Ice Age Apocalypse: I've Stockpiled Billions of Resources

Lin Luo finished his third bowl of rice and put down his chopsticks.

He picked up the glass and took a sip of warm water.

Shen Kexin immediately pulled out a wet tissue and handed it to Lin Luo. Lin Luo wiped the soup from the corner of his mouth and threw the tissue into the automatic recycling bin on the table.

Tian Xiaoyu scooped out the last piece of tripe from the bottom of the hot pot, stuffed it into her mouth, and chewed it vigorously.

Natasha grabbed the empty bottle, turned it upside down, and shook it a few times, but not a drop of wine spilled out.

She slammed the glass bottle heavily onto the table.

"Let's go downstairs for a walk." Lin Luo stood up and zipped up his battle suit. "Xiao Yu, Ke Xin, come with me for a stroll in the streets. Xin Yue, come along too."

Su Xinyue stopped tapping the screen and pressed the lock button on the side of the tablet. The screen went black. She nodded.

Karina kicked aside the chair beside her and bent down to pick up two heavy battle axes from the carpet. "I'm going to the city wall to keep an eye on those searchlights and mechs."

Jiang Yiyi slung her long-barreled sniper rifle over her shoulder and followed behind Karina. Ye An'an flicked the remote control joystick, retrieving the four miniature drones hovering on the roof, and turned to walk towards the data analysis table against the wall.

Lin Luo headed for the door. Tian Xiaoyu grabbed a black coat from the sofa, put it on, and quickly followed. Shen Kexin untied her hair tie, retied her ponytail, and went out. Su Xinyue tucked her tablet under her left arm and walked at the very back.

The four people stepped into the completely transparent observation elevator. Lin Luo pressed the button for the bottom floor.

The elevator descended rapidly. Outside the glass, the lights of Jinghai City flashed across the faces of the group.

The elevator came to a stop on the first floor.

The metal door slid open to both sides.

Lin Luo stepped out the door.

The streets outside were extremely quiet.

The nanobots installed old-fashioned metal streetlights along the roadside.

The dim yellow light shone on the smooth polymer shock-absorbing asphalt road surface.

The dome shielded the area from the wind and snow from above. A temperature-controlled system blew out a gentle breeze. The holographic projections of trees along the roadside swayed their virtual leaves in the breeze.

There were no pedestrians on the streets. All the older generation of returnees were confined to their apartment buildings. The vast, newly formed city appeared utterly deserted.

Tian Xiaoyu walked on the asphalt road, her hands in her coat pockets. She turned her head, looking at the buildings on both sides of the street.

"This road surface is really smooth." Tian Xiaoyu lifted her heel and stomped on the road surface.

After crossing an intersection, Tian Xiaoyu stopped. She stared at a three-story glass curtain wall building on the street corner. A glowing metal sign hung above the building, reading "Starry Sky Auto Showroom".

The building was printed entirely from old-fashioned blueprints.

Tian Xiaoyu walked to the glass door, pressed down on the doorknob with both hands, and pushed forward with force. The door hinges made a slight turning sound.

The motion-activated spotlights inside the exhibition hall lit up one by one. White beams of light shone on the marble floor tiles. A red convertible sports car was parked on the central circular display stand. This was a replica generated by the system based on the blueprints.

Tian Xiaoyu walked to the front of the car and pressed her fingers against the cool paint. She followed the headlights all the way to the exhaust pipe at the rear.

"I really miss it." Tian Xiaoyu opened the car door, slumped down, and sat in the driver's seat. She gripped the leather steering wheel with both hands and leaned back against the seat.

Lin Luo walked into the exhibition hall, leaned against a white load-bearing column, and looked at Tian Xiaoyu.

Shen Kexin and Su Xinyue stood at the front of the car.

“Before the catastrophe, I worked in a place like this.” Tian Xiaoyu patted the steering wheel. “I would stand here at eight o’clock sharp every morning, wearing a tight-fitting business suit and high heels. My daily task was to watch out for the guests who walked in.”

She released the steering wheel, her fingers hovering in the air.

"Smile at everyone you meet, hand out bottled water, recite engine parameters from colorful brochures. Take customers for a test drive on the street. Sell the car, get the signature, and get your commission." Tian Xiaoyu looked up at the spotlight on the ceiling. "At the end of the month, to boost sales, I would call each number on the phone, and if someone hung up, I would have to keep calling the next one."

"That sounds tiring." Shen Kexin placed her hands in front of her.

“That’s comfort.” Tian Xiaoyu stood up from her seat, stepped out of the car, and slammed the door shut.

The car door slammed shut with a heavy thud.

"No need to use a knife to cut a monster's neck, no need to worry about being torn apart by a mutated beast while sleeping. The most troublesome thing every day is that customers go to the store across the street to pay a deposit, or that the rent for this month is still a few hundred dollars short."

Tian Xiaoyu walked up to Lin Luo and looked at the dim streetlights outside the door.

"I'd leave work on time, buy a bowl of fried noodles from the corner cart, and walk back to my rented room with the plastic bag. Then I'd lie in bed and scroll through short videos." Tian Xiaoyu said, hands on her hips, "I didn't have to do anything, just sell cars. Those days were so good."

Lin Luo straightened up, turned around, and walked out of the glass door. Tian Xiaoyu followed.

The four people continued walking along the sidewalk. Ahead was a whole commercial pedestrian street. All the shops on both sides were empty. The signs read "Hot pot," "Barbecue," and "Seafood."

Shen Kexin stopped in front of a shop with two doors. She placed her hands on the transparent glass window and pressed her face against the glass to look inside.

The interior is laid out like a Chinese restaurant. A dozen or so wooden square tables are placed in the center. A virtual checkout terminal sits on the cashier's counter. In the semi-open kitchen at the back, stainless steel stoves, a large range hood, and neatly arranged knife racks gleam metallically in the dim light.

Lin Luo walked to her side.

"Let's go in and take a look," Lin Luo said.

Shen Kexin shook her head and straightened up. She looked at her reflection in the glass window.

“I used to want to be a head chef.” Shen Kexin raised her right hand, drawing circles on the glass with her finger. “Working for someone else has too many rules. The boss watches over the spoilage of ingredients, and the customers are picky about the saltiness of the dishes. I wanted to open my own restaurant.”

"Didn't they open one for you in Mars Zone 3?" Tian Xiaoyu walked over and pointed to the glass window. "That store has three whole floors, and the signboard is five times bigger than this one."

“Opening it is useless.” Shen Kexin put down her hand. “On the first day of opening, Su Bo brought a whole battalion of soldiers and booked the entire store. After that, different legions lined up every day to reserve seats. How could I possibly have time to stand in the kitchen cooking?”

Shen Kexin turned around and leaned against the cold glass.

“There are millions of people on Mars, and the army’s nutritional supplement formulas and hot food supply all need to be planned. I have to manage the logistics kitchen of the entire base. And when I get home, I still have to cook for you.” Shen Kexin looked at Lin Luo, “That shop has been open for three years, and I’ve only been there twice. Each time, I went to sign documents and look at the accounts.”

She looked down at her palms. There were thin calluses on her palms and knuckles from holding a knife.

“All I want is a small restaurant.” Shen Kexin pointed to the shop behind her. “Like this, with a dozen or so tables. I’ll serve the same customers every day. In the morning, I’ll go to the market to pick out fresh ribs and vegetables. No matter how bad things are outside, I’ll wear an apron, stand in front of that stainless steel stove, cut the meat, heat the oil, and toss the wok.”

"Now that the cities on Earth are built, you can choose one and open for business immediately." Lin Luo looked at the empty streets.

Shen Kexin patted the hem of her clothes.

“There are over 100,000 mutated beasts piled up outside the outer wall right now. The elderly people we just brought back need to eat tomorrow morning.” Shen Kexin took a step towards the center of the street. “I’ve looked at the supply dispatch list that Su Xinyue sent. Tomorrow morning at five o’clock, I have to go to the central kitchen to arrange three hundred tons of synthetic rations. Let’s talk about opening a restaurant later.”

Su Xinyue stopped in her tracks when she heard her name called.

She glanced at the tablet she had been carrying under her arm, but didn't take it with her. She looked at the fountain in the center of the square ahead.

"I'd rather wait until later," Su Xinyue said.

Tian Xiaoyu and Shen Kexin turned their heads and their gazes fell on Su Xinyue.

Su Xinyue walked to the edge of the fountain. Water sprayed from the white stone spout, splashing into the pool below with a rushing sound. A few drops of water landed on the surface of her combat boots.

"I want to be a housewife," Su Xinyue said calmly, watching the ripples spreading across the water.

The surroundings quieted down. Only the sound of flowing water could be heard.

Tian Xiaoyu opened her mouth and let out a loud laugh. She strode over to Su Xinyue and slapped Su Xinyue hard on the back.

"Sister Su, you must be joking." Tian Xiaoyu pointed to the tablet under Su Xinyue's arm. "You are the logistics manager of the Mars Alliance. The energy scheduling of the entire interstellar fleet, the ammunition supply of hundreds of thousands of troops, and all resource reports are in your hands. The data you process every day could burn out several processors."

Shen Kexin also stepped forward and reached out to touch Su Xinyue's forehead.

“The temperature is normal.” Shen Kexin withdrew her hand. “You’re going to be a housewife? The entire Martian system will shut down immediately. Everyone will go hungry.”

“It’s such a waste.” Tian Xiaoyu shook her head repeatedly. “You’re such a strong woman. You should be wearing a military uniform, sitting in front of the screen in the command room, holding a communicator and scolding those slow-moving quartermasters. You’re going to be a housewife? You’ll flip the table over if you’re calculating the price of a few dollars for vegetables at home.”

Su Xinyue did not smile. She turned around and looked directly into Tian Xiaoyu's eyes.

Su Xinyue took a deep breath, pulled out the tablet, and held it in front of Tian Xiaoyu. She pressed the screen to turn it on. The screen was filled with alternating red and green data bars, and hundreds of avatars were flashing in a queue in the communication request section on the right.

"The moment I open my eyes, all I see are various loss data." Su Xinyue pressed the lock button, and the screen went black. "At night, lying in bed, I'm still calculating the base number of armor-piercing rounds for tomorrow. In the past few years, I've slept less than four hours a day. As soon as the communicator rings, I have to come up with a dispatch plan within thirty seconds."

She took two steps back and sat on a stone bench on the edge of the fountain. She placed a tablet on her lap and raised her hands to cover her cheeks.

"I'm so tired," Su Xinyue's voice came from behind her hands. "I don't want to worry about the resources consumed by millions of people anymore. I don't want to look at those lists of the dead and the reports on the distribution of pensions. I want to wake up naturally every morning. After getting up, I want to water the plants with a watering can and mop the floor. In the afternoon, I want to go to the supermarket on the corner and buy some discounted fruit with a shopping cart."

She lowered her hands and looked up at Lin Luo.

“Once this war is over and Earth is completely safe, I will hand over all the authority I have.” Su Xinyue looked at Lin Luo’s face. “I will stay in the house and not step out. You will support me.”

Lin Luo took a step forward and stopped in front of Su Xinyue. He stretched out his right hand, placed it on the top of Su Xinyue's head, and gently ruffled her hair.

Su Xinyue lowered her head and looked at the water droplets on her combat boots.

The tablet on my lap suddenly emitted a sharp beeping sound. A red emergency light flashed at the edge of the screen.

Su Xinyue's body tensed instantly. She grabbed the tablet and swiped her fingers rapidly across the screen.