The big pot of dog meat had a thick, fragrant, and spicy broth. James was eating it with great relish, and Noah and Ms. Carol joined in. Before long, the three of them had finished the whole pot.
James wiped his mouth, feeling only about thirty percent full. He remembered the elephant-sized wild boar in the mysterious space and started to drool, thinking, "I'll find a chance to take it out; it should last us at least half a month."
Still hungry, James cooked another mutated dog, eating as he cooked, and finally felt full by midnight.
James's late-night cooking session tormented the residents of Green Garden District. The rich aroma wafted throughout the neighborhood, and eventually, people were opening their windows to curse.
Ignoring the complaints, James cleaned the large iron pot and went to rest. The villa was luxuriously decorated, and the large bed in the bedroom was incredibly comfortable, with an air purification system for the entire house. To be honest, James had never lived in such a nice house in his two lifetimes. He took a bath and fell asleep contentedly.
The next morning, James woke up feeling refreshed. Meanwhile, in a hidden basement in Lakeview City, Henry was on his knees, sobbing, with a dark gun barrel pressed against the back of his head. A slight pull on the trigger could end his life.
"Ethan, I really didn't lie. I don't know where Brother Zhang and the others went," Henry pleaded, completely different from his usual imposing image.
In front of Henry was a young man, smiling as he looked at Henry, his eyes filled with an indescribable strange charm.
Ethan was in a good mood. He had sent out twelve henchmen, none of whom had returned, indicating that James was not simple, which piqued his interest.
As for Henry, he was just a dog, not worth expending any effort on. So Ethan looked at him kindly and said, "It's okay. It's not your fault. You can go."
Henry was overjoyed and scrambled away. Ethan watched Henry's pathetic retreat, slowly raised his pistol, and his finger on the trigger trembled. His eyes flickered with madness and clarity.
After a long struggle, Ethan put down the gun once Henry was out of sight, muttering to himself, "I really want to kill someone."
He looked around the room at the others, who shivered under his gaze, thinking, "The boss must be having another episode."
Henry fled the hidden basement, unwilling to give up. "It doesn't make sense. There were more than ten of us in the afternoon. How could they all disappear without a trace? And I checked later; there were no signs of a fight."
Henry didn't know that James didn't need a fierce battle to kill those people. James had also cleaned up the scene expertly, having done such work many times in his past life. There was no way Henry could find any clues.
"Can't give up. I need to check again," Henry decided and headed towards the warehouse James had rented.
As he approached the warehouse, he saw a luxurious black car parked at the door, with seven or eight people standing outside. The young man in the lead, angry, shouted, "Didn't you say he lives here? Where is he?"
Henry recognized the man immediately. It was Liam, the scion of the Liam's Family, another major family in Lakeview City, comparable to the Wang family but focusing on pharmaceuticals and medical devices instead of real estate and oil.
"Why is he here? Could it be?" Henry's eyes lit up, and he quickly walked over with a fawning smile, "Hello, Mr. Liam."
Liam frowned at Henry. He, of high status, wouldn't stoop to talk to a small-time thug.
Henry noticed Liam's disdain and quickly said, "I'm James's cousin."
Liam's eyes brightened at the mention.
James was having breakfast with his parents when Noah's phone rang. Noah frowned at the caller ID.
It was Tremp calling. Noah thought for a moment and declined the call.
James saw his father's actions and felt happy inside. It seemed his father was completely done with Tremp and didn't want to deal with him anymore.
A while later, Noah's phone rang again, this time from an unknown number. As soon as Noah answered, Tremp started apologizing, "Noah, I was wrong last time. Please don't take it to heart."
Tremp was holding the phone carefully, with Susan and Noah smiling obsequiously at Liam.
Liam smiled lightly. Beside him, several technicians each had a black box filled with various electronic devices. Suddenly, one technician said, "Mr. Liam, we've found it. It's in Building 102 of Green Garden District."
Liam smiled, clapped his hands, and said, "Henry, good job."
He nodded to a middle-aged man who handed two gold bars to Henry, saying, "These are more useful than money nowadays."
Henry's eyes lit up. Under the wartime economy, currency had been abolished, but the value of gold had soared. He thought, "Liam is really generous."
Tremp's eyes shifted, thinking, "I lost everything after selling that shop to Noah. Why not use Liam's influence to scare Noah and get him to take back the shop and give me potions in return?"
Tremp hurried to the middle-aged man and bowed repeatedly, saying, "Should I come with you? My nephew is stubborn, and I might be able to persuade him."
"Oh?" The middle-aged man was about to report this to Liam when Liam said, "Bring them along."
Tremp's eyes lit up with joy.
Meanwhile, James had just drunk the well water and was organizing the fields in the mysterious space. He also took stock of his food supplies, feeling increasingly satisfied.
It had been seven days since the apocalypse began. The water from the mysterious space had grown two batches of rice and wheat, with vegetables like lettuce, cabbage, eggplant, and various herbs being harvested daily. James made a simple inventory:
Rice: Over 2,300 kilograms.
Wheat: Over 1,400 kilograms.
Vegetables: About 100 kilograms.
James knew his family of three couldn't consume all this, and he couldn't reveal it publicly yet.
"Next, I'll go for quality over quantity, reducing the planting scale and increasing the concentration of the well water," James thought.
The first batch of apples from the mysterious space was extremely nutritious, but the quality of subsequent batches declined significantly.
James realized the first batch had been watered with pure well water, while the later ones were watered with diluted well water.
"And this wild boar," James thought. He butchered the boar, collecting its blood to make blood pudding, and separated the meat into parts: trotters, ribs, head meat, intestines, and organs.
"I should have thought of butchering animals in the mysterious space before," James smiled wryly, remembering the effort it took to pluck a mutated duck in the yard before.
After butchering the boar, James went to the garage, closed the door, and put the meat in the freezer.
Suddenly, he heard the screech of tires outside. James frowned, his keen ears catching Tremp's voice.