After I Fully Prepared for the Apocalypse, the Ungrateful Cried with Regret-Chapter 21: The Fifth Day

The main entrance to Donwall Supermarket was shut tight. Nina Jacobs got in through a street-front shop that hadn’t been closed in time.

A lot of floodwater had already seeped into the supermarket.

The water came up past Nina’s ankles, making every step feel like she was wading across a river.

The air was filled with the distinct, acrid stench of the acid rain.

Without even taking off her raincoat, Nina quickly started gathering supplies.

Just as she had discovered on the previous two days, the cash registers at the supermarket’s entrance had all been smashed open, and all the cash inside had been looted.

Nina had also scrolled through many videos over the past two days. Numerous banks and jewelry stores in City D had been hit.

The banks, in particular, were unguarded and had become targets for many criminals, even sparking gang wars.

It was a shame they hadn’t yet realized that paper money had become completely worthless.

The truly valuable things were these unassuming supplies right in front of her.

[Mission "Zero-Dollar Shopping Spree 9" detected as complete. Mission rewards have been distributed.]

An hour later, Nina had finally cleaned out Donwall Supermarket of all its supplies.

She had collected so many supplies today that Nina was getting worried about her 10-square-meter storage space.

’I only have two storage slots left, but after the next system upgrade, the capacity should double,’ Nina calculated.

Aside from the supplies the system tasked her with "rescuing" through the Zero-Dollar Shopping missions, she hadn’t gone after any other supplies in City D.

After all, what she already had was enough to last her for several lifetimes.

Besides, there were still more Zero-Dollar Shopping missions to come.

Thinking of her next destination, Nina got back on her little electric scooter.

Her "Five Senses Enhancement" was very useful on a night of acid rain, and she soon arrived at the Six Paths Crossing Garage.

’No wonder he wasn’t worried about this place flooding.’

Nina had surveyed the surrounding terrain. Although it was a garage, it was an above-ground parking structure and was encircled by a drainage system. It wasn’t surprising it could withstand the period of acid rain.

’But where on earth are their supplies?’

Nina rode a lap around the garage and finally locked her gaze on three tightly sealed iron doors in a corner.

’Found it.’

A smile played on Nina’s lips.

It was an inconspicuous corner, surrounded by piles of unwanted scrap metal. But a closer look revealed sturdy sealing strips installed at the top and bottom of the iron doors.

’It would be great if I had a Gold Element Superpower.’

There were several heavy padlocks on the iron doors, and looking further down, there was also a combination lock.

Although her Fire Element Superpower could melt metal, it was only at the Basic Level right now and didn’t have that kind of power.

And besides these large iron doors, the abandoned garage was practically airtight.

In the end, Nina decided to give up for now.

Liam Grant’s group probably wouldn’t touch the supplies here until they found a suitable Space Superpower User.

She decided it wouldn’t be too late to come back after searching for the right tools and methods over the next couple of days.

...

On the fifth day of the acid rain, the downpour showed no signs of stopping or letting up.

Water from reservoirs and rivers suddenly began to flood back into the cities.

More and more places were being submerged. It wasn’t just City D; water and power outages were occurring one after another all across Drakonia.

To make matters worse, some buildings couldn’t withstand the prolonged corrosion from the acid rain and began to leak or even collapse.

Even the cross-river bridges were corroded by the acid rain, leaving them on the verge of collapse.

The low-lying areas of the city had become uninhabitable. Many people who were unwilling to leave their homes were swept away by the turbulent floodwaters, never to be seen again.

Some of those who had evacuated early were rescued, but most spontaneously fled to higher ground in the city.

Many people seeking refuge had already arrived in the Prosperity Gardens Villa Area.

The government also began urging citizens to help one another, prioritizing survival above all else.

However, only a minority of villa residents were willing to open their doors. After all, by this point, every household’s supplies were starting to run low.

The refugees crowded into the villa area’s gym, children’s playground, and sales office, as well as some empty, above-ground garages.

"Someone’s knocking. Should we open the door or not?"

Vera Coleman was also unsure of what to do.

The acid rain continued to fall outside. On the video doorbell, she could see a dense crowd of people standing outside their gate, wearing raincoats and draped in waterproof tarps.

The group was incessantly ringing the doorbell while pounding on the main gate, looking extremely desperate.

"We shouldn’t open it if we don’t have to."

Daniel Hale said through gritted teeth.

He had seen too many horrifying examples online over the past two days. Vera was pregnant, and he didn’t dare risk helping strangers.

"Okay, I’ll listen to you."

After the incident with Ben Stone and his mother, Vera didn’t dare to be naively kind anymore.

Leo Hale was even more nervous. He was terrified that the bodies of Ben Stone and his mother, which he had buried in the yard, would be discovered. If that happened, his family wouldn’t be able to talk their way out of it, no matter what they said.

Besides, he hadn’t even told Daniel Hale and Vera Coleman about it, mainly because he couldn’t even clearly explain the reason to himself.

"Nina, what do you think?"

Daniel Hale couldn’t help but ask Nina.

In the entire room, only Nina was calmly drinking hot milk and engrossedly scrolling through the news on her phone, as if in her own peaceful world.

In the past, he would have thought Nina was heartless, but after observing her for the past few days, he no longer thought that way at all.

"Let’s just hold out for two more days."

Nina put down her glass of milk, agreeing with Daniel Hale’s idea.

’If they don’t have to open the door, they shouldn’t.’

The people outside had all been exposed to the acid rain to some degree, and she couldn’t guarantee that none of them were infected.

But she also knew they wouldn’t be able to keep the gate shut for long.

The number of people seeking refuge in Prosperity Gardens would only continue to grow.

But because of this, she was beginning to suspect something.

’Why would Liam Grant and his group choose this place as their base?’

’If it were just to avoid the acid rain and for convenient storage, there should be other, safer places in City D.’

’In her opinion, Prosperity Gardens wasn’t safe at all. In a few more days, this place would become a concentrated zombie outbreak point.’

’There was no way Liam Grant and Simon Abbott didn’t understand that.’

’So what was the reason? Could it be that she had overlooked something in her past life?’

"I’m going upstairs to rest."

Nina had already activated her "Five Senses Enhancement." Because the number of refugees in Prosperity Gardens had grown, the sounds she was hearing were too chaotic. She had to find the voices of Liam Grant’s group as quickly as possible.

"Mom, did Nina ever train with any deadly weapons?"

Leo Hale couldn’t help but ask.

Otherwise, he couldn’t make sense of the horrific state of the two bodies.

Vera Coleman shook her head. Nina rarely told her about her personal life; most of what she knew about Nina’s past, she had heard from Nina’s maternal grandmother.

"Why do you ask?"

Vera was puzzled. Thinking back, Nina had never learned kung fu growing up, let alone any weapons. Drakonia didn’t allow deadly weapons to be circulated among civilians.

"Nothing, just asking."

Leo Hale grew even more curious. He decided he had to find a chance to ask Nina and get a clear answer.