The days were getting darker and darker.
At 10:30 in the morning, it was still dim outside. Zhou Lin got up, ate something quickly, and was about to leave when Ai Bing called out to him.
"I have a friend coming this afternoon. I might need to go into the city."
Zhou Lin stopped, wondering if it could be Tang Yili. That sycophant must be crazy to chase after her in these times.
"I have plans this afternoon."
"No worries, you don't know each other anyway. I'll go alone. By the way, didn't you say you have a Conqueror at home?"
"Conqueror... yes," Zhou Lin nodded. "It's not convenient to park here. Why do you ask?"
"I just want to see it. Can our family really afford a car worth millions?"
Zhou Lin's family was well-off, but not to that extent.
"It wasn't that expensive at the time. I'll bring it back in a few days."
Although there was a Conqueror parked in the Lifebuoy's hangar, it was a stolen car. Ai Bing's words reminded Zhou Lin that he should check out the city, visit car dealerships, rental agencies, and even used car lots. He might find something valuable.
After the apocalypse, human industrial civilization was essentially doomed. Even if some industrial production remained, the priority would be food, then medicine. Cars would become scarce and highly valuable.
But buying cars was expensive, and Jiazhou didn't have many imported cars or manufacturing plants. He could only rely on retailers.
"Brother, are you out of your mind? After the apocalypse, you could find hundreds of cars just by walking down the street. There must be plenty of good cars in nearby garages. Why take the risk now?" Zhou Li bluntly criticized Zhou Lin when he discussed it with her in Lanshan.
Indeed, highly intelligent people often have low emotional intelligence. With Zhou Li's personality, she wouldn't survive long in someone else's hands.
"You're overthinking it. I know how to survive. I've learned to endure humiliation and hardship..."
"Stop!"
Zhou Lin covered his face in pain. "Fine, I'll listen to you. Have you checked your list with Mom? What's missing?"
"Weapons and some medicines we can't buy."
To Zhou Li, these were the most troublesome items.
Weapons were hard to come by, and medicines, though seemingly ordinary, were difficult to purchase in large quantities without proper channels. The government had been secretly controlling them, and pharmacies had very few available.
"Tell Mom to buy more Chinese herbs. I have Western medicine covered."
The Lifebuoy had a small hospital with everything from medicines to advanced imaging equipment. Zhou Lin wasn't worried at all.
"We won't have time to replace all the windows," Zhou Li said regretfully.
Unlike installing security doors, multi-layered insulated glass needed to be custom-made and installed with large cranes, which wasn't feasible now.
"Let's seal them up. There's no sunlight anyway, and it prevents people from seeing inside."
With a complete ventilation system, Zhou Lin thought sealing the windows was better.
"Okay, the materials are on the platform. Should we hire workers or do it ourselves?" Zhou Li was eager, but Zhou Lin thought they should focus on storing water today.
The Lifebuoy had a large supply of drinking water and a complete water recycling system. Though recycled water wasn't great for drinking, it was fine for other uses. Zhou Lin didn't want to reveal the Lifebuoy's existence early on to avoid trouble.
Storing water on their rooftop would not only be discreet but also provide insulation.
Cheng Yali had bought many building materials and tools at Zhou Li's request, most of which were on the rooftop. Setting up inflatable pools for water storage required some clearing. Zhou Lin had to stay and help.
As Zhou Lin cleared space, Zhou Li set up inflatable pools, inflating them and filling them with water.
Jiazhou was surrounded by water, and the water pressure on the 18th floor was decent. With multiple hoses, they could fill ten tons of water in a few hours.
If not for a call from Cheng Yali, Zhou Lin might have worked on the rooftop until dark.
There was a robbery at the logistics park.
Though Cheng Yali wasn't robbed, several people were, and warehouses were broken into. Cheng Yali was nervous and called Zhou Lin.
"I'm coming right away."
Worried about her safety, Zhou Lin told Cheng Yali to lock herself in the warehouse and shoot if necessary.
But Zhou Lin never expected to be blocked just three minutes from the logistics park!
On the road, broken cars had been dragged to squeeze the eight-lane road into a single lane. Clearly, people were hiding behind the cars, ready to attack anyone who slowed down.
There were other routes, but they required a long detour.
Thinking quickly, Zhou Lin put on a military uniform and placed his gun at the window.
Though it wasn't a Chinese uniform, the dim light and chaotic times made it hard for anyone to tell.
Whether it was the uniform or the gun, Zhou Lin passed through the "artificial passage" without any obstruction or attack.
"Mom, it's me."
Zhou Lin called out loudly as he opened the warehouse door, afraid of being shot by his mother.
"You're finally here." Cheng Yali stood up from behind a pile of bags. Zhou Lin couldn't help but laugh. "Mom, could you hide better? Do you think that bag can cover you?"
"You didn't notice, did you?" Cheng Yali retorted.
"How could I not see you standing there?" Zhou Lin laughed.
"There wasn't a better place. Besides, I have a gun." Cheng Yali waved her weapon before holstering it. "See? This is the empire your mom built for you. It's all yours now!"
"Long live the Empress Dowager!" Zhou Lin joked and quickly started storing the supplies in his space.
The storage space for symbiotic vehicles was limited, shaped to fit the vehicle. But Zhou Lin found a loophole: the aircraft carrier's flight deck.
Since the deck had planes on it, the storage space included a seven-meter-high area above the deck. With a deck area of 19,827 square meters, that meant 138,000 cubic meters of space, equivalent to over 1,700 standard containers!
"Almost done."
Looking at the remaining scattered supplies, Zhou Lin chewed a chocolate bar and told Cheng Yali to leave. He was going to set the fire.