The next day, she began her shopping spree. She decided to spend all the cash she had on her body before pawning the rest of the gold and gems she confiscated from the old man’s house.

She decided to buy the wholesale stuff she could order online first, renting a warehouse to receive her orders. For some items, she ordered from different stores because they had limited stock.

This was not before having a scrumptious breakfast, of course, eaten at the hotel’s dining area. It was not a high-end hotel, but the breakfast was still a buffet, and Naia filled herself up to the brim.

If it weren’t for her body’s superior regeneration and metabolism, she’d be walking like a penguin.

She also sneaked in a few plates of things she really liked in her space. Plates without covers were difficult to stock though, so she wasn’t able to ’take out’ a lot in the end.

Anyway, she arrived at her warehouse about an hour after eating. Within the day, her orders arrived parcel by parcel, box by box.

First to arrive were the gallons of water. She bought a few bottled water but not too many. They were space consuming, and she just bought bottled water for their convenience to carry. She also bought a tumbler or two to use as multi-purpose cup.

She took note to buy portable filtration systems as well as condensers to collect her own water, if the situation allowed her to.

Next to arrive were the boxes filled with military-grade full meals. Each plate included entree, carbs, dessert, drink mix, and even utensils. These had a shelf life of 3 to 5 years.

She ordered them per case, which had 12 meals each. They looked like brown, vacuum-sealed survival packs. She ordered a variety of types for her sanity.

For example, some had beef stew entrees, some had pasta, and some had chicken rice. Their accompanying side dishes varied from rice, to crackers, and to mashed potatoes.

The dessert could be either a cookie, a candy, or an energy bar. The spread could be peanut butter or cheese, and the drink mix could be powdered juice, cocoa, or coffee.

Maybe ’unboxing’ of each meal—with her guessing what the mix of food would be inside—could be a source of fun for her in the future.

She filled up a few cubic meters with it and should last her a few years.

These meal boxes came with a flameless heater, so it was no wonder they were so expensive. Each one cost around 800 danas, a few times the cost of a normal meal from a fast food chain, and she consumed a few hundred thousand just with this alone. She’d probably need to pawn the rest of the gold and gems later today to afford the next batch of purchases.

She also bought boxes of meal-replacement drinks, coming in matte plastic bottles. They looked like milkshakes, beige or chocolate, depending on flavor. A bottle was good enough for 1 meal.

Foodie-Naia naturally could not stop herself from tasting this. Unlike the meals where it’d feel wasteful to taste-test, this was just a bottle and easy to open and then close again to appreciate slowly.

Sip

The texture was very thick, almost like melted ice cream. It was smooth but a bit pasty. It was not too tasty, but if she had tasted this back in the apocalypse before her culinary awakening, she’d have worshipped this bottle.

Then came boxes and boxes of Emergency ration bars, each with a shelf life of 5 years. The brand she chose was the most cost-efficient one she found on the internet, but they weren’t cheap. This brand cost more than 2000 danas per pack, and it was cost-efficient because of the calories contained in one serving.

She opened one out of curiosity, seeing brick-sized block wrapped in thick foil. There was a calorie mark. Some were 2400 calories and others were 3600 calories.

Inside, they were divided into small rectangular bars or wafers. The 3600-calorie ones had 9 wafers, with a person eating one wafer per meal for a ’full meal’. In the worst case, one wafer a day was enough for bare survival.

It looked like a compressed biscuit or shortbread block, like a thick cookie. Not very sumptuous to look at, especially since her breakfast was so delicious.

Crunch!

Not very flavorful....she thought in disappointment.

At best, she could describe it as an unfinished coconut cookie flavor snack. She had just tasted coconut drinks last night, and her first cookie (choco chip flavor) was also just yesterday, but her taste buds were quite sensitive, so she believed in her description.

Anyway, it was convenient to eat and filling, and that was all that mattered. It was just that she had to admit she wasn’t looking forward to eating them.

For the shelf-stable food, they would all be placed in the ’normal’ space. Her preservation space was so small, she naturally had to save it up for the cooked food. She’d order a lot of takeouts for restaurants later.

To maximize her space, especially for the preservation area where the food didn’t come in boxes, she’d commissioned several 3-meter tall rack-style shelves.

She could even make it herself. One of the basic lessons kids in the future had to take was welding. After all, anything could happen outside the base, so they were taught a lot of survival stuff.

Many people her age might be barely literate, but they could very likely be able to repair a broken car.

For the other things, she decided to take a look at them on her own. The ones she got delivered directly were difficult to procure on foot and en masse, but the other things were available in stores here. Not to mention, she wanted to experience shopping herself.

Most importantly, she was afraid that she had missed or forgotten to buy something. If she looked at the shop, she might be reminded of it.

Also, just ordering indoors is boring! The world might not last as it was now for long, so Naia wanted to explore as much as she could while also being productive.

She rented an enclosed truck for this purpose, and she chose the semi one so it would fit most roads. Anyway, it was just a cover for her space.

Speaking of which, Nadia could not drive, but Naia could. In the apocalypse, they had to head out to missions, trying to retrieve this and that, though oftentimes with minimal results.

She had to be careful though, since she was driving without a license...