7: Chapter 7 makes people laugh so hard they feel itchy.

Xu Wanning nodded firmly, "I'll take them. Swipe the card."

114 items for 270,000—that's an average of over two thousand per item. It's definitely discounted, maybe even at a break-the-bone price.

The old man took the POS machine, operated it for a moment, and then returned the card to her. "These are all yours now. We'll move the ones from the warehouse over for you right now."

Zhou Ke followed his grandfather to the back to move the goods, his mind filled with images of himself marrying the school beauty and their child riding on his shoulders.

Xu Wanning turned to look at her three friends, who were somewhat petrified. "What are you standing there for? Pick one you like to keep out, and pack the rest away."

Song Yunqing opened her mouth, "Ningning, do we need this many? One each should be enough, right? We don't have that many people."

Xu Wanning took the Tang sword with blue patterns off the wall, along with the identical Tang sword with gold patterns next to it, and slid them into their sheaths, a cold glint flashing in her eyes.

"It's not enough. Before zombies reach level three, cold weapons are all usable. These are consumables; we must stockpile more."

"Besides, our team won't just have a few people. Small teams are easily targeted by larger ones in The Apocalypse. We need to build our own team."

Wen Shuyang snapped her fingers. "So, Zhou Ke is one of your choices?"

Xu Wanning nodded. "Yes. In my past life, he was a Metal Ability expert with strong combat power and good character. Our team did a few missions with him, and he helped us many times. I trust him."

Wen Shuyang nodded. "Then we trust him too."

"And his grandfather is a rare talent at crafting weapons. If we recruit him, he can continue making weapons after The Apocalypse begins."

Lu Zhiyu rubbed her chin. "Ningning, when we get back, organize a list of the experts you remember for us. We'll try our best to build good relationships with them so that when The Apocalypse really comes, it'll be easier to form a team."

Wen Shuyang and Song Yunqing nodded quickly.

"Okay." She had the same thought just now. Besides the comrades from Lu Chengyue's fire brigade, they definitely needed to recruit more people.

Before long, Zhou Ke and his grandfather came over carrying two large boxes and started helping Xu Wanning and the others pack the items in the store.

After closing the boxes, Zhou Ke rubbed his hands together. "School beauty, are you heading back to school later? I'll go with you. I drove, so I can give you a ride."

Xu Wanning shook her head. "We're going to stroll around some other places later. Just help us carry these four boxes out; a car will come to pick us up soon."

She wanted to take them away directly using her Space Ability, but now was not the right time to expose it.

Zhou Ke agreed with a hint of regret. "Alright then."

Before leaving, Xu Wanning glanced at Zhou Ke's grandfather. "Grandpa Zhou, if you have time, please make more weapons; we might need them later. If there is any danger, whatever you do, don't go outside. Someone will come to pick you up."

They had taken all the weapons. In case The Apocalypse broke out early and they couldn't make it in time to pick up Zhou Ke and his family, having cold weapons would allow them to defend themselves a little.

Grandpa Zhou's eyes flickered. "Okay."

Ten minutes later, four large boxes were placed in the alley in front of the shop. Xu Wanning took a look to confirm there was no surveillance at the entrance, and Lu Zhiyu and the others checked the surroundings—there was no one around.

She quickly stored the boxes into her Space Ability, and the group left quickly to head to the seed shop they had found on the map earlier.

Seeds were very cheap. In reality, buying three or five bags of each variety would be enough. Once they were sprouted and grown until they produced seeds, they could continue to be cultivated.

However, some seeds could only be used once, so after discussing it, they simply bought out the entire seed shop, just in case.

In the end, it cost 80,000 yuan, filling several gunny sacks.

The seed shop employee happily saw them out, and just like before, delivered the seeds to the alley.

Once they left, Lu Zhiyu and the other two helped block the view, and Xu Wanning took the opportunity to store the items into her Space Ability.

Her Space Ability had returned with her, but the items inside had not. However, she had already checked; the space was at a C-level, with a full 400 square meters.

For the Space Ability, every level up doubled the area. Unlike other Supernatural abilities where each level up allows an extra hour of usage, the Space Ability can be used at any time; it only increases in area, while the height remains constant at 100 meters.

"I wonder if any surveillance cameras caught us." Walking out of the alley, Song Yunqing said with some worry.

Xu Wanning patted her reassuringly. "It's fine. Even if they did, it doesn't matter. Most people won't believe it; they'll probably just think it's a magic trick."

"If someone does believe it, maybe it'll serve as a reminder for them to stockpile more food and water. Saying it directly definitely wouldn't work; we'd easily get arrested."

It wasn't that Xu Wanning didn't want to help her fellow countrymen get through the crisis, but now was not the right time. She would report it after they had stockpiled enough supplies.

By then, even if they were arrested, as long as they were still alive, they would be released when The Apocalypse arrived. With the vast amount of supplies they had stockpiled, they would be able to live securely during the early stages of The Apocalypse.

If The Apocalypse didn't arrive, even better. They probably wouldn't be locked up for long.

If they went now, they would be arrested for crimes like disrupting social order or spreading panic. With nothing prepared, if The Apocalypse really arrived, it would be too late for everything.

Lu Zhiyu pulled out the list Xu Wanning had written earlier; there were still many things to buy. "Ningning, what should we go buy next?"

Xu Wanning opened her phone. "Go to a 4S dealership to buy a car. Search for nearby dealerships."

Not having a car was really inconvenient. They had all gone to get their driver's licenses, but since they didn't usually need a car, they hadn't bought one. Only now did they realize how inconvenient it was.

"Okay." Lu Zhiyu glanced at her phone, feeling puzzled. She didn't understand why Xu Wanning asked her to search when she already had her phone out.

Xu Wanning tapped the screen to light it up. She wasn't looking at a map, but opening Lu Chengyue's wechat. It had been over three hours since they added each other as friends; it was time to make her presence felt.

[Brother Chengyue, that helmet—I didn't break it, did I?]

The "typing..." indicator flashed twice and then disappeared.

Xu Wanning couldn't help but chuckle. Responding so quickly meant his phone definitely wasn't far from him; maybe he was even waiting for her message.

She put her phone back in her pocket.

Twenty minutes later, they arrived at the 4S dealership, and Lu Chengyue finally replied: [No.]

It must have been hard for him to squeeze out just two words in twenty minutes.

[Then why were you staring at it after we left?]

When they left, Lu Chengyue only saw them to the door of the equipment room before they told him to go back.

She had glanced back and happened to see Lu Chengyue pick up the helmet and stare at it quietly.

This time, Lu Chengyue sent a voice message directly; it was only one second long.

Xu Wanning tapped it open. It was a very soft laugh—not a "hehe" or "haha," but a sound escaping from his nasal cavity.

It carried a hint of helplessness and the fluster of being called out when he didn't want to admit it. He probably touched it by accident and didn't mean to send it.

She listened to it five times in a row. It was a laugh that tugged at the heartstrings, and she couldn't wait to see him again.