Edge of the Apocalypse

Chapter 131: Chapter 123: Xufeng Is Being Tailed

For dinner on Tuesday night, Yu Dong picked a Sichuan restaurant outside Huangyang Port that specialized in boiled fish.

From their private room on the third floor, they had a perfect view of Huangyang Port A at night.

The normally bustling port was much quieter now, with only a few vehicles left loading and unloading cargo.

Two more people had joined them for dinner tonight.

It was Yu Dong’s group of four from the dorm, plus Liu Ye’ye and Sun Shan.

"Huang, I was going to invite your future wife, but unfortunately... her husband is home, so she couldn’t make it out tonight."

Huang Zhiqiang, who had just taken a bite of boiled fish, choked so hard he couldn’t breathe. After a long fit of violent coughing, he pointed an accusing finger at Yu Dong and snapped,

"Dongzi, do you hear yourself? What kind of bullshit was that?"

The others couldn’t hold it in either and burst out laughing.

"Dongzi, I think... whether two people get together is largely a matter of chance. Miss one step and you could just end up as strangers. This time around, Huang might not get together with this Ms. Qiao you’re talking about. There are just too many variables in life."

Everyone except Yu Dong, including Liu Ye’ye, agreed with Xufeng’s point of view.

’Will things really change?’ Yu Dong looked at Liu Ye’ye, feeling he still didn’t fully understand why she trusted him so completely and seemed to... rely on him.

It had been the same in all three loops.

BUZZ BUZZ~

Yu Dong’s phone vibrated.

[Shen Xinyi: "I never know what to eat for dinner these days. How’s the food at your school? Got any recommendations?"]

[Yu Dong: "The grilled fish at Cafeteria Three is pretty good."]

[Shen Xinyi: "Oh, really? I haven’t had grilled fish in ages. I’d love to go try it sometime~ What are you up to?"]

[Yu Dong: "I just finished eating."]

[Shen Xinyi: "..."]

[Yu Dong: "You can just order a half portion for yourself."]

When Shen Xinyi didn’t reply, Yu Dong shook his head. ’Trying to win a girl over is just too difficult,’ he thought.

’One minute you’re having a nice chat, and the next, she just ghosts you.’

Yu Dong didn’t deliberately keep Sun Shan out of the loop as the team gathered to discuss their strategy. After all, Sun Shan was one of the rare few who could be "activated by the key," and he would be a core member of the team going forward.

"Sun Shan, why don’t you walk us through our defense strategy for Port A."

"Oh... uh, right. After Boss Yu’s metal anti-riot mobile barricades arrive, they’ll be stored in a warehouse near the exit of Port A. I’ll also arrange for workers to transport a batch of sandbags and cement bags over there. When the time comes, I’ll organize my crew to drag the barricades into position, secure them, and block the 500-meter-wide exit of Port A."

Sun Shan briefly outlined his strategy, the key element being that his team of fellow workers would provide support.

"Uh, just to be clear up front... we’re just the labor. You guys need to sort things out with the port authorities. If anything goes wrong, we’re not taking the blame."

Sun Shan, ever skilled at shirking responsibility, added his own liability clause.

Yu Dong and his friends all laughed. "Don’t worry," Yu Dong said. "The port authorities won’t get in your way. They’ll be lucky just to handle themselves."

Sun Shan: "Uh... why do I get the feeling I’ve been roped into a terrorist plot and dragged into a den of thieves?"

Yu Dong explained, "It’s not a feeling. We... are going to have to be the bad guys this time. But that part has nothing to do with you. You just focus on your work."

Considering he still hadn’t gotten back that "sprinting for Hu Tao" video, Sun Shan could only hold his nose and go along with it.

Zhao Youcai picked up a piece of fish with his chopsticks. "Dongzi, these barricades seem decent, but can they really stop a huge horde of zombies? They’re only 1.5 meters tall. Won’t the zombies just pile on top of each other and climb over?"

"Zombies only pile up when they have nowhere else to go. If there’s space to the side, the pressure from the horde will just push them sideways. With 500 meters of barricades... it won’t be easy for them to break through. It’s more than enough for the initial wave of zombies. Later, once we’ve stabilized our internal situation, we’ll build proper fortifications."

Huang Zhiqiang: "So it’s a temporary fortification... If we could just erect a proper wall here, that would be perfect."

Xufeng: "Done is better than perfect. Our current situation doesn’t allow us to just build a wall wherever we want. Let’s focus on what we can do... Speaking of which, let me update you on my progress. I got my family’s top lawyer on the case. He helped me buy a shell shipping company, and I’ve been in online contact with a few major oil suppliers. I’ve secured a temporary procurement agreement for barreled heavy fuel oil. Now we just need to send them the down payment, and an oil tanker will unload the fuel for us the next time it docks at Huangyang Port."

"Heavy fuel oil is currently 5,050 yuan per ton, and the minimum order is 100 tons. So, let’s see... how many tons do we want?"

"100 tons... that’s... half a million yuan."

Yu Dong gave a wry smile. ’Money just flows away like water,’ he thought.

Huang Zhiqiang: "Dongzi, don’t laugh just yet... I looked into the fuel consumption for a large cruise ship like that today. When sailing at full capacity, it burns 80 tons of fuel a day. It’s an insane amount. I asked some of the engineers from the cruise line’s engine department. Even if we’re not sailing, just generating enough power for the basic needs of a hundred people would burn through two or three tons of oil every day."

Yu Dong did a quick calculation. "So, you’re saying... 100 tons of fuel would last 50 days at most. We’d be burning through 10,000 yuan worth of fuel a day just by sitting there. What a gas-guzzler!"

"But I have some good news, Dongzi. I found something out today while I was looking into fuel storage..." Zhao Youcai said. Seeing all eyes on him, he gave a slight smirk. "Do you guys have any idea how big the fuel tanks on that cruise ship are?"

"How big?"

"3,000 tons! The ship’s tanks are completely filled before every voyage. That means if we secure the cruise ship, we can use the 3,000 tons of fuel it’s already carrying. Even if we burn three tons a day just on standby, that’s enough to last us for about three years."

Yu Dong took a deep breath. "That much fuel... If we add the reserves in the depots at Port B, does that mean we don’t need to buy any more fuel?"

"That’s right. I think it’s more than enough. Even if we run into a zombie horde and need to sail away for a while, we can just float out at sea and come back later. Or we could head to the next port. I’ve already got the routes for all the surrounding coastal city ports. All we need is someone who can pilot a cruise ship."

This was unexpectedly good news. It would save the team a huge amount of money.

Xufeng nodded as well. "Youcai and I thought the fuel procurement was getting too expensive, which is why we looked into it and discovered the ship’s own supply would be enough. Dongzi, if we don’t need to buy oil, I’ll call off the negotiations with the suppliers."

"No... We still need it."

Yu Dong looked at a message on his phone from ’Zhou Jian Country’.

"Find a way to get large quantities of gasoline and diesel. Prepare them in a one-to-one ratio. Get as much as you possibly can."

"Also, buy a large amount of polystyrene foam plastic. Prepare it in a 5-to-1 ratio: 1 kilogram of plastic for every 5 liters of fuel."

"Buy white sugar in batches. Get a lot of it. It’ll be useful."

"As for an oxidizer... never mind, you won’t be able to get your hands on it. I’ll take care of that."

Even while busy with his experiments, Zhou Jian Country hadn’t forgotten his mission and had sent them a shopping list.

"We won’t buy the heavy fuel oil," Yu Dong said, "but... we can use that money to buy gasoline and diesel instead."

Xufeng: "No problem. The shell company is already licensed for procurement, so we can stockpile without any issues... but there’s a problem. It seems we can’t even afford the down payment."

Yu Dong’s expression froze.

He’d spent the money on drones and the metal barricades.

"Uh... what’s the deadline for the payment?"

"One of the company’s tankers is docking at Huangyang Port the day after tomorrow. If we miss it, we won’t get another shipment before the apocalypse."

"The day after tomorrow... I wonder if Officer Wang can come up with the money by then."

Yu Dong was anxious, but Officer Wang had told him not to make contact yet.

All they could do was wait.

...

「Wednesday. Four and a half days until the apocalypse.」

Early in the morning, the four dorm mates set out from their room, each heading off to handle their respective tasks.

Yu Dong was on his way to the Xiangti Bay Community when he glanced behind Xufeng and froze in shock.

A tall, skinny man was following Xufeng, heading off campus.

He was being very discreet and no one else seemed to notice, but Yu Dong’s memory was too sharp.

He recognized the man’s figure instantly.

’It’s the man who was tailing me in the last loop...’

’Wait a minute!’

’Why is he following Xufeng now???’

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