Chapter 7

If the void pocket didn't devour the diamond and store it like everything else, there was just no point in jewelry, especially in the apocalypse, where people pawned them off just for a meal.

Nonetheless, once Sophie put in the bracelet, the white balls of the void pocket expanded in an instant.

Estimating the area increase, Sophie opened her eyes and grinned. "It did enlarge by some 500 square feet!"

Her parents sighed in relief—they were fine with anything as long as the void pocket could be expanded.

Tina was also wearing a gold necklace and a pair of gold earrings, and she took both off and handed them to Sophie too. "Try these as well."

Sophie put the gold jewelry into the void pocket and nodded after a moment. "It expanded again but not that much, just by a dozen square feet or so. "

But that was fine—the jewelry must have barely weighed an ounce and was probably worth a lot less than the diamond bracelet.

Jonah then asked Sophie about the specific date and time of the apocalypse before nodding. "We really are short on time—let's split up to work more efficiently. I'll be heading home today and putting our new apartment and our store on 81st Street up for sale. Then we'll start renovating our sixth-floor apartment. And remember to fill me in on the important stuff later, Fi.

"As for medicine, I personally know two pharmaceutical agents who can give me a rebate for everything. Tina, you can stay here with Fi to buy everything else we need. Most importantly, we should get to the bank and withdraw all the gems and precious metals we bought to upgrade Fi's void pocket."

The hardware store on 81st Street occupied two shop lots. Considering that the business would go kaput with the apocalypse anyway, Jonah would rather sell it as soon as possible.

Tina was a little hesitant about that, but seeing her husband being determined and her daughter nodding, she agreed to it too.

If things went smoothly, they would have an extra five hundred grand, which would be very helpful for purchasing more supplies.

Sophie then reminded Jonah, "By the way, we can sell everything in the store even after the apocalypse begins. You don't have to sell them cheap through clearance sales or anything."

Jonah nodded in agreement, and they all went to work, wasting no time.

It wasn't peak travel season, so Jonah easily caught the next flight back to Jonestown.

As for Tina, she called the bank and was informed that she could withdraw everything they kept in the vault as soon as tomorrow, so she stayed with Sophie.

While Sophie left to purchase more supplies, Tina ordered shelves to be delivered to the warehouse, along with dried foods, fruits, and beverages.

Then, after learning that her daughter had only bought a couple of tons of grains and flour, she bought thirty tons of both as well. She also started planning other purchases as she waited at the warehouse to receive all the deliveries.

Sophie drove her van to a rural pig farm and ordered fifty large fattened pigs, adding in a processing fee to have the pigs butchered and cleaned.

The owner wasn't bothered since it was extra income—he might as well earn it. He called up a couple of relatives to help and promised to be done in twelve hours or so.

And like the rest, the pork would be delivered to the warehouse.

Sophie also ordered thousands of poultry from farms, all plucked and processed before being delivered to the warehouse. She also ordered a hundred cartons of eggs and some duck eggs as well.

Goose eggs were too expensive, so she only bought a few cartons.

With the future in mind, she also bought cartons of fertilized eggs, as well as incubators directly from the farm.

With the right circumstances, she could at least try hatching and raising poultry herself to ensure a continuous supply of meat.

Naturally, she also ordered over a thousand pounds of beef and mutton, while stopping by a dairy factory on her way back to the apartment.

In the post-apocalyptic world, malnutrition was rampant. Tina and Jonah were at the age where they needed calcium supplements, so Sophie bought 300 eight-gallon containers of fresh milk. She also bought some bagged milk that was almost expired, since they were on clearance at a low price.

By the time she got back to the city, it was completely dark.

Tina was packing things in the warehouse and didn't even bother to greet her when she saw her return.

Sophie smiled and quickly parked her car. Seeing a deliveryman soon arriving, she went over to sign the receipts and help unload.

Seeing the troves of supplies inside, the deliveryman chuckled. "You look like you have a major operation going on here. A supermarket, perhaps?"

Tina, who had been helping at Jonah's hardware store for over a decade, smiled affably. "Well, my daughter's graduating soon, and the job market is tough. That's why we plan to start a business for her, which is better than a desk job with modest pay!"

"That's true." The deliveryman sighed, shaking his head. "Work is tough these days. My son has graduated for a while now and is still unemployed. Fortunately, he's now aiming for the civil service entrance exam!"

Tina echoed his sentiments before he drove off in his small truck.

Sophie had also brought dinner—two large plates of spaghetti with eggs and bacon. They took a break to eat and kept working, only finishing up past nine.

The remaining orders wouldn't arrive until tomorrow, so one of them would have to stay and receive the delivery.

However, they also had to move everything from the warehouse into the void pocket, so they couldn't rest just yet.

Tina then drove her van out and about, pretending to deliver goods. Sophie stayed in the warehouse, organizing the supplies.

After that, she emptied the mess from her void pocket and neatly arranged everything on the shelves her mother had bought that day.

Then, she arranged the purchased goods on the shelves in order of grains, oils, vegetables, fruits, seafood, and household goods.

She also brought a wide variety of fruits, from apples and pears, to durian.

She bought 500 pounds of each commonly eaten fruit and about half that amount of the more exotic ones.

For dried foods, it was around three hundred pounds for stuff like shiitake mushrooms, boxed lasagna, and around a hundred pounds for other dried foods.

As Sophie had forgotten to get seafood, Tina helped, and they bought nearly a thousand fishes including bass, bluegill, and the like. They also bought shrimp and lobsters.

Just to be sure, they bought more cooking oil, amounting to 300 cartons' worth, with every type ranging from peanut oil to virgin olive oil.

It was already midnight when they got home, and they were both exhausted.

Tina drove, while Sophie calculated the day's expenses and sighed. "We are literally spending a five-figure sum on food, Mom…"

Plus all that she spent in the morning, they could well reach six figures.

One really couldn't ever have enough money!

She had no idea how much savings her parents had, but spending that much money in no time at all would definitely hurt.

But on the plus side, she had enough food in her void pocket to keep her family fed for over thirty years.

Since she woke up, the feeling of impending danger gnawing at her finally eased a little.