Chapter 5: The Final Preparations
Translator: Liu_Kaixuan Editor: Valvrave
Jiang Liushi had to change his plan because his sister could not return. He had intended to drive the refitted minibus, filled with the supplies he had purchased, accompanied by his sister, Li Yuxin, and her parents to a holiday resort a hundred miles away from Jiangbei Town.
He had been there once. There were a few residents around the place. It was in a beautiful area and most importantly it had all kinds of necessary facilities. He believed they could live there for a while and think a way to survive. Although he knew the end of the world was approaching, he had no idea what was gonna happen. According to different circumstances, they needed time to make other plans. Anyway, the minibus was a convenient and safe way of moving around.
However, that plan would never be realized. Jiang Liushi was now unable to leave for the suburbs and to make things worse he had to go to Nanjing City, which had a vast population. He didn’t know what he would come across on the road. As a result, Jiang Liushi urged Jiang Zhuying to buy necessary supplies and wait for him.
If the minibus did not need three days to finish refitting, he would have already left. However, without the minibus, he was just an ordinary college student, who couldn’t fight his way out at all.
At that night, Jiang Zhuying sent her location information to Jiang Liushi. She had rent an apartment in an alley, next to her school, which was located on the sixth floor. She also had taken a picture and sent it to Jiang Liushi. Two rooms had been filled with supplies, enough for her to live on a whole month.
"Brother, you can rest assured about everything." Jiang Zhuying sent a message with a big smiley face.
Jiang Liushi had informed his sister about the end of the world, but he didn’t mention anything about the Starseed. It was not that he didn’t trust her, it was just too complex to explain.
However, his sister believed him and was quite calm about it. She was not just in the mood to take pictures, but also send emoticon.
Jiang Liushi knew that his sister had to be really nervous but it didn’t matter as long as she obediently did as he told.
"Well, as of today, do not go out and lock the doors and windows. Except from me, do not answer or open to anyone!" No matter what, law and morality did not matter during doomsday. Although what he wrote back sounded unreasonable, it had to be said.
There were too many scenarios in those doomsday movies; like killing a person for a packet of biscuits. After all, life is for the living. In fact, Jiang Liushi was not cold-blooded. If he could ensure their own security and it was within the minivan capacity, he would help others too. However, as he was unable to protect Jiang Zhuying directly, at least he would do everything possible about her safety; it was in no way going to be an adventure.
"I got it." Jiang Zhuying texted back.
Seeing his younger sister obediently agreeing, Jiang Liushi was temporarily relieved.
As long as he knew that Jiang Zhuying was safe, he would pull out all the stops to reach Nanjing City as soon as possible.
Three days flew by…
There was some uneasiness in television news; a lot of reporters had begun noticing some anomalies in general and some unexplainable actions other countries had taken.
However, ordinary people had not paid too much attention in those things. They were still following their daily routine; going to work from nine to five, picking up their children from school, buying food, etc...
Jiang Liushi continued staying at home, and occasionally he would go out to see if there were any changes outside. During the last three days, Li Jun and Luo Ming had sent him messages, respectively. He was not in the mood to read Li Jun's message.
"Buddy, are you alright? Did you elope with your girlfriend with borrowed money? You haven’t gone to school! You are in trouble!" Luo Ming asked in his message.
"Don’t forget, do not go out on Tuesday! You should stay in the bedroom and lock the door! Just play with your games," Jiang Liushi said once more, regardless of whether Luo Ming would listen.
"Why must it be on Tuesday? Hey, tomorrow is Tuesday..."
Jiang Liushi took a deep breath before replying, "Yes, that is tomorrow…"
Jiang Liushi found it really difficult to fall asleep that night. Before going to bed, he had first hired two people to help him move all the supplies next to the minibus, and then he sent a message, with instructions, to all his friends about tomorrow. He specifically gave extra instructions to Li Yuxin and Jiang Zhuying. And then, sitting on the supplies, he unconsciously fell asleep; occasionally fidgeting.
Di-Di-Di
Jiang Liushi was not awakened by the ringtone of his alarm, but because of a strange sound in his mind.
It was the Starseed!
Jiang Liushi stood up, and quickly ran to the door of minibus. From the outside, the minibus did not seem any different, but when he grabbed the handle, information about the minibus suddenly appeared in his mind. A little current passed through his hands, then hearing a click sound, the door opened. This door had gained a security model which could only be opened by him.
Getting on the minibus, his eyes lit up and mouth slightly opened, in an ‘O’ shape, what he saw truly shocked him. The internal structure of the minibus had been completely changed in a totally different style. The originally neatly packed seats, now had become two seats just like a sofa. Next to the seats was a table, shelves and so on. The body of the minibus had been divided into several parts with some advanced sliding doors. As Jiang Liushi looked around, he noticed that there were a bathroom, a kitchen, and a small bedroom with a soft bed. As an old saying goes, "Small as the sparrow is, it possesses all its internal - small but complete."
Jiang Liushi was trying to digest all the changes of the minivan, after gathering his wits he quickly ran to the driver’s compartment, which had changed a lot too. It was in a separate space, it had a big screen on the display board and next to the steering wheel, there had been added a variety of buttons and joysticks. Jiang Liushi sat in the very soft driving seat, holding the steering wheel. Suddenly, the whole car was clearly visible in his mind. Simultaneously, the buttons and the joysticks around the dashboard lit up.
[The refitting of the Mobile Construction Vehicle (General version) was completed]
Refitting information:
Model: Mobile Construction Vehicle (General version), camouflaging as a minibus
Space configuration: bedroom X1, kitchen X1, bathroom X1, small living room X1.
Weapon equipment: Compressed Air Gun, primary, with air flow rate of 810m / s, volume of 500L.
Shell strength: F-class (anti-ordinary bullet level, collision level).
Power: Gasoline powered.
Maximum speed: 300km / h.
All mechanical problems have been fixed.
Jiang Liushi was extremely excited and satisfied with the result of refitting. However, this was only the general version; with limited functions. It would need further refitting in order to travel anywhere totally unimpeded. More materials would be needed but Jiang Liushi was short on time and money. What’s more, he didn’t know the specific materials required, thus it was impossible to prepare in advance.
The minibus had significantly increased their survival rate, so he hurried to familiarize on how to operate it, and then he called the two porters, who had helped him last night. They had already discussed what to do; moving all the resources to the car after they arriving.
Upon seeing the minibus's internal space, the two men were very surprised and started reevaluating Jiang Liushi. At first, they thought that Jiang Liushi could be a petty dealer, who lived in a small rental house, stocking so much food and daily necessities. They never expected… This young man to actually be driving a motor home! But they were hostile towards the rich and looked down on Jiang Liushi. As for Jiang Liushi, he was too busy to care about their reaction, constantly looking the time and watching his surroundings. After everything was placed in the minibus, he immediately got on it, the doors and windows were completely closed, and then he nervously sat down on the driver's seat.