"So… so cold…"
The biting cold continued to erode Chen Yun's consciousness, and the severe pain from his broken limbs slowly became numb.
"I'm not willing to accept this..."
Chen Yun's mind flashed with the images of those bullies from the same village smashing his door, breaking his limbs, and stealing his food.
Anger and resentment filled his gradually cooling heart, and the edges of his vision began to blacken.
"Even if I become a ghost, I won't let you go..."
An even colder wind took away the last bit of warmth from his body, and Chen Yun's consciousness fell into darkness.
The cold wind and heavy snow soon buried Chen Yun's frozen body completely.
…
…
…
China, Luoyue City, Qingze District.
In a conference room in an office building, the air conditioner at 20 degrees can't suppress the hot weather.
"Chen Yun, Chen Yun!"
A loud explosion sounded in Chen Yun's ears, and Chen Yun suddenly opened his eyes.
"Where...where is this? Am I dead?"
A long-lost warmth came from all around. Chen Yun raised his head and looked blankly at the source of the sound.
A short and fat middle-aged man with a hairline almost reaching the back of his head was looking at him angrily.
"Chen Yun, you're sleeping during the meeting. Don't you want to do this anymore?" The short and fat man's angry voice sounded again.
Chen Yun looked at the short and fat man in confusion, then looked at his own intact hands and muttered:
"Am I... not dead? Is this a dream... or..."
"I think you are confused because of your sleep!" The short and fat man gritted his teeth. Sleeping in his meeting was simply a slap in his face.
Seeing the man's visibly red fever, a tall and thin young man beside Chen Yun quickly stood up to smooth things over:
"Brother Wang, Xiao Chen has been working overtime until late at night for the project recently. He might be too tired today. Brother Wang, please forgive Xiao Chen."
Brother Wang took a deep breath and said, "The project will be delivered in a few days. I hope everyone here can stick with it. After the project is completed, you will definitely get bonuses and vacations. Let's adjourn."
After saying that, Brother Wang took the notebook in his hand, pushed the door and left the meeting room.
Only after Brother Wang left the meeting room did Chen Yun come back to his senses as if he had just woken up from a dream.
I took out my cell phone from my pocket and took a look. It showed "July 1st 10:20".
"It seems that I have been reborn."
The biting chill and pain coming from the depths of his soul told Chen Yun that this was not a dream, but his real experience.
I was reborn, two weeks before the end of the world.
A mess of memories surged out from the depths of his mind. He remembered it all.
In his previous life, Chen Yun took advantage of a rare paid vacation and returned to his hometown in the village, where he had never been since his parents passed away, and lived there for a while.
The extreme cold apocalypse came suddenly without any warning. Overnight, the temperature dropped from over 30 degrees Celsius to minus 80 degrees Celsius.
The scorching summer day turned into an icy apocalypse in just a few hours.
What followed was a continuous blizzard that buried the earth.
Fortunately, there was still a lot of firewood and coal in the yard of Chen Yun's old house, and he also brought a lot of food and drinks when he returned to his hometown for vacation this time.
So when the disaster first started, although Chen Yun had a hard time, he was able to survive.
But not long after, perhaps someone leaked the news that there was food and charcoal in Chen Yun's house, or perhaps they robbed every house one by one until it was his turn.
On a dark and windy night one month after the end of the world, the son of the village chief and several ruffians from the same village climbed over the wall of Chen Yun's house.
When Chen Yun heard the sound of someone knocking on the door in his sleep, it was too late.
Several ferocious-looking men rushed in, broke Chen Yun's hands and feet, and threw him into the snow outside.
Chen Yun, with his limbs broken, lay in the snow like a dead dog, watching them carry away all his supplies one by one.
After the last batch of supplies were moved away, the village chief's son came to Chen Yun and stepped hard on his face.
"Thank you for the supplies. I will survive for you. You should feel honored to exchange your life for ours. Hahahaha..."
…
The pain of broken limbs, the coldness that seeped into his bones, and the humiliation of being stepped on were deeply imprinted in Chen Yun's soul.
Even if he were to live again, Chen Yun would still be trembling with anger.
Chen Yun took a deep breath, and a sharp light flashed in his eyes.
"Since God has given me another chance, this time, I will live well and tear those beasts into pieces!" Chen Yun looked at his intact hands and murmured softly.
A tall, thin colleague beside him watched Chen Yun mumbling to himself and couldn't help but say, "Xiao Chen, are you really sleepy? Why don't you stop working overtime today and go back to rest early?"
Chen Yun came back to his senses and turned to look at his tall and thin colleague: "Thank you for your concern, Brother Zhang. I'm fine."
After saying that, Chen Yun stood up, pushed the door and left the meeting room.
Looking at the familiar scene in front of him, Chen Yun was a little dazed for a moment.
After calming himself down, Chen Yun walked towards the office of his supervisor, the short and fat Brother Wang.
…
"What? You're resigning?" Brother Wang looked at Chen Yun in front of him, his eyes filled with shock. "The project will be delivered soon. I was just angry in the meeting room just now. Don't take it to heart..."
"Brother Wang, something happened at home and I had no choice but to resign." Chen Yun interrupted Brother Wang.
The short, fat man was silent for a moment, then nodded and looked at Chen Yun: "Then I'll give you a notice of dismissal. You go and hand over your work to them first. What do you think?"
"Thank you, Brother Wang." Chen Yun nodded. "Brother Wang, the weather may get cold soon. Remember to buy more food and clothes."
After saying that, Chen Yun turned around and left the office without looking at Brother Wang who looked puzzled.
After handing over the work and completing the resignation process, it was already past four in the afternoon.
Chen Yun walked out of the company gate holding a cardboard box filled with various personal belongings.
Sitting in the driver's seat of his shabby second-hand truck, Chen Yun was calculating his current assets.
An old house in my hometown village is a self-built small two-story building with a large yard.
Including the salary I just received, I now have more than 800,000 yuan in savings.
Plus the second-hand car I'm sitting in now.
This is all the assets Chen Yun has now.
There are only two weeks left before the end of the world. The most urgent and important thing is to stockpile supplies and renovate the old house so that you can survive in the impending doomsday.
A deposit of 800,000 yuan may sound like a lot, but it is not enough if you really want to purchase supplies in large quantities or renovate an old house.
Besides, Chen Yun not only hopes to survive in the apocalypse, what he wants is to live, to live well in the apocalypse.
Taking out his cell phone and opening the memo, Chen Yun began to compile a list of supplies that needed to be purchased.
Food, water, fuel, generators, medicine, tools, weapons...
After roughly sorting out the list, it was still early, so Chen Yun prepared to drive to the wholesale market to check out the market conditions.
At this moment,
[bite--!]
A cold mechanical synthesized voice sounded in Chen Yun's mind.
[Qualified individual detected... System begins binding... Binding in progress... 5%... 46%... 99%... 100%! Binding successful!]
[Congratulations to host Chen Yun for successfully binding to the "Apocalypse Survival System."]
[Countdown to the extreme cold apocalypse: 14 days, 11 hours, 45 minutes, and 14 seconds.]
[The end of the world is approaching, please do your best to survive. ]
Chen Yun was stunned when he heard the mechanical sound coming from his mind.
After confirming that it was not his auditory hallucination, Chen Yun became excited.
My own system has arrived.
After confirming that the golden finger was not his hallucination, Chen Yun felt ecstatic.
After a long time, Chen Yun suppressed the shock and excitement in his heart and turned his attention to the light blue translucent light curtain that appeared in front of him along with the system.
The light curtain interface is extremely simple, with only two icons that glow slightly white:
An icon of precisely meshed gears—[Strengthen].
A floating transparent cube icon - [Space].
After some research, Chen Yun roughly figured out the purpose of these two functions.
[Space], as the name suggests, is a storage space where non-living objects can be stored and taken out.
The [Strengthen] function is also very simple, consuming points to strengthen items.
But how do you get these points?
Chen Yun looked at the line of small words [Points Balance: 0] in the lower right corner of the light screen and fell into deep thought.
[The newbie gift pack has been distributed, please check it carefully. ]
The cold mechanical sound rang out again, and the pale blue light curtain rippled like water waves.
The ripples stopped in an instant, and an icon that looked like a gift package floated on the light screen.
"There's also a newbie gift pack?"
Chen Yun was stunned and looked at the gift package in the center of the light curtain.
Click on the gift package with your mind, and a dazzling white light flashes.
[Successfully opened the novice gift package. ]
[Obtain 150 points.]
[Obtain low-level constant temperature core × 1]
[Obtain primary gene enhancement potion × 1]
[The system space has been expanded to 1,000 cubic meters.]
Continuous electronic sounds rang out, and several objects emitting faint white light floated in the center of the light curtain.
"Hiss——" Chen Yun took a breath, his heart pounding. This novice gift package was quite generous!
Suppressing his excitement, Chen Yun checked the rewards in the novice gift package one by one.
Needless to say, 150 points.
The low-level constant temperature core is a fist-sized matte black metal spherical object with a triangular base underneath. The sphere is suspended about two centimeters above the base and rotates slightly.
I tapped the sphere with my mind, and a line of small words appeared next to it:
[Low-level constant temperature core: can continuously release heat energy, covering an area of 5 meters in diameter, requires electricity, and can also be charged by consuming points.]
"With this thing, the temperature is guaranteed." Chen Yun thought to himself.
He turned his head and looked at the tubular potion bottle with bright blue liquid flowing out.
Primary gene enhancement potion!
"After using this potion, will I have a superhuman physique like Captain America?" Chen Yun's mind flashed with Captain America's strong physique and strength far beyond that of ordinary people.
As soon as the mind touched it, a text popped up next to the potion:
[Primary Gene Enhancement Potion: After taking it, it can comprehensively improve the host's physical qualities (strength, speed, endurance, reaction, recovery, etc.).]
[Based on the host's current physical condition, the estimated improvement effect is approximately 1.5 times the average level of a healthy adult male.]
[Warning: Temporary adverse reactions (such as weakness and severe pain) may occur after taking this product.]
1.5 times! Although not as powerful as the Super Soldier Serum of the Chinese and American teams, a 1.5 times improvement is definitely not a small amount.
In the end times, a strong body is the basis of survival, and the value of this potion is immeasurable.
A thought suddenly crossed Chen Yun's mind: if he used the [Strengthen] function to strengthen this potion before taking it...
As if seeing through his thoughts, the system prompt sounded again in his mind:
[Warning: There are insurmountable step limits in the genetic enhancement sequence.]
[The host is prohibited from skipping the primary stage and directly taking or using higher-level potions/items. ]
[Otherwise, it will lead to gene chain collapse, cell lysis, and a mortality rate of 99.99%. ]
[Host please follow the instructions and proceed step by step. ]
"…" Chen Yun was silent.
"It seems that it is not feasible to achieve success overnight, and there will be temporary adverse reactions after taking the medicine. I can only use it again when I go back home at night." Chen Yun thought to himself.
Looking at the corner of the system screen, a line of small words flashed:
[Points balance: 150].
Looking at the point balance of 150 points on the panel, Chen Yun decided to try the [Enhancement] function.
Chen Yun placed his hands on the steering wheel in front of him and directed his mind towards the [Enhance] option on the system's light blue translucent screen.
[Do you want to perform a basic upgrade on the current vehicle, the Volkswagen?] An emotionless mechanical voice echoed in my mind.
"yes."
Chen Yun responded subconsciously.
[Required points: 1000, insufficient points balance.]
"..."
Chen Yun was speechless for a while.
These 150 points don't seem to be a lot.
The car cannot be upgraded, so I don't know how many points are needed to upgrade other small items.
Chen Yun looked around and took out a windproof lighter from the corner.
He doesn't smoke much, but he always keeps cigarettes and lighters in his car.
After the end of the world, water and electricity will surely be paralyzed soon. After the water and power outage, people will need fire for eating, drinking and heating.
So it is not a waste to spend points to strengthen the lighter.
Chen Yun gripped the lighter tightly in his hand and clicked [Strengthen] with his mind.
[Do you want to strengthen the target item - windproof lighter? ]
[Consumption points: 5 points.]
"yes."
[Confirmed. Survival Points Consumed: 5.]
[Strengthening…]
A slowly advancing progress bar appeared on the light screen.
Chen Yun stared at the lighter closely, and the lighter in his hand seemed to vibrate slightly.
After a few seconds, the progress bar is full.
Buzz——!
Suddenly, Chen Yun's vision blurred for a moment.
When he regained consciousness, the lighter in his hand had changed.
[Enhancement successful!] A mechanical prompt sounded.
Chen Yun raised his hand and looked carefully at the 'lighter' in front of him.
The original ordinary plastic lighter has completely changed its appearance, replaced by a slightly larger silver-white metal rectangle.
The top of the cuboid is a heavy metal cover with a slightly raised button on the side.
Slide off the metal cover on top to reveal the sophisticated multi-ring nozzle.
When his finger pressed the raised button on the side, a straight orange-red flame about two inches long, accompanied by a surging heat wave, instantly gushed out.
"Good stuff." Chen Yun couldn't help but admire.
New text appeared on the system panel:
[Primary micro ignition torch, you can consume points to charge it.]
After playing with the lighter for a while, Chen Yun had an idea and the lighter in his hand disappeared instantly.
Chen Yun opened the system space. In the center of the empty space, a long silver-white metal strip was quietly suspended.
The system space after the novice gift package is expanded.
A full 1,000 cubic meters of space!
Whether it is used to store massive supplies or to transport materials, these 1,000 cubic meters of space will undoubtedly greatly facilitate one's pre-apocalyptic preparations.
Next, it's time to start preparing for the end of the world.
The way to obtain points is not clear yet, so we can only explore it slowly.
Today's task is to investigate the market, understand the market conditions, and prepare to stock up.
Chen Yun took a deep breath and retracted the system light curtain with his mind.
He started the car, shifted into gear, stepped on the accelerator, and drove towards the nearby wholesale market.
The wholesale market is bustling with people and a wide variety of goods are on display.
Chen Yun did not purchase anything immediately. Instead, he blended into the crowd like an ordinary stroller, slowly strolling through various areas and casually looking at each stall.
There is a wide variety of rice, flour, grain, oil, tobacco, alcohol, non-staple food, and daily necessities. The prices are much cheaper than in supermarkets, and there are discounts for bulk purchases.
After a round, Chen Yun had a clear idea in his mind, understood the prices, and had a general understanding of the supply channels.
"You can't buy in bulk from one place. If a stranger suddenly buys in bulk, it might arouse suspicion. It's better to be cautious."
Chen Yun thought in his heart.
Chen Yun calmly squeezed through the crowd and walked out of the wholesale market.
[bite--!]
A mechanical sound suddenly sounded:
[System task released.]
Mission: Stockpile basic supplies for a single adult male to survive for ten years. (Basic supplies include food, water, medicine, energy, tools, etc.)
[Task time limit: 120 hours.]
[Task Rewards: A large amount of points, and one of the survival items you can choose.]
Chen Yun was stunned for a moment, then he perked up.
System tasks, it seems that this is the channel to obtain points, I wonder what the survival item rewards are.
Chen Yun opened the car door, started the car, and drove towards the suburbs.
…
Suburban area of Luoyue City.
Chen Yun stood next to a Liuling Hongguang small van, looked at the warehouse of more than 800 square meters in front of him, and nodded with satisfaction.
He rented this medium-sized warehouse in the suburbs as a temporary storage point for supplies.
He also rented a small truck as a cover for transferring supplies.
Trucks and warehouses can cover up the use of system space to stockpile goods. Even if someone notices you and uses a truck to transport supplies into the warehouse, once the door is closed, no one can know whether the things in your car will change.
After roughly cleaning up the warehouse, Chen Yun drove away.
Food, water, tools, and common medicines are relatively easy to obtain. You can buy them at various wholesale markets and online. If you are careful, they will not attract attention.
The problem is the "prohibited items" such as gasoline, diesel and prescription drugs that cannot be purchased in large quantities.
If you make multiple purchases in a short period of time, Uncle Hat will probably come to you soon.
Unable to think of a solution for the time being, Chen Yun decided to buy gasoline and diesel barrels first, which he could use later when he found a way to buy fuel.
In the next few hours, Chen Yun drove his small truck throughout the city, picking out some remote hardware stores and buying oil drums in batches.
It was already dark when Chen Yun arrived at a remote hardware store deep in the old street in the north of the city.
There were not many people in the store. The owner was a thin man in his fifties.
Watching Chen Yun move several large oil drums, he glanced at his dilapidated pickup truck outside the door and suddenly laughed:
"Hey bro, how about the oil? It's so troublesome to do it piecemeal."
Chen Yun's heart skipped a beat, but he remained expressionless: "There's nothing I can do. I need to use the generator in the countryside, and the gas station won't give me extra gas."
The boss chuckled, moved closer to Chen Yun, and rubbed his fingers together. "I understand the rules. But... do you want to order something whole? It's a good deal, and it saves a lot of trouble."
Black market oil!
Chen Yun instantly understood that this was the only way to quickly obtain a large amount of fuel while saving countless time and risks!
"Any ideas?" Chen Yun lowered his voice, pulling out a few red bills from his wallet and calmly stuffing them into the boss's hand. "A little token of my appreciation. Buy a pack of cigarettes."
The boss quickly glanced around, quickly put the money into his pocket, and smiled even more: "In the south of the city, behind the old machine repair shop, there is an Lao Wang Auto Repair Shop.
"After nine o'clock in the evening, go find Wang Quezi there and mention the one that Old Sun introduced me to. Just say you need industrial solvents.
"The quantity, you negotiate it yourself, the rules... you know, cash transaction, but..." He paused,
"You are responsible for your own safety. If something goes wrong, it has nothing to do with me."
"Thanks, Brother Sun." Chen Yun wrote down the information, picked up the oil barrel and left quickly.
After leaving the hardware store, Chen Yun looked up at the sky. It was already completely dark and it was getting late.
Resisting the urge to go to the machine repair shop to check it out, he started the pickup truck, merged into the traffic, and drove towards the cheap apartment he rented.
Returning to the small rental house, Chen Yun locked the doors and windows.
Take out your mobile phone and open the apps of major banks in turn, including credit loans, consumer loans and various other loans. Click on all loans that can be borrowed, no matter how big or small, and apply for a temporary increase in the loan limit.
There are also some private lending platforms, and loan sharks and the like all apply for loans.
[Ding! Dongcheng Bank: Your credit card temporary limit application has been approved. Current limit: 80,000 yuan.]
[Ding! Sunshine Loan: Your loan application has been reviewed and approved. Available loan amount: 50,000 yuan, annual interest rate: 21.7%. Please confirm the loan.]
Text message alerts rang out one after another.
Funds flow into the account.
In just over an hour, all the online loan quotas that could be withdrawn were completely drained.
A rough calculation of the money I received showed that all in all it amounted to a little over 800,000 yuan.
Adding to his original savings of 800,000, Chen Yun now has more than 1.6 million in his hands.
"I hope this money is enough." Chen Yun murmured softly.
After a short rest, Chen Yun picked up his mobile phone and opened several large shopping apps.
Use accounts registered with two mobile phone numbers to place orders in batches on different platforms, and fill in the suburban warehouse rented today as the delivery address.
Boxes of compressed biscuits, freeze-dried vegetables, vacuum-packed 10-pound bags of rice, large packages of salt and sugar,
Multivitamin tablets, common medicines, solid alcohol blocks, high-calorie chocolate,
High-intensity flashlight and spare batteries, multi-function shovel, nylon rope, water purification tablets, work gloves, overalls and jacket, sleeping bag, tent...
Chen Yun did not order too many items for each item, keeping the quantity within twenty so as not to attract attention.
The supplies purchased online are only a small part, the bulk still comes from local wholesale markets.
The wall clock pointed to ten o'clock. Chen Yun put down his phone and took a deep breath.
After walking into the bathroom, washing up briefly and changing into a clean T-shirt, Chen Yun walked to the bed and sat down.
It's time.
Chen Yun called out the system panel with his mind, and a light blue translucent light curtain unfolded before his eyes.
In the system space, a silver-white lighter and a dark blue primary gene enhancement potion were quietly suspended.
With a thought, a dark blue strengthening potion appeared in Chen Yun's hand.
Chen Yun stared down at the cold cylindrical glass bottle in his hand. The dark blue liquid in the bottle was flowing, as if it were filled with starlight.
When you unscrew the bottle cap, a strange fishy-sweet smell instantly spreads out.
Chen Yun took a deep breath, tilted his head back and poured the liquid in the bottle into his mouth.
The medicine tastes cool and has a minty sweet taste. It slides into the esophagus and is swallowed into the stomach.
At first I felt nothing.
Next second!
"Ugh—!"
A tearing, cramping pain suddenly erupted from the stomach! It was like countless red-hot steel needles were stirring wildly in the stomach! The severe pain instantly spread to every part of the body!
Chen Yun's eyes went dark and he fainted with a snap.
…
I don't know how long it took.
[bite--!]
A cold, mechanically synthesized sound exploded deep within Chen Yun's chaotic consciousness, pulling him back from the endless darkness and the aftermath of excruciating pain.
"Hiss..." Chen Yun groaned and opened his eyes with difficulty.
All the bones in my body felt like they were falling apart, my muscles were extremely sore, my body was soft and I couldn't muster any strength.
He collapsed on the floor, gasping for breath, his thin clothes soaked with sticky cold sweat.
[Daily points settlement starts.]
[Settlement in progress…]
[Today's basic points: 24 points.]
[Today's Survival Assessment: Stockpiling Supplies (Survival Preparation): 10:00.]
[Primary Physical Enhancement (Physical Breakthrough): 10 points.]
[Settlement completed, current survival points balance: 189 points.]
"189 points!" Chen Yun muttered to himself.
"It seems that besides missions, there are also daily settlements to earn points."
Chen Yun struggled to sit up. Although he was weak, the points he received cheered him up a little.
"Gu——"
A loud stomach rumbling sound was heard.
Only then did Chen Yun realize that his stomach was empty, and a burning feeling of hunger came over him.
Chen Yun forced himself to prop up his body, stood up and staggered towards the refrigerator in the corner.
When I opened the refrigerator door, a unique cold smell of the refrigerator mixed with leftovers hit me in the face.
There is yesterday's leftover rice and two cucumbers in the refrigerator.
Without bothering to heat it up in the microwave, Chen Yun directly picked up the bowl of rice, scooped it into his mouth with his hands and swallowed it in big gulps.
After eating the cold food, I felt a warm feeling in my stomach, which slightly relieved my hunger.
After regaining some strength, Chen Yun turned to the cabinet where snacks were kept. No matter what it was, he tore open the package and poured it into his mouth. The sounds of chewing and swallowing were particularly loud in the quiet room.
Chen Yun didn't stop until he had swallowed all the food he could see.
The burning hunger in my stomach finally disappeared, and a warmth flowed from my abdomen to my limbs.
The body that was weak and painful just now was soon full of strength. Chen Yun even felt that he could kill a cow with one punch.
"Is this the change brought about by the strengthening potion?" Chen Yun muttered to himself as he looked at his blurry hands.
The food I just ate quickly turned into energy that filled my whole body. It seemed that not only my physical fitness had changed, but my digestive ability had also been greatly enhanced.
wrong!
Chen Yun was suddenly stunned. Why did his hands look blurry?
He raised his head suddenly, and everything in his vision was blurry.
Chen Yun subconsciously took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes hard.
Just as he was about to put his glasses back on, Chen Yun was stunned again.
Everything in sight was clear, the texture of the peeling paint on the wall was clearly visible, and the spider web hanging in the corner was extremely clear.
Wear glasses, blurry; take off glasses, clear; put on glasses, blurry...
Such a familiar plot, I seem to have seen it happen to a guy named Peter Parker.
Looking at the heavy glasses in his hand, the dust on the lenses and the dirt in the corners of the frame were extremely clear in Chen Yun's eyes.
Chen Yun took a deep breath.
"I never thought that an irreversible disease like myopia could be cured. My eyesight should be far superior to that of an average person now."
"Try the strength."
Chen Yun glanced around the bare house and fixed his eyes on the bucket next to the coffee table.
A 20L bucket weighs 40 kilograms!
Chen Yun walked over, grabbed the neck of the bucket with his left hand, and lifted it upside down.
Effortless!
Chen Yun grabbed the neck of the bucket and swung it around casually. The 40-jin bucket was swung vigorously in his hand.
After a long time, Chen Yun put down the bucket and breathed a sigh of relief.
"My current physical fitness far exceeds that of ordinary people. I even feel that it is more than 1.5 times the average level of healthy adult men as stated by the system.
"This is just a basic potion. I can't imagine how much difference an intermediate, advanced, or even super potion will make!"
Chen Yun had aspirations in his heart.
I looked up at the clock hanging on the wall and saw that the hands were pointing to three o'clock.
Feeling slightly sleepy, and thinking of the heavy purchasing tasks tomorrow, Chen Yun prepared to take a rest first.
After quickly washing up, Chen Yun fell onto the bed.
…
The early morning light shone through the window onto the ground, and Chen Yun gently opened his eyes.
The quality of sleep last night was quite good. Chen Yun couldn't remember how long ago he last slept so well.
I picked up my phone and turned on the screen. It was 6:15 am on July 2nd.
Three hours of sleep is much better than the usual ten hours.
"This is also the change brought about by the strengthening of the medicine. Not only the physical fitness, but also other aspects such as digestion ability and rest ability have been greatly improved." Chen Yun murmured in his heart.
Get dressed, get up, and wash up.
Chen Yun put on his coat and walked out of the house. He had a lot to do today.
…
Breakfast shop downstairs.
After eating seven bowls of spicy soup and ten baskets of dumplings, Chen Yun burped with satisfaction.
He paid and left amidst the shocked gazes of the diners around him.
"My appetite has increased a lot. It seems that I need to increase the proportion of food in the stockpiled supplies. The food I originally planned to stockpile may not be enough." Chen Yun thought to himself.
Drive all the way to the wholesale market.
The wholesale market is still bustling with people early in the morning.
There is a wide variety of goods including rice, flour, oil, grain, daily necessities and general merchandise.
Yesterday's market investigation gave Chen Yun a clear understanding of these goods.
In the morning, Chen Yun went to four wholesale markets in Luoyue City and bought food supplies such as rice, flour, compressed biscuits, oil, and canned food in batches.
The shops in the east and west of the city asked their bosses to deliver the goods to their suburban warehouses tomorrow, while the shops in the south and north of the city would just take the goods away with their own trucks.
In the afternoon, Chen Yun went to various hardware stores to purchase commonly used tools, such as fire axes, crowbars, wrenches, etc.
I went to the mechanical and electrical market and bought several generators, oil saws, electric saws and other mechanical products.
At seven o'clock in the evening, Master Chen, who had been busy all day, stood in front of the warehouse door, looked at the materials piled up inside, and nodded with satisfaction.
Leaning against the pickup truck, Chen Yun looked at his second-hand car parked nearby, and a thought suddenly crossed his mind:
It costs 1000 points to upgrade a car, how many points does it cost to upgrade a truck? What determines the points consumed for upgrading? Is it the value of the item or something else?
Thinking of this, Chen Yun stretched out his hand and pressed it on the small truck beside him.
Call out the system light curtain and select [Enhance].
[Do you want to perform basic enhancement on the current vehicle, 'Liuling Hongguang Minivan'?]
An emotionless mechanical voice rang in my mind.
"yes."
[Required points: 1200, insufficient points balance.]
"It's a little more expensive than strengthening a car, but not much more expensive." Chen Yun thought to himself.
[An empty diesel barrel is detected. Do you want to use the diesel barrel to perform a special reinforcement on this vehicle?]
[Strengthening direction: Fuel tank expansion.]
[Required points: 50.]
"Empty oil barrel? Special reinforcement?" Chen Yun was startled when he heard the mechanical sound again.
"Can this strengthening function strengthen a certain direction alone?"
Chen Yun turned his head to look at the truck compartment, which contained several empty oil drums that he had not placed in the warehouse.
"The system says that 50 points are needed to consume an empty oil barrel for special enhancement. So, is it possible to do special enhancement without consuming materials?" Chen Yun pondered.
He did it right away. In order to verify his guess, Chen Yun opened the truck compartment and waved his hand to put the oil barrel into the system space.
He raised his hand again and pressed it against the truck body, muttering to himself, "Specially strengthen, expand the fuel tank."
I clicked [Strengthen] with my mind, and the system's cold electronic voice sounded again:
[Do you want to perform special enhancement on the current vehicle? ]
[Strengthening direction: Fuel tank expansion.]
[Required points: 80.]
really!
Chen Yun was delighted, "It is possible to strengthen a certain direction of an item independently without other conditions.
"And using an empty oil barrel to strengthen is 30 points cheaper than strengthening directly.
"This means that during the enhancement process, certain related materials can be used to deduct points!"
This discovery made Chen Yun very excited. The two functions of special enhancement and material points redemption undoubtedly made Chen Yun's few points more abundant.
The points required for a full enhancement were too high for Chen Yun to afford at the moment. However, these two functions allowed him to use up the points within his budget to enhance the functions he needed most.
For example, purchasing a large amount of insulation materials and consuming these materials to enhance the insulation function of old houses.
For example, using steel or related materials to strengthen the doors of the old house, so that they won't be smashed down by those newborns in a few strokes like in the previous life...
After a long time, Chen Yun calmed down.
Taking out his cell phone and opening the address book, Chen Yun found a number with the note "Manager Wang of Luoyue Building Materials" and dialed it.
After hanging up the phone, Chen Yun breathed a sigh of relief.
In the previous phone call, he ordered a large amount of building materials such as cement, sand, gravel, concrete, waterproof cloth, insulation layer and sound insulation layer from the building materials company, and agreed to deliver them to the warehouse tomorrow afternoon.
This expense was not small, and it consumed one-fifth of Chen Yun's assets in one go.
Although Chen Yun's heart was bleeding, he paid the deposit without blinking, as it was a necessary expense.
A large amount of materials can be used to deduct points. Chen Yun doesn't know how many points are needed to strengthen the old house, but he is sure that his current points are definitely far from enough.
In addition, the reminder of the expansion of the truck's fuel tank just now gave him inspiration:
There is a large cellar in the yard of my old house. Since the fuel tank can be strengthened and expanded in a specific direction, then by the same logic, my cellar can also be expanded and strengthened in a specific direction.
Since the oil tank can be expanded by consuming oil barrels, if simple cubic grids are built with bricks, cement and concrete, these grids should also be used to expand the cellar.
This will greatly reduce the consumption of points.
In other words, it is equivalent to exchanging money for points. In Chen Yun's opinion, this is very cost-effective. After all, money is something outside of one's body. After the end of the world, no matter how much money you have, it will be waste paper. If you don't spend it now, you will never have the chance to spend it in the future.
After resting for a while, Chen Yun looked at the time and it was already past eight o'clock.
Chen Yun unloaded all the goods in the truck compartment into the warehouse through space transportation, and loaded all the oil drums in the warehouse into the truck compartment.
Dozens of gasoline and diesel barrels filled the truck compartment.
After closing the carriage door, Chen Yun opened the driver's door and got in. He started the truck and drove towards the south of the city.
Yesterday, Mr. Sun, the owner of the hardware store, provided him with information: Go to Lao Wang's Auto Repair shop behind the old machine repair shop in the south of the city, where you can get illegal oil.
It's almost nine o'clock, and it's time to go to the South City Machine Repair Factory to check it out.
The truck drove all the way and soon arrived at the old machine repair factory in the south of the city.
Continuing forward, driving through a rugged road without street lights, a shabby sign that flickered in and out appeared in front of my sight: "Lao Wang Auto Repair".
Under the sign, a skinny old man with bare chest was lying on a rocking chair, gently waving a palm-leaf fan in his hand. Intermittent and slightly distorted opera sounds came from an old radio next to him.
"This environment is quite creepy..." Chen Yun muttered to himself as he looked at the scene in front of him.
After parking the car and turning off the engine, Chen Yun opened the door and walked towards the old man.
The skinny old man heard footsteps coming towards him, raised his eyelids, and a hoarse voice came out of his mouth: "It's closed, come back tomorrow."
Chen Yun stepped forward quickly, took out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, took out a cigarette and handed it to the old man, saying:
"Uncle Wang, Old Sun recommended me here. I want to buy some industrial solvents here."
"Oh? You want industrial solvents? How much?" Old man Wang took the cigarette and continued waving the palm-leaf fan.
"It's a lot." Chen Yun paused slightly, "I don't know if you have enough here."
"Young man, you have a big appetite." After hearing Chen Yun's words, Old Man Wang stopped fanning himself with the palm-leaf fan in his hand, straightened up, and squinted his eyes to look at Chen Yun.
"I have as much as you want. I've been doing business for so many years, but I've never seen anyone who can buy all of my goods. Young man, don't worry. As long as you pay me, I have enough industrial solvents."
After saying that, Old Man Wang put down his palm-leaf fan, stood up, put the cigarette in his hand to his right ear, and smiled at Chen Yun:
"Young man, you can't smoke here. Come with me in your car."
Old man Wang turned around and limped towards the backyard.
Chen Yun returned to the car and followed Old Man Wang to drive the pickup truck into the backyard.
The backyard is very large, with many miscellaneous car parts piled up in a mess. There is a semi-trailer parked next to the east and south walls of the yard.
The semi-trailer was covered with thick black cloth, making it impossible to see what was inside.
Wang Quezi limped towards the semi-trailer by the wall and turned to ask, "Do you want a gas or a diesel?"
Chen Yun parked the car not far from the semi-trailer on the east wall, opened the door and got out. "I want them all. What's the price?"
Wang Quezi chuckled and said, "92 for six, 95 for six and a half, and firewood for five and twenty cents."
"This is much cheaper than the market price." Chen Yun walked to the rear of the truck, opened the compartment, and took out two gasoline barrels.
"That's right. Everyone in the underworld knows that the industrial solvents I, Wang Quezi, sell here are of good quality and low price." Wang Quezi responded with a smile.
Chen Yun walked to Wang Quezi carrying two large oil drums. Wang Quezi lifted a corner of the black cloth covering the half-hook, and inside was a huge oil tank!
Wang Quezi pulled out the oil gun and signaled Chen Yun to put down the oil barrel.
Soon, all the oil drums Chen Yun brought were filled. Wang Quezi put away the oil gun and said with a smile: "That's all you need. I have plenty here, haha."
After loading the last barrel of oil onto the truck, Chen Yun closed the door and turned to look at Wang Quezi. "We're just getting started. I'll be back later."
"Then I, Wang Quezi, will wait here. I want to see if you, a young man, can clear out my place."
After paying in cash, Chen Yun drove away.
The warehouse was not far from here, less than ten miles away, and Chen Yun soon returned to the warehouse.
After transferring all the full oil barrels in the cargo box to the warehouse, Chen Yun looked at the neatly arranged oil barrels in front of him and fell into deep thought.
The empty oil drums left in the warehouse are probably only enough for two more oil shipments.
"It's not enough. It seems I have to activate the system." Chen Yun muttered to himself.
Chen Yun divided the remaining oil drums into two piles, plastic diesel drums and metal gasoline drums.
Chen Yun stretched out his hand and pressed on the largest oil drum in the middle, brought up the system panel, and clicked [Strengthen] with his mind.
The next moment, a mechanical sound rang in my mind.
[If an empty diesel barrel is detected, should other diesel barrels be consumed to perform special reinforcement on the current diesel barrel?]
[Strengthening direction: oil barrel expansion.]
[Required points: 60.]
"Yes." Chen Yun muttered to himself.
[Confirmed to enhance. Survival points consumed: 60 points.]
[Strengthening…]
A slowly advancing progress bar appeared on the light screen.
Chen Yun stared at the pile of oil drums in front of him, and the plastic drums emitted a faint light.
After a few seconds, the progress bar is full.
Buzz——!
Suddenly, the pile of oil drums lit up for a moment, and Chen Yun subconsciously narrowed his eyes.
When he opened his eyes and looked forward again, the pile of empty oil drums in front of him had disappeared, replaced by a huge plastic oil tank.
[Enhancement successful!] A mechanical prompt sounded.
Chen Yun carefully looked at the oil tank in front of him. The tank was about eight meters long and two meters high. Chen Yun calculated that the volume was about 25 cubic meters.
"That should be enough now," Chen Yun thought to himself.
Chen Yun turned his head and looked at the metal gasoline barrels piled next to him and did the same.
Soon, after consuming 60 points, a metal gasoline tank slightly smaller than a diesel tank appeared in front of him, with a volume of about 20 cubic meters.
Chen Yun nodded with satisfaction and poured the oil from the full oil barrel into two oil tanks.
He waved his hand and put the two oil tanks in front of him into the system space. In the space, two huge oil tanks floated quietly.
Chen Yun transferred the empty oil barrels into the truck compartment again, left the warehouse, and drove towards Lao Wang Auto Repair Shop again.
…
At 11 o'clock in the evening, in the backyard of Lao Wang's auto repair shop.
Chen Yun closed the carriage and came to Wang Quezi's side. "Uncle Wang, please calculate the total amount."
Wang Quezi numbly put away the oil gun and numbly opened the calculator on his phone, "This batch is 50,000 yuan."
Chen Yun took out five stacks of red bills from the driver's seat and handed them to Wang Quezi: "Count them."
Wang Quezi looked up at Chen Yun, took the money and counted it, "Young man, you're really going to squeeze me dry. What's the point of a young man like you getting so much money?"
"I set up a farm in the countryside and need a generator. It uses a lot of oil. It's quite far from the city, and it's very troublesome to go back and forth. I might as well stock up a lot at one time." Chen Yun said vaguely.
After hearing this, Wang Quezi didn't ask any more questions.
After Wang Quezi counted the money and confirmed that there was no problem, Chen Yun prepared to drive away.
"Young man, if you need oil in the future, just come and buy it from me. I can't guarantee enough, but I can definitely say that the quality is the best and the price is the best on the market." Wang Quezi patted Chen Yun's shoulder. He was a big customer.
"Okay." Chen Yun waved without turning his head, opened the door, got in the car, and drove away from the auto repair shop.
After going to the warehouse to retrieve the oil drums from the car, Chen Yun drove his car to his rented apartment.
"I went back and forth five times, spending a total of 250,000, and finally managed to fill two oil tanks and the remaining oil barrels. But as long as I don't waste it, this oil is enough for me to use for a long time in the apocalypse."
Chen Yun silently calculated the existing supplies and remaining savings in his mind.
When I got home, it was almost twelve o'clock.
After a quick wash, Chen Yun sat on the sofa and looked at the clock hanging on the wall. The clock hands slowly pointed to twelve.
[bite--!]
A familiar mechanical sound rang out.
Chen Yun perked up: "Here we are, today's points are settled."
[bite--!]
A familiar electronic synthesizer sound rang out.
[Daily points settlement starts.]
[Settlement in progress…]
[Today's basic points: 24 points.]
[Today's Survival Assessment: Stockpiling Supplies (Survival Preparation): 61 points.]
[Settlement completed, current survival points balance: 130 points.]
"130 points." Chen Yun muttered to himself, "Today I stockpiled some supplies, as well as all the planned fuel, so the settlement for survival preparations is much higher than yesterday.
"But my physical condition hasn't changed, so there's no physical breakthrough.
"Strengthening your physique will also award points, but unfortunately there's only one dose of the gene potion, so I have to think of other ways to improve my physique."
Chen Yun placed his left hand on his right arm, called out the system light screen and clicked [Strengthen].
[...]
The system does not respond.
"It seems that the system cannot directly strengthen my body." Although he had expected this, Chen Yun still felt a little regretful.
Suppressing the thought of strengthening his body, Chen Yun looked at the system light screen.
The line of small characters at the top of the light screen kept jumping:
[Countdown to the extreme cold apocalypse: 12 days, 23 hours, 50 minutes, and 14 seconds.]
"The end of the world is getting closer." Although only a day and a half had passed since the binding system, a sense of urgency still weighed on Chen Yun's heart.
Chen Yun took a long breath and suppressed his emotions.
"Now that things have come to this, let's go to bed first." Thinking that there are still many things to do tomorrow, Chen Yun walked into the bedroom and threw himself onto the bed.
A dreamless night...
At six in the morning, Chen Yun opened his eyes
The fatigue from yesterday's busy day disappeared completely, and Chen Yun got up, dressed, and washed up.
The mirror reflects a young and somewhat handsome face.
"I seem to be younger, and my skin is much better than before." Looking at the very familiar face in the mirror, Chen Yun curled the corners of his mouth.
"The effects of the genetic enhancement potion are truly powerful, but it's a pity there's no way to get it right now."
With a sigh, Chen Yun put on his coat and went out to start today's stockpiling task.
Just like yesterday, Chen Yun went straight to the warehouse after finishing his breakfast at the breakfast shop downstairs.
Today's main tasks are: receiving supplies and purchasing weapons.
Some of the supplies ordered at the wholesale market yesterday and the items purchased online the day before yesterday will be delivered to the suburban warehouse today.
Except for weapons and some medicines that cannot be purchased in large quantities, the basic supplies required by the system tasks have basically been ordered.
In addition, supplies not required for the mission, such as building materials, will also arrive today.
Calling out the system panel, using the mind to call up the [System Task] entry, a few lines of text appeared on the screen:
Mission: Stockpile basic supplies for a single adult male to survive for ten years. (Basic supplies include food, water, medicine, energy, tools, etc.)
[Remaining time for the mission: 82 hours.]
"There's still plenty of time, but unfortunately I don't have much money left, otherwise I could stock up more." Chen Yun sighed.
Chen Yun spent almost the entire day in the warehouse.
Supplies arrived at the warehouse in batches, and Chen Yun unloaded the goods with several accompanying movers.
When the driver left after unloading this batch of goods and the next batch of goods had not yet arrived, Chen Yun drove his small truck into the warehouse, closed the warehouse door, and put all the materials in the warehouse into the space.
For an entire morning and half an afternoon, Chen Yun repeated the same thing: unloading the goods, watching the deliveryman leave, closing the warehouse door, storing the supplies, and driving the pickup truck out for a spin.
Repeat this process.
Even though Chen Yun's physical fitness was far superior to that of ordinary people, he still felt a little tired.
At four o'clock in the afternoon, after sending off the building materials company's truck, Chen Yun closed the warehouse door again.
Looking at the mountains of sand, gravel, cement and other construction materials in the warehouse, Chen Yun breathed a sigh of relief.
This is the last batch, finally finished.
After storing all the materials in the system space, Chen Yun rested for a while and drove the small truck out of the warehouse again.
This time, Chen Yun went straight to a sports equipment store in the west of the city.
Four high-pound compound bows, four traditional bows, and four recurve bows were purchased at one time, along with four hundred arrows and ten spare bowstrings.
As well as two each of hard aluminum baseball bats, composite baseball bats, and wooden baseball bats, but no baseballs were bought.
Then I went to an outdoor goods store next door and bought some tools such as an ordnance shovel and a climbing rope.
Then, he drove more than 20 miles to the other side of the city, where there was an offline cold weapon store with a good reputation.
The store was shining with cold light, displaying all kinds of exquisite cold weapons.
"Boss, take out all the swords, spears, axes, halberds, hooks and forks in your store and let me see them." Chen Yun said to the bald middle-aged man in front of the cashier counter.
The man stood up and asked, "What kind do you want? Expensive or cheap? Do you want it sharpened?"
Chen Yun pondered for a moment and then said, "One each of the Han sword, Tang sword, oxtail sword, and swallow feather sword, two each of the horse lance, spear, and hammer, and three each of the short sword and dagger. The more affordable ones, unsharpened."
The boss looked at the young man with strange request in surprise, but there was no reason not to do business when it came to him.
He brought out a few boxes from the warehouse. "Here, take a look at these. They're cheap and sturdy. Swords are four hundred each, and spears are seven hundred each."
Chen Yun weighed it in his hand and found it to be cold and heavy.
He nodded: "Okay, a few more ash sticks."
Pay the money, move the goods, and fill the truck with heavy weapons.
Looking at the weapons shining with cold light in front of him, Chen Yun felt a little happier. No matter whether he could use them in the future, at least for now, these cold weapons could fulfill his childhood dream of being a martial artist.
Driving towards the warehouse, weaving through the evening rush hour traffic, Chen Yun passed by a quiet old street and noticed a small shop called "Moxiang Bookstore" with an old sign.
For some unknown reason, Chen Yun turned the steering wheel and stopped the car on the side of the road.
"The last time I was in a bookstore was in high school. The end is coming soon. I won't have the chance to go to a bookstore again."
Pushing open the heavy glass door, a smell mixed with old paper and dust hit me in the face.
The bookstore was small and dimly lit, its shelves crammed full of mostly old books. The owner, an elderly woman wearing reading glasses, sat behind the counter, holding a yellowed book without looking up.
Chen Yun wandered aimlessly through the sea of books, his fingers brushing against the spines of the rows. History, literature, technical manuals...mostly old, worthless books. Just as he was about to leave, a line of words caught his eye amidst the cluttered pile in the corner.
Barefoot Doctor's Manual!
Chen Yun raised his eyebrows and reached out to pull it out. The cover was covered in dust and the pages were yellowed.
He walked up to the counter with the books in his hand. "Boss, do you have the Militia Military Training Manual and the Friend of Military and Civilian Dual-Use Talents?"
The old shop owner slowly raised his head, pushed his reading glasses, and took in Chen Yun and the book in his hand with his cloudy eyes. He said slowly, "Oh...it seems so. Wait a minute."
She stood up and walked to the corner she had been to before. She groped in the depths of the pile of books for a while and pulled out two more books that were equally old.
"Here, these are the three books. I'll give them to you all for twenty yuan." The boss stacked the books together.
"Okay!" Chen Yun paid the money and left the bookstore with the three books.
After driving the car into the warehouse, Chen Yun got out and waved his hand to put all the weapons and tools in the car into the space.
[bite--!]
An electronic synthesized sound rang in Chen Yun's mind.
[It has been detected that the host has completed the task: Material Storage (Basic Survival).]
[Task settlement in progress...]
[Task completion assessment: A (Supplies are complete in variety, quantity meets requirements, and collection time is short).]
[Task reward: 1500 points.]
[Choose one of four survival items.]
The system screen unfolded before my eyes, listing four options:
[Primary constant temperature cold-proof clothing]: can withstand temperatures as low as -80 degrees Celsius.
[Space Expansion Coupon]: can be used to expand system space.
[Basic Medical First Aid Kit]: Contains special hemostatic powder, special antibiotics, etc.
[Portable Water Purifier]: Built-in high-efficiency filter element and ultraviolet sterilization, it can quickly purify snow water and dirty water into directly drinkable water. The filter element can be replaced by consuming points.
Looking at the four options in front of him, Chen Yun fell into deep thought.
Which one should I choose?