Apocalypse Star House Hoarding

Chapter 117

To Gou Yaoyang’s surprise, the evacuation meeting didn’t go smoothly at the start.

Several people who had been added to the group fell silent when they heard that evacuation was on the agenda and that the plan was to leave the city soon. These people were from another neighborhood. Everyone wanted to evacuate, but they all thought it wouldn’t be happening so soon.

People tend to be lazy, especially when faced with something so difficult and full of unknown dangers.

There were many reasons for not wanting to evacuate immediately: too much stuff at home, it wasn’t possible to take everything at once, the roads in the city were severely damaged, cars couldn’t run, and relying on human power alone, how much could they carry? There were air-dropped supplies in the city; if something really urgent happened, the rescue team would still come, so why rush to leave?

Most importantly, where could they go that was guaranteed to be better than S City? The plant and animal mutations were a global disaster. They feared that after enduring so much to reach another place, the situation there would also deteriorate soon.

This group had originally been created by Xu Yan. After he added a few people, they had added others.

He didn’t try to convince them; he simply confirmed with each person whether they really didn’t want to leave immediately. After receiving affirmative replies, he removed them from the group one by one.

Time was pressing, and he didn’t want to mediate. He also didn’t want people who were indecisive to affect the mood of the others in the group.

He knew that the situation in the city was still manageable. Although there had been a termite crisis in the building the previous day, it had been resolved quickly. Some people’s reluctance to leave was understandable.

He just didn’t want to waste time on people who weren’t committed. In the end, only ten people remained in the group: from Yu Xi’s neighborhood, it was Yu Xi, Xu Yan, the Gou brothers, Chen Tong, Ma Tiantian, and Xia Xuan. From the other neighborhood, there were fewer: Lu Bin, Zheng Feng, Xiao Zheng, and Manager Huang.

Of course, the families of these individuals were also included in the evacuation plans.

To avoid chaos with everyone speaking at once in the WeChat group, Xu Yan decided to arrange a video meeting after confirming the remaining participants’ availability.

After this screening, the people left in the group were the ones who had made up their minds. The meeting was productive and efficient.

First on the agenda was the evacuation destination.

In addition to the suburban guesthouse near H City that Xu Yan had previously mentioned, two other possible locations had been confirmed through phone calls.

One was a resort that Chen Tong and her husband had visited before, located on the outskirts of S City. The advantage was its proximity: about an hour and a half’s drive from S City, assuming normal road conditions. Additionally, the resort had a large area, plenty of accommodation, and excellent living conditions. Since it was in the suburbs, it had a lot of greenery, and surprisingly, the plant mutations hadn’t invaded the buildings there much.

The downside was that the place was very large, and mutated animals often climbed over the fences, making it not very safe. Plus, there weren’t many resources around. The resort still charged a high fee to stay, mainly because of its proximity to S City, which meant there was no shortage of refugees.

The other option was a place suggested by Manager Huang, similar to Xu Yan’s guesthouse idea but run privately by one of her friends.

This guesthouse had its own greenhouse and small-scale farming operations, more like a farm stay, located in the suburbs of N City, which was on the way to H City.

The advantage of this place was that the situation in N City and H City was still relatively stable. Most of the residents had stayed in the cities, and the business of the farm stay was less affected. Moreover, the owner and Manager Huang were friends, so the accommodation fees were much lower.

The area had originally been ecologically good, and after the mutations, the surrounding environment had remained relatively unchanged. The vegetables and animals raised there had mutated to varying degrees, but they were still edible.

Although occasionally mutated animals would wander into the farm stay, the villagers had experience dealing with them and had begun setting up homemade traps. Some had even caught mutated wild rabbits, and one person, feeling brave, roasted one and ate it with no ill effects.

This showed that not all mutated animals were harmful, and not all exterminations would have negative consequences. It seemed that there was a balancing line between humans and mutated plants and animals, and some people had already begun to understand the rules of this balance.

The drawbacks of the farm stay were similar to those of the resort: low safety, no nearby stores, and difficulty in resupplying. It was far from S City, and even in peaceful times, it would take several hours to drive there; now, it was even harder to say. Even if they had planned the route in advance, it could be completely disrupted along the way.

In the end, everyone voted and chose the guesthouse with the vegetable garden and small farming operations among the three destinations. Since they had already decided to leave S City, they couldn’t just stay in the suburbs. This guesthouse was in the outskirts of N City, not far from the guesthouse Xu Yan had mentioned, and in case of emergency, there was a backup evacuation point.

Therefore, their next step was to scout out the route out of the city and get vehicles.

Most of the roads in the city were in ruins, destroyed by plants, but there was one type of vehicle that could navigate even the toughest terrain.

Yu Xi lightly used her Tang sword to push aside the tall grass in front of her, revealing a plant with inflorescence at the top, mixed in with ordinary grass. This plant, temporarily named “tuft grass,” had inflorescence-like fluff that, when touched or disturbed, rapidly dispersed and stuck to the body, causing intense itching and stinging.

Even mutated animals and most insects struggled to resist this sting, but for humans, wearing protective gear and a mask could shield them from the tuft grass.

Compared to the other two routes, which required detours, traveling through this area was clearly better. First, because the tuft grass kept mutated animals at bay, and second, because it was closer.

Yu Xi gestured for the group to follow, and Lu Bin walked ahead with her. Yu Feng and Fan Qi followed closely behind, then Xu Yan, Xiao Zhang, Xia Xuan, and Manager Huang, with Xiao Zheng, Chen Tong, and Gou Yaoyang bringing up the rear.

It was somewhat surprising to everyone that Yu Xi’s entire family was participating, considering that other families only sent one person. But Yu Xi explained that since they had decided to evacuate, they would eventually have to leave the concrete building, so it was better to start adapting early. Moreover, her parents, who were provincial martial arts champions, were far from weak. It was probably genetic—they were quite strong.

Could they not be strong? They had each taken two strength pills, and their basic strength was already at level 225, more than twice that of an average person. Plus, Yu Xi made sure to constantly monitor their physical training. After returning from the acid rain world, she had even started teaching them self-defense and fighting techniques.

At this point, Yu Feng and Fan Qi were each capable of taking on two opponents; their only lack was practical experience.

They were going out to acquire an all-terrain vehicle, and Yu Xi joined them purely for the exercise. However, before they left, she repeatedly reminded them that she had confirmed their use of teleportation rights. In case of a life-or-death situation, they were to forget everything and immediately use teleportation to return to Star House.

Even if others would be shocked, research it, or even spread the word, it didn’t matter. They could hide in Star House for a while or use its newly unlocked “Scene Change” feature, available after the second upgrade. She had confirmed with the system that the feature cost 100 Star Coins per activation, essentially a package version of the Star House reset function.

When resetting Star House, they could choose its new location. The “Scene Change” feature, as the name suggested, allowed Star House to randomly change locations. After activation, it would move both the house and its inhabitants to any location that met the reset criteria. Each location would be randomly chosen and stay for a month, with a total of three different locations.

The reset range covered the entire G Blue Star.

“So, this is the safe teleportation version of Up,” Yu Xi had jokingly summarized to the system.

Then, she sensed a certain emotion from the system—one that was different from the mechanical indifference it usually exhibited. It seemed as though the system had returned to its original state.

This subtle feeling was hard to explain, but Yu Xi could discern the extremely fine differences within it.

Having the teleportation option back to Star House made Yu Xi bold enough to bring her parents along.

Their destination was the car sales district located beneath the elevated highway, where many car dealerships and 4S stores were located. Among them was a very ordinary Jeep dealership, which also did custom all-terrain vehicles (UTVs).

These all-terrain vehicles weren’t military-grade off-road vehicles but were instead the type of vehicles with four wheels, a frame, and a roof—UTVs, which were specifically designed for outdoor adventure. In S City, there were a few large parks with dedicated tracks for these vehicles, where you could cross dirt mounds, climb hills, drive through puddles, or go into deserts and snowfields. Essentially, they could handle all types of terrain.

Xu Yan had obviously prepared for this from the beginning. After kicking out the indecisive people from the group, he mentioned the all-terrain vehicles and stated that the owner of the dealership was his friend. He had previously invested in an all-terrain vehicle adventure center in one of S City’s parks, which was how he got to know the owner.

He knew that the dealership’s warehouse had these vehicles, which was why they planned this operation.

The car sales district wasn’t too far from their two communities, about an hour and a half on foot. The group put on full protective suits and gathered their weapons. They fought off mutated mosquitoes, earthworms, and encountered mutated frogs and snakes mid-fight. The most dangerous part was accidentally disturbing a nest of hornets. They only managed to escape after using up all the insecticide.

Luckily, in the city, these were the most common types of bugs. Once they got used to it, the protective suits could block most of the bugs’ attacks, which was very reliable.

After almost two hours, they finally saw the elevated highway entangled with vines, hidden among the dense forest. There were no residential buildings nearby, and the area around the highway was sparsely populated with trees, most of them covered in the same vine-like plants, making it look much emptier than other places.

They walked across the moss-covered road and finally arrived at their destination.

Another twenty minutes later, they found the car dealership Xu Yan had mentioned, hidden among the trees. They bypassed the showroom at the front, brushed through the overgrown wild grass, and headed straight for the back warehouse.

“Where’s the owner of this dealership?” someone asked.

“He’s dead,” Xu Yan replied directly. “He died during the first plant and animal mutation.”

“Then are we just going to take the cars and leave, or are we going to do like last time at the supermarket, and transfer money through our phones? I checked, these kinds of cars aren’t cheap, they cost at least 100,000 to 200,000,” Lu Bin asked. He had just graduated, and his sense of moral responsibility was strong.

“No need for that much,” Xu Yan answered. “Wholesale price is 75,000 per vehicle. Just transfer the money to me.” In response to the surprised looks from the group, he continued, “These cars were ordered for my adventure center. It was a newly invested project, but the apocalypse came before the vehicles even made it to the facility.”

As the group absorbed this, just then, someone’s phone rang. Xu Yan pulled out his phone and saw a WeChat notification from Yu Xi—she had transferred 200,000 yuan.

He quickly calculated the price, then realized, “You want to buy three vehicles.”

“Two vehicles,” Yu Xi corrected him, “This vehicle only has two seats, three people would be too cramped. Plus, due to the current situation, the value of the all-terrain vehicles has gone up, so I’ve sent you 200,000.”

Hearing the conversation between the two, the others realized that within such a short time, Yu Xi had already legally purchased two all-terrain vehicles.

However, given that last time at the supermarket she had swiped a six-figure sum, it seemed understandable that she would do the same again. People couldn’t help but marvel at how someone so young could be so good at making money. In a time when resources were scarce and only money was flowing out, she was still spending so freely.

“Aunt Fan, you’re really fortunate, your daughter is so capable!”

Fan Qi immediately thought of the box full of diamonds, gold, and jade that her daughter had shown her once. She chuckled awkwardly. “This child used to live alone. After the earthquake, she sold her apartment and moved back home. At least we can hold on for a while.”

Xu Yan put his phone away, pried open the warehouse door, and then took out a stack of printed purchase contracts to show the others. He once again confirmed that he wasn’t lying, and these vehicles were indeed purchased by him.

He didn’t expect everyone to pay him back. Originally, these vehicles were of no use to him alone, and if not for this opportunity, they would probably stay in the warehouse forever.

However, except for Yu Xi, each household could only have one vehicle, as there were only ten all-terrain vehicles available. Everyone in these two communities had a bit of money, so others wanted to buy as well, but with only ten vehicles, Xu Yan and Xiao Zhang counted as one household, though Xu Yan clearly intended for each of them to drive one, which would allow for more space to store luggage.

With two vehicles already bought by the Yu family, the remaining vehicles would be distributed one per household. Even if others wanted to pay for more, there were no more available.

At this point, having one vehicle per household was already good enough. Even though the vehicles only had two seats, their large rear racks and legroom made it possible to transport luggage, and no one was concerned about the passenger limit in these circumstances.

Finally, everyone searched for gasoline containers, repair tools, spare tires, and other necessities. After distributing what they found among the vehicles, everyone eagerly got into the all-terrain vehicles and headed back to the community.

They didn’t want to delay any longer. Primarily, they were concerned that others might notice and want to take the vehicles, so they had already spent the past few days preparing their belongings. Before heading to the car dealership, they had also reviewed the route, so they managed to return to the community before noon. They didn’t plan to stop and were preparing to leave immediately.

The all-terrain vehicles were driven straight into the underground garage. Half of the group went upstairs first to unlock the elevators and head to their respective homes to retrieve their luggage and bring their families. The other half stayed behind to guard the vehicles.

All the actions were discussed in detail beforehand, so everyone moved with great coordination.

Even so, the other residents in the building noticed the movement of those leaving. While most people didn’t want to leave and were too scared to do so, seeing that some key figures, like Yu Xi, Xu Yan, and the Gou brothers, were leaving, it caused panic among the others.

In this chaotic situation, when things were out of control, the reactions were often accompanied by moral guilt-tripping, especially from the residents of the 13th floor, who had been affected by the recent termite crisis.

Although they had temporarily moved to another unit, it wasn’t their own home, and they had been affected by the 14th-floor residents. The past few days had been difficult, and now Xu Yan and the others preparing to leave acted as a trigger, finally setting off the bomb.