Chapter 56: A sucker comes looking for trouble

What is the most important thing before the apocalypse? Money, of course. Only with money can you stockpile supplies! Tomorrow, Bitcoin is projected to rise by 6.1%. Don't miss out if you want to buy! If you're bold enough, use leverage!

As soon as this group announcement went live, the chat room erupted with chatter.

"Hahaha, he got a prediction right once and now he's getting cocky."

"Yeah, this is an apocalypse survival group, not a cryptocurrency trading group!"

"Cryptocurrency trading group? More like a future-prediction group, if you ask me!"

"Hahaha, come out and say something, group owner!"

Yang Jie had no intention of showing up to chat; he wanted to maintain an aloof and mysterious persona.

"A solemn reminder once again: no one in this group is allowed to disclose their real name or residential address. Once the apocalypse strikes, your home becomes your granary. Remember this! If you communicate privately, bear the consequences at your own risk!"

Not only did Yang Jie pin another new announcement, but he also used the polling system to set up a countdown timer with a clear message:

"X days, X hours, X minutes, and X seconds until the outbreak of the apocalypse!"

Yang Jie's pinned announcement and countdown once again drew a flurry of sarcastic and humorous comments from the guys in the group.

"Talk about joking around. I'm a veteran squirrel; I've at least got that basic sense."

"The group owner makes sense, though. If the apocalypse really happens, you definitely can't give out your address, or you'll be screwed!"

"No kidding, forget the apocalypse. Did you guys see that news story from last time? A female live-streamer accidentally exposed her address, and her obsessive fan crossed several provinces overnight to find her, and ended up forcing himself on her. Talk about miserable!"

"I propose we strengthen our connections by adding our province and city names in our remarks. If the apocalypse happens, exchanging resources won't be a problem."

"Count me in for that!"

"Haha, look at that countdown on the poll. That kills me. The apocalypse is coming? Is there really going to be an apocalypse?"

"Even better if there is! I won't have to pay my mortgage anymore!"

宜 "Waaah, I still have five years left on my car loan. Hurry up and bring on the apocalypse!!!!!!"

Watching everyone chattering away noisily, Yang Jie sneered inwardly. When the apocalypse arrived, they wouldn't even have a place to cry.

In the past, he had just set up a chat group, but now, Yang Jie needed to start managing it. Although his team wasn't large, it was at least sufficient for now.

As for the people outside? If they trusted him considerably, Yang Jie would effectively gain dozens of informants scattered across different provinces and cities. If he ever needed anything, he could simply ask them directly.

The apocalypse was all about utilizing every available resource to survive. And once survival was secured, the next consideration was how to live even better.

Heaven knew how long this apocalypse would last. With a stroke of bad luck, one might have to struggle through it for a lifetime.

Right now, his supplies were definitely enough, but who could say for sure whether special circumstances might arise?

That's right, items stored in his spatial inventory seemed to be under a time pause. Forget about expiration dates; at the very least, a cup of hot water taken out two days later was identical to the moment it was put in.

Yet, who could guarantee that this function would remain after the doomsday fortress was fully established? Yang Jie had already been tricked once. He had foolishly thought it would be move-in ready upon placement, but heaven knew he had to wait over a month.

After waiting for more than a month, who knew what absurd complications might arise? Therefore, it was always best to be prepared for any eventuality. Should the storage space vanish, figuring out how to stockpile supplies would become a massive headache.

Furthermore, his team couldn't possibly remain this small forever, could they? What if new members joined later on?

When it came to talent, the apocalypse was no different from peacetime. Aside from food and drinking water, talent remained the scarcest commodity.

The quantity of supplies he had stockpiled was indeed massive, but the variety was relatively limited. He still needed to keep his guard up and not rely entirely on the doomsday fortress—no, that wasn't quite right. It wasn't that he distrusted the doomsday fortress; rather, he simply had no idea what its next step would be, and the unknown was always the greatest obstacle.

Before long, Kaizi came looking for Yang Jie.

To be fair, during this period, Kaizi had been calling Yang Jie almost every single day, chattering on about trivial matters while deliberately avoiding the main point.

Yang Jie played dumb as well. Kaizi trusted him deeply, but regarding matters of this magnitude, unless the two of them had walked through the gates of life and death together, no matter how close their bond, true belief would remain elusive.

Only when the other party actively brought up the problem would their mind begin to connect the dots. At that point, Yang Jie's words would finally take effect.

Kaizi's extended family was huge; he couldn't just display his spatial storage like Tang Na did. Besides, even if he wanted to display it now, he couldn't.

When they met up, Kaizi's eyes were bloodshot, his hair looked like a bird's nest, and his entire body radiated a sour, stale odor.

"Don't worry, I don't mind having a homeless man as a friend."

Kaizi took a deep breath, took a cigarette offered to him, lit it slowly, and exhaled a heavy cloud of smoke.

"I called and asked some friends, and I've been asking around through various channels. Many live-streamers over in Beautiful Country are already stockpiling supplies and buying weapons. Rumor has it that this leak originated from a Chinese billionaire."

"Someone abandoned all their assets in Beautiful Country to return home, and they've been buying up abandoned hospitals domestically, snapping up duplex apartments, buying everything in sight... Don't you have anything you want to tell me?"

"The apocalypse is coming, and there are less than fifteen days left!"

Kaizi fell silent...

"What the fuck, big bro? Why didn't you tell me sooner?!"

Kaizi instantly felt a wave of relief wash over him as his tightly wound nerves finally loosened.

Yang Jie asked seriously, "If I had called you one day to tell you that the apocalypse was about to strike, would you have believed me?"

"Uh~~~"

Kaizi froze, then gave a helpless, bitter smile.

Indeed! Whoever had told him such a thing would have immediately been written off as a lunatic in his mind.

"Then what do I need to prepare?"

Yang Jie pulled out his phone, his fingers flying across the screen, and moments later, Kaizi received a message.

When Kaizi opened it, his eyes popped wide open. Good grief, not only did it list the names of the supplies to stockpile, but they were also ranked by importance, right down to the specific requirements for building a safehouse.

Just as Kaizi was about to say something else, Yang Jie picked up a sweet flatbread wrapped with two fried dough sticks and began crunching away.

"I know what you want to say—you don't know how to convince your parents, right? You'll have to handle that yourself; I can't help you there. Besides, we've been doing business together for so many years. Having a few hundred million in cash shouldn't be a problem for you, right?"

Kaizi opened his mouth, then nodded.

"My parents definitely won't believe it, but I have to start preparing!"

Yang Jie nodded, finishing off the entire table of breakfast in just a few bites.

"Anyway, we still have half a month. Figure it out yourself. By the way, if anyone asks where you got this information from, just say you found out through foreign channels. As for the message I just sent, my phone is specially modified; ordinary people can't track it."

"Alright, don't worry, I won't betray you!"

Yang Jie smiled noncommittally. Words like that were only meant to be heard and forgotten; given the resilience of modern people, a knife held to the throat or a few solid punches would make them spill everything.