Chapter 24

Su Jing set off from her villa deep in the mountains at five in the morning, driving a rented small truck off the dirt road—in order not to reveal the location of the villa, she deliberately took a three-kilometer detour through the mountains before getting onto the main road. The truck bed was empty, except for a piece of paper on the passenger seat with a list of supplies written on it. The three key items, "generator, gasoline, and coal," were circled with a marker, and the specific quantities were marked after them.

At 7:30, the truck stopped at the entrance of the hardware and electrical machinery market on the outskirts of the city. Su Jing, wearing a baseball cap and a mask, walked into a shop with a sign that read "Honest Machinery and Electrical Machinery." The owner was hunched over the counter organizing ledgers. When he looked up and saw her, he greeted her warmly: "Hello! What would you like to buy? A generator, a water pump, or electrical wires?"

"I need two gasoline generators, with a power of 5 kilowatts or more, equipped with automatic start-stop and overload protection, and the lower the fuel consumption, the better." Su Jing placed the list on the counter and pointed to the "generator" column. "Can you deliver today? Deliver it to warehouse number 12 in area A of the suburban logistics park. Someone there will pick it up."

The boss's eyes lit up—a 5-kilowatt gasoline generator wasn't a small order. He quickly took out a product brochure from the shelf: "Yes! This Yamaha model, 5.5 kilowatts, fuel consumption of 1.2 liters per hour, with a soundproof cover, so it won't be noisy during the day or disturb your rest at night. If you buy two, I'll give you a discount, 18,000 yuan in total. Pay now, and I can arrange for a truck to deliver it by noon."

Without hesitation, Su Jing scanned the code to pay, then confirmed the delivery time and warehouse address, specifically instructing, "Just unload it at the warehouse entrance after delivery; you don't need to go inside. My people will check it." She was worried that the delivery driver might find something amiss if he went into the warehouse, since the generator would be stored in her spatial storage later, and it would be safer if no one was around.

After leaving the electromechanical market, Su Jing drove to a nearby petroleum supply station. Ordinary gas stations don't dispense large quantities of gasoline to private individuals, so she contacted the station manager beforehand, explaining that she owned a farm and needed gasoline for her agricultural machinery. The manager verified the "farm certificate" she provided (a fake certificate she had previously purchased online, sufficient for routine inspections) and agreed to sell her 1000 liters of gasoline, which she would then repackage into 50 20-liter plastic containers.

"Each bucket must be tightly sealed, covered with a waterproof tarpaulin, and delivered to warehouse number 12 in area A of the logistics park, together with the generator delivered this morning." Su Jing paid for the fuel and added an extra 200 yuan for delivery, instructing the driver to handle it carefully to avoid spills. The person in charge assured her, "Don't worry! Our drivers are all experienced employees, there will absolutely be no problems, they will definitely arrive before noon."

Next was 10 tons of coal. The coal supplier Su Jing had contacted was at a coal yard on the outskirts of the city. When she drove there, the yard was piled high with anthracite coal, the black, shiny coal chunks gleaming with a metallic sheen. The supplier, a middle-aged man, showed her samples of the coal: "This is anthracite coal from Inner Mongolia. It burns without smoke, has high calorific value, and burns for a long time. For 10 tons, we'll pack it into woven bags, 50 kilograms per bag, 200 bags in total. Delivery will cost an extra 500 yuan. It should arrive at the warehouse before 2 p.m.

Su Jing squatted down, picked up a piece of coal, felt its heavy weight, and confirmed that there were no fragments. She nodded in agreement: "This is it. It must be here before 2 PM. I need to count the quantity." After paying for the coal, she glanced at the time. It was only 10 AM, and there were still two hours before the delivery time. She could go buy some warm clothing. The system had just suddenly prompted her that the "Cyber ​​World" instance would be available in 15 days, but she was more concerned about the extreme cold of her previous life. The -60°C temperature could freeze water pipes and make it impossible to survive without warm clothing.

Su Jing drove to an outdoor gear store in the city center, a store specializing in polar expedition equipment. She went straight to the down jacket section and pointed to the -60℃ extreme cold style hanging at the back: "I want two of each size from XS to XL, a total of 10. Do you have any in stock?"

The sales clerk was taken aback for a moment, then quickly checked the inventory: "Yes! This is the same style as Canada Goose, filled with 800 fill power white goose down, with a windproof and waterproof outer layer and a heat-generating lining. It's perfectly fine to wear in -60℃. If you buy 10 pieces, I'll give you the wholesale price, which is 35,000 yuan in total."

Su Jing scanned the code to pay, then walked to the shelf of hand warmers and took a few packs of each type: "I need 5 packs of 100-piece body warmers, 10 packs of 50-piece hand warmers, and 10 packs of foot warmers. How much is that in total?"

"It'll cost you 2,000 yuan. I'll pack it into two large boxes for you." The shop assistant packed it quickly and efficiently. Looking at the down jackets and hand warmers piled on the counter, Su Jing felt much more at ease—10 down jackets would be enough for her to change into, and 1,000 hand warmers would last until the extreme cold of the early apocalypse was over.

At 11:30 a.m., Su Jing returned to warehouse No. 12 in Area A of the logistics park. The generator had been delivered, with two silver-gray units leaning against the warehouse entrance, covered with a waterproof tarpaulin; 1,000 liters of gasoline were neatly arranged in two rows in 50 blue plastic barrels; at 1:30 p.m., 10 tons of coal had also arrived, with 200 black woven bags piled up in a small heap, printed with the words "Anthracite Coal".

"Please unload everything into the warehouse, then you can leave. Thank you for your hard work." Su Jing directed the delivery drivers to move the supplies into the warehouse. After the last driver left, she immediately closed the door and summoned a robot from her spatial storage. She had only brought one into the city to avoid being exposed, and it was perfect for assisting with the unloading.

"Collect the generator first, then the gasoline, and finally the coal, and put them into the 'energy zone' of the space." Su Jing gave the robot the instructions, and then walked to the gasoline barrels to check if the lids of each barrel were tightened. After confirming that everything was in order, she focused her mind on a generator: "Collect it into the space and put it in the 'energy zone - generator'." The generator disappeared instantly, and when she looked into the space again, the newly added "energy zone" had been automatically divided into areas, and the generator was steadily placed on the metal support.

Robots assist in transporting coal. The robotic arm can pick up 5 bags at a time, and in less than half an hour, all 200 bags of coal were sent into the space. The gasoline barrels are operated manually by Su Jing. Each time a barrel is picked up, she mentally tells it to "return to the energy zone - gasoline". The 50 barrels of gasoline are neatly arranged next to the coal, with a safe distance between them to avoid collisions.

Finally, Su Jing put the 10 down jackets and 1000 hand warmers into the "warmth zone" of her space. Just as she was about to exit the space, a system notification sounded in her mind: [Instance Announcement: A new instance, "Cyber ​​World," will open in 15 days. This instance is a technology-based instance, and it is recommended to prepare electronic devices, charging devices, and anti-radiation equipment in advance. Specific information will be announced 3 days before the instance opens.]

“Cyber ​​world… technology-related dungeons…” Su Jing muttered to herself, her fingers unconsciously stroking the generator’s casing—now was not the time to think about dungeons. After the apocalypse in her previous life, there were three months of extreme cold of -60°C, which froze nearly a third of the population to death. Then came the scorching heat of 60°C, and finally the appearance of monsters. Many people did not survive the first winter because they had not prepared for extreme cold.

She walked to the table in the warehouse, picked up a pen and paper, and the address of the Ministry of Emergency Management flashed through her mind—she had seen it on the news in her previous life; it was in the administrative building in the city center. "I have to write an anonymous letter to remind them to prepare for extreme cold, extreme heat, and monsters." Su Jing gripped the pen tightly and wrote the five words "Doomsday Warning Letter" on the paper. The pen tip hovered over the paper as she began to think about how to write it in a way that would not expose herself but would still get the Ministry of Emergency Management's attention.