Melody Summers picked up her phone and saw it was an unknown number. She answered, puzzled, "Hello?"

"Sister, it’s me."

The voice on the phone was Sylvia Lancaster’s. For a moment, Melody was dazed, as if she were being dragged back into the hell of her past life.

Melody decided to hang up immediately.

"Don’t hang up! Sister! Just hear me out, please?" As if she knew what Melody was about to do, Sylvia Lancaster said urgently, "Mom has been very upset these past few days. She’s so worried about you."

Sylvia Lancaster had been very anxious the last few days. She didn’t know if Melody herself had spread the news, but rumors were already circulating that she wasn’t the Lancaster family’s biological daughter. Her identity was about to be exposed.

Moreover, Elaine Hughes was thinking about Melody Summers every day now. Through this lens of longing, there was no guarantee that the scales in Elaine’s heart wouldn’t tip in Melody’s favor.

’Given the situation, it would be better to let Melody come back and shatter that rosy image. Then, after I set her up a few times, Elaine and everyone else will surely be disappointed in her.’

Sylvia Lancaster continued to persuade her, "Sister, are you refusing to come back because you’re afraid Mom and Dad will blame you for the Mount Anworth incident? Don’t worry..."

"No," Melody Summers cut her off coldly.

"...What?" Sylvia was taken aback.

"I said, I’m not staying away because of what happened at Mount Anworth," Melody said.

"Then—then why won’t you come back? Sister, Mom is truly heartbroken. Can’t you just be a little more sensible and not disappoint her again...?"

"I don’t want to go back because of you. Didn’t you say you could leave? So why are you still clinging on and refusing to go?" After saying that, Melody hung up the phone.

She was in a hurry to buy generators and gasoline; she had absolutely no desire to waste time on the Lancaster family.

After hanging up, Melody drove to a local energy market that specialized in generators.

She walked into a random shop and asked, "Sir, I’m purchasing for an outdoor company. I need gasoline generators and diesel generators—both high-power and small, portable ones."

"Hello, our high-power gasoline generators are 12,000 watts, with the latest low-noise technology. The small ones are around two to three thousand watts and only weigh a dozen or so kilograms, so they’re very easy to lift."

"Diesel generators are a bit more expensive than gasoline ones because diesel engines have higher costs, but they’re more fuel-efficient and have a longer lifespan."

Following the owner’s recommendation, Melody Summers bought ten gasoline generators and ten diesel generators in one go, purchasing both the large models that weighed over a hundred kilograms and the small, portable ones that were just over ten.

When the apocalyptic heatwave arrived, the prices of these items skyrocketed. The Lancaster Family had a generator at first, but after the power rationing started, it broke down within two months. When they tried to buy a new one, it cost them several million.

Melody didn’t know how to repair them, but fortunately, they were cheap right now—the less expensive ones were only two thousand each, and the pricey ones were just over ten thousand. It couldn’t hurt to have extras. If worst came to worst, she could wait for the prices to go up and then sell them for cash.

Melody thought of the tornado coming at the beginning of next month. Unsure if there would be other strong winds later in the apocalypse, she asked, "Do you have wind-powered generators?"

"Yes, we do." Having just sold twenty generators, the owner was treating Melody Summers as a very important customer. "I recommend this wind-solar hybrid power system. It’s the latest technology, including eight 150W solar panels and a 400W wind turbine."

"I just want the wind-powered one. I’m going to buy solar panels separately later."

The owner then recommended a 1,000-watt, 3-blade wind turbine. Melody bought five sets, spending ten thousand in total.

"Do you have solar panels here too?" Melody asked.

"Yes! Yes!" The owner was grinning from ear to ear. "We have a 10,000-watt system with the latest technology. It includes an 8,000-watt all-in-one solar inverter, eight sets of 450-watt high-efficiency solar panels, and generates 14 kWh per day, which is more than enough for daily use."

"I’ll take fifteen sets of those."

"These are a bit pricier. We can give you a discount price of 20,000 per set."

Considering she would need to be self-sufficient during the apocalypse, Melody learned how to use and install the generators right there in the shop. The owner patiently explained everything and arranged for people to load them onto her truck.

A pile of generators filled an entire truck. Melody transferred them all into The Arcadian Warehouse.

Looking at her account balance, Melody decided to buy gasoline and diesel. She first went to Baocai Market and bought 600 empty 30-liter barrels, planning to fill 300 with gasoline and 300 with diesel.

The diesel was easy enough; she bought all she needed after visiting a few stations.

But gasoline was difficult. Melody asked at several gas stations, but they all refused to sell it to her in barrels.

Helpless, Melody had no choice but to first store the 300 empty barrels in her space.

Then, she drove the truck to a gas station and filled its tank before siphoning the gasoline from the truck’s tank into the empty barrels in her space.

Once it was empty, she would go to another gas station to refill the truck and repeat the process of siphoning the fuel into the barrels in her space.

The truck’s tank could hold 180 liters at a time. To avoid being discovered, Melody visited nearly every gas station in the city.

After a great deal of effort, Melody successfully stockpiled 9,000 liters of diesel and 9,000 liters of gasoline in the barrels in her space. It should be enough to run the generators for a while.

Once she was done with everything, Melody collapsed into her seat. Her stockpiling was basically finished. She checked her bank account balance and saw there was still over 600,000 left, which should be enough to pay the contractors for her home renovations.

Melody didn’t want to take out any online loans. In the first year of the apocalypse, the government would conduct a unified audit of all citizens’ and companies’ assets and liabilities in order to allocate resources. Measures would be taken against high-asset families with outstanding debts.

In her past life, the Lancaster Family had been audited. Because they couldn’t repay their commercial bank loans, almost all of the family’s assets were seized.

Melody stretched lazily. The tension she’d felt for the past few days finally subsided. She could use the 600,000 to pay the final installment to the renovation contractors, and if she discovered anything was missing, she could still order it online in time.

As for things like an off-road vehicle, a yacht, or an RV, she wouldn’t think about them for now. She could buy them later when she had more money.

Just then, another call came in. Melody checked the caller ID. It was Simon Lancaster.

Because her supplies were all prepared, Melody was in a good mood, so she casually answered.

"What do you want?"

"Did you tell Sylvia to leave? Melody Summers, how can you be so thoughtless? Sylvia’s run away from home, and the whole family is going crazy with worry! Call her right now, apologize, and beg her to come home." Simon Lancaster’s voice was filled with anxiety and rage. "If anything happens to Sylvia, the Lancaster Family will never forgive you."

’Just as I thought, he’s calling to chew me out.’

Simon’s bad mood only made Melody’s better.

"Then by all means, never forgive me," Melody replied with a laugh. "If your little sister is missing, call the police. I’m not a cop."

With that, Melody hung up. She was in high spirits and ready to drive home!