Another said, "There was a local clip from two days ago but it got deleted fast."

A reply came immediately, "Because fake news gets deleted."

Another comment stood out.

"Why are so many animal attack reports happening too? Dogs going crazy, livestock biting each other, weird stuff."

That comment had no reply.

Bai Li leaned back slightly against the headboard and looked at the screen for a moment longer.

So it had already started.

Earlier than most people would ever notice.

A few places first.

Then transport lines.

Then cities.

Then panic.

She already knew the sequence.

What made it frightening was not surprise, but how ordinary everything still looked while the first cracks had already formed.

Outside her hotel window, the city lights still looked peaceful. Cars moved normally. Buildings glowed. Somewhere below, people were probably laughing over dinner, making plans for tomorrow, arguing over ordinary things that would soon stop mattering.

On the screen, someone posted another mocking comment under the drone video.

"If zombies really come, I’m calling in sick and sleeping through it."

Another replied, "First zombie will probably ask for rent before biting you."

That comment had thousands of laughing reactions.

Bai Li finally locked the screen.

Sigh... she could only sign. People will not believe until it truly happened and when it does, nobody would have anything to regret anymore.

Since the signs have already begun, Bai Li could only do her own part and prepare.

..

...

By the time the hotel bell rang and her dinner arrived, her mood had already grown quieter. She opened the door, took the meal, thanked the hotel staff, and set everything neatly on the small table by the window. Tonight’s meal was simple but filling, rice, meat, vegetables, soup, and fruit. She ate slowly while occasionally glancing again at the phone screen. Yet even while eating, her thoughts drifted somewhere else. Without warning, the woman from the hospital appeared again in her mind. The calm eyes, the mask covering half her face, the soft voice, the way she had looked at that man as if he was not worth fearing at all. Bai Li suddenly shook her head lightly and muttered under her breath, almost annoyed at herself. Why was she thinking about that woman again.

Then another thought surfaced naturally. Yan Cijin. That was the female protagonist’s name according to what the gods and the system had told her. The person she had to find sooner or later if she wanted to change the future of this world. But there was one obvious problem. She had no idea where to even begin looking. She had no face, no exact identity, no address, only a name and a role in a story. Still, according to the original timeline, Bai Li as cannon fodder was supposed to cross paths with Yan Cijin during the early days of the apocalypse. That meant if she followed the timeline naturally, that encounter would still happen. There was no need to rush blindly yet. She could continue preparing first, then deal with everything when the moment came.

After dinner she leaned back against the headboard, looked through her phone for a while longer, then finally turned off the screen. The exhaustion of the whole day slowly caught up to her. Negotiations, spending money, moving supplies, checking renovations, hospital visits, too many things had happened one after another. Before long, she lay down properly and closed her eyes. The hotel room stayed quiet through the night, and after one full night of uninterrupted sleep, Bai Li woke up early the next morning feeling much lighter than the day before.

After taking a proper shower in the hotel and finally washing away the slight heaviness left from yesterday, Bai Li changed into clean clothes and ordered a simple breakfast to the room. She did not eat anything complicated, only porridge, boiled eggs, some steamed buns, and a cup of plain tea. The morning outside the hotel window looked completely ordinary. Cars moved below, people crossed roads with sleepy faces, office workers carried coffee in hand, and the city still looked like a place where tomorrow would naturally arrive. But Bai Li already knew that ordinary scenes like this had an expiration date.

After finishing breakfast, she sat down on the sofa near the window and picked up her phone again. This time she did not waste time on entertainment apps. She directly searched for wholesale medical suppliers and pharmaceutical websites, opening one page after another with careful attention. Up until now, she had already secured most of the major things she urgently needed. The duplex was under transformation into a proper safe place. The vehicle had already been bought and was undergoing military grade modifications. Food and water had been stocked in large amounts. But one thing still remained extremely important.

Medicine.

In the beginning stage of the apocalypse, money would still exist for a short while, but it would quickly lose meaning in many places. When systems collapsed and hospitals stopped functioning normally, basic medicines would become more valuable than luxury goods, jewelry, or even cash.

Bai Li understood this very clearly.

She might not need much medicine herself because this body was already unnaturally strong, and after her awakening, even minor illness had basically become impossible for her. But medicine was not only for herself. It was a survival resource. A trade resource. A life resource.

In a world where doctors disappeared, even a small untreated wound could become deadly.

A fever. A stomach infection. A bad cut.

Diarrhea caused by contaminated water.

Any one of those things could quietly kill someone when proper treatment no longer existed.

So she searched seriously, comparing supplier ratings, warehouse size, delivery speed, and product credibility until she found one large wholesale medical supplier that looked reliable enough.

Then she began ordering.

Several batches of heart medication. Medicine for diarrhea and stomach infections. Cold and fever medicine. Painkillers. Broad spectrum antibiotics. Liquid glucose. IV tubing. Alcohol disinfectants. Medical gauze. Bandages. Basic wound cleaning supplies. Anti inflammatory medicine.

Even several boxes of syringes and disposable gloves.

She did not go overboard with specialized drugs because many required specific storage conditions and had shorter practical value, but for common survival medicine she bought generously.

By the time she finished placing everything into the order cart, the total amount had already climbed high enough that an ordinary person would hesitate.

She did not.

After payment, the supplier confirmed that because the warehouse was local, delivery would arrive within thirty minutes.

Seeing that, Bai Li simply checked out of the hotel immediately.

There was no reason to stay longer.

She packed her few temporary belongings, left the room, and returned to the riverside apartment complex just in time for the delivery pickup truck to arrive outside the main entrance.

The security guards had already become used to seeing unusual deliveries linked to her these past two days, though even now they still looked curious each time a new vehicle appeared.

This time too, the moment the truck stopped outside the gate, several nearby residents slowed down and began watching again.

It was no longer even subtle.

People had fully accepted that Bai Li was doing something big, even if nobody understood what exactly it was.

A few middle aged women standing near the walking path looked over and whispered among themselves.

"Again?"

"She bought more things?"

"This time it looks smaller than yesterday."

"Medicine maybe? Those boxes look different."

Nearby, two elderly women narrowed their eyes while pretending not to stare directly.

Normally by now someone would already be making some sarcastic remark.

But strangely, today the atmosphere felt different.

Bai Li noticed it almost immediately.

With her current hearing, she could usually catch almost every unpleasant word said behind her back. Previously many residents had not bothered lowering their voices much whenever discussing her. But today, though people were clearly gossiping, there was an odd hesitation in the tone.

Almost like restraint.

Almost like caution.

That itself made Bai Li pause slightly.

Why?

She looked casually around while workers unloaded the medical boxes one after another.

Then her hearing caught voices from farther away.

A few older people were standing near a bench under a tree, looking in her direction with complicated expressions. Their eyes carried the kind of curiosity mixed with discomfort that people had when wanting to speak but not daring to fully commit.

One of the old men clicked his tongue with an ugly expression and muttered, "Tsk... I don’t know what’s going on, but since yesterday our old men have been getting injured one after another."

The woman beside him immediately frowned. "Mine too. My husband somehow slipped inside the bedroom and broke his leg. On a flat floor! Explain that to me."

Another older man lowered his voice even more. "And my younger brother fell down the stairs after missing only one step. He never misses steps."

The first one looked toward Bai Li again, his eyes narrowing strangely.

The second woman hesitated before whispering, "Could it be because..."

Before she finished, the other old man immediately interrupted sharply.

"Shut up. Don’t talk nonsense. Haven’t you heard old sayings? Bad luck spreads if you speak carelessly."

The woman looked unsettled but still lowered her voice.

"I’m just saying... ever since yesterday after..."

"Enough," the man cut in again. "Forget it. Don’t say things you shouldn’t."

Bai Li heard every word clearly.

Her brows lifted faintly.

What exactly were they imagining?

Why did it sound like they were connecting accidents to some kind of superstition?

She could not understand that kind of thinking at all.

In this era, how were people still linking ordinary accidents to mysterious luck?

Still, she did not waste thought on it.

People always built strange stories when they lacked facts.

The workers finished unloading the medicines fairly quickly. Because the packages were smaller than yesterday’s food delivery, transportation upstairs was easier. They used the service lift again and carried everything directly to the storage room upstairs under Bai Li’s instructions.

The medical supplies now occupied another organized section beside the previous goods.

After everything was delivered, Bai Li tipped the workers again. By now some of them already smiled the moment they saw her because they knew she paid cleanly and never caused trouble.

"Thank you, Miss Bai."

"If you need more delivery later, contact us again."

She nodded politely and watched them leave.

After the truck departed, she finally headed upstairs to inspect the duplex properly.

The moment she stepped inside, even she was visibly surprised by the overnight progress.

The changes were much faster than yesterday.

The original balcony glass had already been completely removed on several sides and replaced with thick reinforced layered panels that looked almost slightly darker than before. The frames around them had also changed, now strengthened with hidden steel locking points inside the walls.

Several workers were still sealing the final edges carefully.

The original decorative balcony doors were gone too.

In their place stood heavy custom metal doors with internal manual locking systems, thick enough that even from appearance alone they looked completely different from ordinary residential fittings.

In the living room, part of the floor had been opened near one corner where electrical lines were being rerouted.

A senior technician stood near a large panel discussing battery connections with another worker. From what Bai Li could see, the backup energy system had already begun installation.

Upstairs, one section near the wall had been partly rebuilt to hide additional storage behind reinforced interior structure.

Even the staircase railing had been adjusted with hidden steel reinforcement inside.

Workers moved in shifts exactly as Shen Kyao had promised.

Some looked tired from night work, but new teams had already arrived.

The pace was relentless.

Shen Kyao herself soon came over holding a tablet.

"Miss Bai, the lower floor main reinforcement is almost halfway done. By tonight the first phase of window replacement and door installation will fully finish."

Bai Li looked around again before asking, "Solar system?"

.

.

.

To be continued. Hello, my dear readers. I know that the first part of this novel is a bit long but do believe me that it’s worth it to wait for what’s to come.

The apocalypse would truly begin before Chapter 40. So stay tuned. >°<