Reward: 100 gold coins.

The employees helped stack the bags of rice and boxes of canned goods in the trunk and backseat, carefully arranging everything to fit. Once they were done, she slipped them a generous tip.

"Thank you."

They left, and only then did Gu Qingran let out a slow breath. Finally.

Glancing around to make sure no one was watching too closely, she touched a bag of rice.

{Ding! Item detected. Store in System Warehouse?}

She mentally confirmed. Then bag vanished without a trace.

She repeated the process, systematically transferring everything into her warehouse until her car was empty once again.

Her lips curled. This was perfect.

Now she could go back inside and buy more.

An Hour Later…

The store clerks gave her odd looks when she returned, but no one stopped her. As long as she paid, they didn't care.

Gu Qingran repeated the process—filling her carts, checking out, having the workers load her car, and then secretly storing everything in her warehouse once she was alone.

She purposely left some behind so they wouldn't be suspicious.

After her fourth trip, she noticed a few other customers whispering and stealing glances at her.

Suspicion.

That was dangerous.

She exhaled and decided to change locations.

There were plenty of bulk stores, and she needed to spread out her purchases anyway. If she kept buying from the same place, someone might remember her.

Sliding into the driver's seat, she checked the time.

It was still early.

She had many more trips to make.

And this was just the start.

Gu Qingran drove to a different wholesale supplier, this one even larger than that one before. A place that catered to restaurants and food businesses.

Here, she could buy in even bigger bulks.

She walked in and grabbed a flatbed cart this time. No more small shopping carts—she was going big.

A worker approached her. "Miss, do you need assistance?"

"Yes. I'm looking to buy a large amount of staple foods."

"Are you ordering for a business?"

"Yes," she said smoothly. "A restaurant chain. We're preparing in advance for potential supply shortages."

The worker nodded, accepting her explanation without question. "I can help with that. What do you need?"

Her lips curled. Everything.

Gu Qingran efficiently moved through the aisles, her sharp eyes scanning every shelf. No time to waste.

She added bulk flour, sugar, salt, and cases of powdered milk to her cart. The more, the better. For the long days ahead, she needed everything to keep them fed, no matter how long the chaos lasted.

Her system's warehouse was large, but she couldn't store everything immediately in public. Instead, she filled the cart, occasionally pausing to check the price tags. Each purchase was carefully considered for its usefulness in the coming disaster.

The worker helped her load up her cart, pushing it towards the cashier as she focused on staying calm and collected.

Once again, the clerk raised an eyebrow. "Quite a lot of supplies, miss. Are you sure about all this?"

Gu Qingran smiled, the perfect mask of a businesswoman. "It's a long-term investment. You'd be surprised how many people aren't preparing for what's coming."

As the cashier processed her order, Gu Qingran stood still, her fingers drumming on the counter. She needed to get out of here fast. Her next destination was another store that specialized in dry goods—more bulk purchases, more storage.

After paying with her card, she directed the worker to help her load the supplies into her car. The day was slipping by quickly and she had to move faster.

Once everything was loaded into the back of the SUV, she drove out of the store with the same calm expression on her face.

No one suspected a thing, but she knew—time was her enemy.

By Nightfall.

Gu Qingran sat in the driver's seat, staring at her car packed full with supplies. She had made four trips now, and the trunk was already filled to the brim.

Her system warehouse had swallowed up everything in its grasp, but she needed more.

The plan was clear: she had to buy out every store in the area, but she needed a larger vehicle. Her car was reaching its limit, and once the apocalypse started, people would be scrambling for the same goods. If she didn't act quickly, others would catch on.

She checked the time on her phone—still a few hours before midnight.

One more trip.

Driving to another area of the city, Gu Qingran found a wholesale store on the outskirts. It was larger, quieter, and less likely to attract attention.

The more people she avoided, the less chance anyone had of noticing her unusual activity.

The store was nearly empty when she entered, save for a few employees working in the back. She wasted no time and started gathering what she needed were, cases of bottled water, canned meats, beans, soups and bulk bags of dried fruits and vegetables.

Once the cart was piled high, she had the worker help her load it all into her car—again, no one asking questions.

Around 11:20pm, Gu Qingran had completed her sixth trip, her car once again fully stocked. The next move? Was a larger vehicle—something that could carry everything at once.

As the city's lights flickered on, she drove through the empty streets. The calm before the storm. The feeling of safety would soon slip away, and the world would devolve into madness.

But this time she would be prepared and she would be the one to survive.

When she got back to her apartment, turning off the car in the underground parking lot. She made sure to check if she was completely alone before placing the hauls inside the system warehouse.

When she was done, she carried the few things she had left behind to cook and headed up to her apartment.

She had got the apartment around her 21st birthday, her father had left her and her mother many years ago and her mother had died of cancer few years back.

She had no relationship with the Gu family so whether they lived or not was none of her business.

Once the apocalypse started, toxic gas leaks would cover the world for 5 days, altering certain conditions in the world.

Her hair and eye would change from black to red color, those who were blessed with systems will get their system activated.

Many lives would be lost, and all the inter-dimensional gates would start appearing.

Ding!

The system interface flashed in front of her.

System warehouse storage: 50/500

Reward: 100 gold coins.

Uses: Gold coins can be used to purchase items from the system private shop.

New task!

Give the Omni-alchemist system a name!