After sending the message, she quickly stuffed her phone back into her pocket, muttering to herself, 'Is the apocalypse for real? This bunch of crazies, with all their talk of hoarding and Superpowers… It's like they're playing some evolved, real-life version of an apocalypse-themed party game. So unbelievably lame.'
After waiting a good while with no reply from Sue, Mia Keller figured she was still busy and stopped dwelling on it.
"Since Maeve has a Space Ability now, let's pool our money to make bulk purchases and lower costs." Tiana Lynch's tone shifted, leaving no room for argument. "The 1.4 million we split earlier, plus whatever cash you have left—hand it all over. We'll centralize the planning for our hoarding to maximize our resources."
The idiots, heads clouded by the idea of Superpowers, actually thought Tiana had a point. One by one, they pulled out their phones and transferred over every last bit of their money.
With the 1.4 million plus the 13 million from Jason Sterling, Tiana Lynch and Jason Sterling took the pooled funds and began a frenzied hoarding spree. Meanwhile, Maeve Walsh was still foolishly thinking she was an indispensable core member of the team, oblivious to the fact that she was nothing more than a free, mobile warehouse.
"All the supermarkets under the Sterling Group—food, drinking water, vegetables, fruit—hoard triple the usual amount! And get all the perishable fresh goods sent over to me!"
Jason Sterling was also manically making calls to hoard supplies. After all, with Maeve Walsh's Storage Space, fresh food would never spoil.
Tiana Lynch said, "Jason, doesn't your family also own pharmacies? In that case, I'll add medicine to our hoarding list as well."
Jason Sterling nodded. "I'll make an international call right now and order a Paramount Raider."
'They'll never get the final payment anyway. Just sending the deposit is good enough.'
Hearing that they would actually get to ride in a Paramount Raider in this lifetime, everyone was thrilled.
"A Paramount Raider?!" Miles Finch exclaimed, rubbing his hands together. "My God! That's a land-based aircraft carrier! To be able to ride in a vehicle like that in my lifetime… it'll be worth it even if the apocalypse comes!"
Tia Norris got excited. "Maeve, with this vehicle, no one will dare to mess with us when we go out scavenging for supplies in the future!"
Only Mia Keller slipped into a corner, stealthily pulling out her phone. Her fingers flew as she sent a message to Sue Lawrence.
Even though Sue hadn't replied, she kept sending messages, one after another: "Sue! These people are getting more and more unhinged! They're putting on a more convincing performance than a real apocalypse. Jason Sterling is actually going to order a Paramount Raider! My god, am I really getting the chance to ride in a 'land-based aircraft carrier' in this lifetime? This dream feels way too real!"
Meanwhile, Sue Lawrence was too busy to even look at her phone. She was at the villa, swamped with receiving deliveries.
The supplies she had pre-ordered days ago were arriving in a steady stream. The reason she chose to receive them at home was that the abandoned mine behind the villa belonged to her family, making transportation much more convenient.
With no outside help, she had to do everything herself. She had her sleeves rolled up, a sheen of sweat on her brow, but she didn't dare to stop for a moment.
The delivery company piled five hundred million servings of pre-made meals into the villa's warehouse. When the warehouse couldn't hold any more, they were packed in boxes and stacked in the backyard.
The bone-chilling wind of early northern winter froze the supplies stacked outdoors solid, turning the area into a natural deep-freeze. There was no need to worry about them spoiling.
Sanitary napkins, diapers, milk powder, and rice cereal filled the corners of the warehouse. The basement was also packed to the brim. Even so, there was no room for the fresh vegetables that arrived later. They spilled out from the kitchen, with cabbage, radishes, and mushrooms piled so high in the living room there was nowhere to step.
Looking at the ingredients covering the floor, Sue Lawrence's head throbbed. The thought of having to move all this into the mine, bit by bit, made her head spin.
"A Space Ability would be so useful right now…" she couldn't help but mutter.
She had entrusted the procurement of medicine and medical equipment to her older brother, Elliot Lawrence.
Elliot Lawrence was well-connected and efficient. His goal was singular: close the deals quickly and get the pharmaceutical companies to ship immediately. Whether it was common medicines, specialized drugs, surgical instruments, or emergency equipment, he was to get everything he could, holding nothing back.
"Mom, Sister-in-law, Leo, keep an eye on the deliveries here at home." Sue Lawrence wiped her sweat and shouted into the house. "When Dad and Big Brother get back, have them start moving supplies to the mine. I'm going out again to pick up a few more things."
She had already worked out her plan: she was going to go buy up a batch of gold. In the next city, there was a shopping center affiliated with a gold mine where investment-grade gold bars were sold for only ten yuan over the market price—an extremely good deal. After the disaster, during the reconstruction phase, gold would still be hard currency.
Arriving at the garage, Sue Lawrence chose a durable vehicle. Just as she opened her phone to set up the navigation, she saw a string of messages from Mia Keller.
She casually opened them, and her gaze froze. 'Maeve Walsh awakened a Space Ability?'
Sue Lawrence frowned, her mind filled with astonishment.
She clearly remembered that Maeve Walsh's Superpower wasn't supposed to awaken at this time, and it wasn't even a Space Ability.
Scrolling further down, she saw the message about Jason Sterling ordering a Paramount Raider. A flicker of something stirred in her eyes. The vehicle's performance was outstanding, an absolutely perfect mode of transport in the apocalypse. The moment the thought of snatching it for herself emerged, it became impossible to suppress.
Using her alternate account, "Walnut Cake," she sent a concise reply to Mia Keller: "Thanks, girl. Keep me updated. Contact me directly if anything comes up."
'I should bring a few extra winter coats for Mia later,' she thought. 'If the apocalyptic deep freeze becomes unbearable and she's willing to come to me, I'll help her out.'
After sending the message, Sue sat in her car and took a deep breath. A thought suddenly shot through her mind: 'The news is developing differently than in my past life. Superpower awakenings are happening sooner. If someone with Maeve Walsh's kind of luck can awaken a Space Ability, could others have awakened their Superpowers early too?'
A sudden, inexplicable sense of danger enveloped her.
'This world isn't ordinary anymore. I'm not the only Superpower User. Right now, self-preservation is more important than hoarding gold.'
Sue immediately turned the steering wheel, abandoning the idea of buying gold bars. She headed straight for the apartment she was renting, where she was keeping some "treasures" that could help boost her self-defense capabilities.
In the dead quiet of early northern winter, even the insects had vanished. But on the balcony of the apartment Sue rented, several incubators were hidden away. They were the "gifts" Tiana Lynch had deliberately foisted on her.
She remembered how Tiana Lynch had intentionally framed her, claiming Sue had bullied her, only to turn around and hypocritically offer to forgive her if Sue would just help raise these "pets."
But what she had sent weren't pets. It was a collection of creepy crawlies that were meant to scare her: geckos, spiders, katydids, plus a small turtle and a neon tetra.
At the time, Sue had been so scared she was trembling all over. But if she hadn't accepted them, it would have confirmed the accusation that she was a bully. So, she had to bite the bullet and take them, tossing them onto the balcony and feeding them once a week just as a formality, enough to keep them alive.
'Thinking back now, Tiana Lynch's intentions had been vicious. She just wanted to use these things to disgust and humiliate me, to see me squirm. But who could have known? With the apocalypse approaching, these creatures that once terrified me have become my life-saving talismans.'