But… why had only four of them exited? One remained—the one she had assumed was the leader. The next floor above was the top floor. No way… no way.
Sure enough, what she feared had come true. That man was, in fact, her elusive neighbor.
The man himself showed no reaction. When he had entered the elevator, he had noticed that the number 29 was lit. The elevator had only one other person, a young girl. He hadn’t expected that the person living opposite him would be a seemingly weak young girl, yet judging by the reinforced door, she was far from ordinary.
The man nodded at Wen Ruchu, then stepped out of the elevator first.
Wen Ruchu, holding her puppy, followed him closely. They returned to their respective apartments, one in front of the other.
Once she arrived home, Wen Ruchu placed the little puppy on the floor. The dog seemed a bit wary of strangers and cautiously examined the unfamiliar surroundings.
Wen Ruchu could only laugh and cry at the sight of this so-called “king of dogs” acting like a tiny coward. She waved her hand at it.
“Come here.”
Miraculously, it seemed to understand her. It walked over, wagging its little tail.
Wen Ruchu petted the puppy’s head.
“You little coward, from now on, I’ll be your owner. Let’s give you a name, okay?”
After thinking for a moment, she said, “How about Egg Tart?”
The little Egg Tart tilted its head, its round eyes looking at Wen Ruchu, seemingly pondering something, and barked twice.
Wen Ruchu took that as approval and patted its little head.
“Alright, you’re Egg Tart now. You better grow up fast.”
She took dog food and a water bowl out of the Dimensional Space and placed them in front of Egg Tart.
The puppy smelled the food and immediately approached, lowering its head and eating enthusiastically, tail wagging non-stop. From behind, it really did resemble a little fluffball…
Egg Tart ate heartily, especially the water, drinking every last drop. Wen Ruchu had mixed half a cup of spring water into the bowl, which had health benefits. Animals seemed even more sensitive than humans.
She thought that from now on, she would give Egg Tart a bit of spring water every day to strengthen its body. In the apocalypse, if her dog got sick, she wouldn’t be able to cure it.
She had also stocked up a large quantity of bottled water and bought several water towers, all filled with water. Even though the Dimensional Space house had water, it was better to be safe than sorry.
Next, she planned to stay home, waiting for the apocalypse, waiting for chaos, and then seek justice for her past life.
Still, Wen Ruchu had a slight headache.
Who were those five men exactly? They had conveniently bought both the 28th and 29th floors, effectively surrounding her.
Her neighbor, in particular, looked like a formidable character.
But every coin had two sides. Being surrounded on the 29th floor meant that even if order collapsed, any survivors who wanted to mess with her would have to get past them first. It was a small comfort.
If they dared to make a move against her, she had the Dimensional Space. That warehouse full of weapons would ensure they wouldn’t get away with anything.
Thinking of the Dimensional Space, Wen Ruchu watched Egg Tart happily eating.
In her previous life, no living being could enter the Dimensional Space. This time, she could. What about other living creatures—could they enter as well?
She placed her hand on Egg Tart and thought, “Enter.”
She entered the Dimensional Space along with Egg Tart. The puppy was startled and suddenly found itself in a new place. When it saw Wen Ruchu still beside it, it tightly circled around her.
“Woof woof!”
What the hell? Where is this?
Wen Ruchu quickly crouched down to calm the puppy and reassured it that this place was safe.
It seemed that in this life, not only could she enter the Dimensional Space, but she could also bring living creatures with her.
Thinking this through, she exited the Dimensional Space herself. As expected, Egg Tart was ejected as well.
So, living creatures could only remain inside the Dimensional Space if she was present. Without her, the Dimensional Space would automatically expel them.
This was perfect. Next time there was an unstoppable danger, she could take Egg Tart along to hide safely.
Egg Tart looked around at the scene reverting back to normal, confused. A shape-shifting human? But the lure of food was stronger, and it continued eating.
Seeing Egg Tart eat so heartily made Wen Ruchu hungry as well.
She took out a meal from Dimensional Space: a serving of pickled fish, Coca-Cola chicken wings, garlic broccoli, celery squid, and a three-delicacy tofu soup with rice. The four dishes and one soup were eaten clean. She finished the meal with a large plate of strawberries.
After drinking spring water, she always felt hungry. Her appetite, already large, had grown even bigger. Fortunately, she had stocked plenty of food.
…
Four days remained before the apocalypse.
The temperature continued to rise. Based on her previous life, it would surpass fifty degrees on August 23, officially marking the beginning of the apocalypse.
In the past few days, Wen Ruchu hadn’t gone out. Instead, she prepared to cook and store food at home.
It hadn’t rained for a long time, and the heat had dried up nearby reservoirs. Crops could no longer withstand the temperature and had died. Grain prices were skyrocketing.
She had to cook while she still could. Her apartment had air conditioning, but once water and electricity were cut off, she wouldn’t dare cook. Waiting for death was too slow.
Wen Ruchu took the largest pot from the Dimensional Space and gathered all the ingredients and seasonings she would need.
She planned to make several large dishes: cumin beef, spicy boiled fish, braised pork trotters, and pork rib, yam, and corn soup.
She cut the beef into cubes and marinated them with spices. Garlic and chili were stir-fried until fragrant, then the marinated beef was quickly cooked. Finally, cumin powder and chili flakes were added to complete the cumin beef.
For the boiled fish, she sliced the fish, heated oil with scallions and ginger to remove any fishy smell, melted bean paste and hot pot base into the oil, then added the appropriate amount of water, salt, soy sauce, and oyster sauce. Cucumber, bean sprouts, and lettuce were added, followed by the fish slices. Finally, chili and minced garlic were poured over with hot oil to bring out the aroma.
The pork trotters were cleaned and chopped, then boiled in cold water with scallions, ginger, and cooking wine to remove odor. After washing, they were stir-fried with caramelized sugar, then seasonings and water were added before pressure cooking.
These three dishes were Wen Ruchu’s specialties. She cooked two large pots of each. The whole apartment smelled amazing.
Egg Tart circled around her feet excitedly. Wen Ruchu laughed.
“Egg Tart, you can’t eat any of this. If you want, I’ll cook some meat for you.”
“Woof woof!”
Egg Tart rubbed its head against her leg and wagged its tail.
While Wen Ruchu prepared some boiled meat for Egg Tart, she also finished the last soup: pork rib, yam, and corn soup. The broth was clear, sweet, and not greasy.
She portioned everything into disposable containers—just the right amount for one meal each—and stored them in Dimensional Space. Next time, she could just take them out and eat.