Over the next ten days or so, Shi Ran successfully sold her apartment. However, because she needed a quick cash deal, the price was slightly lower than expected—1.55 million yuan.
In reality, very few people could take out that much money at once.
Since the person had given her such crucial help, Shi Ran bought extra supplies when purchasing food, including a full box of compressed biscuits placed in a small room next door.
It didn’t burden her at all. She couldn’t carry much food anyway—one full day of shopping was already enough, and anything more would be impossible to take with her.
After that, she packed everything she needed and moved it to Ye Shuyao’s home.
In addition, the two of them bought some self-defense weapons. Unfortunately, China had extremely strict regulations on controlled blades.
Not only were many items impossible to buy, but no legitimate seller would risk it either—and neither of the two girls dared to deal with illegal sources.
In the end, they only managed to buy some double-edged outdoor survival knives, hatchets for chopping bones, and baseball bats.
Chainsaws made too much noise and couldn’t fit in the car, so they were not purchased. They only got cold weapons and more than a dozen national maps.
With the remaining money, they quickly bought a large-capacity Hummer worth over two million yuan.
Hehe—installment payments.
There was no choice. Shi Ran simply didn’t have enough money. The salesperson also insisted on installment plans, so she… just went along with it!
If only she had read fewer novels.
Compared to those transmigration heroines with spatial storage, spiritual springs, and farming cheats, Shi Ran truly felt like a “clean stream” in the apocalypse genre.
Clean pockets. No “money at all.”
When would it be her turn to dominate the world? Even a storage bag would be fine. Shi Ran.jpg (expectation)
“You’re way too serious. It’s just a game, but you’ve taken it this far. Watching you these past ten days, I feel like the apocalypse is going to start any second.”
Ye Shuyao had been overthinking things countless nights and hadn’t slept well.
“Here. There’s 1 million in this card. You never asked me for money—what, do you think I can’t afford it?”
The two of them were lazily collapsed on the sofa, unable to stand after intense morning training.
Shi Ran stared at the card in her hand for a moment, blinking blankly at Ye Shuyao.
“Ranbao, don’t look at me like that. I’ll think I’m trying to keep you.”
Ye Shuyao lifted her hand and lightly hooked Shi Ran’s chin with her finger, her eyes teasing, her smile bright.
Shi Ran sighed helplessly and said in a soft voice, “Sister, please keep me. I don’t eat much. I’ll serve you well. From now on, Xiao Ranzi is yours~”
It would be a lie to say she wasn’t moved.
Although Ye Shuyao was a rich young lady, she actually lived on an allowance and was almost always broke by the end of the month.
Her family didn’t really see her as anything more than a tool for marriage alliances, so she had little control over her own life.
Even this apartment wasn’t under her name—it would only be transferred after marriage.
No wonder she hadn’t driven recently, and her place looked emptier. She must have sold her car and luxury goods to gather this money.
Shi Ran didn’t say it out loud. First, she assumed Ye Shuyao didn’t have much money either, and her own funds would be enough if managed carefully.
Second, she hadn’t even taken her to see the early apocalypse warning signs yet. She couldn’t let her best friend go broke just because of a “game”—at least not before showing her proof.
But the truth was: she didn’t need to ask, and didn’t need to explain—someone already chose to believe her.
That was nice.
There was still one week until the apocalypse. Their combat training had also come to an end—they didn’t have time to slowly polish skills anymore.
“Mr. Wu, thank you for these past 20 days. I heard from Uncle Ye that the weather has been very unstable recently, and you might not be able to go out. You should stock up on dry food at home.”
Of course, Shi Ran had no actual contact with Ye Shuyao’s father. She only said that to sound more credible.
She couldn’t bring him along, but she hoped he could find his own way out.
“Hahaha, I’m flying abroad tomorrow anyway. I only stayed this long because I took your two girls as students.”
Mr. Wu was no longer as stern as before. Now he looked like a kind, gentle elder.
“You two really surprised me. I’ve never seen students so serious and talented. Most people just learn for fun. I’m very happy working with you. If you ever need anything, feel free to contact me.”
“Then, safe travels. Please take care of your health.”
It was about time. Shi Ran planned to map out the route to S Province with Ye Shuyao.
She hadn’t mentioned it before because Ye Shuyao still treated everything as a game, and she herself needed time to re-read the novel mentally.
She had to strip away the main characters and focus on the environment itself. In this life, she was the protagonist of her own story. The novel’s plot might have nothing to do with her anymore.
Although Y Province did establish a survivor base after the outbreak, the local government reacted slowly, and the early base was poorly constructed with many safety risks.
In the mid-to-late stages of the story, plant mutations in the south spread rapidly. The southernmost evergreen survivor base eventually collapsed completely, forcing people to migrate north.
But China lies in the Northern Hemisphere. Some southern provinces survived the disaster—including the large southern province, S Province.
After the outbreak, the government established a survivor base in its capital, Nancheng City: the Cangsong Base.
Even by the later parts of the novel, it remained the second-largest base in the country. That was Shi Ran’s destination.
Beijing’s base had too many powerful figures, and it was too far from Y Province. The main group in the novel later developed there, and where there were protagonists, there were problems.
She didn’t want random disasters falling on her, an ordinary nobody. After all, she didn’t even know if she would awaken abilities.
She just wanted a stable base, a stable life through the apocalypse, and to survive quietly.
Even though she hadn’t finished the novel and didn’t know if the apocalypse would ever end, people still needed hope.
If life was going to be miserable forever, she might as well just get anesthesia, shove her hand into a zombie’s mouth, and be done with it—no more fear, maybe even some entertainment.
She didn’t plan to go there before the apocalypse began. First, S City was huge, and she didn’t know exactly where the base would be built.
Second, at the beginning of the outbreak, the base wasn’t even established yet. Big cities were crowded and chaotic. They didn’t have enough money to secure a safe place there, and might not even survive until the base was built.
Based on Shi Ran’s incomplete “zombie movie experience,” mobility meant survival. Staying in a city was worse than taking quieter rural routes.
After mapping several routes to Nancheng City in S Province, Shi Ran planned to spend two days testing mountain roads with Ye Shuyao.
This was the shortest and least populated route. If they took the highway directly, getting stuck in traffic would be a death sentence.
She originally planned to show Ye Shuyao the deeper forest if she didn’t believe her. Near the apocalypse, animals in the mountains began mutating under long exposure to cosmic changes, though they were still not strong. With their combat skills and staying in the car, it would be safe.
But now that Ye Shuyao trusted her completely, there was no need to waste time—testing the route at the base of the mountain would be enough.
She remembered the description from the night of May 31st in the novel:
The night was as dark as ink. A blood-red moon hung high in the sky, as if soaked in the blood of countless living beings, radiating an eerie glow.
The earth plunged into sudden darkness. The crimson moonlight covered the entire world, and all life fell into slumber.
The blood moon’s light could not be blocked by anything. It shone upon every living being. When the sun rose the next day, what stood up… would no longer be human.
Nearly half of the world’s population would turn into zombies. Only a very small portion would awaken abilities.
And when ordinary people woke up, they would face a world of destruction—and an almost hopeless escape.