Natural Disaster Strikes: I Stockpiled Billions and Carved My Way Through the Apocalypse

"Oh dear, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry to have kept you both waiting." As soon as Director Lin came in, he warmly took Wei Lie and Lin Zhen's hands and kept apologizing: "Recently, there have been so many complicated things to do at the shelter, and the two leaders above have completely washed their hands of it. I've been doing my best, but I'm still caught in the middle, like Pigsy looking in the mirror. Oh, look at me, why am I saying all this? Come, come, have a seat."

Director Lin instructed his subordinates to bring tea.

Mu Jiuyue picked it up and smelled it.

It smells rancid.

Even someone like her, who isn't very good at appreciating tea, could smell the sourness, let alone the worldly-wise Lin Zhen and Wei Lie.

The two men didn't touch the tea, but went straight to the point: "Director Lin, you bear a heavy responsibility, and it must be hard work for you. We're all just trying to survive, or even better survive. Bear with the fatigue. We're here mainly because of the sudden discovery of mutated animals and plants. Is Director Lin aware of that?"

Director Lin sighed and said, "It's not just that we know; several similar incidents have already occurred in our shelter. Each one causes widespread panic. Many people think the shelter is unsafe, that the population density is too high, and want to leave to survive. But those who leave never return. It makes everyone even more fearful! Tell me, what's wrong with this world? Are they trying to kill us all?!"

Wei Lie said, "It seems this is not an isolated case. We don't know if similar situations have occurred elsewhere. But since we live in K City, we have to develop K City. Otherwise, we'll be in the same boat, and one day, trouble will befall us."

Lin Zhen nodded and said, "I think so too. Right now, everyone across the country is fighting their own battles, and we in K City can only rely on ourselves."

"You two are right!" Director Lin clapped his hands and said, "I think so too! Therefore, even if the Central Shelter sent people to try to requisition the population of the K City Shelter, I would refuse outright! These are all the assets we have painstakingly built up, why should we just hand them over?"

"People from the Central Shelter have arrived?" Wei Lie asked. "They want to take over the population of the K City Shelter?"

"Yes," Director Lin sighed, "Before, when people wanted to go to the Central Shelter, they wouldn't accept them. Now, they're actively asking to recruit these people. I've received information that the severe cold and natural disaster caused a massive reduction in the Central Shelter's population. Nearly five million people died, mostly the elderly, the weak, and the disabled. There are also some who are hanging on by a thread and could die at any moment. All in all, the Central Shelter's population loss has exceeded ten million. That's why they thought of our K City Shelter and are planning to use our population to fill the Central Shelter."

Wei Lie chuckled softly: "It seems the situation in other shelters isn't much better. Otherwise, the Central Shelter wouldn't be so eager to requisition the K City Shelter."

Lin Zhen's handsome brows furrowed tightly, and he finally sighed, "How many people are still alive in the whole country now?"

Mu Jiuyue, who had been silent until now, slowly spoke up: "Conservatively speaking, the national population should be less than 500 million. After these three rounds of natural disasters, the loss rate has exceeded half. This is still an optimistic estimate. A pessimistic estimate would be that only 300 million people are left."

Lin Zhen gasped.

Lin Zhen trusted Mu Jiuyue completely, and he actually agreed with Mu Jiuyue's guess.

"What are we going to do now?" Director Lin sighed.

"Faced with the future, there's no other way but to deal with each move as it comes and fight it head-on," Mu Jiuyue said lazily. "Every round of natural disasters is meant to eliminate population. Survival of the fittest, elimination of the inferior."

“It’s one thing for the elderly to die, but if children die, humanity will face a generational gap.” Lin Zhen had a more far-sighted view: “If this continues in cycle after cycle, those who survive will indeed be young and strong, but they will have no desire to reproduce. In a few decades, the only outcome for humanity will be the extinction of all its members. This is not a good thing.”

"So we do our best to preserve the population of our K City and give them the opportunity to reproduce," Wei Lie said. "Even if the outside world is a forbidden zone, we must do our utmost to ensure that K City can continue to thrive."

"Well said!" Director Lin said with admiration, "I truly admire the insight you two have at such a young age!"

The three of them then engaged in another round of mutual flattery.

After we finished talking, we got down to business.

“I can provide the technology to quickly produce some medicine to drive away these mutated animals and plants, but we need a production line. Relying solely on manual processing is too slow,” Wei Lie said. “The upcoming plague will also require a production line.”

“I can provide manpower,” Lin Zhen said. “If Director Lin trusts me, it’s also possible to set up the production line at my camp.”

“How can we let Director Lin provide both manpower and facilities? What would that make me?” Director Lin flatly refused: “Let’s set up the facilities and workshops here. I can also provide a large workforce. Director Lin’s team consists of elites, so they should stay in more suitable positions.”

Lin Zhen and Wei Lie laughed together.

This old fox.

He won't release the eagle until he sees the rabbit.

Lin Zhen readily agreed, saying, "Then I'll provide the materials; my people are good at finding things."

"Okay, it's settled then." Director Lin made the final decision.

After Director Lin left, Mu Jiuyue asked Lin Zhen, "Where did you get that gold?"

"I refined it myself. How's it?" Lin Zhen countered, "Is the quality up to par?"

"Okay." Mu Jiuyue asked, "Did you go gold mining?"

"Isn't it obvious? Where are you going to find so many gold bars? I searched the whole area around K City and accidentally found a small gold mine, then I refined it." Lin Zhen said, "Do you want some? How much do you want?"

"I'll take as many as you have," Mu Jiuyue replied. "What other supplies do you need?"

"Do you have any summer clothes? After three apocalyptic cycles, all our clothes are in terrible condition. Plus, with training and fighting, they're beyond repair." Lin Zhen really had a need: "Preferably green or camouflage. Although we've now transitioned from soldiers to civilians, we still need to keep an eye on our mindset, otherwise, with so many men, things could easily go wrong."

"Camouflage uniform, right? Those high-quality imitation camouflage uniforms that used to be sold on the market were basically just worker uniforms. Do you want one? I do have these." Mu Jiuyue said.

Before the apocalypse, during the zero-dollar shopping spree, she would grab whatever she could get her hands on, and incidentally, she also acquired a clothing market, accumulating a huge pile of all sorts of clothes.

"Okay, okay, that's fantastic!" Lin Zhen was overjoyed. "A-Jiu, you're amazing! You're like Doraemon's magic pocket, you can have anything you want. Just tell me how much gold you need, and I'll go back and refine it for you right away!"