Laurel stared at her list.
She still hadn’t gotten generators, fuel, solar panels, batteries, and power banks, and she also hadn’t bought proper cooling equipnt like industrial fans or portable air conditioners.
She was missing construction materials like cent, steel bars, sand, gravel, wire sh, and heavy-duty tools needed to build walls and reinforce the valley.
She also needed dical supplies in bulk, including antibiotics, painkillers, disinfectants, bandages, sutures, and ergency kits. She hadn’t secured communication devices like walkie-talkies, signal boosters, and spare phones, and she also didn’t have enough lighting equipnt like flashlights, headlamps, lanterns, spare batteries, and tires.
She still hadn’t bought protective gear like gloves, boots, masks, helts, and raincoats. She was also missing farming equipnt like fertilizers, pesticides, seed storage containers, irrigation pipes, and greenhouse materials, and she hadn’t gotten basic survival extras like sleeping bags, blankets, tents, ropes, tarps, and fire-starting tools.
"What are your thoughts?" Ling Xuan’s voice echoed in her head.
Laurel sighed. "It is not advisable to farm during this period and I hope the system will not make us farm. I’m thinking of using this ti to buy the things we are still lacking, so by the ti the heat wave is over, we will be done stockpiling, and then we can focus on building the defense and farming. Maybe we can unlock sothing useful."
"That sounds like a good plan, but are you going to walk around? It is very hot out there." Ling Xuan replied.
"That’s why we have to do it soon. I rember in my past life, the price of generators went up insanely after the fourth day of the heat wave, however other items beca cheaper at the beginning of the crisis. We can start making purchases now." Laurel said, standing up from her chair.
"Okay. I know we have acquired firearms, but we still need all the types of weapons we can get our hands on." Ling Xuan said in a relaxed tone.
"If we want to get good weapons, especially detonators, then the best person who can help is Mr. Lennox. I’ll talk to him and see what he can do. After all, their family has close ties with the military force."
Without wasting any more ti, Laurel put on a white t-shirt, tucking it into her jeans, finishing the look with a pair of sneakers and a pair of sunglasses.
.....
Laurel sighed out of both relief and excitent as she stared at her paper, most of the supplies she needed were already bought, leaving just the weapons.
"Deliver the supplies to this location. And I want it today." She said with a serious expression. "I’ll pay extra for it."
"Yes, ma’am." The manager of outdoor equipnt nodded. He took the card from her and swiped it over the machine.
She didn’t want the traders to think they had ti to delay.
She wiped the sweat trickling down her jaw. Her phone suddenly rang. When she checked the caller, it was none other than Camile.
She hung up and slipped the phone back into her bag. Her skin was burning from the heat. She hurried back to the car, driving straight to the warehouse.
She had an agreent with Alexander to survey the land and start building the walls.
By the ti she got there, it was already late afternoon. She glanced at her clock, she had also promised to treat Chris today.
’I can do that later.’ she thought to herself as she wrote to Chris. (Let’s et by 9:00pm)
The mont she stepped out of her car, Alexander’s car was also pulling over behind her.
The mont her gaze fell on him, they hardened, and her fingers tightened around the strap of her purse.
"Hey." Alexander greeted with a polite smile.
Laurel stared at him for a couple of seconds before looking away. She walked towards the entrance of the valley.
"Hey, I’m just trying to say hello." Alexander jogged towards her.
"I heard you." She replied through gritted teeth.
Right before the rusted gate, so n stood outside with yellow helts on. They held a asuring tape along the ground.
And not too far away were tractors for carrying heavy loads, cent mixing machines, a lift, and cented blocks. Bulldozers, and tractors for digging holes.
Inside a huge truck were rods and steel of different sizes, along with shovels, spades, hamrs, and ropes. Even the area was sealed off.
They were all sweating profusely. Laurel turned to Alexander.
"I thought we needed the Mayor’s consent before we could start working on the land?"
Alexander handed her a brown file he was holding. Laurel glanced at the file in his hand for a couple of seconds before reaching out with the tip of her finger in order not to touch him.
Alexander’s face fell. He thought they were already making progress, but it seed it was all his wishful thinking.
Laurel opened the file only to find a consent docunt that they could start working on the land.
A bright smile graced her lips. "You already secured it."
"I thought you would want it as soon as possible, and I didn’t want it to be a reason for you not to achieve your goal. Besides, I made sure to pay the architects enough money to make them work in this weather condition." He said with a proud expression.
"Yeah," Laurel said. "I can see." She glanced back at the paper in her hand.
"They are going to build houses too, right?" Laurel asked, her expression turning serious.
"Yes they will, and a mansion too. Though that will take a little ti to finish." He responded.
Laurel stared at the workers. She felt pity for them, how could soone work in such a harsh environnt? And sadly, the money they were working for would beco useless very soon.
She bit the inside of her cheek. Should she let them stay during the pandemic? She shook her head, too many people would be hard to control.
Furthermore, she had experienced how easily people can change during that period, it was all man for himself... including the person standing next to her.
"Let’s go inside the warehouse, the heat is too much," Alexander said, gesturing for them to head inside.
’Hypocrite.’ She told herself. He couldn’t withstand the heat and he expected others to work inside for him. That was how powerful n were.
And though she had empathy for them, she knew the walls and the houses needed to be built as soon as possible.
She shook her head before going inside the warehouse. The supplies they had were almost touching the ceiling, even though Laurel had moved most of them to her space house.
"Excuse ," Laurel said, heading further into the warehouse. She walked through the door connecting to the research base.
The mont she closed the door, she let out a breath she never realized she had been holding.
"System." She called out.
[Yes Host.]
Laurel bit her inner cheeks again. She knew what she was about to do was absurd, but her poor heart couldn’t bear seeing the workers suffering.
"System, I know the space water can make crops grow. Is there any other thing that can help the body cool off while working in the extre heat?" She asked with a hopeful look.
[... Yes, host. The space water can also help the body adapt to temperature, be it heat or cold. However, the water is very special and limited to your current level. If you decide to buy it, it will cost you a lot.]
"How much?" She asked.
[1500 points for 100 bottles of water of 30 cl.]
Laurel paused contemplating. She knew she should ask Ling Xuan if she agreed. What if Ling Xuan disagrees and the people start collapsing from heatstroke? Wouldn’t that delay the project and make more people notice their plan?
"Make the purchase." She said decisively.
[Purchase complete.]
100 bottles of water materialised in front of her.
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