Four

The next day, Willow found Chloe sitting upright in the living room, looking like she had been waiting specifically for her to walk out.

Willow raised an eyebrow. The girl had been hysterical and weeping on the phone yesterday, but today she seemed like a completely different person. Where did she suddenly get her confidence back?

Choosing to ignore her entirely, Willow grabbed her bags and headed straight for the front door.

She had already contacted the landlord the previous evening to terminate the lease early and collect her portion of the security deposit.

"Hold on! Willow, that security deposit is supposed to be split down the middle! Are you seriously trying to pocket the whole thing?" Chloe snapped, her voice spiking with exasperation.

Willow let out a cold laugh. "Split it? Have you paid a single dime of rent or utilities for the last year, Chloe? Don't force me to completely rip off your mask and air all your dirty laundry."

Chloe froze, entirely speechless.

While it was true she hadn't paid her share, letting Willow walk away with the entire five-thousand-dollar deposit felt like a massive loss.

Yet, looking at Willow’s cold expression, she didn't dare push her luck. She suddenly realized this quiet, accommodating roommate of hers had completely changed overnight!

Chloe gritted her teeth, her eyes flashing with intense, suppressed hatred.

Willow noticed the venomous look, but didn't care in the least. She turned around and walked out without looking back.

Arriving at the underground parking garage, Willow pretended to load her luggage into the back of the box truck.

In reality, the moment she stepped into a blind spot away from the security cameras, she swept the items straight into the Sanctum's storage zone.

Climbing into the driver's seat, she didn't drive off immediately. Instead, she closed her eyes and used her mental focus to probe the Sanctum's interior layout.

Inside the spatial realm, alongside the vast agricultural planting zone, there were dedicated partitioned areas for herbal alchemy, rune crafting, and potion brewing.

Unfortunately, this modern Earth lacked ambient ley-lines and magical energy, rendering combat runes and offensive spells completely inert.

Otherwise, a single high-tier explosive warding glyph would be more than enough to handle any earthly threat.

Willow sighed with quiet regret.

Thankfully, the alchemical elixirs and medical potions she had previously brewed were still fully functional—including a few novelty items like "skunk-scent bombs" and fast-acting laxative draughts she’d whipped up just for laughs back in the Arcane Realm.

Most importantly, her reserves contained tens of thousands of bottles of high-grade restorative and tonic elixirs, which were infinitely more effective than any modern pharmaceutical medicine.

After carefully inspecting her inventory, Willow mentally organized the supplies she had acquired yesterday, categorizing everything neatly to maximize warehouse space.

Stepping back out to reality, she tallied up her expenses. $60,000 for the gourmet smokehouse prep, $20,000 for the box truck rental, $100,000 for the two-month commercial warehouse lease, $200,000 for the bulk boba and artisan drinks, and another $100,000 for the evening food truck run, bringing her total spending yesterday to a staggering $480,000.

Considering she had only pulled $5 million from her first reishi sale, that money was evaporating fast! And her shopping list was still only a fraction complete.

Sighing, Willow drove to the smokehouse to collect her first batch of vacuum-packed meals, settling the remaining balance. Checking her mobile banking app, she saw her balance sat at $4.52 million.

Next, she pulled up a map, searched for the largest commercial beverage distributor and municipal water bottling plant in the area, and followed the GPS.

Though the plant manager looked at her with mild suspicion, Willow's smooth corporate-style persuasion quickly secured a massive water contract.

Willow signed an agreement to have 100 cases of premium spring water delivered directly to her leased storage unit every week for the coming month. At $15 a case, it came out to $1,500 a week, a drop in the bucket for long-term survival.

A single pallet of water could sustain a single person for months if managed carefully; this volume alone would keep her hydrated for a lifetime.

Still, Willow wasn't satisfied. Leaving the water plant, she drove straight to a massive industrial wholesale food market.

Under the cover story of opening a regional convenience store chain, she bought 500 bulk cases of bottled artesian water, alongside massive pallets of military-grade MREs (Meals Ready-to-Eat), freeze-dried protein bars, canned goods, and instant ramen.

She also loaded up on comfort beverages, having fallen hopelessly in love with artisan sodas and energy drinks after just one sip.

Operating under the "storefront" excuse, she swept through the dry goods aisles, buying industrial sacks of rice, organic flour, Himalayan pink salt, bulk cooking oils, and endless crates of aromatic spices like crushed chili flakes, garlic powder, and black peppercorns.

With a single swipe of her card, another $1 million vanished.

Yet, the sheer mountain of provisions she had secured would easily last her a lifetime. Willow didn't get greedy and buy out the entire market; she wasn't entirely heartless, knowing millions of ordinary people would be starving when the end times hit, so she left plenty of inventory for the open market.

Besides, with her Sanctum's accelerated agricultural zones, she could literally grow whatever fresh crops she wanted on demand.

As she prepared to head back to her truck, something caught her eye down the central aisle. She came to a sudden halt and slapped her forehead.

Seeds!

Wheeling around, she headed straight for the agricultural seed wholesale sector at the back of the market.

She bought out every heirloom seed variety she could find. Napa cabbage, bok choy, fresh cilantro, scallions, daikon radishes, russet potatoes, and sweet corn, alongside fruit seeds like wild strawberries and heirloom melons.

She even bought live starter plants for berry bushes, dwarf apple trees, and citrus groves, spending over $10,000 on greenery alone.

This single wholesale trip drained another $500,000 from her account.

Willow had the warehouse hands fork-lift the pallets directly into the back of her box truck. Once she was parked in a secluded zone, she swept the entire haul straight into the Sanctum's storage matrix.

"Echo, your help is required in the fields," Willow broadcasted mentally.

"Coming, Master!"

Echo the spirit-moth had been dying of boredom; assigned a real job, she fluttered her iridescent wings excitedly and immediately dove down to start managing the crop rows.

Sensing the familiar, joyful buzz of her familiar, a soft smile tugged at the corner of Willow's lips.

Returning to the driver's seat, she detoured to a high-end botanical and greenhouse nursery, dropping another $10,000 on ornamental flowers and rare aromatic herbs just to add a touch of color and luxury to her inner sanctuary.

By the time she finished browsing the wholesale district, her mobile banking balance flashed a warning: $2.915 million remaining.

Willow gritted her teeth. Her survival blueprint was only halfway complete, and the heavy-duty defensive upgrades and luxury infrastructure were where the real expenses would start. Her current cash reserves were definitely not enough.

Reaching into her pouch, Willow pulled out two more pristine, five-hundred-year-old wild reishi mushrooms from her spatial storage, intending to liquidate them at a different commercial hub across the state.

This time, however, she needed a foolproof disguise.

Driving her empty box truck to a quiet industrial park, she parked inside a rented garage bay and pulled a small, drab vial from her pocket: a [Glamour Disguise Elixir].

Without hesitation, she uncorked and swallowed it.

Within two minutes, her facial structure began to subtly shift and warp. When she looked in the rearview mirror, she was completely unrecognizable, transformed into a thickset, thirty-something businessman with a potbelly and nondescript features that would effortlessly blend into any crowded city street.

Human nature was inherently greedy, after all. In the face of immense wealth, absolute caution was the only way to survive.