Harold and Olivia stopped arguing when they heard those insults. They shut the window tight again. Natalie tried to comfort them. "You can't talk sense into people who won't listen. Everyone has their own fate. Don't overthink it." Olivia nodded. She was about to suggest they go home when a sudden downpour slammed against the glass, startling her. It had only been a drizzle before, but now the rain came down in sheets. Almost at once, tragic screams rose from the street below. "Arghhh!" "It burns!" The group rushed back to the window. The sight made their stomachs turn. Outside, the street was chaos. Faces hit by the rain looked as if boiling water had been poured on them—red, blistering, raw with pain. People screamed on instinct, trying to shield themselves, but the raised arms were quickly covered in burns and swelling blisters. Panic broke out. Everyone pushed and shoved to get inside the building. The rain only grew harsher, its bite more deadly. Buckets and tubs made from all sorts of materials began to melt. Parked cars along the curb showed peeling paint, the color eaten away by acid streaks. Even the blacktop on the asphalt road started pitting, leaving a honeycomb of holes. In the rush, someone tripped. He fell face-first into a puddle and shrieked like meat dropped onto a hot skillet.Some managed to scramble back up, gritting their teeth through the agony as they limped toward the building. Some of the older folks couldn't run at all. Their legs gave out, and they collapsed on the ground, screaming. The cries didn't last long. The acid fell into their throats, and eventually no sound came out. Their clothes burned away, and their bodies stopped moving. Everyone looked like lobsters boiled alive—red, blistered, and silent. The sight was worse than any disaster movie. Olivia and Harold stood frozen in horror. Even Cassian, who was always calm, clenched his fists tight. Natalie stayed steady. She had seen this before in her last life. She had mentally braced herself for it. Then an old woman, who had stayed safe inside, spotted her grandson outside crying in the deadly rain. She panicked. Snatching up an umbrella, she rushed out into the rain to save her grandson. The umbrella dissolved within seconds, leaving only broken metal ribs. In desperation, she wrapped her arms around the boy and used her body to shield him. Together they stumbled toward the building. They were almost at the entrance when her strength failed. With her last breath, she shoved the boy inside before collapsing to the ground. She staggered, then collapsed to the ground. Within moments, she was gone. The boy survived for now, but his burns were severe. With no family left to help him, in a world like this, it was the same as being handed a death sentence. No one at the window could bear to watch anymore. One by one, they turned their eyes away from the nightmare below. Olivia shivered at the thought. If Natalie hadn't stopped her just in time, she would've been out there too, running for her life like the rest of the crowd.She sighed. "This isn't acid rain. This is straight-up sulfuric acid!" In her mind, acid rain was never this bad. Back then, if you washed it off fast enough, it didn't do much damage. But this? This was like lab acid, burning through anything it touched. Natalie frowned. "And normal hot weather never hits over 140 degrees either. The world's gone completely off the rails." Harold nodded. "Regular acid rain isn't like this. When I tested earlier, the pH was around four. Now it's probably down near zero point something." He looked at them seriously. "Glass can hold up against it. Make sure your windows are sealed. Nobody goes outside until it stops." Olivia asked nervously, "What if the whole building melts and buries us alive?" Natalie shook her head. "It won't." In her last life, this building had been full of holes, but it still stood tall. Harold backed her up. "No, it won't. He explained, "Sulfuric acid can eat into concrete, but the calcium salts in the cement react and form gypsum. That layer slows down the damage. It can't eat all the way through." Olivia nodded slowly. "So it'll corrode but not destroy everything?" "Exactly," Harold said. "We stay inside and wait for the rain to stop before we head out." Just then, noise erupted from the stairwell below. The group exchanged looks. "Go home," Natalie said quickly. "A lot of people are coming in." Downstairs had been chaos. People didn't even try to reach their apartments. They rushed into the nearest building they could find, desperate for shelter.Now, plenty had pushed into their building. If anyone brushed against them, carrying acid burns on their skin or clothes, they'd get hurt too. They scattered back to their units. Cassian followed Natalie into her place. Before Olivia shut her door, she shot Natalie a teasing wink. Natalie ignored it. Inside, Lucky bounded over as usual, tail wagging, with Baron and Cash trotting close behind to welcome them home.