, Stella Sterling could picture the horrifying scenes.

One flood followed another until every city was submerged. In their wake, bloated corpses, swollen by the water, littered the landscape, exuding a putrid stench.

And after the string of floods, the extreme heat arrived.

The relentless high temperatures were so intense you could cook meat on the pavement. Not only did food become a problem, but even finding water to drink became a major challenge.

Every day, people died of starvation, thirst, or heatstroke.

She closed her eyes. When she opened them again, her gaze was clear and resolute.

Turning her head, she found Professor Lawrence studying her.

She reined in her emotions. ’I’m not the same person I was in my past life. I’m prepared now. I won’t end up in such a miserable state again.’

She smiled, as if the person with the furrowed brow just moments ago hadn’t been her. "What are you looking at? I know I’m good-looking, but it’s not very polite to stare."

Professor Lawrence snorted in mock indignation. "What nonsense are you spouting? I’m an old man in my fifties. You think I’d still be swayed by a pretty face?"

Although he denied her accusation, he didn’t deny her statement about being good-looking.

Stella Sterling’s mood lifted, and she chuckled a few times before continuing to tease him. "Hearing you say that, Professor, it sounds like you were quite the charmer in your youth."

Professor Lawrence didn’t deny it this time. Clasping his hands behind his back, he gazed into the distance. "Who wasn’t, when they were young?"

Stella Sterling raised an eyebrow and let out a low chuckle, her gaze also turning to the distance.

Just then, Professor Lawrence looked back at her and asked the question he’d left hanging earlier. "The rain is stopping, which could mean the apocalypse is ending. Why aren’t you happy?"

This time, Stella Sterling was calm. She met his gaze and said nonchalantly, "Over a year ago, the great snow ended, and the ice melted. A lot of people thought the apocalypse was ending then, too. And look at us now..."

Stella Sterling didn’t finish her sentence, but Professor Lawrence understood. The apocalypse hadn’t ended then; instead, the torrential rains had come. Who knew what would follow the rain?

Professor Lawrence hadn’t known about the previous blizzard. He had been in a sealed laboratory, completely unaware of the situation outside.

He looked at the young woman before him and suddenly understood why she wasn’t happy.

He hadn’t experienced what came before, but she clearly had.

’When the blizzard stopped, everyone was probably ecstatic,’ he thought. ’They thought the apocalypse was over, only for it to be followed by torrential rain.’

’That feeling of having your hopes dashed just when you finally see a glimmer of light... it’s beyond painful.’

’She must have gone through that once already. That’s why she looks like this now—not happy, but even more worried about what’s to come.’

Professor Lawrence’s earlier excitement faded away.

His hopeful words had been just a fantasy. Deep down, he didn’t hold out much hope either.

But he was older and had weathered many storms in his life. He quickly accepted reality and even offered Stella Sterling some comfort. "No need to be too pessimistic. Humanity always finds a way to live on, to adapt to the new world."

On this point, Stella Sterling had to agree. If nothing else, humanity’s ability to adapt was incredible. During the extreme cold of the blizzard, people couldn’t stand the low temperatures at first, but eventually, everyone grew accustomed to them.

Then the torrential rains came, and people found a way to survive even in that difficult environment.

It would be the same with the extreme heat that followed. Some would die, but others would gradually adapt to the environment and live on.

’Even in the seventh year of the apocalypse, there were still plenty of people alive.’

Stella Sterling nodded. "Someone will always adapt, transform. But that process will be built on the lives of countless others."

Professor Lawrence had no reply to that. He had only been out of the laboratory for a month or two, but he had seen too much tragedy and death recently to not understand her words.

He glanced at the young woman beside him, who was young enough to be his daughter. ’How can she say something like that so calmly?’ he wondered.

’I’ve met many people, but few see things as clearly as she does.’

Stella Sterling didn’t have to wait long before Shane Lawrence and the others appeared. But they were not in good shape.

Of the five, only four returned, and every one of them was injured. The woman named Paige Bell was even being carried on Nathan Cheney’s back.

Their eyes lit up when they saw Stella Sterling. ’Sterling is okay after all.’

They also saw the man standing next to Stella Sterling, and their pupils dilated slightly. He looked identical to the Professor Lawrence they had seen earlier.

From the group of people who had attacked them, they had learned that the Professor Lawrence they saw before was a fake. Everyone had been fooled.

That fake Professor Lawrence had already been killed in a fit of rage.

’Is this man the real Professor Lawrence, then? Did Sterling already find him?’

Stella Sterling hurried forward to take the injured woman from him.

Nathan Cheney quickly refused. "There’s no need, Sterling. I can handle it."

"We need to leave this place as soon as possible. In your condition, you just need to worry about yourself."

Stella Sterling’s voice was cold as she took the woman from him and helped them onto the boat.

Before Stella Sterling could even ask, Shane Lawrence told her that another member of their team had been killed.

So, once they were on board, the group didn’t linger, immediately starting the boat and leaving.

All four of them were injured, but Nathan Cheney’s condition was better than the others, so he was piloting the boat.

Shane Lawrence’s injuries were relatively light. Of the other two, Paige Bell was unconscious, and while the other woman was awake, she was also seriously hurt.

There was a first-aid kit on the boat, and Stella Sterling began to treat their wounds.