Jiang Yu opened her mouth, seemingly wanting to say something.
Sheng An looked at her and waited patiently.
After a moment, Jiang Yu gritted her teeth. "Fine, I'll go farm right now!"
It was just farming, wasn't it?
Could it possibly be harder than her previous life?
The space was her cheat, and also her trump card.
If anyone found out that other people could enter her space too, they would surely subject it to endless research.
She didn't know why there was a space inside the bracelet, nor could she be sure whether someone could take it away from her...
After all, it wasn't her own ability.
Under the circumstances, she would feel safer keeping the space closed to others.
Jiang Yu made up her mind-
To keep this secret, she would learn to farm!
At that, Sheng An raised an eyebrow slightly and nodded.
"All right, then stay here and learn from Professor Zhou and the others. See you tonight."
Jiang Yu instinctively looked up at the sky. "Isn't it already evening?"
It was almost dark!
Sheng An gave her a meaningful look. "There are only twenty-one days left. Did you think we'd get to rest this early? Keep at it, little fish."
She patted Jiang Yu on the shoulder.
Just then, Hao Jingye hurried over, his tone urgent. "Sister Sheng, another Aberrant made a big move today."
Sheng An's expression turned serious, and she turned to leave.
The words "Aberrant" and "big move" had already piqued Jiang Yu's curiosity.
She grabbed Sheng An's sleeve. "Sister Sheng, take me with you! I want to see what the other Aberrants are like too!"
Sheng An refused without mercy. "No. You have your own work to do."
"Then can I come find you once I've finished my work?" Jiang Yu's eyes filled with anticipation.
Something flickered in Sheng An's eyes.
Once she'd finished her work?
A hint of amusement entered her voice. "Sure. As long as you finish your work, I'll have someone pick you up."
She put extra emphasis on "your work."
Jiang Yu missed it and nodded vigorously, brimming with motivation.
"Okay, Sister Sheng, wait for me!!" she shouted.
Sheng An was already leaving with Hao Jingye, the hem of her outdoor jacket shifting slightly as she strode away.
Hearing her, Sheng An raised a hand and waved without looking back.
Jiang Yu took a deep breath and turned around. "So, what do I need to do?"
"Basic training first. If you don't know anything, we wouldn't dare let you handle these seeds and plants."
As Academician Zhou spoke, he pointed at the things several researchers had brought out beside them. "Read these books first. I'll mark the key points for you. You'll also need to go through all these videos and materials."
Jiang Yu followed his finger with her eyes.
Two large cardboard boxes were packed with thick books.
On the table sat a stack of materials as tall as her arm was long, an open laptop, and a folder containing one terabyte of files...
Academician Zhou said, "Finish going through these tonight. Tomorrow, you can read-"
Jiang Yu's vision went black.
An inconspicuous car traveled down the road.
Sheng An drove fast and steadily while Hao Jingye sat in the passenger seat, reporting the situation. "Yu Litian and Chen Jiaojiao have both been questioned. Their interest in the bracelet was a coincidence. Chen Jiaojiao thought Jiang Yu's family heirloom bracelet was worth a lot of money."
She nodded, signaling for him to continue.
Hao Jingye quickly skimmed the information in his hands.
"Li Wanyun, twenty-three. Her parents passed away a year ago, leaving her a substantial inheritance. Seven days ago, she was still fighting her father's cousin for control of her parents' company. Three days ago, she suddenly offered to sell him her shares for three billion.
"That same day, she also began selling her cars and properties, all urgent sales. So far, one billion has come in, and another billion in assets is still up for sale."
Sheng An nodded. "Go on."
Hao Jingye said, "The three billion came in today, along with another billion from the fixed assets she sold. Bank transaction monitoring flagged it. All four billion is still in her account, with no spending whatsoever."
A window popped up on his laptop.
Hao Jingye glanced at it and continued, "Just now, Li Wanyun contacted her professional broker and once again asked them to sell her assets as quickly as possible. She wants everything sold within seven days so she can get the cash as soon as possible."
The fact that she was asking again meant she had already made the request many times.
Sheng An raised an eyebrow slightly. "The apocalypse is coming, so she's frantically scraping together five billion, planning to spend it all on supplies to prepare for doomsday?"
Hao Jingye's expression was complicated. "If Li Wanyun has also been reborn, then the script she's following is-"
Sheng An finished for him. "Xu Qingqing's."
Jiang Yu was living in Reborn Before the Apocalypse: Doted on by the Big Boss.
Then Li Wanyun was living in Starting with Five Billion: I'll Never Run Out of Food in the Apocalypse.
"What has Li Wanyun done over the past three days?" Sheng An asked.
Hao Jingye answered immediately. "Three days ago, Li Wanyun had a huge fight with her grandmother and her father's cousin's family. It even escalated to bloodshed. But then Li Wanyun suddenly offered to sell her shares to him, asking for three billion."
"Suddenly?"
"According to the information we've gathered so far, it was sudden. We strongly suspect something abnormal happened to her at that moment-rebirth." Hao Jingye spoke in a precise, measured tone, fully in work mode.
Sheng An nodded.
Hao Jingye continued, "Li Wanyun and Li Jianli couldn't agree on the three billion. That same day, she contacted other businesspeople and offered to sell her shares for three billion. Meanwhile, she secretly contacted a professional broker to sell her assets."
Clearly, Li Wanyun had been in a great hurry three days ago.
She had started selling her other assets as soon as she put her shares up for sale, frantically raising money.
Most likely, she was certain the apocalypse was coming.
"Li Jianli agreed to the deal the next morning. Li Wanyun gave him only two days to raise the money.
"The three billion had to reach her account by the end of today, or she would immediately sell to someone else. Li Jianli pulled some strings and scraped together the three billion for her."
It seemed those shares were worth far more than three billion.
That was why Li Jianli had agreed.
"The day before yesterday, after Li Jianli agreed to buy the shares, Li Wanyun kept selling off her assets. She even sold some of her jewelry and luxury goods."
Sheng An's eyebrows shifted slightly.
"That evening, Li Wanyun went to a restaurant and ate an enormous meal, completely unlike her usual appetite." Hao Jingye looked at Sheng An and turned the screen toward her.
She glanced at it. In the surveillance footage, a long-haired woman sat in an upscale restaurant, eating ravenously without the slightest concern for appearances.
It was as though the food in front of her held an irresistible allure.
Sheng An smiled. "She's looking more and more like a reborn heroine. She's suffered and gone hungry before, which is why she's having a reaction similar to PTSD."
If she were merely selling assets and consolidating her liquid funds, that alone wouldn't prove anything.
It was possible she had received advance warning.
With the government taking action on such a large scale, keeping it completely secret was impossible.
Although the news was being suppressed for now, there would always be people who learned or guessed the truth through various means.
There was never any shortage of clever people.
But certain details about Li Wanyun suggested she might be an Aberrant.
For instance, three days ago, she had still refused to let go of her company shares, yet she had suddenly changed her mind during an argument and decided to sell them.
Or how a wealthy heiress had suddenly started gorging herself as though she had starved to death in a previous life.
Hao Jingye agreed. "Exactly. We don't have direct evidence yet, but my gut tells me Li Wanyun is an Aberrant."
He paused, then quietly added, "She's far too much like Xu Qingqing!"
While reading the novel to Sheng An, he had also skimmed through it himself.
Li Wanyun gave exactly the same first impression as Xu Qingqing, the heroine with ten billion to spend on stockpiling supplies.
"What did she do yesterday? And what unusual move did she make today?" When Hao Jingye had come to find her earlier, he had said this Aberrant had made a big move today.
At that, Hao Jingye's expression suddenly grew complicated.
Sheng An looked puzzled.
Hao Jingye said, "Yesterday, after signing the sale contracts, Li Wanyun hired a group of people... to renovate her villa. She poured a huge amount of money into it. They worked overtime from last night until this afternoon, and the renovations have already taken shape."
"Hmm?"
The car reached their destination. Everything around them was pitch-black, and Sheng An frowned slightly.
She didn't stop, continuing farther in.
As they drew closer, the sounds of workers laboring overtime became clear. There was even heavy machinery running.
For a villa renovation, it was every bit as busy as a major construction site.
Hao Jingye pointed ahead, his voice carrying an unreadable mix of emotions. "Sister Sheng, see for yourself."
Sheng An looked up and froze.
The villa ahead was undergoing renovations, and powerful construction lights illuminated its exterior.
The villa's outline was clearly visible.
The corner of Sheng An's mouth twitched.
A bunker?!
Before you continue