005

Chapter 5

Elena stocked up on supplies for the coming Floodfall. She bought dehumidifiers, dryers, hair dryers, desiccants, and bags of quicklime blocks for around 3,800 dollars.

When she saw the quicklime, she also picked up 1,000 dollars’ worth of quicklime heating packs and self-heating meal packs—handy for boiling eggs or making instant noodles when there’s no power or gas.

Next, she bought protective suits, goggles, gloves, boot covers, and gas masks to guard against Acidstorms. Including child sizes, she got 12 full sets for about 5,000 dollars.

She also picked up 12 fire extinguishers, fire blankets, and emergency fire cloaks, which cost another 4,200 dollars.

Altogether, she had already spent close to 50,000 dollars. Elena forced herself to stop. She still hadn’t bought the most important things yet—medicine, meat, dairy, fruits, and vegetables.

With just under 100,000 dollars left in her account, she needed to be careful tomorrow. She hoped her parents would arrive soon.

She listed the warehouse as the delivery address for all the purchases, planning to pick them up later.

Lying in bed, she thought over what else to buy and what she could hold off on until later to get those for free. Somewhere in the middle of planning, she fell asleep.

The next morning, she was jolted awake by her phone buzzing nonstop. Frowning at the unknown number, she answered.

“Elena, why the heck did you block me—” Ryan’s furious voice came through.

Elena didn’t even listen. She hung up and blocked him again.

Then she opened the college student council chat, her class group, and the club group they’d both joined. Into each one, she dropped the video she’d recorded last night.

Along with it, she posted screenshots of every bank transfer she’d made to him, the money she’d spent on their trips, the amulet she’d bought, and even the chat logs where he sweet-talked her into lending him more cash. She stitched everything into one long image and sent it all out.

As a final step, she sent a leave-of-absence request directly to her student advisor.

Ryan and Lila would be too busy explaining themselves now to bother her again.

After a quick wash and a breakfast of bagels, Elena drove back to the farmers’ market she’d visited the day before.

The morning produce was always freshest, and this southern market was one of the biggest suppliers in the region. Trucks unloaded mountains of fruits and vegetables every day, traded in bulk.

For buyers like Elena, she was just a small fish. No one noticed her filling order slips.

Therefore, she didn’t hold back and went to the veggie section.

Her storage space didn’t have any planting function. It could only keep things fresh, which meant fruits, vegetables, meat, and dairy would eventually be consumed. So Elena decided to stock up enough to feed a family of four for 30 years.

She ordered 500 pounds each of eggplant, tomatoes, green bell peppers, okra, zucchini, scallions, onions, potatoes, romaine hearts, broccoli, cabbage, asparagus, baby spinach, kale, spinach, arugula, romaine lettuce, button mushrooms, cremini mushrooms, and celery. That alone cost about 46,000 dollars.

For longer-lasting vegetables like turnips, baby carrots, and green cabbage, she bought 2,000 pounds each, spending another 5,000 dollars.

She also ordered 1,000 pounds each of starchy foods like butternut squash, parsnips, baby potatoes, sweet potatoes, and russet potatoes—about 23,000 dollars more.

Then she bought 4,000 ears of sweet corn, enough for a family of four to enjoy twice a month for years, at a cost of 3,200 dollars.

Finally, she added 500 pounds each of ginger, green onions, and garlic, spending another 1,100 dollars.

The total bill for vegetables alone came to nearly 79,000 dollars.

When she handed over her card, Elena’s hands trembled. Money drained away too fast. And she still hadn’t even bought fruit, meat, eggs, or milk.

Her account balance was now down to less than 20,000 dollars.

Elena gave the shopkeeper the warehouse address and told them to deliver everything by evening.

With less than 20,000 dollars left, she knew it wouldn’t go far. So she went straight to a canned-goods wholesaler and bought 300 cans each of meat, fish, beans, corn, and fruit.

While the store workers loaded them into her van, her phone rang. It was Sophia. “Elena, we just landed! We’ll be at your apartment complex in about 30 minutes.”

Joy flooded Elena. She quickly told them she was at the Southgate farmers’ market and asked them to meet her there instead.

Marcus and Sophia were confused. They couldn’t imagine what their daughter was doing at a farmers’ market, but they told the driver to change course.

The south entrance of the market faced a busy road lined with diners. Elena picked one with a private booth and ordered several dishes, telling the waiter to serve everything once her parents arrived.

Then she went back to wait by her van.

The market was already on the outskirts of the city, closer to the airport. In less than 20 minutes, Marcus and Sophia arrived.

Elena’s throat tightened when she saw them. They looked exactly the same as in her memories. Blinking back tears, she helped them into the van.

The back seats had been removed, leaving the space piled high with supplies.

Marcus and Sophia exchanged a stunned look, unsure why their daughter was driving a van full of goods.

Fortunately, Elena had left a stool inside. With that plus the front passenger seat, the three of them fit.

Sophia climbed into the passenger seat, her face tight with concern. She took Elena’s hand and said, “Honey, what’s happening? You’ve got your father and me worried sick.”

She scanned Elena up and down, checking for injuries. When her eyes landed on Elena’s face, she suddenly froze. “Elena… your birthmark! Where did it go?”

Marcus frowned, less panicked but still unsettled. “Did you have surgery to remove it? No… it looks too natural. Surgery doesn’t heal that perfectly.”

Elena’s eyes welled with tears. Feeling their long-lost concern, she gave a trembling smile and said softly, “Dad, remember how you used to tell me that birthmark was a gift from divine? Looks like you were right.”

Her parents stared at her in confusion.

Wiping her tears, Elena glanced around. The road was clear—no cars, no pedestrians. She leaned closer. “Listen carefully.”

Her serious tone made Marcus and Sophia straighten up. They traded looks, then waited quietly.

Elena pondered her speech, drew a steady breath and said slowly, “Watch closely.”

She reached into the van where stacks of canned food filled the back. Placing her hand on them, she made them vanish into her storage space.

Within seconds, half the cans were gone.

Sophia gasped. “Elena… is this some kind of magic trick?”

She darted her eyes around, looking for hidden compartments. But there was nowhere those cans could have gone.

Elena just smiled and shook her head. Then she reached out and touched the stool Marcus had been sitting on. It disappeared too, forcing him into a crouch.

Marcus didn’t even complain about losing his seat. He simply stared, frozen in place, trying to process what he had just seen.

Elena chuckled; with another wave of her hand, she brought everything back—the cans, the stool—exactly as before.

Her parents stared at her in shock.

“Dad, Mom, I just put all that into my storage space,” Elena explained. “Yesterday morning I woke up and the birthmark on my face was gone. But in its place, I discovered this… A portable storage space only I can see. Time inside doesn’t move. Whatever I put in stays exactly the same—when I take it back out, it’s just like when I first stored it.”

Worried they might not believe her, Elena pulled out two servings of gnocchi she had stored the day before. Steam still curled up from the noodles, hot as if they had just been cooked. “See? I left these in t

here for a whole day, and they’re exactly the same as when I put them in.”

Marcus and Sophia were completely stunned