Apocalypse Mode: My Cheat Code Virtual Boyfriend - Chapter 9

Bai Xun drove Cheng Wei to a nearby large shopping mall. The map’s voice navigation kept warning about waterlogged roads ahead, and they had to detour three times before finally reaching the entrance of the underground parking lot.

As Cheng Wei got out of the car, he pulled up his hood to cover his ears and coiled his tail around his waist. Still, he couldn’t help but worry, “Will they show?”

Bai Xun examined him carefully, then stepped forward and pulled the hood down. “Let your tail out too. Isn’t it uncomfortable tucked in like that?”

Cheng Wei’s ears, pressed under the hood, were indeed uncomfortable. As soon as the hood was pulled down, his ears sprang up. He shook them, looking a bit dazed. “Shouldn’t we hide them? Having a tail and ears doesn’t seem very common in this world.”

Bai Xun stroked his chin, analyzing based on his years of experience as a shut-in otaku. “But in this world, there’s a thing called ‘2D culture’ and a hobby called cosplay. Even if people find it strange, they’ll just think you’re an otaku cosplaying. Go ahead and show them, no one’s going to grab your tail to check if it’s real.”

Encouraged by his words, Cheng Wei’s long, coiled tail slipped out from under his clothes. Keeping such a long tail tightly wrapped around his waist really was uncomfortable.

A cat’s tail is sometimes an external indicator of its emotions. Once the plump, elongated tail was freed, it swayed gently from side to side, and Cheng Wei’s mood seemed to brighten accordingly.

Bai Xun stole a glance at the tail and thought to himself, Cheng Wei really is a big cat, and the kind that’s particularly easy to please.

Inside the large shopping mall was a store specializing in outdoor camping and fishing supplies. Today, their primary target was this shop, as it might offer essential items to aid in their escape.

The heavy rain had disrupted traffic and kept people indoors, leaving the mall nearly empty of customers. As soon as the two stepped into the store, they were enthusiastically surrounded by the staff.

Bai Xun had already prepared a shopping list the night before and simply read it out item by item to the staff. He and Cheng Wei waited as the employees gathered everything.

Considering the unreliability of the cruise ship plan, they had ultimately decided to purchase lifeboats and other supplies to prepare for the possibility that the “Ocean Ark” might not be successfully unlocked.

Their list included:

– 2 rubber inflatable boats for 6–8 people

– 2 inflatable floating platforms

– 7 marine life jackets

– 20 waterproof storage bags

– 1 large waterproof tent

– 5 sleeping bags

– 5 hiking backpacks

– 3 rolls of fire-resistant fabric

– 3 portable outdoor alcohol stoves

– 4 boxes of 50g solid alcohol fuel blocks

– 2 boxes of outdoor camping water purification tablets

– 2 portable toilets

– 8 high-intensity outdoor flashlights

– 5 camping lanterns

– 12 portable outdoor charging panels

– 5 military shovels

– 6 folding outdoor knives

– 5 walkie-talkies

These items were all essential, covering every aspect of survival in the wilderness, food, clothing, shelter, and transportation. After all, once the floodwaters receded, there was no guarantee they would end up near a city.

Fortunately, everything on the list was available in the store. The items were numerous and varied, so the staff scattered to gather them separately.

Bored from sitting, Bai Xun turned to Cheng Wei, who was sitting beside him. “Want to walk around? Let’s see if we need anything else.”

Cheng Wei had no objections and stood up to accompany him.

Bai Xun casually wandered between the shelves, his gaze settling on a row of carbon fiber fishing rods. He didn’t know much about fishing, but seeing them sparked an urge to buy.

“Do you know how to fish?” he asked, turning to Cheng Wei.

“No, but I can spearfish and cast nets.” Cheng Wei’s eyes fell on the nearby fishing nets.

Bai Xun thought that if he didn’t spend the money now, there might not be anywhere to spend it later even if he had it. Might as well buy everything, fishing rods, nets, tackle boxes, and bait, all arranged in one go.

The clerk gathered all the items on the list and also brought out a high-pressure portable air pump and an outboard motor, asking if Bai Xun wanted to purchase them.

Bai Xun decisively added two high-pressure portable air pumps and two outboard motors to the order. He realized he’d been rather uninformed.

After the clerk collected all the items, Bai Xun scanned the code to pay. Among the pile, the most expensive items were the two rubber inflatable boats, specifically designed for flood rescue with aluminum alloy bottoms. The two boats totaled twelve thousand yuan, while the two motors cost three thousand one hundred. The rest of the items added up to less than four thousand. The entire bill came to sixteen thousand two hundred thirty-two yuan and ninety cents. Since they bought so much, the store gave them a five percent discount.

There were too many items, so two clerks had to make two trips with a trolley to help transport everything to the underground parking garage. The cargo compartment of Bai Xun’s Wuling mini-truck was spacious, but it was almost too small for the aluminum alloy bottoms of the inflatable boats. The roughly three-meter-long aluminum alloy panels had to be placed diagonally.

At this moment, Bai Xun couldn’t help but wish he could awaken a spatial ability. Then he could simply find a corner away from surveillance cameras, store everything in his spatial inventory, and continue shopping in the mall.

But as a person, one can’t have everything. He already had the Star Game System; asking for a spatial ability on top of that probably wouldn’t sit well with the heavens.

There was still space in the truck’s cargo compartment, and there was a large warehouse-style supermarket on the mall’s basement level. They continued their shopping spree.

His home already had rice, flour, meat, and vegetables. Considering shelf life, what they needed to buy at the large supermarket were compressed foods, high-calorie foods, and canned goods.

This was Cheng Wei’s area of expertise. In the game’s setting, his profession was a mountain guide who often led expedition teams and camped in the wilderness. He had plenty of experience with packaged foods like these.

Dark chocolate with 90% cocoa butter for emergency calorie replenishment, twenty bars per box, six boxes.

Canned ready-to-eat dishes: preserved vegetable with braised pork, braised pork, marinated beef, tuna, and luncheon meat, twenty cans per box, three boxes of each flavor.

Compressed biscuits that provide a full feeling with just one piece, sesame, scallion oil, peanut, and original flavors, sixteen per bag, ten bags of each flavor.

Eight-treasure porridge: lotus seed, red bean and barley, and white fungus flavors, twelve cans per box, three boxes of each flavor.

Each of them pushed two shopping carts, sweeping through the shelves.

Since this was an extra-large supermarket that primarily sold family-sized packages, everything came in large quantities. Most shoppers started with at least two carts, so their frenzied shopping didn’t attract much attention.

This shopping trip was only for packaged emergency foods. The Wuling mini-truck’s cargo compartment was already filled with survival tools bought from the camping store, so they had to transport everything back home to empty the compartment before making another trip.

After finishing their packaged food shopping at the large supermarket, Bai Xun drove back to the underground parking garage of East city Yipin. The landlord had included the parking space as part of the rental package.

Bai Xun and Cheng Wei made seven trips with the handcart to transport all the supplies from the car up to the 33rd floor.

With time tight and the task heavy, they hastily opened two cans of eight-treasure porridge and had them with compressed biscuits for lunch before heading out again to continue their shopping.

During the flood, securing clean water was a major challenge. They bought 20 large 12-liter bottles of mineral water, 10 boxes of 550ml small bottles (24 per box), and 2 boxes of faucet water filter cartridges (20 per box).

Warmth was another concern. They purchased 6 boxes of disposable heat packs (50 per box) and 5 electric blankets, one for each person.

For sanitation after the water supply was cut off, they stocked up on cat litter: 20 bags of bentonite cat litter, each weighing 10 kilograms.

As specifically requested by Bai Xun’s younger sister, Bai Yu, they stocked 3 boxes each of day-use and night-use sanitary pads of a particular brand.

They also bought 15 power banks. Since solar charging panels would be useless during rain, they needed plenty of power banks.

Twenty rechargeable desk lamps were purchased for use during power outages.

Considering the heavy rain when going out, they bought 8 raincoats and 5 pairs of rain boots.

After the flood, there was a risk of epidemics, and they would also have to deal with polar nights, insect plagues, and diseases. They stocked up on 10 boxes each of various medications they could think of: anti-inflammatory drugs, respiratory medications, anti-allergy medications, digestive system drugs, emergency medicines, fever reducers, pain relievers, and more.

For medical supplies, they bought 5 rolls of gauze, 10 packs of medical cotton balls, 5 tweezers, 5 packs of medical latex gloves, and 5 boxes of masks.

They also purchased 10 boxes each of various vitamin tablets and cod liver oil capsules.

To avoid raising suspicion, Bai Xun drove to several different pharmacies to buy these medicines in small batches.

After finishing their shopping, they went to a nearby hardware store and bought 3 of the largest wrenches, 2 vernier calipers, 5 hammers, 6 screwdrivers, 2 electric drills, 1 circular saw, 1 cutting machine, 1 welding machine, 2 chainsaws, 7 pairs of gloves, and 7 pairs of safety goggles.

These were not just tools, they could also serve as lethal weapons if necessary.

Finally, they went to a clothing store to buy clothes.

After the flood would come heavy snow, so the clothes needed to be warm, durable, and wear-resistant, as they might have to rough it outdoors for a while. The best choice was waterproof outdoor mountaineering jackets, they bought 10, along with 10 pairs of windproof and waterproof mountaineering pants.

In addition, they purchased 10 windproof face masks and two pairs of waterproof high-top hiking boots per person.

For inner layers that provided warmth without hindering movement, they bought 10 thin down vests.

True to his word from when they went house-hunting by car, Bai Xun bought Cheng Wei two extra turtleneck sweaters, two sets of pajamas, and some undergarments.

One of the sweaters was white. When Cheng Wei buried the lower half of his face in the sweater collar, he looked both innocent and alluring. When he lifted his eyes to look at Bai Xun, Bai Xun almost teared up and blurted out, “Wife.”

On their way back after buying clothes, they passed by a mobile phone store. Just as they were about to walk past, Bai Xun turned back and bought Cheng Wei a phone and a tablet.

Cheng Wei wanted to refuse, knowing they would become useless in a few days. But Bai Xun showed him a collection of offline games and a full library of movies and TV series. As long as the phone and tablet didn’t break, he could still keep himself entertained.

After a whole day of running around outside, they finally managed to buy everything on the list.

After moving all the items to the 33rd floor, Cheng Wei drove while Bai Xun sat in the passenger seat. Back home, a stewed goose was waiting for them to return for dinner.

As soon as they stepped through the door, the rich aroma of soy-braised goose filled the air. The sofa in the living room had been pushed against the wall, clearing a large space to pile up the packed items they were taking with them.

Suddenly having to leave the home they had lived in for over a decade, Bai Xun felt a bittersweet ache in his heart.

This place held too many of his life’s memories. This old house seemed to have become an inseparable part of his soul, and the thought of abandoning it to escape was truly difficult for him to accept.

“Brother, come help serve the dishes!” Bai Yu’s cheerful voice floated out from the kitchen, as lively as ever even in the face of crisis.

Bai Xun glanced at Cheng Wei beside him, a smile unconsciously tugging at the corner of his mouth. “Coming! Shall we go in together?”