Liu Hong had long forgotten how long this disaster in the movie lasted, knowing only that when the hero finally rescued his son, the snow still hadn't melted.
As for how much longer it would take for the hero to arrive, he had completely forgotten.
When watching movies like this, he never paid close attention; his eyes were entirely fixed on the visual effects and scenery. How could he possibly remember the specific plot details, especially after more than a decade?
Liu Hong snapped out of his daze and carefully observed the protagonist's situation. It wasn't just the protagonist who survived in this movie—everyone who stayed with the protagonist lived. *I need to stick close to the protagonist.*
After the cruise ship incident, the crowd didn't seem to react much; they merely expressed a brief moment of shock before returning to the main hall to hurl themselves into huddled groups.
The temperature was dropping lower and lower; it was simply freezing.
People kept going off to grab extra clothes, trying to wrap themselves up more tightly. Someone eventually discovered that the room where the clothes were kept seemed a bit warmer—perhaps because the space was small and the heat hadn't dissipated as quickly. Soon, everyone was crowding into the lounge, desperate for even a sliver of warmth.
Unfortunately, the lounge wasn't very large, and it couldn't hold many people. Some even began shoving and fighting for a spot.
Perhaps it wasn't quite cold enough yet, or perhaps because the disaster had just struck, people still retained some of their basic human decency. In the end, they let the elderly and children inside, while the young people stayed outside, wrapped tightly in their coats.
Seeing this situation, Liu Hong grew somewhat anxious. Although he couldn't remember exactly when the hero would come to rescue them, it certainly wouldn't happen in a day or two. What were they going to do about food and drink over the next few days? And what about heating? He remembered that later on, they kept warm in a room with a fireplace, and by the end, they even started burning books.
However, he couldn't remember where that room actually was. Was it the lounge?
He didn't really need to worry about warmth since the main characters survived to the end, but he still had to worry about food. The main issue was that there was no food in sight here. In movie worlds, protagonists were badasses who could tough things out, but he certainly wasn't one of them. If he wasn't rescued and ended up freezing or starving to death, it would be a terrible waste.
Still, water was everywhere outside right now, making it impossible to go out looking for food.
While turning things over in his mind, Liu Hong kept a watchful eye on the downstairs area. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted someone carrying in a gaudy, colorful package.
*Was that... a snack?*
*Are there snacks here?!*
The movie was indeed ancient, and he couldn't remember the plot, but since he had nothing better to do right now, what harm was there in taking a look?
Liu Hong walked down the stairs and headed in the direction the man had just come from. Reaching the foot of the stairs, he noticed a door open on the right. He stepped inside and found a few chairs tilted at odd angles.
It must have been the staff break room.
Directly opposite the door stood a few vending machines.
*Libraries actually have these things?!*
Well, it made sense—staff needed to buy things during breaks, and the library could make a profit. But since they were here, he had no reason not to stock up.
He wasn't the protagonist; he couldn't just tough it out. Even if he couldn't remember how the hero managed to survive in the end, he couldn't afford to worry about that now—he had to look out for himself first.
He skipped the large bags of puffed snacks; they were far too conspicuous. Carrying a single bag to eat on the spot was fine, but they wouldn't fit in his pockets.
Liu Hong picked high-calorie items like chocolate, practically wiping out the chocolate bars inside the vending machine. He shoved everything into his pockets.
He was wearing multiple layers of clothing, so he had plenty of room!
Finally, he grabbed two bags of potato chips to hold in his hands, eating them as he walked back out. He needed to fill his stomach a bit first.
He walked back into the main hall and went upstairs.
Liu Hong settled back into his old spot. It offered a great view, allowing him to keep an eye on everyone's movements, especially the main character's group. He saw the protagonist lying on a table, while a friend of the hero nearby was fiddling with an electronic device.
From the look of it, was that a radio?
Liu Hong didn't pay it much attention. Right now, he needed to conserve his energy to deal with any sudden emergencies that might arise at any moment.
Seeing that the protagonist was sleeping, he closed his eyes as well to rest.
For a long time, nothing happened, and the hall remained quiet. Eventually, Liu Hong actually drifted off to sleep.
Then, he was jolted awake by a burst of screams.
The beggar with the dog came running inside, shouting at the top of his lungs to everyone that there were people outside—lots of people walking on the snow.
Hearing this, the crowd erupted into a commotion, rushing over to the windows to peer outside.
Sure enough, they saw numerous figures moving across the snowy expanse.
The library security guard seemed to have made a decision and asked everyone what the latest news update had been. Hearing someone say that everyone was to evacuate southward, the guard began organizing the crowd to head outside together.
Liu Hong also raised his head to look out the window. Indeed, countless people were trudging through the heavy snow. It seemed the water surface had already frozen over.
*Just a few hours?* The water, which had been a full story high, had actually frozen solid into ice!
*The temperature must be insanely low!!* Liu Hong was shocked by the current outdoor temperature.
Hearing that everyone was preparing to move indoors, the hero stepped out to try and stop them. But Liu Hong didn't listen to what the hero said next; he had already slipped away through the outer edge of the crowd.
He remembered that the current plot hadn't reached the extreme cold yet. Venturing out now, before freezing to death became inevitable, was the best possible timing.
Even so, he definitely had to return before nightfall. Since it was already this cold, the nighttime temperatures would undoubtedly be much lower.
He knew that the little bit of food he had wouldn't be enough. In the movie, the hero and his group seemed to stay in the library the entire time. If he wanted to stick with them, he wouldn't be able to eat alone in secret.
The hero was righteous and kind-hearted. If he sat there stuffing his face in front of him, what would he do if the hero asked him to share with the others? Besides, he was still counting on the hero's father to save their lives later—and the guy's dad was a scientist, after all.
Furthermore, the few bars of chocolate in his pockets wouldn't be enough to sustain him. He had to go out and scavenge for food while everyone else was still distracted.
Liu Hong didn't tell a single person as he sneaked out to find food.
Stepping outside, he looked left and right. Tall buildings flanked both sides of the street. To one side was a bustling stream of people; to the other, a street blocked by a wedged cruise ship.
After a moment of thought, he decided to head toward the cruise ship.
There was nobody over there, which meant no one would compete with him for supplies. The snow wasn't very deep yet; with a single step, it barely covered the top of his boots, with a thick layer of ice right underneath.
This really was the prime window of opportunity.
As he headed toward the cruise ship, he noticed the tops of the streetlights were actually shorter than he was, giving him a vivid sense of just how deep the seawater was.
The first thing that caught his eye was a storefront, but it was completely frozen beneath the ice. Standing before the shop's sign, Liu Hong felt a twinge of helplessness.
When he thought about it, it made sense—shops were usually on the ground floor, so getting flooded was normal, and with temperatures this low, freezing solid was just as normal.
Liu Hong sighed inwardly. Finding food was going to be a bit tough.
He checked the watch on his wrist—it was something the original body's clothes had come with, and it looked expensive, yet it wasn't damaged at all.
It was nearly 4:00 PM; he had to get back before dark.
Liu Hong continued walking forward, passing one ice-locked, snow-buried storefront after another. Just when he thought all hope was lost and was about to turn back, he finally came across a shopping mall.
As everyone knew, shopping malls always had multiple floors.
Excitedly, Liu Hong ran up to the front of the mall. The main doors were completely blocked off, and he had no idea what the conditions inside were like.
He circled the building until he spotted an open window, and climbed straight through.
Inside, someone had actually left a crate to act as a stepping stool! It seemed there might still be people in here.
Liu Hong cautiously crept inward. The disaster had only started half a day ago, so if anyone was here, they were likely people who had ducked inside when the tsunami hit. Still, he needed to proceed with caution. He grabbed a steel clothes rack tube from a nearby clothing shop, gripping it tightly with both hands so he would have some means of self-defense if anyone tried to harm him.
To his surprise, as he made his way deeper inside, there wasn't a single soul. He walked straight through to the supermarket section.
Perhaps the people here had decided to head south like everyone else.
Judging from the exposed signs on the first floor, the shops mostly carried designer brands—likely luxury goods for women. The second floor housed a supermarket along with a few fast-food joints.
More than half a day had passed since the tsunami. Although he had eaten a few packs of chips, they weren't proper meals, and Liu Hong still felt ravenous.
He vaulted straight into a fast-food restaurant. All the cooked food was gone, presumably taken by the people who had originally sheltered here. However, checking the refrigerators, he found plenty of raw chicken and beef that hadn't been cooked yet.
Some items were missing from the fridge, but not everything had been cleaned out—likely because people found raw meat too troublesome to deal with on the road.
Liu Hong didn't mind at all! Meat was meat, and that was the scarcest commodity in this freezing weather.
He also scavenged various salad dressings, ketchup, and other high-sugar, high-calorie condiments from the back kitchen. He needed these desperately right now!
He packed everything up and left the stash by the fast-food shop's entrance, planning to grab it all when he was ready to leave.
Now that his food supply was secured, Liu Hong stopped holding back. He took out the remaining chocolate bars from his pocket, shoved them into his mouth, and chewed vigorously.
He scavenged a mountain of supplies from the various fast-food spots, piling them all by the window to take with him later.
Next, he headed into the supermarket, making a beeline for the frozen section.
Large cuts of steak, all kinds of frozen raw meats—none of it had been touched by anyone else here. Even the staple pasta remained untouched. *Take it, take it, take everything!*
Right now, Liu Hong wished he had three heads and six arms. He was finally experiencing the pure joy of free-for-all looting.
He paused to think. The library didn't seem to have any pots. How was he supposed to cook without a pot?
Well, he didn't need to be that picky; most of what he grabbed was meat, which could just be roasted on wooden sticks over a fire.
Even so, getting carried away with taking things for free in the supermarket, he grabbed a cooking pot and a frying pan. Packing them full of meat meant they wouldn't even waste much space.
He wandered over to the snack aisle, hoping to score some more chocolate, but not a single piece was left. It seemed everyone else knew they needed high-calorie foods as well.
He didn't need water; snow was everywhere, and melted snow became water. He only needed to focus on food.
Liu Hong strolled through the supermarket, looking for rice. After searching for a long time, he couldn't find any. He really wasn't familiar with foreign supermarkets—wasn't rice usually in the staple foods aisle?
However, he did manage to find flour and seasonings.
The seasonings here were honestly a bit monotonous. He hoped his next transmigration would take him back to China; foreign environments genuinely made him feel a bit out of place.
He grabbed two bottles of sea salt and black pepper and left everything else. Any more, and he truly wouldn't be able to carry it back.
Passing by the vegetable section, Liu Hong glanced at it and walked right past. He didn't want vegetables; he only wanted meat!
He checked the time: it was already nearing 5:00 PM. He had to hurry back, or he would freeze to death on the road!
He tossed all his neatly packed supplies out the window, then used the same wooden crate to climb back out.
Looking at the waist-high pile of items in front of him, he realized that while getting so much for free felt amazing, how on earth was he supposed to drag it all back?