Chapter 60 Spreading the News

Many people have entered a buying frenzy, though the hardest-hit areas remain Magic City and the cities where the group members reside.

Magic City was different because Yang Jie had provided advance information. Initially, the authorities took it lightly the first couple of times, but after the third and fourth predictions came true, they could no longer sit still.

With the issuance of various directives, even the most slow-witted ordinary citizens began to sense that something was amiss.

In contrast, the cities where the group members lived saw very few people gathering supplies, and the locals simply treated the whole thing as a spectator sport.

To reiterate: when the apocalypse is mentioned, 99% of people will simply brush it off as a joke.

There were also those who knew they should stockpile, yet had no idea how or what to hoard.

During this period, one could frequently spot middle-aged women emerging from supermarkets laden with large bags.

The wiser ones purchased rice, flour, grain, and cooking oil, while the more foolish ones bought milk, bread, and the like.

Eventually, lured by the massive search volume, Yang Jie’s "Doomsday Survivors Hobby Group" was dug up, and countless individuals applied to join.

Under Zhao Baitong’s strict screening process, anyone who was not a true prepper was rejected, as were applicants if multiple members already existed in the same city.

Even so, the group membership swelled from two or three dozen to two or three hundred.

Members cheered each other on, sought advice on stockpiling, and discussed how to survive in the event of an end-of-the-world scenario.

With a greater number of people locked out of the group, these outsiders had no choice but to start creating their own groups to seek safety in numbers, though most were simply looking for the truth behind the rumors.

Inside Yang Jie’s group, the discussions were almost entirely focused on professional-grade topics.

For instance:
Guesses on the type of apocalypse this time around.
A list of ten foods with the longest shelf life!
A discussion on survival models in extreme environmental apocalypses!
A discussion on weapons, armor, and vehicles for a zombie apocalypse!
A discussion on the top ten taboos regarding human interaction during the apocalypse!

Meanwhile, in the amateur groups outside, the chat style looked something like this:

"What's there to fear about the apocalypse? My family lives right at XX Street, Number XX. That supermarket is literally owned by my family, and there's a warehouse in the basement. Hehe, my dad just finished stocking up yesterday."

"Hahahahaha, the apocalypse is here! Does that mean I don't have to pay my mortgage anymore?"

"Anyone looking for a hookup? I'm 1.8 meters tall, weigh 145 catties, 18 centimeters, wealthy sugar mamas get priority..."

"This lady is fair-skinned, beautiful, with long legs, and drives a Porsche 911. Anyone under 20 centimeters need not apply!"

"Hilarious, an apocalypse? I'm not buying a single damn thing! I haven't even finished the salt I bought last time!"

"That's right, I think so too. It must be a gimmick cooked up by capitalists because they can't sell their goods!"

Information spreads rapidly on the internet. After just a few days, public opinion reversed, and many prominent influencers jumped in to declare:

How can people today be so foolish as to believe information that so obviously looks like a scam?
Just look at the people in other countries; when on earth will our own countrymen wake up and start thinking independently?

Before these influencers could celebrate too much, a directive came straight from the top, ordering all non-local residents to immediately return to their household registration locations.

Consequently, a low-level panic ensued, with some clever individuals directly shelling out hundreds of thousands to head to Beautiful Country.

In their eyes, only Beautiful Country was truly safe.

Meanwhile, trending topics on foreign websites remained rather dull.

Because such rhetoric surfaced every year, let alone the end of the world, they could even accept a president changing their gender.

Looking at the various messages circulating online, the corners of Yang Jie’s mouth curled up uncontrollably.

That's right, his goal had been achieved.

As long as one could ensure that a particular place did not descend into chaos, the ones who stood to gain the most were wealthy individuals like himself.

What do the rich care about most? Making money? If you truly think that, it only proves how superficial you are.

What the wealthy care about above all else is their own safety; only after safety is secured can one consider the matter of making money.

At that moment, Cui Huizhu walked in behind Yang Jie, holding a cup of water with beads of sweat on her forehead.

"What do you think of this directive?"

Yang Jie looked where she was pointing, which was precisely the order demanding everyone to return to their household registration locations.

"A masterstroke of a move!"

Cui Huizhu admitted she completely failed to understand it.

Yang Jie smiled and said, "Suppose a person consumes two kilograms of staple food and 123 liters of water a day, along with three kilowatt-hours of electricity. That's just baseline consumption, not even counting industrial, commercial, and daily necessities. If you multiply that figure by 25 million, the daily consumption is an astronomical number."

"If a few million of those people choose to return to their hometowns in the short term, won't the pressure on Magic City be instantly relieved?"

"Wait, why would one person consume 123 liters of water a day? You couldn't possibly drink that much, right?"

Yang Jie rolled his eyes. "No one can drink that much water, can they? Naturally, it's the total water consumption divided by the population. Don't you use water to flush toilets? Don't you use water to shower? With all this infrastructure running every day, shouldn't it be averaged out per person?"

"And that's just the tip of the iceberg. A single person also produces one kilogram of garbage a day. Just imagine what it would look like if a city went a single month without clearing its trash!"

"Hiss~~~!"

Cui Huizhu could not help drawing a sharp breath. It seemed the situation was even more brutal than she had imagined!

Yang Jie turned to look at Cui Huizhu. "How is the training going?"

Cui Huizhu shook her head helplessly.

"Using the Delta Force physical training regimen is a bit too unfriendly for the rookies!"

Yang Jie rubbed his temples with a headache.

"Just keep training them like this for now. Sharapova's side recently came up with some interesting little gadgets. If possible, once they are mature, we can test them on human bodies!"

Cui Huizhu could not help feeling a jolt in her heart, her expression turning somewhat complex.

"There is no better way than this. I just hope the side effects will be minimal!"

Yang Jie waved his hand. "Rest assured, if the side effects are severe or cause irreversible physical damage, I won't use them! Otherwise, the pace is simply too slow."

Yang Jie did not share his teammates' optimistic outlook; he had experienced it firsthand and had viewed it all from a god's-eye perspective.

In truth, the monsters were not unbeatable, but that damned extreme climate—let alone humans, even machines might not survive out there.

"Given our background, we are quite familiar with the weapons of various nations. With current human technology, as long as it's carbon-based life, there is nothing that cannot be destroyed!"

Yang Jie pulled out a cigarette, lit it, and slowly exhaled a plume of smoke.

"When the time comes, you'll see!"

Yang Jie knew that everything Cui Huizhu said was entirely correct, but she had overlooked one crucial point: no matter how advanced or brilliant science and technology might be, without resources, everything is mere empty talk. In that kind of extreme environment, resources? Bullshit! Just being able to move around outside would be an achievement!