Chapter 7: A New Way of Living

The amount of stock in this food factory far exceeded what Cao Bin had expected. There were all sorts of instant noodles, dried meat, dehydrated fruit slices. In the frozen goods area, there were ready-made buns, dumplings, wontons... What was truly unbelievable was that there were even regional specialties here—cured sausages, preserved meat, pickled chicken, duck, and fish.

When Cao Bin saw all these, his eyes lit up with excitement. These were his favorite finds—warehouses like this made things easy; everything he could possibly need was right here.

After the end of days arrived and the cataclysms began, Earth's environment became extremely harsh. Most plants withered rapidly, and land suitable for human agriculture grew increasingly scarce. Even the Yan people, renowned for their agricultural prowess, found it nearly impossible to raise crops in such a world.

Hence, the value of these foodstuffs would only rise in the future, becoming astronomically expensive. When money itself became worthless, a new kind of currency emerged.

In a few months, any one of these items—a single pack of instant noodles, for instance—could be traded for the life of a beautiful college student, let alone be used for one's own enjoyment. Just one pack would be enough to make most people abandon their dignity, their humanity, their moral baseline.

So, when Cao Bin looked at all the dignity, humanity, and bottom lines stacked before him, he was thrilled. He dashed through the warehouse, and as soon as his fingers touched the goods, the piles of supplies vanished, instantly stored away in his own space.

After running for more than ten minutes, he had stripped the entire factory clean.

Without hesitation, he moved on to the next one.

The factories in the suburbs were clustered together—where there was one food factory, there would be a second and a third.

After two or three hours of frantic work, his calves were cramping and his head was spinning. He finally emptied all the food factories nearby. Using the last of his strength, he switched vehicles two or three times along the way before returning to the little hotel he was staying in downtown.

He handed another hundred yuan to the front desk, slipped into his room, locked the door, and collapsed into sleep, not even bothering to remove his shoes or pants.

All he wanted was to fall asleep as quickly as possible, to restore his mental and physical strength.

A few hours later, he gradually woke up.

His spirit was greatly revived. Every time he used his space ability to move goods, it would drain his mental energy, but after just a few hours of rest, Cao Bin could clearly feel his mind nearly fully restored—sometimes, he even felt sharper than before.

When he had first been reborn and used his space power, it took three days and nights of sleep to recover; the second time, two days. As time went on, the rest required became shorter and shorter. Now, three or four hours left him refreshed and energetic. This, in turn, was clear proof that his mental power was steadily increasing.

Upon waking, he picked up a Huazi cigarette from the bedside, lit it, took a deep drag, closed his eyes, and let his awareness slip into his storage space.

Now, the quantity of goods in his space had grown enormous. Whatever he could think of, it was there—from toothpicks and napkins, to cups, hardware, plumbing, appliances, generators, and more, in vast quantities.

The most astonishing thing was a separate section he’d allocated, filled with water from three freshwater lakes, including all the aquatic life that had originally lived in them.

With all these freshwater fish, he would never go hungry for the rest of his life. The only pity was that his system had not yet upgraded; once the fish entered his space, they immediately lost their life force. Fortunately, the system's vacuum preservation kept everything as it was—when taken out, nothing would spoil or rot. It simply couldn’t bring the fish back to life. Otherwise, if he could store a whole freshwater lake in his space, he would have a natural ecosystem, with fish breeding endlessly—he’d never have to worry about food or water, and could even support many others.

On top of that, he’d emptied the storage warehouse of Ahaha Company, seizing hundreds of millions of bottles of mineral water and all kinds of jugs.

Even so, all of this together took up only a tiny fraction of his vast space—not even a tenth. It was hard to imagine just how immense it really was.

Today, he still needed to clear out the warehouses of Jingxi and Ali Mama. Once those were done, he could head to his next destination—he couldn’t stay in Hangsu City any longer.

The top-of-the-line Unimog RV he’d spent millions to acquire yesterday was now stowed in his space. It wasn’t convenient to take it out, since no one could be sure if it was fitted with a GPS tracker, and using it might get him easily traced. But once the apocalypse truly set in, driving that thing out in the open would be pure luxury.

Having lived a second life, Cao Bin no longer intended to bring others along. Especially at the very start, when things were toughest, it was enough just to protect himself. He absolutely shouldn’t play the saint and help others—human nature was far too complicated in times of chaos, and kindness could bring only trouble. In such turmoil, no one’s character could withstand the test.

Cao Bin was a kind-hearted man by nature. Back in his school days, he had a certain charisma, and many liked to follow him—he was a natural leader.

So, in his previous life, after the first waves of disaster, people quickly gathered around him, and he became the head of a small but significant force, saving many lives.

As more people flocked to him, Cao Bin accepted them all, forming his own safe zone and becoming a local leader.

That was his moment of glory—calling and commanding, surrounded by loyal followers. Orders were obeyed without question.

But as his safe zone grew larger, more and more refugees came seeking survival, and they became a burden. After all, once he accepted them as residents, he was responsible for feeding and sheltering them—otherwise, he’d be deemed incompetent.

As the saying goes, “an ounce of kindness breeds a pound of resentment.” He tried his utmost to save as many as possible, but inevitably, many were still left out. So he became the villain, the one to blame for everything. Even when the beast tide finally broke through and he had awakened his abilities, during the siege not one person risked their life for him; no one came to his rescue.

Only in his final moments did Cao Bin see the true faces of those people—none had any sense of gratitude. Those who once swore to follow him through fire and water all betrayed him.

But in the end, he at least got some satisfaction: he watched every one of those traitors torn to pieces by the raging beast horde.

Looking back, all his efforts had been meaningless. Having lived one life, he would not repeat the same mistake—the same folly would make him a fool.

Only because of his rebirth could he see things clearly at last. Only now did he realize what a foolish life he’d led before.

So, this time around, he would never again be that kind of leader. There was no point. In this life, he would be a free wanderer.

What did it mean to be a free wanderer? In the post-apocalyptic world, the strong had several paths to choose from. One was to become a local lord, gather many followers, and protect them selflessly, building a city and a safe zone, becoming an overt leader.

Another type was the free wanderer, quietly developing in the shadows.

After the concentrated catastrophes, everyone who survived had their own tricks and knew how to get by. Once he had developed enough and survived this far, he could quickly subdue the rest and bring them under his rule—then simply sit back and reap the rewards.

He wasn’t concerned with the process, only the final result. Those who survived were all useful people, needing little further training. Having lived twice, he intended to be the one who seized the final fruits of victory.

Cao Bin understood the trajectory of future events very well. He knew how to safely weather the various disasters, where to find energy crystals, and how to awaken as an ability user.

He remembered all the key moments that would determine the outcome of things to come. With that knowledge alone, he could quietly and safely grow stronger, and ultimately become a power unto himself, reaping the final rewards.

...

When the cigarette was done, Cao Bin took out a fresh set of clothes, bundled up the old ones to be destroyed later, and resolved that every day his outfit—style and color—must be different from the last.

He washed his hair, straightened his appearance, changed into new clothes, put on glasses, and looked like a completely different person.

Then he bagged up everything he had used in the room—even toothpaste and toothbrush—and took it all away in a garbage bag.

Today, he also checked out of the hotel, retrieving his fifty-yuan deposit.

As usual, at the door, he made his way down the alley before summoning his electric scooter and sped off toward the two main warehouses.

Things outside were even more chaotic than the previous days. Every news broadcast was covering the recent wave of bizarre events, and today, it reached a climax.

Yesterday, in many places, mysterious disappearances of goods had occurred again. Even the oil stored in underground tanks at gas stations had vanished in an instant.

It was surreal—how could anyone possibly remove all that oil in such a way?

Moreover, in the city's industrial district, several million yuan worth of finished food products had been looted from warehouses.

News of this spread, making everyone uneasy and fearful.

People couldn’t help but wonder—could humans really do all this? Was it the work of monsters, demons, or ghosts? No human could possibly achieve such feats.

Rumors about the apocalypse, conspiracies, and even mythological explanations began to swirl at night.

Hearing these rumors, Cao Bin felt somewhat relieved. If these events scared enough people out of the city, then it was, in fact, a fortunate accident. Perhaps some lives would be saved; otherwise, when the real apocalypse struck, no one in Hangsu City would escape alive.

Just then, his phone vibrated in his chest pocket. He slowed down, pulled it out, and saw the name: Wang Tingting.

His reaction was much calmer than before. No more gritted teeth.

When he had first returned to this world, his emotions had been so wild that he’d ranted and raved, convincing everyone at school he’d lost his mind. Wang Tingting, without hesitation, broke up with him. Now, why was she calling?

Cao Bin was different from most apocalypse survivors in that he gave little thought to women. To put it bluntly, after the apocalypse, women would become an extremely cheap commodity.

He never bothered with what they thought or did. If needed, they could simply be traded for—cheap supplies could buy plenty. So, when Wang Tingting broke up with him after his return, he hadn’t cared at all.

Now, receiving her call, he ignored it and hung up, continuing on his way.

But Wang Tingting was persistent, sending message after message on WeChat, his phone buzzing nonstop.

Helpless, he finally opened them.

After reading the messages, he was utterly speechless.