Frozen Rebirth: My Infinite Storage in the Apocalypse

Chapter 2: You and the Company Are Fired by Me

Ethan Cole did not indulge in his excitement for too long; he continued to explore the functions of the Storage Space.

After trying a few times, Ethan finally figured out the rules of the Storage Space.

It was not a simple preservation method; rather, it could completely freeze the state of items at the moment they were stored.

He specifically boiled a cup of hot water, watched the steam swirling as he stored it in the space, and then took it out; the water droplets on the cup wall and the rising steam were exactly the same as before.

He also took a piece of melting ice cream, stored it for ten minutes, and then took it out; the degree of melting had not changed at all, and even the milk stains dripping on the wrapper remained exactly as they were.

"This function is simply heaven-defying!" Ethan couldn't help but whisper.

Originally, he only planned to hoard processed foods that lasted a long time, like instant noodles, canned ham, and energy bars.

But now, with this space that felt like it had a "time pause," the things he could store instantly increased several-fold.

Fresh cherries and imported blueberries could be stored in the space; prime marbled beef and freshly caught seafood could also be hoarded; even freshly made roasted meats and hot meals from a restaurant could be stored at any time.

In the Apocalypse, being able to eat a hot, fresh meal was simply treatment fit for a king.

"I wonder if living things can be put inside?"

As soon as this thought popped up, Ethan became interested.

But apart from himself, there wasn't even a pet at home.

"Buzz buzz"

A black fly suddenly flew past his eyes, circled the light fixture twice, and landed on the fried chicken on the table.

"Just in time."

Ethan was quick-eyed and fast-handed; he suddenly raised his hand and slapped it.

"Smack!" After the crisp sound, the fly toppled to the surface, one wing broken, with only the other flapping futilely, its body struggling on the tabletop with arching movements.

Ethan focused his mind, staring at the fly that was still moving, the space showed no reaction, and the fly was still flapping in place.

"Useless thing."

He cursed in a low voice, not knowing if he was talking about the fly or the space.

He lifted his foot and crushed it, turning that little black body into a smudge.

He tried again, and this time, the fly's corpse was successfully stored in the space.

"It seems living things really don't work."

Although Ethan was disappointed, it was within his expectations.

If he could store living things, wouldn't he be able to hoard a group of women and use them whenever he wanted?

Better to stay grounded and prioritize hoarding supplies first.

"Ring, ring"

A shrill phone ringtone suddenly sounded, interrupting his train of thought.

The name flashing on the screen made him frown "Fat Pig Boss."

This was his immediate supervisor at Crown Corp, Department Manager Linda Fletcher.

Ethan pressed hang up directly, but the ringtone followed like a death warrant, ringing again and again, like a fly that couldn't be shaken off.

"Damn it, are you finished yet?"

Ethan was annoyed by the noise, so he simply picked it up. Before the other party could speak, he heard a string of curses explode from the receiver:

"Ethan Cole! Are you looking for death? You dare hang up on me? Today you must apologize to me in front of the entire department, otherwise I will make sure you can't stay in this company!"

Department Manager Linda Fletcher's voice was shrill and harsh, carrying the arrogance of someone who had been ordering others around for years.

"Screw you, screw you, screw you."

Ethan interrupted her with a triple curse, his voice even louder than hers.

There was silence on the other end of the phone; Department Manager Linda Fletcher was clearly stunned by the outburst.

At this moment, in the office of the Crown Corp department, Department Manager Linda Fletcher was standing at the entrance of the conference room with her phone, surrounded by a circle of subordinates.

Just a moment ago, she was still spitting as she assigned work, complaining that Ethan had not yet arrived, and while talking, she dialed his number, wanting to give him a show of power on the spot.

As a result, Ethan's angry roar came through the receiver, clearly falling into everyone's ears.

The subordinates were all blushing, wanting to laugh but not daring to, only able to lower their heads and pretend to take notes, while in their hearts they were frantically replaying those few curses from just now.

This was Department Manager Linda Fletcher, whom they dared to be angry at but dared not speak out against!

Department Manager Linda Fletcher was thirty-eight years old this year, unmarried and without a partner.

She poured all her energy into work, had a temper as bad as a firecracker, and was pervertedly harsh to her subordinates:

Demanding the entire department arrive earliest and leave latest, be on call at all times, and even timing bathroom breaks with a stopwatch.

The whole department had long been full of complaints, but no one dared to confront her head-on.

Ethan's outburst simply voiced everyone's inner thoughts.

After Department Manager Linda Fletcher reacted, she was trembling all over with anger, her whole body shaking:

"Ethan Cole, are you crazy? Do you know who you are talking to?"

"I am talking to a bitter old woman who makes everyone around her miserable."

Ethan sneered, firing on all cylinders:

"Your attitude is worse than your management, your face is permanently set to angry, you tyrant who only knows how to grow sideways.

It's one thing that no one wants you, but you spend all day venting your resentment on your subordinates; I'm afraid the chip on your shoulder is thicker than the walls of this building, right?

What kind of person are you? Are you even worthy of making me answer the phone? You dare to threaten me? If I were you, I would be too ashamed to show my face. Living like you do is a waste of oxygen, and even breathing is an effort you don't deserve!"

...

Ethan cursed for dozens of sentences in one breath without repeating, from her personality to her character, from her work style to her private life, every sentence whipping across Department Manager Linda Fletcher's face like a lash.

Department Manager Linda Fletcher wanted to interject, but her voice was firmly drowned out by his; she could only hold the phone and stomp her feet on the spot, her complexion turning from red to purple, and then to a dark, ugly shade, like a dirty rag that had been repeatedly wrung out.

The surrounding subordinates' shoulders shook even more violently, and some even held their breath until they coughed.

By the end of the cursing, Ethan took a deep breath, feeling the pent-up frustration in his chest dissipate completely.

So, cursing out such a scumbag leader was this satisfying!

In his previous life, he had endured Department Manager Linda Fletcher's harassment again and again just to get closer to Ashley Carter; now thinking about it, it was truly ridiculously stupid.

After Ethan finished cursing, he felt much more comfortable in his heart.

Even the resentment towards Ashley and Ryan had diminished a little.

Sure enough, if you have anger, you must vent it; if you want to curse someone, you must do it.

Once the words are vented out, the heart feels clean.

Department Manager Linda Fletcher's face looked as if it had been soaked in thick ink, so gloomy that it was almost dripping; every inch of her skin was taut, and her eyes were surging with irrepressible anger and embarrassment.

This scolding from Ethan was clearly trampling her self-esteem into the ground.

Her whole body was slightly trembling due to the anger of having her dignity stomped upon.

She bit her back teeth hard, her nails digging into her palms.

Between Ethan and her, the company could only choose one; she could not swallow this insult.

She had to call Ethan into the company, scold him severely in front of everyone, and then fire him to relieve the hatred in her heart.

"Ethan Cole, do you not want to work anymore? What kind of madness are you going through? I'll treat it as you talking nonsense; apologize to me immediately now..."

Ethan burst into laughter, his laughter full of undisguised mockery:

"Department Manager Fletcher, are you talking to me? I really don't want to work; seeing you makes me want to vomit, it's physically extremely uncomfortable."

"Ethan Cole, I'm telling you, you are fired..."

Ethan did not give her the chance to finish.

"Department Manager Fletcher, listen well."

Ethan's voice suddenly turned cold.

"Now, it is I who am firing you and this crappy company. Do you understand?"

"You firing the company? What a joke."

Department Manager Linda Fletcher's voice was as shrill as nails scratching glass.

"Ethan Cole, you just wait for me. As long as I am at Crown Corp for one day, no one will dare to hire you. I will make sure you can't find a job in the entire state of New York!"

"Ha. Do you think you run the whole city? Just your crappy little company? Do you really consider yourself such a big deal?"

Ethan sneered, hung up the phone directly, and casually added Department Manager Linda Fletcher's number, her personal cell, and even her corporate email to his block list.

Awesome. Too awesome.

This feeling of being able to say whatever he wanted and not having to look at anyone's face was even more addictive than hoarding supplies.

He remembered his previous life; after Department Manager Linda Fletcher found out about his family background, she would hint at him to give her gifts every other day.

Today she would say "I saw the most beautiful bag at Bloomingdale's," tomorrow she would say "I've been dying to go to the Hamptons recently."

Not once, not twice, not three times, not four times, not five times, not six times, not seven times...

That greedy face made him retch.

He ignored it, and Department Manager Linda Fletcher started to intensify her harassment:

She pushed all the toughest projects onto him, and even after working overtime until the early morning, he would still be criticized — just because he didn't fawn over her like the others.

Today, Department Manager Linda Fletcher had arrived at work early; she had just received a very difficult assignment, and it just so happened that Ethan had not yet shown up.

Department Manager Linda Fletcher wanted to take the opportunity to make trouble, punish Ethan, and make him lose face in front of his colleagues.

Who would have thought that Ethan would scold her severely in front of the entire department instead.

Whether Ethan lost face or not, he didn't know — but she really had no face left in front of so many subordinates now.

This was a challenge to her dignity and authority.

Department Manager Linda Fletcher would definitely retaliate against him, but Ethan didn't take it seriously at all.

Her retaliation would be nothing more than firing Ethan and tarnishing his reputation in the company.

These would soon be of no use at all.

"After the Apocalypse, if you dare to provoke me, see if I don't deal with you personally."

Ethan snorted, picked up the can of Coke on the table, and gulped down more than half of it, the bubbles exploding in his throat, bringing a hearty and satisfying pleasure.

"Gurgle" His stomach suddenly growled.

Ethan looked at the half-eaten fried chicken in the corner of the table; that was the takeout he had ordered last night, originally intended as breakfast.

"What time is it now, and I'm still eating leftovers?"

He smiled self-deprecatingly, focused his mind, and stored the half fried chicken into the space.

In the Apocalypse of his previous life, this bit of meat would be enough for several people to fight tooth and nail over, and could even be exchanged for valuable favors, so it couldn't be wasted.

"In another month it will be the end of the world; I must eat whatever I want to eat quickly, otherwise there won't be a chance later."

Ethan changed his clothes and decided to go have a good meal.

The days of freezing and gnawing on bark, and being so hungry he could barely stand in the Apocalypse of his previous life were too bitter; in this life, he wanted to treat himself well before the disaster arrived.

He prepared to find a high-end restaurant and have a good, hearty meal.

Just consider it a memorial for his dead previous life and that melodramatic love.

---

Department Manager Linda Fletcher, whose call had been hung up, was trembling all over in the office with rage.

She clutched her phone, her knuckles turning white, and the words "Call Ended" on the screen seemed to be mocking her.

"Outrageous! Absolutely outrageous!"

She roared, smashed the phone heavily on the table, and the case cracked clean through.

The surrounding subordinates were scared stiff, not daring to breathe, and lowered their heads one after another.

She tried to redial Ethan's number, and a cold automated message sounded from the receiver:

"The number you have dialed is not available."

She switched to the company messaging app to send a voice note, and it displayed directly:

"This user has removed you from their contacts."

"Ethan Cole, you are something else!"

Department Manager Linda Fletcher kicked over the chair next to her, and it hit the wall with a loud crash.

Her mind was now full of the scolding from just now, every word stabbing at her heart like a needle.

What she cared about most was others saying she was difficult, saying she was bitter, saying no one wanted her!

"I want him gone! Gone right now!"

Department Manager Linda Fletcher stepped in her heels, clomp, clomp, clomp, rushing toward the Human Resources Department, shaking with every step.

She couldn't wait a second; she had to fire Ethan Cole immediately and issue a company-wide notice, making him lose his reputation entirely.

"Hahahaha..."

After Department Manager Linda Fletcher left, the subordinates could no longer hold it in and laughed out loud.

"Why didn't I realize before that Ethan's mouth was so sharp? This guy is an absolute genius!"

"So satisfying. Ethan said everything I've wanted to say for years."

"He's definitely getting fired for this, but that kid has money anyway."

...

Just as Department Manager Linda Fletcher walked out of the office, an irrepressible burst of laughter erupted behind her; the sound was not loud, but it was sharp enough.

"Bang!"

Department Manager Linda Fletcher kicked the office door back open.

The office returned to silence instantly; not a single person spoke, and everyone was fully immersed in their work.

At least from Department Manager Linda Fletcher's perspective, it was like this.

"What are you all laughing at?!"

She shouted sharply, her voice distorted by anger.

The subordinates raised their heads one after another, pretending to look innocent.

Department Manager Linda Fletcher stared at them fixedly, her eyes like poison-dipped needles:

"Who laughed just now? Stand up!"

No one answered; everyone was either staring at their computer screens or lowering their heads and picking at their fingers, as if the laughter just now had been an illusion.

"Marcus!"

Department Manager Linda Fletcher suddenly called out a name, pointing at a young man wearing glasses in the corner.

"I saw you laugh! You tell me, what are you laughing at?"

Marcus stood up slowly, pushed his glasses, and said seriously:

"Department Manager Fletcher, I didn't laugh."

"I clearly heard it!"

"Department Manager Fletcher may have heard wrong."

Marcus didn't change his expression.

"Besides, it's not yet working hours, and laughing isn't against the law, is it?"

"I am asking you what you were laughing at!"

Department Manager Linda Fletcher's voice rose by several octaves.

Marcus thought for a moment and answered seriously:

"I remembered something happy."

"What happy thing?"

"My wife had a baby."

Department Manager Linda Fletcher's face turned green, and she pointed at his nose:

"You're not even married! Where did you get a wife?!"

"Department Manager Fletcher, can't it have been in a dream?"

Marcus spread his hands, looking completely innocent. "You can't control what I dream about, can you?"

"You!"

Department Manager Linda Fletcher was choked for words, her chest heaving violently, and finally she kicked the door shut with a bang and marched angrily toward the Human Resources Department.

As soon as the door closed, a deafening wave of laughter erupted in the office again, even louder and more unbridled than before.

Department Manager Linda Fletcher in the hallway heard every bit of it, her steps quickened, and she shook with every stride.

She had only one thought burning in her heart,

Fire Ethan Cole. Must fire him!