January 3, 2030, Sunday.

I groggily opened my eyes and glanced at the time on my phone screen.

It was my day off, so I stayed in bed as usual. Niko was snuggled up in my arms, snoring peacefully. I mindlessly scrolled through short video apps when a message from Lin Yan popped up on WeChat.

Lin Yan was my boyfriend of five years, currently working at a research institute in the city, studying viruses.

-"I might not be able to come back tonight. Yesterday, a mutated squirrel was found in City C, and the lab is busy extracting blood samples for research. Current indicators suggest it may be a new type of virus."

I jolted up from the bed, startling Niko who jumped off the bed and stared at me wide-eyed.

Mutated? A new virus!

Lately, I had been reading a lot of apocalyptic novels online, leading me to think about what preparations I should make to ensure my safety when the time comes.

I got out of bed, freshened up, and headed to the mall to buy supplies for surviving the apocalypse.

Although Lin Yan didn't explicitly mention anything about the apocalypse, I believed in being prepared. After all, ten years ago, there was a virus that forced everyone to stay at home and pass the time.

I arrived at the largest mall in the city and cleared out all the snacks that Lin Yan and I loved, as well as the canned cat snacks that Niko enjoyed.

Satisfied with the two large shopping carts full of snacks in my car, I prepared to drive back home.

Wait...I forgot something important...

I closed the car door and drove back to the mall. I filled two more shopping carts with self-heating rice, instant noodles, various types of noodles, canned meat, compressed biscuits, rice, oil, salt, vinegar, cat litter, cat food, tissues, sanitary pads, disinfectant, and more.

Realizing that two shopping carts weren't enough, I simply waved my hand and had the staff deliver all the items to my doorstep.

The staff smiled until their eyes almost disappeared but still asked me in confusion why I was buying so much.

"I plan to open a convenience store and need to stock up."

I could sense the forced smile on the staff's face, but they still flattered me, saying, "Boss, you really have a good head for business!"

They probably thought I was crazy, but I didn't care.

As the staff helped me move the items to the two spare bedrooms in my house, it was already past five in the afternoon.

Fortunately, when we were house hunting, I insisted on buying a large house, and Lin Yan, tearfully, eventually agreed with my choice to purchase the four-bedroom, two-living-room, two-bathroom unit on the 23rd floor.

I stood in the living room, pondering what other essential items I might need.

Niko jumped onto the water dispenser and meowed at me. At that moment, the water dispenser was only about one-third full.

"Niko, you're such a good big brother!"

So, I called the water delivery service and had them bring all the water from the store to my house.

The delivery staff, who were about to close the store for the day, immediately agreed to bring the water over. 120 containers of water filled up the third room in my house.

At around eight in the evening, Lin Yan messaged me on WeChat again.

-"Did you buy more bags and shoes again? Why did my two cards get deducted so much?"

I rolled my eyes. Was I really that extravagant and careless with money? No way!

He then sent another message.

-"Don't go out for a while. I have a bad feeling. B City has also reported infected animals, chickens and ducks."

My brain raced.

Chickens and ducks? Aren't those what people eat?

-"Can it spread to humans?"

-"Not sure for now, but it's very possible."

-"If it spreads, what will happen?"

After sending the message, it took about ten minutes to receive a response.

-"Mild cases might be similar to the flu, severe cases...zombies."

Zombies!

I was stunned. If there were zombies, wouldn't that mean the end of the world was truly near?

Although it was still uncertain, to be on the safe side, I immediately made an appointment online for an installation technician to come and install multiple layers of anti-theft screens, replace all the glass in the house with bulletproof tempered glass, add an additional fireproof and anti-theft door, and ordered a bunch of common cold and fever medicines on a food delivery app.

I also ordered many household items on a shopping app in case something broke down one day. Additionally, I ordered a variety of climbing ropes and survival tools.

Then Lin Yan messaged again.

-"What did you buy again?"

I was speechless.

-"Buying life."