Chapter 2 Stockpiling and the Island
[2]
Now that she has a warehouse in the Star House where time can be stopped, Youxi decided to stockpile some things that she had not been able to stockpile before.
The 180 cubic meters of space is not too big, but it is not too small either. Because the items are suspended after entering the Time-Standing System, they can be stacked. If the space is properly arranged, she can stockpile a lot of things.
After escaping from L Island and spending three months thereafter, she conservatively estimates that she will have to stay in the apocalyptic world for about a hundred days. If she only eats instant food for so many days, she will probably vomit.
She has to fill the Star House warehouse with some fresh vegetables, fruits, meat, eggs, fish, shrimp, etc. - under the premise of conditions, try to make herself live as comfortably as possible.
There are still six days left. She is not sure whether she will be able to stockpile after entering the apocalyptic world, so she has to prepare in advance. There were many things to prepare, and she made a shopping list before going to bed.
She listed the clothes and supplies according to the equipment for going to Antarctica. It didn't matter whether they looked good or not, the key was to be windproof, waterproof and warm. In addition, she had tents, sleeping bags, wind lamps, windproof solid alcohol stoves, camping pots, and self-cooking pots at home because she liked to go camping outdoors.
For self-defense, she planned to buy a few more bottles of anti-wolf spray. Knives and other things were not very suitable for her at her current level. She was afraid that once she showed her knife, someone would snatch it away and hurt herself. She could consider getting a few self-defense batons, the kind that could be retracted in three sections, and two electric batons.
The next day, she got up early and went to the car rental company to pick up the car she had rented. She had rented the car for six days, a large SUV, and had specially selected one-way film for the car windows to facilitate stocking up for shopping in the next few days.
Her first stop was to buy cold-weather clothing, several sets of sweat-wicking warm underwear, several sets of sweat-wicking, breathable and warm fleece pants, several sets of lightweight and warm down jackets, several sets of windproof and waterproof fleece sprint pants, cashmere hats, cashmere scarves, fleece gloves, waterproof mittens, cashmere socks, and waterproof boots.
From inside to outside, from top to bottom, armed to the teeth.
This part cost her a lot of money. In case of tsunamis, one can go inland or to high ground to avoid them, but there is nowhere to hide from the low temperatures. The main reason is that she doesn’t know how low the temperature will be yet, so she has to buy the most cold-resistant ones.
The clothes she bought filled the whole car. She turned several streets and came to a warehouse supermarket halfway outside the city. She parked in an inconspicuous corner of the underground garage, quickly put the clothes in the car into the Xingwu warehouse, and then got out of the car.
The difference between this warehouse supermarket and ordinary large supermarkets is that the quantity of all goods is five to ten times that of other supermarkets. People who come here to buy things are lazy people or rich people who don’t go to the supermarket often. The supplies in a large shopping cart can last for a long time.
In such a shopping environment, it would not be strange even if she bought a lot of goods.
The convenience food at home is enough for the time being, and this time she picked out foods that are more easily spoiled: pork chops, pork ribs, pork shanks, pork belly, pork tenderloin, pork shreds, steak, oxtail bone, beef roll, lamb chops, lamb roll, chicken wings, chicken legs, various river fish, river shrimp, Taiwanese shrimp, various marine fish, oysters, scallops, swimming crabs, mantis shrimps, mud crabs, black tiger shrimps, clams, razor clams, flower snails, various hot pot meatballs, yellow throat duck blood, tripe, vermicelli, konjac, and various green leafy vegetables, mushrooms, vegetables, and root vegetables.
Various canned and bottled salt, chicken essence, pepper, cumin powder, dark soy sauce, light soy sauce, vinegar, rice wine, green onion, ginger, garlic, chili pepper, pickled cucumber, rice dishes, olives, salted duck eggs, fresh milk, eggs, sausages, yogurt, noodles, frozen dumplings, hand-grabbed pancakes, and convenient fruits such as apples, bananas, and pears.
5 kg bags of rice, 5 liter bags of cooking oil, 5 boxes of 24 bags of instant noodles, and 2 boxes of 24 barrels of instant vermicelli.
Two boxes of 5L×8 barreled water, two boxes of 500ml×48 bottled water, several boxes of bottled coffee, several boxes of 40-pack tissues and several bags of 20 rolled tissues, and two boxes of 100g×200 blocks of solid alcohol.
She bought two more windproof solid alcohol stoves and a checkered baking tray that can be used on the solid alcohol stove...
As Youxi kept shopping, she became addicted to shopping and wanted to put everything in the shopping cart. The shopping carts in the warehouse supermarket were specially made, and the upper and lower layers were particularly large, but they couldn't withstand her filling, which somewhat brought her back to her senses.
In the end, because there were too many things, she had to ask the supermarket employees for help with heavier things such as water, drinks, rice and oil. The employees had a good work attitude and pushed the cart directly to her car and helped her move the things into the trunk. She had
asked someone to fold the back seats of the SUV flat when she rented the car. Now, except for the front seats, the entire back space of the car can be used to store things.
After leaving the supermarket parking lot, she drove across half of the city as usual, and in a secluded corner of the underground garage, she quietly moved all the supplies in the car into the Star House space.
Youxi closed her eyes and used her consciousness to check the current inventory in the space, and inexplicably felt more secure.
Although these things cost her a lot of money today, compared with her life, this money is really nothing.
While eating at a beef noodle restaurant, she suddenly had an idea. Before leaving, she packed five servings of red soup beef noodles and five servings of spicy beef noodles, all with extra beef and coriander. She carried ten servings of noodles into the car, and put them directly into the space after getting in the car.
Time in the space is still. Whatever you put in, it will look the same when you take it out. Even when it is inconvenient to cook, you can still eat fresh and delicious food in one second.
She suddenly had an idea and started to place an order on the takeaway website with her mobile phone while sitting in the car.
The milk tea shop she often buys from: 5 cups of Coconut Grass Jelly, 5 cups of Black Brick Milk Tea with Pearls, 5 cups of Honey Grapefruit Tea.
The fried chicken shop she often buys from: 5 servings of boneless chicken nuggets for one person, 5 servings of chicken legs and wings.
The halogen shop she often buys from: 10 boxes of duck wings, 10 boxes of duck feet, and 10 boxes of pig's trotters. The
roast duck shop she often buys from: 10 boxes of crispy roast duck (one box of whole duck cut into pieces).
Sushi shop she often buys from: Thick-cut salmon × 5, Simmered seven-course × 5, Seafood cheese roll × 5, Shrimp avocado roll × 5, Salmon seafood rice × 5, King crab meat Caesar salad × 5. Pizza shop she often
buys from: 10-inch potato wedges bacon cheese pizza × 2, 10-inch grilled beef cheese pizza × 2, 10-inch cream spinach chicken pizza × 2, fried squid tentacles, potato grids, grilled wings each 2. Crayfish shop she often buys
from - Wait! She has to calm down. She is going to the end of the world now, and she has to escape first. Forget about the things before, they are still convenient to eat. Crayfish are too troublesome to eat, so forget it!
Youxi tried to control himself, and finally ordered the following dishes at the Sichuan restaurant he often ate at: black fish slices with pickled cabbage, maoxuewang, spicy beef hotpot, spicy chicken, spicy bullfrog, mapo tofu, spicy potato shreds, dry-pot cabbage, stir-fried green beans, rice x 10, tomato and egg soup.
[……]
Although the Star House system did not speak, Youxi inexplicably felt that the other party was hesitant to speak. This feeling was quite strange. Logically, it was a central processor, a system, and should not have such emotions similar to those of an organic life form.
But the system didn't say anything, and Youxi was too lazy to pay attention to it.
She put down her phone and drove directly back to the apartment. When she passed the big pharmacy outside the community, she got out of the car and replenished some common medicines for headaches and fevers, antibiotics, wind oil and cooling oil, alcohol iodine, disinfected gauze, Yunnan Baiyao and warm patches, etc.
The takeaway she ordered before will be delivered every hour and a half, and she deliberately staggered the time to avoid being bumped by riders.
She ordered a lot of things, but not to the point of exaggeration. There are still five days left, and she can continue to replenish some of the things she wants to eat every day.
After Youxi returned home, she packed up some dishes and tableware and put them in the space of the star house. The tent and the camping equipment are all at her parents' house. She has to go back tomorrow to get the things.
After a busy day, she didn't cook in the evening. She took a portion of maoxuewang and dried cabbage, and steamed a bowl of rice for herself, which was very satisfying.
After dinner, she went online to Taobao and ordered two boxes of self-heating hot pots, both in 24 boxes, one box each of spicy fatty beef and tomato beef brisket, and then added three boxes of compressed biscuits, also in 24 packages, one box each of cheese flavor, sesame flavor, and original flavor.
She also browsed the self-heating rice, but she had eaten this thing once and couldn't praise the taste. After consideration, she still didn't buy it.
Finally, she found a few online stores in the city and bought a few three-section batons and electric batons, and the other party guaranteed that they would be delivered the next day.
After that, the takeaways were delivered one after another. She made all the notes and asked the rider to press the doorbell and leave them outside the apartment door. She waited for the other party to enter the elevator before she opened the door to pick them up, and then put them one by one in the Star House warehouse.
The apartment building where she lives has eight households in one unit, most of whom are busy single company employees who rent or buy such split-level single apartments.
Compared with Youxi, who works at home most of the time, other people are basically nowhere to be seen all day long. The neighbors are not like her parents' family who know each other and greet each other and chat a few words when they meet. The relationship is very unfamiliar, and no one will meddle in other people's affairs. It is because of this that she can order various takeaways with confidence.
That night, Youxi sat on the cool floor of the Star House, opened a warehouse entrance on the wall, and began to organize and allocate space reasonably.
Although there is no time flow and no gravity inside, she has a bit of obsessive-compulsive disorder and cleanliness, and she really doesn't want to take steaks or swimming crabs out of warm clothes.
Therefore, food and daily necessities are separated, daily necessities and warm clothes are separated, and lettuce and cooked food are also separated.
All kinds of fresh meat ingredients such as pork, mutton, beef, and chicken are put into a whole box, seafood is put into a whole box, vegetables, mushrooms, and seasonings are filled into a whole box, fruits are put into a whole box, fresh milk, yogurt, sausages, and various frozen foods are put into a whole box because the quantity purchased is not large...
After that, the boxes are stacked, which is both neat and clear. Anyway, you can just use your mind to take things, without having to move them one by one.
The pile of supplies was quite large, which increased your sense of security.
In the remaining days, she spent half a day learning to swim, and half a day going to the boxing gym she often went to to practice self-defense.
She has been learning Aikido in this boxing gym for more than a year. It was her father who suggested coming to the boxing gym. Because she moved from her home to this small apartment she bought more than a year ago, her father was worried about her living alone, so the condition he gave was that she must learn some martial arts to protect herself.
Aikido is good at wrestling, and the range of motion is not large, but the joint techniques are very strong and complicated, but it can use the weak to fight against the strong, which is very suitable for girls.
For five days, Youxi ordered some takeout of wontons, soup buns, fried dough sticks, noodle soup, egg cakes, tea eggs, etc. in the morning, learned to swim in the morning, went to the boxing gym in the afternoon, and went home in the evening to receive some takeout of delicious food: Sichuan and Hunan cuisine, Cantonese cuisine, Cantonese porridge, Suzhou cuisine, Northeastern cuisine, sushi, pizza, fried chicken, various desserts and milk tea...Twice a day, morning and evening, ten people's meals were delivered, with a combination of meat and vegetables, all put into the Xingwu warehouse.
Looking at the takeout that was stationary in the corner of the Xingwu warehouse at various angles, Youxi's obsessive-compulsive disorder came back.
She took time to go to the hardware door and window store and asked the boss to rush to make six aluminum alloy racks for her that were two meters high, one meter wide, and thirty centimeters deep. After the items were delivered, she put the six shelves into the Xingwu warehouse and lined them up on one side of the warehouse. The six narrow shelves were just full in a row of six meters, but only one-third of the height.
Each shelf has seven layers. In addition to various takeout items, some already opened snacks, drinks, pots, bowls, pans, tableware and other small items can be placed on them. The classification is clear and easy to see at a glance. Every
night, she would go online to check information about tsunamis and low temperatures, and finally spend time to finish the latest draft, submit it before the last day, and then get a 30% advance payment.
These advances just offset her expenses in the past few days, and it can be considered a balance between income and expenditure.
Six days later, half an hour before midnight, Youxi turned off the alarm, got up, washed up, and entered the Star House.
[The world will open in five minutes.]
Youxi suppressed his nervousness and confirmed again: "Can the Star House warehouse be used normally in the apocalyptic world?"
[Yes, host.]
"Why do you have to do the mission, what is the meaning and purpose?"
[This question will be answered after the host completes a certain number of apocalyptic missions.]
"If you want to give a definition, are you good or evil?"
[Host, the Star House is just a tool and medium.]
"..." It sounded like an answer, but in fact nothing was answered.
Five minutes passed quickly, and Youxi reached out and grasped the handle of the Star House door at the signal of the Star House. The cold feeling invaded his body again, and the door panel turned into stars and disappeared. Youxi felt his body sink and lost consciousness.
****
When Youxi regained consciousness, she found herself in a semi-open-air buffet restaurant by the sea. She sat by the fence of a long table for eight people. Outside the fence on the left was the sunshine, coconut palms, beach and sea breeze. Through the shade of the trees, she could see the endless blue sea.
Surrounding her were travelers wearing cool clothes, taking food from the buffet counter with plates, with happy expressions, laughing and chatting.
Everything around her seemed very real. She remembered that the Star House system said that this apocalyptic world was a fusion of fragments of two worlds, so was the world she was in now a real world?
She called the system in her heart to ask, but the system did not answer her.
She calmed down and found that her mind had some more information about herself in this world, or it could be said that it was a setting.
This world is slightly less developed than her native world, equivalent to the level of ten to fifteen years ago, with roughly the same planetary shapes and countries, similar to a parallel world.
She is from S City, Beijing, and is an ordinary employee who came to L Island, Haiguo for vacation as part of the company's team-building activities.
Haiguo is located in the Southeast Asian waters of Jingguo. It is a small country. L Island is one of the many islands in Haiguo. It is far away from the capital island and other islands. Although the scenery is beautiful, the company chose this place because of its low travel costs.
The company organized group building in batches. There were 30 people who came to L Island this time. She and another female employee in the company named Xiaolu lived in the same room.
At present, they are not on the main island of L Island, but on the Coral Island with many snorkeling activities and water projects. It
is about two hours away from L Island by boat. They came here yesterday and planned a two-day and one-night activity. She still shared a beach cabin with Xiaolu. The items included a few luggage, a passport wallet and a mobile phone.
The coral island is small, sunny, clear water, and has a beautiful white sand beach. Because the hotel rooms are limited, reservations must be made to go to the island.
The island is full of beach huts, villas, and a few water houses. The tallest building is the restaurant where she is now, with two floors and a rooftop.
Youxi doesn't know which direction the tsunami will come from, but at such a height, no matter which direction the tsunami comes from, there is no way to hide.
The best way at the moment is to take a boat back to L Island, then go directly to the airport and take the fastest flight to leave.
But Youxi feels that the mission will not be so simple. After all, surviving the low temperature disaster for three months will only earn 30 star coins, while just escaping from L Island can earn 10 star coins.
Sure enough, when she checked the fastest flight available to L Island on her phone, she found that the departure time was 1:30 pm.
It was now 9:05 am, and the tsunami would hit in five hours, around 2 pm. If the plane was delayed, the half-hour time difference would be too dangerous. If she was at the airport when the tsunami came, she would most likely be swept into the flood due to the terrain. Leaving by plane
was not an option, and taking a boat was even more impossible because the distance was too far and L Island did not have direct shipping to other large islands and land.
So, she now had only five hours to find a safe place to avoid the tsunami.
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