Chapter 25

Su Jing sat at the folding table in the warehouse, a black ballpoint pen held between her fingers, its nib hovering over a blank A4 sheet of paper, hesitant to drop. A pile of freshly printed shipping labels lay on the corner of the table, next to a half-empty bottle of mineral water, water droplets clinging to the bottle and spreading across the paper, leaving a small damp patch. She stared at the draft of the words "Doomsday Warning," then crossed them out—too blunt, easily mistaken for a prank; she needed a more tactful wording.

“I can’t mention ‘rebirth,’ nor can I say ‘I know.’ I have to use an objective statement like ‘reliable source of information.’” She muttered to herself, then rewrote the beginning on the paper: “To the Ministry of Emergency Management of China: I have obtained reliable information that my country will face multiple rounds of extreme natural disasters and unknown biological threats in the future, as detailed below. I urge you to take this seriously and take countermeasures…”

When writing about the extreme cold, she paused for a few seconds—the -60°C temperatures of her past life were still vivid in her mind; the water pipes in her neighborhood had frozen and burst, the stairwells were covered with icicles, and those without heating froze to death in just three days. She wrote on the paper: "Phase 1: In the next 10-15 days, extreme low temperatures of -60°C will occur, lasting for more than 15 days. This will cause water and electricity supply facilities to freeze and burst, traffic to be paralyzed, and outdoor exposure for more than 10 minutes may be life-threatening. It is necessary to stock up on warm clothing (-60°C extreme cold clothing, hand warmers) and backup energy (gasoline generators, coal) in advance."

Next came the extreme heat: "Phase Two: 5-7 days after the end of the low temperatures, extreme high temperatures of 60℃ will occur, lasting for more than 10 days, which may cause drought and wildfires. It is necessary to stock up on drinking water and cooling equipment (air conditioners, ice), and avoid outdoor activities in the afternoon." She recalled that during the high temperatures in her previous life, the river water evaporated to the bottom, the mineral water in the supermarket was sold out, and many people died of heatstroke. She could not write too many details for fear of seeming deliberate, so she only mentioned the key impacts and coping suggestions.

The most troublesome are the monsters, which only appeared after the apocalypse in the previous life. At first, they were small poisonous insects that mutated, and later they became large wild beasts with extremely strong attack power. She carefully wrote: "Third stage: 10-15 days after the end of the high temperature, unknown mutated creatures (tentatively called 'monsters') will appear. They are aggressive and may destroy buildings and harm humans. It is necessary to build defensive facilities (metal fences, protective nets) in advance and stockpile defensive weapons (knives, ranged tools)."

Finally, in her recommendations, she shared her experience building villas: "Recommendations: 1. Prioritize the construction of centralized shelters in underground or high-altitude areas, equipped with insulation, independent energy sources, and water storage systems; 2. Organize the storage of essential supplies (food, medicine, water) in various regions to ensure the distribution of these supplies; 3. Train emergency response teams in advance to deal with natural disasters and biological threats; 4. Issue early warnings through official channels to guide the public in making preparations."

After finishing the draft, Su Jing read it three times, deleting all statements that could potentially reveal her identity. For example, she changed "I have seen it" to "information shows," and "I prepared" to "suggested to stock up," ensuring the entire text was objective and neutral, making her appear as an insider with access to information rather than a firsthand witness. She folded the draft and put it in her pocket, then got up to tidy the table—she needed to find a discreet print shop to avoid leaving any trace.

In a small alley near the warehouse, there was a "convenience printing shop." The owner was a woman in her fifties who wore reading glasses and was always looking at her phone, rarely asking customers anything. Su Jing walked into the shop and placed the draft on the counter: "Auntie, please print this out, double-sided, on A4 paper, thank you."

The aunt glanced at the draft, didn't ask any questions, opened the computer document, and quickly formatted and printed it. While the printer was running, Su Jing stood at the door to keep watch, making sure no one in the alley was paying attention to them—there was a shoe repair stall at the alley entrance, the repairman was engrossed in his work, occasionally glancing up but not noticing her.

"Okay, one yuan." The aunt handed her the printed letter. Su Jing scanned the code to pay, took the letter, and carefully read it over—the handwriting was clear and there were no mistakes. Then she took out the draft from her pocket, tore it into pieces in front of the aunt, and threw it into the trash can by the door: "Thank you, Auntie. No need to keep a copy; I have my own backup." The aunt waved her hand, continued looking at her phone, and didn't say anything more.

Next was mailing the letter. Su Jing didn't choose the large post office in the city, but instead drove to a small town post office in the suburbs—there were fewer security cameras and fewer people, making it less likely for a record to be left. There was only one staff member in a blue uniform and an elderly woman mailing postcards. Su Jing walked to the counter, took out a white envelope she had prepared beforehand, containing a printed warning letter. The envelope only addressed to "Ministry of Emergency Management, China," without the sender's address or name.

"Comrade, send this to the Ministry of Emergency Management in the capital. How much stamps do you need?" Su Jing handed over the envelope, her voice as calm as possible. The staff member took the envelope, glanced at the address, and without asking the sender, said, "Send it by registered mail. You can track the shipment, so it's less likely to get lost. The stamps are 8 yuan. Also, fill out a form."

Su Jing took the form and wrote "anonymous" in the "sender" column. The staff member hesitated for a moment, but didn't ask any more questions. He helped her affix the stamp, stamped it, and put it in the mailbag behind him: "They'll all be sent out tomorrow. It should arrive in about 3 days." Su Jing nodded, didn't linger, turned around and walked out of the post office. After getting into her car, she glanced at the rearview mirror—no one was paying attention to her at the post office entrance, and she breathed a sigh of relief.

It was already dark when Su Jing returned to the warehouse. She turned on her phone's flashlight to illuminate the folding table and brought up the system panel to check if the supplies were intact. However, she saw a new button below the "System Shop"—"Private Shop Opening Entrance," which read, "Requires 5000 points. After opening, you can independently list/sell supplies and support cross-instance trading."

She paused for a moment, then quickly checked her points balance: opening the chat room deducted 100 points, and later, exceeding the task target by 30,000 jin, plus the remaining points, the panel displayed "Current Points: 301,900 points." 5,000 points were nothing to her now.

"Open Private Shop." She clicked the button, and 5000 points were instantly deducted. The button changed to "My Private Shop," with three options below: "Shop Settings," "Product Management," and "Order Management." She clicked "Shop Settings" first. The "Shop Name" field was empty. She thought for a moment. In her previous life, during the apocalypse, she had always wanted a safe place to trade. Now that she had space and resources, why not call it "Number One Shop Under Heaven"—it was both imposing and memorable.

She entered "Number One Shop Under Heaven," and the system prompted "Shop Name Available." She clicked confirm, and the shop's homepage instantly appeared: a black background with the shop name in gold font, followed by "Items to be Listed" and "Shop Level: Level 1 (Can list 10 items)." Su Jing opened "Item Management," looking at the blank list, unsure what to sell—she had 30,000 jin of giant plants, generators, gasoline, and robots in her space, but while these might be useful in dungeons, they were even scarcer in the apocalypse. She needed to figure out which items were suitable to list and which she should keep for herself.

Leaning against the cardboard boxes in the warehouse, she looked at the "Number One Store in the World" on her phone screen, a smile involuntarily creeping onto her lips—regardless of whether the warning would be taken seriously, at least she now had more confidence; the private store might become another safeguard for her in dungeons and the apocalypse. Night deepened, and the wind howled outside the warehouse. Su Jing closed the system panel, preparing to return to her mountain villa tomorrow to continue arranging the interior; she could think about the private store's goods later.