# Chapter 6: Ice Machines
As Sophia had expected, the sudden temperature spike caused many people who went outside to collapse from heatstroke.
Those who were seen could at least get an ambulance called for them.
Those who weren't seen? They simply died.
Especially elderly people, who loved taking morning walks and then walking to the supermarket at noon to buy groceries before heading home.
This sudden temperature surge—even strong young people could barely withstand it, let alone the elderly.
All day, the sound of ambulances never stopped.
Sophia's residential community was a high-end neighborhood with both apartments and condominiums.
There were plenty of residents, and some did collapse from heat. The ambulance came and went many times.
Online, posts about the heatwave came one after another like snowflakes.
At first, Sophia opened a few to read. Later, she just closed her phone.
This was only the beginning. Things would only grow harder.
Not until nightfall did the temperature finally drop a little.
The community, quiet all day, came alive after dark.
After changing clothes, Sophia went downstairs.
The moment she stepped outside, a wall of heat hit her face.
Sophia estimated that even with the sun down, the temperature was still over 90°F.
She didn't go far before feeling sticky and clammy, a fine layer of sweat on her skin.
But even so, Sophia didn't plan to go back upstairs.
Temperatures would only climb higher from now on. She needed to get her body acclimated to the current heat so she could survive the apocalypse better.
Outside the community, every kind of shop had opened, and street vendors lined the sidewalks.
Sophia walked along and bought quite a few small things.
Over these three months, Sophia had been collecting supplies. Of the 300 million dollars, she'd already spent 270 million, and her space was ninety percent full.
The remaining money, Sophia kept only a few hundred thousand in cash. Everything else she converted into gold bars, stacked neatly in her space.
Those few hundred thousand? She wasn't sure she'd be able to spend them all before money lost its value.
Walking and buying, if she liked it—whether useful or not—Sophia paid without hesitation.
After two hours of wandering outside, Sophia went home.
The first thing upon returning was taking a shower.
Afterward, Sophia walked to the ice machine and took out the ice it had made, packing it into large containers and storing everything in her space.
After returning from the neighboring city, Sophia had ordered two ice makers and set them up at home, running 24 hours a day nonstop.
All the ice produced went into pre-purchased large containers, then into her space.
While electricity was still available, she had to make as much ice as possible. That way, when the power inevitably failed, even without generators, she could still use the ice to cool down.
When she'd bought the ice machines, Sophia had driven her Hummer to several cold storage facilities and purchased cartloads of popsicles and ice cream bars.
She'd also bought plenty of ingredients for making popsicles and ice cream.
During idle hours, Sophia made some herself and froze them in the refrigerator. Once frozen, she stored them in her space.
She was like a little hamster, bit by bit filling her space fuller and fuller.
The supplies in her space were divided by category. Even though Sophia herself couldn't enter, whenever she needed something, as long as she knew the location, she could retrieve it instantly.
Before sleep, Sophia checked the supplies in her space. Only then did she close her eyes, satisfied.
Three months after being reborn, Sophia no longer had nightmares when sleeping.
When Sophia woke up, sunlight already filled the room, seeping through the curtains.
She rubbed her eyes and checked her phone.
It was only 4:30 AM!
Not only was the weather growing hotter, but the sun was also rising earlier and earlier.
Fortunately, the sun hadn't come up yet. There was still a cool breeze in the early morning.
Sophia turned off the air conditioning, opened the windows, and let the outside air flow in.
She didn't plan to go outside during the day. This was how she monitored the outside temperature, helping her body adapt quickly.
After washing up, Sophia went to the kitchen to prepare breakfast.
She took out a large pot for congee, added pre-soaked mung beans and some rock sugar, turned it on, and let it simmer.
Sophia then took out flour from her space and began kneading dough.
Today, she planned to make scallion pancakes.
Each pancake as it finished, Sophia stored directly in her space.
That way, the scallion pancakes would maintain their just-cooked freshness.
Time was frozen inside her space, and odors didn't spread. There was no worry that different food smells would mingle.
Sophia kneaded a large amount of dough and baked over a hundred pancakes at one go. It took over a hundred pancakes.
It was only because she'd trained in martial arts from childhood, giving her more strength than most people, that she could knead the dough and roll out so many pancakes without exhausting herself.
Though she was cooking, Sophia thought—this was a kind of physical exercise too!
The cooked mung bean soup, Sophia didn't store right away. She let it cool to room temperature, then put it in the freezer.
After several hours, it became mung bean shaved ice.
She then portioned it into disposable containers and stored them in her space.
In the scorching summer, eating a bowl of icy-cold mung bean shaved ice made a person feel cool from the inside out.
Sophia was absorbed in her own work and ignored all online messages.
By the time she finished, showered, and tidied up, it was already 2 PM.
Sophia carrying half a chilled watermelon, I came to the living room... no, she picked up half a watermelon from her space, placed it on the side table, and sat cross-legged on the carpet.
Iced watermelon was sweet and refreshing. One bite chilled her to the core, soothing Sophia's fatigue from her busy morning.
After eating a few bites of watermelon, Sophia finally opened her phone.
The weather forecast said today's high would reach 131°F. To avoid heat-related injuries, schools of all levels had declared summer break.
Companies that could work from home did so. Those that couldn't switched to night shifts or simply closed.
Sophia closed social media and opened a forum.
On the forum, apocalypse rumors had grown considerably since the day before.
Many people were suggesting everyone stock up on food and water. Some carefree types even photographed their hoarded supplies and posted them online.
In her past life, Sophia had seen such posts too.
Back then, Sophia hadn't taken it seriously. It was only later that she heard some people who had posted their supplies got robbed.
This incident warned Sophia. It taught her that one must be low-key and understand the principle of not showing off wealth.
The community WeChat group already had over 999+ messages, but new ones kept popping up.
Sophia glanced and saw most were complaints about the cursed weather, plus discussions about buying more supplies.
Some were worried: with temperatures this high, wouldn't electricity usage skyrocket? Would there be blackouts?