"Miss Jiang, if you confirm there are no issues with the contract, you can sign it."
Long-forgotten memories unfolded with the realism of a 3D projection, jolting her hazy consciousness awake. Jiang Si's gaze suddenly sharpened.
'Didn't I die? How could I be... back at the real estate agency before the apocalypse?'
The fawning real estate agent, the impatient homeowner, the drinking water on the desk...
Jiang Si grabbed the bottle of water and took a huge gulp. It was sweet and refreshing.
'The sensation coursing through her felt too real!'
Jiang Si guzzled down the rest of the bottle in one go, an immense satisfaction washing over her. Her gaze fell upon the wall clock—May 1, 2033.
Only then could she finally bring herself to believe it. She had been reborn.
She had returned to one month before the apocalypse. This was when she had used her three million in savings to buy a house of over one hundred square meters in the suburbs of S-City.
She had just bought the house and hadn't even had time to renovate or buy furniture when an unexplained power outage suddenly swept the globe.
Schools closed, factories halted, communications failed, and supermarket shelves were stripped bare in a panic. Everyone's life was thrown into chaos.
Everyone thought they just had to endure for a few days, wait for government aid, and things would return to normal.
But contrary to expectations, the power grid remained down.
Basic survival needs could no longer be met, and large numbers of people began to flee the cities.
Jiang Si was one of the quicker ones to react. When the food at home started running low, she packed her gear, got on her bicycle, and headed for her hometown.
What would have been a two-hour flight took her an entire month by bicycle.
She thought returning to her hometown meant safety, but even greater dangers followed.
From June to the end of August, the high temperatures persisted without a single drop of rain. Temperatures reached an unprecedented fifty degrees, then later sixty, even seventy degrees, and the rivers and streams rapidly dried up.
People were slow to realize the apocalypse had truly arrived. By the time they wanted to hoard resources for survival, it was impossible to go outside—the solar radiation was powerful enough to corrode skin.
Jiang Si was thankful her family had enough food stored to last a year, but then, disaster struck.
A sandstorm that blotted out the sun engulfed their home. The roof was ripped away, the food was lost, and her grandmother was swept away with it.
Before the family could even grieve, torrential rains began to fall, and a monstrous tsunami took her grandfather.
The pain and disasters seemed endless: insect plagues, snake infestations, the flu, epidemics, viruses, zombies, earthquakes, mutated creatures... To scavenge for resources, the fighting among humankind was more sickening than the stench of rotting flesh.
Her father lured the zombies away to save her and her mother, and he never returned.
Unable to withstand one blow after another, her mother fell into a deep depression and took her own life.
All her relatives were dead, leaving Jiang Si with a single plea: "Live on."
Jiang Si struggled on for ten bitter years, only to have her heart carved out by a Mutant while she was still alive.
Having processed the fact of her rebirth, Jiang Si clenched her fists and shot to her feet.
'This time, she would not let her family suffer the same fate.'
The real estate agent jumped in surprise. "Miss Jiang...?"
Jiang Si said without hesitation, "Sorry, I'm not buying the house."
'The house she was about to spend three million on would be worthless in a month.'
'The real priority now was to use her funds to frantically stock up on supplies and survival gear.'
Seeing his commission slipping through his fingers, the agent refused to give up and chased after her. "It's a rare chance to buy a house like this with a single payment! If the owner wasn't desperate to move to a better school district, we wouldn't have this bargain. Miss Jiang, don't let this opportunity pass you by!"
Jiang Si shook her head. "My family has an emergency and needs the money. I really can't buy it."
The agent's expression soured in an instant.
"You damn bitch, why are you looking at houses if you're broke! Are you just messing with me?!"
After ten years in the apocalypse, the number of people she had killed was staggering. A brutal aura was etched into her very soul.
Provoke her, and it was kill or be killed.
Jiang Si's icy gaze was like a bloodstained dagger being drawn. She moved like lightning. In an instant, she had one hand clamped on the back of his neck and, with a sharp CRACK, kicked out his knee.
"You should thank your lucky stars we're still in a society with laws."
Forced to his knees, tears of pain streamed down the agent's face. He caved instantly. "Ma'am, Ma'am, I was wrong! Please, forgive me! You must have hurt your hand, and seeing that just breaks my heart—"
Jiang Si's terrifying gaze was bone-chilling. She shoved him to the ground with one hand. "Scram!"
His scalp prickling with fear, the agent scrambled to his feet and bolted.
He'd crossed a ruthless one; all he could do was count his losses. Calling the police was out of the question.
Her phone suddenly rang. The murderous glint in Jiang Si's eyes vanished.
"Hello, Sisi? Have you eaten?"
Hearing Jiang Linhai's familiar voice, Jiang Si, who thought she could stay strong, broke down and cried, "Dad—!"
Jiang Linhai asked anxiously, "What is it? Did someone bully you? Tell me who, and I'll go settle the score!"
Hearing Jiang Linhai's booming, energetic voice, Jiang Si let out a small laugh through her tears.
'It's so good. Dad is still alive. This is what it means to be reborn, isn't it?'
Jiang Linhai was baffled. Jiang Si's tone became exceptionally serious. "Dad, tell Grandma, Grandpa, and Mom not to travel far for the next little while. I'll be home in a week. I have something important to tell you all."
Jiang Linhai was surprised. "What is it that can't be said over the phone?"
"It's not that I can't say it, it's that you wouldn't believe me. For now, just listen to me. Make sure they all stay put, and I'll explain when I get home. In a bit, I'm also going to send you some plans for renovating the house. I need you to find people to work overtime on it. I don't care if it costs several times the normal price—it has to be finished before the first of next month!"
"Why are we suddenly renovating the house? Our home is perfectly fine as it is!"
"Dad, listen to me. I wouldn't do anything to harm you. You must do exactly as I say."
'In her last life, their family nearly got killed when the other villagers stormed their house, all because they had food and water.'
'Besides raising the protective walls, the roof needs to be reinforced, covered with thick heat-resistant panels, trenches dug around the house for drainage, moisture-proof mats and drainage pipes laid inside, the foundation raised, and all doors and windows replaced.'
Jiang Si had always had a mind of her own, so Jiang Linhai trusted she wasn't just acting recklessly. Though he found it strange, he agreed.
Returning to her rental apartment, Jiang Si opened her computer, laid out her ideas, hired a designer to draw up the renovation plans, sent them to Jiang Linhai, and then started drafting a list of supplies to purchase.
'Medicine was one of the most precious resources in the apocalypse. She had to stockpile as much as she possibly could.'
Common cold and flu medicine, fever reducers, stomach remedies, anti-inflammatories, painkillers, antihistamines, anti-diarrheals, blood pressure medication, antibiotics, headache pills, cephalosporins, emergency heart medication, insulin, glucose, thermometers, saline solution, povidone-iodine…
Just from the medicine she wanted, Jiang Si's online shopping cart quickly filled with over a hundred different items.
'But no matter how much she bought, when the tsunami came, it would be impossible to take it all with her.'
Jiang Si had just let out a sigh. 'If only I had a storage space,' she thought.
A sudden light flashed from her chest, and Jiang Si found herself in a white space roughly the size of a small field.
The energy stone that the superpower user had wanted to dig out was floating right above her.
Jiang Si was stunned. She probed it with her mind. 'No wonder that superpower user couldn't dig the energy stone out of my body. It had long since been absorbed by me, transforming into my very own Space Ability.'
'This wonderful surprise came so suddenly! With this space, I can go directly to the wholesale markets and stockpile massive quantities of goods. I no longer have to worry about shipping too many things home and attracting prying eyes!'