Chapter 13 Procurement List

"Everything was fine when I went out this morning. How did it get so foggy outside after just one afternoon?"

"Yeah, it's really strange. Usually, it's foggy in the morning or evening. I've never seen fog like this in the middle of the day."

On her way out, Bai Xiao happened to overhear a few colleagues returning from lunch discussing the weather. Looking out from the building, she saw that a light mist had indeed rolled in; it was thin and didn't obstruct her vision.

Bai Xiao felt she was being a bit paranoid. Perhaps it was the influence of participating in that Bizarre Game, but any slight disturbance now made her instinctively wary.

She had quite a lot to do: moving, attending close combat classes, and filling the ten empty storage slots on her game panel. She certainly couldn't leave them empty; Bai Xiao wanted to stockpile food, water, clothing, and survival supplies.

The subway was too slow, so Bai Xiao hailed a taxi, planning to go to a rental agency to rent an SUV or an off-road vehicle. She would be going out frequently for supplies over the next two days, so driving herself would be more convenient.

At the rental agency, she followed the owner around and eventually chose an off-road vehicle with rear seats that could fold flat. Compared to other cars, this one had more space and could hold more items.

After getting in to familiarize herself with the controls, Bai Xiao left the rental agency and slowly merged onto the main road.

She had gotten her driver's license after graduating high school, but she usually only drove a few times during occasional road trips, so her driving skills were average.

Fortunately, it was a weekday, and there weren't many people on the street at this hour. However, while driving, she suddenly didn't know where to go.

She decided to find a place to park first and make a shopping list.

She didn't know when the next game would start, and the suspense was agonizing. She was terrified of being pulled back into the game at any second. This lack of control made her anxious, and she wanted to prepare as quickly as possible.

Clothing, food, shelter, and transportation—she quickly created categories in her notes app.

Shelter: She just needed to buy some essential outdoor supplies like tents and sleeping bags.

Transportation: No need to consider this for now; the storage slots were only 8 cubic meters, which couldn't fit a car at all.

Clothing: Judging from the previous game, the game constantly required players to be active and was accompanied by danger.

Quick-dry clothes, sportswear, leggings, windbreakers, thermal wear, tactical pants, combat shirts, tactical vests, cargo pants, work jackets, flight jackets, sports bras, underwear, socks, sneakers, combat boots, outdoor boots, and so on.

She needed to buy things that were easy to move in, comfortable, and durable. Bai Xiao planned to go to a large mall, find several well-known brand stores, select a few styles from each, and get 20 pieces of each style.

She would buy more undergarments. In addition to these, she also needed to buy clothes for cold conditions: down jackets, sweaters, thermal pants, cashmere pants, snow boots, etc. Since heavy clothes aren't changed frequently, she could get fewer of each.

She also needed auxiliary items like raincoats, hats, gloves, and blankets. These didn't require a specific trip; she could pick them up while buying other supplies.

This way, the shelter and clothing categories would occupy one storage slot in total.

Food: This was destined to be the largest purchase, taking the most time and space. Bai Xiao planned to focus on items that were portable, shelf-stable, and ready-to-eat.

Staple foods: Mainly bread, instant noodles, compressed biscuits, canned staples, self-heating pots, etc. About 50 boxes of each could fill one storage slot. Since staples provide the most satiety, Bai Xiao planned to allocate two slots for them.

Protein: Mainly various canned fish and beef, processed chicken and duck products, sausages, luncheon meat, milk, powdered milk, beans, etc. She would choose a few favorite flavors and brands of each, buying 20 boxes of each to fill one storage slot.

Vegetables and fruits: Mainly dehydrated vegetables, freeze-dried fruits, and canned produce. This section would be like the protein category, buying enough to fill one storage slot.

Water: This was the most important. Small bottles are portable, while large jugs hold more volume. Bai Xiao planned to buy enough to fill one storage slot for each type.

Adding it up, shelter, clothing, food, and water had already been planned to occupy seven storage slots.

She also needed to stockpile daily necessities. Since she didn't have enough points to buy a recovery potion, she had to buy some medicine to see if she could bring it in. Besides that, she also needed hygiene and protective products.

Medicines focused on emergency aid and anti-inflammatories: anti-inflammatory drugs, painkillers, antibiotics, comprehensive first-aid kits, thermometers, gauze, bandages, alcohol pads, iodophor, cotton swabs, etc. She needed to buy plenty of these. Others could include cold medicine, fever reducers, allergy medicine, vitamins, and so on.

Hygiene products: Mainly toilet paper, feminine sanitary pads, tampons, etc. She would stockpile eight to ten boxes of these first.

Speaking of cleaning, Bai Xiao thought of the cleaning ball item in the mall, which could solve personal hygiene issues. Otherwise, she would have to consider whether to prepare more tap water and various toiletries, which would take up at least another storage slot. After all, if the game lasted ten days or half a month, she couldn't really go without even wiping her body down.

Protective products: Mainly masks, disposable gloves, disinfectant, alcohol, goggles, respiratory filters, etc. She would buy these as she saw them, but not too many.

She also needed to buy some tools: flashlights, batteries, candles, lighters, portable stoves, tape, rope, multi-functional toolboxes, outdoor supplies, portable cookware, and so on.

Medicine, hygiene products, protective gear, and various survival tools could all be placed in one storage slot.

That was all she could think of for now, leaving two storage slots empty. Bai Xiao decided to buy these first and then fill any gaps later.

According to the plan, she would first buy the most important food and water. Just as she was about to start the car, it occurred to her that the quantity of items she was buying was quite large. It was impossible to have them delivered directly to her house; not only would it be too conspicuous with people coming and going, but she also wouldn't have enough space to store them.

She also couldn't put them directly into her storage slots right as she bought them, making the items vanish into thin air. It would be a wonder if she didn't get arrested.

Bai Xiao remembered an abandoned park not far from her house in the old city district. That area was a demolition zone; it had been cleared for over a year, but construction hadn't started yet. No one was there at night, so she could have the goods delivered there.

Having decided on the location, Bai Xiao followed her shopping plan and gave up on going to the Supermarket, driving straight to the city's largest wholesale market instead.

She picked items one by one according to her list, eventually filtering out a few merchants with complete stock. She paid a 30% deposit, arranged the delivery time and location, and left her phone number.

This was easier said than done; it took an entire afternoon just to finish selecting everything.

In her plan, she intended to use four storage slots, totaling 32 cubic meters, to store these supplies.

This much food was enough for one person to eat for decades. It seemed like a lot, but for merchants in a large wholesale market, this volume only made her a mid-level customer.

Bai Xiao hadn't chosen any rare varieties, so there were no stock issues for any of the items. They could be delivered to the designated location the next day.

On the way back, it was almost dark. She hadn't noticed while busy selecting products in the afternoon, but looking out the window now, she felt that over the course of the afternoon, the light mist had turned into a light fog.