Chapter 145: A Mountain of Supplies

An Nan turned her head to look at the last of the three villas—so that must be Zhu Dazhuang’s residence.

Beside her, Hou Jianming swiped his fingerprint and did a facial scan before finally opening the villa’s main door.

An Nan withdrew her gaze and followed him inside.

Unlike Hou Jianming’s own lavish villa, this one had every inch of space packed with supplies.

Rice, flour, grains, oil, sweet potatoes, potatoes, and all sorts of miscellaneous grains were neatly organized on shelves, stacked layer upon layer all the way to the ceiling.

At first glance, it was an astonishing sight—enough to trigger anyone’s fear of crowded spaces.

Even someone as worldly as An Nan couldn’t help but draw a sharp breath inward. There was simply no way to estimate how many tons of food were stored here.

Hou Jianming had been watching An Nan’s expression the whole time. Seeing that she seemed genuinely impressed, he immediately puffed up with pride.

Heh, Gu Youcai, what do you have that can compare to me?

He smirked. “Miss An, this is just the main hall. There’s even more in the rooms inside. There are also some odds and ends—candles, alcohol, gas, and so on. No need to squeeze in there today.”

As he spoke, he pointed upwards. “There’s more upstairs.”

An Nan followed Hou Jianming up to the second floor.

The moment they arrived, she saw a massive diesel generator rumbling away.

There were three rooms on the second floor. The first had been converted into a walk-in freezer.

Inside were dozens of frozen pigs, cows, and sheep, as well as plenty of chickens, ducks, and other poultry. The most numerous by far were meat rabbits.

As Hou Jianming showed her around, he explained, “These large livestock are hard to come by, but poultry are easy to breed. Our base has dedicated breeders, and rabbits have by far the highest yield.”

An Nan silently scoffed. So many rabbits, but you’ve never let the guys in the base enjoy a meal of spicy rabbit heads or stir-fried rabbit.

She guessed that the grain on the first floor probably belonged to the base, but all this meat upstairs was likely Hou Jianming’s private stash.

He kept all the good meat for himself and sent his men out to scavenge corpses for food, all while acting so generous and “one with the people.”

Hou Jianming, oblivious to her thoughts, proudly opened the other two doors.

Both rooms were packed full of gasoline and diesel—metal drums stacked so tightly there was barely room to step.

Noticing Hou Jianming watching her face, An Nan played along and put on an astonished expression.

“Impressive, Boss! Where did you get so much fuel?”

Hou Jianming grinned. “My men collected it bit by bit from abandoned cars along the roadside.”

An Nan feigned sudden realization. “Oh, Boss, you’re so clever!”

This guy used the same method as Chu Peipei and Zhao Ping’an.

But with more manpower, if Chu Peipei and Zhao Ping’an hadn’t acted quickly, Hou Jianming would’ve monopolized all the scattered fuel.

After touring the second floor, Hou Jianming led her up to the third.

This floor resembled a large private collection.

There were vacuum-packed teas of all kinds, every brand of cigarette imaginable, and, most of all, alcohol.

Red wine dominated, but there were plenty of other liquors too—Moutai, Rémy Martin, Wuliangye, you name it.

Yet, despite all this alcohol, not a single bottle had appeared at the last celebration banquet—only the base’s homemade brew.

Besides tobacco, alcohol, and tea, there was even a sizable collection of books: history, science, humanities, economics, education—all neatly categorized.

But it was clear the books weren’t as cherished as the other items; a thick layer of dust had settled on them.

An Nan couldn’t help but think of her good-for-nothing father.

After rising to power, he loved to fill his study with all sorts of famous books to show off his “culture and taste.” In reality, those books had sat untouched for over a decade and still looked brand new.

Seeing her gaze linger on the books, Hou Jianming cleared his throat and straightened his back.

“Ahem! Books carry the torch of human civilization. As the leader of this base, the greater my power, the greater my responsibility. It’s my duty to preserve human culture.”

An Nan thought to herself, Well, at least he’s done a decent job with that.

Curious, she asked, “When the city was flooded, how did you manage to save these books?”

Hou Jianming replied, “I found them in a collector’s vault. The treasure room was specially built and completely sealed, so all the books, paintings, and luxury watches inside were perfectly preserved.”

An Nan understood at once.

He probably moved the books back while hauling out the paintings and watches. Since she hadn’t seen any of those, they were likely stored in his personal villa.

This villa, used as a warehouse, was already packed to the brim. The grain on the first floor came and went, but the second and third floors couldn’t fit a single extra item.

Hou Jianming had certainly made the most of his position to amass wealth. The supplies here were nearly on par with An Nan’s own stockpile.

If she hadn’t once cleared out an entire shopping mall and two office buildings, she might not have been able to keep up with him.

But… for the warehouse of a major base, wasn’t it odd that there was no armory?

Did the base really only have the handful of guns she’d seen?

Hou Jianming noticed her silence and assumed she was awestruck by his power.

He moved a little closer to her.

In a low voice, he said, “Miss An, how about it? Would you like to be my warehouse manager?”

Sensing him edging closer, An Nan subtly stepped back.

Warehouse manager? Not interested.

But your warehouse… now that’s interesting.

She took the opportunity to probe about the guns. “Boss, with so many supplies, if you put me in charge but don’t give me a gun, I’m not sure I could keep it all safe!”

But Hou Jianming replied, “Don’t worry. All you need to do is handle inventory, receipts, and checks. Security isn’t your concern.

There are armed guards stationed here, and all three villas have surveillance and traps.

Anyone who tries to enter without authorized fingerprints and facial recognition will trigger the defenses.”

An Nan thought to herself, Good thing I didn’t try to teleport in and assassinate Zhu Dazhuang earlier. Otherwise, not only would I have been discovered, I might have been injured by the traps.

Hou Jianming, seeing her still silent, added, “If you become the warehouse manager, you can move into the innermost villa.”

He lowered his voice. “I can even set up a room for you in my own villa.”

An Nan pretended not to catch the innuendo and replied earnestly,

“Oh, I couldn’t possibly impose on you, Boss! I’m fine staying in the second-in-command’s villa.”

Hou Jianming was momentarily stunned, then frowned in displeasure. “Why bring up the second-in-command out of nowhere?”

Because he’s my real target in this base.

Of course, An Nan didn’t say that. She just replied casually,

“After the last battle at Longhu Base, I was so impressed by the second-in-command’s strength… I really admire him.”

Who cares if it’s true or not—might as well sow a little discord while I’m at it."