A Post-Apocalyptic Journey to Another World

After giving Wang Ruilong his instructions, Zhang Xi rushed home without stopping. No one was home; his parents were busy at the construction site of the defensive fortifications. The permanent fortifications had been reinforced to an appalling degree, but the reinforcement and expansion work continued without pause.

Gunshots could be heard from time to time in the city, and it was not safe to leave Zhao Yu and Li alone at home at that time, so they were always taken by their parents, who never left their side, even when they went to work.

Zhang Xi went to the food storage room in the next building. Only half of these supplies had been used up. There was still more than a month before Pingyuan City fell in the previous life, so there was no need to keep these supplies here.

Zhang Xi sat down on the spot and used the Horadric Box to fuse all the elemental energy crystals piled up in his storage space into high-grade crystals, making room to start packing the supplies in the house. In order to make room, he even threw away the spiked club he got from the Descendant of the Demon Wolf.

However, in the end, more than half of it was still unusable. The storage space was too small, only the size of a small room, and could only be used to store important items. Large quantities of supplies could not be stored.

Zhang Xi had originally planned to go to the construction site, but upon returning home and seeing the clean and tidy kitchen, an idea suddenly struck him: he would cook a sumptuous dinner for his family himself. Speaking of cooking, Zhang Xi's skills were no joke; they had been recognized by the entire Black Wolf Mercenary Group. In the apocalypse, almost everyone has a hobby.

Some turned their attention to killing, some spent their days searching for different women, and some became obsessed with power. Zhang Xi, however, chose cooking as his hobby. With the spirit of Shennong tasting hundreds of herbs, he tried to cook almost every creature he saw to see if it was edible.

And you know what? He actually managed to discover quite a few delicious dishes, including several that could temporarily boost attributes, such as Wind Serpent Soup, which increases movement speed by 5% for ten minutes. Of course, due to limited ingredients, Zhang Xi was only making a few simple home-style dishes for now.

Thinking that he might soon have to part ways with his family again and wouldn't be able to see them again in Tianjing City for several months, he put even more effort into cooking.

……

The first person to rush over when the door opened was Tanuki. Although his nose wasn't as sensitive as a dog's, it was still much more sensitive than an ordinary person's. However, Tanuki's way of greeting was to kick him, which of course missed. Instead, he got a solid slap on the head, and the little boy squatted to the side, holding his head and reflecting on his actions.

Then came the parents. Although the two elderly people still looked like ordinary people, a careful observer would notice that their demeanor had changed drastically. These were the two elderly people, low-key and peaceful. If it were an outgoing person, experiencing such a significant physical change and suddenly gaining immense power, who knows what they would become?

Zhang Xi hugged his parents one by one before noticing Zhao Yu, who was the last to enter. The little girl blinked her big eyes, staring intently at Zhang Xi, hesitant, wanting to come closer but too shy. After all, they hadn't spent much time together and had been separated for a long time. Looking at Zhao Yu's rosy cheeks, Zhang Xi felt inexplicably happy. Since arriving at the Zhang family home, Zhao Yu's complexion had changed from its previous paleness to a rosy glow.

Zhang Xi smiled and took out a pair of Amur Leopard Cat leather gloves from her backpack. These were made from the leather of the leopard cat leader; this kind of fur was considered top-grade, a must-have for noblewomen in the apocalypse. The fur of leopard cat people of Silver rank and above was especially precious. This was because wearing this fur had anti-aging and skin-care effects, unlike the deceptive high-tech cosmetics advertised on television; this was a genuine, top-quality skincare product.

Generally speaking, even old, small scars can be completely removed after wearing it for two months. Wealthy women flock to it, sparing no expense. Compared to products from Amur Leopard Cat Man, LV and Hermes are utter trash.

Zhao Yu was naturally unaware of these things. All she knew was that these gloves were not available on the market, meaning that Zhang Xi had specially ordered them.

The girl held the gloves in both hands, her face flushed red, and soon even her neck turned red. She wanted to look at Zhang Xi but didn't dare, hesitating for a long time before finally managing to utter "Thank you!" before running back to her room. A while later, Zhao Yu composed herself, came out of her room, and the family gathered together again for dinner.

It has to be said that the best way to get closer to a girl is to give her some carefully chosen little gifts. They don't have to be expensive, but they should show her that you put thought into them. Zhao Yu was doing just that. The girl let go of her shyness, and the awkwardness between her and Zhang Xi was greatly reduced. They really felt like family, eating and chatting together.

……

The day after Zhang Xi returned home, a rumor emerged in Pingyuan City and quickly spread.

Since the appearance of monsters in Plains City, various rumors have been circulating, such as the end of the world, an invasion from another world, divine punishment, aliens, and so on. The people have long since developed a great immunity to rumors.

But this time the situation is different from before. First, the spread is rapid and widespread! Almost overnight, it spread simultaneously across several major districts of the city. The person making the claim was very certain, providing clear details of the time, location, and the entire incident.

Li Yinglong, the police chief of Pingyuan City, held the leaflets his subordinates had picked up from the market and let out a helpless, cold laugh.

The leaflet read: "On May 10th, the troops stationed in Pingyuan City and the police force will abandon the people and flee! They even marked the troop withdrawal routes! They called for protests and urged everyone to prepare for their escape, pointing out which routes would be safest. They also vehemently condemned these bureaucrats for their despicable behavior of disregarding the lives of the people and only caring about their own escape."

Li Yinglong found it somewhat amusing; it was mid-April, and May 10th was twenty days away.

Troops withdrawing? Is this leaflet a joke? Such a major decision must be made by the Tianjing City authorities, and as the head of the police force, he would certainly be notified first if troops were to withdraw.

“The people spreading rumors these days are getting more and more outrageous!” Li Yinglong rubbed his temples and said to his deputy, “This leaflet even specifies the evacuation date and route. Who does he think he is? A high-ranking official in Tianjing City? Or some powerful prophet?”

Before his deputy could answer, he threw down the leaflet and said, "I don't have time to deal with these boring rumor-mongers right now. Time will tell. This guy is really stupid. If you want to become famous by spreading rumors, the most important thing is not to be too specific. You should be vague about details such as time and place. Otherwise, the rumors will fall apart on their own in twenty days!"

His deputy finally chimed in: "These rumor-mongers aren't all veterans. I think this is the work of a newbie. Newbies always tend to go astray, but I like newbies. They're always easy to catch, haha!"

"Forget it! Catching a few swindlers now won't get the higher-ups' attention at all, it's not worth wasting our energy!" Li Yinglong stated definitively.

(P.S.: My grades are slowly improving. Thank you all for your support. Thanks to the enthusiastic readers for their continuous encouragement to update. Please vote for me! Thank you everyone.)