Chapter 9: Borrowing From Somewhere Else

If the problem wasn't solved soon, he really wouldn't be able to keep his position. Liu Haibo was so worried his eyes were red. As soon as he hung up the phone, he immediately summoned all the city's best investigators for a meeting.

They would certainly need to visit the scene shortly, so he first sent people to secure the site while the group convened to determine the direction of their investigation before heading out. Half an hour later, the team arrived at the Ali Mama industrial park.

The local head of Ali Mama was already waiting for them at the entrance. After welcoming them, he led the group to a temporary evidence storage room set up especially for this situation.

Ali Mama truly lived up to its reputation as a major company. After conducting their own internal review, they had already found several promising leads. The local manager, Mai Lihua, a thirty-eight-year-old woman, greeted them with a few polite words before reporting the facts they had uncovered.

According to their findings, an old employee had reported his badge missing the previous day, and their records confirmed that someone had used his card to enter the park twice that morning. This meant someone had stolen his badge and used it to gain access.

Upon hearing this, Liu Haibo immediately ordered the retrieval of all surveillance footage from the entrance and throughout the park. Since they now knew how the suspect had entered and what badge had been used, reviewing the footage from that specific timeframe should make it easy to capture the suspect’s image.

Following this procedure would surely yield a portrait of the suspect, though it would take some time and effort. Still, at least they now had a lead, which greatly improved Liu Haibo’s mood.

He delegated this work to a portion of the team and then led several top criminal investigators and technical experts to the warehouse where the stolen goods had been discarded.

Upon arrival, they discovered traces everywhere—footprints, drag marks, even the very clear tracks of a balance scooter. The suspect seemed to make no effort to conceal the fact that he had acted alone, yet despite searching every possible surface, they couldn't find a single fingerprint.

After all evidence and documents had been collected and examined, most of the team returned to headquarters while the specialists continued analyzing the surveillance footage. The remaining members began a meeting to discuss the case based on the evidence.

In all previous cases, there had been no witnesses, no video records, no fingerprints, and minimal traces on the ground—making it nearly impossible to even find a direction for the investigation. But this time, Ali Mama had provided a way in. Now, everyone was thinking: if only they could capture the suspect’s face, the case would be perfect.

Even though the idea that a single person could accomplish such a feat seemed ridiculous, at least they had a direction. Perhaps, they speculated, this person might even be linked to earlier cases.

Their discussion ultimately focused on two questions. First: by what means did the suspect remove all these materials? Judging by the traces at the scene, there couldn’t have been many people involved. Was it really like something out of a legend, where a spell sweeps everything into a space ring? Or had some higher form of life appeared on this planet, possessing technology beyond human comprehension?

Second: what was the motive? Whether the suspect possessed supernatural powers or advanced technology, why would he bother stealing these things? For someone with such abilities, acquiring these materials should be easy—there would be no need to steal. What was his true purpose?

Everyone pondered these questions, but no one could come up with an answer.

Meanwhile, Cao Bin had already left Hangsu City, following the map. His next destination was Dongnan City, five hundred kilometers away. The reason for choosing this city was the same as before—it was a large metropolis with its own nuclear power plant, and in the coming apocalypse, it would be reduced to ashes in an instant, leaving all its resources to waste. Better to take advantage while he could.

So, Cao Bin arrived early to "borrow" what he needed.

Upon entering the city, he repeated his previous actions, becoming more skillful and efficient each time. He swept through the warehouses of every major supermarket, clearing them out. This city also had numerous factories and supplies for the construction industry—timber, boards of all kinds, rebar, cement, and sand were all abundant.

He had a top-tier motorhome, an Unimog worth millions, but he was loath to use it, so he got by with a regular camper instead, which was much more convenient for daily life. The largest stockpiles in this region were, of course, all kinds of grain. His research revealed that there were ten granaries in the city, each storing over ten thousand tons of grain—mainly rice, but also soybeans, rapeseed, peanuts, and more.

Naturally, he didn't overlook the city's vegetable oil plants, which collectively held hundreds of thousands of tons of edible oils.

In Dongnan City, the scale of his "borrowing" operation was much greater than in Hangsu City. When he reached the coastal fishing bays, he collected all the speedboats and fishing vessels—over a thousand craft in total, all taken in one night. Naturally, the seafood markets were not spared either.

He then continued northward—to Wu City.

This city was a veritable sea of clothing, shoes, and small commodities. He spent much more time here than elsewhere—seven or eight days—before he managed to clear out every last resource.

Meanwhile, the city was thrown into chaos. No one could fathom how all these items had disappeared. Underwear could be ignored, but outdoor jackets, down coats, quilts, sheets, pillows, beds of every kind—there seemed to be nothing he didn’t want.

From east to west, then clockwise, he made his way through each city, taking whatever might be useful in the future. Always cautious, and with years of experience surviving the apocalypse, it would take investigators at least a month or two to find even a single clue about him.

After thirty-five days of relentless collecting, his activities finally triggered the first nationwide joint operation by the authorities. This unprecedented campaign mobilized every constable in the country—never before had such a concerted effort been made for a single case. Naturally, Cao Bin sensed the tightening net and ceased his spree.

There were only about seven or eight days left before the apocalypse. Taking advantage of the fact that his identity remained unknown, he bought a plane ticket to go "borrow" supplies abroad—as a citizen of Yan, he had no qualms about not returning what he took.

His first destination was Sakura Country. Partly due to old national grudges, he felt no compunction about causing chaos there. More importantly, he might be able to obtain firearms.

In his own country, acquiring a gun was pure fantasy. But in Sakura Country, the criminal underworld was rampant, and for a bit of cash, one could easily buy a weapon. For him, though, there was no need to pay—he would simply "borrow" whatever he needed.

When the apocalypse struck and the natural disasters ended, humanity would mutate and awaken supernatural powers—leaping across rooftops, plucking flowers from the air, feats of extraordinary skill. Animals and beasts would likewise mutate into terrifying monsters. But before that, firearms would remain the most effective weapons, especially in the early stages when most mutants were only at the first tier.

In those early days, as civilization collapsed and morals disintegrated, having a gun made dealing with others far easier.

Cao Bin had no trouble leaving the country. Even though every authority was mobilized against him, no one knew his identity, so there was no way to block his exit. For now, the police had only deduced his general route of operation.

At this point, the investigators were shocked to discover a commonality: the suspect never stole from just any city—every city he targeted had a nuclear power plant. At first, this theory seemed far-fetched, but after careful verification, it proved accurate, leaving everyone baffled. Combined with the previous unresolved questions, there was now one more mystery, deepening their frustration.

So far, only Ali Mama’s case had any real leads. Everywhere else, there were none—the surveillance cameras had been destroyed, and where they hadn’t, the perpetrator had concealed his face with hats and masks.

With only a single clue to go on, the authorities decided to stake everything on it. Only one city in the country with a nuclear power plant remained—East City. The massive joint operation deployed personnel at every exit and entry point in this city, turning it into an inescapable net. Yet, none of them realized that their quarry had already left the country.

If Cao Bin had known this, he would have congratulated himself on his cunning.

Arriving at the airport in Sakura Country, Cao Bin felt his spirits lift. Over eighty percent of this nation’s power came from nuclear plants—meaning that when the apocalypse struck, the country would be reduced to a wasteland overnight, long before the subsequent natural disasters arrived. When the second wave hit and the seas flooded the land, the ruined wasteland would be swallowed by water, and the island would vanish from the world, leaving Sakura Country as nothing but history.

Regardless of old grudges, that alone gave Cao Bin free rein to scavenge as he pleased. The people might be unremarkable, perhaps even undeserving of survival, but their industry and technology were impressive—office machinery, industrial equipment, all types of electronics were world-class.

As a coastal nation, their fishing industry needed no further mention. Boats, salvage equipment, and related factories were all renowned. Due to their limited water resources, their water purification plants also far surpassed those in other countries. Geography shaped development, and here it was especially evident.

When Cao Bin arrived in the city, eight days remained before the apocalypse. He planned to stay no more than seven, making full use of the time to "borrow" as much as possible. On the last day, he would return to Heyue City—the place he had lived for many years, the place he knew best and loved most. Of course, as with the tourist girl he once met, he could choose to go to the Tibetan region—the highest elevation in the country and, in the future, the largest safety zone.

However, living there brought its own risks. The environment was safer, but the high population density meant greater dangers from other sources. Having survived the apocalypse before, Cao Bin understood human nature all too well—the depths of its depravity and darkness far exceeded the imagination of ordinary people.

His previous life had been one of hardship, but through his own efforts, he had managed to endure until the end. He knew every critical moment, every vital location, every decisive time point in Heyue City. That knowledge was his most valuable asset.

Armed with that, his chances of survival were absolute—there was no need to venture into the unknown, where every risk was magnified and safety was uncertain.