By the time they reached the first floor, Quan Xiaoyu had sorted things out a little, taking out some of the items they commonly used. The fresh meat was still kept in the refrigerator, while the small storage room was left with some packaged convenience foods, seasonings, and staple rice. The things left outside were roughly enough for the two of them to eat and drink lavishly for a month.
Li Nan’s excitement had already been satisfied and eased while they were upstairs, so he did not stubbornly demand that they clear out the entire first floor. Thus, the first floor basically remained as it originally was.
The two of them then headed for the basement. They had not had time to explore it during the previous two days.
Most of what was stored in the basement was rice and flour. Quan Xiaoyu was greatly relieved. After all, they were Chinese people, and having staple food like this during the apocalypse was ten thousand times happier than having bread and instant noodles. Thinking back to his previous life, when he could barely manage three meals a day, even though he was a superhuman with combat abilities, he could not necessarily eat his fill at every meal.
Most of the time, they could only eat rough, cold, hard flatbread, or dried mutated beast meat so hard that it could kill someone if used as a weapon. Having a bowl of steaming hot instant noodles was already the ultimate delicacy in the world.
Quan Xiaoyu calculated it in his heart. If all this food could be preserved perfectly, it would be enough for him and Li Nan to eat their fill for several years. If they were frugal, ten years might not even be a problem.
Li Shunwei was meticulous and had prepared everything very thoroughly. At that time, Li Shunwei had not realized that the apocalypse was coming, and when buying things for Quan Xiaoyu, he had simply chosen the best of everything.
Quan Xiaoyu even found a pile of medicines in the corner, but most of them were over-the-counter drugs, mainly for colds, fevers, and external wounds.
It seemed that he would have to find an opportunity to make a trip to a hospital later. To survive in the apocalypse, antibiotics were indispensable. Otherwise, even a minor external wound could become fatal because of an infection.
The basement was designed very securely, still following Li Shunwei’s style of building a fortress. The villa occupied nearly three hundred square meters, and the basement was extremely spacious, so Li Shunwei had built a room within the room. There was a bathroom and a lounge, but most importantly, there was a treasure room used to store valuables. The treasure room also had its own separate security system.
When they opened the treasure room, the things inside had not been touched by Li Shunwei. Everything was arranged exactly as it had been before, showing just how much he treasured these objects.
Only after seeing what was inside did Quan Xiaoyu truly understand what an invisible rich man was. He had grown up around his father and had naturally learned a little about antiques. The things here were easily worth tens of millions or even hundreds of millions. Li Shunwei was obviously much wealthier than Quan Xiaoyu’s father.
At this moment, Quan Xiaoyu felt a trace of doubt about Li Shunwei’s identity for the first time. Under normal circumstances, such wealth would have required several generations of accumulation, yet he had never heard his father mention Uncle Li’s past.
He had also never understood why Li Shunwei, despite being so wealthy, had chosen to live in such a place and lead an ordinary life. Even Li Nan was extremely sensible and independent, showing none of the airs of a young master from a wealthy family.
These doubts reached their peak when Quan Xiaoyu saw the large number of cold weapons and several firearms inside the room.
If the cold weapons could be explained as antiques, then how could the guns be explained?
There were submachine guns, pistols, and even a sniper rifle. The firearms had been stored very carefully, showing how much their owner cherished them.
The cabinets beneath the firearms were neatly filled with boxes of ammunition matching each type of gun.
Quan Xiaoyu glanced at Li Nan. Li Nan also looked curious and astonished by this place. Clearly, he had never been here before.
“Have you ever been here before?” Quan Xiaoyu still asked.
Li Nan shook his head. “No. Dad wouldn’t let me come in here. Brother Xiaoyu, why are there guns here?”
Quan Xiaoyu shook his head with a bitter smile. It seemed that Li Nan knew nothing about his own father either. With Li Shunwei’s death, some things seemed destined to remain unanswered forever.
Quan Xiaoyu stepped forward and picked up a pistol to examine it. It was the same model as the one Li Shunwei had kept in the safe at the old house.
“Who cares why? The apocalypse has already come. Having guns is a good thing.”
The pistol instantly disappeared from Quan Xiaoyu’s palm as he put it into his space.
After thinking for a moment, Quan Xiaoyu lowered his head and asked Li Nan, “Do you want to take one for self-defense?”
Li Nan shook his head. “I don’t know how to use them, and I don’t like guns either.” He pointed at his chest. “I have Dad’s knife.”
The dagger Quan Xiaoyu had given him last time had always been hidden on his person. He had not let it leave his side for even a moment.
Quan Xiaoyu nodded. With a wave of his hand, all the guns and ammunition entered his space.
Then he rummaged through the pile of cold weapons and selected a Japanese-style katana. This thing was extremely convenient for chopping off heads, making it an excellent weapon against zombies.
He drew the sword from its sheath, only to discover that it was not an antique but a modern creation. The blade was made of a special alloy, thin and tough, with obvious characteristics of modern high-tech craftsmanship. Because it was extremely sharp, the blade gleamed with a cold light.
He felt that this was more like a military-industrial product of the modern Japanese army.
By now, Quan Xiaoyu was too lazy to question or think about Li Shunwei’s identity anymore. In any case, there would be no answer.
After thinking about it, he said to Li Nan, “I’ll put these things away too. After all, they’re things your father treasured. Besides, there’s enough room in my space.”
Li Nan’s eyes immediately lit up, and he nodded repeatedly. What he had been most worried about was that Brother Xiaoyu’s space would not have enough room. Now that Brother Xiaoyu said there was still space, he was naturally very happy.
After finally putting away all the supplies, it was as if all the precious things had been stored inside his own pocket. Li Nan was instantly filled with a sense of security and satisfaction.
When they returned to the first floor, Li Nan was in such a good mood that he happily went to cook.
Quan Xiaoyu, meanwhile, was thinking about the strange changes in the weather and the water and electricity that would soon stop working. He decided to store some water in advance.
Although there was a small river in his space, that water was fine for bathing, but he did not know whether it was safe to drink. And even if they used it, it would be difficult to explain to Li Nan where the water had come from. It was better to store some at home first.
Thus, while Li Nan happily cooked, Quan Xiaoyu searched everywhere for containers that could hold water and began a massive water-storage project.
That day passed amid the two of them busily moving things around like ants storing food.
That night.
Li Nan was already sleeping soundly in his room. Quan Xiaoyu entered his space once again.
The open ground on the right side of the courtyard was piled high with the supplies they had brought in from the house. Quan Xiaoyu had no intention of checking them and went straight to the place where he had stored the meat last time.
Originally, Quan Xiaoyu had wanted to see whether the rate at which the meat spoiled inside the space was the same as outside. But when he saw the fresh, tender pieces of meat, he was startled.
The meat itself had originally been frozen, so it was not particularly fresh. But now, the pieces of meat Quan Xiaoyu saw looked as though they had just been cut from a live pig. That freshness was difficult to describe.
What was going on?
Quan Xiaoyu cautiously brought the piece of meat to his nose and smelled it. There was the distinct bloody smell characteristic of fresh meat, without any strange odor or scent of decay.
The situation was far beyond what he had expected. Quan Xiaoyu stood there in a daze for a long while.
In the end, he brought the piece of meat out of the space. With the determination to face certain death and enormous courage, he went into the kitchen and boiled the piece of meat.
He wanted to taste it and see what would happen.
The broth produced from the meat was extremely delicious. With complicated emotions, Quan Xiaoyu ate every last bit of it.
During the process, Quan Xiaoyu had imagined all kinds of things that might happen: stomach pain, fainting, even vomiting blood…
Yet none of it happened!
He was completely unharmed. In fact, he keenly sensed that the strength in his body seemed to have received a slight replenishment.
For now, it seemed that this space not only had the function of preserving freshness, but almost seemed to have the ability to enhance freshness as well. The food stored inside the space appeared to cause no harm to the body. Quan Xiaoyu’s worried heart finally relaxed.
Tomorrow, it would be best to go outside and observe the environment around the community. There had been no movement outside their villa for the entire day.
Logically speaking, it was impossible for an entire villa community to have no survivors. No matter what the circumstances were, there should have been someone coming out to move around or seek help.
Moreover, Quan Xiaoyu was very concerned about the community gate being smashed open that day. He always felt that it was a potential variable, or even a danger.
At present, all Quan Xiaoyu wanted was to safely spend several months here with Li Nan, and then head north in search of a safe zone.
They had to leave before this city was bombed.
The S City where Quan Xiaoyu currently lived was a prosperous first-tier city, with a huge and complicated population. As the strange weather intensified, with natural disasters combined with man-made disasters, the mutations in the city grew increasingly severe. More and more zombies appeared, and it was also in this city that Level Two and Level Three zombies first emerged.
About half a year after the apocalypse, the newly reorganized government and military bombed this place with missiles in order to prevent the zombie horde here from spreading outward.
Therefore, Quan Xiaoyu’s plan was to spend the first three months of strange weather in the villa, then leave with Li Nan after the climate returned to normal but before the military bombed the city.
The farther north they went, the fewer zombies and monsters there were comparatively. Along the way, various different factions had established large and small safe zones. In his previous life, he had relied on a relatively small faction with his companions and struggled to survive.
In this life, he wanted to go farther, to a somewhat safer place.
Early the next morning, Quan Xiaoyu planned to go out.
First, he wanted to see how chaotic things outside had become and, if possible, gather some useful information. Second, with the support of his space, he wanted to find as many supplies as possible, especially medicine—the rarest and most precious resource after the apocalypse.
This time, he did not intend to bring Li Nan along. The villa was relatively safe. As long as Li Nan did not open the door himself, it would be difficult for anyone to get inside unless they possessed heavy weapons. Even a metal-type superhuman would not necessarily be able to handle so many thick steel plates.
Besides, where would there be that many metal-type superhumans? They weren’t cabbages growing everywhere.
Before leaving, he unusually became long-winded, repeatedly warning Li Nan that he absolutely must not open the door. No matter who came, he was not to open it or pay attention to anyone’s pleas for help. A child like him could not help anyone anyway, and would only put himself in danger.
If the house came under attack, he was to hide in the basement. The basement’s defenses and equipment were equally comprehensive. Quan Xiaoyu had deliberately left food and water there, enough for one person to use for more than a week.
Li Nan was very sensible and did not ask to go outside with Quan Xiaoyu. Whatever Quan Xiaoyu said, he obediently agreed and promised that under no circumstances would he voluntarily open the door.
He even turned around and reminded Quan Xiaoyu to be careful outside and to come back as early as possible. He would stay at home and wait obediently for him to return.
Author’s Note: In the next chapter, my male lead is finally going to appear.