Pain, too much pain!
The excruciating agony spread through Ethan's entire body.
This was not just a sensation; it was the harsh reality happening to him. At this moment, he was being greedily dismembered by friends and neighbors whom he had once trusted and helped.
In this post-apocalyptic world, where resources were scarce, they did not hesitate to turn on him, despite his past assistance, and raised their knives against him.
As he hovered between life and death, he vaguely saw Raina, the woman he had adored, standing at the back of the crowd, looking pitifully as she shouted with all her might,"I told him to open the door! You have to save me a piece of his ribs for soup!"
It was this very woman who had deceived Ethan into opening the door, leading to his demise. He gazed at her, his eyes filled with hatred and regret.
He could only blame himself for being too naive and kind, which led to his becoming food for others in this apocalyptic world. How he wished he could start over again. If given the chance, he would show no mercy to anyone and live solely for himself.
Ethan soon lost consciousness, his vision turning black. But in the next instant, his eyes snapped open, and he sat up from the couch.
The hellish scene and the terrible pain he had just experienced were vivid in his mind. He was gasping for breath, his body drenched in sweat.
"What's going on? Didn't those beastly neighbors kill me?"
After regaining his senses, Ethan began to examine his surroundings. This place was familiar; it was his own home. The comfortable temperature in the air, however, surprised him.
Because, in December 2050, the Blue Planet was hit by a global Hamburgh Storm caused by a supernova explosion 500,000 light-years away. Global temperatures plummeted, and in Tianhai City, where Ethan lived, daily temperatures dropped to around minus sixty or seventy degrees. Snowstorms raged for a month, submerging the entire city.
It was said that in the northern part of China, the temperature even reached a terrifying minus one hundred and more, burying the land under ice and snow. A large number of species went extinct, and over ninety-five percent of the human population perished in this disaster.
Ethan stood up, took a bottle of water from the refrigerator, and drank half of it. Although the chilled water was cold, to him, it was like nectar.
During the apocalypse, the only way to get water was to go outside, risking the extreme cold of minus sixty or seventy degrees, to dig up snow and melt it. Such a task often resulted in freezing to death.
After drinking the water, Ethan checked his phone. It showed the date: November 12th. There was still exactly one month before the end of the world.
"Looks like I've been reborn," Ethan breathed deeply, quickly understanding what had happened. That month of experience couldn't have been a dream, especially the pain of being dissected, which felt too real.
With a sense of relief, Ethan lifted his head, but a fierce glint flashed in his eyes. He remembered clearly those who had killed him. In this life, he was determined to survive, and he would show no kindness to those beasts. Moreover, while ensuring his own safety, he must take his revenge on them.
However, right now, Ethan first needed to consider how to survive the coming apocalypse. His living conditions were relatively good. His parents had passed away early, leaving him a 120-square-meter apartment in Tianhai City. He also had savings of over two million, which was quite ample in normal times.
But with the arrival of the apocalypse, the world would face a severe shortage of supplies. The money in his hand wouldn't last long. To survive alone, he needed an enormous amount of resources. With the opportunity to prepare in advance, Ethan not only wanted to survive but also hoped to maintain a certain quality of life, including food and entertainment, to prevent mental breakdown over time. Additionally, weapons and equipment were essential to protect himself and carry out his revenge.
At this moment, a white light appeared before Ethan's eyes. Thinking his right eye was playing tricks on him, he rubbed it. Suddenly, a strange thought emerged in his mind. It seemed the white light was a part of him, and information about the light appeared in his mind.
With a thought, Ethan's consciousness entered the white light. Inside, he found a vast, blank space."Is this... another dimension?""It seems I've gained some special abilities after my rebirth." Ethan was delighted. The gamma rays must have mutated his body, granting him extraordinary powers. With this immense space, storing supplies for the apocalypse would be much easier.
However, Ethan wanted to know the exact capacity of this space and whether there were any limitations on the objects it could store. His consciousness instantly returned to his room, and he began experimenting by placing household items into the space.
He started with smaller items like a teacup and a washbasin, which were easily absorbed. Then, he tried larger appliances: a color TV, refrigerator, washing machine, computer, air conditioner, and vacuum cleaner. The white space accepted everything without discrimination. Moreover, with just a thought, Ethan could retrieve anything from within the space.
However, objects that were subject to strong external forces or not standalone, such as trying to extract a piece of flooring from the ground, did not respond at all."It seems that this otherworldly space has many rules that I need to figure out gradually," he mused."But even just the ability to store a vast amount of resources in this space is incredible!"
His mind raced with a bold plan. As a supervisor at the Walmart South regional warehouse, Ethan was well aware of the massive inventory that Walmart, the world's largest supermarket, held. Walmart had three gigantic warehouses: Central, South, and North. Among them, the South China warehouse, built in 2040, was particularly impressive. It was 1500 meters long, 720 meters wide, covering over a million square meters, and hailed as the world's largest warehouse, even being called the eighth wonder of the world by the president of Walmart Greater . While there are only seven recognized wonders of the world, the self-proclaimed eighth wonder was a testament to the warehouse's sheer size and storage capacity, capable of supplying several cities with millions of people for a week.
Ethan realized that if he could empty one of these warehouses and transfer its contents to his space, he would have more than enough resources to last him not just a lifetime, but ten lifetimes! And given Walmart's strict quality control, the goods stored were reputable brands, from food to luxury items. Clearing out a Walmart warehouse would mean not only securing supplies for the impending apocalypse but also living very comfortably.
As a warehouse supervisor, Ethan knew every shelf, surveillance system, and staff schedule inside out, making the task of clearing the warehouse not a difficult one. With his mind made up, he felt much more at ease. Just then, his stomach growled, reminding him of the Huangmen chicken rice he had bought. After a moment's hesitation, he chuckled and decided against eating the takeout."With the end of the world just a month away, I should savor the delicious foods while I still can. Why be so frugal now?" He had endured cold and hunger for a month and craved something warm and tasty. Money would be worthless after the apocalypse, so why not spend it now? With that, Ethan turned and headed for a high-end restaurant he had always hesitated to visit, ready to treat himself to a sumptuous meal.