Frozen Rebirth: My Infinite Storage in the Apocalypse

Chapter 6: Enemies Meet

Ethan's fingertips traced across the paper, but the terrifying scenes from his previous life uncontrollably flooded his mind.

A few days after the Apocalypse broke out, the building was filled with screams and cries. His neighbor's reinforced door was hacked open with axes by a frenzied crowd; the man was beaten to death with bats, and the woman was dragged away by her hair. Those heart-wrenching screams still echoed in his ears even now.

He shivered, his pen tip carving a deep mark into the paper.

In the Apocalypse, the danger posed by humans far exceeded that of the extreme cold disaster.

The evil of human nature without the restraint of law was more despair-inducing than the -60°F low temperature.

"I must transform this apartment into a steel fortress."

He wrote these words heavily on the paper, his gaze resolute,

"A doomsday fortress that no one can breach."

To achieve this goal, ordinary contractors simply wouldn't do.

He needed a professional security company to use high-strength, military-grade steel plates and alloy materials; it needed to be not only anti-pry and bulletproof, but ideally capable of withstanding small explosives.

This was not Ethan being overly anxious.

In the Apocalypse, humans would do anything to survive.

Light weapons would emerge guns, makeshift explosives, whatever people could get their hands on.

Ethan's requirements weren't high at all; he just wanted to live.

He knew the taste of death all too well: the excruciating pain of a knife piercing his chest, the coldness of blood loss, and the despair of being betrayed by the person he trusted most. He never wanted to experience it a second time.

That feeling was terrible!

He had to do everything in his power to get enough protection for himself.

As a major city, New York surely had security companies capable of undertaking such business.

The wealthier people were, the more they feared death; some tycoons would even build private bunkers in advance. These companies survived on that.

They rarely opened for business, but one job could feed them for ten years.

But the threshold for such companies was extremely high. Not only did it require money, but it also required special channels to obtain high-strength materials. More importantly, completing it within a month was extremely difficult.

When Ethan worked at Crown Corp, he had heard colleagues talk about such companies, but he hadn't taken it to heart at the time.

In his previous life, he had also seen news online claiming that a tycoon abroad had built a super-bunker capable of withstanding small explosions.

At the time, he thought it was fake news, but now thinking back, it was likely true.

"It's a pity I don't have that much money."

He shook his head helplessly,

"A fortress of that level wouldn't be possible without billions; my 20 million isn't even a fraction of it."

He pulled his attention back to reality and wrote two keywords on the paper: "Electricity" and "Heating".

After the Apocalypse, water and electricity would definitely be cut off. Heating would have to rely on alternative fuel, and the best solution for electricity was a generator, which required stockpiling a large amount of diesel.

He also thought of medicine, lighting equipment, common tools, and even didn't spare daily necessities like toilet paper and toothpaste, listing them one by one.

Finally, at the end of the paper, he wrote the word "Weapon" and frowned tightly.

Beyond range, speed wins; up close, accuracy wins too.

He still remembered this saying vividly.

This stumped Ethan.

In this country, possessing firearms required permits, training, and approval and even then, the kind of firepower he'd need to feel truly safe wasn't easy to come by legally on short notice.

He had limited opportunity or means to come into contact with such things quickly.

But this was also a problem that had to be solved; he couldn't be careless.

After the Apocalypse, humanity was lost, and without the constraints of law and morality, battles over resources and women were everywhere.

It would not be an exaggeration to say that human life was as cheap as dirt.

To survive and have sufficient self-protection capabilities, he had to have powerful weapons.

Ethan recalled another classic saying from the Apocalypse:

"My neighbor stockpiles food, I stockpile guns; my neighbor is my pantry."

Ethan didn't want to become someone else's pantry, so he had to have weapons.

The importance of weapons was no less than that of food and water.

Ethan was a soft office worker; moving three carts of supplies had nearly worn him out. His physical condition was extremely weak.

However, the key parts were all flesh and blood; he didn't fear anyone, only fear being weaker than everyone else.

If he didn't have weapons, he would have no sense of security at all.

He needed to take advantage of the one-month time frame to properly train his body and acquire weapons.

"Knives, axes, and compound bows are easy to get, but they aren't enough."

Ethan rubbed his temples,

"If I encounter someone with a gun, these weapons of mine are just fire pokers."

Ethan thought for a long time but couldn't find a way to solve this, so he had to put it aside for now.

He spent an entire afternoon filling 10 pages of paper, from the supply list to the Shelter renovation plan, and then to the physical training plan; every item was listed in detail.

After finishing, he looked at the dense handwriting and felt that most of his brain cells had died; it was more tiring than working overtime to write reports at the company.

Ethan rarely cooked for himself.

He either ordered takeout or ate out.

His cooking skills were very poor, almost non-existent.

Suddenly, his eyes lit up.

Since the Storage Space could maintain the original state of items, why didn't he just order ready-made meals?

This way, he could eat hot meals at any time after the Apocalypse without having to cook himself.

"I really am a genius!"

Ethan clapped his hands in excitement and immediately picked up his phone to call several nearby restaurants he frequented.

He ordered 1,000 catered meals in one go, with each meal at a standard of $40, totaling $40,000; however, he only paid a $3,000 deposit.

"Money really doesn't last."

After hanging up, Ethan looked at the balance in his account and couldn't help but sigh.

But when he thought of the meals about to fill his Storage Space, he felt it was worth it.

After the Apocalypse, these meals would be more precious than gold.

And the restaurant owners who received the orders were already overjoyed.

Such a large order was something they couldn't encounter even once a year, so they immediately began preparations:

Contacting suppliers to purchase ingredients, hiring extra kitchen staff temporarily, clearing out storage to prepare for holding the meals; they vowed to do this business well.

Busy until 6 PM, Ethan's phone rang; it was a call from Ashley.

"Ash, aren't you working overtime today?"

Ethan pretended to be surprised.

"Overtime? Work isn't as important as you."

Ashley's voice was cloyingly sweet,

"Ryan and I both took the rest of the day off. We're already on the way; let's meet at the restaurant."

"How about we forget it? I don't want to affect your work."

Ethan deliberately dragged things out, wanting to see their reaction.

Sure enough, Ashley's voice immediately became urgent:

"It doesn't affect anything, not at all. Ethan, you have to come; Ryan and I have been worried about you all day."

"Alright then, see you later."

Ethan agreed "reluctantly".

On the other end of the phone, Ashley and Ryan exchanged glances, both breathing a sigh of relief.

Ethan's hesitation just now almost made them think the plan was going to fail.

Ethan arrived at the BBQ restaurant half an hour early, but didn't go in; instead, he sat at the coffee shop across the street, observing the movement inside through the window.

Ryan and Ashley had arrived long ago; the two were restless, stretching their necks to look at the door one moment, and lowering their heads to whisper the next, their faces full of anxiety.

Ethan watched them for over 20 minutes, and only when Ashley called for the third time did he slowly get up and walk into the restaurant.

In fact, he deliberately left them hanging, not just to toy with these two clowns, but also to mentally prepare himself.

Thinking of the scene in his previous life where these two swindled him out of all his money and finally stabbed him to death, his chest felt like it was burning with fire. His fists clenched until they cracked, his knuckles turned white, and he gritted his teeth tightly.

"Endure for a few more days; when the Apocalypse comes, I will personally deal with you both."

Ethan muttered in his heart, took a deep breath, and suppressed the killing intent in his eyes before pushing the door open, pretending to be in a hurry.

"Ash, Ryan, sorry, there was traffic."

He walked over with a smile.

Traffic my ass, your apartment is two miles from here, and we drove four miles to get here without any traffic.

Ryan cursed in his heart, but squeezed out a warm smile on his face, stood up, and gave Ethan a big hug,

"It's fine, it's fine, aren't we good friends? We've been worried about you all day."

Ethan took the opportunity to hug Ashley as well, deliberately holding her for several seconds before letting go.

He could clearly see Ryan's expression darken instantly, though he quickly covered it up.

For the sake of money, he had to endure.

After the three sat down, Ashley spoke first, her tone filled with "concern"

"Ethan, do you really not want to work at Crown Corp anymore? The benefits there are quite good, it's just that there's a bit too much overtime."

Ethan nodded and sighed:

"I already cursed out that woman, Linda Fletcher; there's no good outcome for me if I stay there, so I might as well resign."

"Then what are your plans for the future?"

Ryan asked urgently, his eyes full of impatience.

"I plan to sell the apartment, go traveling, and find myself along the way."

Ethan deliberately threw out bait to see their reaction.

"Are you crazy?"

Ryan immediately raised his voice, feigning a look of disappointment in Ethan's lack of ambition,

"You are so young, this is the time to build something; how can you settle for comfort?"

Ashley also chimed in:

"That's right, Ethan. We're young, we have our whole futures ahead of us, we have to work hard."

Ethan couldn't help but sneer in his heart, but on the surface, he retorted with a straight face:

"I'm also contributing to society. By giving up my job, I free up a position for someone else; traveling drives the local economy too. Besides, I have enough money to last a lifetime, spending $40,000 a year, I can last over 400 years."

He paused and deliberately looked at Ashley, his eyes "affectionate"

"Besides, I only have Ash in my heart. Since Ash doesn't feel the same way, I don't want to get married anymore; living alone is quite nice."

This sentence directly blocked the excuses Ryan and Ashley wanted to say next, such as "marriage requires money" and "raising kids requires money".

The two were stunned on the spot, looking at each other, unable to find words to respond for a moment.

Ethan looked at their awkward expressions, feeling secretly pleased, and deliberately stood up.

"You two have some drinks first, I'm going to the restroom and will order the food while I'm at it."

As soon as he left, Ashley anxiously grabbed Ryan's hand:

"What should we do? Ry, Ethan is completely stubborn and can't be persuaded at all. Should we just give up? We could just save up and buy our own place in the city."