Logan carefully examined the "flyer" he had received:
Notice 1:
Due to recent abnormal weather and the disruption of communication with other cities, special measures will be implemented. Starting tomorrow, citizens can go to the area outside Starsea Apartments in the eastern suburbs, bring their ID cards, and line up to register for weekly survival supplies. Those with elderly or children at home can bring their documents and pick up supplies on their behalf. Any attempts to claim extra supplies will result in confiscation and permanent loss of eligibility.
Notice 2:
A shelter will be built in the eastern suburbs of South City. Those who participate in the construction for 100 days will earn a place to live in the shelter. Participants will receive two meals per day and one set of cold-weather clothing per month.
Requirements: Age: 16-45, in good health condition and with no pre-existing disease. Special talents will be prioritized.
Notice 3:
Citizens can earn contribution points by donating construction materials. Accumulating 500 contribution points will secure a shelter spot. Contribution points can also be exchanged for supplies. A detailed list will be posted at Starsea Apartments.
Notice 4:
Starting today, a squad of soldiers will patrol each district with live ammunition. Violence, theft of supplies, and assaults will not be tolerated—violators will be executed on sight.
Logan skimmed through the rest of the official statement, confirming that his earlier suspicions were correct. The government had chosen the eastern suburbs for the shelter site. When he tasked David Lin with scouting land, Logan had noted that the eastern suburbs were one of the few suitable locations for a large shelter.
His safehouse, located in the western outskirts on a small hill, was far from the eastern area. The elevated, secluded location made it unlikely to be affected by any land requisition. This was why Logan had confidently built his base there.
As Logan finished reading, people began emerging from their homes, crowding around the soldiers distributing the flyers.
"Sir! Do you have food? I'm starving!"
"I'm freezing—do you have any extra clothes?"
"Soldier, my child is sick—do you have any medicine?"
The soldiers, overwhelmed by the growing crowd, repeated their explanations,
"We don't have supplies with us. You'll need to go to the eastern suburbs tomorrow to collect them. It's all written on the flyer. Please step aside so we can complete our task."
Upon realizing that the soldiers weren't carrying food or supplies, the crowd grew restless.
"Why are you handing out useless flyers when we're starving here?!"
"If you had come sooner, my father might still be alive! He was only in his sixties..."
"Do you even know what we're going through out here?"
The mob grew larger and more aggressive, refusing to let the soldiers leave without giving something in return.
Bang!
A gunshot echoed through the streets, briefly silencing the crowd. But soon, the tension escalated again as furious shouts erupted. A burly man shoved the soldier who had fired, glaring at him.
"Go ahead, shoot me! Nobody's leaving here unless you hand supplies over. Let's see if you've got the guts to pull the trigger!"
"Yeah!"
"They won't shoot us!"
"Your guns should be aimed at the enemy, not at us!"
The situation was teetering on the edge of chaos.
Logan, standing off to the side, watched the unfolding scene with detached interest. He was curious to see how the military would handle this situation. Given that South City had become one of the largest government-run shelters, its leadership was likely skilled.
Bang!
Another gunshot rang out. The burly man, eyes wide with disbelief, glanced down at his bleeding chest before collapsing to the ground. The crowd fell into stunned silence.
The lead soldier, his expression stern, swept his gaze across the crowd and declared,
"Anyone causing trouble will be shot. If you want supplies, go to the eastern suburbs tomorrow. Now, step aside. And this is the last warning!"
Fear finally set in, and the crowd quickly dispersed.
Logan observed everything quietly. Checking the time, he decided to leave the area along with the retreating crowd. He had gathered enough gold for the storage upgrade and planned to return to his safehouse. Tomorrow, he would head to the eastern suburbs to gather more information about South City's leadership. He needed to understand the people in charge if he was to operate safely in the city.
On his way back, Logan passed through Dragonrest Village and noticed the villagers holding funerals. For the past few days, he had left early and returned late, barely seeing the villagers. Now, from a distance, he saw that almost every household had hung white mourning cloths—a clear sign that many had died.
Given the looming threat of another blizzard, Logan found it baffling that the villagers were still going through proper funerals. He wasn't sure whether to call them ignorant or foolish.
Quickening his pace, Logan returned to his safehouse.
After greeting Max Knight, he took out the gold and precious metals he had collected that day. His heart raced with anticipation—this was it. The moment he had been waiting for.
Taking a deep breath, Logan murmured,
"Upgrade storage space."
The pile of gold jewelry in his hands vanished. Suddenly, a dazzling beam of golden light burst from Logan's forehead, and the Cornucopia interface flickered with strange, garbled symbols, as though malfunctioning.
Startled, Logan stared intently at the changes before him. The last time the Cornucopia had behaved this way was when it absorbed the second ancient coin. His pulse quickened in anticipation.
Max Knight, witnessing this spectacle, was utterly bewildered. Though it had grown accustomed to Logan's ability to make objects appear and disappear at will, this glowing phenomenon was new. Mouth agape, Max Knight drooled uncontrollably, too stunned to notice. Its eyes were filled with admiration as it gazed at Logan.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the Cornucopia interface stabilized, revealing:
[Cornucopia]
[Storage Space (Complete): The storage volume will expand as the user's source energy increases. Live organisms can now be stored.]
[Function: Item Replication 381]
[Required Wealth Points for Upgrade: 1.24 million]
"Live organisms... can be stored?"
Logan skimmed over the first part, but his attention was fixated on those five crucial words: Live organisms can now be stored. He immediately grasped the significance.
Without wasting time, Logan inspected the storage space with his mind. The sight that greeted him was vast—an endless expanse. The items inside appeared minuscule in comparison.
The nearly ten thousand containers he had collected from the port, which once filled about one-third of the space, now occupied only a tiny corner. After upgrading the storage four times the previous day, those containers had shrunk to a mere fraction of the space.
But now, the entire storage seemed to have been divided into two distinct areas. One side remained a vacuum-like zone, while on the other, a football-field-sized stretch of land had materialized!