Chapter 2: Coming to Borrow Grain

Chapter 2: Chapter 2: Coming to Borrow Grain

The apartment the two sisters rented wasn’t large; it was a two-bedroom suite with a living room, kitchen, and bathroom.

Mengde lived in the room next to theirs.

His room wasn’t large, but it was Mengde’s only home in this big city.

Luckily, Mengde usually cooked for himself to save money, so he had a good amount of food stored up.

He still had staples like rice and noodles, vegetables like potatoes, napa cabbage, and tomatoes, and even some meat.

It wasn’t a huge amount, but if he ate sparingly, it would be no problem to last for more than ten days.

’Oh right, and water!’

In the apocalypse, a person could survive for seven days without food, but without water, they’d be dead in three days at most.

Mengde guessed that the tap water would be shut off within a few days.

At this thought, Mengde immediately filled every container in the apartment with water.

He even filled the bathtub the sisters used for showering.

When a person is starving and dying of thirst, who cares what kind of water it is!

As long as it can save your life, it’s holy water!

’Besides, water used by a Goddess...’

’Okay, that’s a little twisted...’

Once all the containers were full, Mengde plugged in his several power banks and his phone, not even sparing his laptop.

Electricity is also a scarce resource in the apocalypse!

After he finished everything, he suddenly remembered something.

’It seems the sisters in the next room don’t have a habit of stocking up on food.’

...

Just as Mengde had thought, after a night of rest, the two sisters had finally accepted the reality that the apocalypse had arrived.

But when they took stock of their situation, they suddenly discovered a serious problem—their food wouldn’t last long at all!

It made sense. Neither of the sisters was the domestic type; they were the kind who’d never had to do a lick of hard work.

The older sister, Chen Jiayi, was a career-driven professional. She was always in a rush heading to work and sometimes had to work overtime. She never had time to cook and almost always ate out.

Or she would order delivery. As a delivery driver, Mengde had delivered food to the sisters more than once.

The younger sister, Chen Jiayao, was still a student. She only came back on weekends and usually didn’t live here.

On top of that, she was a dance major and had to be especially mindful of her figure. She had to be careful with any food that was even slightly rich, so buying things like rice, noodles, or other vegetables was out of the question.

The only food they’d ever bought were a few cucumbers...

And they only bought those for their skincare routine; otherwise, they wouldn’t even have had that.

Fortunately, the sisters liked to eat snacks and had bought quite a few, but it was at most a one or two-day supply. It wouldn’t last long at all.

"Sis, are we... are we not going to make it until help arrives?"

Realizing their predicament, Chen Jiayao looked at her older sister, dejected.

Yesterday, they had received a text message on their phones telling them to stay home and wait for rescue. This was a major reason they were able to compose themselves overnight.

After all, it gave them hope.

But since that text, there had been no further information about a rescue.

They had tried calling the police, but the line wouldn’t connect.

They thought they would wait and see after waking up, but when they checked this morning, their brand new Fruit 999 phone had no signal at all.

This meant they might have already lost contact with the outside world.

Chen Jiayi pressed her lips together and didn’t speak.

’It’s not just a matter of rescue anymore. The bigger question is whether we can even hold out that long!’

’Go out and look for food?’

Chen Jiayi immediately dismissed the idea.

She remembered the scene she had witnessed yesterday. A grown man had been devoured completely. If the two of them went out...

’It’s not realistic for me to go out alone either. But if I could trade my life for my sister’s safety, it would be worth it.’

’The problem is, even if I ran into one of those terrifying zombies, I’d be helpless. There’s no way I could bring food back.’

As the older sister, Chen Jiayi was well aware of their situation, but she forced a smile onto her face.

"Don’t worry, help will come. I’ll make sure you survive. Here, have some snacks for now."

Although she felt pessimistic, she still wanted to give her sister hope.

"If it really comes down to it, I’ll go ask Mengde to lend us some."

"Once this disaster is over, we’ll pay him back double."

Hearing her sister’s words, Chen Jiayao gave a sweet smile.

"Mhm, Brother Mengde is so nice, I’m sure he’ll be willing to lend us some."

Chen Jiayi fondly patted her sister’s head and pushed all the snacks toward her.

"Good girl, eat up..."

.............

「Two days passed in a flash. It was now the third day of the apocalypse!」

Mengde had been living quite comfortably these past few days. With no work to go to and no need to hustle for loose change, he felt more relaxed than ever before.

He still had a lot of food left. If he ate sparingly, he could easily last a week.

Mengde hadn’t been wasting his time these past few days.

Instead, he was actively familiarizing himself with the apocalyptic beginner’s gift package awarded by the System!

"System, open my panel!"

As soon as he spoke, a virtual panel called the "Goddess Catalog System" appeared before his eyes.

[Host: Mengde]

[Illuminated Goddesses: 0]

[Equipment: Desert Eagle Handgun x1 (Infinite Ammo), Tang Blade x1 (Mastery)]

[Skills: Viral Immunity (Can provide immunity to zombie viruses up to one tier higher than the host)]

[Superpower Level: Not yet broken through (Body has been enhanced by a Body Fortification Agent. Physical fitness has been raised to peak human levels. The next step is to break through human limits and awaken a Superpower to become a Tier One Superpower User.)]

Looking at his attribute panel, Mengde was very satisfied.

The handgun, Tang Blade, and the Viral Immunity skill were all from the beginner’s gift package.

There was also the Body Fortification Agent, which Mengde had downed in one gulp. He had spent the last few days adapting to the changes in his strength.

He estimated that with his current physical condition, he could take on not just three or five burly men, but even an elite special forces soldier, and he was sure he could make them submit completely.

’Once I get more familiar with the Tang Blade, it’ll be time to go out and scavenge for supplies!’

It was the apocalypse, and he had no desire to live a miserable, self-deprecating life. Now that he had power, he had to live a little more freely.

Having enough to eat and drink was the bare minimum.

As for the rest...

He definitely wouldn’t let his "little brother" down.

He wondered if what those god-tier web novel authors wrote was true.

Can one pack of instant noodles really be traded for a woman?!

As a failed writer himself, he felt it was his duty to test this theory!

Thinking of this, he suddenly remembered he hadn’t seen the sisters in the next room in several days.

He had barely left his room these past few days, spending all his time exercising and adapting to his new body, so he had neglected to check on the situation with the sisters.

’They haven’t starved to death, have they?’

Mengde muttered to himself. He was still counting on these two sisters to get rewards.

The moment the words left his mouth, he heard a knock on his door.

Mengde opened the door and saw that it was the older sister, Chen Jiayi!

"Mengde, can... can you lend me some food...?"

...