Chapter 13

Chapter 13: Keep Stockpiling

What a pathetic excuse.

Everyone knew the players chosen by the game were developing fevers as they awakened. Showing up at her door with a “temperature check” was about as subtle as a siren.

Ling Mo didn’t want to expose herself.

She was just an ordinary person. She didn’t have the courage—or the ability—to play savior. She only wanted to live well, safely. She could help when she had the spare capacity, but only if it didn’t put her in danger.

And right now, exposing herself was out of the question. Her secrets were too big. Until she could protect herself, she wasn’t betting her life on anyone’s goodwill.

It wasn’t that she didn’t trust the authorities.

It was that everyone had selfishness in them.

“Oh, I see,” Ling Mo said, forcing a calm smile. “Go ahead and check.”

She let them scan her with the temperature gun.

37°C and change. No fever.

A flicker of disappointment flashed through the eyes of the two young men.

One of them glanced past her into the house—delivery boxes stacked like a mountain, goods scattered everywhere, and the most striking sight of all: a massive pool that took up half the living room.

“Why have you bought so many packages?” he asked.

“I just moved in,” Ling Mo replied evenly. “I needed to buy a lot of things new.”

The property staff quickly confirmed it.

Ling Mo lifted her chin, acting impatient. “Anything else? It finally cooled down a bit. I want to go buy supplies.”

After confirming she wasn’t showing any obvious abnormalities, the group moved on to the next house.

The moment they left, Ling Mo hopped on her little electric scooter and raced toward the nearest large supermarket.

On the way, she regretted not getting a driver’s license. She’d skipped it because it was expensive, and now she was stuck buzzing around on an e-bike while everyone else had cars.

The supermarket was packed wall to wall, most of the crowd swarming the food and freezer sections.

Ling Mo didn’t bother fighting. She found a sales clerk and asked if they offered delivery. Everyone else had driven here; she’d come on an e-bike. Carrying supplies home in multiple trips would be impossible.

The clerk smiled and said they could—though the delivery fee was “a little” high.

Ling Mo nodded. “That’s fine.”

She hit the drinks aisle first and bought every beverage she liked.

Then she went to the freezer section. The frozen meals were already wiped out, but hardly anyone was buying popsicles and ice cream.

Perfect. She took them all.

Next, she bought out the foldable pools. Besides the large family-style pools, she found smaller ones meant for kids and cleared those out too.

She spotted brand-new fitness equipment. She hadn’t stocked anything like that before, and the next game would definitely demand stamina and strength.

Buy.

After that, she grabbed household goods and seasonings and finally finished her order.

The clerk recording everything couldn’t help asking, “You’re not buying any grain?”

Ling Mo looked at the food section, where the crowd only seemed to be getting thicker. “I can’t outfight those people.”

The clerk hesitated, then nodded like he understood. That was fair.

Those uncles and aunties fought like warriors over rice. This young lady, slim and delicate, really wasn’t built for that battlefield.

After leaving her address, Ling Mo didn’t go home. Since the weather was cooler, she continued into the city center, where there were two more large supermarkets.

At both, she asked about delivery, got the same answer, and then swept every section except the food aisles.

Passing the pet shop she’d visited before, she remembered she still hadn’t fully stocked food for her furry kids.

She’d already bought some, but she had a lot of them, and they burned through supplies fast.

She called a manufacturer that specialized in cat and dog food and placed a huge order—dog food, cat food, and various pet feeds.

The person on the phone sounded suspicious. “Why are you buying so much? And with temperatures like this… if it keeps rising, people won’t even survive. Who’s going to care about pets?”

Ling Mo answered without missing a beat. “To eat. I can’t compete for grain, so I’m taking another route. Dog food and cat food are still food, right? People can eat it. It’s professionally formulated—probably more real ingredients than what humans eat.”

The more she said it, the more reasonable it sounded. She promptly added another batch.

The person on the other end fell into a long silence before finally saying, “All right. Understood. We’ll deliver as quickly as possible.”

Satisfied, Ling Mo ended the call and walked into the pet shop.

Inside, she bought seven or eight sled dog—alaskan malamute dogs, husky dogs, and samoyed dogs. The infamous “three dumb sled dogs.”

She wasn’t buying them for looks. She genuinely planned to train them to pull sleds. Maybe she’d never need it, but she’d rather prepare now than regret it later.

The clerk stared at her like she’d lost her mind.

Ling Mo rode off on her e-bike. The dogs would be delivered.

By the time she got home, her deliveries had already arrived.

She directed the workers as they carried everything inside. Once they left, she stored it all in the pocket space.

The sled dog went in as well. Even at night, the temperature outside was brutal for them.

After resting a while, she assembled another pool, stored the one that was already full of water, and turned on the tap to start filling the new one.

Then she grabbed a sheet of paper and wrote herself a plan.

Mornings: study interstellar—her mind was clearest then.

Afternoons: exercise. She’d bought the equipment; she wasn’t going to let it sit unused.

Evenings: go out and buy supplies while the temperature dipped.

After everything that happened today, Ling Mo could tell the authorities were about to act. But since society hadn’t fully collapsed yet, moving too aggressively might only worsen panic.

They seemed to be waiting for a moment.

Maybe they were waiting for more players to awaken.

Ling Mo shook her head and pushed the thought away.

None of it was her problem.