The night sky appeared as if it had been painted with streaks of ribbons, or as though the god of death waved spectral ribbons, observing this sombre city. The brilliant lights illuminated the land, casting colourful hues on the rain.

The visual spectacle of these stunning auroras combined with the ferocity of the hurricane winds was impossible to ignore. The rain pounded relentlessly, forcing Ike to grip the rope in his hands even tighter.

The process of rescuing the trapped person proved challenging but uneventful. Negan approached the person on the pole, untied Ike, and secured the man in his place. "Thank you so much for saving me!" the man exclaimed, tears welling up in his eyes. He was deeply grateful for Negan courage to venture out in such a violent storm.

Negan, inherently kind-hearted, replied, "This wind is fierce. Be careful when you leave, my friend."

"Unfortunately, the car wouldn't start, so I had to walk back," the man explained. His car had been abandoned on the road. As they crossed through the building area, things seemed relatively calm. However, as they left the semi-suburban region with few high-rise buildings, the wind intensified. This barren field was exposed to the full force of the storm, with a sewage river nearby. Without holding onto the electric pole, they might have been blown into the river.

The man shuddered at the thought of this possibility. "The rope isn't secure. It's too slippery. I'll tie another knot," he said.

While attempting to tie the knot, a powerful gust of wind struck from behind, causing him to lose his grip on the rope. The rope slipped from his hands.

Amid the violent typhoon, Ike and Tom were abruptly pulled away from the wall by the rope they were connected to, plummeting to the ground. Fortunately, one end of the rope was attached to an anti-theft net, preventing a more serious outcome. Ike, ever vigilant, reacted swiftly, preventing a catastrophe.

Kneeling on the ground and scanning the area, Ike spotted Negan clinging to the soil while battling the wind. The aurora- lit night allowed him to see clearly. Tom, too, recognized the precarious situation but couldn't communicate well due to the strong winds. Ike and Tom worked together to pull Negan back, knowing that the puddle below should be a relatively safe spot.

Once all three were safe, they joined forces to retrieve the man. After a strenuous effort, they managed to pull him out of the puddle.

It was only then that they noticed the man had wrapped the rope around his arm with his bare hands. The rope had come loose, and if he hadn't secured it, it would have been lost to the wind.

Exhausted and facing hostile winds, the group strained to pull the man to safety. But a sudden, ferocious gust of wind sent Ike flying like a kite with a broken string. If not for Negan and Tom, he might have met the same fate as the man.

When they regained their senses, they saw the man's lifeless body entangled in the wires on a power pole about two hundred meters away, a grim reminder of the dangers they had faced.

The night was dark, and no one knew the time. Aunt Linda handed Ike a cup of hot water, but he took only a sip. The room was filled with an unsettling silence. Ike patted Tom's shoulder, who looked up with reddened eyes.

"We did everything we could," Ike reassured Tom.

Tom understood but still felt uneasy. The image of the man they couldn't save, suspended lifeless on the street, weighed heavily on his mind. Saving someone and failing was more painful than not trying at all.

Anna and Yingli descended the stairs. Yingli had witnessed the entire ordeal from upstairs and was concerned about the psychological impact on Ike. She hugged him tightly.

So much had happened that day, and Ike's safety had been a source of worry for everyone. Ike patted Yingli's back to reassure her.

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Back home, Anna tended to Ike's scratches with iodine. Ike stared at his stationary watch for a while.

"It looks like we'll have to live without knowing the time," Anna broke the silence. "I'm thinking of making a manual calendar. Otherwise, we'll forget the dates and months." Ike put down his water glass and smiled. "Aren't you afraid? There's a corpse hanging outside the window."

"Ike!" Anna scolded him. "Don't scare me."

Ike chuckled and attempted to lighten the mood, "It's scary, isn't it? You don't even know how worried Mom was about you just now. If something happens to you, how will the two of us live?"

Their family relied heavily on Ike, being the only man in the household.

Ike contemplated the situation and realized he didn't want to go through such a harrowing experience again. It wasn't due to a lack of urgency but rather a newfound appreciation for life. The wind had broken the iron pole tethered to his rope, nearly sending him flying. Without Negan and Tom's help, he might have met the same fate as the man.

"Did you hear that?" Anna asked.

Ike nodded in response.

Anna's frustration was evident as she dropped the cotton swab. Ike felt powerless as he couldn't change the outcome. Some of his scratches would have to heal on their own, especially those in hard-to-reach places.

That night, Anna and Yingli slept together for added comfort. Ike, unable to sleep, went to the living room to smoke.

Through the living room window, he could see the lifeless body swaying in the wind and rain, lit eerily by the aurora. It seemed as though the city was revealing its cruel side, or perhaps it was just the cruelty of nature itself. It took life without remorse, without feeling, and without accountability.

Scare me! "Anna woke up in the middle of the night and suddenly saw Ike sitting on the sofa, silently watching the scenery outside." Anna asked, "What are you doing?"

Ike replied, "Just looking at the scenery."

Anna hesitated and then said, "Look at the scenery, but be careful. Isn't there a dead person outside?"

Ike replied, "Is there any other suitable place to see the scenery in our house? Besides the large French window in the living room?" Anna muttered, "It seems not." Then she noticed something else. "You're smoking again."

Ike denied, "No way," realizing he had lost his cigarette.

On September 27, 2032, it rained heavily. It had been five days since the power went out. The heavy rain had persisted for several days. When the aurora disappeared on the second day of the outage, it felt like the sun had been taken away too, leaving the city in darkness.

The gloomy, unending rain made the city feel like a giant cemetery. Most people, however, remained in good spirits, having experienced a power outage in Europe the previous year. They were more prepared for solar storms. Some even saw this as an extended, paid vacation, free from the daily grind of work.

But not everyone shared this optimism. Those at the bottom of society, struggling to make ends meet, faced the most challenges. In a city with a permanent population of 13 million, there were many living above the poverty line.

Ike, not belonging to the struggling class, couldn't fully grasp their hardships. He remembered that last year's European power outage had hit the poor the hardest. Some online had cynically called it a "cleaning" of "social garbage."

The weak perished first, and the strong survived, but humility was key, as Zika, the self-proclaimed time traveler from 2090, had warned. The question that bothered Ike was whether Meg's sixth prophecy about a European solar storm was connected to the current Asian storm. If so, did it imply that this disaster was even more extensive?

Ike slapped his forehead in frustration. He wanted to believe in Meg's prophecies emotionally, but reason told him to rely on science and tangible evidence, not online rumors. He resolved to prepare for the worst but not treat Meg's predictions as gospel.

Most shops remained open but lacked electricity. The larger supermarkets had doubled or even tripled their prices, creating chaos. Major shopping malls, with or without generators, operated amid the power outage, ensuring there was no rampant looting of goods.

In the initial days, people flocked to banks due to a lack of cash. Armed forces were deployed to protect them, but banks struggled to operate normally. Issuing cash in limited quantities became necessary, though it didn't last long.

Without electricity, society was grappling with the absence of paper money. Ike believed that the short duration of the outage wouldn't lead to starvation, though money shortages were a significant issue. One night, a loud scream pierced the darkness. Rumors circulated among neighbors, but Ike believed the one about the person from the finance industry.

The continuous rain had made their home damp, forcing them to wear sweaters in September. Water streamed down the stairwell from the rooftop, making it wet. Tom decided to stay for lunch since going outside meant getting soaked.

The living room had a dimly lit table with a tea wax. Anna enjoyed her tea, providing a faint source of light as they ate.

Due to the extended power outage and the terrifying typhoon outside, they hadn't been able to go shopping. Their meal consisted of dry rice, hot milk, boiled soybeans, and canned fish - a makeshift dinner to endure the challenging days ahead.