With the gun deal essentially in motion, Leo Zane finally felt a weight lift off his chest.
In the apocalypse, having one of those things on hand—whether facing humans or monsters—meant serious confidence.
The next morning, Leo packed up the essentials from his home into his dimensional storage.
Since his house was about to undergo a complete transformation into a secure fortress, he planned to temporarily move into a hotel.
At dawn, three black vans rolled into the Yuelu Residential Complex.
Dozens of uniformed workers from Zhanlong Security Company climbed out and began surveying Leo's house for measurements and construction plans.
Naturally, the neighbors were watching with nosy curiosity.
"Is Leo Zane losing it lately? What the hell is he doing now?"
"I saw him at the supermarket the other day," one coworker laughed, "pushing three shopping carts full of food!"
"Ha! He actin' like it's the end of the world or something. All that food's gonna expire before he even eats it."
"Probably cracked in the head."
No one really took Leo seriously. To them, he was just some lunatic prepping for a fantasy apocalypse.
Even Fang Yuqing and Lin Caining thought he had gone off the deep end.
Caining rolled her eyes. "Now it makes sense why he went to that Michelin 3-star restaurant. He's clearly out of his mind."
Fang Yuqing frowned, visibly annoyed.
She remembered how she'd gone out of her way to help Leo push those heavy supplies back home, nearly twisting her ankles—and for what? She felt like a fool.
"What is he up to anyway?" she muttered.
Caining, still hopeful, added, "He did say he'd treat us to a fancy dinner… I hope he didn't forget!"
She had her heart set on that Michelin meal.
But Fang Yuqing sneered. "Forget it. The guy's obviously unhinged. Even if he did invite me now, I wouldn't go."
"I'd die of embarrassment if someone saw me dining with him."
She still had plans to land herself a rich husband—no way was she going to ruin her reputation hanging around a lunatic.
Caining pouted but didn't argue.
Leo, on the other hand, couldn't care less what the neighbors thought.
In a month, they'd see who the real fool was.
He hopped in his car and drove to the Walmart distribution center, located in the Tianhai Economic Development Zone, a cheaper area on the outskirts of the city.
A lot of major corporations had their warehouses there, including pharmaceutical companies—
a bonus for Leo, who would eventually need to score some high-grade emergency meds.
Upon arrival, Leo clocked in as usual.
As the warehouse supervisor, Leo was intimately familiar with every inch of the facility.
He knew the layout like the back of his hand—every shelf, every storage room, every item.
Before, this place used to bore him to tears.
But today, standing amid towering stacks of goods worth hundreds of millions of dollars, Leo felt nothing but exhilaration.
Soon, all of this would be his.
As Walmart's South China master warehouse, this facility held an unimaginable amount of supplies.
There were tens of thousands of crates of Coca-Cola alone.
The entire compound spanned millions of square feet, packed to the brim with food, clothing, tools, and household items.
Beyond the basics, there were also cars, drones, diesel generators, and drums of gasoline.
If a product could legally be sold in a supermarket, you'd find it here.
Leo had worked here for years and could tell you exactly what was stored where.
He also knew the camera angles, blind spots, and shift schedules like the back of his hand.
While the warehouse was outfitted with strict surveillance, Leo knew all its vulnerabilities.
He could shut down the entire security system in under ten minutes.
Once that was done, he could use his dimensional ability to clear out the entire place.
But he wasn't rushing.
There was still time. No need to tip anyone off just yet.
After scouting the warehouse, Leo stepped out and walked over to the Raining Pharmaceutical Company warehouse next door.
Since the companies shared the same industrial zone, Leo was already familiar with the staff there.
He lit up a premium Yellow Crane Tower cigarette and sought out a guy named Zhou Hairun, one of the warehouse managers.
Everyone knew Zhou had an inside deal—his brother-in-law was a vice president at Raining Pharma.
And yeah, Zhou was one of those warehouse rats who skimmed products on the side to make an extra buck.
Leo casually chatted him up, then slowly steered the conversation toward business.
"I'm looking for a few crates of emergency-use medicine," Leo said carefully.
Zhou raised an eyebrow, hesitant at first.
But when Leo offered to pay double market price, Zhou's resistance melted.
In the end, they struck a deal—five crates of top-tier pharmaceuticals for $420,000.
With that settled, Leo now had just about everything he needed to survive the apocalypse.
With less than a month left before the world fell apart, he couldn't be bothered to keep working.
So he walked into his manager's office, spun a heartfelt story about a distant uncle's funeral in his hometown, and asked for a 20-day leave.
Leo was known to be a good guy, and his relationship with the manager was solid.
He got the time off with no trouble at all.
Now he could kick back in a five-star hotel and wait for everything to fall into place:
the safehouse construction, the arrival of his supplies, and the final countdown to doomsday.
As he left the office, he happened to spot Fang Yuqing bending over by the coffee machine.
Leo had to admit—she really knew how to flaunt it.
Even something as simple as pouring coffee became a seductive dance.
Her little performance didn't go unnoticed either—
a group of hormone-charged office dogs gathered around, hoping to score points.
One guy in particular caught Leo's eye—Zhou Peng, a smug bastard waving Jay Chou concert tickets as he flirted with Fang Yuqing.
Leo knew the guy well—they lived in the same complex.
In fact, Zhou Peng had been one of Fang Yuqing's most loyal simps.
In Leo's past life, he'd even played a role in Leo's downfall.