Ian put on his full gear, and hefted his greatsword. With a single stride, he vanished from the Minecraft world. The next moment, he appeared in Molly's world.
"Whoa! Boss, your speed is insane!" Molly's voice came from nearby, tinged with surprise and… disbelief.
Ian turned to see Molly staring at him, eyes wide and mouth forming an O. Smiling, he slung the greatsword onto his back. "Yeah... You'll get used to it."
"Boss, the officials aren't here yet—come check out my little warehouse first! I've been working on it for months!" Molly recovered, enthusiastically pulling Ian toward the warehouse.
Ian followed, surveying the surroundings.
The snow around the warehouse had completely melted, revealing dark-brown soil that contrasted sharply with the distant white expanse. It was all thanks to the torches.
"These torches work pretty well in your world," Ian remarked. "I'll make a few more for you later."
"Hehe, thanks, boss."
As they chatted, a deep rumble echoed from afar, growing louder and louder.
"They're here!" Molly's expression tensed. "A helicopter!"
Ian looked up. A dark-green helicopter descended slowly onto the clearing in front of the warehouse, its blades whipping up a storm of flying snow.
Four figures jumped down—two men and two women—each wrapped in thick winter gear. One middle-aged man held a clipboard in his gloved hands.
Molly took a deep breath and stepped forward, while Ian quietly retreated a few steps into the shadows of the warehouse.
He wanted to see what these people would discuss with Molly. The moment she was in danger, he'd strike.
"Hello, I'm Molly," she greeted them.
The middle-aged man gave her a long, appraising look, then opened his folder and checked some documents.
"Molly, female, twenty-two years old. Both parents deceased, left a house and savings. A few months ago, you sold your house, rented this warehouse, and began stockpiling large amounts of supplies. That's all correct, isn't it?"
Molly nodded.
The man closed the folder and spoke bluntly. "Miss Molly, we're here to find out whether you had prior knowledge of the apocalypse."
Molly blinked. There it is… I knew it would come to this question.
Seeing her remain silent, the middle-aged man continued: "Miss, you don't need to be nervous. We mean no harm. In fact, you are not the only person with such special abilities."
"Oh?" Molly raised an eyebrow, pretending to be curious.
"Based on what we know," the man said slowly, "besides you, there are three others who foresaw the apocalypse."
"One of them can see fragments of the future related to themselves. The other two claim to have been reborn—people who came back from the future."
"Reborn?" Molly's eyes widened. The amount of information was staggering.
"That's right, reborn." The man nodded.
"One of them awakened spatial powers, with an enormous internal storage space—officially verified. Calculations show it could fit an entire small city."
"The other inherited a family heirloom bracelet that bonded with her blood and connected to a vast farmland—complete with a self-sustaining ecological cycle."
"This... this is too fantastical, isn't it?" Molly murmured, feeling her worldview crumble. But then again, she was a transmigrator herself; two reborn people weren't so hard to accept.
"At first, we didn't believe it either," the man admitted with a sigh. "But after extensive verification, we had no choice but to accept the facts."
"So, we've been taking the 'Frozen Apocalypse' very seriously—allocating vast resources to build underground shelters across the country."
"I see." Molly suddenly understood. No wonder she'd seen so many doomsday theories online—it had been the government fueling them.
"Back then, some construction workers leaked bits of information, claiming the end of the world was near. The rumors spread fast," the man continued.
"At first, we thought you were just another person influenced by those rumors—just more deeply than others."
"But when rescuers later discovered anomalies in your yard… we suspected you might possess extraordinary powers too."
"So that's why you came knocking?" Molly asked calmly.
"Exactly." The man nodded. "According to the reborn ones, the apocalypse was supposed to begin on New Year's Eve, three years from now."
"We confirmed it repeatedly. They were certain—most survivors in their previous lives endured the first months thanks to New Year stockpiles."
"But…" Molly frowned. "It came early, didn't it?"
"Yes. Earlier than expected," the man said grimly. "Less than a month ago, what was predicted to be a mild cold snap became the apocalypse itself."
"This…" Molly was speechless.
"The sudden arrival of the apocalypse disrupted all our plans." The man shook his head. "We had no choice but to rush emergency warnings, instructing people to enter the half-finished shelters."
"Half-finished?" Molly asked, puzzled.
"Yes. Time was too short. They weren't fully operational. Some parts were usable, but the self-sustaining systems weren't complete yet."
"Furthermore, the post-disaster reconstruction system wasn't ready either, but fortunately, they provided warmth, and the selected locations were close to our wartime reserve warehouses, so living supplies were sufficient in the early stages of the apocalypse," the middle-aged man explained.
"Also, we suspect that because your warehouse location was so remote, the signal was weak to begin with, and the strong wind directly took out the internet. That's why you didn't receive the government's alert."
"So that's why." Molly finally understood.
"After the apocalypse began, the hurricanes and blizzards paralyzed transportation and communications. Even satellites went offline. We couldn't coordinate effective rescue operations," the man said with a weary sigh.
"Most of our early rescue teams never made it back."
"Many civilians who failed to reach shelters were trapped in train stations, surviving only on whatever supplies were left there."
"Now that the storms are easing, we've begun search and rescue again." He looked directly at Molly.
"Miss Molly, regarding the Torches around your warehouse…" His eyes gleamed with curiosity.
"Our observers saw snow and wind vanish near them. Clearly, they're not ordinary torches. We'd like to know—are they the result of… some special ability?"
"Well…" Molly hesitated, unsure what to say.
"You don't need to worry," the man said gently. "We're not here to confiscate anything. What we value isn't your items—but you, the person who can create them."
"One of the reborn individuals' farms also contains special artifacts."
"For instance, a water source that flows endlessly with no origin, and a 'sun' that hangs dimly in the sky at night. We've classified such things as transcendent derivatives, same as your torches."
"In fact, the world isn't just experiencing the anomalies mentioned just now. We started finding several super-powered individuals years ago. For example, we ourselves have all been officially recruited."
"In fact, these anomalies aren't new. Years ago, we began discovering people with superhuman abilities—just like us."
"You are also super-powered individuals?" Molly was stunned. She thought she was meeting regular government officials, not empowered ones.
"That's right, we all possess supernatural abilities to varying degrees, though our abilities were quite weak compared to the reborn individuals."
"The strongest one now is the seer—the woman who can foresee the future—but she was only awakened recently." The man gestured to the others as he introduced them.
"I discovered my ability three years ago. I can manipulate any body of water I've touched—by thought alone—but even after years of training, I can only control about 500ml."
He turned to a pair of women who looked somewhat alike.
"These two are sisters. Not twins, but they share all five senses—two sets of vision, two perceptions. It took them a long time to adapt before they could live normally."
Finally, he looked at the muscular man standing behind them. "As for him, his ability is danger perception."