Thank Goodness the Apocalypse Arrived

"People like you deserve to be cast into the Desolate Dust!" Ling Shaomei said coldly. It was clear that her dissatisfaction with this young master, Wu Hen, had been building up for a long time.

"Heh." Wu Hen offered a mirthless smile.

That was quite the nasty insult!

Considering she had ultimately opened the door for everyone, Wu Hen decided not to hold it against her for now.

"There are a lot of footsteps upstairs. Are there other people living here?" Wu Hen asked Ling Shaomei.

Ling Shaomei was dressed in slacks, her posture upright. Her white shirt could barely contain her outstanding figure, and the small blazer she wore over it wouldn't even button up.

She wore a pair of exquisite glasses. It seemed that in this chaotic world, she had been relatively unaffected, as there was even a faint trace of makeup on her cheeks.

Ling Shaomei had studied landscape design abroad and was considered a top student. Originally planning to develop her career overseas, she had been tricked into returning by her father, Old Man Ling. With no other choice, she had taken a part-time job managing the Wu family's manor and art gallery.

The reason they had become so inextricably linked was that on Ling Shaomei's first day of work, she had seen someone leap from the second-floor balcony like a free bird, only to plunge headfirst into the swimming pool, followed by the sight of a pale, bare backside doing the butterfly stroke!

Likewise, Wu Hen had discovered that this new housekeeper was incredibly arrogant. Behind her silver-rimmed glasses, there was always a look of reluctance and cold indifference. Every time she looked at him, it was as if she were looking at the foolish son of a nouveau riche family. Since Wu Hen was no saint himself, he naturally gave her a hard time and teased her in various ways. Consequently, their relationship grew worse and worse, to the point that when the Wu family went bankrupt, Ling Shaomei ate several extra bowls of rice in celebration.

"They are our relatives," Ling Shaomei answered Wu Hen's question.

"You have quite a lot of relatives. There are eight or nine of them already," Wu Hen said.

"It's so chaotic outside. If we don't stick together, we'll die even more miserably," Ling Shaomei said.

"Numbers are useless; you need weapons. I don't mind taking in your family and your relatives, but from now on, you must guard this door well. When I say open it, you open it. When I say keep it locked, it must stay locked." Wu Hen deliberately spun his handgun in front of Ling Shaomei to signal that his gun was quite real!

"I don't need you to teach me what to do," Ling Shaomei snorted coldly.

In the current situation, wealth and status no longer made any difference. Ling Shaomei had no intention of continuing to take orders from Wu Hen like a housekeeper.

"Listen to me, and at least you and your family will have a better chance of surviving... Don't forget why this pavilion was built here in the first place," Wu Hen said, not bothering to be polite.

Upon hearing this, Ling Shaomei quickly understood what Wu Hen meant.

Could it be that this pavilion was built as a shelter from the very beginning?

Did Wu Yingting have such foresight?

After all, he was once a wealthy man in Licheng, and the information a wealthy man possessed was certainly more than what ordinary people like them had access to.

Thinking of how this Tropical Pavilion had space for cultivation, an underground well, and an incredibly powerful security barrier, Ling Shaomei suddenly understood.

"You are the ones borrowing space in our safe house. Even if you didn't open the door, we would have had ways to get in, but it wouldn't have been this polite," Wu Hen said, still fiddling with his handgun.

But in a moment of carelessness, the handgun dropped to the floor.

Too lazy to pick it up, Wu Hen waved his hand, and the firearm flew back into his grasp.

Ling Shaomei saw this scene, a hint of surprise flickering through her cold expression.

"Be a good girl and listen. You wouldn't want your father to be out there fighting those thugs at his age, would you?" Wu Hen continued to press her.

"Hmph, worry about yourself!" Ling Shaomei turned her head away, ignoring Wu Hen.

"Old Ling, this area on the second floor belongs to our family. Don't let your people come in without permission; the other areas can be shared." Wu Yingting led his family to the second floor.

There were many tempered glass walls in the second-floor area. One heavy door, however, was tightly shut, separating the inner area from the rest of the pavilion.

As Wu Hen walked here with his father, he understood his father's painstaking efforts.

Good grief, he had built a shelter in advance!

On the surface, this was just a useless exhibition hall, but the Tropical Pavilion had been retrofitted with a self-sufficient circulation system. Every floor could grow high-carbohydrate crops. Not to mention living here for a few months, it probably wouldn't be a problem to stay for years without stepping outside.

"No problem, no problem. From now on, we'll mind our own business," Old Man Ling said.

"You really know how to put things..." Wu Yingting shook his head helplessly.

Stepping into the steel chamber, Wu Hen discovered that it was a world of its own inside.

Although it was on the second floor, it had a three-story structure. There were stairs to go down to the first floor or up to the vegetation area on the third floor.

Furthermore, these doors were one-way. Without a key and fingerprint, it was impossible for anyone from the outside to break in.

Most importantly, Wu Yingting had also installed surveillance, allowing them to see most areas within the Tropical Pavilion, including the woods outside, with perfect clarity.

"I've also collected some weapons within my means. There aren't many, but they can be used for self-defense in a pinch," Wu Yingting said as he walked deeper inside and opened a hidden door in the wall.

Inside the hidden door was a storage room the size of a walk-in closet, stocked with firearms and magazines. Beyond that, there were compound bows, protective gear, stun batons, and masks.

A room had also been prepared with living supplies: nutrient solutions, cold-weather clothing, oxygen packs...

While it wasn't exactly an exhaustive collection, it was enough for their family to hold out for a year or so. In this precarious, crumbling world, it provided a profound sense of security.

"Honey, so you had prepared all of this." Yu Yi shed tears of joy.

It turned out that despite all the hardships they had faced, he had always been planning for the family's future.

"This won't last forever, but it can get us through this chaotic phase. It's just that there's one thing missing..." Wu Yingting said.

"There's no medicine." Wu Hen spotted the key missing resource at a glance.

"Yes, medicine is strictly controlled by the authorities. Private stockpiling is prohibited, and even pharmacies distribute it based on need," Wu Yingting said, his mouth twitching slightly.

Wu Hen looked at Wu Yingting's hand and noticed obvious burns; the wound was still festering.

Likewise, his younger sister Yu Yu and mother Yu Yi both bore burn marks, and they were in urgent need of medication.

The climate had turned harsh, and germs were now pervasive. If injuries were not treated in time, infection was inevitable.

"Didn't you say there was a passage here that leads to the air-raid shelter outside? Shangxia has a private hospital we invested in; there must be medicine there. I'll go and bring some back," Wu Hen said.

With the medical supplies replenished, the family was finally a bit safer.

Only then could Wu Hen venture into the Otherworld Desolate Dust with peace of mind.

"Germs are everywhere. As long as we have medicine, we can hold out here for quite a while, but it's too chaotic outside right now..." Wu Yingting said.

"Dad, don't worry. I'm terrifyingly strong now!" Wu Hen smiled, instinctively patting his right hand.

With Xiao Yi, even if a meteorite hit the Earth, Wu Hen could split it in two with a single sword strike!

Just as he was feeling smug, Wu Hen felt someone tugging on his sleeve.

He turned around to see his younger sister, Yu Yu. Although she was only fifteen and more developed than her peers, the childishness on her cheeks remained. Because of her speech impairment, she always looked pitiful.

"Brother, do you recognize those medicines?" Yu Yu signed.

"Uh... I admit chemistry is my blind spot." Wu Hen scratched his head awkwardly.

"And you have a poor sense of direction. Do you even know where that hospital is?" his sister Yu Yu added, delivering a ruthless blow.

"Fine, what are you trying to say, you brat!" Wu Hen glared at his sister.

"I'm going with you," Yu Yu said.

"This..."

"Let her go with you. Yu Yu is very familiar with the situation over there and knows where the medicine is kept," Wu Yingting said.

When his father said this, Wu Hen suddenly realized something.

It seemed that in recent years, Wu Yingting had intentionally made his sister study pharmacology and medical care.

As for the two siblings, they had taken classes in combat, swimming, fencing, shooting, archery, outdoor trekking, and attended highly professional military-style summer camps... their schedules had been packed.

Wu Hen and his sister had both complained about why they had to work so hard despite having such a large family business, but now Wu Hen understood his old father's painstaking efforts!

How should he put it? It was a good thing the apocalypse had arrived, otherwise, all that training would have been for nothing!

"Alright then, stay close to me, dummy," Wu Hen said.

Yu Yu angrily grabbed Wu Hen's arm and bit him without hesitation, leaving a mark like a little wildcat!

Wu Hen picked out a protective vest and a compound bow.

Guns were indeed good things.

However, once fired, the sound was too loud; it would attract every villain for miles around.

In this chaotic world, firearms were the most important commodity. Some people would risk their lives to steal them, especially those who were already armed themselves.

In such times, a compound bow served as a suitable alternative. It provided a certain level of deterrence without being too high-profile, and arrows could be reused, whereas ammunition was truly scarce.

"Huh? Xiao Hen, didn't I just see you take a bow?" Yu Yi asked, looking puzzled.

"Oh, the bow was eaten by my hand," Wu Hen replied, not finding it strange at all.

Yu Yi: "???"

What a niche way to speak. Before Yu Yi could ask again, Wu Hen had already pulled his younger sister toward the secret passage.

In the dim secret passage, there were a few night-lights. As Wu Hen walked forward, he was deep in thought.

If I can find an automatic rifle, a Gatling gun, a rocket launcher, a missile battery... can Xiao Yi eat those too, and then manifest them for me to use?

If that's really the case, should I break into the military armory? If I gamble, a bicycle could turn into a battleship!

It's a pity that the Soul Flower will wither. I can only stay here for a day or two at most before I'm thrown back to the alternate reality. Otherwise, I'd definitely build a doomsday bunker for my family, the kind with fully automated defense!